a Cornerstone and A Cure For Minds Unwell might Fix You and help Isabelle Fly!

Hello, my favorite Monday peeps! Here we are at Monday again already—how does the weekend manage to go by approximately 47 times faster than the workweek? 😂

It was another busy one around here, with a hubby gig on Saturday and yours truly squeezing in some work over the weekend, too. Apparently my clients didn’t get the memo that weekends are supposed to involve things like relaxing! 😉 

I’ll have more to share about both of those adventures tomorrow, but for now, it’s time to turn up the music and get this Monday moving. 

This week is a freebie week for Monday’s Music Moves Me, which means I could choose absolutely anything my little music-loving heart desired. But since September is Suicide Prevention Month, I wanted to use my freebie to acknowledge something much more important.

Music has an incredible way of reaching us when ordinary words can’t—whether it’s reminding us that we’re not alone, giving us something solid to hold onto, or simply offering a little hope when everything feels impossibly heavy. So the four songs I’ve chosen this week each touch on that idea in their own way.

This one also hits a little closer to home for me. When I was younger, I went through a very dark time in my life and ultimately ended up on a 5150 hold for 72 hours. It’s not something I talk about often, but it’s part of my story—and thankfully, it wasn’t the end of my story. ♥️

Maybe that’s why I’ve wanted to get a semicolon tattoo for quite some time, and one of these days I’m finally going to do it. A semicolon is used when a sentence could have ended, but the writer chose to continue, and it has become a powerful symbol of suicide prevention and mental-health awareness.

That symbolism has always resonated with me: your story isn’t over. So that’s the spirit behind today’s playlist. Whether you’re struggling yourself, supporting someone you love, or simply going through one of those times when life feels heavier than you think you can carry, I hope these songs offer a little hope—a reminder to keep going, to reach for a helping hand when you need one, and to stick around to see what the next chapter brings. ❤️

Sometimes the most powerful songs come from places we would never willingly choose to visit. After losing his oldest son, this singer stood in front of his grieving family at the funeral service knowing their lives had been shattered and somehow they would have to rebuild.

He later recalled looking at his wife and children and telling them they couldn’t build their lives on money, prescription drugs, alcohol or seeing themselves as victims. They needed to build on something solid—something that wouldn’t disappear when everything else did. Those words eventually became the foundation for this song.

He later wrote it with Brian Fowler and Micah Kuiper, turning that deeply personal moment into a declaration of faith and hope, and invited another powerhouse vocalist to join him. For him, that solid foundation is his faith in Christ, something he says remained steady even through unimaginable grief.

I think there’s also a message here that reaches beyond one person’s faith journey: when life knocks the foundation out from underneath us, what we choose to rebuild upon matters. Sometimes simply finding that one solid thing to hold onto can be the first step toward standing again.

Give a listen to TobyMac featuring Zach Williams with “Cornerstone”:

One of the hardest things about struggling internally is how easy it can be to look perfectly fine to everyone else. We get up, go to work, smile at the appropriate times and do all the things we’re “supposed” to do while nobody necessarily sees what’s happening inside.

This incredibly vulnerable song captures exactly that experience—the sleepless nights, fear, regret and exhaustion of trying to function normally when your own mind isn’t giving you any peace.

The timing of its release made that honesty even more meaningful. It arrived in early 2024 as part of an expanded edition of an album, just months after the singer stepped away from touring to concentrate on his mental and physical well-being.

It’s a powerful reminder that we can’t always see what someone else is carrying—and that sometimes the bravest thing we can do is stop pretending everything is fine. ❤️

Give a listen to the inimitable Lewis Capaldi with “A Cure For Minds Unwell”:

And now we arrive at the song that was driving me CRAZY because I could see the video in my head but couldn’t remember what it was! 😂 I remembered a male singer walking alone through dark city streets, singing directly toward the camera, with a song that felt pensive but ultimately hopeful.

After quite the musical scavenger hunt, the light bulb finally came on—and naturally it turned out to be one of the most recognizable songs of the past couple of decades.

The story behind it makes it especially appropriate this week. The singer wrote it while trying to comfort his then-wife following the death of her father. He originally wanted a church-organ sound, but instead turned on a keyboard her father had given her before he died—one that had been sitting unused in their home—and discovered the beautiful sound that opens the song.

From its quiet beginning, the music gradually builds from darkness and helplessness into something huge and hopeful. The singer has called it perhaps the most important song his band ever wrote, and twenty-plus years later, its promise to simply try to help someone through their darkest moments still packs quite an emotional punch. ❤️

Here’s Coldplay with “Fix You”:

Our final song may have just been released, but it’s actually been waiting for its moment for years! It was originally written for the 2021 Netflix movie The Starling, starring Melissa McCarthy as a woman trying to move forward after the devastating loss of her infant daughter.

The song played during the movie’s opening titles but never really found a home in the band’s own catalog. In fact, they admit that at the time it felt like something of a failed attempt that “never actually took flight.” Still, they always loved it.

Five years later, it finally gets another chance to spread its wings. The band’s longtime label is celebrating its 25th anniversary with a collection of rarities and covers, and this previously overlooked song was chosen to help lead the project.

That seems wonderfully appropriate for the way we’re ending today’s playlist: something created during a story about grief and survival, set aside for years, and finally given another opportunity to fly.

Maybe that’s a pretty good metaphor for life, too. Something that feels unfinished—or even like a failure—at one point in our story might simply be waiting for its moment.

Without further ado, here’s The Lumineers with “Isabelle Fly”:

And before I send you off to dance your way through another week, please remember: if you or someone you know is struggling or needs someone to talk to, you can call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. You don’t have to carry the heavy stuff alone, and sometimes reaching out is the first step toward a brighter chapter. ❤️

That’s a wrap for this week – have a great Monday! See you on the dance floor!

Now, onto the particulars of Monday’s Music Moves Me:

I have the supreme honor and privilege of being a co-host with the inimitable Xmas Dolly and our musical cohort, the awesome Cathy from Curious as a CAThy, and Alana of Ramblin’ with AM!

Want to join in the fun? It’s easy – just find a tune that rocks your boat, post it and link up – don’t forget to grab Xmas Dolly…er, um, I mean her button…over at her place here. Check out Xmas Dolly’s sidebar for the random themes we sport each week – and you can always ask for a specific theme of music you like, too. Check out the other music lovahs and let’s jam!