25 Songs About Losing Your Sister

14. “See You Again” by Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth

Song year: 2015

If you have ever been in the car and heard this song on the radio during a time when you were in grief, you may have had to pull over and dry your eyes. The lyrics recreate the feeling of loss we have all experienced perfectly. It can be about anyone that you have lost, but it resonates if it is someone that you were extremely close to, like a best friend or a sibling.

15. “Who You’d Be Today” by Kenny Chesney

Song year: 2005

This is the story of a person who died much too young. The narrator talks about how much he misses them and wonders what their life would have been like if they had survived.

 It is a song that puts into words the feelings many people have when their sister passes away, especially if she dies at a young age. Who would she have married? What would her children have been like? What kind of grandmother would she have been?

16. “Live Like You Were Dying” by Tim McGraw

Song year: 2004

If you had a sister that died of an illness, this song will hurt when you first hear it. But it can be comforting if the lyrics ring true with your memories of her.

McGraw sings as a man who found out that he did not have long to live. Instead of giving up, he decided to live what time he had left to the fullest and do all of the things he had been scared to do. Things like riding a bull, going skydiving, and forgiving some people.

17. “Drink a Beer” by Luke Bryan

Song year: 2013

Luke Bryan did not pen the lyrics of this song, but it struck a chord with him so much that he recorded and released it.

In the song, the narrator is going to a pier and having a drink, which was something he once did with his sibling who had recently passed. Bryan felt the need to record the song to honor the memory of both of his siblings he had lost.

18. “Tha Crossroads” by Bone Thugs-N-Harmony

Song year: 1996

After the death of rap icon Easy-E, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony released this song that has lived on as a tribute to people who have passed away. It is meant as a promise that they will see each other again at some point. The video was nominated for the Best Rap Video at the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards.

19. “Go Rest High on That Mountain” by Vince Gill

Song year: 1994

Vince Gill wrote this song about country singer Keith Whitley, who had died at the age of 33. He also drew inspiration from his half-brother who had died from brain damage he suffered in a car accident. The song is to people who have died and how they can take rest knowing they did everything on Earth they were meant to. They can now go into the afterlife and rest.

This song is sung at a lot of funerals, not to bring sadness but to help the people who are mourning that their loved one has fulfilled their destiny and moved on.

20.  “Everybody Hurts” by R.E.M.

Song year: 1993

The melody of this song is sad and filled with melancholy. However, the lyrics are meant to be uplifting and comforting. The narrator is telling you that no matter what you are going through and what kind of loss you have experienced, everyone has felt it and everyone you see knows what you are going through.

The video for this song is one of the most iconic of the 1990s. Filled with images of pained expressions while sitting in a traffic jam. The symbolism of being stuck in life because of your pain or grief was not lost on most people.

21. “Spirit in the Sky” by Norman Greenbaum

Song year: 1969

Depending on who your sister was and what her beliefs were, she may not have wanted a sad tribute to send her off. She may have looked at death as a celebration. If that is true then something a little more upbeat with a rhythm you can dance to could be more fitting. This song brings in the images of death and heaven, but with a much more celebratory feel.

22. “He Stopped Loving Her Today” by George Jones

Song year: 1980

If you must find something sad, you will not find many that fit the bill more than this one. Jones sings the story of a man who had lost his wife years before. The lyrics tell that he finally stopped loving her on the day that he died as well.

23. “Ain’t No Sunshine” by Bill Withers

Song year: 1971

Bill Withers recorded this song about the loss of something important in your life and how it leaves an empty feeling behind. It is especially memorable in that in there is no third verse, Withers simply repeats the words “I know” 26 times.

24. “Sissy’s Song” by Alan Jackson

Song year: 2008

Country star Alan Jackson wrote this song in memory of a woman that worked as his family’s housekeeper that passed away. But the lyrics can hit home to anyone who has lost a woman in their life that meant so much to them. It is a comfort to those left behind as the person who died is telling them that they are okay.

25. “We Are Family” by Sister Sledge

Song year: 1979

This song is not about loss. But if your sister was someone who would not want everyone to be sad, this might be the song you need to honor them in a much lighter mood. This is considered a party anthem about the bond women have with one another.

Songs About Losing Your Sister, Final Thoughts

If you have experienced the loss of a sister, there is not much that can help take that pain away. But music has a way of helping us work through feelings and process grief. Music can help us to make sense of the senseless.

When you experience grief, you will find meaning in songs that never meant anything to you before. You will hear things in the lyrics that you never listened to before your sister died. Turn on some music, sit alone and truly listen to the lyrics of the songs that come on. You will find some that will have deep meaning to you after that.

As you listen to the songs on this list, permit yourself to explore. Click on some of the suggestions you come across. Many of the songs that mean the most to us are the ones we were not looking for.