# Looking for songs/music about depression & suicide. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 10, 2015, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-songs-music-about-depression-suicide/740049 "2015-12-10T05:34:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [December 10, 2015, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-songs-music-about-depression-suicide/740049/41 "2015-12-10T21:43:52Z")
[Jumpers](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZA_7FtttRY) - Sleater-Kinney (specifically about the Golden Gate Bridge.) ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2015, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-songs-music-about-depression-suicide/740049/42 "2015-12-10T21:51:01Z")
> [@Foggy](#): > > There are songs out there, but so far all I seem to find are ones aimed at young women & teenagers. I’m not sad because my boyfriend dumped me, I’m not cutting, & I’m not staving myself (maybe I should). I’m a 50something fat gay man, who has been dealing with depression for decades. > > There must be something out there that speaks to me, right? > > [/SIZE] Oops. Sorry, Quadrophenia is aimed at a teenage milieu. :smack: For 50-something, how about Sinatra’s No One Cares or September of My Years or Pete Townshend’s Empty Glass? ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-songs-music-about-depression-suicide/740049/43 "2015-12-11T11:58:42Z")
_Don’t Fear the Reaper_ - the band says it’s not about suicide [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClQcUyhoxTg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClQcUyhoxTg) ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-songs-music-about-depression-suicide/740049/44 "2015-12-11T12:39:31Z")
_Suicide Chump_ by **Frank Zappa** (suicide) _Solitude_ by **Black Sabbath** (depression) _Kill Yourself_ by **M.O.D.** (suicide) _Fade To Black_ by **Metallica** (depression and suicide) ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-songs-music-about-depression-suicide/740049/45 "2015-12-11T13:13:46Z")
“Maggie” by Colin Hay “Goodbye Cruel World” - Pink Floyd (or the whole The Wall album really) “Jumper” - Third Eye Blind Of course there’s always Judas Priest’s cover of Spooky Tooth’s “Better by You, Better than Me” which was the subject of the infamous lawsuit. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-songs-music-about-depression-suicide/740049/46 "2015-12-11T13:42:43Z")
After re-reading the OP, while not in the 1st person POV, “Jumper” by Third Eye Blind is closer to what they are looking for. From Wiki… > [@](#): > > Lead singer [Stephan Jenkins](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephan_Jenkins) has said that the song is “about a friend who’s gay, jumping off a bridge and killing themselves.”[[2]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumper_(song)#cite_note-2) The song is also about Jenkins’ own difficult, often alienating childhood experiences. He says, “My parents divorced, and that hurt me. We were poor and I went to a rich high school. I was dyslexic and had [attention deficit disorder](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attention_deficit_disorder), which I still have. So I carried all these things with me. One afternoon, I had this epiphany. I said ‘You know what? I don’t have it all together. I come from stuff that was really difficult, and that’s me. That’s who I am.’ I embraced that. There’s a line in the song that says, ‘Everyone’s got to face down the demons/Maybe today we can put the past away.’ It’s very much a song about putting the past away.”[[3]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumper_(song)#cite_note-3) ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-songs-music-about-depression-suicide/740049/47 "2015-12-11T14:43:36Z")
_Pinch Me_ - Bare Naked Ladies This song and the following lyrics in particular perfectly summed up the nothingness of depression that I was feeling at the time, and how I still feel when it takes hold. _It’s like a dream you try to remember But it’s gone Then you try to scream But it only comes out as a yawn_ ---
**Author:** ![Orange\_Skinner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3be4f8/32.png) [@Orange\_Skinner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orange_Skinner)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2015, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-songs-music-about-depression-suicide/740049/48 "2015-12-12T00:04:03Z")
“Flirted with You All My Life” by Cowboy Junkies is a first person account of life-long ambivalence about committing suicide. It starts out in such a way that upon the first listen you think it’s your typical boy/girl love song, then it becomes clear the singer is talking about death. Really brilliantly written. Vic Chestnutt, who wrote the song, is worth googling. “The Final Cut” by Pink Floyd deals with themes of depression, difficulty opening up to others/anticipating being abandoned or taken advantage of, and suicidal contemplation. Also consider: “What Deaner Was Talking About,” and “If You Could Save Yourself (You’d Save Us All),” both by Ween. “Beware of Darkness,” George Harrison. “Good Feeling,” Violent Femmes. ---
**Author:** ![LegendHasit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/legendhasit/32/8246_2.png) [@LegendHasit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LegendHasit)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2015, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-songs-music-about-depression-suicide/740049/49 "2015-12-12T01:18:27Z")
Tori Amos. Marianne. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2015, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-songs-music-about-depression-suicide/740049/50 "2015-12-12T01:55:16Z")
“Whiskey Lullabye” by Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss “Teenage Suicide, Don’t Do It!” by Big Fun “Jeremy” by Pearl Jam “If You Don’t Love Me (I’ll Kill Myself)” by Pete Droge–This song marked the end of the mourning period for Kurt Cobain ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2015, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-songs-music-about-depression-suicide/740049/51 "2015-12-12T02:46:36Z")
_Suicide Solution_ - **Judas Priest** _Uncle Frank_ - **Drive-By Truckers** Uncle Frank hangs himself, leaving no note. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2015, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-songs-music-about-depression-suicide/740049/52 "2015-12-12T02:49:12Z")
Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid” ---
**Author:** ![Not\_Carlson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bc79bd/32.png) [@Not\_Carlson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_Carlson)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2015, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-songs-music-about-depression-suicide/740049/53 "2015-12-13T16:11:15Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > “Teenage Suicide, Don’t Do It!” by Big Fun Wait. That was an \*actual \*song by and \*actual \*band? I thought it was just a cynical joke for the movie. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2015, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-songs-music-about-depression-suicide/740049/54 "2015-12-13T17:37:08Z")
Under the bridge - Red hot chill peppers Meet on the ledge - Fairport Convention Mind you, I could have chosen a few dozen Richard Thompson songs, not for nothing did they call him the doom watcher You can’t win - Richard Thompson When No-one cares - Frank Sinatra - this is a pretty heart breaking song Alone again, naturally - Gilbert O’Sullivan [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-Mjx4WY2xM) ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2015, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-songs-music-about-depression-suicide/740049/55 "2015-12-13T18:08:06Z")
> [@Not\_Carlson](#): > > Wait. > That was an \*actual \*song by and \*actual \*band? > I thought it was just a cynical joke for the movie. > [@](#): > > The song “Teenage Suicide (Don’t Do It)” by the fictional band Big Fun was written and produced for the film by musician Don Dixon and performed by the ad hoc group “Big Fun” which consisted of Dixon, Mitch Easter, Angie Carlson and Marti Jones. The song is included on Dixon’s 1992 greatest hits album _(If) I’m A Ham, Well You’re A Sausage_ > **[Heathers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heathers)** > > Heathers is a 1988 American teen black comedy film written by Daniel Waters and directed by Michael Lehmann, in both of their respective film debuts. The film stars Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Shannen Doherty, Lisanne Falk, Kim Walker, and Penelope Milford. Its plot portrays four teenage girls—three of whom are named Heather—in a clique at an Ohio high school, one of whose lives is disrupted by the arrival of a misanthrope intent on murdering the popular students and staging their death Wat... > **[Don Dixon (musician)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Dixon_(musician))** > > Don Alan Dixon (born December 13, 1950) is an American record producer, songwriter, and musician. He is considered to be one of the key producers of what is called the jangle pop movement of the early 1980s, including working with R.E.M. and The Smithereens. > Dixon was born in Lancaster, South Carolina. He says he learned to play the bass guitar in junior high school "because of the control that it offered". He said, "I bought a bass, one of those great Danelectro Silvertones, and I wish I ha... ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2015, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-songs-music-about-depression-suicide/740049/56 "2015-12-13T18:23:03Z")
“One More Suicide”-Marcy Playground “Like Suicide”-Soundgarden “Fell On Black Days”-Soundgarden [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ySzrJ4GRF7s/maxresdefault.jpg "Soundgarden - Fell On Black Days") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySzrJ4GRF7s) ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2015, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-songs-music-about-depression-suicide/740049/57 "2015-12-13T19:22:03Z")
“Lookout Mountain” - Drive-By Truckers [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/jYOAbIdUgpE/maxresdefault.jpg "Lookout Mountain") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYOAbIdUgpE) ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2015, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-songs-music-about-depression-suicide/740049/58 "2015-12-13T20:23:13Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > This far into the thread and no one’s mentioned James Taylor’s [“Fire and Rain”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3uaXCJcRrE)? This was playing on Pandora as I scrolled to your post!! ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2015, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-songs-music-about-depression-suicide/740049/59 "2015-12-13T23:15:49Z")
In 1933, Hungarian composer Rezso Seress wrote a little ditty called _Sad Sunday_, that included the lyrics “the world is ending.” A poet named Laszlo Javor wrote even more depressing lyrics about the death of a lover. Three years later, Sam M. Lewis, better known for writing songs like _I’m Sitting on Top of the World_ and _Rock-a-bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody_, translated the lyrics into English and turned them up to 11, with a new version where the singer was planning to follow the lover. That version, called _Gloomy Sunday_, has been recorded[a lot](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjWMtQcNJXI) over the years. ---
**Author:** ![Sputnikkk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Sputnikkk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sputnikkk)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2015, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-songs-music-about-depression-suicide/740049/60 "2015-12-13T23:35:27Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/rn_YodiJO6k/maxresdefault.jpg "Red Hot Chili Peppers - Otherside [Official Music Video]") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rn_YodiJO6k) Otherside—Red Hot Chile Peppers How long, how long will I slide? Separate my side I don’t, I don’t believe it’s bad Slittin’ my throat, it’s all I ever I heard your voice through a photograph I thought it up, it brought up the past Once you know you can never go back I’ve got to take it on the otherside [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-songs-music-about-depression-suicide/740049.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-songs-music-about-depression-suicide/740049.md?page=4)