These songs were written from hard places. Some of them sit in the darkest rooms a person can enter. The essays go into those rooms with them.
A song can be heard for years before it is listened to. Then one day the words arrive. They may arrive for you here. A line you have sung along with may suddenly be about your own life, or about someone you love.
If that happens, it is fine to stop. Skip an essay. Come back another day, or don't. Nothing here is a test.
If the weight is more than you should carry alone, please reach out to someone. A friend or a pastor. A rabbi or a counselor. The lines below are free and answer day and night in the United States.
In immediate danger: call 911.
988 Lifeline: call or text 988, or chat online. For anyone who is struggling, or worried about someone who is. Press 2 for Spanish.
Veterans Crisis Line: call 988 and press 1, or text 838255. For veterans, service members and their families.
Crisis Text Line: text HOME to 741741. For anyone who would rather type than talk.
SAMHSA National Helpline: call 1-800-662-4357, or text your ZIP code to 435748. For help finding treatment and recovery support, for yourself or for family.
The Hotline: call 1-800-799-7233, or text START to 88788. For anyone afraid of someone at home.
RAINN: call 800-656-4673, text HOPE to 64673, or chat online. For anyone harmed by another person's hands, whether last night or long ago.
Outside the United States, your local emergency number or health service can point you to help nearby.
The psalmist knew this ground. "The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart" (Psalm 34:18). He is near on the page and off it. So are the people He puts beside us.