Songs for the End of Life

Inspired by this piece from The Washington Post and the playlist it shared, we turned to you, the End Well community, to find out which songs provide the greatest comfort and meaning at the end of life.

After compiling the End Well community’s responses into our own Spotify playlist, we were struck by the wide variety of genres represented and by how uniquely the songs capture generational attitudes toward love, loss, and the human experience.

Our playlist shows just how diverse expectations about the end-of-life experience can be. As we continue to explore what it means to end well, we hope this playlist inspires the kind of creativity and purpose we can all bring to the plans we make for ourselves and our loved ones.

Below are a few highlights from our playlist by decade.

What songs are missing for you?

1960s

Louis Armstrong “What a Wonderful World” (1968)

1970s

Bruce Springsteen “Born to Run” (1975)

1980s

Kathleen Battle “Ave Maria” (1986)

1990s

Pearl Jam “Release” (1991)

2000s

Brad Paisley “When I Get Where I’m Going” (2005)

2010s

Beyoncé “I Was Here” (2011)