5.) "For Martha," Smashing Pumpkins

Lead singer Billy Corgan has written about his own mother, who died of cancer in 1996, in this song and in "Once Upon a Time." Corgan, who has performed "For Martha" onstage with his musician father, has been known to break out in tears midway through the song, which asserts, "Someday I'll follow you and see you on the other side."