# Songs that sound happy but are actually dark **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 10, 2009, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775 "2009-12-10T21:21:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/41 "2009-12-11T00:51:44Z")
“Free Four” by Pink Floyd “The memories of a man in his old age are the deeds of the man in his prime. You shuffle in the gloom of your sick room And talk to yourself as you die…” [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0gEa20Wsqg) ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/42 "2009-12-11T01:00:49Z")
**Neil Young** ’s _Keep on Rockin’ in the Free World_ **REM** ’s _This One Goes Out to the One I Love_ ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/43 "2009-12-11T01:42:45Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > **Neil Young** ’s _Keep on Rockin’ in the Free World_ God, yes, this! They are currently using a version of this in my Jazzercise class, for Pete’s sake! I don’t know about you, but nothing makes me want to jump up and dance like > [@](#): > > I see a woman in the night > With a baby in her hand > Under an old street light > Near a garbage can > Now she puts the kid away, > and she’s gone to get a hit > She hates her life, > and what she’s done to it > There’s one more kid > that will never go to school > Never get to fall in love, > never get to be cool. This isn’t really apt, because the song is hopeful, but I’m always astonished by the love people have for John Lennon’s _Imagine_. If you told most Americans you’d like them to listen to an anthem to atheistic anarcho-socialism, they’d punch you in the face, but somehow everyone likes this song. ---
**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:** [December 11, 2009, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/44 "2009-12-11T01:45:28Z")
> [@slitterst](#): > > Tomorrow Belongs to Me from \*Cabaret \*is a good example: > > The sun on the meadow is summery warm. > The stag in the forest runs free. > But gather together to greet the storm. > Tomorrow belongs to me. > > It’s a beautiful ballad about taking the hope and promise of the future… > > Sung by Nazis. Hahaha - to start with, actually, it’s Nazi children. Which makes it much, much creepier. ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/45 "2009-12-11T02:12:50Z")
“Transmission,” by Joy Division, bounciest little ditty ever “Safety Dance,” by Men Without Hats (“we can dance if we want to if we don’t nobody will and you can act real cool and totally removed and I can act like an imbecile and we can dance”) “All Apologies,” by Nirvana “If Only,” by Queens Of The Stone Age ---
**Author:** ![Tanbarkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@Tanbarkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tanbarkie)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/46 "2009-12-11T02:18:31Z")
They Might Be Giants has two parallel careers. In one, they write ludicrously catchy tunes with oddball lyrics about science, the alphabet, whimsical battles between late-'70s rock bands, and life’s general joys. In the other, they write ludicrously catchy tunes with oddball lyrics about death, the end of the world, death, loneliness, and more death. \*Someday Mother will die and I’ll get the money. Mom leans down and says, “My sentiments exactly.” You son of a bitch I Palindrome I (I Palindrome I) I Palindrome I (I Palindrome I) And I am a snake’s head eating the head on the opposite side I Palindrome I \* ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/47 "2009-12-11T02:20:34Z")
> [@brujaja](#): > > and we can dance Dance dance dance dance dance to the radio! 😃 But yeah, I’d like to vote for Free Four to win the thread. If it only hit Number 1 it would be the number one ironically peppy song of all time. ---
**Author:** ![pythonzzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9e8a1a/32.png) [@pythonzzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pythonzzz)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/48 "2009-12-11T02:47:32Z")
“Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” from Green Day is often used as an optimistic song at graduations, looking fondly at the past and looking forward to a happy future. In reality it’s a cynical and sarcastic “Up yours, you bitch/bastard - what a waste of time” kind of song. ---
**Author:** ![Lazlo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lazlo/32/9678_2.png) [@Lazlo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lazlo)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/49 "2009-12-11T02:51:30Z")
I’ve posted this song before. It’s about a homeless, alcoholic woman. The song is so upbeat but the lyrics have almost moved me to tears. [Cecilia by Franky Perez](http://www.google.com/url?q=http://s0.ilike.com/play%23Franky%2BPerez:Cecilia:1488529:s28358568.8108916.14086365.0.1.8%252Cstd_2ffed968b9f02c085e3b3d17b7030fa4&ei=w7EhS5vmDoHiMZz-heIJ&sa=X&oi=music_play_track&resnum=1&ct=result&cd=2&ved=0CAgQ0wQoADAA&usg=AFQjCNHxmFn03jfyEb7vF34i60x85YZ0SQ) ([iLike.com](http://iLike.com) link, so it may or may not only play 30 seconds) \*She tells the story of a shotgun wedding and the birth of a stillborn child She was only thirteen, her little body wasn’t ready Babies watching babies die.\* ---
**Author:** ![pmwgreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@pmwgreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pmwgreen)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/50 "2009-12-11T02:58:46Z")
And nobody’s mentioned 99 Luftballons? _It’s all over and I’m standin’ pretty In this dust that was a city If I could find a souvenier Just to prove the world was here… And here is a red balloon I think of you and let it go._ ---
**Author:** ![Magicicada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c67d28/32.png) [@Magicicada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magicicada)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/51 "2009-12-11T03:00:31Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > “Billy, Don’t Be A Hero.” Honest. A light, puffy sounding song which often gets dismissed as one of the worst songs of the 70s, with Billy’s embittered fiancee throwing away the letter describing Billy’s heroism under fire and how he sacrificed his life to go for reinforcements. His sacrifice was meaningless to his fiancee, who wanted Billy to keep a low profile and come home to marry her. Ah, yes. I heard his fiancee got a letter That told how Billy died that day The letter said that he was a hero She should be proud he died that way I heard she threw the letter Away In retrospect, a song about Viet Nam. ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/52 "2009-12-11T03:07:25Z")
The Grass Roots contributed two great songs to this genre: [Let’s Live For Today](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnFZsrs32Co) a folk-rocker with lyrics verging on nihilism, and [Midnight Confessions](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCdGqed6Ajg), where an incredibly bouncy arrangement hides some of the most pained unrequited love lyrics ever. The all time champion has to be one hit wonder the Buoys’ [“Timothy”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGNdvKvbxYQ), which sounds like typical midtempo AM gold–until you listen closely and realize it’s about cannibalism! ---
**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:** [December 11, 2009, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/53 "2009-12-11T03:18:02Z")
> [@Tanbarkie](#): > > In the other, they write ludicrously catchy tunes with oddball lyrics about death, the end of the world, death, loneliness, and more death. Turn around Turn around There’s a thing there that can be found Turn around Turn around It’s a human skull on the ground ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/54 "2009-12-11T03:34:39Z")
Solas has a song called “[Bonnie Mae](http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/window/media/page/0,,1054310-2842876,00.html)” (link is a snippet of the song), which has a lovely cheerful tune. It’s bright and happy. And the song is about the [rape of a shepherd girl](http://www.lyricstime.com/solas-bonnie-mae-lyrics.html). ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/55 "2009-12-11T04:18:16Z")
> [@Tanbarkie](#): > > They Might Be Giants has two parallel careers. In one, they write ludicrously catchy tunes with oddball lyrics about science, the alphabet, whimsical battles between late-'70s rock bands, and life’s general joys. In the other, they write ludicrously catchy tunes with oddball lyrics about death, the end of the world, death, loneliness, and more death. Jonathon Coulton (who is a TMBG fan) writes in a similar vein. Many of his songs are disturbing. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/56 "2009-12-11T04:20:55Z")
> [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](#): > > This isn’t really apt, because the song is hopeful, but I’m always astonished by the love people have for John Lennon’s _Imagine_. If you told most Americans you’d like them to listen to an anthem to atheistic anarcho-socialism, they’d punch you in the face, but somehow everyone likes this song. My church choir does this one…granted, its a Unitarian church. They do a lovely job, but there is something about listening to Imagine in church. (I’ve also heard Back in Black during a service, done by a band of tweenagers.) ---
**Author:** ![Rex\_Goliath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bcef8e/32.png) [@Rex\_Goliath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rex_Goliath)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/57 "2009-12-11T06:14:20Z")
They Might Be Giants’ _Lucky Ball and Chain_ is very upbeat and catchy, but it’s a really sad song about being young, stupid, and throwing away the love of your life. To this day, my favorite line from any song comes from this one: _I was young and foolish then, I feel old and foolish now."_ ---
**Author:** ![Salmo\_Trutta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@Salmo\_Trutta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Salmo_Trutta)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/58 "2009-12-11T07:57:37Z")
How has nobody mentioned Blind Melon’s “No Rain”? Here’s a more fitting version. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/YXS31SroWV0/hqdefault.jpg "Blind Melon No Rain Ripped Away Version & Lyrics") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXS31SroWV0) ---
**Author:** ![Lobot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce7236/32.png) [@Lobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobot)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/59 "2009-12-11T07:58:37Z")
“Every Breath You Take” by The Police, as well as “Synchronicity II”. The former is notorious for being mistaken as a romantic love song. “All She Wants To Do Is Dance” by Don Henley is another political diatribe disguised as a dance song. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/60 "2009-12-11T08:26:06Z")
[Last Thing On My Mind](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7J3O2Tcdhc) - this version is by Steps, I think the original is Bananarama? Skip to two minutes into it to see them smiling and dancing by the pool as they sing _But now you’re suddenly like a stranger and you’re leaving our love behind Of all the things I was ever planning for This was the last thing on my mind_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775.md?page=4)