Losing a loved one is one of the most difficult challenges we’ll ever face. When we experience loss, it can be easy to get lost in our grief.
The pain we feel so intensely within us is because of the deep-rooted love we felt for them. We wouldn’t feel such grief and heartache without such intense love, and what’s life without love?
If you’re having difficulty picking the right music for your loved one’s passing, here are the best songs about love for funerals.
1. “Photograph” by Ed Sheeran
Song Year: 2014
“Photograph” is a beautiful song that recognizes the pain and hardships of loving someone. Love is the universal truth and the greatest thing anyone can feel, yet it’s also can lead to one of the most painful feelings we’ll ever feel.
Ed Sheeran comments on how we can use photographs to feel closer to someone even when they aren’t right there with us. You can find solace in knowing the life they led was filled with love and remember them through that life.
2. “Make You Feel My Love” by Adele
Song Year: 2008
Adele has one of those voices that reach deep into our souls, and her rendition of “Make You Feel My Love” takes it a step further with stunning lyrics. This song goes into depth on how the singer would do everything and anything to prove their love to one another.
This song makes us tear up and feel the truth behind the words, and, well, what else is there to say to our passed loved one other than the love we felt for them in life and the love we still feel for them in death?
3. “What Hurts The Most” by Rascal Flatts
Song Year: 2006
“What Hurts The Most” is understandably a difficult song to listen to, whether you’re grieving or not. This may be too raw and emotional for some people to hear at a funeral, but the focal point of love makes this song so stunning.
Rascal Flatts sings how the hardest part in losing someone is knowing the love that was there and feeling as though it’s left us. If this song cliques with you, embrace it, no matter how difficult it is to hear. Some funerals can uplift us and their memory, while others can let us truly grieve.
4. “You Are The Reason” by Calum Scott
Song Year: 2018
“You Are The Reason” is another love song that can be emotional in a joyful way and in a heart-aching way. It’s all about love and doing whatever we are capable of as humans to do to express it.
Calum Scott has a stunning, powerful voice that delivers this song in a way that provokes tears. Saying goodbye to someone we love, whether a mother, lover, child, or friend, they were a reason for happiness in our lives.
They’re also the reason that even when the grief becomes overbearing, we carry on.
5. “I’m Already There” by Lonestar
Song Year: 2001
Losing someone is unbearably difficult because of their lack of presence in our lives. They go from being someone to lean on every day to no longer existing in our world. Yet, that’s not entirely true.
“I’m Already There” is a song from the perspective of the person we’ve lost but who never really left us. They’re in our memories, hearts, and places they’ve been and with us until we meet our end.
It’s heartbreaking having to miss someone you’ll never see again, but this song reminds us they’re still here.
6. “Yellow” by Coldplay
Song Year: 2000
“Yellow” is more upbeat than the songs we’ve previously mentioned on our list, but not everyone wants a funeral to cry at. Some funerals honor the dead and celebrate the life they lived.
Coldplay sings about the happiness someone gives them, how much they love them, and the light they brought into their life. They marvel at the beauty of love and a life with love.
While grieving is difficult, this song recognizes how lucky and beautiful life is to have known someone like that.
7. “See You Again” by Wiz Khalifa, Charlie Puth
Song Year: 2015
“See You Again” is a popular song known for its heartbreaking backstory, but people can relate so heavily to it because of the bond expressed through the lyrics. It’s acceptance, but acknowledging it isn’t the end.
When someone we love leaves us, it doesn’t mean we stop loving them. Friendship, brotherhood, sisterhood, and familial bonds are something we never forget. We know this person, and we know we’ll see them again deep down.
8. “Your Love Is A Song” by Switchfoot
Song Year: 2009
“Your Love Is A Song” has an inspirational sound and is another upbeat song that recognizes love isn’t always having someone beside us at all times. Switchfoot acknowledges that love isn’t something tangible, but it’s something that is always there, surrounding us.
While we say goodbye to someone at a funeral, their love lingers for the rest of our lives.
9. “Somewhere Only We Know” by Keane
Song Year: 2004
In a very similar sound, “Somewhere Only We Know” also has upbeat instrumentals, but the lyrics are incredibly touching and emotional. This song, despite its loud volume, is intimate.
The lyrics search for something to help them feel again, and they want to be alone with their loved ones to find it again. Yet, they can never be.
There are memories and feelings you and your loved one shared that only you know, and those are what we cling to as we grieve the loss of love.
10. “Halo” by Beyonce
Song Year: 2008
“Halo” is a beautiful song about love, and with the reference to an actual halo, it also becomes the perfect funeral song about love. This song is full of love and light, and even through death, we can feel the joy we spent sharing love with this person.
Its positivity may be hard for some people to listen to, but if you’re looking for an uplifting, powerful song celebrating love, then Beyonce has the one for you.
11. “You’ll Be In My Heart” by Phil Collins
Song Year: 1999
This childhood classic makes for a beautiful and sentimental send-off of a loved one. “You’ll Be In My Heart” is a comforting song that reminds us no matter what happens in life, we have our loved ones in our hearts forever.
While it’s sure to make anyone at a funeral cry, it’s a cry that derives from a life full of love. It has the sound of a goodbye, but it’s not forever, and it’s never for long. Love is always with us, even when the one we love cannot always be.
12. “Hold On” by Chord Overstreet
Song Year: 2017
“Hold On” is a heartbreaking song. Chord Overstreet beautifully sings about loving someone and how things aren’t always perfect, but a world without them would be unbearable.
We experience a love so fully that we’d beg and fight to keep it. This song acknowledges all of this, but also that it’s not always in our control. Life can be great and life can be horrible, but we can change the things that happen to us. All we can do is love.
13. “Always Remember Us This Way” by Lady Gaga
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vheNbQlsyU
Song Year: 2018
“Always Remember Us This Way” is about losing a romantic love that wasn’t perfect, but it was powerful and all-consuming. Lady Gaga’s powerful voice sings lyrics that express how painful the loss is, but when she thinks of her lover, she will always remember them for the good times.
14. “If I Could Fly” by One Direction
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pe65gWJLxI
Song Year: 2015
One Direction sings about how their loved one is their home; if they could, they’d go out of their way to be with them. “If I Could Fly” is beautiful and heartbreaking in acknowledging how love weakens our guards and leaves us vulnerable, and even when it hurts, it’s worth it.
This funeral song is a tribute to your loved one, who may be the one wishing to fly back home to you. Love makes us powerful and weak all at the same time.
15. “Chasing Cars” by Snow Patrol
Song Year: 2006
“Chasing Cars” is the last on our list, but it holds a special place in our hearts the way loved ones do. It’s a song about just wanting to be with someone. You don’t have to do anything, just be together and feel each other breath.
It’s a heartbreaking funeral song because our time with our loved ones has run out. Yet, it reminds us how strong love can be and how special it was knowing someone you could just lay with, not talk, and just enjoy their presence.
Best Songs About Love For Funerals, Final Thoughts
Love songs at funerals are strong because they remind us of love in life and the love we feel afterlife.
Whether you choose a love song on our list or go a different route, whatever song you pick for your loved one will be perfect.