Music / Heartwarming

Alright, already
And we'll all float on, alright
Already, we'll all float on, alright
Don't worry, even if things end up a bit
too heavy, we'll all float on, alright

—Modest Mouse, "Float On"

Some music is sad. Some music is really, really frickin' awesome. And some music? Just makes you feel good inside... though tissues should be on hand just in case.

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Examples with their own pages

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Other Examples

"All That You Deserve" by Michael Bolton - "I wanna see you happy, even if it means without me"
While most of Marilyn Manson's body of work comes straight from the heart, The Last Day On Earth is perhaps one of the most heart-string tugging moments in it, both in it's Concept Album context and out of it.
The Finale "Lento/Ala breve" of Sergei Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto #3 may be the most uplifting piece of music ever composed.
From Gustav Holst's "The Planets": Most of "Saturn: The Bringer of Old Age" is dissonant and fearful, representing the fear of growing old and dying. The climax of the piece could very well represent the moment of death. then it dies down, as if the departed has resigned themselves to fading away, but then a peaceful tune comes in and swells, as if the departed sees the light at the end of the tunnel and enters it.
"Cryin' For Me" by Toby Keith...
Papa Roach's "No Matter What" if you understand the meaning behind it. Jacoby Shaddix wrote it for his wife, they've been together since they were seventeen. It's also for his bandmates, how much they've been through together.
In Legend's 'At Her Side'
How would I like to let her know I feel safe
At her side when it rains way too hard
"How to Believe" by Bridgit Mendler. This song is enough to make a person cry tears of joy, because it's one of those songs that gives us hope.
"Return to Innocence" by Enigma, especially the music video, is ridiculously uplifting.
'Lift U Up' by Gotthard literally saved my life.
All I wanna do is put a smile back there on your face
Just forget about the blues, 'cos we need you here to shake up the place
''What Happiness Means To Me'' by Amy Macdonald. It starts as a pretty heartwarming, somewhat tear jerking piano song... and then turns into total Awesome Music.
Three Doors Down "Citizen Soldier" is this and a good kind of Tearjerker. If all goes to hell, the Guard will have your back. The final line says it best "We'll always be ready, because we will always be there!" And the music video adds another layer onto it with "We are free, because of the brave."
- "Here Without You": "I'm here without you baby, but you're still on my lonely mind / I think about you, baby, and I dream about you all the time."
Animal Collective's album "Sung Tongs" which covers gentle, warm feelings of being a child, when everything in the world and nature is a miracle to you, when you get to meet beautiful friends, when you feel like you're unstoppable, and that warm and cozy feeling of loving people.
Neil Innes' "Something To Say" is mostly a cynical going-through about how everyone talks without doing anything because of all the different types of media. And then, towards the end...
I guess it all comes down to the survival of the strong
Nothing is all right, but nothing is all wrong
So remember when you're sitting with your newspapers so plain
The best things in life are the things you can't explain.
And there's something to be said for having something to say
Each modern stipendium or dogma has its day
Bittersweet, bad or good
Overstated, Understood
There's something to be said for having something to say.
Just try and listen to the JCB Song by Nizlopi without bawling happy tears and hugging your dad. It's just so sweet and nostalgic a- oh, sorry, I have something in my eye...
Anything From the Prog rock band Colonel Claypool's Bucket of Bernie Brains can be totally Kick Ass, But The Instrumental "Elephant Ghost" is just jazzy and relaxing enough.
"Now And Forever" by Richard Marx
"Sing. Sing a song..."
"Song for Ten" from the Doctor Who Soundtrack
Chris Rice's "Lemonade"
"We All Stand Together" by Paul McCartney. I'll get back to you once my eyes stop leaking...
The Dragon's Heartbeat , by Randy Edelman, from Dragon The Bruce Lee Story. Brings hope and warmth to the heart like no other musical motiff can, giving one the courage to go out and take on the world.
Beyonce's performance of Halo to a young girl with leukemia in Sydney. The piano-only arrangement, Beyonce's in-tune better-than-studio vocals, and "Chelsey I can feel your halo" defines Heartwarming Moments. Also doubles as Tear Jerker as evidenced by the audience both in Sydney and around the world.
Green Day's "Good Riddance".
- And "Wake Me Up When September Ends"
- "Last of the American Girls" could also count as this, saying as, rumor has it (according to Mike Dirnt, at least) that Billie Joe Armstrong wrote it about his wife Adrienne. And, even without considering that, the song is still very sweet in how simply amazing this guy thinks that this girl is
YUI's I Remember You is one on three different levels. The first is as a counterpart to her song Goodbye Days. Both songs are from the points of view of characters of the movie YUI starred in, Taiyou no Uta. I Remember You is written from Fujishiro Koji's perspective. The second level is the lyrics, which are amazing. And the third is the song itself, how longing and plaintive it sounds, and the utter heartwarmingness of the music.
"Concerning Hobbits" by Howard Shore from The Lord of the Rings. Nothing emphasizes what a lovely place Hobbiton is to grow up and grow old in than this motif.
- Also, the ending of The Return of the King: Into the West
  - Considering that "Into the West" was written in honor of a 17-year-old victim of bone cancer, this one also doubles as a Tear Jerker.
"Natsukage" from the Anime series Air.
"Ganbare!! Teikoku Kagekidan!!", the unapologetically idealistic and heroic battle theme from the Sakura Wars video game series.
Stan Bush's The Touch, the uplifting and inspiring theme song of Optimus Prime from The Transformers: The Movie.
"Arrival To Earth" from the Transformers Film Series.
- Not to downplay Steve Jablonsky's work, but Linkin Park gives us Iridescent at the end of Transformers: Dark of the Moon.
Back to the Future
- From Back to the Future Part III, we have "Doc's Theme".
- Likewise, from the first film, "Earth Angel". It's the sweeping orchestral finale that really makes it great.
The song "This Will Be Our Year" is perfect for a quick W.A.F.F.. The warmth of your smile / Smile for me, little one / And this will be our year / Took a long time to come.
Kamelot's song Don't You Cry, written by guitarist Thomas Youngblood in memory of his dad, who passed away while Thomas was very young. Just...oh my god.
Don't you cry, or suffer over me
I will be waiting for you
Don't you cry, angels never fade away
I will be watching over you, see you through
- Love You to Death of the love you through adversity and painful situations, the music makes it that much better. Soft but with a punch!
"True Love Waits", by Radiohead, is a more bittersweet experience, but so very touching... "I'll drown my beliefs/To have you be in peace/I'll dress like a mess(?)/And wash your swollen feet/True love's/Gonna wait/Don't wait/". It doesn't hurt that Thom is like some kind of disaffected, cynical, scruffy, vision-impaired teddy bear, or something.
- Also "Worrywort", with features some of the most uplifting lyrics in any Radiohead song: "There's no use dwelling on (x2)/ It's such a beautiful day (x2)/ Find yourself a moment / And go and get some rest". The jolly accompanying synth contributes to it being a rare moment of sunshine in the mostly angsty Radiohead catalogue.
"Flim" by Aphex Twin. And this is the song that directly follows "Come to Daddy, Pappy mix" on the Come to Daddy EP.
- "Avril 14th" trumps it. esp when considering some of his more popular, slightly downbeat works...
Jonathan Coulton's song "You Ruined Everything".
- Oh my God, "I'm Your Moon". The sweetest, most sniffle-inducing song about cosmic taxonomy ever written.
- Jonathan Coulton just seems to be good at this in general. Check out "Code Monkey." Dogged Nice Guy indeed:
  Code Monkey very simple man
  With big warm fuzzy secret heart:
  Code Monkey like you!
- The final verse of "My Beige Bear."
- RE: Your Brains.
  - A group of people having fun and singing it along with the artist at a live performance? Nothing can beat that.
The song Time We Had by the Mother Hips.
Glaring Dream by Kinya Kotani is sososo heartwarming, especially when heard in context in Gravitation. You listen to it at the end of every episode and register it detachedly as a good song, and then the last episode you realize what it really is and consider your heart warmed.
Vitamin C's "Graduation song".
It's impossible to listen to this song without tearing up.
Keep Fishin' by Weezer. Come on! It's the Muppets! Even Rivers Cuomo is laughing!
- also The Angel and the One, Dreamin', and definitely Only in Dreams.
- Who could forget "If You're Wondering If I Want You To (I Want You To)"? That song is pure smiles. "Your mom cooked meatloaf even though I don't eat meat. I dug you so much I took some for the team..."
The cover of "Show Must Go On" with Elton John and the surviving members of Queen, a loving tribute to Freddie Mercury.
Jim Croce's "Time in a Bottle" is a W.A.F.F..
- Also, "I'll Have to Say I Love You in a Song".
Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring". Whether it's played by a German doctor in a film set at the onset of WWII,or at the end of Gran Turismo 4.
The music video for "Everyday" by The Dave Matthew's Band.
- "Lie in Our Graves" is beautiful. There's nothing gloomy or depressing about it. It's a song about life in death.
"It's Your World Now" by The Eagles. Somehow manages to be heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time.
Yesterday by Atmosphere definitely qualifies. * cries manly tears*
If you have children, sing Everything Possible to them every night. You will change the world.
"Love Don't Need a Reason" is beautiful anyway, but was particularly poignant when the AIDS crisis was at its peak and the disease was inevitably fatal.
The Righteous Brothers' cover of "Unchained Melody".
The entire UK video for "All These Things That I've Done" by the Killers is this, devoid of Tear Jerking. Here, watch.
"Midnight Train to Georgia" by Gladys Knight and the Pips.
"Cinderella" by Steven Curtis Chapman. The three verses are three vignettes of a father dancing with his 'Cinderella' and musing on the inevitability of her growing up and leaving home: 'So I will dance with Cinderella/while she is here in my arms/'Cause I know something the prince never knew... All too soon the clock will strike midnight/And she'll be gone.'
- This is especially tragic considering the death of his daughter, about whom the song was written.
- "Heaven is the Place" is also written about said daughter.
- "Butterfly Kisses". Also a major Tear Jerker.
- "I Loved Her First".
- "With Hope", inspired by the death of the three-year-old daughter of a family friend in a drunk-driving car crash and a mass shooting at his high school alma mater in Kentucky. The original track opens with a recording of the little girl singing "Jesus Loves Me".
U2. "40". That is all.
- The story behind "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own" makes one line and moment poignant — it's Bono's elegy for his father, who was always a big opera fan. During the line "Can you hear me when I sing/You're the reason the opera's in me," Bono hits this Beyond the Impossible high note — oh, and by the way, his father was a tenor.
- The Sweetest Thing. A completely adorable little song written as an apology to Bono's wife Ali after he missed her birthday while recording The Joshua Tree. Awww.
- The 12-minute version of "Bad" in the 1985 Live Aid concert. Why so long, you ask? Halfway through the song, Bono noticed a teenage girl being pinned against the railings, and is in danger of getting crushed. He notified the audience and the security, who pulled her out and into the front of the whole audience, where he hugged the young lady and danced along to the song with her for a while. The way this matches up with the music makes it an incredibly beautifully surreal moment that helped define the concert and powered their rise to superstardom.
- Where the Streets Have No Name, for all its lyrical beauty, manages to powerfully invoke this trope without a single word with one of the most gorgeously uplifting intros ever written.
Dan Fogelberg's "Run for the Roses", a sweet, pretty ballad about the life of a Kentucky Derby racehorse definitely causes W.A.F.F.: "It's the chance of a lifetime in a lifetime of chance/And it's high time you joined in the dance..."
- It's sweet and heartwarming until you watch two horses in three years go down in the Triple Crown races (Barbaro in the 2006 Preakness, and Eight Belles in the 2008 Derby), and then you bawl every time you hear it.
- Speaking of Dan Fogelberg, I met my old lover in the grocery store, the snow was falling Christmas Eve...
- Dan Fogelberg's love songs are very heartwarming, but the most heartwarming would have to be, "Sometimes a Song", dedicated to his wife, now widow, Jean Marie Mayer. She allowed this song to be posthumously released in 2009.
Most James Bond themes tend to be more spectacular than moving, but Carly Simon's "Nobody Does It Better" from The Spy Who Loved Me is guaranteed to give you a warm and fuzzy feeling inside.
The finale of the Les Misérables 10th Anniversary Concert, when the entire cast plus 17 different Valjeans from around the world sing One Day More and go a cappella for the final "One more dawn...one more day...one day more".
- View it here. And - yes - that's Chairman Kaga playing a Japanese Jean Valjean.
"Fix You" by Coldplay, which apparently Chris Martin wrote for his wife when her father died.
- And the cover from the documentary Young@Heart is even better, especially if you know the story that leads up to it.
- Most of Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends is this, but the anthemic ending of "Death And All His Friends" takes the cake.
  - A word of advice: Don't listen to this song while reading through the Real Life Heartwarming entries. I made the mistake of having the song on repeat, and the lyrics I had once perceived as pessimistic and saying "We're all going to die some day" turned into the most glorious example of "But this life has so many lovely things within it, why would I ever want to leave?"
- And "Yellow". Just... Yellow.
  - Not to take anything from Coldplay's version, but Straight No Chaser (an a cappella group) does a cover of "Fix You", and it's just as haunting and powerful as the original.
- "Christmas Lights" is a 'Yuletide heartbreak' story: despite losing his love, the protagonist wishes the world "May all your troubles soon be gone".
The Galaxy Express 999 opening song. Apparently it's about traveling to find the blue bird of happiness.
Kelly Willis' "Reason to Believe" which I can only assume was written after the birth of her first child.
"Do you think I would leave you dying, when there's room on my horse for two?"
Apocalyptica's Farewell feels more like a re-encounter. An amazingly epic, "just floated down from heaven to help again" re-encounter.
Ayreon's Come Back To Me - especially the The Human Equation album version, Day Seven: Hope, in which Best Friend talks to the coma-struck Me and reminds him of their happiness when they were young. Especially touching if you remember Me stabbed him in the back. If that doesn't make you go 'Awwwww...', you are not human. I mean, don't you wish YOUR best friend was telling you 'Deep down inside I think you know you are free, come back to me' while you were in coma?
- The "Can you see the fire in their eyes..." part of "Unnatural Selection" in 01011001. Sure, the song is about humans destroying Earth and themselves and even that part of the song shows the Forevers getting too attached to humanity and interfering too much, but dammit, humans aren't all bastards.
"Better Days", by Goo Goo Dolls — "I wish everyone was loved tonight/ and someone would stop this endless fight/ 'Cause tonight's the night the world begins again..."
- And you can't not mention "Iris" here. I've give up forever to touch you/ 'cause I know that you feel me somehow/ You're the closest to Heaven that I'll ever be/ and I don't want to go home right now.
- In its own way, "Big Machine". Yes, it's basically a song about unrequited love, but it's still amazing:
I'm torn in pieces
I'm blind and waiting
For my heart is reeling
I'm blind and waiting for you
I'm blind and waiting for you
And I can't believe it's coming true.
- John Rzeznik's song "Always Know Where You Are".
- Black Balloon in its own strange way; most of the song is depressing and about someone's addictions ripping their life apart, but the end is surprisingly sweet.
I'll go on now
And lead you home and
I'll become what you became to me
- Also, their cover of Supertramp's Give A Little Bit.
"Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head".
"Superman Theme" The melody is so heartwarming that it doesn't need any such silly things as lyrics.
Jack Johnson's "Upside Down", which was part of the soundtrack for the Curious George movie.
"Ghost Of Corporate Future" by Regina Spektor. It's just such a funny, loving, humanistic song. "The world is everlasting, it's coming, and its going..."
- Her cover of Real Love.
- "On The Radio"...
  This is how it works, you're young until you're not
  You love until you don't, you try until you can't
  You laugh until you cry, you cry until you laugh
  And everyone must breathe until their dying breath
  - No, this is how it works
  You peer inside yourself
  You take the things you like
  And try to love the things you took
  And then you take that love you made
  And stick it into some
  Someone else's heart
  Pumping someone else's blood
"Young At Heart", best performed by Frank Sinatra.
Cat Power's version of "Sea of Love."
Pretty much all of the Concert for George would qualify, there are so many lovely moments.
- Ravi Shankar's beautiful introduction.
- Paul McCartney's version of "Something" on the ukelele.
- And of course, the finale, I'll See You in My Dreams, when the rose petals start to fall.
- If you watch closely, there are a few moments where one musician or another steals a glance at George's son Dhani, who's also playing with them — and who looks so much like George it's eerie — and they choke up for a second and have to turn away.
On a related note: "Here Comes the Sun". Little darling, the smile's returning to their faces...
They Might Be Giants gets a song like this: "Another First Kiss,".
You could tell me we belong together,
And I could tell you you belong with me.
But we've run out of things to say,
And we'll be happy anyway, so—
How 'bout another first kiss?
"Float On" by Ben Lee
- A different song, but "Float On" by Modest Mouse. Bad things happen, but what the hell! Life keeps going. "And we'll all float on, all right..."
"You Are the Moon" by the Hush Sound is a touchingly beautiful song that sounds like (I'm not sure) someone telling another person that yes, they are imperfect, but they are beautiful anyway and they should see that.
David Cook's "Permanent". Doubles as a Tear Jerker as it was witten about his older brother who had brain cancer and eventually died. The song is about watching his brother suffer. At one point he even says he wanted to take his place so his brother wouldn't have to suffer.
I know he's living in hell every single day.
And so I ask "Oh God, is there some way for me to take his place?"
When they say it's all touch and go
I wish I could make it go away
Blind Guardian's "The Bard's Song (In the Forest)" is the Heartwarming live - everyone singing about how they'll go their separate ways the next day, but "the bard's songs will remain." Even the random The Lord of the Rings reference is sort of perfect, given how geeky the band and most of their fans are.
Badly Drawn Boy, "Year of the Rat". * sniff*
- Almost the whole of that man's corpus. Even the songs that are depressing have something fundamentally heartwarming underneath that always just ends up being a crowning moment of humanity.
The opening theme for the 2001 anime adaptation of Fruits Basket, For Fruits Basket. It changes into a Tear Jerker not only when you remember all the sad moments in the series... but also when you're reminded that that the singer, Ritsuko Okazaki, passed away of cancer some years ago.
- In that same mold, both the OP and ED for Princess Tutu, also beautiful moving pieces, also has really sad moments during the series, and were also sung by the tragically late Ritsuko Okazaki.
"The Silence" by Gamma Ray is pure, unadulterated essence of heartwarming.
Praan by Garry Schyman, a song mostly known for its appearance in a "Where The Hell Is Matt?" video. The song alone is gorgeous.
- And the translation from Bengali is equally beautiful: "I feel my limbs are made glorious by the touch of this world of life. And my pride is from the life-throb of ages dancing in my blood this moment".
Yeah, it's '80s pop/rock schmaltz, whatever. Anyone who doesn't like Rod Stewart's Forever Young...
But whatever road you choose
I'm right behind you, win or lose
- ...can eat it.
- And for that matter, Faith of the Heart.
For that matter, Alphaville's Forever Young is halfway between this and Tear Jerker. Especially the horn solo at the end.
- Even more so when played as the Last Dance at your 20th high school reunion, and the song first came out just around the time you graduated.
Before My Time, as performed by the inimitable Johnny Cash. Beautiful.
- Sue and his father's reconciliation from A Boy Named Sue.
Something about The Kinks' "Waterloo Sunset"... man.
Vienna Teng's "Lullaby for a Stormy Night" is almost sweet enough to be a happy Tear Jerker
- "Italian Greyhound", "Anna Rose", "Harbor", and "City Hall". ("Ten years waitin' for this moment of fate when we say the words and sign our names...")
- St. Stephen's Cross by Vienna Teng builds its way to a Heartwarming Moment.
They were there the night the wall was drowned
In the surging of that tidal crowd:
An old world made new
On the same holy ground.
She found him standing, looking lost
In the shadow of St. Stephen's cross,
And he closed his eyes and heard no sound
But her breathing warm against his mouth.
Bebo Norman's "Into the Day" is very meaningful, both on a general and, to many listeners, on a personal level.
"Beauty and the Beast" from from the movie of the same title. You don't even need to have seen the movie, man! If this song doesn't make you feel all squishy inside, with Angela Lansbury singing about The Power of Love and—well...
The guitarist Buckethead recorded an entire album (Colma) of soothing music so his mother had something nice to listen to whilst recovering from colon cancer.
- Made even heartwarming due to Buckethead's normal fare - he's well known for his experimental, weird, and sometimes downright terrifying music, as well as his incredible shredding guitar solos. Hardly soothing. He then completely breaks his style to make a calm, beautiful album for his mom. Aww.
40 Jewish Children and 40 Arabic Children singing John Lennon's "Imagine."
- Also, John Lennon's 'Beautiful Boy' in and of itself, especially when you know that Lennon was killed when Sean was five.
Goodnight, Sean... see you in the morning.
Westlife's version of "You Raise Me Up".
I'm Yours, by Jason Mraz. A love song that becomes a love song to all of humanity. And everyone ALWAYS sings along.
- And "Song For A Friend", which is a love letter to his Heterosexual Life Partner. Try not to feel awesome about yourself when you listen to it, especially the end.
- Try this version.
A Whole New World. It's about love. And freedom. And sex.
"Coming Home"-The 88. By the end of the song, I can't help but sing along.
- They spent the budget to their music video giving out free ice cream and gasoline. Doesn't get much more heartwarming than that.
"You Are the Best Thing"-Ray LaMontagne
And I think to myself...what a wonderful world...
Gustav Holst's "Jupiter, Bringer of Jollity." Especially the string soli from 3:07 to 4:55.
Redgum's A Walk in the Light Green, as well as "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda". You don't have to be an Aussie or a vet to get choked up for those guys.
- How can "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda" be described as a CMoH? It's one of the greatest Tear Jerker songs there is!
"Do You Realize??" by The Flaming Lips manages to be both the saddest and happiest song in the world. Although it's a song about the inevitably of death, it's also about facing up to this and enjoying the good times with friends.
"Psalm", by Hey Rosetta never fails to make my heart clench. "And the air goes into your lungs, and around in your heart and on through your blood."
Making Love Out of Nothing At All - it may be a Silly Love Song but the power in his voice, and the lyrics makes it sound like someone who is so sure and self-reliant realizes there is someone he needs, that he's in love. Aaaw
In Count Zero's Did You Decide Yet, a song about a woman trapped in an abusive relationship, at the very end, she gets a chance to free herself from his abuse, and Peter whispers "you make a wrong move, you don't lose/ but if your game is true, you make the right move, and you'll win/ so let the games begin."
How it took this long not to mention We Are The World I do not know. It definitely belongs here, even when you ignore the cause of the all star union.
Connie Talbot. YouTube her. Try not to melt, please, you'll make a mess.
The Beach Boys "Forever": "If every word I say could make you laugh, I'd talk forever..."
- How about "Surfer Girl"? "Don't Worry Baby"? "God Only Knows"? "In My Room"?
this cover of "Stand By Me" done by street musicians from around the world.
The playing of "Land of Hope and Glory" on the Last Night of The Proms, specifically when they do a crowd shot and you see people happily waving flags from dozens of different countries.
"She Will Be Loved" by Maroon 5. I don't mind standing every day/out on your corner in the pouring rain/look for the girl with the broken smile/ask her if she wants to stay a while". Awww.
"So Beautiful" by Darren Hayes.
"And if all the world was perfect
I would only ever want to see your scars..."
Oddly enough, "Morgenstern" by Rammstein. Yes, it's German industrial rock. Yes, Till Lindemann sounds like he's on a diet of cigarettes and gravel. Yes, the lyrics can be loosely summarized as "this woman is so ugly." But then he reaches the last lines...
"And the star will shine
On this love of mine;
Warms the breast and shakes me
Where life is beating,
To see with the heart
How beautiful she is."
- "Seemann". That song just moves something inside.
- And "Ohne Dich" and Till and Texas' Sharleen Spiteri's duet on "Stirb Nicht Vor Mir (Don't Die Before I Do)".
- On a more general note, the reason why the band has maintained the same exact lineup since its formation in 1994 is because of their close friendship and their prioritizing each others' well-being over industry pressure to put out a new album or go on tour, and have even stated that if any of them quit or die, the band will break up permanently. As Richard put it:
"We never give a shit about the people who think we need to get a record out every two years and that's one of the reasons why we're still together with the same lineup. We take care of each other, and if somebody needs to take the time off or do something else, we listen."
"I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Misérables, as sung by Susan Boyle, on Britain's Got Talent.
- Or by Ruthie Crenshall in the Tenth Anniversary concert. The way her voice cracks at "...but he was gone when Autumn came!" ...*sniff* ...
- Also from Les Misérables, "Who Am I?" Jean Valjean has to choose between remaining the mayor of a town and doing the right thing. Anyone who bothered to note what page this is can guess what he chooses.
"Ladies and gentlemen of the class of '97, wear sunscreen. If I could offer you one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long term benefits of sunscreen has been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience..."
"The Dream of a Normal Death" by Murray Gold, played over a montage of the happy life with Joan that the Doctor is rejecting in order to stop the Family of Blood.
- Although subverted when used to underscore the montage of characters who died in the Doctor's name in "Journey's End"...
It's curious just how many of these correspond with tearjerkers.
On the Bruce Springsteen album "Live 1975-1985" is an eleven minute live track of one of Springsteen's most famous and beautiful songs, "The River". The first five minutes of the track are Springsteen talking about his difficult relationship with his father as a teenager, including how his father told him at one time that he couldn't wait for the army to get him (Bruce), so they would "Make a man out of you." He then talks about how when he got his draft notice for the Vietnam War, he hid it from his parents and disappeared with his friends for several days before going to take his physical. After failing the physical^notehe'd had a concussion in a motorcycle accident when he was 17, plus he filled out the forms in a way that suggested he might be gay; his long hair and his 'attitude' were probably also factors. At this time, some recruitment officials were actually looking for excuses to dismiss draftees; if you leaned against a wall or seemed tired, they would write you out for having 'fainting spells'., Springsteen returned home to find his worried parents waiting for him. When he told his parents where he'd been, and that the army hadn't taken him, his father only replied "That's good." Springsteen then jumps into an incredibly soulful and emotional performance of "The River." DAMN.
- "Secret Garden" is another beautiful example of the Boss's work.
- "Terry's Song" is the hidden 12th track on the album "Magic." It was written the day before the memorial service of Terry Magovern, who was a close friend and personal assistant of Bruce Springsteen. Obviously, it doubles as a Tear Jerker, but the sheer depth of emotion will bring a tear to your eye and make you glad it's there. "Love is a power greater than death/ just like the songs and stories told/ and when she built you, brother/ she broke the mold"
"I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" by The Proclaimers will make any listener feel all warm and fuzzy.
And if I grow old/well I know I'm gonna be/I'm gonna be the man who's growing old with you/And I would walk 500 miles...
- Especially Alexander Rybak's cover.
- On the subject of the Proclaimers, the no less catchy^note "Let's Get Married" and "I'm On My Way" also belong here.
Utada Hikaru's song Final Distance can be heartwarming (when translated, the lyrics are basically about coming to accept and embrace the distance between people), but the story behind the song is even more so. Utada first released Distance on her album of the same name. She had planned to release it as a single, but then heard about Rena Yamashita, a 6-year-old girl who was killed in a school stabbing rampage. Rena previously had won an essay competition by writing about how she wanted to be a singer like Utada. Utada rearranged Distance into a ballad and called it Final Distance, and released it as a single instead.
Lifehouse's ''First Time'''s music video had me feeling all warm and fuzzy after watching all the couples interacting in it.
- "Breathing":
Cause I am hanging on every word you say
And even if you don't want to speak tonight
That's alright, alright with me
Cause I want nothing more than to sit
Outside Heaven's door and listen to you breathing
That's where I want to be
- Hanging by a Moment.
I'm falling even more in love with you
Letting go of all I've held on to
I'm standing here until you make me move
Just hanging by a moment here with you
Is it overexposed? Sure, maybe. But Elton John's "Your Song" deserves it:
I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind
That I've put down in words...
How wonderful life is, now you're in the world.
- Also "Can you Feel The Love Tonight". It's enough to make kings and vagabonds/Believe the very best...
"Tie a Yellow Ribbon 'Round the Old Oak Tree" by Dawn. It's about a someone coming home to their loved one after "doing time" and asking their lover to tie a yellow ribbon around the oak tree by their home if they still want them to come back:
Now the whole damn bus is cheering
And I can't believe I see
A hundred yellow ribbons round the old oak tree
"Sleeps with Butterflies" By Tori Amos. A song about a girl's daydream and faith with her lover.
This combination of a stop-motion animation and a song by Tool is the first combination of a crowning moment of heartwarming and nightmare fuel I have seen. I guess the mileage may vary then.
Hearing the chorus of "Bring The Boys Back Home" sung by the Military Orchestra of the Soviet Army, during Pink Floyd's Roger Waters' legendary 1990 Berlin Wall concert, was a Heartwarming Moment Of International Harmony that wonderfully captured the worldwide relief at the end of the Cold War.
- More CMOH's for Waters include "Every Stranger's Eyes" from The Pros And Cons Of Hitchhiking...
- "The Tide Is Turning", from Radio KAOS...
- And "Each Small Candle" from his limited edition Flickering Flame Greatest Hits Album.
Summertime by Will Smith. When he originally recorded it, he said that even the most hardcore, most gangsta of rappers couldn't say anything negative about it.
"Love Is Not A Fight", by Warren Barfield, AKA the unofficial theme song of Fireproof.
Love is a shelter in a raging storm
Love is a peace in the middle of a war
And if we try to leave
May God send angels to guard the door
No love is not a fight
But it's something worth fighting for
Nick Cave: The Ship Song and Into My Arms.
The Books "Smells Like Content"
Dear Mama by 2pac.
In Nickelback's music video of "Come For You", a daughter went off with her boyfriend, one who her father doesn't approve of. As he's eating dinner alone, you can see that he's worried and anxious about his daughter. Then, we see that the boyfriend is trying to kissing the daughter. When she pushes him away and tells him to stop, he doesn't listen and continues, much more aggressively. In her desperation, the daughter quickly text-messages to her father, typing only the numbers "77". The father gets the message and is confused for a moment, until he glances at a picture of him and his daughter in their baseball uniforms, the two separate 7s on their shirts making "77". Quickly, knowing that his daughter is in trouble, the father quickly rushes out of the house to find his daughter. And also her message allows him to find her in a baseball field. Just in turn to grab her boyfriend off of her and give him a good punch for messing with his daughter. Then both father and daughter head back together home.
- Nickelback's video clips tend to tread this territory a lot. Listen to the lyrics in Savin' Me and watch in the video clip when the man rescues the girl. Or the final seconds in the video clip in Far Away, when the firefighter returns to his wife. You wouldn't think you could rely on Nickelback for Crowning Moments of Heartwarming, but they're good for those.
- Never Gonna Be Alone... just Never Gonna Be Alone.
Five Iron Frenzy's last ever performance of Handbook for the Sellout. Reese, the lead vocalist, sticks the microphone into the audience during every live performance of this particular song and they sing the first stanza. While most live recordings you can't make out much, this particular show... you could hear every last person, shouting their hearts out to a song by a band that, after that night, would no longer be together.
Rascal Flatts' song "Skin (Sarabeth)" is quite heartwarming. Girl discovers she has cancer, afraid to go to the prom because of the treatment, boyfriend comes to pick girl up, and she discovers he shaved his head to show it doesn't matter to him...makes me misty every time.
- Mention Rascal Flatts without mentioning American Living? It's absolutely impossible to listen to this song without feeling all light and happy, trust me.
Falling Slowly by Glen Hansard never fails to give me the fuzzies.
'The Warrior Inside' by Dragonforce. Quite cheesy but the chorus just makes me warm and fuzzy.
Not Perfect by Tim Minchin.
This is my Earth
And I live in it
It's one third dirt
And two thirds water
And it rotates and revolves through space
At rather an impressive pace
And never even messes up my hair
And here's the really weird thing
The force created by its spin
Is the force that stops the chaos flooding in
- White Wine in the Sun.
The video to Elvis Costello's Veronica, especially his commentary on her at the end.
Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors". Also "Time After Time", which manages to express endless love and devotion through the simplest words.
If you're lost you can look and you will find me
Time after time
If you fall I will catch you, I will be waiting
Time after time
'Love Story' by Taylor Swift
And I said,
"Romeo save me - I've been feeling so alone.
I keep waiting for you but you never come.
Is this in my head? I don't know what to think-"
He knelt to the ground and pulled out a ring and said,
"Marry me, Juliet - you'll never have to be alone.
I love you and that's all I really know.
I talked to your dad - go pick out a white dress;
It's a love story - baby just say 'Yes.'"
- This video involving two Sonic fan characters happens to use Love Story as their song, and I guarantee this will leave you tearing up slightly.
- The video for You Belong With Me.
- There's also "Tied Together With a Smile" written about a childhood friend who was anorexic.
  Hold on, baby you're losin' it
  The water's high. You're jumping into it
  And letin' go, And no one knows
  That you cry, but you don't tell anyone
  That you might not be the golden one
  And you're tied together with a smile, but you're coming undone.
- I was watching the video for "Mine" and got good chills on the last chorus. It may be fairytale cliche, but it was just so sweet.
  I remember how we felt sittinï¿½ by the water.
- How had Mary's Song not been mentioned?
  A few years had gone and come around, we were sitting at our favorite spots in town, and you looked at me, got down on one knee...
  - And again at the end:
    ''Well, I'll be 87, you'll be 89, I'll still look at you like the stars that shine in the sky, oh, my, my, my...""
And there's also the song "We'll Be There" from the 4Kids dub of Yu-Gi-Oh!. Despite mediocre dubbing, the songs are awesome, and "We'll Be There" easily leaves a warm feeling in your heart.
When its time to stand the test
I know you'll shine above the rest
When it's time to find your way
We'll be there
- "No Matter What" also qualifies.
  No matter what - Let the games begin
  No matter what - May the best man win
  No matter what - We're in this together
  No matter what - We'll be friends forever
These two verses from Something For Nothing by Rush:
What you own is your own kingdom;
What you do is your own glory;
What you love is your own power;
How you live is your own story.
In you head is the answer;
Let it guide you along.
Let your heart be the anchor
And the beat of your song.
- Or from the Spirit of Radio
"Begin the day with a friendly voice/A companion unobtrusive"
- This verse from "Everyday Glory:"
If the future's looking dark, we're the ones who have to shine
If there's no one in control, we're the ones who draw the line
Though we live in trying times, we're the ones who have to try
Though we know that time has wings, we're the ones who have to fly.
- "Closer To The Heart". It is nothing more than a simple message asking people to put aside their differences and work together for a better future.
"Until I Met You'' by The Sunstreak is this and Awesome Music combined.
"I Still Believe (In Love)" by Hayden Panettiere
Oh I still believe in destiny
That you and I were meant to be
I still wish on the stars as they fall from above
cause I still believe, believe in love.
"Sweet Baby James"-James Taylor particularly the performance w/ Yo-Yo Ma during the 2003 Grammys. Even more Heartwarming when you remember that he wrote this song as a lullaby for his newborn nephew (at the time).
"Mais Que Nada" was covered by The Black Eyed Peas, and like all covers you can argue whether the original was better or not. But then there's the music video, which begins with a young Sergio Mendes in an airy room, at his piano, playing the quiet and subtle intro bars. The rhythm then kicks in, and we're shown a vibrant Samba party, with the Black Eyed Peas singing and playing on stage and Mendes playing the piano and singing throughout the rest of the video. The Heartwarming itself comes at the very end of the video - we're back to Mendes in the white airy room (with palm trees and a beach in the background) as he's reading a newspaper with the headline "Mas Que Nada: Timeless!". He gets up, satisfied, takes his straw fedora, and walks off screen. "Homage Homage Homage", indeed!
The very first Naruto ending, Wind. You know the one.
"Shine", by Take That (Band).
Stop (Stop!)
Bein' so hard on yourself;
It's not good for your health!
I know that you can change,
So clear your head and come round.
You only have to open your eyes,
You might just get a big surprise!
And it might feel good,
And you might want to smile, smile, smile!
Tokio Hotel's occasionally-overlooked "By Your Side." It's about acknowledging a rough situation, and telling the girl You Are Not Alone:
Turn around
I am here
If you want it's me you'll see
Doesn't count
Far or near
I can hold you when you reach for me.
''Hawaii'' by Mew. Just what about this song makes it so beautifully uplifting? The vibraphones and samba rhythms? Quite possibly. The lyrics - for example: "Good luck trying to be someone, If you make it then you've won, You'll grow up to be someone"? Certainly. But best of all is the chorus - as soon as the "Aaaaaahs" comes in with the swirling synths, and the lead singer declares "And we all make mistakes once in a while!".
Elvis Presley had a few good songs for this, but one of his best was "Can't Help Falling in Love."
Most certainly also a Tear Jerker, but this video for Tom Smith's "A Boy and His Frog" helps remind me so perfectly of everything amazing about the late Jim Henson that... Just yeah. I already mentioned it but don't forget to have tissues ready.
- Hell, even Something*Positive agrees with you. Yes, that Something Positive
- On the same note, Big Bird's performance of "It's Not Easy Being Green" at Henson's memorial provides a combined moment of heartwarming and heartbreak.
- And as long as I'm adding the other two, every single version of The Rainbow Connection also qualifies.
"I hold you and know that we are free...". Especially knowing how stories like this usually end in other Sonata Arctica songs.
- And especially since the rest of the album is really depressing.
"Echoes" by Set Your Goals is "What doesn't kill you makes stronger" set to music in the most awesome way possible.
"All the Small Things" by Blink 182, especially the second verse:
Late night, come home
Work sucks, I know
She left me roses by the stairs
Surprises let me know she cares
Sergei Rachmaninov's 3rd piano Concerto, third movement "Finale Ala Breve", possibly the most uplifting piece of music ever composed, especially after the second movement.
'Some People Change' by Montgomery Gentry; people can-and do-make the right choice when it really matters.
- Something To Be Proud Of deserves a mention.
Take That's Rule the World - especially since it's inspired by the movie Stardust, also a Heartwarming Moment on its own.
Foreword, by VNV Nation. Among all their songs about destruction, pain, and loneliness, there's a challenge to get out there and do something about it:
This is your world. These are your people. You can live for yourself today, or help build tomorrow for everyone.
As I Lay Me Down by Sophie B. Hawkins. Someone so completely in love that even birdsong sounds like a hymn about her faraway sweetheart? D'awwwwwwww.
When Tomorrow Comes, by the Eurythmics. The singer's lover sleeps peacefully in her arms as she promises: "In this big, scary, chaotic world, I will always be there for you".
Explosions in the Sky's Your Hand In Mine manages this without lyrics. (so do most of their songs, really)
"Chiquitita" by ABBA:
Chiquitita you and I know
how the heartaches come and they go
and the scars they're leaving
You'll be dancing once again
and the pain will end
you will have no time for grieving
Chiquitita you and I cry
but the sun is still in the sky
and shining above you
let me hear you sing once more
like you did before
sing a new song Chiquitita
- Ditto "The Way Old Friends Do", a song about The Power of Friendship performed as an encore at their '79 concerts and released on the Super Trouper album.
Times of joy and times of sorrow
We will always see it through
Oh, I don't care what comes tomorrow
We can face it together the way old friends do
We can face it together the way old friends do
People around the entire world sing all about how much they love the whole world. The world is awesome.
"Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea/And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee"
- "Don't laugh at me, don't call me names, don't get your pleasure from my pain...".
"Follow your heart and you won't get lost." Oh, jeez, here come the waterworks...
"I'll Be Your Mirror", written by Lou Reed and originally recorded by the Velvet Underground, soars into W.A.F.F. territory when sung by Susanna Hoffs.
Ben Folds. The Luckiest. Full stop.
- Also, from the same album, Still Fighting It
- Lest we forget "Still", "Gracie," "Cologne," "Frowne Song (Feeble Anthem)," need I go on? Ben Folds is also kind of made of win.
I would like to nominate ''Fukai Mori'' (Deep Forest) by Do As Infinity.
Considering it's a song based on a video game about a robot blasting the everloving snot out of other robots, Lamentations of a War Machine by The Megas can really get one welling up.
If I have a heart made of steel, then does that mean I cannot feel
Remorse for everything I've done? My hand's a smoking gun!
What purpose am I to fulfill? Was I built just to kill?
Is there a soul beneath this shell? And will it go to robot hell?
Tell me Doctor Light, why did I fight?
Tell me Doctor, tell me Doctor, was I right?
How many must fall until there's peace for all?
Tell me was I wrong before we get to the end of this...
- And let's not leave out the narrated part in the middle.
He walked away from the castle left in ruins, a path of destruction in his wake. The clouds parted and the warmth of the sun brought the question..."Is this what you were made to do?" He removed his helmet, dropped it into the soft grass. Would this quest ever end?
A fair amount of ~~Cat Stevens~~ Yusuf Islam music counts, but especially "Peace Train" and "Roadsinger".
- "Wild World" has always read to me like a father watching his daughter grow up—bittersweet and beautiful. I'll always remember you like a child, girl.
Oh, and we can't forget Jimmy Eat World's "The Middle".
- Or the lesser-known "Work," especially with the video of all the college students getting interviewed.
Voltaire's "Goodnight Demon Slayer". It's about a parent reassuring his child that if the monsters try to attack him, the kid is more than capable of kicking their butts.
I won't tell you there's nothing 'neath your bed
I won't sell you that it's all in your head
This world of ours is not as it seems
The monsters are real but they're not in your dreams
Learn what you can from the beasts you defeat.
You'll need it for some of the people you meet.
- This song was originally written by Voltaire for his son when he had nightmares and had trouble getting to sleep. Heartwarming indeed.
- Also his "Stuck with You", which details a couple's relationship growing into increasingly psychotic levels of hatred, but...
And now I lie here in the grave,
I pray to God my soul to save.
And in the darkness of the tomb,
I'm glad I'm lying next to you.
And as I lay here six feet down,
My body buried underground.
In this dank, and dreary cold,
I'm just glad I'm not alone.
Oh, but in the eyes of God,
We said our vows before the pews,
"Not until death may we part".
I'm not sad I said 'I do',
I'm just glad I was stuck with you.
Pierce the Veil's "Kissing in Cars".
Several songs by Brad Paisley, including:
- Then
- Two People Fell In Love
- Little Moments
- It Did
Although you wouldn't expect this from a ska-core band, The Flatliners managed to make a very good Heartwarming song. The song is entitled ''Eulogy''.
I feel I'm awake today with this memory that was once misplaced
And I never thought I'd live to see this overpouring sadness
Our eyes wide, receptive
A family without a face learns that hands around them will help give direction
and our mourning hearts will skip a beat at every single mention
You will not be forgotten
And we will sing
You will always be remembered
You will be celebrated
You will never be forgotten
These tears still haven't faded
Who would have guessed that Rated M for Manly Power Metal band Iron Savior would put out one of these? "Wings of Deliverance". Ever been far away from everyone you love and care about? Play this on your way back:
"And whenever I'm closing my eyes it is you that I have on my mind
Echoes of what I had to leave behind
Ten thousand miles of torture
Ten thousand miles of pain
But nothing, nothing is keeping me from you
I'm coming back to you again"
"Jump Rope" by Blue October; for a band whose songs are usually angsty and depressing, this one is cheerful, bouncy, and about staying optimistic through everything bad that happens to you, because it will get better.
- So are Everlasting Friend, and 18th Floor Balcony for that matter.
Richie Havens sings Wonder Child, live on Sesame Street. Gorgeous.
Affirmation by Savage Garden. It gives any listener hope knowing that someone wrote such a lovely, uplifting, and all out inspiring song!
- And we have to mention Crash and Burn, by Savage Garden as well. That song is on record as having saved a number of people's lives.
Come Home, by One Republic. "The world ain't half as bad as they paint it to be."
- Beyond that, Goodbye Apathy is a perfect mix of Heartwarming and Tear Jerker.
I don't walk right, not like I used to
There's a jump in my step as I rush to see you
I could be happy here
As long as you're near to me, as long as you're close to me
Now that I'm alright, (as I'm tryin')
I can help you out (just to make things right, I)
I'll be what you need (kill myself to make ev'ry-)
I'll do anything (-thing perfect for you)
Goodbye apathy...
So don't you stop...pushing me!
I can take so much!
So goodbye apathy (as I'm tryin')
So long, fancy-free (just to get things right, I)
Goodbye apathy (kill myself to make ev'ry-)
I don't wanna be... (-thing perfect for...)
You...
American Pie, written by Don McLean as a tribute to Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper, three of his favorite musicians who died in a plane crash in 1959.
Bathory's Hammerheart, the closer to the album Twilight of the Gods. A warrior makes his peace with the world and ascends into Valhalla, all set to Holst's Jupiter, The Bringer of Jollity. Suffice it to say, for a band who made a name for themselves writing songs about raping angels and scalping God to produce a track like this is a tremendous achievement.
Styx's Fooling Yourself.
And you're fooling yourself if you don't believe it
You're kidding yourself if you don't believe it
Why must you be such an angry young man
When your future looks quite bright to me
- Another Styx example: "Come Sail Away".
Van Halen's song Dreams. It's 80s rock, but that final guitar riff after the last chorus — you know which guitar riff I'm talking about — makes my whole body tingle out of sheer awesome every time I hear it.
Paul Simon's The Boy in the Bubble. These are the days of miracle and wonder indeed.
- "Father and Daughter" is another example—it might have been created for a Nickelodeon movie, but There could never be a father loved his daughter more than I love you is beautiful.
I'll Tryfrom Return to Neverland. A song about rediscovering the magic in the world, specifically concluding "The whole world is made of faith, and trust, and pixie dust." Makes me smile and tear up every time I hear that line.
"Bittersweet" by Within Temptation.
Stolen by Dashboard Confessional. The sped-up version is nice, but you absolutely need to hear the acoustic version for the full effect—the violins, the guitar, and most of all Chris Carrabba's gushingly sweet voice are like distilled heartwarming serum. People say that Chris Carrabba changed their perceptions of the word stolen from negative to positive—if that's not heartwarming, nothing is.
Most of the songs from the "Panic at the Disco" album "Pretty.Odd" qualify, but "That Green Gentleman" in particular.
A Better Place, A Better Time by Streetlight Manifesto. A six and half minute rally against suicide set to bright, blasting horns. The whole mood of the song is just so upbeat and if the melody doesn't stir the cockles of your heart, then the lyrics will
So you're tired of living? And you feel like you might give in?
Well Don't...It's not your time
And even if it was, oh I wouldn't let you go
You could run run run but I would follow close
I know that you think that you're on your own, but just know that I'm here and I'll lead you home
- Also with Streetlight Manifesto, A few songs on Somewhere in the Between count. Including the title song. One foot on the gas, One foot in the grave deserves a mention too
Paul Robeson's version of "I'm Gonna Let It Shine." If hugs could sing that is how they would sound.
House at Pooh Corner by Loggins and Messina and Your Heart Will Lead You Home by Kenny Loggins. Nothing says warm and fuzzy like Winnie the Pooh.
The final verses of Guns N' Roses, "Rocket Queen", ("I see you standing, standing on your own, it's such a lonely place for you for you to be..."), a great contrast to the overtly sexual lyrics that come before.
January Wedding by The Avett Brothers is basically one giant Crowning Moment of Heartwarming. It's just so completely sincere and sweet:
She's talking to me with her
Voice down so low I barely hear her
But I know what she's saying, I understand because
My heart and hers are the same.
Aerosmith Angel and I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing:
You're my angel
Come and save me tonight
You're my angel
Come and make it alright
and
I don't wanna close my eyes
I don't wanna fall asleep
'Cuz I'd miss you, baby
And I don't wanna miss a thing
'Cuz even when I dream of you
The sweetest dream would never do
I'd still miss you, baby
And I don't wanna miss a thing.
Relient K's Must Have Done Something Right. "I'm racking my brains for a new improved way/To tell you you're more to me than what I can say..." "If anyone could make me a better person you could/All I can say is that I must have done something good.
- More Than Useless as well. "I'm a little more than useless / When I think that I can't do this / You promise me that I'll get through this..."
- The Best Thing. "The best thing is that it's happening to you and me."
The song Boys (Lesson One) by Jars of Clay. It's father to child. You Are Not Alone, ever. "If you have questions, we can talk through the night... You can leave, you can run; this will still be your home... There will be liars, and thieves who take from you; not to undermine the consequences, but you are not what you do...And when you need it most, I have a hundred reasons why I love you."
"Vito's Ordination Song" by Sufjan Stevens. Also many of the songs from the Christmas album.
Iron and Wine's "Each Coming Night", which is also a Tear Jerker because of its subject material, but is heartwarming in that the singer is asking his loved ones to remember all the good things about him after he's gone. "The Trapeze Swinger" is also a good one.
- "Belated Promise Ring" is another one, especially the last verse. So is "Fever Dream." Basically, any song off of Our Endless Numbered Days is likely to be this, Tear Jerker, or both.
The Decemberists song "The Soldiering Life", about love blooming on the battlefield between two soldiers.
We laid on the mattress and tumbled to sleep
Our eyes aligned, swaddled in our civvies
Cradled in our dungarees
John Martyn dedicated the song (and album) "Solid Air" to his friend Nick Drake, who was suffering from depression (and would, tragically, die of an overdose of antidepressant medication a year later).
I know you, I love you
I'll be your friend
I could follow you, anywhere
Even through solid air.
- "May You Never" also qualifies:
  And may you never lay your head down
  Without a hand to hold
  May you never make your bed out in the cold.
  
  You're just like a great strong brother of mine
  You know that I love you true
  And you never talk dirty behind my back
  And I know that there's those that do.
"In the Dark of the Night", by E-Rotic, is a sweet song about finding love, but a My Little Pony fan vid catapults it to a whole new level of adorable.
Jumper by Third Eye Blind. But made all the more heartwarming in the movie Yes-Man, as Jim Carrey's character tries to coax a man from jumping off a building and the whole crowd below joining in to help.
"Baba Yetu" by Christopher Tin and sung by the Stanford University a cappella group Talisman. It's a setting of The Lord's Prayer in Swahili. And paired with a montage of the world's greatest landmarks being built (taken from cutscenes from Civilization IV)...hey, maybe we humans aren't so bad after all.
Starlight, the fifth and final act of Christopher Lee's biographical metal rock opera album Charlemagne: By the Sword and the Cross ends with the historical king dying with his wife by his side and finally finding peace within himself for the atrocities he committed; both of them looking towards the better future he has strived for throughout his entire life. Considering this is a metal album with lyrics that also include the words "I spilled the blood of 4000 saxon men'', the fact that the final act can be so heartwarming and hopeful is an incredible accomplishment.
Believe by Elton John. Yeah, it's The Power of Love spiel, which may turn some people away, but it's done so beautifully, illustrating that you can have faith in something so basic, even when it appears the world is dying.
Hold On by Good Charlotte. Also serves as a Tear Jerker.
For me, "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" from The Lion King (1994) is a nice, but I didn't feel much when I heard it. However, the 'sequel's version': Love Will Find a Way, as sung by Liz Callaway and Gene Miller, really brings tears to my eyes and a smile to my face.
- "They live in you/They live in me/They're watching over/Everything we see..." As if its meaning wasn't enough, it's such a gloriously beautiful song one can't help feeling themselves swell just hearing it.
"Forbidden Friendship" from How to Train Your Dragon (2010).
"Bullets" and "Safe and Sound" by Hawksley Workman.
"Inside Job" by Pearl Jam is a definite heartwarmer.
The huge outpouring of eulogies and tributes in the metal community after the death of Ronnie James Dio certainly qualifies. Notable metal musicians who gave eulogies include Kerry King◊, Steve Vai, Joey Belladonna, Geezer Butler, David Ellefson, King Diamond, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Mike Portnoy,Ritchie Blackmore,Brian May, and even arch-rival Ozzy Osbourne. Lemmy's tribute to Dio includes a picture that qualifies as a Heartwarming Moment all by itself.
"Can I Have A Kiss?" by Kelly Clarkson is on her least acclaimed album, and is often over-looked. It's about what happens when all you have to offer your love is yourself. Just listen.
Drops Of Jupiter by Train.
Can you imagine no love, pride, deep-fried chicken
Your best friend always sticking up for you
Even when I know you're wrong
Can you imagine no first dance, freeze-dried romance
Five-hour phone conversation
The best soy latte that you ever had, and me
Storybook Love by Willy Deville, a.k.a. the end credits song from The Princess Bride. One of the most purely "aww"-inducing, purely warm, fuzzy, sweet love songs out there.
Mario Kart Love Song.
You be my Princess,
And I'll be your Toad,
I'll follow behind you on Rainbow Road,
Protect you from Red Shells wherever I go,
I promise,
[...]
And the finish line is just around the bend,
I'll pause this game,
So our love will never end...
If you ever need a quick cheering up, Me Hele No Lilo from the opening of Lilo & Stitch will put a smile on your face for sure.
Amazing Freaking Grace. Holy cow, how has this one been missed? Regardless of whether you agree with the religious message, there's something about this song that tugs at the heartstrings, namely the themes of hope and redemption.
British rap/grime/performance poetry outfit The Streets bring us Never Went To Church, which was written in response to the death of frontman Mike Skinner's father. It starts out deep in Tear Jerker territory, but ends on an uplifting and deeply touching note.
Edwin McCain's "I'll Be", full stop. The most heartwarming line, "I'll be the greatest fan of your life", would be creepy, except for the fact that you'd have to be made of stone not to feel the pure love in McCain's voice.
What, no love for Scorpions? If you live in Europe, especially Central Europe, "Wind of Change" certainly qualifies. It is the perfect song that celebrated the end of the Cold War that divided a continent with mutual hate and fear until enough people found the courage and wisdom to bring it to a peaceful end.
Attack Attack! is christian metalcore/techno (makes sense when you hear it) band, so you wouldn't expect them to have any, but they do! My personal favorite is near the ending of the song Dr. Shavargo Pt. 3 has this line "I will always refuse to take you for granted" which always gets me.
Mumford & Sons The Cave. "And I will hold on hope, and I won't let you choke, on the noose around your neck. And I'll find strength in pain, and I will change my ways. I'll know my name as it's called again." Wow.
- Winter Winds is great too. Feel the horns just wash over you...
So if your strife strikes at your sleep,
Remember: spring swaps snow for leaves.
You'll be happy and wholesome again
When the city clears and sun ascends.
- Also, Timshell. "You are not alone in this. You are not alone in this. As brothers we will stand and we'll hold your hand."
Many songs from the old 2B A Master Pokemon CD, 'Together Forever'.
Even though we've never said it
There's something that the two of us both know
Together forever, no matter how long
From now until the end of time
We'll be together, and you can be sure
That forever and a day, that's how long we'll stay
Together, and forever more.
- Not to mention "Flying Without Wings" by Westlife, as it appeared on the Movie 2000 soundtrack.
You can't mention Pokemon tearjerkers without mentioning We're a Miracle from the first movie soundtrack.
You and me we're a miracle; meant to be
And nothing can change it
Mountains move
And oceans part
When they are standing in our way
You and me, we're a miracle;
Angels stand watching over
And heaven shines upon us, everyday.
- You're honestly going to list heart-warming, tear-jerking Pokemon songs without mentioning Brother, My Brother? For crapsakes, even the name of the band gives off W.A.F.F..
  - "The Time has Come- Pikachu's Goodbye."
    Just one moment and I knew
    you're my best friend
    do anything for you.
- For Pokemon’s 25th anniversary in 2021, Post Malone recorded Hootie & the Blowfish’s “Only Wanna Be With You”. Sounds cheesy, but in practice one of the most WAFF-bringing covers in recent memory. Pika!
Pick a song by Scott Andrew. Especially "Everything They Say. And "More Good Days". And "Holding Back". The lyrics to that last one will make you smile and just generally feel like you can do it, "it" being anything.
How can Hoobastank's "The Reason is You" NOT be on here?!
Death Cab for Cutie's "I Will Follow You Into The Dark" and "Talking Bird." Hell, Ben Gibbard singing a soft song just MAKES this trope...
- Now we have "Stay Young, Go Dancing."
"Wrapped Up In Books" by Belle & Sebastian. It evokes images of a shy couple having a date in a library. The harmonizing voices are beautiful by themselves. But then, halfway through, the music slows down, as presumably, one of them is worried about something. Then, the saxophones come in, which are already uplifting and reassuring, but just to hit the point home:
I will say a prayer, just while you are sitting there.
And I will wrap my hands around you, 'cause I know it will be fine.
Johnny Clegg and Savuka's "Dela (I Know Why the Dog Howls at the Moon)". Just a deeply sweet and joyful song.
In 2010, Chris Brown performed a tribute to the late Michael Jackson at the BET Awards, after performing his own rendition of Smooth Criminal and Billie Jean, complete with the songs' respective dances, Brown broke into "Man In The Mirror", only to become choked up by tears. If this wasn't enough, the ENTIRE AUDIENCE began singing FOR HIM when it was apparent he was too choked up over his former mentor's death.
The Last Night, by Skillet. How come this isn't here already? And no, I don't care if you don't have the same religious beliefs, it's a good song anyway.
- Also, "Hero" by Skillet, which could also be half TearJerker. Especially this part:
  And if it kills me tonight
  I will be ready to die
  A hero's not afraid to give his life
  A hero's gunna save me just in time
Good Enough, by Evanescence. It's about how the singer's finally happy and feeling good enough. Amy said that she was almost afraid to show it to the rest of the band, it was such a happy song.
The song may be played like hell and this may be a bit cheesy, but "Umbrella" by Rihanna. Sentimental, maybe, but the chorus always registers as a light but straightforward and smile-inducing expression of at least possibly platonic love.
Boyce Avenue's cover of "Only Girl in the World"
Lullaby For You, ending theme for The World Ends with You. In the context of the game, it's this even stronger as well as a Tear Jerker.
Life Is Like A Boat by Rie Fu. As it was put on the Bilingual Bonus page, in English, it's about someone who's alone in the world and feels like no one understands them, but soon finds a lover/Heterosexual Life-Partner. In Japanese, it's about how hard life is, but you must endure to another day if you want to get anywhere. But if you speak both (or get subtitles), the true meaning of the song becomes clear - You can't go it alone, no matter what, we all need someone to lean on. Thus, the ending lines, which are basically the opening lines in Japanese, with the following at the end- "It's a beautiful journey, they're all beautiful journeys".
"Pot Belly," from South African band Freshlyground, is CMOH in about a jillionty billion ways. The song itself is a soft, gentle love song about how "a pot belly still gives good lovin'," but the music video ups the ante with the downright Adorkable romance of two awkward-but-earnest individuals as they colorfully bumble through love. Makes you want to hug both of them, doesn't it?
Dolly Parton, Coat of Many Colours.
Stever Harley and Cockney Rebel "(Love) Compared with You". Might be too cheesy for some but is a perfect CMOH for others.
"Calleth You, Cometh I" by The Ark. The band itself is very well aware of this and always finish their concerts with it.
Elisa's "Dancing". It would do this with just the words alone, but the lyrics combined with a high, lilting melody make this song a definite CMOH.
Most of Hanako Oku's songs count, however "Smiling, Smiling" is truly beautiful.
Smiling, smiling if I walk along
You'll be waiting for me somewhere
Smiling, smiling searching for love
I'll be heading towards you
Joe Diffie's "John Deere Green." Those huge letters on the water tower, and the sheriff's not mad, the mayor's not mad, the guy who owns the tower isn't mad. The most flak Billy Bob catches is that "he should have used red." Then he and Charlene get married, have kids, run their farm, and if you stand in the right spot you can STILL see the writing. Nobody wanted to wipe it off.^^
"Everlasting Love" from the We Love Katamari soundtrack. It's a happy song whether or not you understand the words.
Hamish Henderson's "Freedom Come All Ye", a song about hailing the death of imperialism and racism, the inevitability of change and humanity's natural drive towards peace and universal brotherhood. Luke Kelly's rendition is of particular note.
Robert Burns's iconic song, "Is There For Honest Poverty", popularly known as "A Man's A Man". Written in an age of opression and poverty, it asserts the fundamental equality and, more importantly, humanity of all people. Not only is every "belted knight" ultimately no more than human, every impoverised peasant, worker and slave is no less. Also a Moment of Awesome, given how unreservedely the song flew in the political and social estbalishment of the day, and an anvil which certainly needed to be dropped.
Modest Mouse's song "Float On" is so uplifting, reminding you that things don't have to be terrible. Good things happen, and it's okay to brush it off when they don't. Just be optimistic.
- "Alright, don't worry, even if things end up a bit too heavy, we'll all float on..."
Practically every Australian knows the iconic song I Am Australian, and it can be this for many on its own, but it became both this and a Tear Jerker when it was played during the memorial service for the devastating bushfires in Victoria last year, with two new verses added just for the occasion. Never have I felt so proud to be Australian.
From the ashes of despair
Our towns will rise again
We mourn your loss
We will rebuild
We are Australian
"Anthem" by Leonard Cohen, from The Future
Every African American tears up whenever they here Lift every voice and sing...
"Baby, I Need Your Loving" and "Reach Out/I'll Be There" by The Four Tops gets me every time
Give me the beat boys and free my soul/I wanna get lost in your rock and roll and drift away
Don't Stop Believin'
Don't stop believin'
Hold on to that feelin'
Streetlight people
Celine Dion's "That's The Way It Is."
When you want it the most there's no easy way out
When you're ready to go and your heart's left in doubt
Don't give up on your faith
Love comes to those who believe it
And that's the way it is.
Garth Brooks, "Belleau Wood." During a World War I Christmas truce, soldiers on both sides spontaneously join in singing "Silent Night," followed by the narrator getting a good look at someone from the other side:
Then he raised his hand and smiled at me as if he seemed to say,
"Here's hoping we both live to see us find a better way."
Every single song from the Lion King soundtrack. Except for the villain songs (My Lullaby and Be Prepared). Special mention to He Lives in You, We Are One and Circle of Life
Uncle Kracker's "Smile". The title says it all.
I Didn't Know I'd Love You So Much" from Repo! The Genetic Opera, sung by Nathan and Shilo as he dies in her arms. Heartbreaking.
"But you've already saved me dear.
Go and change the world for me.
We will always have each other, in our time of need.
Shilo/Daddy you're the world to me."
- "Genetic Emancipation", after Nathan dies and Shilo realizes she isn't dying and is free to do whatever she wants with her life.
The Sugar Wiki anthem.
You can call me Pollyanna;
Say I'm crazy as a loon!
I believe in silver linings and that's why,
I believe in you!
Everything I Do (I Do It For You) by Bryan Adams is also particularly heart-warming.
Garth Brooks' Standing Outside the Fire. The song itself is powerful, but coupled with the video...
Chuck Wicks' "Stealing Cinderella".
From Wicked, "For Good" is half this and half Tear Jerker.
Michael Franti's "Say Hey (I Love You)." It's a beautiful, upbeat, positive song about love that is sure to bring a smile to your face... for days on end.
The Day I Died by Just Jack is either this or a Tear Jerker, depending on how you interpret the video.
You were there, the ending theme of ICO. It's both sad and triumphant at the same time. It perfectly emcompasses the themes of the story, and the shared experience of a strange boy with horns, and an ethereal girl with skin as white as snow.
The band Lifehouse has a couple of mentions above, but I really want a note specifically dedicated to them. I adore their music. It just makes me feel so good inside. In an age of so much great music, it's hard to pick a favourite song, but Hangin' By a Moment is a piece of music that I just never grow tired of listening to. You and Me has a habit of moving me to tears, Almost Gone is (despite the narrative within the song's lyrics) really upbeat and awesome, and then there's All In. I know it's corny to say so and I apologise in advance, but this music is how I feel when I'm in love, you know? I can't sing their praises enough.
- Who We Are is another heart-warmer of Lifehouse's, especially when set to a music video that celebrates the friendship of the original Ice Age trio.
Within a song, the Heartwarming of "Bed Of Rose's" is the line that states that the titular Rose, a Hooker with a Heart of Gold, died knowing at least one person truly loved her: the boy she took in and made a man.
Pretty much anything by The Weakerthans, but paticularly Plea From a Cat Named Virtue
"Your Guardian Angel" by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. Even if it's saccharine, it still warms you from the inside out. And when set to this beautifully animated Warrior Cats AMV...*collapses on keyboard*
This rendition of "Rue's Lullaby" from the first The Hunger Games book created by a member of Mockingjay.net. Words cannot describe.
"You and me together will be,forever you'll see, we two can be good company- say it with me: D'awwwwwww( from Oliver and Company)
Shut Up and Smile by Bowling For Soup. Given the cynical/sarcastic nature of most pop punk (including, admittedly, BFS themselves), this song is a breath of fresh air.
Mitch Benn, Proud of the BBC. Who knew a List Song could warm the collective hearts of an increasingly cynical island? Well, it worked.
Katy Perry's Firework.
How about Jackie Wilson? Surely his three best-known songs, "Reet Petite", "I Get the Sweetest Feeling" and "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher" are all worthy of the title Crowning Moments of Heartwarming. Likewise, the tribute by Van Morrison, "Jackie Wilson Said (I'm In Heaven When You Smile)" is one too.
But to look beyond the glory is the hardest part, For a hero's strength is measured by his heart...
And from Tarzan, the Broadway version of You'll Be In My Heart and its reprise.
"Celluloid Heroes" by The Kinks. A ballad that lovingly eulogizes a list of Hollywood legends, and assures us:
Everybody's a dreamer, and everybody's a star,
And everybody's in showbiz, it doesn't matter who you are.
"You Make Me Feel So Good", by Book of Love.
"Accidentally in Love" by Counting Crows. It's a love song that anyone can relate to.
"Doc Brown Has Moved Upstairs" as performed by Johnny Cash. Bonus points that it was based on the real life of a real doctor.
We can all agree that most SpongeBob SquarePants episodes haven't been that good post-movie, but the song during "Where's Gary?" is quite moving, especially to those of us who may have lost a pet in real life.
"Still", Alanis Morissette's theme song from Dogma. Maybe a little touchy for those not to fond of the g-word, but the lyrics are great at depicting a forgiving G-d who loves his/her children in spite of all the horrible things they do.
I see you altering history
I see you abusing the land
I see you and your selective amnesia
And I love you still
"Perpetuum Mobile" by Penguin Cafe Orchestra, even if it does sound like music for a life insurance commercial. Even more W.A.F.F. when played in the movie "Mary & Max."
"My Sacrifice" by Creed.
The Spinner's "Rubberband Man" is already a very upbeat and fun song, but then you learn that the band's producer wrote it to cheer up his son —who was picked on by his classmates for being overweight— and it becomes damn-near impossible to not to feel good while listening to it.
"A Little More Homework," from the obscure broadway show "13." A charming song about growing up.
"A friend is a friend, nothing can change that / Arguments, squabbles can't break the contract"
John Denver's "Alfie the Christmas Tree," a spoken poem that truly asks for peace on Earth, and not at the expense of others' beliefs.
You see, some folks have never heard a jingle bell ring
And they've never heard of Canta Claus
They've never heard the story of the Son of God
That made Alfie pause
Did that mean that they'd never know of peace on earth
Or the Brotherhood of Man
Or know how to love, or know how to give?
If they can't, no one can
You see, life is a very special kind of thing
Not just for a chosen few
But for each and every living, breathing thing
Not just me and you
"Don't Come The Cowboy With Me, Sonny Jim", by Kirsty MacColl. It starts off with the singer's cynical, jaded lament about the way guys have used her and treated her like dirt. The heartwarming part comes as we find out she's addressing the latest man in her life - and finding she can finally let her feelings show when she realises she's not the only one trying to hide them.
The song "After Hours" by We Are Scientists. The combination of the upbeat guitar and the lovely string pieces is impeccable, and makes a song about always wanting to be with someone near perfect. There's a violin swell near the middle that simply steals the breath.
This night is winding down
but time means nothing.
As always at this hour
Time means nothing.
Let's buy our final round 'cos
Time means nothing.
Say that you'll stay; say that you'll stay.
Home By Now/No Matter What by Meat Loaf. What starts out as downright depressing music, suddenly becomes uplifting, telling of how the woman he's singing to, despite all odds, has saved him. It hits its peak here:
No matter who they follow
No matter where they lead
No matter how they judge us
I'll be everyone you need
No matter if the sun don't shine
Or if the skies are blue
No matter what the ending
My life began with you
"Fly me to the moon, let me play among the stars..."
Like him or not, Michael Jackson's 1990 tribute to Sammy Davis Jr.
John Barrowman and Daniel Boyes duet of I Know Him So Well, with his own twist. Actually, any version of this song is a heartstring tugger.
- A good number of John's have the same effect, to be honest. Especially I Am What I Am.
Ben E. King's "This Magic Moment"! It may be cliche'd, but it captures the feeling of being in love so perfectly.
Sweeter than wine
Softer than a summer's night
Everything I want, I have
Whenever I hold you tight
"By Your Side" by Tenth Avenue North is a beautiful number that is written simply as a love song from Jesus, is a total Tear Jerker.
- "Oh My Dear" as well.
- You Are More can bring tears, too, especially if you watch the music video.
You are more than the choices that you've made
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes
You are more than the problems you create
You've been remade.
"Delaney Talks to Statues" by Jimmy Buffett. Otherwise known as "dawwww!"
Katy Perry, "Teenage Dream"
Queensryche's Silent Lucidity.
Hush now, don't you cry/Wipe away the teardrops from your eyes...
Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls, especially the songs 'end of an era' and 'open at the close' along with pretty much all their other stuff. So moving, especially for Potter fans. They just capture the essence of the books in song form. Very nostalgic...
"True Beauty Is on the Inside." We've heard it so often that the message is usually taken for granted or mocked as trite and meaningless, but it bears repeating as often as possible, because it's true, and "More Beautiful You" by Jonny Diaz does it in a very heartwarming way. The song is from a Christian perspective, but no matter what you believe in, Diaz's message holds up just fine: You might not be happy with yourself or maybe you feel the need to be "perfect", but you are loved, just the way you are, and you are deserving of that love.
Journey's "Only The Young": During the initial recording sessions for their Raised on Radio album, the Make A Wish Foundation let Journey know of the plight of Kenny Sykaluk, a young boy in Cleveland dying of cystic fibrosis. Journey flew that day to the boy's bedside, gave him a Walkman with a copy of the then-unreleased "Only The Young" and other memorabilia items. Sykaluk's last conscious action was turning on the Walkman so he could listen to the song. Being at the boy's deathbed greatly affected the bandmembers, to the point that even years later, they'd still break down in tears recalling it.
"Such Great Heights" by The Postal Service.
Roy Orbison was best known for his songs of lost love and broken hearts. But he still had a few songs that were more upbeat, with "Running Scared" being among the best examples. It starts slow, his anxiety building over his love's ex-boyfriend. Then he's right there, the tempo building and the song ending with his love turning away from her ex, and leaving with him. The climax being a perfect example of the power and range of The Big O's voice. Goosebumps material.
- That's nothing compared to You Got It. It's one of the purest and most beautiful (yet also the simplest) love songs I've ever heard, and it's very much connected to when I was first falling in love with my partner of over 2 years now. It's also very sad, though, since Roy died not long after its release.
- And what about "Oh Pretty Woman". Dear Lord, those last few lines -
But wait! What do I see?
Is she walking back to me?
Yeah, she's walking back to me
Oh whoa, pretty woman

That's pretty (no pun intended) heartwarming to me....

Edward Sharp's Home definitely warms the heart, especially the exchange at 3:12
Alex Ebert: Jade?
Jade Castrinos : Alexander.
Alex Ebert: Do you remember that day you fell out of my window?
Jade Castrinos : I sure do, you came jumping out after me.
Alex Ebert: Well, you fell on the concrete and nearly broke your ass and you were bleeding all over the place and I rushed you off to the hospital. Do you remember that?
Jade Castrinos : Yes, I do.
Alex Ebert: Well, thereï¿½s something I never told you about that night.
Jade Castrinos : What didnï¿½t you tell me?!
Alex Ebert: While you were sitting in the backseat smoking a cigarette you thought was going to be your last, I was falling deep, deeply in love with you and I never told you ï¿½til just now.
Jade Castrinos (and me): DAAAAW!
Bump of Chicken's Laugh Maker.
Lady Gaga's song "Born This Way". "I'm beautiful in my way, 'cause God makes no mistakes ... Don't hide yourself in regret, just love yourself and you're set. I'm on the right track, baby, I was born this way." The later lines regarding sexual orientation ("No matter gay, straight or bi, lesbian, transgendered-life...") made it even more heartwarming that the song was assuring that "God makes no mistakes."
If you like your Heartwarming mixed with some Inspirational and wrapped in a groovy early '70s pop/rock package, you can't do much worse than "Hold Your Head Up" by Argent. It's the perfect song to absorb into your system when you're in a situation where you're being bullied or forced to be someone other than who you truly are. "And if they stare, just let them burn their eyes on you moving"? Hell yeah.
Sweetest Goodbye-Maroon 5, was part of this song doesn't warm the heart and give a girl hope.
"My Hands" by Leona Lewis (Yes, the Western theme song for Final Fantasy XIII) straddles this and Tear Jerker. It's pratically the Determinator love song.
''Two Little Boys''
"Did you think I would leave you dying when there's room on my horse for two?"
How could you forget "Drive" by Incubus? The message of the song is essentially following your heart and not being lead astray, since you are the one controlling your life. No one else can change that.
So if I decide to waiver my chance to be one of the hive
Will I choose water over wine and hold my own and drive?
It's driven me before
And it seems to be the way that everyone else gets around
But lately I'm beginning to find that
When I drive myself my light is found
Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there
With open arms and open eyes yeah
Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there
I'll be there
Don't you dare forget Marry Me, by Train.
Marry me, today and every day
Marry me, if I ever get the nerve to say hello in this cafe
Say you will
Kirby Krackle's Dusty Cartridges and Long Boxes. For if Up, Up, Down, Down was a little too much.
Manowar's song Blood Brothers.
Think of me wherever you are
When it seems like you're reaching the end
Call on me, know in your heart
On one you can always depend
I am thy friend
Here are just a few lines from the incredibly beautiful IAMX song, "Spit It Out":
And if you're hurting,
I will replace the noise with silence instead,
Flushing out your head.
If you like it violent,
We can play rough and tumble, fall into bed,
And I wont breathe so you can recover.
When you're in pieces,
Just follow the echo of my voice, it's okay,
Tune into that frequency.
Everything'll be alright, be alright, day and night time...
Lean on me when you're not strong, and I'll be your friend. I'll help you carry on...
I Fall Asleep by K's Choice captures its subject in a way that for anyone feeling the way it describes it can potentially cross the line from a Tear Jerker to something akin to an arm around the shoulders and an "I understand - it's all right, it's all right...". A Better Son/Daughter by Rilo Kiley is another equally-effective side of the same coin.
The Only Exception by Paramore is so incredibly sweet.
- Especially the music video.
Sanctuary by Delta Goodrem, makes you think of your real friends and how they saved you.
The BBC versions of Lou Reed's "Perfect Day" The original featured an orchestra and numerous celebrities singing a line (or two). The live version had celebrities, a boy soprano, an orchestra, a guy on drums, three guys on electric guitars, a guy on tinwhstle...and a few choruses of thousands- all over the UK (Plus Dublin and NYC.)
"Who Says" by Selena Gomez. You've got every right to a beautiful life...
"We Belong Together" from Toy Story 3. However, when paired with the film's ending credits, it's either sweet release from bawling your eyes out at the movie's epilogue, or it just makes it a million times worse.
David Gray's "Please Forgive Me" is such a perfect audiovisual representation of falling in love that it's downright painful to watch, happy or no. But god damn does it feel good.
"F**kin' Perfect" by P!nk. The basic theme is "don't feel you're worth nothing, because you're perfect to me." Also, the music video implies the singer is saying this to her daughter.
- The singer, who at one point in the video is sitting in the tub contemplating slashing her wrists because of a lifetime of abuse. The images are hard for those of us who have dealt with abuse. But the implication that the daughter will not grow up with what the mother did has me in tears every time.
Chris Daughtry's "It's Not Over" is about someone who realized how much they screwed up an important relationship and want a second chance to make things right.
For The First Time by the Script, a song about finding love in times in adversity. Oh, these times are hard — yeah, they're making us crazy, don't give up on me, baby...
Night Falls, by the Browne Sisters and George Cavenaugh. It's a woman singing about her sailor husband who has gone out to sea, and his return to her.
Ever-uplifting track ''The Adventure'' by Angels And Airwaves.
My Wish by Rascal Flatts
My wish for you
Is that this life becomes all that you want it to
Your dreams stay big, your worries stay small
You never need to carry more than you can hold
And while you're out there getting where you're getting to
I hope you know somebody loves you
And wants the same things too
Yeah, this is my wish
My childhood was graced in second grade by the work of Mr. Red Grammer. He sings songs about peace and values that every child should learn at a young age. "I Think You're Wonderful", "See Me Beautiful", "Teaching Peace", and "Places In the World". They all just make you wanna smile and do exactly what the song says. To whoever is reading this: I think you're wonderful...
The video for Atomic Kitten's "The Last Goodbye" has the Kittens separated around Liverpool, seeing all sorts of happy couples but feeling isolated and lonely themselves. At the end they find each other and all walk together much happier.
Animal by Kesha is heartwarming in a tear jerking way.
I am in love
with what we are
not what we could be
Protecting Me and Shine by Aly + Aj, dedicated to the power of friendship and love.
Famous Last Words by My Chemical Romance.
Also counts as a Tearjerker, but My Chemical Romance’s The Light Behind Your Eyes becomes this when you learn that it was written by Gerard for his (then) newborn daughter.
Elton John's Philadelphia Freedom. And Hall and Oates.
Stevie Wonder's "Isn't She Lovely", written after the birth of his daughter Aisha:
Isn't she lovely,
Isn't she wonderful,
Isn't she precious,
Less than one minute old
Patti Smith has a sweet lullabye for her son, "The Jackson Song", that is also a farewell for her friend Robert Mapplethorpe, who was dying of AIDS.
Little blue dreamer go to sleep
Let's close our eyes and call the deep
Slumbering land that just begins
When day is done and little dreamers spin...
Yellowcard's "Dear Bobbie"
"Life has led us here
Together all these years
This house that we have made
Holds twenty-thousand days"
- "Believe" and "Heaven" are also this trope.
Shakira's ''Wakka Wakka (This Time For Africa)''. The whole world stops for one minute to enjoy the game they all love.
Carrie Underwood's "Change"
"The smallest thing can make all the difference
Love is alive
Don't you listen to them when they say
You're just a fool, just a fool
To believe you can change the world".
Elizabeth Mitchell's ''Little Bird,Little Bird'' Just is Heartwarming. Like a Mother a child singing together, it's so beautiful.
Why are there so many songs about rainbows, and what's on the other side? [1]
Shriekback's Cradle Song.
"May the fire be your friend and the sea rock you gently
"May the moon light your way 'til the wind sets you free."
A band from Yellowknife, The Gumboots, has as a large part of their repertoire songs about the deep and abiding love for the north that many people from there feel. Anyone who feels that way about their homeland will find many of their songs to be moving.
Nickelback's "Lullaby."
Two Little Boys famously sung by Rolf Harris. Doubles as a Tearjerker.
"Did you think I would leave you dying?"
Our Destiny by Epica is heartwarming because it acknowledges how hard it was to continue after their relationship ended and no matter how hard it was to continue on in the band after Simone and Mark broke up they keep on keepin on because its their destiny to do it.
Lullaby (Goodnight My Angel) by Billy Joel is made of equal parts this and Tearjerker, as he wrote it when his daughter (7 at the time) asked him what happens after death.
Someday we'll all be gone
But lullabyes go on and on...
They never die
That's how you
And I
Will be
"Smile, Smile, Smile" is undeniably heartwarming even if you aren't a fan of the show it's from.
Runes To My Memory by death metallers Amon Amarth is, despite its loud and brutal sound, very touching especially if you lost someone recently.
Here I lie, on wet sand
I will not make it home
I clench my sword in my hand
Say "farewell" to those I love.
Not actually a song, but a documentary for band known as Anvil called Anvil: The Story Of Anvil. It's impossible to not feel sympathy for those guys. Despite nearly 30 years of playing and being the instigators of one of the most popular form of Metal (Thrash Metal), the band never quite made it and still have to work jobs to make ends meet. Watching this made me run out and want to start up a big-name record company just to give those guys a break.
''Be Human'', Yoko Kanno at work.
- Also, ''Always Be With me In Mind'', from Shiro Sagisu
The Light by Sara Bareilles.
The band Flёur from Ukraine has about 60% songs made out of this trope.^noteOther 40% are either tearjerkers or crowners. They credited the term "cardiowave", after all.
- Even without understanding lyrics, try "Shining", "The Bridge over Misty Bay" or "Warm Cats".
The premise of Cosmo Jarvis' "Gay Pirates", and especially the ending.
The Script's "This=Love" That's all there is to say about it.
"I'm gonna take this night/And make it evergreen..."
Anthem by Iced Earth, a dedication to the human spirit.
Torn asunder
Our destiny is in sight
This is the anthem
To celebrate your life.
"Caliban's Dream" from the 2012 London Olympic Games. Hearing it played as seven young athletes carried the torch to the Olympic cauldron made it especially meaningful.
Emily Osment's beautiful "You Get Me Through", from her underlooked Fight Or Flight album. Written in tribute to her mother.
I only wanted to thank you for telling me just how it is
Never knew what to believe in till I heard the words straight from your lips
I only wanted to ask you not to give up on me yet
And I'll find my way through the darkness as long as your voice is there in my head
You get me through
You help me get by
You speak the truth
When everything else is a lie
"Brother" by Toad the Wet Sprocket. It's just beautiful.
Solange Knowles' song "6 O'Clock Blues" from her album, "Sol Angel and the Hadley Sweet Dreams", which is dedicated to her son, Daniel Smith.
As long as we got each other
There's nothing in the world that can steal my joy
Yeah, As long as we got each other
We can overcome the badness of the world
Imagine Dragons with It's Time. "Don't you understand/I'm never changing who I am"
Strays, by Tim Kasher, in which a man tells his significant other just how much he loves her, and reassures her that what he has with her is truly all he could ever want. "We're a family of strays, but together we've been found."
The Clash's Stay Free, about a lifelong friendship. The song is like a hug, and especially around big changes like graduations, when you feel the need to be reminded that your friends are sticking with you always.
''Forevermore'' by Katie Herzig is surprisingly good at bringing a happy tear to your eyes.
I will wear will wear a white dress, you will paint a sunset
Life will be a love fest, that's how it all begins
Say say, oh playmate, come out and play with me
And bring your dollies three, climb up my apple tree
Slide down my rainbow, into my cellar door
And we'll be jolly friends forever more
Macklemore's Same Love. One of the most beautiful, honest, and gutsy songs about LGBT equality.
It may not be the same but that's not important
No freedom 'til we're equal
Damn right I support it
The debut album for the rock band Black Veil Brides, We Stitch These Wounds, contains a beautifully written song titled Carolyn. The song, while keeping in the band's overall message of Be Yourself and unity, is dedicated to the band's lead guitarist Jake Pitts. He wrote the song for his mother, who he was very close to and looked to her as a musical inspiration, who at the time was dealing with severe illness. Essentially the song says, at times life is hard. It's difficult and sometimes it's hard to keep going, but know that you aren't dealing with this alone, we will get through this together. Even if you aren't a fan of the band, you can't deny the love that went into making this song. Anyone dealing with hard times can listen to this song and feel uplifted by the chorus:
You're not alone
We'll brave this storm
And face today
You're not alone
- The song also counts as a Tearjerker when you learn that his mom died in 2014.
Rilo Kiley's song A Better Son/Daughter is a song about getting better, about struggling and making it through, and mostly about hope. Raw, unshielded hope. We're talking 'find your inner fire', You Are Better Than You Think You Are, So Proud of You hope and encouragement and inner strength.
You'll be positive though it hurts
And you'll laugh and embrace all your friends
... You'll be happy
The soundtrack to Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey. The music fills out the heartwarming storyline admirably, and it itself can make you cry at points.
Surprisingly, mothy has a few of these, the most notable being these two. And they're an epic Tear Jerker, too...
Anything by Hedley. It's very upbeat, and it basically makes you want to say— ... well, "Uh-uh, fuck that; I can do anything."
Aaron Lewis, frontman of Staind, called "Tangled Up In You" the 'sappiest song' he's ever written, but for anyone listening who's in a long-time relationship, that song is anything but narm. Anyone celebrating a milestone anniversary should skip the Hallmark card and just cue that song up.
Let's face it, the vast majority of Award Bait Songs could classify.
Hands, by Jewel
Poverty stole your golden shoes
It didn't steal your laughter
And heartache came to visit me
But I knew it wasn't ever after
Jason Derulo's "Marry Me". Almost on-par with "Love is in Bloom" as a song that basically screams "PLAY ME AT A WEDDING!!!!!!".
And you know one of these days when I get my money right
Buy you everything and show you all the finer things in life
We'll forever be in love, so there ain't no need to rush
But one day I won't be able to ask you loud enough
I'll say, "Will you marry me?"
Little girl singing national anthem at a hockey game has microphone trouble, crowd picks up slack.
The Pretenders' "I'll Stand By You".
Won't let nobody hurt you. I'll stand by you.
Tom Paxton's "The Marvellous Toy," especially the last verse where he passes on his beloved childhood toy to his son, who loves it immediately just like the narrator did as a boy.
Pogo's "Muppet Mash" is unbearably heartwarming in the nostalgic sense. Just listen to it. It doesn't matter whether or not you've been a long-time fan of the show.
... Where is Jack Johnson? With bubbly, cute fun songs like "Better Together", "Flake", "Banana Pancakes", "Angel", "Bubbly Toes", and "Upside Down" this guy literally oozes with feel good songs.
"Let It All Out" by Fukuhara Miho from Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood series. It is one of the ending themes. It's a song about how, even though life is hard and there are things that are so hard to deal with, it is okay to not know who you are, it is okay to have other people help you when you stumble, and, most importantly, there will always be hope. This pretty much the emotional catharsis of Brotherhood and this is what helped forever cement my love for this anime.
Ben Harper has a lovely gem called "Waiting on An Angel".
Spandau Ballet's "True". What more needs to be said?
Israel Kamakawiwo'ole did an amazing cover/medley of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow/What A Wonderful World". If you are ever having a bad day, just hum even the first few measures of this song and you will feel amazing.
American Author's Believer is a song that speaks for itself.
I'm just a believer that things will get better
Some can take it or leave it
But I don't wanna let it go
"Save Me" by Gotye. Who knew that a song about coping with depression could be uplifting and positive?
And you gave me...love
When I could not love myself
And you made me...turn
From the way I saw myself
And you're patient...love
And you help me help myself
And you save me...
And you save me...
And you save me...
Watsky's Cardboard Castles is a bittersweet song with some tearjerking moments of its own, but there's optimism there, too.
This life's our greatest project
The journey's all an art
But I built my perfect nest, and it's 'bout to fall apart
Again and again and then I just I make it twice as high
And I give my tower teeth, and I watch it bite the sky
Because I might just cry if I don't keep it moving
I focus on what I can make and not what just got ruined
'Cause every stone will crumble down to dust, to dust, to dust
- And later in the song:
I still gotta believe people
Are good at the core
'Cause if we weren't, what's at stake?
Why would we stay to break what we make
And create all these beautiful mistakes?
When they blow our house down let's draw on the walls, the walls, the walls
- "Never Let it Die" is an upbeat, uplifting song meant to inspire people to do what they love and live up to all their potential. The music video just makes it better with the children in the art museum.
'Cause to love is a radical act, give your brother a pat on the back
And if you get a panic attack, feel like you're at the back of the pack
An opinion's exactly that. If they say that your magic is black
Just do what you do when you do what you do, keep on pulling that rabbit from hat
You might think that you're ruined. You might think you're defeated.
If you love what you're doing, you've already succeeded.
But there's gonna be bleeding, when another one bites that dust
So get ready to beat it, 'cause maybe it might be us, and I'm telling 'em
That the journey is oh so slow, and we wanna say "no no no"
Cause to make it is difficult, but we go go go
And my father was telling me that I better be ready ride on through
Cause I know that it's tough, but it's gotta be somebody, so then why not you?
- Sarajevo is a Tear Jerker, but it's really about how The Power of Love conquers anything, even religion.
- The end of the Hey Asshole music video when Watsky shrugs off his depression and moves on with his life.
- Cannonball is an intense and beautiful love poem.
"I'm so far from perfect...so far it's been worth it."
- The chorus of Sloppy Seconds, a sweet, lighthearted love song. It's all about being willing to love someone not despite their flaws and their baggage and their history, but because of them.
"And there is not a single place that I would rather be...I'm fucked up just like you are and you're fucked up just like me."
Andy Grammer's "Honey, I'm Good" is already heartwarming on it's own—the singer is basically refusing to go home with a pretty girl because he's already taken, no infidelity here—but the official music video adds to it by showcasing several happy couples that have been together for several years or even decades.
- What else would you expect from the son of Red Grammer (see above)?
- "Fresh Eyes". It's a bubbly, guitar-driven tune about one day just seeing your loved one in a new light...and falling in love all over again.
So, suddenly, I'm in love with a stranger
I can't believe she's mine
Now all I see is you with fresh eyes, fresh eyes
All of the songs sang by the adorable bunny character Snuggle Bunny (Schnuffel) created Jamster in 2007. But special mention goes to the song "Snuggle Song","Sleepy Snuggle", and "I love you so". If you are planning on lessening to any of these songs; be sure to bring a bottle of insulin with you.
- Jamster later created another bunny character in 2010 named Snuggelina (Schnuffelienchen) who is Snuggle's girlfriend. As if Snuggle's songs weren't sweet enough. Snuggelina had two songs about how much she loves him complete with doves. Her debut song "Kiss Me Hold Me Love Me" featured her singing about love and is seen hugging a plush version of her boyfriend. In the 2014 song "Without You" (Ohne Dich) she sings about how she feels when Snuggle is away from where she lives at but near the end of the song Snuggle gives her a call telling her how much she missed her to. This song can count as a Tear Jerker since it can be relateable to a person who misses someone far away from home or if they are on vacation and how lonely they feel.
- The song "Bunny Buddy" sang by Snuggle is heartwarming since it's dedicated to people who take very good care of there pet bunnies or for some who have a great relationship. Then there's this closing statement by Snuggle.
Thank you, my old bunny buddy.
"Someone Like You" by RAM and Susana, and the remix between RAM and Standerwick. The follow-up to "RAMelia (Tribute to Amelia)" that really touches the heart while taking the sound of uplifting trance to full force.
You like Lenny Kravitz' "Fly Away?" How about when it's sung by a high school choir?? Okay, how about when Lenny Kravitz himself crashes said choir's practice, making for the most excited jam session ever?
How are there no entries by Rose Cousins? Her songs are so gentle, passionate, and moving. While a majority fall into the Tear Jerker territory, she has heartwarmers such as Home, Good Enough, Dance If You Want To, and One Love.
"Philosophy" by Ben Folds Five, which basically is about a narrator sticking behind his philosophy of building something up from nothing when everyone else laughs at him.
Similarly, Kacey Musgraves' "Follow Your Arrow," which is all about following your own path and not letting others tell you how to act.
Make lots of noise
Kiss lots of boys
Or kiss lots of girls (if that's something you're into)
When the straight and narrow gets a little too straight
Roll up a joint (or don't)
Just follow your arrow wherever it points.
After the Pulse nightclub shooting in June 2016, Jennifer Lopez and Lin-Manuel Miranda duetted on the charity song "Love Make the World Go Round". Its message is simple-love conquers all and evil will never win. The crowner is how it samples part of Lin-Manuel's Tony acceptance speech.
And love is love is love is love is love...
The Cover of Take Me Home (Country Roads) recorded for the 50th anniversary of the Country Music Awards. It's sung by 30 artists that range from classic country acts like Charlie Pride, Dolly Parton, and Willie Nelson to modern acts such as Rascal Flatts, Carrie Underwood, and Tim McGraw. It really comes off as a touching tribute to Country Music and the people it represents. Also doubles as Awesome Music.
James Arthur's "Say You Won't Let Go." When all you want to do is be with someone for the rest of your life... and beyond.
Reba McEntire's song "Somebody" starts out being about a man sharing his dating troubles with a waitress at his favorite diner. She tells him that he may be surprised to find the love of his life might be right in front of him and he never noticed. The chorus goes on to talk about how the perfect person could be someone you walk past every day and just haven't really met yet. As the man is taking the elevator in his apartment complex, he notices "that blue-eyed girl from two floors up" and wonders if she could be the one the waitress meant. The third verse makes it abundantly clear though that:
Now they laugh about the moment that it happened
The moment they both missed until that day
When he saw his future in her eyes
Instead of just another friendly face
And he wonders why
He searched so long
When she was always there
At that diner waiting on...
Tina Charles' I Love to Love (But My Baby Just Loves to Dance), that is all.
"Danny Don't You Know" by Ninja Sex Party, where young Danny is visited by his future self to give him a pep talk about how awesome he is and how he has a bright future ahead of him. It's an excellent reminder for anyone going through a hard time that it won't be bad forever.
Family are not the first band you think of when you think of heartwarming, but consider the first verse to "Children":
Children can you laugh me
All your young life's meaning
Playing as you do, I feel that the truth
It's in you.
Minnie Riperton's "Les Fleur" is pure heartwarming fuel. The choral "woosh" is worth it alone, never mind the human beings as beautiful flowers angle. Warning, though. It's the sort of heartwarming that makes you cry.
In the middle of Lord Huron's Vide Noir album, which is for the most part dark even by Lord Huron's standard, there is Back From The Edge, a song about a man who almost died.
I came back from the edge — where you go when you die
I fell back down to Earth through a hole in the sky
I crashed into the sea, then somehow I survived
Don’t know what to believe, but I know I’m alive.
The High Fantasy song March Against The Tyrant by Rhapsody of Fire, despite being about siege warfare, sounds absolutely gorgeous
When all seems so lost, The will can change your hope
A Warrior I know from the east now is coming
He'll help us 'cause I spared his life
Like earthquake and storm we will scorch all this earth
And together we'll push deep the knife
The Tyrant tonight surely dies.
...
Freedom for the brave, hand-to-hand's what we crave
Ridin' for the land so these rocks will turn to sand
Freedom for a world where oppression and pain
Are just forgotten words of the Nephilim's empire
The tales will recall this glorious day
John Legend's "All Of Me", a sweet love song that'll call up plenty of fuzzies as the singer promises his beloved that he adores her no matter what flaws or down periods she may have. He also performed a duet version with Lindsey Stirling. Bonus: The official music video features his wife, Chrissy Teigen for whom he wrote the song.
From Beyond the Grave by Bloody Hammers. A man dies but becomes a ghost and swears that he will figure out how to visit the still living woman he loves. It should be scary but instead it's just a little sad and extremely heartwarming.
I will find the means to materialize, another chance to see your fascinating eyes.
"I'll Never Go", a mellow pop song by Erik Santos that reassures the singer's beloved of his feelings and tells her that he'll never be very far away from her.
"I Knead You", about how cats may not be able to talk, but they love their owners just the same.
The Red Army Choir may help make money with which to fund the invasion of Ukraine, but before said invasion began it helpfully produced a rendition of "Gandzya", a Ukrainian folk love song, that is nothing like its usual ominous and/or melancholic fare. It's positively blithe. And it's even in Ukrainian!
Tony Bennett's vision of "If I Ruled the World". The song shows a world filled with beauty, love, and dignity, with a voice and orchestral arrangement (courtesy of Don Costa) that display both warmth and grandeur.

With the coronavirus pandemic causing lockdowns and social isolations all over the planet, musicians from America and Britain team up in the One World: Together At Home concert to entertain people and give hope in the crisis.
With the COVID-19 pandemic inflicting uncertainty, fear and extremely radical changes, Celeste also offers a rendition of a classic song by the late Bill Withers to give hope to the UK.
Also during COVID-19, a Second World War veteran named Tom Moore set himself a challenge of walking 100 lengths of his garden in time for his 100th birthday, with the aim of raising £1000 for the NHS. Upon completing his 100th lap, he and singer Michael Ball appeared on BBC Breakfast, with the latter singing "You’ll Never Walk Alone" to the former. It was later released as a single, with Captain Tom's spoken words included, which looked like it would fall just short of the No1 spot... until The Weeknd heard about it and tweeted his support for them. The single then jumped above his to claim the top spot on 24 April 2020. To add to the heartwarming story, the chart would still be the current one on 30 April 2020 - Moore’s 100th birthday, making him both the oldest chart-topper and the first centenarian to top the UK chart. And to add to the heartwarming, Captain Tom reached his original goal of £1000 on 10 April, increasing it to £5000 and then to £500,000. By the time the drive closed at the end of 30 April, the total was over £32 million.^note

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