Two from Porcupine Tree:
I don’t know if this qualifies as a song, but whatever it is, it seems to be along the lines of what was asked for.
Current 93-- I have a Special Plan…"
It is long but powerful and well worth the time investment.
Blue October’s “Hate Me” is a crushing song about alcohol addiction and depression. Blue October - Hate Me - YouTube
At Seventeen, Janis Ian
My favorite song for that topic, Will Oldham’s I See A Darkness, as sung by Johnny Cash and accompanied by the writer.
Not a first-person perspective of suicide or depression, but Crowded House’s “Hole in the River” tells a very emotional story of suicide from the point of a family member.
This one has become all the more poignant to me since my aunty took her own life a few years ago.
Hugs to you Foggy.
I will also recommend a couple of more upbeat songs to balance it out:
Foo Fighters - These Days
The Breeders - Cannonball
Also, you might enjoy reading the web comic “A Kid with Experience” whose author often talks about handling her own depression.
14 posts and no mention of Suicide Solution by Ozzy Osborne? Technically I think it’s about alcoholism, but that’s a close enough link to depression and suicide to count.
Thank you for your replies.
I have to say its disappointing that there is nothing from the Muppets. I suspect that there is some serious darkness in Kermit.
I just wrote about this song in The SDMB Music Appreciation Society thread: Orange Goblin - Beginners Guide To Suicide
A cry for help if ever I heard one.
How about Kermit’s cover version of Hurt?
Nirvana has a song called “I Hate Myself and Want to Die.”
Matthew Sweet - Someone to Pull the Trigger
This far into the thread and no one’s mentioned James Taylor’s “Fire and Rain”?
Jump, Jump, Jump by Rick Derringer
Sunday Morning, Coming Down, Johnny Cash.
My suggestion, look into the genre called Doom. It’s a subgenre of metal, though there are plenty of artists on the light side of it, and it can go well into the brutal side too. As a rule, Doom tends to be atmospheric, tends to be slower than similar styles, and typically focuses on the dark topics, particularly grief, depression, death, etc. It’s hard to really make any sort of suggestions since I’m not sure what your taste is, but I can definitely recommend some of my favorite bands:
Swallow the Sun, probably my favorite pure Doom band, and they vary from very heavy to closer to rock
My Dying Bride, these guys are the OGs of Doom, they have some varied styles too, their softer stuff goes more into the gothic kind of sound
Novembers Doom, more of an American Death Metal sound mixed in
Katatonia, their older stuff is definitely Doom, newer stuff not as much, and they’ve gotten more into other subjects, but I absolutely adore this band
Shape of Despair, classic Funeral Doom, very slow and very heavy and very depressing, just as you might expect
Ahab, more solid Funeral Doom
Draconian
so I’d start there, and if one of those fits your druthers I can maybe suggest other similar stuff, or go down the rabbit hole with youtube recommendations.
The first one that popped-into my head was this gem from Josh Clayton-Felt. “Deer In the Headlights”.
It’s about suicide, but it’s a somewhat sweet interpretation of it.
Then there’s this tune from the same album. It doesn’t directly deal w/ depression, but tries to bring some light to a gloomy situation.
Backwards World.
I hope they lift your day a bit.
“Empty Garden” by Elton John is about the sadness of losing someone special, in this song’s case it’s John Lennon.
I always interpreted “Take the long way home” by Supertramp to be about suicide.
You’re in luck. There’s an album by the Who called Quadrophenia. Most every song touches on depression (along with schizophrenia) and a song like “I’ve Had Enough” on suicide.