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  3. What are the most upbeat songs with kind of depressing lyrics?

What are the most upbeat songs with kind of depressing lyrics?

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  • K [email protected]

    The two I can think of are:

    • It's Not Unusual
    • Escape (The Piña Colada Song)
    U This user is from outside of this forum
    U This user is from outside of this forum
    [email protected]
    wrote last edited by
    #58

    That's like Paul Simon's entire schtick. Alongside downbeat songs with uplifting lyrics.

    1 Reply Last reply
    0
    • K [email protected]

      The two I can think of are:

      • It's Not Unusual
      • Escape (The Piña Colada Song)
      B This user is from outside of this forum
      B This user is from outside of this forum
      [email protected]
      wrote last edited by
      #59

      most of the after laughter album by paramore

      also hey ya by outkast is often played at weddings while being about a relationship failing

      1 Reply Last reply
      0
      • K [email protected]

        The two I can think of are:

        • It's Not Unusual
        • Escape (The Piña Colada Song)
        F This user is from outside of this forum
        F This user is from outside of this forum
        [email protected]
        wrote last edited by
        #60

        Born in the USA

        S 1 Reply Last reply
        10
        • W [email protected]

          The balloons were a metaphor for the mushroom clouds from the nukes going off

          F This user is from outside of this forum
          F This user is from outside of this forum
          [email protected]
          wrote last edited by
          #61

          In my opinion, the lyrics tell a pretty straightforward story, no real need for metaphor

          Someone releases a bunch of balloons into the sky, they get mistaken for enemy aircraft/missiles, and set off a war.

          If you get more out of it with your interpretation, more power to you, but it feels like a bit of an unnecessary stretch though.

          1 Reply Last reply
          11
          • K [email protected]

            The two I can think of are:

            • It's Not Unusual
            • Escape (The Piña Colada Song)
            C This user is from outside of this forum
            C This user is from outside of this forum
            [email protected]
            wrote last edited by [email protected]
            #62

            Surprised that people haven't mentioned Yoru ni Kakeru (Racing into the Night) by Yoasobi. It's a Japanese song about depression and commiting suicide.

            Specifically, it follows a guy who falls in love with a depressed and suicidal girl. Over time, the guy himself becomes depressed and tired of life and they both decide to commit suicide together.

            P 1 Reply Last reply
            2
            • F [email protected]

              Born in the USA

              S This user is from outside of this forum
              S This user is from outside of this forum
              [email protected]
              wrote last edited by
              #63

              Someone's boat was blasting that at the 4th of July on the water. My brother in Christ, I understood the lyrics back in 1984. It's a jammin' tune, but damn.

              1 Reply Last reply
              4
              • K [email protected]

                The two I can think of are:

                • It's Not Unusual
                • Escape (The Piña Colada Song)
                A This user is from outside of this forum
                A This user is from outside of this forum
                [email protected]
                wrote last edited by
                #64

                Little Foot Big Foot - Childish Gambino

                1 Reply Last reply
                1
                • W [email protected]

                  The balloons were a metaphor for the mushroom clouds from the nukes going off

                  H This user is from outside of this forum
                  H This user is from outside of this forum
                  [email protected]
                  wrote last edited by [email protected]
                  #65

                  So you’re saying that the person standing in ruin at the end of the song thinks of their loved one and sets off a nuclear bomb?

                  I think the red balloons were just red balloons, mistaken for an enemy attack.

                  You and I in a little toy shop
                  Buy a bag of balloons with the money we've got
                  Set them free at the break of dawn
                  'Til one by one, they were gone
                  Back at base, sparks in the software
                  Flash the message "something's out there"
                  Floating in the summer sky
                  99 red balloons go by
                  
                  99 red balloons
                  Floating in the summer sky
                  Panic bells, it's red alert
                  There's something here from somewhere else
                  The war machine springs to life
                  Opens up one eager eye
                  Focusing it on the sky
                  The 99 red balloons go by
                  
                  99 Decision Street
                  99 ministers meet
                  To worry, worry, super scurry
                  Call the troops out in a hurry
                  This is what we've waited for
                  This is it boys, this is war
                  The President is on the line
                  As 99 red balloons go by
                  
                  99 knights of the air
                  Ride super high-tech jet fighters
                  Everyone's a superhero
                  Everyone's a Captain Kirk
                  With orders to identify
                  To clarify and classify
                  Scrambling the summer sky
                  99 red balloons go by
                  
                  As 99 red balloons go by
                  
                  99 dreams I have had
                  In every one, a red balloon
                  It's all over, and I'm standing pretty
                  In this dust that was a city
                  If I could find a souvenir
                  Just the prove the world was here
                  And here is a red balloon
                  I think of you, and let it go
                  

                  From Wikipedia:

                  The lyrics of the original German version tell a story: 99 balloons are mistaken for UFOs, causing a military general to send pilots to investigate. Finding nothing but balloons, the pilots put on a large show of firepower. The display of force worries the nations along the borders and the defense ministers on each side encourage conflict to grab power for themselves. In the end, a cataclysmic war results from the otherwise harmless flight of balloons and causes devastation on all sides without a victor, as indicated in the denouement of the song: "99 Jahre Krieg ließen keinen Platz für Sieger," which means "99 years of war left no room for victors." The anti-war song finishes with the singer walking through the devastated ruins of the world and finding a single balloon. The description of what happens in the final line of the piece is the same in German and English: "'Denk' an dich und lass' ihn fliegen," or "Think of you and let it go."[11]

                  T 1 Reply Last reply
                  17
                  • C [email protected]

                    Foster the People - Pumped Up Kicks

                    A This user is from outside of this forum
                    A This user is from outside of this forum
                    [email protected]
                    wrote last edited by
                    #66

                    Houdini is no slouch either

                    1 Reply Last reply
                    2
                    • K [email protected]

                      The two I can think of are:

                      • It's Not Unusual
                      • Escape (The Piña Colada Song)
                      H This user is from outside of this forum
                      H This user is from outside of this forum
                      [email protected]
                      wrote last edited by [email protected]
                      #67

                      Straw Hat and Old Dirty Hank by Barenaked Ladies is about the real stalking of a Canadian celebrity by a mentally unstable man who thought she was in love with him.

                      https://www.upi.com/Archives/1981/12/31/A-love-sick-farmer-who-has-pursued-singer-Anne-Murray/8301378622800/

                      1 Reply Last reply
                      2
                      • K [email protected]

                        The two I can think of are:

                        • It's Not Unusual
                        • Escape (The Piña Colada Song)
                        M This user is from outside of this forum
                        M This user is from outside of this forum
                        [email protected]
                        wrote last edited by [email protected]
                        #68

                        All Thats Left of Me is You by Vulfpeck

                        1 Reply Last reply
                        1
                        • K [email protected]

                          The two I can think of are:

                          • It's Not Unusual
                          • Escape (The Piña Colada Song)
                          agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.worksA This user is from outside of this forum
                          agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.worksA This user is from outside of this forum
                          [email protected]
                          wrote last edited by [email protected]
                          #69

                          A good chunk of They Might Be Giants' discography.

                          Homeless Bleak Despair is about what's in the title.

                          Don't Let's Start "Everybody dies frustrated and sad and that is beautiful"

                          My Man is about being paralyzed.

                          That just scratches the surface.

                          1 Reply Last reply
                          1
                          • M [email protected]

                            I don't like Mondays by boomtown rats

                            https://open.spotify.com/track/7JFoeg0arawADjGcz9gBnq

                            Quite a chill and happy song about a school shooting

                            jqubed@lemmy.worldJ This user is from outside of this forum
                            jqubed@lemmy.worldJ This user is from outside of this forum
                            [email protected]
                            wrote last edited by
                            #70

                            An actual school shooting and I think the shooter thanked Bob Geldof for making her more famous

                            1 Reply Last reply
                            0
                            • H [email protected]

                              So you’re saying that the person standing in ruin at the end of the song thinks of their loved one and sets off a nuclear bomb?

                              I think the red balloons were just red balloons, mistaken for an enemy attack.

                              You and I in a little toy shop
                              Buy a bag of balloons with the money we've got
                              Set them free at the break of dawn
                              'Til one by one, they were gone
                              Back at base, sparks in the software
                              Flash the message "something's out there"
                              Floating in the summer sky
                              99 red balloons go by
                              
                              99 red balloons
                              Floating in the summer sky
                              Panic bells, it's red alert
                              There's something here from somewhere else
                              The war machine springs to life
                              Opens up one eager eye
                              Focusing it on the sky
                              The 99 red balloons go by
                              
                              99 Decision Street
                              99 ministers meet
                              To worry, worry, super scurry
                              Call the troops out in a hurry
                              This is what we've waited for
                              This is it boys, this is war
                              The President is on the line
                              As 99 red balloons go by
                              
                              99 knights of the air
                              Ride super high-tech jet fighters
                              Everyone's a superhero
                              Everyone's a Captain Kirk
                              With orders to identify
                              To clarify and classify
                              Scrambling the summer sky
                              99 red balloons go by
                              
                              As 99 red balloons go by
                              
                              99 dreams I have had
                              In every one, a red balloon
                              It's all over, and I'm standing pretty
                              In this dust that was a city
                              If I could find a souvenir
                              Just the prove the world was here
                              And here is a red balloon
                              I think of you, and let it go
                              

                              From Wikipedia:

                              The lyrics of the original German version tell a story: 99 balloons are mistaken for UFOs, causing a military general to send pilots to investigate. Finding nothing but balloons, the pilots put on a large show of firepower. The display of force worries the nations along the borders and the defense ministers on each side encourage conflict to grab power for themselves. In the end, a cataclysmic war results from the otherwise harmless flight of balloons and causes devastation on all sides without a victor, as indicated in the denouement of the song: "99 Jahre Krieg ließen keinen Platz für Sieger," which means "99 years of war left no room for victors." The anti-war song finishes with the singer walking through the devastated ruins of the world and finding a single balloon. The description of what happens in the final line of the piece is the same in German and English: "'Denk' an dich und lass' ihn fliegen," or "Think of you and let it go."[11]

                              T This user is from outside of this forum
                              T This user is from outside of this forum
                              [email protected]
                              wrote last edited by
                              #71

                              Holy cow those lyrics are dark, I somehow never noticed. Lol

                              1 Reply Last reply
                              3
                              • K [email protected]

                                The two I can think of are:

                                • It's Not Unusual
                                • Escape (The Piña Colada Song)
                                kersploosh@sh.itjust.worksK This user is from outside of this forum
                                kersploosh@sh.itjust.worksK This user is from outside of this forum
                                [email protected]
                                wrote last edited by
                                #72

                                I Am A Rock by Simon and Garfunkel

                                A winter's day  
                                In a deep and dark December
                                
                                I am alone  
                                Gazing from my window to the streets below  
                                On a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow
                                I am a rock I am an island
                                
                                I've built walls
                                A fortress deep and mighty
                                That none may penetrate
                                I have no need of friendship, friendship causes pain
                                It's laughter and it's loving I disdain
                                I am a rock I am an island
                                
                                Don't talk of love
                                Well I've heard the word before
                                It's sleeping in my memory
                                I won't disturb the slumber of feelings that have died
                                If I never loved I never would have cried
                                I am a rock I am an island
                                
                                I have my books
                                And my poetry to protect me
                                I am shielded in my armor
                                Hiding in my room safe within my womb
                                I touch no one and no one touches me
                                I am a rock I am an island
                                
                                And a rock feels no pain
                                And an island never cries
                                
                                E 1 Reply Last reply
                                3
                                • K [email protected]

                                  The two I can think of are:

                                  • It's Not Unusual
                                  • Escape (The Piña Colada Song)
                                  D This user is from outside of this forum
                                  D This user is from outside of this forum
                                  [email protected]
                                  wrote last edited by
                                  #73

                                  Hard Times - Paramore first thing I thought of

                                  1 Reply Last reply
                                  3
                                  • T [email protected]

                                    Bad Moon Rising by Creedence.

                                    It's about the apocalypse, but you wouldn't know it from how upbeat it is.

                                    ripcord@lemmy.worldR This user is from outside of this forum
                                    ripcord@lemmy.worldR This user is from outside of this forum
                                    [email protected]
                                    wrote last edited by
                                    #74

                                    Ah, rhe bathroom song.

                                    1 Reply Last reply
                                    1
                                    • K [email protected]

                                      The two I can think of are:

                                      • It's Not Unusual
                                      • Escape (The Piña Colada Song)
                                      A This user is from outside of this forum
                                      A This user is from outside of this forum
                                      [email protected]
                                      wrote last edited by [email protected]
                                      #75

                                      The only 2 songs I could think of, Pumped Up Kicks, and 99 Luftballons/99 Red Balloons were already brought up. So I had to think of some different songs. And I can't. Looked through a bunch of songs on my phone and back of some of my CD cases and I can't think of any right now.

                                      Closest I can think of was just a video of someone reacting to the Japanese vocaloid song 「ごめんね ごめんね」 ( I'm sorry I'm sorry )by Kikuo and not knowing what the song meant until looking up the lyrics. Even then, that's not a very upbeat song.

                                      Edit:

                                      I thought about "Belong" by R.E.M., but I would say it's near upbeat but not quite there. Also, the lyrics are more cryptic and confusing to dissect than depressing in my opinion.

                                      Edit 2:

                                      Wouldn't say it's quite upbeat either, but Mighty K.C. from For Squirrels as well. Not quite upbeat but definitely depressing lyrics considering it's about death.

                                      1 Reply Last reply
                                      4
                                      • K [email protected]

                                        The two I can think of are:

                                        • It's Not Unusual
                                        • Escape (The Piña Colada Song)
                                        W This user is from outside of this forum
                                        W This user is from outside of this forum
                                        [email protected]
                                        wrote last edited by
                                        #76

                                        for some reason there's a bunch of upbeat sounding Japanese songs that are actually disturbing if you look into the lyrics (for example racing into the night)

                                        L 1 Reply Last reply
                                        3
                                        • K [email protected]

                                          The two I can think of are:

                                          • It's Not Unusual
                                          • Escape (The Piña Colada Song)
                                          M This user is from outside of this forum
                                          M This user is from outside of this forum
                                          [email protected]
                                          wrote last edited by
                                          #77

                                          Flagpole Sitta - Harvey Danger?

                                          K 1 Reply Last reply
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