# Dark pop songs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 4, 2011, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-pop-songs/584343 "2011-06-04T22:42:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-pop-songs/584343/41 "2011-06-06T14:46:00Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Paranoid, by [Black Sabbath](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Sabbath_discography#Singles) was a number 4 hit in Britain, and is much poppier in its sound than most of their work. I know my definition of pop is narrower than most people’s on this board, but pop isn’t even in the top 100 when thinking of words to describe this song. > [@](#): > > I ends by advising the listeners to kill themselves. I never heard that in the song. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-pop-songs/584343/42 "2011-06-06T15:32:14Z")
Maxwell’s Silver Hammer is about as poppy as you can get, considering it’s about a serial killer. Madonna’s “Live to Tell” is pretty somber, although it doesn’t seem to be referencing any particular trauma or event. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-pop-songs/584343/43 "2011-06-06T16:23:55Z")
“Born in the USA” is about wasted lives, Vietnam, and the death of the American Dream. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-pop-songs/584343/44 "2011-06-06T16:37:01Z")
Submitted for your consideration: Nick Lowe’s “[Marie Provost](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWunemmwJHM)” – a catchy little ditty that tells the more-or-less true story of Marie Prevost, “a winner/That became a doggie’s dinner”. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-pop-songs/584343/45 "2011-06-06T17:06:30Z")
> [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](#): > > “Just Dance” by Lady Gaga. I’ll add “Bad Romance” to her list, as well. It’s about being in a relationship you know is a little fucked up, but decide to stay in anyway because eh, what the Hell. “Brick” by Ben Folds Five, while not really upbeat, was still a pretty popular sing when it was released, is about the singer taking his girlfriend to get an abortion…based on a personal experience of the singer, no less. ---
**Author:** ![osme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/df788c/32.png) [@osme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/osme)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-pop-songs/584343/46 "2011-06-06T18:07:02Z")
That’s The Night That The Lights Went Out In Georgia-Vicki Lawrence about committing and lying about murder. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-pop-songs/584343/47 "2011-06-06T18:07:16Z")
Hmmm. _Maxwell’s Silver Hammer_: A fine, upbeat little Beatles song about a sociopathic, murderous little shit. _Iron Man_: Black Sabbath’s lovely tale of heroism, public ingratitude and apathy, and revenge. _Seasons in the Sun_: Terry Jacks’ peppy adaptation of _Le Moribond_ by Belgian singer-songwriter Jacques Brel. All about the last goodbyes of a soon-to-be-executed murderer. Saying farewell to the daughter who’s mother he killed, his father, and to the best friend whom seduced his wife, leading to the murder in the first place. Happiness! ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-pop-songs/584343/48 "2011-06-06T18:18:08Z")
I’m not sure if \*Billy Don’t Be A Hero \*could be considered dark, as I’m sure the intent was to tout Billy’s heroism, but you’ll not find a peppier song with more depressing lyrics. You got your girlfriend crying in the first verse, a plaintive plea to not be an idiot in every chorus, a meat grinder for verse 2 and verse 3? _I heard his fiancee got a letter That told how Billy died that day The letter said that he was a hero She should be proud he died that way I heard she threw that letter away…_ … followed by a jaunty little whistle. Who wouldn’t want to dance to that? ---
**Author:** ![Kyrie\_Eleison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kyrie_eleison/32/7682_2.png) [@Kyrie\_Eleison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyrie_Eleison)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-pop-songs/584343/49 "2011-06-06T18:21:44Z")
I am excited to be able to add arguably the sappiest song ever, “Seasons in the Sun” by Terry Jacks. (That counts as pop, right?) ETA: I see that I spent far too long trying to figure out whether Cat Steven’s “Cat’s in the Cradle” also counted, and that as a result **Tranquilis** beat me to the punch. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-pop-songs/584343/50 "2011-06-06T18:23:34Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > Third Eye Blind’s “Semi-Charmed Life.” An upbeat, poppy song that everyone was singing along with in the 90s-- actually a song about a guy’s descent into meth addiction and freaky sex. I saw an interview with Third Eye Blind’s lead singer where he said that Semi-Charmed Life was supposed to be in some animated movie, maybe Shrek, but once the producers found out what was going on in the song, they pulled it. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-pop-songs/584343/51 "2011-06-06T18:25:04Z")
> [@Kyrie\_Eleison](#): > > I am excited to be able to add arguably the sappiest song ever, “Seasons in the Sun” by Terry Jacks. (That counts as pop, right?) According to **Tranquilis** , two posts before yours, yes. ETA: But you can have credit for _Cats in the Cradle._ ---
**Author:** ![Kyrie\_Eleison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kyrie_eleison/32/7682_2.png) [@Kyrie\_Eleison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyrie_Eleison)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-pop-songs/584343/52 "2011-06-06T18:33:47Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > ETA: But you can have credit for _Cats in the Cradle._ Wikipedia actually calls “Cat’s in the Cradle” a “folk rock” song. I’m never quite sure about what counts as “pop”, so I passed on it. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-pop-songs/584343/53 "2011-06-06T19:16:57Z")
Warren Zevon’s a master of this - I love _Excitable Boy_, a poppy, upbeat song about rape, murder and insanity (for extra marks, I’ll add that I heard it played at a real live junior prom in high school!) [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/7eUsSXXc8wU/hqdefault.jpg "Warren Zevon - Excitable Boy") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eUsSXXc8wU) For truly dark, an obscure old favourite from my nerdly youth - a pop song about the last guy alive on his planet, whose entire race was destroyed, and who now mans a lighthouse warning others to stay away … and then, he dies. 😉 Klaatu - So Said the Lighthouse Keeper: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/sN9kLcdikIE/hqdefault.jpg "Klaatu - So Said the Lighthouse Keeper") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sN9kLcdikIE) [Part of a prog album that surely is a science-fiction classic] ---
**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:** [June 6, 2011, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-pop-songs/584343/54 "2011-06-06T19:23:34Z")
The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald Dead Man’s Curve Billy, Don’t Be A Hero ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-pop-songs/584343/55 "2011-06-06T21:47:17Z")
Pretty much the entirety of New Romantic/Goth influenced New Wave is “Dark Pop”, more because of the vaguely menacing, atmospheric, and/or depressing music than themes, although those can be dark, too. Echo and the Bunnymen OMD Early Duran Duran Some David Bowie Arcadia Plus at least 3 others that I don’t know enough to categorize. And doesn’t count the ones that fully abandon any rock pretense to become entirely synth such as New Order and Depeche Mode (as well as later dark synth pop bands such as Faith Assembly and Iris) ---
**Author:** ![FrigidLizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3bc359/32.png) [@FrigidLizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrigidLizard)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-pop-songs/584343/56 "2011-06-06T21:49:44Z")
My favorite has to be “Santeria” by Sublime. Alternatingly peppy and mellow, it took me years to notice how gritty and violent the lyrics are. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-pop-songs/584343/57 "2011-06-07T18:03:38Z")
Oh, I just thought of another one – "[People Who Died"](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQbzGOKb6xg) by Jim Carroll. Really makes you want to get up and dance!! ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-pop-songs/584343/58 "2011-06-07T18:57:58Z")
> [@Kyrie\_Eleison](#): > > I am excited to be able to add arguably the sappiest song ever, “Seasons in the Sun” by Terry Jacks. (That counts as pop, right?) > > ETA: I see that I spent far too long trying to figure out whether Cat Steven’s “Cat’s in the Cradle” also counted, and that as a result **Tranquilis** beat me to the punch. 'S OK. We can loathe it together. 😉 In french, it probably makes a lot more sense - French is a _great_ language for melancholy & irony. It doesn’t always translate well into English. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-pop-songs/584343/59 "2011-06-07T19:05:39Z")
Ergh. Missed Edit window: Oh, has anyone called out Maroon 5’s _Wake Up Call_ yet…? _“…found you sleeping soundly and your love is screaming loudly…”_ Nice. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-pop-songs/584343/60 "2011-06-07T22:40:13Z")
Can I nominate “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number” by Steely Dan? I don’t know if it’s so much ‘dark’ in the killing/cannibal/dying sense, but it does give off a tragically sad vibe. Depending on your interpretation. I don’t think some preggo woman (the writer of the song met her once and claims it is about her, her being the ‘Rikki’) is worth such a desperate, sad wail of longing and angst. I think it can be taken in another way, giving it real resonance. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-pop-songs/584343.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-pop-songs/584343.md?page=4)