Ecclesiastes 1:2-3

“Futility of futilities,” says the Teacher, “futility of futilities! Everything is futile!” What does a man gain from all his labor, at which he toils under the sun?

Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Read all of Ecclesiastes 1

35 songs meet this passage

Mr. Rager · Kid Cudi
resonates with Ecclesiastes 1:2-3
The weary questioning of when meaning or rest will truly arrive echoes the Preacher's exhausted search under the sun.
Kill Yourself V · $uicideboy$
resonates with Ecclesiastes 1:2-3
The questioning of meaning and purpose mirrors the Preacher's own wrestling with the emptiness of life under the sun.
“No, you'll never be the man that you always swore”
I Remember Everything (feat. Kacey Musgraves) · Zach Bryan
resonates with Ecclesiastes 1:2-3
The weary disillusionment with broken promises and unmet potential echoes the Preacher's lament over things that fail to deliver lasting meaning.
We Will Rock You · Queen
resonates with Ecclesiastes 1:2-3
The battered striving of the 'hard man' chasing the world mirrors Ecclesiastes' picture of toil that wears a person down without lasting gain.
“This town rips the bones from your back”
Born to Run · Bruce Springsteen
resonates with Ecclesiastes 1:2-3
The weariness of a grinding, meaningless place mirrors the Preacher's cry that life's labor under the sun can feel empty and crushing.
“got nothing to lose”
Fast Car · Luke Combs
resonates with Ecclesiastes 1:2-3
The weary sense of starting from nothing and chasing a better life mirrors Ecclesiastes' honest wrestling with life's hard labor and uncertain gain.
Viva La Vida · Coldplay
resonates with Ecclesiastes 1:2-3
The vanity of all his former glory and power now facing ruin echoes the Preacher's lament on the fleeting nature of earthly achievement.
Let Down · Radiohead
resonates with Ecclesiastes 1:2-3
The Preacher's lament over the emptiness of toil and striving mirrors this image of people numbing disappointment rather than finding meaning.
Internal Bleeding · Kid Cudi
resonates with Ecclesiastes 1:2
The defiant self-declaration after so much pain recalls the Preacher's weary posturing in the face of futility, standing tall amid exhaustion rather than meaning.
“Ain't no real though, ain't no real though”
Enemies · Amir Obe
resonates with Ecclesiastes 1:2
The refrain captures a hollow, vapor-like sense that nothing in the relationship holds real weight or truth.
The Emptiness Machine (Instrumental) · LINKIN PARK
resonates with Ecclesiastes 1:2
Naming the thing itself 'emptiness' lands close to the Preacher's verdict on pursuits that promise meaning but deliver vapor.
“Do you miss my name?”
Add Up My Love · Clairo
resonates with Ecclesiastes 1:2
The wistful replaying of small details (a laugh, a name, a hand) carries the same ache of grasping at something fleeting.
“Heat waves been faking me out”
Heat Waves · Glass Animals
resonates with Ecclesiastes 1:2
The mirage of heat waves mirrors the fleeting, illusory nature of things we chase but can't hold onto, a very Ecclesiastes-like ache.
“All those fairy tales are full of s**t”
Payphone (feat. Wiz Khalifa) · Maroon 5
resonates with Ecclesiastes 1:2
The disillusionment with romantic ideals echoes the Preacher's weary verdict on life's broken promises, though without any wisdom gained.
“Only know you love her when you let her go”
Let Her Go · Passenger
resonates with Ecclesiastes 1:2
The song's refrain echoes the Preacher's lament that we often grasp the value of things only after they've slipped away, a very human, 'vapor' kind of realization.
Hurt · Johnny Cash
resonates with Ecclesiastes 1:2
The weary verdict of vanity and loss echoes Qoheleth's refrain that all earthly gain and relationship eventually slips away.
Man in Black · Johnny Cash
resonates with Ecclesiastes 1:2
The lament over war's futility and competing claims to divine favor echoes the Preacher's sorrow over the vanity and waste of human striving.
“Nothing really matters to me”
Bohemian Rhapsody · Queen
resonates with Ecclesiastes 1:2
The closing resignation echoes the Preacher's cry of vanity, though here it settles into numb surrender rather than the search for meaning under God that Ecclesiastes pursues.
Hotel California · Eagles
strains against Ecclesiastes 1:2
The restless pleasure-seeking described here echoes the vanity Ecclesiastes names, people numbing themselves rather than finding rest.
“one and one and one is three”
Come Together · The Beatles
strains against Ecclesiastes 1:2
A playful nonsense riddle stands at odds with Ecclesiastes' sober wrestling with meaning; here the absurdity is just for fun, not a search for truth.
“I feel stupid, and contagious”
Smells Like Teen Spirit · Nirvana
resonates with Ecclesiastes 1:2
The weary, meaningless self-loathing mirrors the Preacher's cry that all is vapor and chasing after wind.
“I remember how bad I need ya, when I taste tequila”
Tequila · Dan + Shay
resonates with Ecclesiastes 1:2
The repeated circling back to grief through a sensory trigger mirrors the Preacher's sense of chasing something that keeps slipping away.
Dead! · My Chemical Romance
resonates with Ecclesiastes 1:2
The refrain's nihilistic punchline mirrors the Preacher's cry of vanity, though Ecclesiastes eventually turns toward fearing God while this song does not.
the bitter sweet end to everything i once loved · izumi is dead
resonates with Ecclesiastes 1:2
The sense that everything once meaningful has gone hollow matches the Preacher's cry of emptiness, though here it never turns toward wisdom or God as Ecclesiastes eventually does.
“Dreaming of a past that couldn't last”
Bad Blood · Nao
resonates with Ecclesiastes 1:2-4
The ache over something fleeting and unrecoverable mirrors the Preacher's meditation on the transience of all human things.
“You know it's not the same as it was”
As It Was · Harry Styles
resonates with Ecclesiastes 1:2-4
The repeated ache over impermanence and change echoes Ecclesiastes' meditation on life's fleeting, shifting nature.
“Nothing lasts forever”
Wildest Dreams · Taylor Swift
resonates with Ecclesiastes 1:2-4
The song's resigned awareness that this love is fleeting echoes the Preacher's lament over the transience of all things under the sun.
November Rain · Guns N' Roses
resonates with Ecclesiastes 1:2-4
The song's ache over fleeting love mirrors the Preacher's lament that human things under the sun do not last.
“Her soul slides away”
Don't Look Back in Anger (Remastered) · Oasis
resonates with Ecclesiastes 1:2-4
The drifting, fading imagery captures something of the Preacher's sense of life's transience, though the song doesn't push toward meaning.
“I ain't got nothin' to say”
Dancing In the Dark · Bruce Springsteen
resonates with Ecclesiastes 1:2-4
The flat weariness and sense of sameness mirrors the Preacher's cry that life under the sun can feel like endless repetition.
Dust In the Wind · Kansas
resonates with Ecclesiastes 1:2-4
Qoheleth's refrain of 'vanity of vanities' mirrors the song's sense that human effort and generations pass away.
“The world's still spinning 'round, we don't know why”
Champagne Supernova · Oasis
resonates with Ecclesiastes 1:2-9
The lyric's bewildered 'why' mirrors the Preacher's own vertigo at life's repetition and seeming meaninglessness.
“what is love?”
Landslide (Remastered) · Fleetwood Mac
resonates with Ecclesiastes 1:2-9
The questioning tone recalls the Preacher's own unresolved wondering about life's meaning, a model of honest searching rather than despair.
Civilization (Bongo, Bongo, Bongo) · The Andrews Sisters
resonates with Ecclesiastes 1:2-9
The song's weary jab at 'civilized' progress echoes the Preacher's observation that human striving and invention often amount to vanity and weariness.
The End of the World · Skeeter Davis
resonates with Ecclesiastes 1:3-4
Qoheleth voices the same bewilderment, that generations pass and the earth remains, indifferent to human sorrow.

Each reading weighs one song’s words against Scripture. It is AI-assisted and can be wrong; open a song to see its whole reading and decide for yourself.

35 songs meet this passage

Elsewhere in Ecclesiastes 1