27 Songs About Being There For Someone When They Need You

Music is a powerful vehicle for our emotions. Songs can give you a few moments of empathy for love, triumph, grief, and a host of other emotions.

It should come as no surprise that many of the most powerful songs that have gained radio play have to do with being there for someone who needs you. So take a look at these top songs about being there for someone when they need you.

“Song for a Friend” by Jason Mraz

Song Year: 2005

Starting off with a mellow, folksy groove is “Song for a Friend” by Jason Mraz. This song appeared on his sophomore album and is an unusual kind of love song in that it is for a friend. And what is more, the song is not about Mraz being there for his friend, but his friend being there for him.

He wrote it for his roommate of several years as a way of saying thank you for all the things he had done for Mraz when he was a struggling musician, including:

• Taking him to gigs
• Paying his rent

Mraz’s friend just wanted to see him succeed. So Mraz put it all in a song that captures the loneliness of trying to make it in the music business in the context of help and love from a close friend.

“Hold my Hand” by Hootie and the Blowfish

Song Year: 1994

This feel-good number on the debut album by Hootie and the Blowfish takes the frustration of watching a friend struggle with problems and actions and puts it into a rising chorus that is fun and easy to sing along with.

Featuring harmony vocals from one David Crosby, “Hold my Hand”:

• Made it to number ten on the Billboard Hot 100
• Was part of what propelled their first album to massive acclaim

According to Darius Rucker, the song idea came from their drummer when the band was auditioning him for a slot.

“I’m Gonna Love You Through It” by Martina McBride

Song Year: 2010

Country music star Martina McBride stepped out of the mold when she recorded this song about supporting someone going through cancer. The song opens with:

• A 38-year-old woman's diagnosis, and
• The revelation of unflagging support from her husband

Co-written by Sonya Issacs, the song was inspired by Isaac’s mother, who had lived through a fight with breast cancer due, at least in part, to the love and support from her husband.

“Everybody Hurts” by R.E.M.

Song Year: 1992

Slowing down a bit, “Everybody Hurts” is R.E.M.’s deeply felt encouragement to that struggling someone in the form of a great slow dance number. The song:

• Came from the band’s drummer Bill Berry
• Channels more of a soul feel, which is unusual for the band

Typical of the band’s approach, they worked out the music before giving it to singer and frontman Michael Stipe, who brought the words to it. In an untypically direct fashion, Stipe goes straight for the heart in a song that is often considered to be directed at those contemplating suicide, especially teenagers.

“Beautiful” by Christina Aguilera

Song Year: 2002

From her album Stripped, Christina Anguilera takes the self-affirmation of “Beautiful” and extends it, not to a friend but to her detractors. Coming at a time when the internet was showing how easy it was to insult people under the mask of anonymity.

“Beautiful” highlights the power of words, not by dwelling on their damage but by refusing to acknowledge their negative effects and instead turning the power of self-affirmation around on the trolls.

Written by Linda Perry and sung in one take by Aguilera, this song became an anthem for those who feel disenfranchised by the cultural norms of beauty.

“I’ll be There” by The Jackson 5

Song Year: 1970

Sung by 11-year-old Michael Jackson with brother Jermaine on the bridge, “I’ll be There” is the expression of devotion from a former lover, no matter what the other person may do or who they end up being with.

That fact that it comes from the voice of a child gives it the warm glow of innocent acceptance that comes before sexual attraction and reaches beyond jealousy. It expresses a kind of self-sacrifice that many listeners want to feel (even if they cannot quite bring themselves to express it).

“Kryptonite” by 3 Doors Down

Song Year: 1999

“Kryptonite” puts a bit of twist on this category of songs because the question of being there for someone is left open-ended. And not only is the speaker in the song asking if a person will be there for him when he is down but when he is doing well.

Rather than coming from the point of view of someone offering encouragement, it comes from the point of view of someone needing unconditional acceptance through the good and the bad. “Kryptonite” was written by the band’s drummer, Brad Arnold, during math class when he was 15.

“You’ve Got a Friend” by James Taylor

Song Year: 1971

Originally written by Carole King and released earlier in that same year on her iconic album Tapestry, “You’ve Got a Friend” became a number one hit for James Taylor. In fact, it became his only number one hit in the US.

King seems to have written the song in response to a song written by Taylor in 1970. In “Fire and Rain,” he wrote about desolate periods where he thought he was abandoned by friendship, to which the King song responded, “You’ve got a friend.”

“You’ve Got a Friend in Me” by Randy Newman

Song Year: 1994

“You’ve Got a Friend in Me” was written by Randy Newman, the same guy who wrote the words, “Short people got no reason to live.” Maybe working from a change of heart, Newman offers this simple song of steadfast friendship, which has become a cultural staple as a theme for the Toy Story movies.

An entire generation of kids has grown up with this song as the soundtrack to an unflagging friendship between two people of different backgrounds and points of view.

“Lonesome Suzie” by The Band

Song Year: 1969

Not all the great songs of encouragement are radio hits. Case in point, “Lonesome Suzie” was recorded by The Band in 1969 for their album Music From Big Pink and did not chart, even though song writer Richard Manuel was hoping for a hit.

Nevertheless, this song has heartache and compassion written into it from the very first note and remains one of the great songs that Manuel wrote. It observes the heartbreak of a girl named Suzie and chronicles Manuel’s halting attempts to offer friendship as a consolation.