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.