Words left unsaid can haunt a person after a loved one has died. Those words were powerfully put together in a vulnerable ballad by U2 called “Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own”. It earned the band Song of the Year at the 2006 Grammy awards for its intimate portrayal of the strained relationship between a father and son. It’s a real life story of Bono and his late father, and Bono sang the song at his father’s funeral in 2001. In the song, he yearns to break down walls for a closer relationship. He sings, “You don’t have to put up a fight / You don’t have to always be right / Let me take some of the punches / For you tonight.” So many people found the song to be everything they couldn’t say to someone who passed away.

-J. Jones