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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)
    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
      3
      • W [email protected]

        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 This user is from outside of this forum
        L This user is from outside of this forum
        [email protected]
        wrote last edited by
        #79

        Bad Apple

        1 Reply Last reply
        1
        • kersploosh@sh.itjust.worksK [email protected]

          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 This user is from outside of this forum
          E This user is from outside of this forum
          [email protected]
          wrote last edited by
          #80

          In that vein, I guess, "The Sound of Silence" by Simon and Garfunkel also deserves a mention, even if it's up for interpretation how depressing the lyrics by themselves are.

          But the first line in the song is "Hello darkness, my old friend / I've come to talk with you again." and there is a cover version by the metal band Disturbed, which has no shame to really lean into that sort of vibe.

          And yeah, after having heard the Disturbed version, listening to the original certainly feels like there is a massive disconnect between how sad the song perhaps should be and how upbeat the original is.

          zoomboingding@lemmy.worldZ 1 Reply Last reply
          3
          • K [email protected]

            The two I can think of are:

            • It's Not Unusual
            • Escape (The Piña Colada Song)
            Z This user is from outside of this forum
            Z This user is from outside of this forum
            [email protected]
            wrote last edited by
            #81

            Someone else mentioned this too, but if anyone is into Japanese songs: I think there are probably more songs (especially Vocaloid ones) with extremely messed-up (and convoluted) lyrics than those that do not... I don't think most of them are well-known outside anime/vocaloid circles though.
            Trying to think about the more "cute and depressing" ones I could find:

            ::: spoiler NSFL

            • Iyowa - Kyu-Kurarin: song is extremely cute. Supposedly implies breakup and suicide
            • MikitoP - Shoujo Rei: involves two girls and one of them killed herself
            • Mili - Nine Point Eight: one of my all time favorited; the title is somewhat self-explanatory

            These are just what I could think of for now... A lot of songs with mentions of depression, suicide, etc... Other forms of messup, Telecaster B Boy is about being trans & not fitting in society I believe (song is a banger)

            And this one is not "depressing" as-is, but Senbonzakura (that super famous Japan-esque song sung by Hatsune Miku that everyone has heard of) is about Imperial/WWII Japan sooo... take that as you will
            :::

            1 Reply Last reply
            0
            • A [email protected]

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

              godric@lemmy.worldG This user is from outside of this forum
              godric@lemmy.worldG This user is from outside of this forum
              [email protected]
              wrote last edited by
              #82

              Love The Dead South, their vaguely ominous horror take on folk is amazing! Johnny Cash also does a wonderfully depressing version of the 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]
                #83

                The Science of Selling Yourself Short by Less Than Jake

                snowpix@lemmy.caS 1 Reply Last reply
                2
                • K [email protected]

                  The two I can think of are:

                  • It's Not Unusual
                  • Escape (The Piña Colada Song)
                  quazatron@lemmy.worldQ This user is from outside of this forum
                  quazatron@lemmy.worldQ This user is from outside of this forum
                  [email protected]
                  wrote last edited by
                  #84

                  Nothing but Flowers by Talking Heads is a cheerful song about post-apocalyptic life.

                  1 Reply Last reply
                  3
                  • K [email protected]

                    The two I can think of are:

                    • It's Not Unusual
                    • Escape (The Piña Colada Song)
                    sanguinepar@lemmy.worldS This user is from outside of this forum
                    sanguinepar@lemmy.worldS This user is from outside of this forum
                    [email protected]
                    wrote last edited by
                    #85

                    Lots of great choices here - I'll throw in Moon Over Marin by Dead Kennedys.

                    Sounds like a bop, but is actually about the destruction of the environment.

                    1 Reply Last reply
                    0
                    • K [email protected]

                      The two I can think of are:

                      • It's Not Unusual
                      • Escape (The Piña Colada Song)
                      R This user is from outside of this forum
                      R This user is from outside of this forum
                      [email protected]
                      wrote last edited by
                      #86

                      Hey Ya - Outkast

                      H F 2 Replies Last reply
                      13
                      • K [email protected]

                        The two I can think of are:

                        • It's Not Unusual
                        • Escape (The Piña Colada Song)
                        J This user is from outside of this forum
                        J This user is from outside of this forum
                        [email protected]
                        wrote last edited by
                        #87

                        On the documentary 'shifty' they claimed that 'the land of make believe' by bucks fizz was written about Margaret Thatcher/Thatcherism. Really puts a depressing spin on it.

                        1 Reply Last reply
                        0
                        • 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
                          #88

                          Pumped up kicks by foster the people

                          1 Reply Last reply
                          15
                          • 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
                            #89

                            I didn't see wake up boo by the boo radleys in here.

                            It's about suicide

                            1 Reply Last reply
                            0
                            • K [email protected]

                              The two I can think of are:

                              • It's Not Unusual
                              • Escape (The Piña Colada Song)
                              lambdarx@sh.itjust.worksL This user is from outside of this forum
                              lambdarx@sh.itjust.worksL This user is from outside of this forum
                              [email protected]
                              wrote last edited by
                              #90

                              Komm Süsser Tod from The End Of Evangelion.

                              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]
                                #91

                                No Sunlight - Death Cab for Cutie

                                When I was young
                                Lying in the grass
                                I felt so safe
                                In a warming bath
                                Of sunlight, of sunlight
                                The vast open sky
                                Could do no harm
                                Like an embrace
                                Of a mother's arms
                                In sunlight, in sunlight
                                In sunlight, in sunlight
                                With every year
                                That came to pass
                                More clouds appeared
                                'Til the sky went black
                                And there was no sunlight, no sunlight
                                And there was no sunlight, no sunlight anymore
                                And it disappeared at the same speed
                                As the idealistic things I believed
                                When the optimist died inside of me
                                No sunlight, no sunlight
                                No sunlight, no sunlight
                                It disappeared at the same speed
                                As the idealistic things I believed
                                When the optimist died inside of me
                                No sunlight, no sunlight
                                No sunlight, no sunlight
                                No sunlight, no sunlight
                                No sunlight, no sunlight
                                No sunlight anymore
                                
                                1 Reply Last reply
                                0
                                • K [email protected]

                                  The two I can think of are:

                                  • It's Not Unusual
                                  • Escape (The Piña Colada Song)
                                  J This user is from outside of this forum
                                  J This user is from outside of this forum
                                  [email protected]
                                  wrote last edited by
                                  #92

                                  No Rain by Blind Melon... literally a song about deep depression with upbeat music

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

                                    The two I can think of are:

                                    • It's Not Unusual
                                    • Escape (The Piña Colada Song)
                                    Z This user is from outside of this forum
                                    Z This user is from outside of this forum
                                    [email protected]
                                    wrote last edited by [email protected]
                                    #93

                                    I always find it funny how upbeat the Cambodia version by Pulsedriver is.
                                    PTSD and dropping bombs on cambodia. What a topic for a dance tune.

                                    1 Reply Last reply
                                    0
                                    • 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
                                      #94

                                      Last Kiss by Wayne Cochran. You kids probably remember the Pearl Jam version, which was a bit more subdued. But the 1964 hit by J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers is very upbeat and cheerful sounding. It’s about a boy who gets his girlfriend killed in a car accident while on a date and holding her as she dies. He’s consumed with guilt and can only think about dying so he can see her again in heaven.

                                      1 Reply Last reply
                                      3
                                      • K [email protected]

                                        The two I can think of are:

                                        • It's Not Unusual
                                        • Escape (The Piña Colada Song)
                                        ph3ra@lemmy.mlP This user is from outside of this forum
                                        ph3ra@lemmy.mlP This user is from outside of this forum
                                        [email protected]
                                        wrote last edited by
                                        #95

                                        Flo by Smash Mouth

                                        dozzi92@lemmy.worldD 1 Reply Last reply
                                        1
                                        • K [email protected]

                                          The two I can think of are:

                                          • It's Not Unusual
                                          • Escape (The Piña Colada Song)
                                          R This user is from outside of this forum
                                          R This user is from outside of this forum
                                          [email protected]
                                          wrote last edited by
                                          #96

                                          Rise Against - Tragedy + Time

                                          1 Reply Last reply
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