# Cheerful-sounding songs with surprisingly dark lyrics **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [April 11, 2018, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheerful-sounding-songs-with-surprisingly-dark-lyrics/812217 "2018-04-11T15:33:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheerful-sounding-songs-with-surprisingly-dark-lyrics/812217/81 "2018-04-12T03:46:34Z")
I always felt guilty dancing to “All She Wants To Do Is Dance”–but I did. “Mack the Knife”–anybody’s version. There were a whole slew of bright happy breakup songs in the ‘60s. Four Seasons’ “Opus 17,” for instance, “Breaking Up Is Hard To Do”(very bouncy), “You Don’t Have To Paint Me a Picture,” “Help Me Rhonda,” as opposed to a bunch of really drippy, dismal-sounding love songs (for example, “Hey Paula” was the most depressing love song ever, bleh!). Of course I was pretty young at the time but hey, breaking up sounded a LOT more fun than “Going to the Chapel” at least to me. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheerful-sounding-songs-with-surprisingly-dark-lyrics/812217/82 "2018-04-12T03:56:39Z")
Lily Allen’s “Fuck You”, which is very bouncy and upbeat and cutely English but is really not any of those things lyrics-wise. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheerful-sounding-songs-with-surprisingly-dark-lyrics/812217/83 "2018-04-12T12:31:32Z")
How about [Eddy Grant - Gimme Hope Jo’Anna](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFcmNu4KdGI). A really fun song about Apartheid in South Africa. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheerful-sounding-songs-with-surprisingly-dark-lyrics/812217/84 "2018-04-12T12:56:13Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Lily Allen’s “Fuck You”, which is very bouncy and upbeat and cutely English but is really not any of those things lyrics-wise. Good mention. I think her NSFW “Hard Out Here” would qualify, too. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/E0CazRHB0so/hqdefault.jpg "Lily Allen | Hard Out Here (Official Video - Explicit Version)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0CazRHB0so) ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheerful-sounding-songs-with-surprisingly-dark-lyrics/812217/85 "2018-04-12T12:57:39Z")
The Minus 5’s album of the same name is full of upbeat, cheery music with dark titles (i.e. “Cemetery Row”, “Leftover Life To Kill”, “My Life As A Creep”) and even darker lyrics.\* \*sample from “Bought A Rope”: _Let’s set the date for the funeral parade 'cause I can’t wait to be forgiven And I’ll be there like a pillow in the snow that covers the fair like J.Lo linen I never want to let you go I never want to let you go I never want to let you go and that’s why I bought this rope Bought a rope_ ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheerful-sounding-songs-with-surprisingly-dark-lyrics/812217/86 "2018-04-12T13:22:50Z")
The Polices’s Every Breath You Take. Tom Paxton’s Born on the Fourth of July, about Ron Kovic, paralyzed Vietnam War vet. One the most hard rocking tunes he ever sang. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheerful-sounding-songs-with-surprisingly-dark-lyrics/812217/87 "2018-04-12T13:51:37Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > "… > Don Mclean refuses to explain the meaning of “American Pie”, but it is generally believed to be about the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper. > … > Some people think “And as the king was looking down, the jester stole his thorny crown” is a reference to Elvis Presley. Only if Elvis was looking down from Graceland, as “American Pie” is from '71. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheerful-sounding-songs-with-surprisingly-dark-lyrics/812217/88 "2018-04-12T14:00:01Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > Only if Elvis was looking down from Graceland, as “American Pie” is from '71. As I understand it, the line hints at the fading artistic relevance of Elvis who had become overshadowed by Bob Dylan (the jester). Not my own interpretation, but it’s a valid speculation. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheerful-sounding-songs-with-surprisingly-dark-lyrics/812217/89 "2018-04-12T14:16:19Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > There were a whole slew of bright happy breakup songs in the ‘60s. Four Seasons’ “Opus 17,” for instance, “Breaking Up Is Hard To Do”(very bouncy), “You Don’t Have To Paint Me a Picture,” “Help Me Rhonda,” as opposed to a bunch of really drippy, dismal-sounding love songs (for example, “Hey Paula” was the most depressing love song ever, bleh!). Of course I was pretty young at the time but hey, breaking up sounded a LOT more fun than “Going to the Chapel” at least to me. And one of my favorites from 1966, “Red Rubber Ball” by The Cyrkle: > [@](#): > > I should have known you’d bid me farewell > There’s a lesson to be learned from this and I learned it very well > Now I know you’re not the only starfish in the sea > If I never hear your name again, it’s all the same to me > > And I think it’s gonna be all right > Yeah, the worst is over now > The morning sun is shining like a red rubber ball ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheerful-sounding-songs-with-surprisingly-dark-lyrics/812217/90 "2018-04-12T14:18:21Z")
I guess Lilly Allen’s thing might be making upbeat songs with dark lyrics. Her track “[Smile](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WxDrVUrSvI)” is like that as well! ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheerful-sounding-songs-with-surprisingly-dark-lyrics/812217/91 "2018-04-12T15:13:08Z")
Better Than Ezra has several on their “Deluxe” album; perhaps most notable is “Rosealia”, about a woman trying to cope with domestic abuse. “Melody Motel” by Squeeze is about a guy killing a prostitute and then going home to his wife and kid. ---
**Author:** ![MissTake](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misstake/32/3189_2.png) [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheerful-sounding-songs-with-surprisingly-dark-lyrics/812217/92 "2018-04-12T16:36:52Z")
[“Love Me Dead”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XH3oMNKApI) by Ludo [“Follow You”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tVWt2RDsoM) by Bring me the Horizon [“Josie”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2wQmY1uUD4) by Hey Monday ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheerful-sounding-songs-with-surprisingly-dark-lyrics/812217/93 "2018-04-12T16:42:01Z")
How about Gilbert O’Sullivan’s _Alone Again, Naturally_: > [@](#): > > In a little while from now > If I’m not feeling any less sour > I promise myself to treat myself > And visit a nearby tower > And climbing to the top > Will throw myself off > In an effort to > Make it clear to whoever > Wants to know what it’s like When you’re shattered I can’t say it’s “cheerful”, but the melody’s not as depressing as the lyrics ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheerful-sounding-songs-with-surprisingly-dark-lyrics/812217/94 "2018-04-12T16:50:52Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I don’t think that’s it. I-IV usually sounds pretty happy and major, I think. (I don’t know what you mean by more and fewer sharps in that context. In this song, that happens to be so, but that’s just an accident of it being in the key of D. Key of C , they both have no sharps. There’s nothing particularly special about a sharp.) To me, with that song, it may more be the slow pacing and the voicing of the broken chords. The D chord does this little thing where it goes down from the third to the second, and the G chord avoids the third and does this thing with the 6th and 9th/2nd, so it might not be as obviously “major” as it would if it was just a broken G chord. > > That said, to me, without the words, it sounds like it should be an uplifting love ballad. Maybe a bit introspective, but it does sound more “up” than the lyrics would suggest. However, plenty of sad/depressing songs are written in major keys. Certainly lots of depressing songs in major keys. My thing about sharps was that **keys** (not chords) with more sharps - or fewer flats - sound brighter and subjectively sort of give an upwards pull, while keys with fewer sharps/more flats kind of do the opposite. All other things being equal (which they rarely are), a song that goes I-V-I-V a lot will sound brighter than a song that goes I-IV-I-IV. Maybe taking it further can show it more easily - if your song is in D and you use a C major chord, the C chord can sound like a dark place - use an E major and it seems brighter by comparison. It’s which direction you’re going on the circle of fifths. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheerful-sounding-songs-with-surprisingly-dark-lyrics/812217/95 "2018-04-12T17:01:32Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Sorry? > > “Can’t you see me standing here; I got my back against the record machine - > I ain’t the worst that you’ve seen; come on and see what I mean…” > > He is telling the object of his affection to go ahead and jump…into bed with him. Or thereabouts. > > Carpe Dave. Reputedly the chorus was originally inspired by a news report of someone threatening to jump off a bridge. But yeah, if the story is true, you can’t exactly tell from the song as released. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheerful-sounding-songs-with-surprisingly-dark-lyrics/812217/96 "2018-04-12T17:14:44Z")
> [@Max\_Torque](#): > > They Might Be Giants are the king of this. Also: “When Will You Die” which is cheery and upbeat and all about how much everyone hates the person in question and hopes they die soon. \*You’re insane You are bad You wreck everything you touch And you’re a sociopath But there’s one thing That everyone’s wondering When will you die? Schoolchildren stay at home (yeah) And all the banks will close (yeah) Each year we’ll mark the date (yeah) On which we celebrate (yeaah) \* > [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > **“Hooray, They’re Hanging Father”** > > A joyous song about various members of the world’s most dysfunctional family getting their due. On the same theme there are a lot of peppy versions of “Miss Otis Regrets”, Miss Otis regretting that she can’t come to lunch today because she shot her lover and then was dragged from her jail cell by a lynch mob and hanged. Fun stuff. > [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Tom Paxton’s Born on the Fourth of July, about Ron Kovic, paralyzed Vietnam War vet. One the most hard rocking tunes he ever sang. My favorite Paxton song remains “Thank You Republic Airlines” which is insanely catchy but is about how absolutely furious Paxton is that Republic Airlines broke his guitar. _For you took it as a challenge when I turned in my case and you saw the fragile stickers glued all over the place: May a team of mad flamenco dancers do to your face What you did to the neck on my guitar!_ ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheerful-sounding-songs-with-surprisingly-dark-lyrics/812217/97 "2018-04-12T17:24:56Z")
> [@Max\_Torque](#): > > And one of my favorites from 1966, “Red Rubber Ball” by The Cyrkle: Yes! And the vaguely threatening but totally upbeat “Hey Little Girl” with its bouncy little bridge. Covered by many but I think of the version by Syndicate of Sound. With banjos! Banjos make everything bouncier. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheerful-sounding-songs-with-surprisingly-dark-lyrics/812217/98 "2018-04-12T17:26:00Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > Reputedly the chorus was originally inspired by a news report of someone threatening to jump off a bridge. But yeah, if the story is true, you can’t exactly tell from the song as released. OK, can’t _exactly_ tell, but it’s easy to see (at least if you want to see it, I thought it was obvious) that for some reason the chorus lyrics of that song don’t necessarily match the verse lyrics. Not matching proves nothing though. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheerful-sounding-songs-with-surprisingly-dark-lyrics/812217/99 "2018-04-12T17:30:17Z")
> [@DavidwithanR](#): > > My thing about sharps was that **keys** (not chords) with more sharps - or fewer flats - sound brighter and subjectively sort of give an upwards pull, while keys with fewer sharps/more flats kind of do the opposite It’s all fairly arbitrary. Is a song notated in C# major “brighter” than one in Db major? (It’s the same key in our equal tempered system.) That’s just notational. But yes, there is some sort of idea that if you go counterclockwise around the circle of fifth vs clockwise around the circle of fifths, one sounds “brighter” and the other “darker.” I just don’t really feel that. That said, I don’t find plagal cadences (IV-I) to be dark or minor sounding at all. I just find it more, I dunno, “pop” sounding or something while the perfect/authentic cadence, V7-I, sounds more "classical"or “jazz” to my ears. The IV-I maybe not as forceful, but that’s not so much to do with the sharps, but rather that the V7 has the tritone (third and seventh) that wants to resolve to the tonic and third. That’s probably what you mean by “upward pull,” I think. That’s a function not of key or accidentals, but one of “tendency tones.” ---
**Author:** ![JohnM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/848f3c/32.png) [@JohnM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnM)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheerful-sounding-songs-with-surprisingly-dark-lyrics/812217/100 "2018-04-12T17:34:04Z")
[Boom Boom Boom](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZN3a62r9oU) by The Igaunas. When you listen to the lyrics you can see why it was used in a Homicide: Life on the Streets episode: He walked the street to the corner liquor store Got some cigarettes and wine and he backed out the door It didn’t work out quite like he thought it would Now he’s back page news down in the neighborhood And it’s boom boom boom Boom boom boom Boom boom all night long Boom boom boom Boom boom boom Boom boom all night long [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheerful-sounding-songs-with-surprisingly-dark-lyrics/812217.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheerful-sounding-songs-with-surprisingly-dark-lyrics/812217.md?page=6)