# Most. Depressing. Pop or rock song. Ever. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 3, 2005, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-pop-or-rock-song-ever/329296 "2005-11-03T15:20:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2005, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-pop-or-rock-song-ever/329296/161 "2005-11-09T23:20:21Z")
Lastly for now, _Wooden Horse_, a song by Suzanne Vega, went completely under my radar for a long time until I learned who [Kaspar Hauser](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaspar_Hauser) was… _But when I’m dead If you could, tell them this What was wood became alive…_ ---
**Author:** ![aurelian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f4b2a3/32.png) [@aurelian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurelian)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-pop-or-rock-song-ever/329296/162 "2005-11-10T01:06:00Z")
These are obvious ones, but I haven’t seen them mentioned yet: Rebekah del Rio’s Spanish cover of Roy Orbison’s “Crying” (_Llorando_) in _Mulholland Drive_; Aimee Mann, “Wise Up”: > [@Aimee Mann](#): > > No, it’s not going to stop > 'Til you wise up > No, it’s not going to stop > So just…give up Flaming Lips, “Do You Realize??” > [@The Flaming Lips](#): > > Do you realize - that you have the most beautiful face > Do you realize - we’re floating in space - > Do you realize - that happiness makes you cry > Do you realize - that everyone you know someday will die Garbage, “You Look So Fine” > [@Garbage](#): > > You look so fine > I want to break your heart > And give you mine > You’re taking me over Paul Simon, “Father and Daughter”, since it’s all about the father my dad wasn’t. ☹ > [@Paul Simon](#): > > since Im gonna watch you shine > Gonna watch you grow > Gonna paint a sign > So youll always know > As long as one and one is two > There could never be a father > Who loved his daughter more than I love you And while I wholly agree with the “Anything by Leonard Cohen” statement, I find Jeff Buckley’s version of “Hallelujah” far more depressing than Cohen’s, which sounds more like some boozy revival. And “True Love Waits”, Radiohead ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-pop-or-rock-song-ever/329296/163 "2005-11-10T03:33:48Z")
> [@Lisa-go-Blind](#): > > “All the Umbrellas in London” by The Magnetic Fields. The music is dancey and somewhat upbeat, but oh those lyrics: > > \*If I live through the night, I could be all right > It’ll make a good song or something > > [LYRICS DELETED BY MODERATOR] \* > > If we’re confining “pop songs” to chart hits, though, I have to say “Tears in Heaven,” if only for the back story. Sorry, but I only posted the first verse. ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-pop-or-rock-song-ever/329296/164 "2005-11-10T03:35:42Z")
> [@Lisa-go-Blind](#): > > Sorry, but I only posted the first verse. :smack: Sorry, **C K Dexter Haven**. I somehow missed your post higher on this page. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-pop-or-rock-song-ever/329296/165 "2005-11-10T04:00:28Z")
Not the most depressing ever, but Anna Nalick’s “Breathe” has some gut-punches available when you’re in a receptive mood: “May he turn 21 on the base at Fort Bliss Just a day, he sat down to the flask in his fist, Ain’t been sober, since maybe October of last year.” She’s too young to sing a song that sad. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-pop-or-rock-song-ever/329296/166 "2005-11-10T18:04:43Z")
Listening to Warren Zevon right now, I’d have to add a lot of his songs to the list o’ most depressing songs: “Hasten down the wind” “Carmelita” I am SO bummed out right now. But I’m still playing WZ. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-pop-or-rock-song-ever/329296/167 "2005-11-17T22:44:18Z")
I was burning a CD of Christmas songs today for a friend\*, and broke down crying when I got to “Snoopy’s Christmas” by the Royal Guardsmen. When I was a kid, I just thought, “Oh, cool; another Snoopy song!” Now, however, I can’t hear it the same way after having seen a documentary about the WWI Christmas Truce. \*The Baron had Snoopy dead in his sights He reached for the trigger to pull it up tight Why he didn’t shoot, well, we’ll never know Or was it the bells from the village below? The Baron made Snoopy fly to the Rhine And forced him to land behind the enemy lines Snoopy was certain that this was the end When the Baron cried out, “Merry Christmas, my friend!” The Baron then offered a holiday toast And Snoopy, our hero, saluted his host And then with a roar they were both on their way Each knowing they’d meet on some other day. Christmas bells those Christmas bells Ringing through the land Bringing peace to all the world And good will to man\* Another nominee: “Luka”, by Suzanne Vega. \*If you hear something late at night Some kind of trouble, some kind of fight Just don’t ask me what it was Just don’t ask me what it was Just don’t ask me what it was They only hit until you cry After then you don’t ask why You just don’t argue any more You just don’t argue any more You just don’t argue any more\* One more from Billy Joel: “Everybody Has A Dream”. _This is my dream, my own Just to be at home And to be all alone All alone with you_ And I second the nomination of “Everything at all from ‘The Wind’.” ☹ \*I specifically kept to the stuff that’s **not** overplayed in stores and on radio. “Christmas in Hollis”, “Fairytale of New York”, “Santa Claus and his Old Lady” (okay, technically not a song), “Christmas at Ground Zero”, and so forth. I thought about adding “Christmas in Heaven” by Monty Python, but I’ve never thought it was particularly funny. ---
**Author:** ![sniperfang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@sniperfang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sniperfang)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-pop-or-rock-song-ever/329296/168 "2005-11-18T09:44:16Z")
You people have got to be kidding. Runaway Train (Soul Asylum) has to be it, hands down. [LYRICS]\* So tired that I couldn’t even sleep So many secrets I couldn’t keep Promised myself I wouldn’t weep One more promise I couldn’t keep It seems no one can help me now I’m in too deep There’s no way out This time I have really led myself astray. \* [/LYRICS] Bathtub. Warm water. Razor. Oblivion. ---
**Author:** ![Stark\_Raven\_Mad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Stark\_Raven\_Mad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stark_Raven_Mad)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-pop-or-rock-song-ever/329296/169 "2005-11-18T10:12:09Z")
Björk’s song rendition of EE Cummings’ _it may not always be so_, called _Sonnets/Unrealities XI_ (Track 9 of **Medulla** ). The poem itself is one of the most terribly depressing ones known to mankind- > [@](#): > > it may not always be so;and i say > that if your lips,which i have loved,should touch > another’s,and your dear strong fingers clutch > his heart,as mine in time not far away; [Rest of the poem](http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/eecummings/11933) ---
**Author:** ![Siege](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Siege](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siege)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-pop-or-rock-song-ever/329296/170 "2005-11-18T11:16:32Z")
What worries me is there are a couple of songs listed which sum up my life! :eek: Specifically, _At Seventeen_ describes my life as a teenager, although I learned the truth a bit younger and _Father and Son_, which I’ve only heard live, performed by Moe Keale in Hawaii, sums up my relationship with my father when I was younger. I do have one contribution: _I Honestly Love You_ sung by Olivia Newton John. I still remember coming home from a trip to visit a college crush on which I’d learned he didn’t love me. I sat down at the piano, started leafing through sheet music at random, found that song at some point and started playing it. I was crying by the end of it. > [@](#): > > _If we both were born in another place and time > This moment might be ending with a kiss. > [lyrics forgotten] > So I guess we’ll just be leaving it at this. > I Love You. > I Honestly Love You._ It’s been nearly 20 years, but the memory still lingers. CJ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-pop-or-rock-song-ever/329296.md?page=8)