Skip to content
  • Categories
  • Recent
  • Tags
  • Popular
  • World
  • Users
  • Groups
Skins
  • Light
  • Brite
  • Cerulean
  • Cosmo
  • Flatly
  • Journal
  • Litera
  • Lumen
  • Lux
  • Materia
  • Minty
  • Morph
  • Pulse
  • Sandstone
  • Simplex
  • Sketchy
  • Spacelab
  • United
  • Yeti
  • Zephyr
  • Dark
  • Cyborg
  • Darkly
  • Quartz
  • Slate
  • Solar
  • Superhero
  • Vapor

  • Default (No Skin)
  • No Skin
Collapse
Brand Logo

agnos.is Forums

  1. Home
  2. Ask Lemmy
  3. What are the most upbeat songs with kind of depressing lyrics?

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

Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Ask Lemmy
asklemmy
193 Posts 146 Posters 0 Views
  • Oldest to Newest
  • Newest to Oldest
  • Most Votes
Reply
  • Reply as topic
Log in to reply
This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
  • M [email protected]

    99 Luftballons is upbeat and fun, and about some balloons inadvertently kicking off a cataclysmic war that leaves the world in ruins.

    O This user is from outside of this forum
    O This user is from outside of this forum
    [email protected]
    wrote last edited by [email protected]
    #54

    It's about the cold war paranoia. Sound is all synth pop upbeat, though.

    The English version is called "99 Red Balloons".

    1 Reply Last reply
    1
    • K [email protected]

      Good point. Born in the USA and Fortunate Son would probably fit in here as well.

      jewbacca117@lemmy.worldJ This user is from outside of this forum
      jewbacca117@lemmy.worldJ This user is from outside of this forum
      [email protected]
      wrote last edited by
      #55

      Other songs frequently misunderstood by people of a certain political party

      1 Reply Last reply
      3
      • M [email protected]

        99 Luftballons is upbeat and fun, and about some balloons inadvertently kicking off a cataclysmic war that leaves the world in ruins.

        W This user is from outside of this forum
        W This user is from outside of this forum
        [email protected]
        wrote last edited by
        #56

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

        F H 2 Replies Last reply
        2
        • K [email protected]

          The two I can think of are:

          • It's Not Unusual
          • Escape (The Piña Colada Song)
          O This user is from outside of this forum
          O This user is from outside of this forum
          [email protected]
          wrote last edited by
          #57

          Billy Idol - Dancing with Myself
          Loneliness masked as liberation.

          Bulletproof - La Roux
          Emotional numbness disguised as empowerment

          Some Linkin Park songs (Bleed it out, Up from the Bottom, etc.)

          There's so many such songs...

          1 Reply Last reply
          2
          • 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
                                          Reply
                                          • Reply as topic
                                          Log in to reply
                                          • Oldest to Newest
                                          • Newest to Oldest
                                          • Most Votes


                                          • Login

                                          • Login or register to search.
                                          • First post
                                            Last post
                                          0
                                          • Categories
                                          • Recent
                                          • Tags
                                          • Popular
                                          • World
                                          • Users
                                          • Groups