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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)
    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
                                        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
                                          #78

                                          You are my sunshine (The Dead South do an excellent job illustrating how dark the song really is)

                                          godric@lemmy.worldG H 2 Replies Last reply
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