I’ve been a sucker for it ever since I fell in love with Komm, Süsser Tod. Another example would be Terry Jack’s Seasons In The Sun (the Brel original is even better in that regards). The kind of music that makes you do a mental double take by mixing an upbeat, wholesome, even campy tune with the most depressing lyrics you could imagine. I don’t think I’ve ever encountered the opposite though, happy sunshine lyrics with somber music, but it’d work just as well I’d wager.
Well, yes and no. Mostly no
I didn’t know the song, so I listened to it and googled the lyrics, and it’s not what I’m talking about. L.A. County would be what I call a twist song, a song which feels and sounds nice but, when you look at it closer, isn’t. Or right at the end, isn’t anymore. It’s sneaky, kind of like, say, Every Breath You Take. In short, it works through poetic Fridge Logic : “wait wait wait… OMG the friend was the gun !” !
By contrast,* Komm Süsser Tod* is so upfront, and that’s what wrongfoots you. It’s just plain horrid from the get go, no misdirection, no twist. One second you’re mindlessly singing along, “So with sadness in my heaaart I feel the best thing I could do is end it aaaall and leave for-eh-ver”, and the next you go “waiiit, what did I just say ?!”.
Or maybe it just did this to me because English isn’t my first language, I dunno. But L.A. County doesn’t do that for me.
@**Wordman **: Help’s a good one - in fact, I never realized how tragic it was until right now :eek:.
As you say, the “happy lyrics/sad music” category is a tough one. Alicia Keys’ “No One” is maybe the closest thing to an example that I can think of right now… the lyrics are generally upbeat, but I find the music to be rather lugubrious.
(Shoot. Seems like lots of us are missing the OP – looking for the opposite of up music/down lyrics. But I wrote this post so figured I’d share while thinking of something more appropriate.)
Warren Zevon’s “Excitable Boy” is a bouncy little number, complete with a backing chorus of "doo-wah-doo"s. It deals with insanity, rape, murder, and imprisonment!
eta: Oops - got it backwards. This is happy tune, downer lyrics!
This is also one of Jonathan Coulton’s major themes. “I Feel Fantastic” might be the most over-the-top for the sheer mania of tune combined with a really depressing story if you think about it. Chiron Beta Prime gets points for being a really depressing Christmas tune.
