Skip to content

Home > Relationship Advice > Moving On > Lonely Songs: Over 100 Songs About Being Alone

Lonely Songs: Over 100 Songs About Being Alone

A man who listened to these lonely songs, songs about loneliness, and songs about being lonely on a cliff alone looking over a large empty canyon.

It’s no wonder there are so many songs about being alone. Loneliness comes in many forms. Sometimes you’re lonely because someone you love has left you, other times the loneliness comes from not having anyone to love at all. There’s the actual real physical lonely of being the only one in a room, on a beach, in a house, in your car on a long empty stretch of highway.

Then there’s the loneliness of a Friday night with nothing to do and nowhere to go, or of nobody to call when you have something you want to say. There are the times when you’re surrounded by people, in a big city or a crowded room and you feel lonely because nobody’s there with you (Well, not really anyway, not in the way that counts.)

You can be lonely in a relationship, when the person you’re with is there physically but distant somehow. There’s the loneliness of being the only one to think or feel a certain way. The loneliness of having lost something or someone you were once close to. You can be lonely in the world―someone separate, solitary, and isolated from your fellow travelers. There’s road-weary lonely, stuck-at-home lonely, lonely and surrounded by strangers, lonely because you want to be, and lonely because you don’t know any other way to be.

Many would say that being lonely is part of the human condition. Perhaps that’s why so many artists and musicians have used it as the topic of some of their greatest works. From classic blues tunes by Memphis Slim or Eric Clapton to country songs from Waylon Jennings, Dolly Parton, and Patsy Cline, this playlist features some of the best lonely songs from a variety of eras and genres of music.

If you’re looking for songs about being alone, take a break from your own solitude to explore some of the songs from people who have felt a similar way and had something to say about it.

Songs About Being Alone: The Playlist

  1. Only the Lonely, Roy Orbison
  2. Lonesome, On’ry and Mean, Waylon Jennings
  3. Dreams, Fleetwood MacHe Called Me Baby, Candi Staton
  4. Lonely Avenue, Ray Charles
  5. How to Fight Loneliness, Wilco
  6. All Is Loneliness, Janis Joplin
  7. When Lonely Hits Your Heart, Loretta Lynn
  8. King of Pain, The Police
  9. Eleanor Rigby, The Beatles
  10. Lonely Teardrops, Jackie Wilson
  11. Lonesome, Dr. Dog
  12. Lonely People,  America
  13. Gale Song, The Lumineers
  14. So Lonesome I Could Cry, Hank Williams
  15. So Far Away, Carole King
  16. Tired of Being Alone, Al Green
  17. Lonely, Emeli Sande
  18. Lonely Stranger, Eric Clapton
  19. Lonely Street, Patsy Cline
  20. Too Lonely, Neil Young
  21. Another Saturday Night, Sam Cooke
  22. Lonely Town, Lonely Street, Bill Withers
  23. I’ve Been Lonely Too Long, The Young Rascals
  24. All I Want, Joni Mitchell
  25. Goddamn Lonely Love, Drive-By Truckers
  26. What’s Good, Lou Reed
  27. Lonesome Dreams, Lord Huron
  28. Wake Up Alone, Amy Winehouse
  29. Lonesome Day, Bruce Springsteen
  30. Solitary Man, Neil Diamond
  31. Lonesome Tears, Beck
  32. I Get Lonely, Janet Jackson
  33. Lonesome, Memphis Slim
  34. The Lonesome Song, Jamey Johnson
  35. Are You Lonesome Tonight, Elvis Presley
  36. Blue and Lonesome, The Rolling Stones
  37. Shape of My Heart, Noah and the Whale
  38. Empty Chairs, Don McLean
  39. Whiskey Drink, The Lonesome Trio
  40. So Doggone Lonesome, Johnny Cash
  41. I Get Lonesome, Beck
  42. All Alone, Gorillaz
  43. Alone Again (Naturally), Gilbert O’Sullivan
  44. Solitude, Billie Holiday
  45. The Only Living Boy in New York, Simon & Garfunkel
  46. Another Lonely Song, Tammy Wynette
  47. Better Off Alone, Steve Earle
  48. Lonely Hearts, The Kinks
  49. The Long and Winding Road, The Beatles
  50. It’s Only a Paper Moon, Ella Fitzgerald
  51. Sleeping Single in a Double Bed, Barbara Mandrell
  52. Tea for One, Led Zeppelin
  53. Space Oddity, David Bowie
  54. Girl from North County, Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash
  55. When Will I Be Loved, The Everly Brothers
  56. People Are Strange, The Doors
  57. Isolation, John Lennon
  58. Under the Bridge, Red Hot Chilli Peppers
  59. The Loner, Neil Young
  60. Lonely Boy, Paul Anka
  61. You’re Nobody Till Somebody Loves You, Dean Martin
  62. Lonesome Feelings, Bob Marley and the Wailers
  63. One, Three Dog Night
  64. Blue Bayou, Linda Ronstadt
  65. Drive, The Cars
  66. The Queen Is Dead, The Smiths
  67. i’Loneliness, Annie Lennox
  68. I Aint Got Nobody, Bessie Smith
  69. I Better Be Quiet Now, Eliot Smith
  70. I’ll Never Love, Micheal Kiwanuka
  71. It Makes No Difference, The Band
  72. Left Alone, Fiona Apple
  73. Out of Touch, Hall & Oates
  74. She Don’t Love You, Eric Paslay
  75. Single Women, Dolly Parton
  76. Solo, Frank Ocean
  77. Stealin’, Uriah Heep
  78. Lonely Old Lies, Neko Case
  79. The Road, Jackson Browne
  80. Tonight I Think I’m Going to Go Downtown, The Flatliners
  81. Hello In There, John Prine
  82. Traveling Light, Leonard Cohen
  83. Turn the Page, Bob Seeger
  84. Hungry Ghost, Hurray for the Riff Raff
  85. Voices, Ryan Adams
  86. 4 Seasons of Loneliness, Boys II Men
  87. Wherever I May Roam, Metallica
  88. Sad Memory, Buffalo Springfield
  89. This Empty Place, The Searchers
  90. Wild and Lonesome, Shooter Jennings
  91. Winter Winds, Mumford and Sons
  92. The Lonely One, Nat King Cole
  93. Lonely Days, The Beach Boys
  94. Saturday Night (Is the Loneliness Night of the Week), Frank Sinatra
  95. Desperado, The Eagles
  96. Lonely, Akon
  97. Glass, Concrete, and Stone, David Byrne
  98. I Need My Girl, The National
  99. Gnossienne No. 1, Erik Satie
  100. Sad Songs and Waltzes, Willie Nelson
  101. Wild Indifference, Joan Shelley
  102. Lonely Weekends, Charlie Rich
  103. A Woman Left Lonely, Janis Joplin
  104. Better Days, Graham Nash

Hopefully one of these songs about being alone helps to ease the hardship. Hang in there – it gets easier!

More from The Date Mix
Songs About Unrequited Love: Over 70 Songs You Can Relate To
Love Songs Songs About Unrequited Love: Over 70 Songs You Can Relate To
Alone vs. Lonely: 6 Differences Every Single Should Know
Dating Tips for Singles from Dating Experts Alone vs. Lonely: 6 Differences Every Single Should Know
Songs About Jealousy: 60 Jealous Love Songs
Love Songs Songs About Jealousy: 60 Jealous Love Songs
16 Beatles Love Songs That Will Melt Your Heart
Love Songs 16 Beatles Love Songs That Will Melt Your Heart