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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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asklemmy
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  • 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.

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          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
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