# Most depressingest album ever? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 21, 2003, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressingest-album-ever/208659 "2003-10-21T07:32:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Capt\_B.Phart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc29f/32.png) [@Capt\_B.Phart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt_B.Phart)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2003, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressingest-album-ever/208659/41 "2003-10-21T23:26:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by moodtobestewed \* > \*\*I’d nominate folksinger Iris Dement’s _My Life_, an album that caused my mild mannered mother to demand, “Can’t this woman write any fucking happy songs?” \*\* Good call! - that’s some good country misery right there. Cowboy Junkys’ first- “Trinity Sessions” (before the curse of Gap rendered them shit). Can’t beat songs about lung-disease ---
**Author:** ![Silvio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@Silvio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silvio)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2003, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressingest-album-ever/208659/42 "2003-10-22T00:04:13Z")
TIME OUT OF MIND by Dylan ---
**Author:** ![Mariemarie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/58f4c7/32.png) [@Mariemarie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mariemarie)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2003, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressingest-album-ever/208659/43 "2003-10-22T01:24:12Z")
I was going to suggest anything by Gustav Mahler, but **Jeff Olsen** beat me to it. ---
**Author:** ![A\_wizard\_song\_for\_thee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/46a35a/32.png) [@A\_wizard\_song\_for\_thee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_wizard_song_for_thee)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2003, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressingest-album-ever/208659/44 "2003-10-22T01:24:42Z")
_The Trinity Session_ isn’t all sad, though. “Sweet Jane” isn’t a melancholy song, though Margot Timmins sings it like it should be, or something. Not sure about _Time Out of Mind_ because any Dylan past _Blood on the Tracks_ doesn’t exist in my world (la la la la laaaa). I like the Nick Cave suggestion, though _Kicking Against the Pricks_ isn’t, IMHO, his best, and his best albums, like _Let Love In_ have some upbeat, if frightening, songs (see “Janglin’ Jack”). I was wondering how long it would take before someone mentioned The Smiths, but I didn’t think it would be for _Meat is Murder_, the sorriest album in their (too short) career. _The Queen is Dead_, though, man, that’s genius. Anyway, while I’ll agree that most of these albums mentioned have some incredibly sad and/or depressing songs on them, I still don’t think any (that I’ve heard. I’ll admit to not being a Springsteen fan, so _Nebraska_ isn’t in my iPod) beat _Berlin_ for sheer, uninterrupted darkness. Does anyone agree with me, or do you all think that _Berlin_ is a gay romp? ---
**Author:** ![A\_wizard\_song\_for\_thee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/46a35a/32.png) [@A\_wizard\_song\_for\_thee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_wizard_song_for_thee)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2003, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressingest-album-ever/208659/45 "2003-10-22T01:28:31Z")
Oh, and sorry for the double post, but I forgot to say that _Lady in Satin_ is my least favorite album by Lady Day because, by the time she gets around to recording it, her voice is practically gone. I suppose it’s sad if you know that she’s soon for death, but the songs themselves just aren’t as powerful as something from earlier, like something from _All or Nothing at All_. ---
**Author:** ![Not\_In\_Anger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3ab097/32.png) [@Not\_In\_Anger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_In_Anger)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2003, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressingest-album-ever/208659/46 "2003-10-22T01:46:28Z")
Neil Young’s “Tonight’s the Night,” deserves a mention here. Though I actually find it kind of uplifting, in the sense that he gathered the strength to publicly obsess on a problem no one else was even mentioning. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2003, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressingest-album-ever/208659/47 "2003-10-22T02:22:39Z")
I’ve got nothing new to add, but my votes go to _Nebraska_ and _The Final Cut_. _The Final Cut_ is just depressing in a Floydian sort of way, but I couldn’t even get through all of side 1 of _Nebraska_ (yes, it was an LP). ---
**Author:** ![born\_too\_late](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba9def/32.png) [@born\_too\_late](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/born_too_late)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2003, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressingest-album-ever/208659/48 "2003-10-22T02:39:50Z")
How about ‘Fumbling Towards Ecstasy’ by Sarah Mclachlan? And nearly any Cure album ---
**Author:** ![Anamorphic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/anamorphic/32/3057_2.png) [@Anamorphic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anamorphic)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2003, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressingest-album-ever/208659/49 "2003-10-22T02:49:35Z")
Morphine’s _Cure For Pain_ never fails to bring me down, but in a good, cathartic way. Musically more so than lyrically, but still. Just an incredibly beautiful, sad album, in a sitting-in-a-smokey-room-all-alone kind of way. ---
**Author:** ![Not\_In\_Anger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3ab097/32.png) [@Not\_In\_Anger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_In_Anger)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2003, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressingest-album-ever/208659/50 "2003-10-22T02:56:16Z")
About half the songs on Neko Case “Furnace Room Lullabye” are more depressing than anything I’ve heard by anyone else. The lowest of them even approach my condition. I find it uplifting as well. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2003, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressingest-album-ever/208659/51 "2003-10-22T03:27:37Z")
Manic Street Preachers _The Holy Bible_ Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds \* Murder Ballads\* Sinead O’Connor _I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got_ ---
**Author:** ![somethingblue2u](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b19c9b/32.png) [@somethingblue2u](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/somethingblue2u)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2003, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressingest-album-ever/208659/52 "2003-10-22T03:43:14Z")
RadioHead’s The Bends ---
**Author:** ![electric\_sheep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/90db22/32.png) [@electric\_sheep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/electric_sheep)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2003, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressingest-album-ever/208659/53 "2003-10-22T05:00:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ultrafilter \* > \*\*I’ve heard that Evoken’s _Quietus_ is quite depressing. \*\* 🤗 Finally, someone mentions good doom metal! In that vein, I suggest any Katatonia album (e.g., “Brave Murder Day”?), and My Dying Bride’s “Turn Loose the Swans” or “Like Gods of the Sun.” ---
**Author:** ![NajaSong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9d8465/32.png) [@NajaSong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaSong)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2003, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressingest-album-ever/208659/54 "2003-10-22T05:36:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BurnMeUp \* > \*\*Tori Amos - Boys for Pele > \*\* “Pele” seems more angry & dark to me. As far as depressing goes “From the Choirgirl Hotel” takes the cake. I believe this one was written after the miscarriage, if I remember my Tori trivia correctly. To me, this album just exudes sorrow & sometimes hopelessness. But that may be just me. ---
**Author:** ![A\_wizard\_song\_for\_thee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/46a35a/32.png) [@A\_wizard\_song\_for\_thee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_wizard_song_for_thee)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2003, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressingest-album-ever/208659/55 "2003-10-22T05:48:59Z")
_Murder Ballads_ isn’t depressing, **don’t ask**! Come on, that’s the album with “The Curse of Milhaven” and “Death is not the End.” Murder was never so much fun! Yeah, _From the Choirgirl Hotel_ is worlds more depressing than _Boys for Pele_, but, I don’t know, I just can’t get that depressed over Tori. Maybe it’s because she reminds me too much of Delerium, from _The Sandman_… ---
**Author:** ![Nightime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Nightime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightime)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2003, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressingest-album-ever/208659/56 "2003-10-22T06:07:11Z")
Richard and Linda Thompson - _I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight_ A man is like his father Wishes he never was born. He longs for the time when the clock will chime And he’s dead forevermore. - We Sing Hallelujah Silver moon sail up and silver moon shine On the waters so wide, waters so wide Steal from the bed of some good friend of mine My dreams are withered and died - Withered and Died Your mother works so hard to make you happy But take a look outside the nursery door There’s nothing at the end of the rainbow. There’s nothing to grow up for anymore - The End of the Rainbow Very beautiful album. I love it. But its the most depressing thing I’ve ever heard. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2003, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressingest-album-ever/208659/57 "2003-10-22T07:54:39Z")
Are we allowed to nominate collections? I have _Various Failures_ by **The Swans** on right now: cheery songs like _Failure_, _Goddamn The Sun_, cheery stuff ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2003, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressingest-album-ever/208659/58 "2003-10-22T09:44:53Z")
_ **Harleen Quinzel** wrote_: > [@](#): > > As far as depressing goes “From the Choirgirl Hotel” takes the cake. I believe this one was written after the miscarriage, if I remember my Tori trivia correctly. To me, this album just exudes sorrow & sometimes hopelessness. But that may be just me. You’re trivia is correct (though it’s not really trivia since she does write about it on the album), but I don’t think the entire thing is so depressing. _Playboy Mommy_ might be the saddest one, and I think that’s the one that deals most directly with the miscarriage. I don’t know if I have any nominations, since I don’t seek out music that depresses me. Tori’s stuff usually brings me down, Radiohead’s often does (but not as much lately), but I guess Pink Floyd takes the cake. Pick an album. ---
**Author:** ![Coil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Coil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coil)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2003, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressingest-album-ever/208659/59 "2003-10-22T10:24:59Z")
Well, my first choices have all been mentioned. So I’ll just add another vote for any album by Joy Division and The Cure’s _Pornography_ and _Disintegration_ are both very sad. Another Cure album with only depressing songs is _Faith_. Even the cover pic is all in grey. **A wizard song for thee** is right about Murder Ballads. That is not a sad album it is quite humorous. I find _No more shall we part_ far sadder. ---
**Author:** ![jtull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e47774/32.png) [@jtull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtull)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2003, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressingest-album-ever/208659/60 "2003-10-22T11:47:40Z")
What about \*\*Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changing” \*\* ? I mean, he isn’t saying much about love and such, but all the songs are slow, and all the themes are really dark. And **Cure’s “Bloodflowers”**? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressingest-album-ever/208659.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressingest-album-ever/208659.md?page=4)