I agree with the assessment of everybody hurts. On the opposite end, I think while the tone of the music and, to a lesser extent, the lyrics of this ruined puzzle are sad, the tone of voice of the singing makes it much less sad than it potentially could be.
Second.
Coincidentally, I just this minute checked that video out to a patron with two kids in tow. It was all I could do not to ask her, “You’re not really going to let your children listen to the saddest song ever written, are you?”
How Would I Know (Melissa Etheridge)
Less Than Strangers (Tracy Chapman)
Take a Bow (Madonna)
Kissing a Fool (George Michael)
You’re Gone - Diamond Rio
And So It Goes - Billy Joel
At Seventeen - Janis Ian
Losing It - Rush
I second;
Exit Music - Radiohead
Teardrop - Massive Attack
I would also recommend songs by CatPower (don’t know any titles by heart) and Bright Eyes (the artist not the song)
Great songs about losing a loved one …
VNV Nation - Forsaken
“The day you died I lost my way, the day you died I lost my mind. What am I supposed to do? Is there something more? And whose life do I lead? Whose air do I breathe? With whose skin and whose blood do I feel…?”
VNV Nation - Beloved
“My Beloved, do you know how many times I’ve stared at clouds thinking that I saw you there? These are feelings that do not pass so easily, I can’t forget what we claimed as ours.”
Anything Box - 65 Million Miles
"Turn away, walk away, just please don’t face me now, can’t you see all the tears just covering my frown. This emptiness is clear, you’re going home…
…and so on.
The Woman Downstairs - Handsome Family
Runnin’ Out of Fools - Aretha Franklin or Neko Case
Long Black Veil - Johnny Cash or Nick Cave
Bu… but, You Are My Sunshine is depressing! I mean, the singer’s sunshine has gone away, and we get the impression she isn’t coming back
Or Dave Matthews with Emmylou Harris
One Time, One Night by Los Lobos always gets to me:
Four small boys playing ball in a parking lot
A preacher, a teacher, and the other became a cop
A car skidded into the rain
Making the last little one a saint
One more light goes out in America
As mentioned earlier people were saying that r.e.m’s everybody hurts isn’t actually a ‘depressing’ song but the tone and rythem etc. make it sad, but the opposite is true to. Everclear’s ‘wonderful’ sounds like quite a happy tune, but the lyrics are very sad and depressing.
Alone Again, Naturally Gilbert O’sullivan from the late 60’s. That one was autobiographical, I believe.
Someone help me with this, but didn’t he commit suicide at some point in his budding career?
Q