# Music to slash your wrists to... (figurately speaking, of course) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 5, 2008, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-to-slash-your-wrists-to-figurately-speaking-of-course/458873 "2008-08-05T03:02:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2008, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-to-slash-your-wrists-to-figurately-speaking-of-course/458873/1 "2008-08-05T03:02:23Z")
…cause blood would really mess up your Ipod. I occasionally enjoy a good session of depressing music. It’s like a good soap opera for the ear, and it really has nothing to do with my actual mood or situation. So, in my Wrist-slashing Playlist I have what I considered the two must fricking depressing songs, ever: Ne Me Quittes Pas and Ojala (by Silvio Rodriguez). Which songs top your list of tasteful, even beautiful yet very depressing songs? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2008, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-to-slash-your-wrists-to-figurately-speaking-of-course/458873/2 "2008-08-05T03:08:51Z")
Barber’s “Adagio for Strings”. Heartrending stuff. ---
**Author:** ![CaerieD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@CaerieD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaerieD)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2008, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-to-slash-your-wrists-to-figurately-speaking-of-course/458873/3 "2008-08-05T03:16:08Z")
Elliot Smith’s \*[Needle in the Hay](http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Needle-In-The-Hay-lyrics-Elliott-Smith/07A41FCE598646BC482568AB001645E3) \* is one of the most beautifully depressing songs I’ve ever heard. And…Darren Hayes is totally my guilty pleasure, but [_A Conversation with God_](http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/darrenhayes/aconversationwithgod.html) is my favorite depressing song ever. It’s like the sick and twisted version of _Jesus Take the Wheel_. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2008, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-to-slash-your-wrists-to-figurately-speaking-of-course/458873/4 "2008-08-05T03:17:55Z")
I wouldn’t slit my wrists over anything I own right now, but “The Grey Havens” from the _Lord of the Rings_ soundtrack and “You Will Be My Ain True Love” from _Cold Mountain_ are usually good for a nice, long, cathartic bawl. ---
**Author:** ![Enter\_the\_Flagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Enter\_the\_Flagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enter_the_Flagon)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2008, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-to-slash-your-wrists-to-figurately-speaking-of-course/458873/5 "2008-08-05T03:18:12Z")
Practically everything recorded by Joy Division, for starters. This is a band whose lead singer committed suicide on the cusp of a breakthrough tour of the U.S., and when you listen to their music, you might wonder how he managed to survive as long as he did. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2008, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-to-slash-your-wrists-to-figurately-speaking-of-course/458873/6 "2008-08-05T03:19:08Z")
Down in a Hole by Alice in Chains. ---
**Author:** ![BaneSidhe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c5a1d2/32.png) [@BaneSidhe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BaneSidhe)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2008, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-to-slash-your-wrists-to-figurately-speaking-of-course/458873/7 "2008-08-05T03:21:53Z")
“Something I Can Never Have,” “The Great Below,” and “Lights In The Sky” by Nine Inch Nails “Where Does Love Go When It Dies?” by Def Leppard “Bridge Over Troubled Water”-Simon & Garfunkel ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2008, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-to-slash-your-wrists-to-figurately-speaking-of-course/458873/8 "2008-08-05T03:28:28Z")
“Loch Tay Boat Song” by various artists, but I’m most fond of the Silly Wizard version “If I were a Blackbird” also by Silly Wizard “The Queen and the Soldier” by Suzanne Vega ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2008, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-to-slash-your-wrists-to-figurately-speaking-of-course/458873/9 "2008-08-05T03:46:59Z")
Most songs by The Brian Jonestown Massacre, especially _Sue_. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2008, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-to-slash-your-wrists-to-figurately-speaking-of-course/458873/10 "2008-08-05T03:47:00Z")
“Darkness on the Edge of Town” by Bruce Springsteen “Madman Across the Water” by Elton John “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” by same “Sacrifice” by same “Love and Anger” by Kate Bush “Red Rain” by Peter Gabriel ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2008, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-to-slash-your-wrists-to-figurately-speaking-of-course/458873/11 "2008-08-05T03:57:36Z")
Damn, would a kind mod fix that typo on the title? ::grumble, grumble:: ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2008, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-to-slash-your-wrists-to-figurately-speaking-of-course/458873/12 "2008-08-05T03:58:42Z")
Very early Cure, especially _Pornography_. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2008, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-to-slash-your-wrists-to-figurately-speaking-of-course/458873/13 "2008-08-05T03:59:19Z")
[QUOTE=Mr. Excellent] Barber’s “Adagio for Strings”. Heartrending stuff. [/QUOTE] That’s the spirit. I just bought that piece. Will get wine tomorrow to drown some nonexistent sorrows. I only drink a glass at most, so it’s a good thing my sorrows can’t swim. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2008, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-to-slash-your-wrists-to-figurately-speaking-of-course/458873/14 "2008-08-05T04:21:50Z")
[QUOTE=Mighty\_Girl] That’s the spirit. I just bought that piece. Will get wine tomorrow to drown some nonexistent sorrows. I only drink a glass at most, so it’s a good thing my sorrows can’t swim. [/QUOTE] On the Classical side of things, there ain’t nothing more suicidal (some think literally) than Tchaikovsky’s Symphony #6 (“Pathetique”), last movement. [YouTube link](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C19qlaLiYXg) ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2008, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-to-slash-your-wrists-to-figurately-speaking-of-course/458873/15 "2008-08-05T04:28:59Z")
For classical music there’s Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder. (Songs on the death of Children.) You don’t even have to hear the music to be depressed. ---
**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:** [August 5, 2008, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-to-slash-your-wrists-to-figurately-speaking-of-course/458873/16 "2008-08-05T04:33:52Z")
The Doors, “People Are Strange.” Also, there’s this really weird, haunting song played in the end of an episode of “Sopranos,” called “Ninna Ninna.” It’s not really sad lyrically but it sounds disturbing. So I’d include it. The episode it plays in is called “Second Coming.” ---
**Author:** ![Satellite\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Satellite\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satellite_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2008, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-to-slash-your-wrists-to-figurately-speaking-of-course/458873/17 "2008-08-05T04:39:42Z")
Nine Inch Nails - Hurt or, of course, Johnny Cash’s version. S^G ---
**Author:** ![Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunshine_and_Smiles)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2008, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-to-slash-your-wrists-to-figurately-speaking-of-course/458873/18 "2008-08-05T05:33:49Z")
Hide and Seek - Imogen Heap. There’s something about it that just makes you want to, well, slash your wrists. ---
**Author:** ![Pollux\_Oil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/858c86/32.png) [@Pollux\_Oil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pollux_Oil)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2008, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-to-slash-your-wrists-to-figurately-speaking-of-course/458873/19 "2008-08-05T05:43:18Z")
My friend introduced me to what I consider the most depressing song I’ve ever heard: 30KFT by Assemblage 23 Man it’s even hard for me to just read the lyrics. ☹ ---
**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:** [August 5, 2008, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-to-slash-your-wrists-to-figurately-speaking-of-course/458873/20 "2008-08-05T05:49:04Z")
Would you believe I actually have TWO playlists for this kind of song? Some of the highlights—in little order: •_A Prayer_—Madeline Peyroux •_I Am Stretched on Your Grave_—Dead Can Dance •_Death is Not the End_—Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds (YMMV—this one always cheers me up. For all the wrong reasons, granted…) •_Hope Has a Place_—Enya •_Llorando_—Rebekah del Rio •_Farewell_—Apocalyptica •_This White Circle_—Grey de Lisle (_Katy Allen_ also works) •_Song for Ten_—Neil Hannon •_Gortoz a Ran-J’attends_—Danez Prigent & Lisa Gerrard (from the _Black Hawk Down_ soundtrack. Yeah.) •_I Fall to Pieces_—Patsy Cline (How much of Patsy Cline’s music DOESN’T make one want to drink themselves to death?) •_Prospero’s Speech_—Loreena McKennit •_Leaning on Jesus/Rosin the Bow_—(from the _Wild Bill_ soundtrack) •_It’s So Easy Not to Try_—The Return of the King (the OLD one) soundtrack •_It Won’t Rain All the Time_—Jane Silberry •_Love Farewell_—The Music of Sharpe (soundtrack) •_He’s My Friend_—Alan Silvestri (How’s THAT for obscure?) •_Me And My Charms_—Kristin Hersh •_If I Didn’t Care_—The Ink Spots •_Olim Lacus Colueram_—Carmina Burana •_Porcelain_—Moby •_Somewhere_—Within Temptation •_Un Bel Di Vedremo_—from _Madama Butterfly_ (Helps to listen to this one in a dark room. •_Richard Cory_—Simon & Garfunkel •_He Stopped Loving Her Today_—George Jones •_When She Loved Me_—Sarah Mclachlan •_We Have All the Time in the World_—John Barry •_Wise Up_—Aimee Mann •_Who Wants to Live Forever?_—(Various. I’ve ever found a version by Seal) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-to-slash-your-wrists-to-figurately-speaking-of-course/458873.md?page=2)