# Most Depressing Song **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 25, 2008, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-song/435014 "2008-01-25T21:01:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2008, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-song/435014/61 "2008-01-26T05:01:05Z")
[QUOTE=msmith537] Black - Pearl Jam (surprised no mention yet) [/QUOTE] That’s a good one, but I dislike manly men songs that never release their true angst. It still feels depressing because you can tell the character behind the singer is trying to express a heartfelt emotion, but is too shy or macho to actually let it hang out there in the open. That’s my opinion anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2008, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-song/435014/62 "2008-01-26T05:21:52Z")
_First Christmas (Away From Home)_ by Stan Rogers. Actually, he had a bunch of depressing songs, but I was listening to this one today. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2008, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-song/435014/63 "2008-01-26T07:02:37Z")
[QUOTE=spoke-] How about a song that has been the subject of many, many (_many_, many) threads on this board: [Ode to Billy Joe](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZt5Q-u4crc) by **Bobbie Gentry**? [/QUOTE] Close, so close. Try this for a real bullet in your head, [Fancy](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4ZCrMESar8&feature=related) Let’s prostitute your daughter for fun and profit. ---
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2008, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-song/435014/64 "2008-01-26T07:14:51Z")
[QUOTE=msmith537] Beautiful - James Blunt (or anything else by him) [/QUOTE] I agree, but depressing in the “Ohh God when will this song end??!” way ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2008, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-song/435014/65 "2008-01-26T08:40:35Z")
Connie Francis’ _I Will Wait for You_ is pretty high in my “depressing” playlist, for reasons any Futurama fan will understand. I can barely listen to it. Same with _Song for Ten_ from the Dr. Who soundtrack, which is sad to begin with, but…my own dog just died around the time I got this one. God damn it… ☹ Within Temptations’ _Somewhere_ is a more modern, if somewhat girly, example. It doesn’t help that the first place I heard it was in an (also fairly girly) [Anime Music Video for a series called _Full Moon o Sagashite_](http://www.animemusicvideos.org/members/members_videoinfo.php?v=81276), which I’ve never seen, and don’t ever plan to, but just the wikipedia synopsis of it makes me want to blow my brains out (to say nothing of the video. augh). And, of course…_Vesti la Giubba_. (aka, the international anthem of Sad Clowns) ---
**Author:** ![bbs2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e495f1/32.png) [@bbs2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbs2k)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2008, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-song/435014/66 "2008-01-26T09:27:34Z")
No votes for Radiohead yet? [How to Disappear Completely](http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1346415589452802224) still gives me shivers after all these years. And I’m pretty sure I cried the first time I heard [True Love Waits](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MHqSQMx_gY). ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2008, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-song/435014/67 "2008-01-26T12:04:59Z")
My winner for this topic is always going to be Suzanne Vega’s [The Queen and the Soldier](http://www.vega.net/rustedpipe/the_queen_and_the_soldier.htm). A couple of runners up would be: Leslie Fish’s song version of Rudyard Kipling’s [Birds of Prey March](http://www.worldwideschool.org/library/books/lit/poetry/VersesKipling1889-1896/chap81.html). I love this song, so bleak, and angry, and bitter, and sad, and the music is such a cheerful march. Sailin’ Away by The Serendipity Singers The folk standard, “[In the Pines](http://www3.clearlight.com/~acsa/introjs.htm?/~acsa/songfile/INTHEPIN.HTM)” or as I’ve sometimes seen it called, “Black Girl.” I am surprised that **bufftabby** has nominated “Amazing Grace.” I’ve always considered it a happy song. Gut wrenching, but happy. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2008, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-song/435014/68 "2008-01-26T12:35:17Z")
Gilbert O Sullivan - Alone again, naturally. When this came out during the '70’s it was on the radio a lot, and just seemed like a simple pop ditty. Roll on a few years and listen to the lyrics, and it turns into a terribly sad, dark, almost bitter song, the slightly jaunty beat belies the sadness. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/D_P-v1BVQn8/hqdefault.jpg "Gilbert O'Sullivan - Alone Again (original version)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_P-v1BVQn8) Eleanor McEvoy Depends on where you have been in your relationships, but this can bring out the tears. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/tjQP9931NhU/hqdefault.jpg "Eleanor McEvoy - only a woman's heart") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjQP9931NhU) Richard Thompson - cheerfully acknowledges his ‘doomwatcher’ tag. You can pick out a couple of dozen of his songs, here’s just one. Waltzing for dreamers [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GJS806WzfI) …and for all you guitarists out there, check out his guitar solo that’s on Youtube. How about death for fun? [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/locEfzaWcGg/hqdefault.jpg "Richard Thompson - Now That I Am Dead - Seattle 1990") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=locEfzaWcGg) are you listening Kurt ? ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2008, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-song/435014/69 "2008-01-26T13:31:11Z")
[QUOTE=Annie-Xmas] Hank Williams “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” [/QUOTE] Close, but “Lost Highway” takes the cake. ---
**Author:** ![Leechboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9fc348/32.png) [@Leechboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leechboy)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2008, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-song/435014/70 "2008-01-26T14:03:26Z")
[![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Na-xvlYMGck/hqdefault.jpg "A Boy and His Frog") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Na-xvlYMGck) That’s right, a puppet made you cry. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1Ar0rTAU-8) Couldn’t find a version with the subtitles that wasn’t so, well, personal, but Der Weg is a German song written by performed by Herbert Gronemeyer after his wife and his brother died from cancer within days of each other. I used it for my mother’s funeral tribute, after she passed from it too. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2008, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-song/435014/71 "2008-01-26T14:22:17Z")
“Something Vague” by Bright Eyes. Oof. > **[BRIGHT EYES LYRICS - Something Vague](http://www.plyrics.com/lyrics/brighteyes/somethingvague.html)** > > Accurate Bright Eyes "Something Vague" Lyrics: Now and again it seems worse than it is, but mostly the view is accurate. You see your breath i... ---
**Author:** ![El\_DeLuxo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_deluxo/32/9043_2.png) [@El\_DeLuxo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_DeLuxo)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2008, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-song/435014/72 "2008-01-26T15:45:15Z")
“God Damn The Sun” by Swans, from _The Burning World_ – it’s depressing as fuck but very beautiful too. ---
**Author:** ![phungi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phungi/32/395_2.png) [@phungi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phungi)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2008, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-song/435014/73 "2008-01-26T16:15:30Z")
[QUOTE=spoke-] A whole slew of songs by **The Smiths** would have to make the list, notably [Asleep](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkdjLeMmSOQ&feature=related) and [Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9vn-Na4_eU) [/QUOTE] I was thinking of [Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mfk9gKomZE&feature=related) ---
**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:** [January 26, 2008, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-song/435014/74 "2008-01-26T16:23:04Z")
[Solitude](http://www.black-sabbath.com/discog/masterofreality.html#solitude) by Black Sabbath. ---
**Author:** ![bufftabby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/77aa72/32.png) [@bufftabby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bufftabby)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2008, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-song/435014/75 "2008-01-26T16:46:21Z")
[QUOTE=OtakuLoki] I am surprised that **bufftabby** has nominated “Amazing Grace.” I’ve always considered it a happy song. Gut wrenching, but happy. [/QUOTE] It’s probably related to hearing it at funerals so often. All I have to hear is the opening strains, even if it’s in a cartoon or something. If the bagpipe version is played, I’m even more of a wreck. FTR I love the bagpipes; most of my bloodline is Scottish. ---
**Author:** ![uncle\_squeegee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b5e925/32.png) [@uncle\_squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/uncle_squeegee)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2008, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-song/435014/76 "2008-01-26T16:53:52Z")
_You Are My Sunshine_. This verse especially: The other night, dear, As I lay sleeping I dreamed I held you in my arms. When I awoke, dear, I was mistaken And I hung my head and cried. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2008, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-song/435014/77 "2008-01-26T17:00:51Z")
[QUOTE=phungi] I was thinking of [Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mfk9gKomZE&feature=related) [/QUOTE] I know I already listed a most depressing song, but aren’t we forgetting the most obvious of the obvious? “How Soon is Now”? _I am human and I need to be loved, just like everybody else does_…that song was emo before we had emo! ---
**Author:** ![Just1Lurk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c0e974/32.png) [@Just1Lurk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just1Lurk)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2008, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-song/435014/78 "2008-01-26T17:07:04Z")
Randy Newman’s ‘When Somebody Loved Me’ sung by Sarah McLachlan for _Toy Story 2_. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2008, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-song/435014/79 "2008-01-26T17:38:22Z")
Some great entries here (_The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald_ and _Cat’s in the Cradle_ make me cry every time!). Here are a few more for consideration. . . [Wildfire](http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/bandits/wildfire.htm) by Michael Martin Murphey. I mean, come on, who can hear that song and not feel like their heart’s been ripped out? [Diary](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/b/bread/diary_20023948.html) by Bread Another Harry Chapin one; [Taxi](http://www.stlyrics.com/songs/h/harrychapin1785/taxi85323.html) [Fire and Rain](http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/rememberthetitans/fireandrain.htm) by James Taylor ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2008, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-song/435014/80 "2008-01-26T17:46:04Z")
[QUOTE=Tamryne] [Mad World](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4N3N1MlvVc4), by Gary Jules. [/QUOTE] Just for the record, Gary Jules’ version is cover of the original tune, written by Roland Orzabal of Tears for Fears; the song was a hit for that band in 1982. (I know, I know – prehistoric). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-song/435014.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-song/435014.md?page=5)