Ecclesiastes 1:8-9

All things are wearisome, more than one can describe; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear content with hearing. What has been will be again, and what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.

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

15 songs meet this passage

“Livin' just to find emotion”
Don't Stop Believin' (2024 Remaster) · Journey
resonates with Ecclesiastes 1:8-9
The restless chase for feeling without lasting satisfaction mirrors the Preacher's observation that the eye and ear are never fully satisfied.
“I keep running, but I'm standing still”
Ain't No Love In Oklahoma · Luke Combs
resonates with Ecclesiastes 1:8-9
The weary, circular motion without real progress captures the futility the Preacher names, labor that never satisfies.
“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.
Shallow · Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper
resonates with Ecclesiastes 1:8
The restless questioning of whether worldly comfort is enough mirrors the Preacher's own unsatisfied searching.
“We can't find what we need”
Brother (feat. Gavin DeGraw) · NEEDTOBREATHE
resonates with Ecclesiastes 1:8
The restless searching mirrors the weary striving described in Ecclesiastes, an honest ache for something more.
“Same old nigga and the same old pain”
Another Day · Kid Cudi
resonates with Ecclesiastes 1:9
Captures the same weary sense of repetition and nothing truly changing, a very Ecclesiastes-like admission of futility.
squabble up · Kendrick Lamar
strains against Ecclesiastes 1:9
The claim of reincarnation and self-made identity stands against the biblical pattern of one life, one accountability before God, not cycles of self-renewal.
“We never learn, we've been here before”
Sign of the Times · Harry Styles
resonates with Ecclesiastes 1:9
The weary refrain that humanity repeats its own destructive cycles echoes the Preacher's lament that there is nothing new under the sun.
“A different girl now, but there's nothing new”
deja vu · Olivia Rodrigo
resonates with Ecclesiastes 1:9
The weary sense that patterns just repeat with new people echoes the Preacher's observation that nothing under the sun is truly new, though here it's felt as heartbreak rather than wisdom.
Bad News · Kanye West
strains against Ecclesiastes 1:9
The weary cynicism of 'nothing new under the sun' contrasts with the narrator's shock, as if betrayal still manages to wound freshly each time.
“It's the same old theme since 1916”
Zombie (2025 Remastered) · The Cranberries
resonates with Ecclesiastes 1:9
Names the weary repetition of human conflict across generations, much as the Preacher observes nothing new under the sun.
“My God this reminds me, of when we were young”
When We Were Young · Adele
strains against Ecclesiastes 1:9-11
The song clings to memory as the source of meaning, while Ecclesiastes points past nostalgia toward something eternal that outlasts fleeting remembrance.
“This world has seldom seen”
Kashmir · Led Zeppelin
resonates with Ecclesiastes 1:9-11
The sense of ancient mystery and cyclical time echoes Ecclesiastes' musing on what has been and will be again.

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.

15 songs meet this passage

Elsewhere in Ecclesiastes 1