31 Songs About Being Lost, Or Feeling Lost

“Rocket Man” by Elton John

Song year:  1972

Elton John's “Rocket Man” from Honky Chateau is the next song about being lost in the wider universe. The song got written around the same time as the Apollo 16 mission, and the culture was a little obsessed with space.

This one is slightly different because the titular “Rocket Man” is being sent to space. It's not necessarily his choice to go, but it is his job.

The song's speaker becomes lost, lonely, and isolated from his family and friends. He knows that time away, in a place no one else will have experienced, will change him.

The lyrics here could be a commentary on what happens to a rock star or traveling musician. Still, it would also apply to anyone deployed in the military or with a similar difficult job that takes them anyway from their family.

“I Know It’s Over” by The Smiths

Song year: 1986

“I Know It's Over” is a bleak ballad from the band's album The Queen is Dead. The song is sung from the perspective of a dying man reflecting on his life and regrets.

The song's narrator is hanging on to life, even though he knows he's at the end of it because he doesn't know what else to do. So he does what he's always done, and rather than move forward, he hangs in place, lost in misery and transition.

He doesn't realize his life's disappointments until it's too late, and he can do nothing about them.

“Here I Go Again” by Whitesnake

Song year: 1983

Whitesnake's “Here I Go Again” from the album Saints & Sinners has become an anthem of empowerment, but it's not the feel-good song many interpret it to be.

This song is actually about heartbreak and loneliness. It's about someone getting ready to head back into the world again in search of connection and success. While that sounds motivational, the song's speaker knows he's doomed.

He's been through this before and knows things won't work out any differently this time. But he's still going to try. What else is he supposed to do? The lyrics here paint a portrait of undying, futile hope and being stuck in a loop of loneliness and feeling lost.

“Mad World” by Tears for Fears

Song year: 1983

Tears for Fears released “Mad World” on their album, The Hurting. This song tells the story of a depressed person who feels out of place, looking for an escape.

The song's speaker spends his time watching people living cookie-cutter lives that he deems meaningless. The singer feels lost because he wants something else for himself. He wants something big, a profound, dramatic change.

The singer feels lost because there is no road out for him.

“Creep” by Radiohead

Song year: 1992

Radiohead's “Creep” from their album Pablo Honey hit the airwaves running back in the early ‘90s. For a minute, this song was everywhere, encapsulating the youth's self-loathing.

While that is a valid interpretation, there is another way to look at this song. The song's speaker recognizes who he is and that he is different from everyone else around him. He is lost because he belongs in a different world.

Whether his differences from those around him make him unworthy, what comes through in the lyrics is that he knows he is separate and doesn't belong and that perhaps there is a place for him where he won't feel lost.

“Paradise” by Coldplay

Song year: 2011

“Paradise” was the second released single from Coldplay's Mylo Xyloto. This song about being lost tells the story of a girl who loses her dreams, those lofty life ambitions, and instead, she indulges in them in her actual dreams while sleeping every night.

There is a message here about what we have lost, causing us to be lost. It's a caution against being so attached to one dream that instead of re-creating it, we lose ourselves and live in a fantasy world.

“Can’t Find My Way Home” by Blind Faith

Song year: 1969

Blind Faith was a supergroup that featured Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Ginger Baker, and Rich Grech. “Can't Find My Way Home” is from their self-titled album, the only one they released together.

The lyrics tell the story of someone who can't find their way home. The narrator is desperately lost, and it's not clear why. Rather than bog us in the details of their story, this song shows us the raw emotion of what it feels like to be lost and unable to get back to yourself.

“Piano Man” by Billy Joel

Song year: 1973

After a failed record, Billy Joel spent around six months working at a piano bar in L.A. All the characters mentioned in “Piano Man” were based on real people.

This karaoke favorite describes a bar that serves as a middle place for people lost between their dreams and their realities. The piano man's song lifts these people, helping them feel more connected to themselves and less focused on the parts of their lives they feel stuck in.

However, even while trying to forget their disappointment, it is all around them. Even the piano man is lost in this place while trying to be a star.

“I Am…I Said” by Neil Diamond, One Of The Top Songs About Feeling Lost

Song year: 1971

Neil Diamond's “I Am…I Said” is another song about feeling lost, inspired by a career crossroads. Diamond wrote this after a setback in his career, where he felt lost. Things had been going well, but now they weren't. In times like these, it's not always clear what to do.

So the lyrics here are also about being stuck in a kind of purgatory. It's about feeling like you've lost your sense of momentum and purpose. Should you give in to failure and go back where you started, or should you keep trying even though there are no guarantees you'll get where you're going?

“Space Oddity” by David Bowie

Song year: 1969

Our third song that draws from space imagery to comment on feeling lost and disconnected is David Bowie's famous and beloved “Space Oddity.”

Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey greatly influenced Bowie, drawing him to space imagery to capture many emotions. It was an influence and image that stuck with him throughout his career as if Bowie himself were from the stars.

The lyrics here tell the story of Major Tom, an astronaut who loses communication with Earth and ends up stranded in space, just floating around, unable to do anything or to take control of what is happening to him.

At the same time, Major Tom can also see Earth. He is looking down at the place where he's from, the place he's supposed to belong while being completely cut off from it.

“Space Oddity” could be a metaphor for fame. Still, it is also a common experience for a musician or artist to observe and report on reality in a way that is disconnected and isolating.