Ecclesiastes 2:17-18

So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. For everything is futile and a pursuit of the wind. I hated all for which I had toiled under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who comes after me.

Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Read all of Ecclesiastes 2

5 songs meet this passage

  • “I don't wanna work again I don't wanna try again”

    The Reaper's Wrath · Azizi Gibson

    resonates with Ecclesiastes 2:17-18

    This weary disillusionment with labor and people mirrors the Preacher's exhausted despair, though without his eventual turn toward meaning.

  • Bullet · Hollywood Undead

    resonates with Ecclesiastes 2:17

    Both voice a hatred of life itself, naming the weariness of existence without yet finding meaning beyond it.

  • “Am I already dead?”

    The Abyss · Three Days Grace

    resonates with Ecclesiastes 2:17

    The weary numbness toward life itself mirrors the Preacher's despair, though Ecclesiastes eventually circles back toward meaning under God while this song does not.

  • “It's not much of a life you're living”

    Stay (feat. Mikky Ekko) · Rihanna

    resonates with Ecclesiastes 2:17

    There's an honest acknowledgment here that something about this dynamic is hollow and wearying, akin to Qoheleth's weary verdict on empty pursuits.

  • Paranoid · Black Sabbath

    resonates with Ecclesiastes 2:17

    The Preacher's 'I hated life' mirrors this closing resignation; both voice genuine despair without resolution.

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.

Elsewhere in Ecclesiastes 2