# Pop Songs with Slow Depressing Music **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 12, 2018, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-slow-depressing-music/812312 "2018-04-12T19:28:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-slow-depressing-music/812312/21 "2018-04-12T20:56:28Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I don’t know if you mean Top 40 by “pop music,” but pretty much the entire Mezzanine album by Massive Attack is a gloomy, dark album that just sucks the light right out of the room. A good bit of Portishead would qualify, as well. Joy Division. Depeche Mode. I listened to some of the song Mezzanine, and I don’t know the right word to call it, but it certainly fits this thread somehow. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-slow-depressing-music/812312/22 "2018-04-12T20:59:49Z")
> [@DavidwithanR](#): > > I listened to some of the song Mezzanine, and I don’t know the right word to call it, but it certainly fits this thread somehow. Thanks. Yeah, not that song specifically, but the entire album works. I would start with “Angel” the first track. “Teardrop” is the most well-known song from that album (being the theme song of “House.”) I don’t think it’s quite as dark as the other songs, but despite that song not having a single minor chord in it, it’s still depressing (and chances are, besides, unless you read the lyrics, you won’t have any idea what Beth Fraser is singing, anyway.) I still remember the first time hearing that song and just stopping dead in my tracks and wanting to cry. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-slow-depressing-music/812312/23 "2018-04-12T21:04:38Z")
> [@TCMF-2L](#): > > **Down In The Park** by **Tubeway Army (Gary Numan.)** Definitely creepy. Probably depressing. Very high energy in parts, but feels slow in others. Yeah. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-slow-depressing-music/812312/24 "2018-04-12T21:45:35Z")
\*Superman \*by the Crash Test Dummies. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-slow-depressing-music/812312/25 "2018-04-12T21:50:55Z")
Just about every single _Death Cab for Cutie_ song. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-slow-depressing-music/812312/26 "2018-04-12T21:52:41Z")
> [@DavidwithanR](#): > > An example (not pop) of what seems like slow depressing music to me, for comparison: > > [Goldberg variations #25](http://youtu.be/ObQCKpwzylE) That really feels like a lesson in how subjective music is without context (which the lyrics often provide). I would call that piece relaxing, or pretty or sweet. “Depressing” wouldn’t be in my top ten adjectives. Likewise, I’m not familiar with _Hello_ but I listened to a karaoke version without reading the lyrics and, while slow, I could just as easily imagine it with uplifting lyrics or as a straight love song rather than a love-lost song (which I assume it is). ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-slow-depressing-music/812312/27 "2018-04-12T21:54:10Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Gets my vote. > > Ditto. > > “Personal Jesus” was one of the first songs that came to mind when I saw this thread. Probably just me but I find **Personal Jesus** really upbeat and positive. Big and bouncy guitar riff and all that. TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-slow-depressing-music/812312/28 "2018-04-12T22:02:15Z")
> [@DavidwithanR](#): > > Definitely creepy. Probably depressing. Very high energy in parts, but feels slow in others. Yeah. Thank you. If **Down In The Park** was unfamiliar to you then perhaps you are also unfamiliar with one of my all time favourite songs **Are ‘Friends’ Electric?** again by **Tubeway Army (Gary Numan)**. Not as musically sonorous as **Down In The Park** although lyrically pretty bleak in a Sci-Fi noir way. I love it. TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-slow-depressing-music/812312/29 "2018-04-12T22:04:09Z")
I think the CowboyJunkies invented this genre. [Blue Moon](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJ6EGsZdxpE) is one that springs to mind. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-slow-depressing-music/812312/30 "2018-04-12T22:07:33Z")
This pretty much describes the entire Nick Cave catalog. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-slow-depressing-music/812312/31 "2018-04-12T22:09:17Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > Just about every single _Death Cab for Cutie_ song. Yeah, they’re good for that, though a lot of their stuff just falls into that kind of folky wimpy indie pop category. (“I Will Follow You Into The Dark” and “When Soul Meets Body”–two of their more well-known songs–don’t sound particularly depressing to me. Just, I dunno, “sensitive.”) Xiu Xiu is another band that comes to mind, especially the album “A Promise,” but I don’t know if I’d describe the sound as depressing so much as an album that inhabits the sound of somebody going through a nervous breakdown. Listening to that album just puts me on edge. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-slow-depressing-music/812312/32 "2018-04-12T23:18:14Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > This pretty much describes the entire Nick Cave catalog. Also The Cure. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-slow-depressing-music/812312/33 "2018-04-12T23:22:39Z")
> [@TCMF-2L](#): > > Probably just me but I find **Personal Jesus** really upbeat and positive. Big and bouncy guitar riff and all that. > > TCMF-2L Funny how two different people can hear such different things in the same song, huh? To me the atmospherics are all gloom-and-doomy. And _contra_ **Ambivalid** , to me the melody of “I’ll Follow You Into the Dark” feels like a lullaby. Nobody’s right or wrong in any absolute sense. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-slow-depressing-music/812312/34 "2018-04-12T23:48:00Z")
“D.O.A.” by Bloodrock. Yes, the lyrics are depressing, but the music alone is searing, fittingly for a song about a man slowly dying after a plane crash. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2018, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-slow-depressing-music/812312/35 "2018-04-13T00:34:51Z")
Couldn’t do a link before, but here is [D.O.A.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTmFrNjqOmo) ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2018, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-slow-depressing-music/812312/36 "2018-04-13T01:00:01Z")
that’s pretty much new orders catalog … and a lot of the pet shop boys too… ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2018, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-slow-depressing-music/812312/37 "2018-04-13T02:01:33Z")
[Look on Down from the Bridge](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwVXkM_YxMg) by Mazzy Star [Tears in Heaven](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxPj3GAYYZ0) by Eric Clapton ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2018, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-slow-depressing-music/812312/38 "2018-04-13T02:54:42Z")
“Yesterday”? ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2018, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-slow-depressing-music/812312/39 "2018-04-13T02:56:48Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > _Wicked Game_ by Chris Isaak and others. I don’t find _Wicked Game_ to be slow and depressing, more like slow and sensual/alluring. There are a number of very popular songs from the early alternative rock era that might qualify for the OP’s description: _Plush_ by the Stone Temple Pilots, especially the acoustic version which I actually used to hear on the radio quite a bit. _Heart Shaped Box_ by Nirvana is a slow crawl through rather grim musical territory, accentuated by the notorious Lydian tritone or “Devil’s Interval” that is a recurring motif in the song. _Creep_ by Radiohead might fit the bill. _Rooster_ by Alice In Chains. I’m sure there are others if I sit and think on it for a moment. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2018, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-slow-depressing-music/812312/40 "2018-04-13T03:03:59Z")
Oh - Weezer’s _Undone (The Sweater Song)_, though it builds up slowly to the thundering power-pop chorus, has numerous long stretches of rather morose guitar noodling (accompanied by spoken small-talk blather that the song’s narrator is bored by.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-slow-depressing-music/812312.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-slow-depressing-music/812312.md?page=3)