Oh man, awesome topic.
Ok, here are a few which lyrically and musically help me express some of my strongest felt emotions. I mean, I can identify with them, and they often bring me to tears when I listen to them. These are songs that really hit the soft spot in me. I've added some of the lyrics which hit hardest from each song.
All that Remains - The Weak Willed
~ "I am not the weak willed, nor am I a fool who cannot see.. I will not let pride destroy me... I will not give in to fascist beliefs"
Thrice - Stare at the Sun
~ "I see the parts but not the whole
I study saints and scholars both and no perfect plan unfurls
do I trust my heart or just my mind and why is truth so hard to find in this world?"
Killswitch Engage - Desperate times
~"Time and time again I stand at the crossroad.
Where the weight of my burden eclipses my resolve.
This broken path I've chosen, I walk it alone.
Though I feel forgotten, you've carved my name in stone."
Underoath - In regards to Myself
~"You're busy living now aren't you [no!]
You're busy making vows
You're coming unglued
Time is shorter than you know
I know the light is blinding to the naked eye
So why don't you take steps away from being alone
I SWEAR, it's not too late for you... Wake up, Wake up, and step outside your box, Wake up, Wake UP! {I swear it's not to late for you, it's not too late}"
Haste the Day - Chorus of Angels
~"Chorus of angels, destroy my silence,
That haunts me, It claims me,
While darkness walks beside me.
I saw the angels sing along to wake up the beautiful sleeping world.
Their voices will rise to test the strength of man.
Wake up the beautiful sleeping world.
... Up now wake up now wake up now wake!"
Thrice - Like moths to flame
~"I could never be ashamed of you, no I...
--
I've never been this cold, the fire's gravity compels
Like planets cling to sol, I feel my orbit start to fail
Like moths to flame I come, too close And all my oaths are burned
As stars begin to run, all my accusers take their turn
And calling curses down, from my lips lies like poison spill
And then that awful sound, the sound of prophesy fulfilled
And then I met your eyes, and I remember everything
And something in me dies, the night that I betrayed my king"
Underoath - To Whom it may concern
~"So hold your head up high and know it's not the end of the road
Walk down this beaten path before you pack your things and head home
At the end of the road you'll find what you've been longing for
I know 'cause my feet have scars to show"
Thrice - Between the End and where we lie
~" for now I hold a key, and though I may be lost
I know that I will find my way
I search endlessly but every time I’ve thought
that I was near the smoke and mirrors lead me astray
----
daylight, they tell me that it’s just a myth
daylight, they tell me that it can’t exist
they try to betray me with a kiss
they might never know just what they’ve missed as
daylight pours fire into my grey eyes
pour grace into my grey life
breaks in and lights the way
I can’t live without the day"
Zao - Ember
~"my sight finally returns only to see my hands
covered with the innocent blood of those i stand before as an example
and i hold this ember in my heart
it reminds me of who I was once.
--
ember of Your faithfulness
ember of Your still small voice
ember of embracing arms
ember of rebirth
to You my King I offer up this ember for the wind of Your Spirit to consume
consumed by fire to purge their blood from my hands"
As I lay Dying - Behind me lies another fallen Soldier
~"when I begin to steal what only belongs to You
i am able to bring You nothing that isn't already Yours
i am so ashamed of what i ever called my own
take what i have, take these broken remains
what can i give You that You don't already deserve
You laid down Your life when i refused to give mine"
August Burns Red - Redemption
~"Purity fills my lungs.
I no longer live in solitude.
No longer bound.
My heart beats with great devotion.
This is the start to a new beginning.
On my knees praying for mercy.
Hands raised high, humble and broken. Wanting your grace.
Wanting your security.
Memories of laying facedown, motionless, with such a hollow feeling inside."
Payable On Death - Find my Way
~"I still got a ways to go
So far away from home
Inside I always knew
I would find my way to you
Find my way..."
Anberlin - Fin
~"Billy, don't you understand?
Timothy stood as long as he could and now
You've made his faith disappear
More like a magician
And less like a man of the cloth
We're not questioning God
Just those he chose to carry on his cross
We'll grow better, you'll see
Just all of us, the lost causes
--
Aren't we all to you just lost causes?
Aren't we all to you lost?
--
Choir:
Patron saint, are we all lost like you?
Patron saint, are we all lost like you?"
Demon Hunter - I Play Dead
~"Play dead again. It just might stop before the end.
If I pretend you may not see the pain I'm in.
So close to me, can't tell what I'm supposed to be.
Don't stop to breathe, can't bear to think what you might see.
This tourniquet, these blessed hands around my head
So I can keep from...
BLEEDING!!!
I've got to find a way to stop before it STARTS!
Finding its way through my veins right to my HEART.
I never thought it was something everyone could see.
And it kills within me.
--
I won't, I won't leave without a trace.
I won't be erased."
Demon Hunter - Deteriorate
~"Time has had its way with me
My broken, tired hands can’t build a thing
The wires that have held me still
Embedded now in flesh, define my will
The idle of my days has won
The empty I have fed has made me numb
Despite what you will find in me
The failures of my past still swell beneath
--
I need a heart that carries on through the pain
When the walls start collapsing again
Give me a soul that never ceases to follow
Despite the infection within"
Korn - Let's get this party Started
~"I see a family walking
Always thinking of
Being somewhere else in time
So I fall I fall face
In a rut
I can't seem to get out of
Please wake me
Please give me some of it back
The feelings I had
Sometimes I wish
I could be strong like you
It doesn't matter
Each time I wake
I'm somehow feeling the truth
I can't handle
--
Constant paranoia
Surrounds me
Everyone I see
Is out to get me
So I fall I fall face down In a rut
I can't seem to get out of
Please wake me
Please give me some of me back"
Hopesfall - Endeavour
~"FORWARDS, FORWARDS!
--
each new day draws near. the final hour. lamentations for a breaking dawn, on this endeavor for the truth. waiting in the shadows of a recent fall. looking up at the darkened sky that only gets worse. yearning for a cathartic experience to break the shackles of my own. time, the only witness to the abolition of man. for death is the destiny of all. bleakness, the end, but a light on the horizon...my will surpasses my failures. my goals, my triumph. my grave awaits. every step taken in defiance of this world...leads and another will follow...
--
each new day, love is all I want, Draws near, the final hour. Take him down, open my heart, this endeavor for Truth. Each new day, love is all I want...
--
Open my Heart, Open my Heart, Open my Heart, Open my Heart"
Killswitch Engage - This is Absolution
~"Will take the stand among the dead?
Bury your fear, and hold fast to life
We will not die this way (this is absolution)
Death claims us no more (no more)
Do not grieve, end the suffering
We will live, were eternal
Anchor yourself to the foundation of everything you love
Believe you have just become to live
Don't let the world deceive you
Don't let their words betray you
Don't let their lies deceive you
Lead them to their graves"
There are obviously more, but I'm tired of writing for now, so I'll leave it as this.