You know when a song comes on shuffle and you can’t help but be thrown into the past with a startling jolt? It’s a powerful feeling of mixed, but potent emotions. Like smell, music has a strong ability to remind you of things in your life as if you were reliving it. It’s unpleasant and can twist your stomach into uncomfortable knots.

But sometimes you just need a good cry, and a ‘sad’ playlist is one of the best things to let it all out. I’m sat here hoping I’m not the only one who has had too much time on their hands! ‘Sad’ playlists are great for dark evenings if you just want to wind down and are perfect if you’re in a nostalgic mood and of course, are willing to face the rough memories again (and punch them in the face).

Below are some of the absolute belters which have been added to my own ‘sad’ playlist over the years:

• David Gray – Forgetting
• Washed Out – A Dedication
• Iko – Heart of Stone
• Eminem & Dido – Stan
• Eminem – Mockingbird
• Editors – No Sound but the Wind
• Death Cab for Cutie – Transatlanticism
• Antony and the Johnsons – Fistful of Love
• Glen Hansard and Marketa Inglova – The Hill
• Kings of Leon – Pyro
• The Swell Season – The Moon
• Robyn – Eclipse
• Des’ree – Kissing You
• Coldplay – Warning Sign

Each track represents a different time, reminders of people who have come and gone or a specific event in my life. And so I decided to compile the collection into one playlist to essentially torture myself with! It sounds a bit sadistic, but I believe you need to remember the bad, horrible, shitty memories as much as the good, because you’ve gone through it all and you are still standing here today.