40 Songs About Identity, Belonging, and Having an Identity Crisis
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“Waltz #2 (XO)” by Elliott Smith
Song Year: 1998
“Waltz #2 (XO)” is another good example of the late Elliott Smith’s existential views on identity.
It showcases a girl singing at a karaoke night but showing no degree of excitement or any other emotion. She seems to be forced to sing for people instead of doing it for herself, thus forcing her to present an identity that she doesn’t have.
“Genesis 3:23” by The Mountain Goats
Song Year: 2009
Named after the Bible verse of the same name, “Genesis 3:23” is yet another existentialist song about identity.
It details a man facing his inner ghosts as he explores an abandoned building. This causes him to face a crisis of identity as he realizes that his perceptions of his traumatic childhood were wrong.
“Carmen” by Lana Del Rey
Song Year: 2012
Much like “The Queen and the Soldier,” “Carmen” is a bystander’s view on someone in conflict with their own identity and sense of self as they cope with substance abuse.
The subject, Carmen, is described as a seemingly perfect, well-loved person, but that identity is a mask hiding her true self.
“Nobody’s Home” by Avril Lavigne
Song Year: 2004
“Nobody’s Home” also shows a girl struggling with her identity, but this time through her own mental illness rather than outside forces, and without a mask hiding her true sense of self.
“Am I a Girl?” by Poppy
Song Year: 2018
Based on the author’s own conflict with her gender identity, “Am I a Girl?” is a straightforward song about how a girl questions her gender and tries to understand why she has to fit in a “boy” or “girl” box.
“Boulevard of Broken Dreams” by Green Day, A Song About Belonging
Song Year: 2004
This Green Day hit is usually roped in with “Holiday,” but “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” stands out on its own by being about a man going through his own identity crisis, as he realizes that he belongs to no one and has no purpose in his life.
“The Raven” by The Alan Parsons Project
Song Year: 1976
Based on the Edgar Allen Poe poem of the same name, “The Raven” details a man having to come to terms with the negative aspects of his identity through confronting a mysterious raven that refuses to leave his study.
“Cancer” by My Chemical Romance
Song Year: 2006
The eighth track on my Chemical Romance’s magnum opus, “Cancer,” is about a man coming to terms with his impending death, and thus his identity, by singing about how he wants to be buried and what he wants to happen after he dies.
“The Hero’s Return” by Pink Floyd
Song Year: 1994
“The Hero’s Return” is another good Pink Floyd song about an identity crisis, as a man comes home from war only to realize he has trauma from the war and the death of his friends, as not all of them survived.
“Goodbye to Love” by Carpenters
Song Year: 1983
One of the sadder songs by brother-sister duo, the Carpenters, “Goodbye to Love” details someone coming to terms with the fact that they’ll never feel belonged, thus dealing with a crisis of belonging.
