Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - Most Depressing Song Ever?

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Quote:

Originally posted by h2ogo69
yup daryl was so pissed off when he wrote all those lyrics he in away regrets it because hs been branded a schovanist(spelling?)
but he had just gotten out of bad relationship and seemed to be angry and women in general ath that point... but its a great album none the less

Yeah, I've heard all these interviews with him and stuff where he says the same thing but if you ask me the entire album is pretty much summed up in the hidden track after "Motel of the White Locust"... if you really listen to the lyrics than it makes a lot more sense... the last verse of the song is almost the defining moment of the album for me

"Now I have you where I want you
And I know that you are listening
This is my chance to tell you everything
My chance to tell you I love you
But I've waited too long
And now the record's over
Now the record's over"

on another note...

A few people (I remember crow_daw in particular) mentioned Mad World by Gary Jules... that's an INCREDIBLE song. At the end of Donnie Darko (my favorite film BTW) I never cease to be leveled by the power that song has over that final montague (sp, I know). His version is a lot more soulful than the Tears for Fears (original) one, if you ask me.

Heroin - Velvet Underground...

makes me want to curl up and die.

:( ;)

Just yesterday morning they let me know you were gone
Susanne the plans they made put an end to you
I walked out this morning and I wrote down this song
I just can’t remember who to send it to

"Fire and Rain" by James Taylor

Down in a hole, feelin’ so small
Down in a hole, losin’ my soul
I’d like to fly,
But my wings have been so denied

"Down in a Hole" by Alice in Chains

it's been mentioned a few times but portishead's stuff for sure, especially dummy (album). sneaker pimps have a similar vibe but it's just a bite off portishead

Modest Mouse, Nick Cave, Morphine

Reflection, by Tool. Always gets me.

not saddest song ever, but pretty sad

Sad Angel - Computor Girl

"3 Libras" by A Perfect Circle - A lot of us can relate to the subject matter of this song and it can drag up some unpleasant memories.
"Don't Follow" by Alice in Chains - Do yourself a favor if you haven't heard this song and check it out.
"Sober" By Tool - eerie and depressing at the same time.

Something Corporate - Konstantine

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Under the Bridge

Quote:

Originally posted by Cujo
Metallica's Fade to Black. Nuff said

I second that.

"im not in love" Tori amos, Strange Little Girls

I have you all beat. I once saw a commercial with Dolly Parton's "I will always love you"

They showed a son being born and growing up through the years with his mother always by his side. There is nothing like a mother's love. Just typing this up is choking me up. Now everytime I hear that sweet voice sing that song, I start to cry.

I love you mom.

Trouble Every Day by Frank Zappa. Not the song itself that depresses, but the subject matter..

More poignant social commentary in music you will not find.

My vote goes to Eminem's "Stan." That is one seriously disturbing story, and the sampling of Dido's song makes it all the more haunting. *shudders*

eric clapton - tears in heaven
metallica - mama said
bob segar - running against the wind
(used to listen to it with my dad when i was young)

and i feel like a loser for saying this one, but i dl'ed "gollum's song" from the lord of the rings soundtrack, check it out, the music and the words come together to make a really fkin depressing song

Exit Music (for a film) by Radiohead is my sad song of choice.

Any rendition of "Gloomy Sunday" and anything performed by Radiohead is pretty damn depressing and moody.

Oh, and Lou Reed singing "Just A Perfect Day".

Just a perfect day
drink Sangria in the park
And then later
when it gets dark, we go home

Just a perfect day
feed animals in the zoo
Then later
a movie, too, and then home

Oh, it's such a perfect day
I'm glad I spend it with you
Oh, such a perfect day
You just keep me hanging on
You just keep me hanging on

Just a perfect day
problems all left alone
Weekenders on our own
it's such fun

Just a perfect day
you made me forget myself
I thought I was
someone else, someone good

Oh, it's such a perfect day
I'm glad I spent it with you
Oh, such a perfect day
You just keep me hanging on
You just keep me hanging on

You're going to reap just what you sow
You're going to reap just what you sow
You're going to reap just what you sow
You're going to reap just what you sow

Pool Shark - Sublime
He Stopped Loving Her Today - George Jones
I Will Remembar You - Sarah Maclochlan

Gary Jules - Mad World wins this by a landslide. Period.

Here's an instrumental (kinda) song that gets me pretty worked up. Godspeed You! Black Emporer - "Sleep".

um... oh man... i have heaps... but everything has been making me sad lately... um.. here goes...
blow up the outside world- soundgarden
spacing- pacifier
everything- pacifier
my immortal- evanesance (sp?)
alice in chains- no excuses
kashmir- surfing the warm industry (just some of the lyrics... like the chorus- "its up to you coz im absolutly numb")
getaway car- audioslave
hmmm.... and heaps more that i can think of...

I agree, Mad World by Gary Jules is overly depressing.

Heaven (911 Remix) by DJ Sammy is not so much depressing, but so damn sad it'll make you bawl till you can't bawl anymore.

Other very depressing songs:
Nothing Compares 2 U by Sineod O'Connor
The Christmas Shoes by Newsong
In The Air Tonight by Phil Collins
Asleep by The Smith's
Hide and Seek by Imogen Heap (strange song, but very beautiful)
I'm Sorry by Glassjaw
Konstantine by Something Corporate (You have GOTTA get this song)
Bluebird Of Happiness by Mojave 3
Wonderwall by Ryan Adams (The tune of this is really really depressing)
Forgotten Hopes by Anathema
Rainy Days by Guster
Stan by Eminem (The words are disturbing)

These songs aren't as depressing, but they're really good and they make me want to kill myself for some reason:
Walking By by Something Corporate
Only Ashes by Something Corporate
Good News by Something Corporate:

"And then she looked at me to scream,
'my castles are falling'
But I can't look into the street,
without everything changing

I wanna read good new, good news
I wanna be innocent again
I wanna read good news, good news
But nothing good is happening"

Mariah Carey - Looking In

Deftones - Digital Bath

Jewel - Daddy

Carl Thomas - Emotional

Brian McKnight - Anytime

Sweetbox- Everythings Gonna Be Alright

A Perfect Circle -
-Orestes
-Brena
-Gravity

Andre 3000 - Pink and Blue

my nomination, which is pretty solid, is "starry starry night" by don mclean....but i dont know if that compares to mad world by gary jules, that is just incredible.

Anyone heard Jeff Buckley on Mystery White Boy sing "Hallelujah" and then continue into The Smith's "I Know It's Over"? Hands down the worst I've ever heard depressing-wise. Or best, depending on your view point

the 70's song "Season's in the Sun" How this song about dying got so popular and made it so big is beyond me....it's the saddest fucking song in the world when you pay attention to the lyrics.

Quote:

Seasons In The Sun
( Terry Jacks )

Goodbye to you my trusted friend
We've known each other since we were nine or ten
Together we climbed hills and trees
Learned of love and A B C's
Skinned our hearts and skinned our knees.

Goodbye my friend it's hard to die
When all the birds are singing in the sky
Now that the spring is in the air
Pretty girls are everywhere
Think of me and I'll be there

We had joy we had fun
We had seasons in the sun
But the hills that we climbed were just seasons
Out of time......

Goodbye Papa please pray for me
I was the black sheep of the family
You tried to teach me right from wrong
Too much wine and too much song
Wonder how I got along.

Goodbye Papa its hard to die
When all the birds are singing in the sky
Now that the spring is in the air
Little children everywhere
When you see them I'll be there.

We had joy we had fun
We had seasons in the sun
But the wine and the song like the seasons
Have all gone.

We had joy we had fun
We had seasons in the sun
But the wine and the song like the seasons
Have all gone.

Goodbye Michelle my little one
You gave me love and helped me find the sun
And every time that I was down
You would always come around
And get my feet back on the ground.

Goodbye Michelle it's hard to die
When all the birds are singing in the sky
Now that the spring is in the air
With the flowers everywhere
I wish that we could both be there

We had joy we had fun
We had seasons in the sun
But the stars we could reach
Were just starfish on the beach

We had joy we had fun
We had seasons in the sun
But the stars we could reach
Were just starfish on the beach

We had joy we had fun
We had seasons in the sun
But the wine and the song like the seasons
Have all gone

All our lives we had fun
We had seasons in the sun
But the hills that we climbed were just seasons
Out of time......

We had joy we had fun
We had seasons in the sun

and without doubt............. 2 songs from The KINKS "Phobia" album are depressing in other ways to me personally.

Quote:

The KINKS "Surviving"

Look at us here today
Lots of talking with nothing to say
And if I seem somewhat afraid
I'm surviving, that's all I am
I'm surviving to be a better man
I'm surviving, that's my plan
Just surviving

Yesterday, I was sure
But today I don't know anymore
Thought I was brave till I saw
My frightened reflection in a dark corridor
Now I'm surviving to be a better man
I'm surviving with an emotional plan
I'm surviving, so please understand
I'm surviving, surviving

There are millions of people out there
Trying to get by in a world that don't care
People smiling through clouds of despair
Protecting the wounds until they repair
They're surviving the best way they can
They are surviving every woman and man
Just surviving with an emotion plan
So keep surviving

Maybe it's my shattered pride
That's why I get scared of emotional ties
Don't let them in, otherwise
You'll smile like a fool
But you'll be hurting inside
So I'm surviving through the insecurity
I am surviving, I got hope inside of me
So I'm smiling through all the insanity
I'm surviving, surviving

I was moved by the way that you said
Don't be afraid, I won't leave you for dead
You took my soul and mixed up my head
You left me alive
You should have killed me instead
Now I'm surviving, that's all I am
I'm surviving to be a better man
I'm surviving, that's my plan
I'm surviving, surviving
Surviving

Quote:

THE KINKS "Close to the Wire"

A hopeful adventure
Got missionary ways
Could start in the jungle
Feel this way
Search for an answer
Over land and over sea
All the mountains
Of promised opportunities

I cried out but you were lost
In a corporate position
So money's the solution
Curing all that ails the nation
But what about the hearts of man
The spiritual needs
I'm staring at the starlight
And I just can't quite believe
That i'm

Chorus:
Lost in the fire
So close to the wire
Got to survive
So close to the wire

The soul needs attention
Like the body needs to breath
But banks want investment
So who are we
Cultures are dying
But gold reserves are safe
Can't live in this jungle
But can't escape

Whatever happened
To the dreams we shared together
A taste of wine
A moonlight song that lasts forever

Chorus

Feel the expectation
Written in the ways
Each move of a man give away

You look good to me
Sat in your ministry position
An image for the masses
Making serious decisions
Talk about, sham about
For all the world to see
Your rhetoric's a quiz game
And a mystery to me

Chorus

So close to the wire

Better off in A Pine Box~ Doug Stone

Quote:

I said the night you left me,
Nothin' worse could happen,
But seeing you with someone else proved I was wrong.
And when your eyes met mine,
I knew that you were gone forever,
Along with all the reasons , I had for hanging on.

I'd be better off in a pine box,
On a slow train back from Georgia,
In the grey walls of a prison doing time.
I think I'd rather die,
And go back to hell and face the devil,
Than to lie here with you and him together on my mind.

I remember this coming out when I was in high school. Song writer must have had a pretty broken heart.

"colourblind" - counting crows
"my chosen one" - guillemots
"seems so long ago, nancy" - leonard cohen

and even though it's probably the most romantic song written/covered in the past 5 years, it has broughten me to tears a few times:
"such great heights" - iron and wine

but the one that REALLY takes the cake is
"have you passed through this night?" - explosions in the sky
listen to it. it'll leave you numb/

The Decemberists' song Grace Cathedral Hill had me crying on the subway when the line "Are you feeling better now?" repeated and I realized that I wasn't.

Natalie Merchant's The Living is very very sad. (the lyrics)

i SWEAR i posted on this thread already, but I guess not. I've got two for you:

"Lua" by Bright Eyes

Quote:

I know that it is freezing, but I think we have to walk
I keep waving at the taxis, they keep turning their lights off
But Julie knows a party at some actor's West side loft
Supplies are endless in the evening by the morning they'll be gone

When everything is lonely I can be my own best friend
I'll get a coffee and the paper, have my own conversations
with the sidewalk and the pigeons and my window reflection
The mask I polish in the evening by the morning looks like shit

And I know you have a heavy heart, I can feel it when we kiss
So many men stronger than me have thrown their backs out trying to lift it
But me I'm not a gamble, you can count on me to split
The love I sell you in the evening by the morning won't exist

You're looking skinny like a model with your eyes all painted black
Just keep going to the bathroom, always say you'll be right back
Well, it takes one to know one, kid, I think you've got it bad
But what's so easy in the evening by the morning's such a drag

I got a flask inside my pocket, we can share it on the train
And if you promise to stay conscious I will try and do the same
We might die from medication, but we sure killed all the pain
But what was normal in the evening by the morning seems insane

And I'm not sure what the trouble was that started all of this
The reasons all have run away, but the feeling never did
It's not something I would recommend, but it is one way to live
Cause what is simple in the moonlight by the morning never is

It was so simple in the moonlight now it's so complicated
It was so simple in the moonlight, so simple in the moonlight
So simple in the moonlight...

"Adam McCarthy" by Ralph Covert

Quote:

Lit a cigarette and smiled, alone in the kitchen
It's all been more trouble than it's worth for Adam McCarthy

Made a long-distance call, talked for an hour
Dying at 33...Adam McCarthy

And what about growing old, getting drunk, getting mad at your lover?
What about making time for yourself?
What have I done to deserve watching a friend waste away?
And what about waking up, feeling good, acting like you're immortal?
What about having a moment to lose?
And what about having a place in the world?

The doctor says "Hope, hope is the answer."
But he means that he's run out of tricks for Adam McCarthy

So I sat by his bed while he showed me his pictures
The candles, the cake, and the two sunken eyes of Adam McCarthy

And what about growing old, getting drunk, getting mad at your lover?
What about making time for yourself?
What have I done to deserve watching a friend waste away?
And what about waking up, feeling good, acting like you're immortal?
What about having a moment to lose?
And what about having a place in the world?

And I wanted to cry
But I could see he was hungry for laughter
And I wanted to say that I understood
But how can you lie to a friend?

He smiled and said "Do you want to get high?
It's not like it's gonna kill me.
I'm almost as dead as I'll get." said Adam McCarthy

So we stared into space, lost in our own worlds
And I said I'd come back when I could,
but I never did make it

And what about growing old, getting drunk, getting mad at your lover?
What about making time for yourself?
What have I done to deserve watching a friend waste away?
And what about waking up, feeling good, acting like you're immortal?
What about having a moment to lose?
And what about having a place in the world?
What about Adam McCarthy?

1) Fade to Black - Metallica
2) Girlfriend in a Coma - The Smiths
3) Tail lights fade - Buffalo Tom

Knowing the story behind the lyrics, I gotta go with:

Tears in Heaven - Eric Clapton

A lot of Chopin's piano works are extremly sad and moving, but the one that comes to mind is Nocturne in E minor, Op. 72, No. 1. I remember listening to it right after my grandfather on my mother's side had passed away. The tone of the piece coupled with the memories make it kinda depressing, but in a good way.

Maybe it's just self pity at the moment, but I have got to go with Jackson Browne - The Pretender.

Say a prayer for the pretender, who started out so young and strong, only to surrender...

"You Gave Me a Mountain"

I find Coldplay (everything) to be quite depressing at times, though hauntingly beautiful on some occasions.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shpoop

my nomination, which is pretty solid, is "starry starry night" by don mclean....but i dont know if that compares to mad world by gary jules, that is just incredible.

don't you mean vincent? yeah that's a hell of a depressing song.

Anther one that makes me get all weepy: Elvis Costello - Veronica. About an old woman with Alzheimers and what a full life she had.

Is it all in that pretty little head of yours?
What goes on in that place in the dark?
Well I used to know a girl and I could have sworn
that her name was Veronica
Well she used to have a carefree mind of her own
and a delicate look in her eye
These days I'm afraid she's not even sure if her
name is Veronica