History Main / SelfSoothingSong

* ''Series/FraggleRock'': In "[[Recap/FraggleRockS2E18TheDayTheMusicDied The Day the Music Died]]", Gobo is the last Fraggle awake, as the Ditzies, who give light to the subterranean areas where Fraggles live, are dying off. Gobo had been tasked with writing the Glory Song for a celebration but had been struggling with finding words or a melody. Now in the dark, he begins to sing to comfort himself, feeling himself, without the Ditzies' light, starting to slip away into a ForcedSleep with the rest of the Fraggles. Just as he begins to tentatively sing "Shine On, Shine on Me", beautiful sparks of light -- the Ditzies -- start to appear. He realizes that the Ditzies come from music, and he renews his efforts with more vigor. The other Fraggles start to wake up, joining in the song, until all of Fraggle Rock is restored. The other Fraggles hail Gobo as a hero, and the Storyteller exclaims that Gobo's just written the Glory Song.

* ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000:'' In the episode ''[[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S06E19RedZoneCuba Red Zone Cuba]]'', Mike and the bots are in [[SuckinessIsPainful such pain from this week's movie]] that they fear they'll never be able to feel joy again. In an attempt to cheer themselves up, they sing [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-CRcmjUa_Q "a bouncy, upbeat song"]], with inane lyrics about household goods and office supplies.

* In a ''Series/SesameStreet'' sketch with Ernie and Bert in an Egyptian pyramid, Bert suggests that Ernie overcome his fear by singing. Ernie starts to sing "Rubber Duckie", and his statue doppelgänger joins in the song.

* In the ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' episode "[[Recap/FarscapeS02E19LiarsGunsAndMoneyANotSoSimplePlan Liars Guns And Money Part 1]]," John Crichton finds himself on the brink of a total breakdown as [[EnemyWithin Harvey]] begins exerting more control over him. However, he is eventually able to reinforce his self-control by loudly singing "The Star-Spangled Banner" until he's able to get away from the clone's objective. For good measure, he's also using this to [[IgnoreBySinging drown out]] the demands of the ''real'' Scorpius.

* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': "The Wounded", Capt. Ben Maxwell is reminiscing about the war with the Cardassians with Chief O'Brien, and recalls a young man who was killed during the war, who went by the nickname of "Stompy", and the song he used to sing. As Maxwell is preparing to surrender to Picard, he and O'Brien begin to sing that same song, ''The Minstrel Boy''.
* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': "Phantom Traveller", Dean hums Metallica to deal with his fear of flight.

[[folder:Puppet Shows]]
* ''Series/FraggleRock'': In "The Day The Music Died", Gobo is the last Fraggle awake, as the Ditzies, who give light to the subterranean areas where Fraggles live, are dying off. Gobo had been tasked with writing the Glory Song for a celebration but had been struggling with finding words or a melody. Now in the dark, he begins to sing to comfort himself, feeling himself, without the Ditzies' light, starting to slip away into a ForcedSleep with the rest of the Fraggles. Just as he begins to tentatively sing "Shine On, Shine On Me", beautiful sparks of light—the Ditzies—start to appear. He realizes that the Ditzies come from music, and he renews his efforts with more vigor. The other Fraggles start to wake up, joining in the song, until all of Fraggle Rock is restored. The other Fraggles hail Gobo as a hero, and the Storyteller exclaims that Gobo's just written the Glory Song.
* In a ''Series/SesameStreet'' sketch with Ernie and Bert in an Egyptian pyramid, Bert suggests that Ernie overcome his fear by singing. Ernie starts to sing "Rubber Duckie", and his statue doppelgänger joins in the song.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Video]]

* ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'': In "The One That Got Away", Sidney Huffman has his life ruined by Roger (unaware that Sidney's a SplitPersonality of his), and he's soon reduced to sobbing on the floor while singing [[WesternAnimation/MelodyTime "The Lord is Good To Me"]].
* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': During Brian's MushroomSamba in "Seahorse Seashell Party", he finds Peter being roasted alive over a fire rotisserie style by demons while singing "Wheels On The Bus."
* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'': Batman hums a jingle, which uses the tune to "Freres Jaques", to keep John Dee out of his head and keep himself calm and awake.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': In "Sleepless in Ponyville", after Scootaloo wakes up from her nightmare about the Olden Pony, she spends the rest of the night quietly humming to herself so she doesn't fall asleep again.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'': In "The Box", T.J. is forced to spend time in a "box" drawn on the blacktop. By the end of his sentence, he's in a TroubledFetalPosition while singing "This Old Man".

** In "Jail Break" [[spoiler:an imprisoned Sapphire seems to be doing this at first, singing her and Ruby's romantic leitmotif after they are separated for the first time in years. However, it's also implied she knows Ruby will escape, and is singing to help Ruby find her.]]
** In "Mindful Education", Garnet teaches Stevonnie, after Connie's guilt over hurting a boy at school causes their fusion to fall apart, the song "Here Comes a Thought" to help them be mindful of their negative thoughts and let them go. After Garnet sings this, showing how she's used it in the past for herself, Stevonnie repeats the verse to themself. [[note]] Doubles as real-life example since Creator/RebeccaSugar originally wrote the song for herself before putting it in the episode. [[/note]]
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Wayside}}'': Todd, while suffering SanitySlippage from being the [[StopWorshippingMe kindergartners' king]], sings "Patty Cake" in a TroubledFetalPosition by the time Myron finds him.

* ''Series/Supernatural'': "Phantom Traveller", Dean hums Metallica to deal with his fear of flight.

* "Series/Supernatural": "Phantom Traveller", Dean hums Metallica to deal with his fear of flight.

* ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'': In "The One That Got Away", Sidney Huffman has his life ruined by Roger (unaware that Sidney's a SplitPersonality of his), and he's soon reduced to sobbing on the floor while singing [[Disney/MelodyTime "The Lord is Good To Me"]].

* ''Series/FraggleRock'': In "The Day The Music Died", Gobo is the last Fraggle awake, as the Ditzies, who give light to the subterranean areas where Fraggles live, are dying off. Gobo had been tasked with writing the Glory Song for a celebration but had been struggling with finding words or a melody. Now in the dark, he begins to sing to comfort himself, feeling himself, without the Ditzies' light, starting to slip away into a ForcedSleep with the rest of the Fraggles. Just as he begins to tentatively sing, beautiful sparks of light—the Ditzies—start to appear. He realizes that the Ditzies come from music, and he renews his efforts with more vigor. The other Fraggles start to wake up, joining in the song, until all of Fraggle Rock is restored. The other Fraggles hail Gobo as a hero, and the Storyteller exclaims that Gobo's just written the Glory Song.

* ''Series/FraggleRock'': In "The Day The Music Died", Gobo is the last Fraggle awake, as the Ditzies, who give light to the subterranean areas where Fraggles live, are dying off. Gobo had been tasked with writing the Glory Song for a celebration but had been struggling with finding words or a melody. Now in the dark, he begins to sing to comfort himself, feeling himself, without the Ditzies' light, starting to slip away into a ForcedSleep with the rest of the Fraggles. Just as he begins to tentatively sing, beautiful sparks of light—the Ditzies—start to appear. He realizes that the Ditzies come from music, and he renews his efforts with more vigor. The other Fraggles start to wake up, joining in the song, until all of Fraggle Rock is restored. The other Fraggles hail him as a hero, and the Storyteller exclaims that Gobo's just written the Glory Song.

* ''Series/FraggleRock'': In "The Day The Music Died", Gobo is the last Fraggle awake, as the Ditzies, who give light to the subterranean areas where Fraggles live, are dying off. Gobo had been tasked with writing the Glory Song for a celebration but had been struggling with finding words or a melody. Now in the dark, he begins to sing to comfort himself, feeling himself, without the Ditzies' light, starting to slip away into a ForcedSleep with the rest of the Fraggles. Just as he begins to tentatively sing, beautiful sparks of light—the Ditzies—start to appear. He realizes that the Ditzies come from music, and he renews his efforts with more vigor, until all of Fraggle Rock is restored. The other Fraggles hail him as a hero and tell him that he's just written the Glory Song.

* ''Series/FraggleRock'': "The Day The Music Died" Gobo is the last Fraggle awake as the Ditzies, who give light to the subterranean areas where Fraggles live, are dying off. Gobo had been tasked with writing a song for a celebration, and he begins to sing it to comfort himself as he feels himself starting to slip away into slumber with the rest of the fraggles, when beautiful sparks of light begin to appear as he plays and sings. He realizes that the Ditzies come from music, and he renews his efforts with more vigor, until all of Fraggle Rock is restored.

* In a ''Series/SesameStreet'' sketch with Ernie and Bert in an Egyptian pyramid, Bert suggests that Ernie overcome his fear by singing. Ernie starts to sing "Rubber Duckie", and his statue doppelgänger joins in the song.

* ''WesternAnimation/FrozenII'': Anna sings "The Next Right Thing" to help herself overcome the depression caused by [[spoiler: Elsa's apparent death]]. Notably, this is not a happy song but rather one of grim resolve.

* ''Film/Cinderella2015'': Ella sings "Lavender's Blue" to herself, the song her parents used to sing to her, after coming to terms with [[spoiler: giving up her chance to be with Kit in order to protect him from her stepmother. This ends up being what secures her happy ending, since her mouse friends open the window so Kit, on the ground below, hears her singing and knows she is in the attic.]]

** In "Holding to the Ground", Trina tries to keep her head up while she struggles with the shifting notions of what she expected her life to be [[spoiler: and the hospitalization of her ex-husband's boyfriend from AIDS]]. This includes a DarkReprise of the "Everything will be all right" lyrics from "A Day in Falsettoland".

[[folder: Web Video]]

* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'': An example of this trope occurs in "[[Recap/SouthParkS2E15Spookyfish Spookyfish]]", in which Stan's mother tells herself that Stan is such a good boy when she's covering up the murders that she mistakenly believes he committed. But in some scenes she also sings a song - a corrupted version of "Hush Little Baby" that goes "Hush little baby, don't say a word. Momma's gonna buy you a mockin' bird. If that mockin' bird don't sing, Momma's gonna bury it in the backyard."

** In "Jail Break" [[spoiler: an imprisoned Sapphire seems to be doing this at first, singing her and Ruby's romantic leitmotif after they are separated for the first time in years. However, it's also implied she knows Ruby will escape, and is singing to help Ruby find her.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Wayside}}'': Todd,while suffering SanitySlippage from being the [[StopWorshippingMe kindergartners' king]], sings "Patty Cake" in a TroubledFetalPosition by the time Myron finds him.

** In "Jail Break" [[spoiler: an imprisoned Sapphire seems to be doing this at first, singing her and Ruby's romantic leitmotif after they are separated for the first time in years. However, it's also implied she knows Ruby will escape, and is singing to help Ruby fight her.]]

[[folder:Film - Animated]]

[[folder: Film -- Live-Action]]

* ''Film/{{Incendies}}:'' When she was imprisoned, Nawal sang to silence the sounds of the other inamtes being tortured. For this, she received the nickname "the Singing Woman".

** In "Jail Break" [[spoiler: an imprisoned Sapphire seems to be doing this at first, singing her and Ruby's romantic letimotif after they are separated for the first time in years. However, it's also implied she knows Ruby will escape, and is singing to help Ruby fight her.]]

* In the ''Series/StarskyAndHutch'' episode "Lady Blue," a woman's mind is destroyed by a "narco-hallucinogenic highball." She's reduced to singing "I know where my head is at, won't somebody find my body?" over and over again.

Could be a BravadoSong. May overlap with IronicNurseryTune. Compare MelancholyMusicalNumber.

* ''Film/TheAdventuresOfSherlockHolmesSmarterBrother'' As assailants close in on the carriage containing the protagonists, Jenny starts singing loudly and repetitively while Orville then begins listing off all the sightseeing locations in London alphabetically.

Indices: MusicTropes, SadnessTropes, MadnessTropes, TropesToCope