A Guide to “Cry For Help” Music

Words By Matthew Spence:

The surgeon general recommends a healthy, balanced music discourse consumption to keep your music cred afloat and your attention span entertained. However, it isn’t as simple as DoorDashing Flintstone gummies.

Remember the philosophy of Mean Girls (or really any high school flick): you’re only as good as the company you keep. It applies to many facets of life, and the music world isn’t any different. So what your circle lacks in sample knowledge and knowing Not For Radio is one person; you’ve got to know how to maneuver through the halls more than the kidz.

 

 

Lowkey feels like speed dating. 5 minutes you spend sitting with the Pitchfork Music nerds talking about the Copenhagen scene and arguing if unclipped guitar strings are a sign of being a sociopath. Next 5 minutes you chill with the Complex Mag popular kids talking about who Bad Bunny should bring out at the 2026 Super Bowl, and they kick you out for mentioning Armand Hammer’s latest project.

And for the last portion, you sit alone and eavesdrop on the Twitter and Reddit table, cuz hanging with them will get your ass in trouble, but hey, they certainly know how to enhance dialogue. For instance, the “Male/Female manipulator music” concept that came from Twitter opened a floodgate of music discourse for better and for worse, sparking many to chime in with their own takes and extend the concept.

Me being one of them. The more I thought about the “male/female manipulator music,” it made me harp on a concept I’ve had for months, and I don’t really see people expounding upon it.

“Crying For Help” music.

A few blocks down the street from Manipulator music and a state away from House Party music, “Cry For Help” is music for the occasion of “MAMA, I’M IN PAIN,” to quote Jim Carroll. A musical vault filled with artisan songs that are soundtracks dealing with the big three of life: Saw Traps: anxiety, depressive state, and/or going through a crisis/going through shit, whatever that may entail. Not limited to only those occasions, it could just be your everyday rotation shit; maybe you just like him with it, with or without the emotional stress. It may sound good and may make you feel good, no matter the day or feeling. However, the compass arrow usually points west regarding its usage.

In case of an emergency, break the glass for your Spotify login. Those concerns break out the emergency kit of “You good?” texts and hot cocoa. Sending a blue and red smoke signal for yourself until your group chat and everyone who checks your stories knows that “the kid is not alright.” Because the second you see Out Getting Ribs by King Krule, shit is serious. Breakups: you’re covered. Life crisis: you’re insured. Overall, just not feeling like yourself, you have access to empathy in stereo (or mono). Slide your finger down the list, and an endless place is ready with an abundance of artists who are offering a seat on a therapy couch.

In a place of 40 tracks, who would you see? What would you hear? Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the mopiest of them all? Well, it varies. Of course, you have your usual suspects of indie, alternative pop, folk, and post-punk, and sprinkle in your hip hop and R&B. However, if you’re messy and you want names, well, here’s where things get interesting.

Go to any male/female manipulator tier list, and a good chunk of the artists you see also fit the bill for “Crying For Help” music, whether it’s their entire catalog or they could have a song or two that gets constant rotation. No matter if you app hop from Spotify to YouTube Music, breaking out “Another Sorry Playlist by Me” will leave you feeling like a Gregg Araki character.

 

 

• The Smiths
• Weezer
• Elliott Smith
• Radiohead
• Deftones
• The Cure
• Joy Division
• Frank Ocean
• Current Joys
• Phoebe bridgers
• Mazzy Star
• Lana Del Rey
• Amy Winehouse
• Sufjan Stevens
• Earl Sweatshirt
• Jeff Buckley

[The list goes and feel free to add your own artists and make our own tier list]

 

The list goes on. It’s not necessary for an artist’s entire catalog to be 4 hours of trauma dumping; it can be certain songs here and there that check off the criteria. The song could be “Cry for Help” music, but not necessarily the artist themselves. The subject matter might not be bleak and melancholic, but sonically and atmospherically, it can turn that smile right side up.  Speak to you in another language.

Concern is warranted. But ultimately, it’s crazy how people can underestimate the importance of music. How, for many, when times feel uncertain and hardship feels like it’s circumcising any chance of hopefulness you have for yourself, someone has possibly felt that way and crafted a piece of music that helps you feel less alone and wants you to know your feelings are valid—a shoulder to cry on, a therapist event, or a free rage room.

The music can be just as helpful as those aforementioned outlets. Cuz hey, sometimes it’s hard to be honest with yourself, so being real with other people isn’t a walk in the park.

 

 

Sticky Note: Of course, it shouldn’t substitute for everything mentioned, but instead be juggled between all of them.

On the surface, it’s alarming to go back and forth between the Cure’s “Pornography” and Tyler, the Creator’s “IGOR,” but internally, the soul is trying to heal. Pixar’s finest work taught us to embrace and accept the gloom of her emotions as a part of the process of restoring our peace. Hell, even the label “Cry For Help” music shouldn’t necessarily have a negative connotation nor boil the artist’s catalog down to this one thing. Crying for help is as vulnerable as it can get, and an artist’s art amplifies that fact while simultaneously helping the cause.

No need to fret on the person’s 24/7 block of “Meat Is Murder” and “The Queen Is Dead”; he may know a good tune, but they, like anyone sane, will still think Morrissey is a piece of shit.