# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![DKW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dkw/32/3118_2.png) [@DKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DKW)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/61 "2009-12-11T08:33:06Z")
My nominees: Elton John - Sad Songs. Like, the song that pretty much _defines_ the category. Paramore - That’s What You Get. Sound of a John Parr or Bryan Adams power ballad, subject matter straight from Linkin Park. bis - I’m a Slut. I trust that this one doesn’t require much explanation, I just want to remind everyone that it’s about _using_ perceived sluttiness as an excuse to treat her like crap (which makes it a lot darker IMO). EMF - Unbelievable. By far their only song that came within a marathon of catchy, containing a level of hostility that makes Nookie look like a minor hissy fit. Mike Oldfield/Missing Heart - Moonlight Shadow. It’s been years since I played that song to death on Dance Dance Revolution, slightly less time that I actually listened to the entire lyrics, and to this day…brrr. A haunting beautiful, melodic song about A GUY GETTING SHOT TO DEATH. Jodi Mitchell - Big Yellow Taxi. When I first heard this as a kid, all I could discern was that it was incredibly cheery and the singer did a quick laugh near the end. Listened to a cover with an easier-to-understand singer years later. Major eye-opener. Green Day - Minority. Easy their happiest, peppiest song…well, ever, about a white guy who absolutely resents being a white guy. Should we include rock & roll in the discussion? You could pull up dozens of songs in that genre alone, going back all the way to Elvis Presley (Marie). Lucky Ball & Chain sounds like pretty much every other rock & roll lost-love song I’m familiar with. Strainger - You mention Artifical Flowers and forget the far more famous (and egregious) Mack The Knife? 🙂 brujaja - I’ve never found anything remotely dark about Safety Dance. It’s about dancing, being free, being happy, and not caring what anyone thinks of it. Having watched both professional football and Dancing With The Stars, I can assure you that acting like an imbecile is perfectly compatible with such a mindset. mswas - Oh, yes. I freakin’ _hate_ that song. Whoever decided that it was an appropriate choice to be played live at a Super Bowl/New Year’s Eve celebration/Olympiad (don’t remember which it was) should’ve been flogged. Askance - Ummmm…The One I Love sounds _happy_ to you? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/62 "2009-12-11T08:33:52Z")
I always thought that Tears for Fears’ _Mad World_ sounded like a pretty happy song, but never paid too much attention to the lyrics. Then Gary Jules covered the song, and i looked at the lyrics and noticed that they were pretty dark. ---
**Author:** ![wolf-alice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9e8a1a/32.png) [@wolf-alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf-alice)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/63 "2009-12-11T08:59:44Z")
[Ping Pong](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoMAsAF81AU) by Stereolab is a nice pop song about the failures of capitalist society. > [@](#): > > it’s alright 'cos the historical pattern has shown > how the economical cycle tends to revolve > in a round of decades three stages stand out in a loop > a slump and war then peel back to square one and back for more > > there’s only millions that lose their jobs and homes and sometimes accents > there’s only millions that die in their bloody wars, it’s alright ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/64 "2009-12-11T09:19:45Z")
“Down by the Water” - **PJ Harvey** ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/65 "2009-12-11T10:36:55Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > A dragon lives forever, but not so little boys I don’t think they were implying Jackie Paper had died. He just grew up and didn’t believe in dragons anymore. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/66 "2009-12-11T10:50:03Z")
Oh, and here’s my contribution: Luisa’s Bones, by Crooked Fingers. [Lyrics](http://artists.letssingit.com/crooked-fingers-lyrics-luisas-bones-qnlh5fr), [YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWwWlNSfAcw) (it doesn’t have a music video, but it was in an episode of _Chuck_) ---
**Author:** ![wolf-alice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9e8a1a/32.png) [@wolf-alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf-alice)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/67 "2009-12-11T11:05:12Z")
[QUOTE=Nobody] “Down by the Water” - PJ Harvey [/QUOTE] That doesn’t sound happy! ---
**Author:** ![Laalune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/977dab/32.png) [@Laalune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laalune)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/68 "2009-12-11T11:33:36Z")
How about Scissor Sisters - I Don’t Feel Like Dancing? ---
**Author:** ![C.Montgomery\_Burns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecd19e/32.png) [@C.Montgomery\_Burns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C.Montgomery_Burns)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/69 "2009-12-11T12:21:02Z")
Mack The Knife - A great swinging big band jazz number about a mass murdering gangster. You know the part at the end, with all the names being mentioned? Those are all the people MacHeath killed. ---
**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/70 "2009-12-11T12:49:55Z")
Tom Jones’ _Delilah_, an upbeat little ditty about the violent murder of a woman by a man who claims to be her (current? ex?) boyfriend, but may be just an obsessive stalker. Popular at weddings. \*At break of day when that man drove away I was waiting I crossed the street to her house and she opened the door She stood there laughing I felt the knife in my hand and she laughed no more \* ---
**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, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/71 "2009-12-11T13:00:27Z")
> [@pmwgreen](#): > > And nobody’s mentioned 99 Luftballons? The big-hit version of that song, when I was coming up, was sung in German. I never had any idea what it was about; I wondered vaguely if it had something to do with _The Red Balloon_ — you know, that movie we watched in grade school, right between the “Duck and Cover” drill and recess. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Man\_Who\_Wasn\_t\_There](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7ba0ec/32.png) [@The\_Man\_Who\_Wasn\_t\_There](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Man_Who_Wasn_t_There)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/72 "2009-12-11T13:05:57Z")
> [@wolf-alice](#): > > [Ping Pong](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoMAsAF81AU) by Stereolab is a nice pop song about the failures of capitalist society. [allmusic](http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=33:fifqxcwald0e) had them pegged as Marxists. They describe the song containing, > [@](#): > > …the central tenets of Marxian economic analysis: prosperity leads to recession, and recessions are usually ended by the increased government spending that comes with a declared or undeclared war, which buoys the entire economy, starting the cycle all over again. The order was slightly muddled during this economic cycle I suppose. Great song though. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/73 "2009-12-11T13:29:02Z")
_Good Night Irene_, a traditional song popularized by Leadbelly. Irene goodnight, Irene goodnight Goodnight Irene, goodnight Irene I’ll see you in my dreams That part’s pretty nice. Then we get to Sometimes I live in the country Sometimes I live in the town Sometimes I have a great notion To jump in the river and drown ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/74 "2009-12-11T13:29:42Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > LOADS of Springsteen songs come to mind. How about “Glory Days,” which is really about miserable people who are getting old, and who spend all of their time drinking and reminiscing about their lost youth? The “Born In The USA” album is full of these. _Darlington County_ - Bruce and his buddy road-trip to a new town with big hopes and dreams. The buddy goes missing and ends up arrested, and Bruce leaves town without him. _Workin’ on the Highway_ - This is the lovely tale of a man in prison for statutory rape, who spends his days laboring on a highway chain-gang. But these, along with _Glory Days_ and the title track, are upbeat, raucous rockers that are fun to sing along with. Also, Jewel’s _You Were Meant For Me_ sounds like a bouncy little love ditty. “You were meant for me, and I was meant for you.” Awww. That’s nice. But listen more closely, and it’s really about depression, false hope, and desperation. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/75 "2009-12-11T13:38:50Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I don’t think they were implying Jackie Paper had died. He just grew up and didn’t believe in dragons anymore. Yep … that makes it kind of sad, all the same. ---
**Author:** ![Purd\_Werfect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47c2d/32.png) [@Purd\_Werfect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purd_Werfect)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/76 "2009-12-11T13:48:17Z")
> [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > Tom Waits’ _I Don’t Wanna Grow Up_ - its raucous tune makes it easy to take it as playful (and joyful) Peter-Pannism, but it you pay careful attention to the lyrics, it’s clear that it’s about suicidal ideation: I never thought it was about suicide so much as a desire to not have those weights and pressures carried around by those who have grown up. With the medicine chest, I just figured it was along the lines of “I don’t want to take prozac and hypertension medicine just to get through my day in one piece.” Could go either way, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![GoodOmens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@GoodOmens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GoodOmens)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/77 "2009-12-11T14:03:24Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > _Semi-Charmed Life_ by Third Eye Blind Doin’ crystal meth will lift you up until you break. Also, “Pinch Me” by Barenaked Ladies ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/78 "2009-12-11T14:24:34Z")
\*\*Last Kiss \*\*by J Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers. A wonderfully upbeat song about how a guy kills his girlfriend in a car crash and how he misses her terribly. I never knew what a depressing tune it was until I heard Pearl Jam’s version of it. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/79 "2009-12-11T14:40:29Z")
> [@DKW](#): > > Green Day - Minority. Easy their happiest, peppiest song…well, ever, about a white guy who absolutely resents being a white guy. Nah. He’s singing about not being afraid to be in the _political_ minority. Nothing to do with race. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/80 "2009-12-11T14:42:22Z")
**Fuck You** by Lily Allen - Incredibly bouncy and upbeat, but it’s a wicked excoriation of the Bush II administration. **The Way** by Fastball - Minor key but still kind of upbeat to me, about an urban legend of an older couple setting off for an RV vacation and disappearing without a trace. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775.md?page=5)