# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2018, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-slow-depressing-music/812312/61 "2018-04-13T14:31:02Z")
John Prine’s “Angel From Montgomery” that Bonnie Raitt covered about a woman trapped in a loveless marriage. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2018, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-slow-depressing-music/812312/62 "2018-04-13T20:29:15Z")
Gloomy Sunday - a.k.a hungarian suicide song Have a nice day :( ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2018, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-slow-depressing-music/812312/63 "2018-04-14T00:21:51Z")
“The Happiest Girl in the Whole USA” by Donna Fargo. The lyrics tell one story, but the music sounds like she’s about to open an artery. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2018, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-slow-depressing-music/812312/64 "2018-04-14T00:37:08Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > I’m glad to see that Cowboy Junkies made the cut. But no mention of Tom Waits? You people disappoint me. Also, Band of Horses. Also The Smiths, “Never Had No One Ever”. Also, Audioslave, “Like a Stone”. Also… In what universe is Tom Waits considered pop? ---
**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 14, 2018, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-slow-depressing-music/812312/65 "2018-04-14T01:00:38Z")
> [@P-man](#): > > In what universe is Tom Waits considered pop? “Pop” can be a very vague category. Heck, I mentioned Joy Division and Massive Attack, neither of which are your typical formulaic Top 40 types of bands, but can be “pop” under a broad definition (which is why I asked "I don’t know if you mean Top 40 by “pop music”.) I tend to use it broadly, in opposition to something like classical music, but am aware of more narrow definitions (like ones that define the Beatles as “pop,” but the Stones as “rock,” when to me, they’re both both.) ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2018, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-slow-depressing-music/812312/66 "2018-04-14T01:50:33Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > 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.”). [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/mPXsYzdqSMY/maxresdefault.jpg "Death Cab for Cutie - Black Sun (Karaoke)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPXsYzdqSMY) Here is an instrumental of a song of theirs called Black Sun (it does have a Singing In The Rain name to it but don’t let it fool you) 😉 ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2018, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-slow-depressing-music/812312/67 "2018-04-14T01:51:23Z")
Foreigner’s, “I Want To Know What Love Is,” is really close to a dirge, even with the lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![MonkeyCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@MonkeyCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyCat)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2018, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-slow-depressing-music/812312/68 "2018-04-14T01:53:17Z")
Maybe this is stretching the genre, as I wouldn’t consider it ‘pop’ music, but if you will allow me to slightly bend the rules, this instrumental of a song _has_ to take the cake. Hands down. [NIN-Hurt (Instrumental)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuzxupHTAIk) ((If it turns out anyone likes it and hasn’t heard it before, I highly recommend the Johnny Cash version. Absolutely stunning.)) ---
**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 14, 2018, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-slow-depressing-music/812312/69 "2018-04-14T02:01:37Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > A lot of good ones have been mentioned. Very first that came to my mind is _The Freshmen_. Now I’m trying to imagine the music without the lyrics and see if I still find it depressing . . . I \*think \*I do but I’ve been hearing it one way for so long I’m not sure I can separate the two. > > I’ve always thought the music on _Ode to Billy Joe_ is quite melancholy; especially that haunting violin riff (probably not the correct term) right after the last verse that (to me) represents the sound of something or someone falling. If you know the song, hopefully you know to what I’m referring. I know exactly the riff you referred to. I get goosebumps just thinking about it. Yes, Ode to Billy Joe definitely qualifies in my book – both the tune and the lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2018, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-slow-depressing-music/812312/70 "2018-04-14T02:06:52Z")
No link but The Weeknd, “Wicked Games”. Definitely a vibe of pain, isolation and resignation. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2018, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-slow-depressing-music/812312/71 "2018-04-14T02:47:59Z")
I guess it’s just a Friday night and i’m chilling but the song from Jimmy Eat World, “Sweetness”, while not exactly a depressing sound, has a bittersweet vibe. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2018, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-slow-depressing-music/812312/72 "2018-04-14T03:13:14Z")
This thread is incomplete without Fergie’s [Big Girls Don’t Cry](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agrXgrAgQ0U) Does [Tracy Chapman](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwrHwZyFN7M) count as pop? What about [Suzanne Vega](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZt7J0iaUD0)? ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2018, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-slow-depressing-music/812312/73 "2018-04-14T04:17:16Z")
Pink Floyd’s [_In the Flesh_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6juLm7cDXBc) ain’t exactly cheery-sounding. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2018, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-slow-depressing-music/812312/74 "2018-04-14T04:25:50Z")
I’m the furthest possible from an expert, but IMO if Suzanne Vega and Tracy Chapman are not pop then a pretty narrow definition must be in use. To whatever extent this thread could be considered “mine”, I don’t think there’s a good reason to go that narrow. I think it’s about gloomy-sounding music that’s not in the other broad categories - not classical, not old-time country, and so on. (For example, modern country is just pop with a twang and a hat, so go ahead if you want.) I think I did start out with an idea that top-40 never ever has a gloomy tune, and I think I’m pretty much right about that - but the thread’s more interesting than that now. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2018, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-slow-depressing-music/812312/75 "2018-04-14T04:37:46Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > This thread is incomplete without Fergie’s [Big Girls Don’t Cry](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agrXgrAgQ0U) Big Girls Don’t Cry feels like the opposite to me - a bouncy lively tune tinged with just a little bit of thoughtfulness. I sure can’t think of it as a sad gloomy piece of music. I think you’re caught by the lyrics, which can be taken as much more serious than the music. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2018, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-slow-depressing-music/812312/76 "2018-04-14T04:46:08Z")
I’m not sure what to make of [this one](https://youtu.be/zo957Tfaa60) - Holly Cole singing “Don’t Let the Teardrops Rust Your Shining Heart” ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2018, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-slow-depressing-music/812312/77 "2018-04-14T04:46:18Z")
Well it might depend if you think of the song as primarily the verse or the chorus. But to me, the verse is wistful, and the chorus is _determined_, and none of it could be seen as _bouncy_. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2018, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-slow-depressing-music/812312/78 "2018-04-14T05:13:28Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > Well it might depend if you think of the song as primarily the verse or the chorus. But to me, the verse is wistful, and the chorus is _determined_, and none of it could be seen as _bouncy_. Not bouncy personality, but physically bouncy - drums, rhythmic activity. ---
**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 14, 2018, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-slow-depressing-music/812312/79 "2018-04-14T05:22:58Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > What about [Suzanne Vega](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZt7J0iaUD0)? That song is not slow and it isn’t depressing outside of the context of the lyrics. ---
**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 14, 2018, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-slow-depressing-music/812312/80 "2018-04-14T05:25:46Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > [https://youtu.be/mPXsYzdqSMY](https://youtu.be/mPXsYzdqSMY) > Here is an instrumental of a song of theirs called Black Sun (it does have a Singing In The Rain name to it but don’t let it fool you) 😉 Oh, I know “Black Sun” very well. I’ve listened to Death Cab on and off since about 2001. I know what they do. I’m just saying it’s not all Sad Sack slit-your-wrists songs, just more mid-tempo “sensitive” indie pop or something. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-slow-depressing-music/812312.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-songs-with-slow-depressing-music/812312.md?page=5)