that silly Edwin McCain song... I'll Be
Trisha Yearwood (I think she's the singer) How do I live without you
Meatloaf... I would do anything for love
That Vitamin C song that they played at every high school graduation for years.
Dave Matthews... The Dreaming Tree
Alice In Chains... The Rooster

My only real favorite depressing song though is Damien Rice's The Blower's Daughter. It was attached to Closer, a movie that ended up disturbing me about human relationships at a really, really bad time. It make me cry, but it's heartbreakingly beautiful.

Of Montreal - "Eros' Entropic Tundra"

Belle & Sebastian - "Jonathan David"

I'm surprised there's six pages of discussion about this. I just assumed that everyone knew the most depressing song ever written is Gloomy Sunday. Any song linked to that many suicides is a given for the title, I reckon.

Ben Gibbard writes some pretty depressing tunes, though. I haven't heard any of his All-Time Quarterback stuff, but I don't recommend listening to The Postal Service or Death Cab for Cutie if you're already in a bad mood. It'll only make things worse.

needle in the hay -- elliott smith

heroin sucks donkey, as wayne would say. knowing one person who dies from it is sad. knowing several is just too depressing.

"Fix You" by Coldplay.

I lived two hours away from my hometown for a job and was going home after being "let go" from my job (for a shortage of work, not for behaviour/illegal reasons).

Driving back to my hometown in the snow for two hours and thinking about the last few hours just made me cry all the way home.. and stupid me had to have this in the CD player at the time!

Candlebox - "Far Behind"

and...

Pearl Jam - "Black"

I would have to say Macy Gray's "The Letter"

I ever wanted was some love and peace and harmony
I could dance in the raw in the sun underneath the stars
When I walk over to my money tree ain't nobody there trying to take from me
When they ask "Are you truly free?" I'd say "Yes, truly"
But down here in reality everybody knows there ain't no such thing
And it's clear
It's obviously this is not the place I'm supposed to be
On and on and on I've searched
What I'm lookin for is not here on earth
I can't stand I can't take no more
So I know that I gotta go
So long everybody
Mama don't be sad for me
Life was a heartache and now I am finally free
Don't know where I'm headed
Hope I see you someday soon
So long everybody
I have gone beyond the moon

All I ever wanted,love and the peace and the harmony
Just to be live and shine
When I get ready I up and fly
And I can't remember none of the things that I want to forget
It's the best - satisfaction no less
Ask if I'm free and I'll say "Oh yes"
But down here in reality everybody knows there ain't no such thing
And it's clear
It's obviously this is not the place I'm supposed to be
On and on and on I've searched
What I'm lookin for is not here on earth
I can't stand I can't take no more
So I know that I gotta go
So long everybody
Mama don't be sad for me
Life was a heartache and now I am finally free
Don't know where i'm headed
Hope I see you someday soon
So long everybody
I have gone beyond the moon

Before I do
Just one more look at you
It's worth the stay
But I'll meet you later at that better place
All I ever wanted was
All I ever wanted was
All I ever wanted was

So long everybody
Mama don't be sad for me
Life was a heartache and now I am finally free
Don't know where I'm headed
Hope I see you someday soon
So long everybody
I have gone beyond the moon

All I ever wanted,love and the peace and the harmony
Just to be live and shine
When I get ready I up and fly
And I can't remember none of the things that I want to forget
It's the best - satisfaction no less
Ask if I'm free and I'll say "Oh yes"
But down here in reality everybody knows there ain't no such thing
And it's clear
It's obviously this is not the place I'm supposed to be
On and on and on I've searched
What I'm lookin for is not here on earth
I can't stand I can't take no more
So I know that I gotta go
So long everybody
Mama don't be sad for me
Life was a heartache and now I am finally free
Don't know where i'm headed
Hope I see you someday soon
So long everybody
I have gone beyond the moon

Before I do
Just one more look at you
It's worth the stay
But I'll meet you later at that better place
All I ever wanted was
All I ever wanted was
All I ever wanted was

So long everybody
Mama don't be sad for me
Life was a heartache and now I am finally free
Don't know where I'm headed
Hope I see you someday soon
So long everybody
I have gone beyond the moon

I made the mistake of enjoying the song, played it for about an hour straight, but sadly enough, it made my mom a little nervous, so I had to turn it off.

Staind- Excess Baggage. Really, really depressing.

Guster- Either Way. Not necessarily depressing, but extremely bittersweet to me. My first real love and first real broken heart. It was probaby 6-8 years ago, but every time I hear it I get a little smile and that contemplative "damn...." feeling.

im not effected my words in a song as much as the feeling of the song itself... that being said...

nirvana - something in the way/serve the servants
soundgarden - tighter & tighter/zero chance
codeine - cave-in

For me, the saddest piece of music is Sergei Rachmaninoff's "Sonata for Cello in G Minor," a seriously beautiful and somber piece for cello with piano accompaniment. I'm not sure whether I would class it as "depressing," however. The piece is more poignant and affecting than depressing. It's a flowing meditation, a lyrical lament—and one of the most profound expressions of sorrow ever written.

Death Cab For Cutie - "What Sarah Said"

If you listen to this at the right moment, then you'll be crying like a baby by the end of the song.

From my "GAH DEPRESSING" playlist on iTunes:

Alexisonfire - "Happiness By The Kilowatt"
"So where has all the day gone?
And why are my lungs aching when I breathe?
Is there something wrong with the heat?
Why am I so cold?
And my heart feels sick
And it hurts when I speak"

Azure Ray - "Trees Keep Growing"
"It's funny how you can forget
There's a world outside yourself
Where the one who loves you keeps on living
Without you there"

Ben Folds - "Fred Jones, Part 2"
"Fred gets his paints out and goes to the basement
Projecting some slides onto a plain white
Canvas and traces it
Fills in the spaces
He turns off the slides, and it doesn't look right
Yeah, and all of these bastards
Have taken his place
He's forgotten but not yet gone"

Jets To Brazil - "Rocket Boy"
"Going in a circle, never getting to the point
Burning up the atmosphere, my rocket shop boy
You say there's a finish line, but you're already beat
'Cause you're living on your knees"

Lucero - "Fistful Of Tears"
"The water's deep dark and blue
There ain't nothing left to do
So darling be strong, I'll cross before long
And I'll wait on the far shores for you"

Nickel Creek - "The Lighthouse's Tale"
"And the waves crashing around me
The sand slips out to sea
And the winds that blow remind me
Of what has been, and what can never be"

Thursday - "War All The Time"
"War all of the time
In the shadow of the New York skyline
We grew up too fast, falling apart
Like the ashes of American flags
The pieces fall, it's like a last day parade
And the fires in our streets start to rage
So wave to the people who long to wave back"

Honorable mentions:
A Perfect Circle - "3 Libras"
Ben Folds - "Late"
Brad Paisley - "Whiskey Lullaby (feat. Alison Krauss)"
Bruce Springsteen - "Streets Of Philadelphia"
Jawbreaker - "Jet Black"
Joey Cape - "Minus"
Johnny Cash - "In My Life"
Nine Inch Nails - "A Warm Place"
The Spill Canvas - "Sunsets And Car Crashes"
William Elliott Whitmore - "Cold And Dead"

Shine On you Crazy Diamond/Wish You Were Here
By: Pink Floyd
Album: Wish You Were Here

This song was described by a D.J. I knew as a song that could "Make A Dead Man Cry"

"Shine on you Crazy Diamond"

Remember when you were young
You shone like the sun
Shine on, you crazy diamond
Now there's a look in your eyes
Like black holes in the sky
Shine on, you crazy diamond

You were caught in the crossfire
Of childhood and stardom
Blown on the steel breeze
Come on you target for faraway laughter
Come on you stranger
You legend, you martyr, and shine

You reached for the secret too soon
You cried for the moon / Shine on...
Threatened by shadows at night
And exposed in the light / Shine on...

Well you wore out your welcome
With random precision
Rode on the steel breeze
Come on you raver, you seer of visions
Come on you painter
You piper, you prisoner, and shine

Nobody knows where you are
How near or how far / Shine on...
Pile on many more layers
And I'll be joining you there / Shine on...

And we'll bask in the shadow
Of yesterday's triumph
Sail on the steel breeze
Come on you boy child, you winner and loser
Come on you miner
For truth and delusion and shine

sadness
 

non of these are in any type of order, so my favor is bias in no way.

Third Eye Blind-Slow motion
Apocalyptica-Faraway
Red Hot chilli Peppers-Soul to Squeeze
Smashing Pumpkins-To Forgive
Jimi Hendrix-The Wind Crys Mary
Guns N' Roses-Dont Cry
Red Hot Chilli Peppers

that about wraps it up, i found alot of good songs thanx to this site. i just wanted to share my findings

Bodies - The Sex Pistols
(not melancholic-depressing but pathetic-depressing)

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds - William Shatner
(depressing for the rendition if you've ever heard it)

Twist and Shout - The Mommas and the Poppas
(it's true! They did a cover of that song. Hillarious for the first couple of minutes then just plain sad)

45- shinedown

Edvard Grieg, in his Pier Gynt suite No.1, wrote a song called Ase's Death after his wife died that's definately one of the most depressing songs I've ever heard.

R.E.M. - Everybody Hurts
R.E.M. - Country Feedback
R.E.M. - Perfect Circle
Radiohead - How To Disappear Completely
Interpol - Take You On A Cruise
Depeche Mode - most anything from Violator or Ultra
Aphex Twin - IZ-US
Plaid - Zamami

...and one that has made me do as the title suggests on a count of my ex and I hearing it performed live only days before our breakup...

Keith Urban - Tonight I Wanna Cry

(maybe not depressing to most...but definately to me)

Televators by The Mars Volta.

- -

Just as he hit
The ground
They lowered a tow that
Stuck in his neck to the gills
Fragments of sobriquets
riddle me this
three half eaten corneas
who hit the aureole
Stalk the ground
Stalk the ground
You should have seen
The curse that flew right by you
Page of concrete
Stained walks crutch in hobbled sway
Auto-da-fé
A capillary hint of red
Only this manupod
Crescent in shape has escaped
The house half the way
Fell empty with teeth
That split both his lips
Mark these words
One day this chalk outline will circle this city
Was he robbed of the asphalt that cushioned his face
A room colored charlatan
Hid in a safe
Stalk the ground
Stalk the ground
You should have seen
The curse that flew right by you
Page of concrete
Stain walks crutch in hobbled sway
Auto-da-fé
A capillary hint of red
Only this manupod
Crescent in shape has escaped

Pull the pins
Save your grace
Mark these words
On his grave
[x3]

You should have seen
The curse that flew right by you
Page of concrete
Stain walks crutch in hobbled sway
Auto-da-fé
A capillary hint of red
Everyone knows the last toes are
Always the coldest to go

I was glad to see someone here knows who Kevin Gilbert is, Donkeypuncher. "Song for a Dead Friend" gives me a break down everytime I hear it. You forgot to add just about every other song he has ever done though. "Tears of Aurdy" and "Tea for One" are the other two rip your heart out songs ont hat album. Then there is the stuff he did with Toy Matinee. "Toy Matinee" and "there was a Little Boy" Will both rack you hard.
Other songs that hit me hard are:

NIN- Somethin I can never have
Cash- Hurt
Queen- The show must go on
Blink182- Adams Song -I first heard that right after a good friend of mine killed himself. I played it expecting the normal light happy stuff Blink does. I was on the floor in a ball for 45 minutes. Never been hit that hard by a song before in my life.
Everclear- Wonderful
DC Talks- What if I stumble
Ozzy- So Tired
Ozzy- mama I'm comeing home
Verve Pipe- Freashmen
Megadeth- Almost Honest
Concreat Blond- Joey

depressing music
 

Well if you take my word for it mostly emo music is depressing not poser emo music like The used taking back sunday shit like that realy emo music

Sunny day real estate - Seve
I Hate Myself - to a husband at war
Mineral - Parking lot

i also would perfer some bright eyes like
Bright eyes - no lies just love
Bright Eyes - Padriac my prince

what about hawthoren heights or how ever its spelt songs like
ohio is for lovers come off it one the lyrics is so cut my wrist and black my eyes

The songs I find depressing are the love songs that amount to 'you're everything in the entire world and I'm lost when you're gone'. That's a long list of many modern love songs. I find the sentiment depressing because I wouldn't want to imagine someone that loved me being unable to function when I'm not around.

Brighter side by OPM, one of the few songs that can really produce a pang in the throat when listened to.

Especially when you compare it to the other songs on the album (menance to sobriety) the slowness really hits. One of my favourite tunes.

Cat Power - Names

Great song from a great artist...lyrics are so sad

His name was Perry
He had a learning difficulty
His father was a very mean man
His father burned his skin
His father send him to his death
He was ten years old
He was ten years old
He was ten years old

Her name was Naomi
Beautiful round face, so ashamed
Told me how to please a man
After school in the back of a bus
She was doing it every day
She was eleven years old
She was eleven years old
She was eleven years old

Her name was Sheryl
Black hair, like an electric space
She would pretty paint my face
She was a very good friend
Her father would come to her in the night
She was twelve years old
She was twelve years old
She was twelve years old

His name was Donovan
He was a very good friend
The cards were stacked against him
He was selling cocaine
The last time I saw him
He was thirteen years old
He was thirteen years old
He was thirteen years old

His name was Charles
He said he was in love with me
We were both fourteen
Then I had to move away
Then he begin to smoke crack
Then he had to sell ass
I don't know where he is
I don't know where they are

Coldplay - "Fix You"

(excerpt)

When you try your best but you don't succeed
When you get what you want but not what you need
When you feel so tired but you can't sleep
Stuck in reverse.

And the tears come streaming down your face
When you lose something you can't replace
When you love someone but it goes to waste
Could it be worse?

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you

And high up above or down below
When you're too in love to let it go
But if you never try you'll never know
Just what you're worth

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you

Tears stream, down your face
When you lose something you cannot replace
Tears stream down your face
And I..

James Blunt - "Goodbye my Lover"

(full lyrics)

Did I disappoint you or let you down?
Should I be feeling guilty or let the judges frown?
'Cause I saw the end before we'd begun,
Yes I saw you were blinded and I knew I had won

So I took what's mine by eternal right
Took your soul out into the night
It may be over but it won't stop there
I am here for you if you'd only care

You touched my heart you touched my soul
You changed my life and all my goals
And love is blind and that I knew when
My heart was blinded by you.
I've kissed your lips and held your hand
Shared your dreams and shared your bed
I know you well, I know your smell
I've been addicted to you

Goodbye my lover
Goodbye my friend
You have been the one
You have been the one for me

I am a dreamer and when i wake
You can't break my spirit - it's my dreams you take
And as you move on, remember me
Remember us and all we used to be
I've seen you cry, I've seen you smile
I've watched you sleeping for a while
I'd be the father of your child
I'd spend a lifetime with you
I know your fears and you know mine
We've had our doubts but now we're fine
And I love you, I swear that's true
I cannot live without you


Goodbye my lover
Goodbye my friend
You have been the one
You have been the one for me

And I still hold your hand in mine
In mine when I'm asleep
And I will bare my soul in time
When I'm kneeling at your feet

Goodbye my lover
Goodbye my friend
You have been the one
You have been the one for me

I'm so hollow, baby, I'm so hollow
I'm so, I'm so, I'm so hollow
I'm so hollow, baby, I'm so hollow
I'm so, I'm so, I'm so hollow...

Katie Melua - "Piece by Piece"

(excerpt)

First of all must go
Your scent upon my pillow
And then I'll say goodbye
to your whispers in my dreams
And then our lips will part
In my mind and in my heart
'Cause your kiss
Went deeper than my skin

Piece by piece
is how I'll let go of you
Kiss by kiss
Will leave my mind one at a time
One at a time, one at a time

Most Depressing Song!
 

The most depressing song is the Nirvana song "Something in the way" or the song Nirvana preformed on MTV Unplugged called "Where did you sleep last night".
Both these songs are very depressing so I can't see why, as far as I have seen, no one has mentioned them before. Listen and you'll see!!

Pantera - Suicide note pt. 1

My top three are:

"In the Living Years" by Mike & The Mechanics.

"And so it goes" by Billy Joel. Always brings tears to my eyes. Thoughts of an unlived life for me and someone special.

"The Adagio for Strings" by Samuel Barber. Chilling and almost unworldly. Truly music that is inspired by the cosmos and angelic beings IMHO.

This was played in the movie Platoon for those of you unfamiliar with his work. I would have liked it played at my funeral ...except I've decided that I don't want one. They are just too sad for those who remain behind.

"Everything I Own" - Bread

Ever since my dad told me what this song actually meant, it's always made me cry.

Immortal Technique - Dance With the Devil is the most depressing song I've ever heard and I don't even like rap.

----------------------

I once knew a nigga whose real name was William
His primary concern, was making a million
Being the illest hustler, that the world ever seen
He used to fuck moviestars and sniff coke in his dreams
A corrupted young mind, at the age of thirteen
Nigga never had a father and his mom was a fiend
She put the pipe down, but every year she was sober
Her sons heart simultaneously grew colder
He started hanging out selling bags in the projects
Checking the young chicks, looking for hit and run prospects
He was fascinated by material objects
But he understood money never bought respect
He build a reputation 'cause he could hustle and steal
But got locked once and didn't hesitate to squeal
So criminals he chilled with didn't think he was real
You see me and niggaz like this have never been equal
I don't project my insurecurity's at other people
He fiended for props like addicts with pipes and needles
So he felt he had to prove to everyone he was evil
A feeble-minded young man with infinite potetial
The product of a ghetto breed capatalistic mental
Coincidentally dropped out of school to sell weed
Dancing with the devil, smoked until his eyes would bleed
But he was sick of selling trees and gave in to his greed

[Hook]
Everyone trying to be trife never face the consequences
You propably only did a month for minor offences
Ask a nigga doing life if he had another chance
But then again there's always the wicked at new and advanced
Dance forever with the devil on a code cell block
But thats what happens when you rape, murder and sell rock
Devils used to be gods, angels that fell from the top
There's no diversity because we're burning in the melting pot

[Verse 2]
So Billy started robbing niggaz, anything he could do
He'd get his respect back, in the eyes of his crew
Starting fights over little shit, up on the block
Stepped up to selling mothers and brothers the crack rock
Working overtime for making money for the crack spot
Hit the jackpot and wanted to move up to cocaine
For filling the scarface fantasy stuck in his brain
Tired of the block niggaz treating him the same
He wanted to be major like the cut throats and the thugs
But when he tried to step to 'em, niggaz showed him no love
They told him any motherfucking coward can sell drugs
Any bitch nigga with a gun, can bust slugs
Any nigga with a red shirt can front like a blood
Even Puffy smoked the motherfucker up in a club
But only a real thug can stab someone till they die
Standing in front of them, starring straight into their eyes
Billy realized that these men were well guarded
And they wanted to test him, before business started
Suggested raping a bitch to prove he was cold hearted
So now he had a choice between going back to his life
Or making money with made men, up in the cife
His dreams about cars and ice, made him agree
A hardcore nigga is all he ever wanted to be
And so he met them friday night at a quarter to three

[Hook]

[Verse 3]
They drove around the projects slow while it was raining
Smoking blunts, drinking and joking for entertainment
Untill they saw a woman on the street walking alone
Three in the morning, coming back from work, on her way home
And so they quietly got out the car and followed her
Walking through the projects, the darkness swallowed her
They wrapped her shirt around her head and knocked her onto the floor
This is it kid now you got your chance to be raw
So Billy oaked her up and grapped the chick by the hair
And dragged her into a lobby that had nobody there
She struggled hard but they forced her to go up the stairs
They got to the roof and then held her down on the ground
Screaming shut the fuck up and stop moving around
The shirt covered her face, but she screamed the clawed
So Billy stomped on the bitch, until he broken her jaw
The dirty bastards knew exactly what they were doing
They kicked her until they cracked her ribs and she stopped moving
Blood leaking through the cloth, she cried silently
And then they all proceeded to rape her violently
Billy was meant to go first, but each of them took a turn
Ripping her up, and choking her until her throat burned
A broken jaw mumbled for god but they weren't concerned
When they were done and she was lying bloody, broken and broos
One of them niggaz pulled out a brand new twenty-two
They told him that she was a witness of what she'd gone through
And if he killed her he was guaranteed a spot in the crew
He thought about it for a minute, she was practicly dead
And so he leaned over and put the gun right to her head

[Sample from "Survival of the Fittest" by Mobb Deep]
I'm falling and I can't turn back
I'm falling and I can't turn back

[Verse 4]
Right before he pulled the trigger, and ended her life
He thought about the cold pain with the platinum and ice
And he felt strong standing along with his new brothers
Cocked the gat to her head, and pulled back the shirt cover
But what he saw made him start to cringe and studder
Cuz he was starring into the eyes of his own mother
She looked back at him and cried, cause he had forsaken her
She cried more painfully, than when they were raping her
His whole world stopped, he couldn't even contiplate
His corruption had succesfully changed his fate
And he remembered how his mom used to come home late
Working hard for nothing, cause now what was he worth
He turned away from the woman that had once given him birth
And crying out to the sky cause he was lonely and scared
But only the devil responded, cause god wasn't there
And right then he knew what it was to be empty and cold
And so he jumped off the roof and died with no soul
They say death take you to a better place but I doubt it
After that they killed his mother, and never spoke about it
And listen cause the story that I'm telling is true
Cuz I was there with Billy Jacobs and I raped his mom to
And now the devil follows me everywhere that I go
Infact I'm sure he's standing among one of you at my shows
And every street cypher listening to little thugs flowe
He could be standing right next to you, and you wouldn't know
The devil grows inside the hearts of the selvish and wicked
White, brown, yellow and black colored is not restricted
You have a self destructive destiny when your inflicted
And you'll be one of gods children and fell from the top
There's no diversity because we're burning in the melting pot
So when the devil wants to dance with you, you better say never
Because the dance with the devil might last you forever

Justin Timberlake - What Comes Around... (For Personal Reasons)
Peter, Paul & Mary - Leaving on a Jet Plan

Leaving on a Jet Plane by Bob Denver doesn't depress me all that much.
I see it as a song of hope and longing, but nothing that would depress someone if they listened to it over and over. Maybe I need to revisit it.

Hah, I didn't know Gilligan did that song. Or maybe you mean John Denver?

Goodbye England's Rose (a Princess Diana tribute version of Candle in the Wind)~ Elton John
Against All Odds ~ Phil Collins
Babe I'm Leaving ~ Styx
Could Have Been Me ~ by what's his Achey Breaky Heart name
What About Me ~ Kim Karnes, Kenny Rogers, James Ingrham
Daytime Friends and Nighttime Lovers ~ Kenny Rogers

Porcupine Tree - Heartattack in a Layby. Nothing like a song about a random heart attack to make you depressed.

Heartattack In A Layby

I pull off the road
East of Baldock and Ashford
Feeling for my cell
In the light from the dashboard

Hissing from the road
The smell of rain in the air con
Maybe check the news
Or just put a tape on

Lighting up a smoke
I've got this feeling inside me
Don't feel too good

If I close my eyes
And fell asleep in this layby
Would it all subside
The fever pushing the day by

Motor window wind
I could do with some fresh air
Can't breathe too well

(She waits for me. Home waits for me.)

I guess I should go now
She's waiting to make up
To tell me she's sorry
And how much she missed me
I guess I'm just burnt out
I really should slow down
I'm perfectly fine but
I just need to lie down

We'll grow old together
We'll grow old together
We'll grow old together....

Whoa, I actually wrote Bob Denver instead of John? :lol:

i wonder where my mind was when I wrote that...heh...classic.

That All By Myself song (not the Celine Dion version, although it's still sad, but the original is better), lot's of Nirvana tunes, and Mad World sung by Gary Jules (which I believe is also a cover, but I love this version).

"I find it kind of funny, I find it kind of sad, the dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had" Mad World

Oh and I agree that "I'll Be" Edwin McCain song makes me quite sad, it reminds me of a relationship.

Also, "Alive" by Edwin from I Mother Earth. I think it's supposed to be a positive song, but it makes me sad. I'd like it played at my funeral I think.

Hallelujah by Jeff Buckley gets me going every time.

"Paris Nocturne" by Dan Fogelberg is unbelievably melancholy.

not that I know a specific song, but its gotta be one by Morrisey, that guy was constantly depressed.

But a more modern one would definitely be The Scientist by Coldplay. Watching the video in conjunction with the song is a guaranteed tear jerker.

I had never heard this piece before, until I had to play it at a concert (with orchestra, of course). I was blown away by how haunting it was. I looked at the audience, and, I'm not kidding, I could see three people crying, all in the first or second row.

But anyways, I'd have to say that the most heart-wrenching songs I've ever heard are from a couple of Puccini operas. Nothing I've ever heard has had the impact these songs have had on me (and I have a HUGE music collection).

"E lucevan le stelle" from Tosca, "Un bel di" and "Tu? tu? Piccolo iddio" from Madama Butterfly are the most dramatic and depressing songs I've ever heard. They're serious business, especially if you have a good recording and are familiar with the back-stories.

Fuck, now I'm depressed. Thanks a lot. :sad:

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I've had this song stuck in my head for a week now, but I didn't know who performed it. It's too depressing to be played on a constant loop in my brain. Now I can listen to it and exorcise the demons, if you will.

In no real order

Mad Season - River of Deceit
Third Eye Blind - Slow Motion, Motorcycle Driveby, I Want You, The Background
Porcupine Tree - Lazarus, Collapse the Light Into Earth
The Posies - Coming Right Along
Screaming Trees - Sworn And Broken
Cash - Hurt
Pearl Jam - Strangest Tribe
Opeth - In My Time Of Need
Blackfield - Summer, Once
Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah
Zakk Wylde - Way Beyond Empty

I Am Crushed by the Vandals.

Hands down.

needle in the hay- elliott smith

The Lonely Shepherd by Zamfir has nothing but heart-wrenching acoustics and melodies.

Heart-wrenching yes, but I find that song rather inspirational and soothing... definitely not what I'd call depressing.

Anyway, Dashboard Confessional and Howie Day definitely have some good and depressing songs... and I agree with those who mentioned Hallelujah by Jeff Buckley.

Johnny Cash's cover of "Hurt" by NIN ---grabs you in the gut.

I suppose you are quite right, but it is another thing altogether to hear those first few melodies at the beginning...
chilling, yet in a way that is good and uplifting...

perhaps comparable to eating a candy cane than drinking some water right after. It is an experience! :D

Haven't read the rest of the replies, but Glycerine by Bush really puts me in a sad mood.

Dave Matthews Band - Grace is Gone
Dave Matthews Band - Let You Down
Plain White T's - Hey There Delilah

Funeral/Bastard - Devin Townsend.
Room 429 - Strapping Young Lad.

Plus, I'm not sure if these are too obvious or what, but I haven't seen anyone mention:

Fade to Black - Metallica
Dust in the wind - Kansas
Abraham, Martin & John - Dion

Buck 65 - The Floor

?

It's kind of depressing to learn that "it's better to be happy if possible" was a lie from the start.

my humps - the fact that that piece of garbage became so popular is pretty depressing.

Thats strange, Ive always thought that that was quite a positive song.

wow...

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...arch&plindex=2

Most melancholic songs for me:

Mazzy Star - Into Dust
J. J. Johansson - Suffering
Death In June - Falling Apart
Kansas - Dust in the Wind
Jeff Buckley - Lilac Wine
Scott Matthew - Language
The Beatles - Yesterday
The Beatles - Eleanor Rigby
Marianne Faithfull - So Sad
Gary Jules - Mad World
Beck - Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometimes
Metallica - Nothing Else Matters
Nouvelle Vague - In a Manner of Speaking
Bright Eyes - The Awful Sweetness of Escaping Sweat (depressing AND creepy)

and possibly others I can't recall right now

Tracy Chapman's Fast Car always makes me tear up.

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :thumbsup:


the news - jack johnson

Black Label Society has a few that are really good, especially "My Lost Heaven." Great, sad song.

Leonard Cohen's "The Future"

Seriously.


...and to think I heard it on the CBC today. At lunchtime. Really.... :shakehead:

Give me back the Berlin wall
Give me Stalin and St Paul
Give me Christ
or give me Hiroshima
Destroy another fetus now
We don't like children anyhow
I've seen the future, baby:
it is murder

Things are going to slide ...

Most Depressing Music I have ever encountered: "Track 7"- Sigur Ros,"Farewell Fire" - Boards of Canada, "Stone in Focus"- Aphex Twin, "Just For Now"-Imogen Heap, "12 Stations From Gemini"- Mark Mercury, Mazzy Star of course is beautiful, David Darling, "Closing" - Philip Glass, "Rusted" - Psyclon Nine, "Bubble and Spike" - Telefon Tel Aviv. Thats it for now:thumbsup:

Yeah

Imogen Heap's "Hide and Seek" is extremely sad but in a beautiful way. If that makes sense.

I think most of Ryan Adam's work, especially the album "Love is Hell" could be considered depressing. "Does Anybody Want To Take Me Home", "Blue Manhatten" and "I see Monsters" are pretty fucking sad.

I love that song...

Entire Album
 

The Unloco Album, Becoming I is by far the most depressing cd i've ever heard, every single song on there is sad... there are 3 songs in particular that are extremely depressing are...

Failure

Watching me slip

texas

i listened to all genres of music and unloco is the worst for me... great songs, but REALLY depressing.

Bother by Stone Sour

Child Psychology by Black Box Recorder:

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Now that I'm older, I prefer the slower songs that I hear to be tongue-in-cheek, or uplifting, rather than melancholic.

I got rid of my Joy Division boxset years ago - life's too short for depressing music! :) Each to their own, of course, but if you are what you eat, then what does listening to miserable songs do to a person's mood?

It's a shame that any kind of optimism seems to be frowned upon these days, but give me the Ramones, instead of Leonard Cohen, any day of the week! :thumbsup:

I recommend Njosnavelin (nothing Song) by sigur ros prolly my top fav outta most of the songs recommended for sad as hell, be careful super sad.

Most Depressing Song.
 

Try this one on for size; think Africa and get a box of Kleenex handy:

Harry Chapin - The Shortest Story

I am born today, the sun burns its promise in my eyes;
Mama strikes me and I draw a breath and cry.
Above me a cloud softly tumbles through the sky;
I am glad to be alive.

It is my seventh day, I taste the hunger and I cry;
my brother and sister cling to Mama's side.
She squeezes her breast, but it has nothing to provide;
someone weeps, I fall asleep.

It is twenty days today, Mama does not hold me anymore;
I open my mouth but I am too weak to cry.
Above me a bird slowly crawls across the sky;
why is there nothing now to do but die?

A Life of Arctic Sounds by Modest Mouse....something about driving for hundreds of miles by yourself is just a depressing thing to do/think about, really.

and...
Six Days At the Bottom of the Ocean by Explosions in the Sky...it'll be more depressing while listening to the CD in its entirety, but just the song itself is quite a downer.

Finger Eleven - Thousand Mile Wish
Fuel - Most of All
Alice in Chains - Down in a Hole, and Them Bones
Third Eye Blind - How's It Going To Be
Pearl Jam - Black
Skid Row - 18 and Life

A Pair of Brown Eyes by The Pogues
All Her Favourite Fruit by Camper Van Beethoven

Leonard cohen-closing time
Leonard cohen-dance me to the end of love
actually...any Leonard Cohen song
Bruce Springsteen-Streets of philadelphia
Bruce Springsteen-Badlands
Bruce Springsteen-Dancing in the Dark
Bruce Springsteen- The River..
The Bangles-Manic Monday .
The Stranglers-96 tears
Queen-show must go on
Justin Hayward-Forever Autumn
Poison-every rose has its thorn

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Bad Religion - Broken

A very upbeat song, but extremely sad.

Are these depressing songs or songs that make you "feel"

Alot of the songs listed are not songs that make me depressed. They are songs that mak me feel. Strong feelings course through my body when listening to these songs.

I guess I don't really have any songs that depress me.
Maybe I will start a thread for songs that move you, songs that make you feel.

As far as this thread goes, I am VERY VERY surprised that no one (I just read through the whole thread) listed I don't Like Mondays by the Boomtown Rats

Story: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brenda_Ann_Spencer

And if you want depressing, watch this video.

I posted this on another thread.

Mr. Bo-Jangles.

If I ask you - Marshall Tucker Band
Human - The Pretenders
Torch Song - Todd Rundgren
I Can't Make You Love Me - Bonnie Raitt
Brilliant Disguise - Springsteen
Your Latest Trick - Dire Straits
I Can't Tell You Why - Eagles
Cry to Me - Heart
The Great Gig In The Sky - Pink Floyd
With Or Without You - U2
Don't Speak - No Doubt
Cool Change - Little River Band
Ticking - Elton John
Foreigner Suite - Cat Stevens

Sampling from my "Torch Songs" Ipod playlist.

'Bibo No Aozora' from the soundtrack of Babel.

Alice In Chains Unplugged - The entire show is a downer throughout. Sadly one AIC's last performances. RIP Layne Staley. Ex: http://www.therock1067.com/modules/h...ledave_158.jpg

i know i have alot, but heres my list:

a perfect circle-3 libras
air supply-all out of love
-------making love out of nothing at all
allanis morrisette-than you
allyptic-refuge
alphaville-forever young
art garfunkel-all i know
andreas boccelli-con te partiro
billy corgan-to love somebody
bone thugs n harmony-crossroads
brian eno-an ending (ascent)
-----------drift
coldplay-fix you
----------the scientist
counting crows-colorblind
the cranberies-dreams
the cure-pictures of you
-------the last day of summer
cyndi lauper-time after time
death cab for cutie-what sarah said
depeche mode-precious
-------enjoy the silence
-------but not tonight
-------blasphemous rumours
donna lewis-always forever
duran duran-ordinary world
incubus-i miss you
jay gordon-slept so long
jesus and mary chain-just like honey
jimmy chamberlin complex-newerwaves
-------- -loki cat
jonathan elias-movement III hope
k's choice-not an adict
kronos quartet-when our wings are cut can we still fly
lord of the rings-breaking of the fellowship
-------evenstar
morten lauridsen-o magnum mysterium
---------o nata lux
natalie imburglia-torn
new order-ceremony
nightwish-phantom of the opera
nine inch nails-hurt (i think johnny cash's version is better, but this NIN's is more depressing)
--------something i can never have
--------and all that could have been
-------- -leaving hope
oasis-wonderwall
postal service-recycled air
radiohead-motion picture soundtrack
-------videotape
--------fake plastic trees
sigur ros-hoppipolla
-------glosoli
-------njosnavelin
------- untitled 8
smashing pumpkins-home
-------galapogos
-------disarm
-------behold! the night mare
------shame
-------blissed and gone
-------if there is a god (live with radiohead)
-------mayonaise
south-paint the silence
spiritualized-ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space
underworld-born slippy
the veils-vicious traditions
the verve-the drugs dont work
zwan-broken heart
------heartsong

"moonshiner" -uncle tupelo (although i think it's a cover of an old traditional)
 

i am a
moonshiner
for seventeen
long years

and i spent
all my money
on whiskey
and beer

and i go to
some hollow
and set
up my still

if whiskey
don't kill me
lord i don't know
what will


i go to
some barroom
to drink
with my friends

where the women
they can't follow
to see
what i spend

god bless them
pretty women
i wish
they was mine

with breath as
sweet as
the dew
on the vine



let me eat
when i'm hungry
let me drink
when i'm dry

two dollars
when i'm hard up
religion
when i die

the whole world
is a bottle
and life
is but a dram

when the bottle
gets empty
it sure aint
worth a damn

"Living Next Door to Alice" by somebody waaay back when.

"Sylvia's Mother" by Dr. Hook

"Komm, süsser Tod"

I know there's more depressing tunes out there, but this one instantly jumped into my head as soon as I read the thread title. If you just hear this song it has a happy, upbeat sound to it, but if you actually listen to it, that is listen to the lyrics, it is pretty saddening.

I first heard this in the anime movie 'End of Evangelion.' Whether the song originates there or comes from elsewhere I do not know off the top of my head. I very much recommend all to listen to this song at least once.

Chris Vrenna's "My Life is Long" remix of Cold's Stupid Girl

I have plenty more depressing songs, but this one gives one a fearful impression too. My ex-girlfriend described this song like she was having a nightmare about me.

... yes
 

Peter Gabriel's "Don't Give Up" reminds me of a very dark time in my life. Kate Bush is amazing in this as well.

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Huh?? how?

The most depressing? It has to be "Seasons in the Sun" by Terry Jacks. Closely followed by "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" by Gordon Lightfoot, eh?

The Canadian group, <i> Stars</i> has many songs
one of the many
Your Ex-Lover is Dead

And some of the Cat Power songs are just assisted suicide undercover

where is Stars from? is there a link?

They are from Montreal
http://www.arts-crafts.ca/stars/

I love them. If you want something fun to listen to (which completely contradicts the thread) listen to <i>Bitches in Tokyo</i>. If you want depressing <i> My Ex Lover is Dead</i> and <i>Personals</i>.

Just watched the Alice In Chains - Unplugged DVD and knew this one had to go here.

another one, same idea

Bad Religion - Struck a Nerve

The Roots -Clock with no hands
Strangely enough, it gets me down.
Jacques Brel - Ne Me Quitte Pas
Jacques Brel - Ces Gens La
He voices his emotion so unbelievably...he suffers, and lives with his music.

Drive-By Truckers - "Angels and Fuselage"

How Can I Help You to Say Goodbye - by Patty Loveless
http://youtube.com/watch?v=z4F_cXGQN9k
When I'm out of M&M's...Candyman is the most depressing.

Many people have listed Johnny Cash recordings as their saddest songs. I agree that Cash's version had something so visceral about them that they were actually better than the original, but just to set the record straight regarding the actual writers of these sad, sad songs:

Hurt- written by Trent Reznor
I See a Darkness- Will Oldham
Bird On a Wire- Leonard Cohen
The Mercy Seat- Nick Cave

Mary Gray - The Letter

I ever wanted was some love and peace and harmony
I could dance in the raw in the sun underneath the stars
When I walk over to my money tree ain't nobody there trying to take from me
When they ask "Are you truly free?" I'd say "Yes, truly"
But down here in reality everybody knows there ain't no such thing
And it's clear
It's obviously this is not the place I'm supposed to be
On and on and on I've searched
What I'm lookin for is not here on earth
I can't stand I can't take no more
So I know that I gotta go
So long everybody
Mama don't be sad for me
Life was a heartache and now I am finally free
Don't know where I'm headed
Hope I see you someday soon
So long everybody
I have gone beyond the moon

All I ever wanted,love and the peace and the harmony
Just to be live and shine
When I get ready I up and fly
And I can't remember none of the things that I want to forget
It's the best - satisfaction no less
Ask if I'm free and I'll say "Oh yes"
But down here in reality everybody knows there ain't no such thing
And it's clear
It's obviously this is not the place I'm supposed to be
On and on and on I've searched
What I'm lookin for is not here on earth
I can't stand I can't take no more
So I know that I gotta go
So long everybody
Mama don't be sad for me
Life was a heartache and now I am finally free
Don't know where i'm headed
Hope I see you someday soon
So long everybody
I have gone beyond the moon

Before I do
Just one more look at you
It's worth the stay
But I'll meet you later at that better place
All I ever wanted was
All I ever wanted was
All I ever wanted was

So long everybody
Mama don't be sad for me
Life was a heartache and now I am finally free
Don't know where I'm headed
Hope I see you someday soon
So long everybody
I have gone beyond the moon

Disclaimer - If you play this song too many times in a row people will start to wonder. I found out the hard way, but it made me feel better.

I don't know if I'd necessarily call these songs depressing, but they are a few that have brought tears to my eyes.

Tool - H... I really have no idea what this song is about... the great thing about a lot of Tool songs is that they are nebulous to take on a meaning entirely unique to the listener. I just remember waking up one morning to my alarm playing this song, it made me think of star-crossed lovers pitted against fate.

These next two are really more tied to the music videos associated to them than to the songs.

Collective Soul - The World I Know. I'm not a Collective Soul fan, and generally I dislike Christian music out of principle; however, this video moved me. It shows a man, apparently tired of the world he lives in, go to the top of a building and step to the edge, prepared to jump. At the last second, a pigeon lands on him and he begins to cry.

Metallica - One. This is an unlikely one. It's definitely more the video than the song on this one, though the video does go well with the song. It shows a young soldier, back from the war and wounded to the point that he can't see, hear, talk or move. Doctors, friends and family members are gathered around and it is discovered that he is attempting to communicate by tapping out morse code. When the message is deciphered, it turns out he is asking them to end his life, typing "Kill me" over and over. I think I read somewhere that this is a clip from the movie "Johnny Get Your Gun"