One time when I was going through a rough patch, a friend suggested I stop listening to depressing music. He was right, and I made an effort to cheer up my playlists. But sometimes we must walk through grief to get to catharsis. This tremendous song acknowledges those rough patches—“sometimes all we do is cope”—but the bridge at 3:37 swells with a glorious, generous wish for a fellow traveler that can be heard as a wish for all of us: may the voices inside us that fill us with dread make the sounds of thousands of angels instead.

"Nobody's Crying," written and performed by Patty Griffin, 2002.

This post is part of Music 100, a love letter to songs. 100 words on 100 songs in 100 days, running from Groundhog Day to May 31, 2025.

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