# Most depressing songs that aren't about love? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 26, 2003, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-songs-that-arent-about-love/171301 "2003-04-26T11:53:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![brianmelendez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/65b543/32.png) [@brianmelendez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianmelendez)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2003, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-songs-that-arent-about-love/171301/41 "2003-04-27T01:33:54Z")
“Abraham, Martin, and John” by Dion. ---
**Author:** ![look\_ninjas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@look\_ninjas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/look_ninjas)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2003, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-songs-that-arent-about-love/171301/42 "2003-04-27T01:40:28Z")
Oh, I forgot “Strange Fruit,” by Billie Holiday. Also “Comfortably Numb,” by Pink Floyd. ---
**Author:** ![fizgig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f04885/32.png) [@fizgig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fizgig)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2003, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-songs-that-arent-about-love/171301/43 "2003-04-27T01:58:45Z")
_The Needle and the Damage Done_ by Neil Young ---
**Author:** ![greenvegan80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@greenvegan80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/greenvegan80)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2003, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-songs-that-arent-about-love/171301/44 "2003-04-27T08:27:53Z")
Hollow by Pantera ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2003, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-songs-that-arent-about-love/171301/45 "2003-04-27T09:59:01Z")
Ooh, ooh, another one. _Motherless Child_ makes me cry. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![torben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5daacb/32.png) [@torben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/torben)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2003, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-songs-that-arent-about-love/171301/46 "2003-04-27T10:18:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Menocchio \* > \*\*Cash’s cover of “Hurt”. \*\* You stole mine! Oh well, I’ll second this one. ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_Holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a5b964/32.png) [@Mycroft\_Holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_Holmes)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2003, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-songs-that-arent-about-love/171301/47 "2003-04-27T11:34:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by look!ninjas \* > \*\*Oh, I forgot “Strange Fruit,” by Billie Holiday. \*\* That song is more than just depressing, it’s downright scary. My suggestions are “Bleeker Street”, “Sparrow” “The Sounds of Silence” and “I Am A Rock” from Simon and Garfunkel ---
**Author:** ![Rigel\_Haloran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rigel\_Haloran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigel_Haloran)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2003, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-songs-that-arent-about-love/171301/48 "2003-04-27T12:26:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Menocchio \* > \*\*Cash’s cover of “Hurt”. \*\* And the original by Nine Inch Nails Tomorrow Wendy by Concrete Blonde If you’re into this kind of thing Nightmare Launch by Leslie Fish ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2003, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-songs-that-arent-about-love/171301/49 "2003-04-27T12:32:04Z")
“Pool Shark” by Sublime _Now I’ve got the needle and I can’t shake but I can’t breathe I take it away but I want more and more One day I’m gonna lose the war_ He died a year or two later of a heroin overdose. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2003, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-songs-that-arent-about-love/171301/50 "2003-04-27T12:54:52Z")
“The Drunk Driver” by Red Sovine “The Blind Man in the Bleachers” by Dave Geddes ---
**Author:** ![Reuben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/54ee81/32.png) [@Reuben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reuben)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2003, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-songs-that-arent-about-love/171301/51 "2003-04-27T13:29:21Z")
**"The Green Fields of France"** as written and sung by Eric Bogle, although the Fureys’ recording is more common. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2003, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-songs-that-arent-about-love/171301/52 "2003-04-27T14:51:40Z")
On the subject of Simon and Garfunkel, “The Dangling Conversation” is another one. ---
**Author:** ![brianmelendez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/65b543/32.png) [@brianmelendez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianmelendez)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2003, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-songs-that-arent-about-love/171301/53 "2003-04-27T15:04:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by winterhawk11 \* > \*\*On the subject of Simon and Garfunkel, “The Dangling Conversation” is another one. \*\* I always thought that “The Dangling Conversation” was about a failed marriage: > [@](#): > > Like a poem poorly written > We are verses out of rhythm, > Couplets out of rhyme, > In syncopated time > Lost in the dangling conversation > And the superficial sighs, > Are the borders of our lives. > > . . . . > And I only kiss your shadow, > I cannot feel your hand, > You’re a stranger now unto me > Lost in the dangling conversation. > And the superficial sighs, > In the borders of our lives. Is it not? ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2003, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-songs-that-arent-about-love/171301/54 "2003-04-27T17:33:17Z")
Aside from \*_Sam Stone_, John Prine’s other saddest song would be \*_Hello in There_, about aging: _You know that old trees just grow stronger, And old rivers grow wilder every day, Old people just grow lonesome, Waiting for someone to say, Hello in there._ Then there’s **Angel from Montgomery:** \*I am an old woman, Named after my mother, My old man was another, Child who’s grown old. If dreams were lightning, Thunder was desire, This old house would have burned down, A long time ago.\* Lots of sad songs by John Prine, and at least half of them have nothing to do with romance. ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2003, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-songs-that-arent-about-love/171301/55 "2003-04-27T18:04:37Z")
“Aqualung” by Jethro Tull is a pretty depressing song, describing a pervert who lives on the streets, has the hots for little girls, and apparently had TB. Sample lyrics: “Do you still remember December’s foggy freeze? When the ice that clings onto your beard is screaming agony. And you snatch a rattling last breath with deep sea diver’s sound And the flowers bloom like madness in the spring.” OK, they aren’t exactly genius lyrics, but the whole concept is depressing. “Gross Chapel-British Grenadiers” by The Fall is another sad/spooky one. ---
**Author:** ![Lockfist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/838e76/32.png) [@Lockfist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lockfist)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-songs-that-arent-about-love/171301/56 "2003-08-26T03:01:28Z")
– And I find it kind of funny I find it kind of sad The dreams in which I’m dying Are the best I’ve ever had ## _Gary Jules_ - **Mad World** (_Tears for Fears_ cover) ---
**Author:** ![DaPearl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5e925/32.png) [@DaPearl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaPearl)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-songs-that-arent-about-love/171301/57 "2003-08-26T05:51:12Z")
Pink Floyd and Velevet Underground would have many depressing, non-love related songs, “Wish You Were Here” as mentioned before particularly stands out. Led Zeppelin actually has a few that might fit, like “That’s the Way” “The Who by Numbers” is quite dark and very good. I’ve had no luck finding any other music from this obscure band (if anyone has info on them, please let me know), but “Harvest Moon” by a group called Bedlam on the Reservoir Dogs soundtrack is good. ---
**Author:** ![Dragon\_Phoenix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@Dragon\_Phoenix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragon_Phoenix)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-songs-that-arent-about-love/171301/58 "2003-08-26T07:59:50Z")
Routine day by Klaatu (“the life I live would even make a dead man yawn”). Fischer Z had a couple, including The worker and Red skies over paradise. Winter by Tori Amos. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-songs-that-arent-about-love/171301/59 "2003-08-26T09:42:24Z")
_Streets of London_ by Ralph McTell _Working Class Hero_ by John Lennon I mention them in this order because fella bilong missus flodnak played them in that order one dismal rainy autumn evening. I asked him if he was _trying_ to make me want to slit my wrists. ---
**Author:** ![rmbnxs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b9e5f3/32.png) [@rmbnxs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rmbnxs)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-songs-that-arent-about-love/171301/60 "2003-08-26T10:52:52Z")
“End of the Rainbow” Richard and Linda Thompson [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-songs-that-arent-about-love/171301.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-songs-that-arent-about-love/171301.md?page=4)