# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/101 "2009-12-11T22:47:37Z")
Lily Allen stuff is like this a lot. Cute, catchy little song about the life in the city. Insert jazzy little trumpets, _Sun is in the sky oh why oh why would I wanna be anywhere else?_ What a lovely little song. Oh, you’re riding on your bike? _cuz the filth took away my license_ Oh, you saw a guy help a little old lady cross the street? _Clubbed her over the head, doesn’t care if she’s dead Cuz he’s got all her jewelry and wallets_ _If you look with your eyes Everything seems nice But if you look twice You can see it’s all lies_ ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/102 "2009-12-11T23:35:46Z")
Komm Susser Tod (German: Come, Sweet Death) [Komm Susser Tod](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komm,_s%C3%BCsser_Tod_(song)) A happy little tune they played at the End of Evangelion movie when things are going to shit. > [@](#): > > I know, I know I’ve let you down > I’ve been a fool to myself > I thought that I could > live for no one else > But now through all the hurt & pain > It’s time for me to respect > the ones you love > mean more than anything > So with sadness in my heart > (I) feel the best thing I could do > is end it all > and leave forever > what’s done is done it feels so bad > what once was happy now is sad > I’ll never love again > my world is ending > > I wish that I could turn back time > cause now the guilt is all mine > can’t live without > the trust from those you love > I know we can’t forget the past > you can’t forget love & pride > because of that, it’s killing me inside > > It all returns to nothing, it all comes tumbling down, tumbling down, tumbling down > It all returns to nothing, I just keep letting me down, letting me down, letting me down > In my heart of hearts > I know that I could never love again > I’ve lost everything > everything > everything that matters to me, matters in this world > > I wish that I could turn back time > cause now the guilt is all mine > can’t live without > the trust from those you love > I know we can’t forget the past > you can’t forget love & pride > because of that, it’s killing me inside > > It all returns to nothing, it all comes tumbling down, tumbling down, tumbling down > It all returns to nothing, I just keep letting me down, letting me down, letting me down > It all returns to nothing, it all comes tumbling down, tumbling down, tumbling down > It all returns to nothing, I just keep letting me down, letting me down, letting me down ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2009, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/103 "2009-12-12T00:26:28Z")
The Statler Brothers, “Flowers on the Wall” - a nice, bouncy, upbeat song about…someone who is housebound and afraid of going outside? For the love of mike, he’s not even playing solitaire with a full deck! My nomination for the winner of this category, however, is Kenny Rogers’ “Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love To Town.” So bouncy and fun that you can hardly sit still while you listen to it - about a woman who is cheating on her deathly sick, paralyzed veteran husband. Kenny, you’re kind of messed up. ---
**Author:** ![Pyper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pyper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyper)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2009, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/104 "2009-12-12T00:42:35Z")
No one except probably some of the Spanish-speaking Dopers will have heard of this song, but [Cuidate](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeAi2fSR1zg) by La Oreja de Van Gogh has very poignant lyrics for such a peppy song. \* Sin ti ya no podre escuchar a la buena vida más volver a reirme de aquel final en el que el bueno acaba mal Sin ti ya no regresaré al lugar donde te conoci lo se prohibido recordar…\* Without you I can’t listen to La Buena Vida (a music group) anymore I laugh again at that end In which the good turned out bad Without you I won’t ever return To the place where I met you I know, I’m not allowed to remember The song strikes me as a very realistic portrayal of breaking up. No dramatic declarations of love or hate, just a girl singing about not being able to listen to a favorite band or go back to a place because they remind her of him. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2009, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/105 "2009-12-12T00:43:21Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > My nomination for the winner of this category, however, is Kenny Rogers’ “Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love To Town.” So bouncy and fun that you can hardly sit still while you listen to it - about a woman who is cheating on her deathly sick, paralyzed veteran husband. Kenny, you’re kind of messed up. Written by Mel Tillis. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2009, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/106 "2009-12-12T01:07:38Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > “Happy Birthday.” > > After a certain age, it’s not so happy. I’ve always thought Concrete Blonde’s “Happy Birthday” met the OP…very catchy and upbeat until you listen to the lyrics. [Youtube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47UplyBQK4Y) ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2009, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/107 "2009-12-12T01:19:39Z")
[Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mc6RS9e3Dhw), the big depression hit of 1931, comes pretty close. _The sweet things in life to you were just loaned So how can you lose what you’ve never owned?_ Warning: vintage dance music at link, not to everyone’s tastes. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2009, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/108 "2009-12-12T01:35:30Z")
The Beatles’ “Help.” John was suffering a bout of depression-- this was a literal cry for help-- but they quickened the tempo to make it more commercial. \*And now my life has changed in oh so many ways, My independence seems to vanish in the haze. But every now and then I feel so insecure, I know that I just need you like I’ve never done before. Help me if you can, I’m feeling down And I do appreciate you being round. Help me, get my feet back on the ground, Won’t you please, please help me.\* ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2009, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/109 "2009-12-12T02:09:30Z")
> [@EvilTOJ](#): > > \*\*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. When the Pearl Jam cover came out I remember some people (I think even here on the SDMB) saying “Oh, I can’t believe they covered that, the original was so much better!” I can understand flat out not liking the song, but at least Eddie Vedder managed to sound like he was sad about that tragic car accident. I don’t understand preferring the Cavaliers version unless one has a really sick sense of humor because, as you say, Frank Wilson sounds downright cheerful about his girlfriend’s death. Sure the _lyrics_ are sad, but whenever I’ve heard that version of the song I think “You crashed that car on purpose, you bastard!” Thinking of Pearl Jam, “Around the Bend” on _No Code_ works pretty well as a kind of alt rock lullaby, but there is a subtle dark undertone to it. [This was deliberate](http://www.fivehorizons.com/archive/articles/spin801.shtml): > [@Eddie Vedder](#): > > I also remember saying I should write a lullaby and by the end of the day I wrote a lullaby, It was “Around the Bend.” It was kind of a writing exercise. Then I thought, "well you can’t just write a lullaby because that’s just too sweet."So, just by changing a few words, I made it so if you listen to it one way it was like a lullaby like a father singing to his child, which is basically a song for Jack Irons to sing to his boy, or it could be like a serial killer who had just eaten half of his … See, there’s a nasty side. ---
**Author:** ![BrassyPhrase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea666f/32.png) [@BrassyPhrase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrassyPhrase)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2009, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/110 "2009-12-12T03:03:45Z")
It being the season, I’d say “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” I’d always thought of it as cheery, until Chrissy Hynde’s version. Then, I realized that it’s kind of a bitter song–"You have _yourself_ a merry little Christmas’ It’s my favorite version of the song. Now I think it’s incredibly melancholy. ---
**Author:** ![runcible\_spoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc29f/32.png) [@runcible\_spoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/runcible_spoon)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2009, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/111 "2009-12-12T21:44:50Z")
I’ll throw in Smashmouth’s ‘Road Man’ - upbeat, reggae-ish, but the lyrics: Road man didn’t see the train man Until it was too late to slow the van Meanwhile the band is waiting for the Road man Who was crushed by his beloved sound system ---
**Author:** ![Chef\_Troy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Chef\_Troy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chef_Troy)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2009, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/112 "2009-12-12T22:06:40Z")
Three pages and nobody’s yet mentioned **Lovefool** by The Cardigans? It’s got the most bubblegummy, bippity-boo cheerfulness to the music, but the lyrics are about a woman pleading with a man who doesn’t love her anymore to just pretend, and that’ll be good enough for her: _…I don’t care if you really care as long as you don’t go. So I cry, I pray and I beg… (Love me! Love me!) **Say** that you love me! (Fool me! Fool me!) Go on and fool me! (Love me! Love me!) **Pretend** that you love me! (Leave me! Leave me!) Just say that you need me. I can’t care 'bout anything but you._ ---
**Author:** ![Docta\_G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Docta\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Docta_G)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2009, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/113 "2009-12-12T23:14:42Z")
Nick Lowe, “Marie Provost” ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2009, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/114 "2009-12-12T23:26:31Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Huh? They speak of wanting to be reunited with a lover across the sea. It’s about as suicidal as “My Bonny Lies Over the Ocean”. I thought that was about a fat chick who _literally_ “lies over the ocean”, and a sea to boot. And she needs to be shipped home. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2009, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/115 "2009-12-12T23:30:44Z")
A bunch of Tom Lehrer songs, including _I hold Your Hand in Mine_ – which IIRC he chopped off and kept as a memento. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2009, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/116 "2009-12-12T23:55:56Z")
If that counts, then so does Spike Jones and the City Slickers’ “You Always Hurt the One You Love”. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/117 "2009-12-13T06:38:28Z")
How about the opposite of the thread title- Brian Wilson was once described as a composer of “sad songs about happiness.” . ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/118 "2009-12-13T07:10:27Z")
As somebody already mentioned, Weird Al does this a lot. One of my favorites is a cheerful little ditty called “Melanie”: \*Chorus: Melanie, what can the problem be? Sweet Melanie, why won’t you go out with me? She lived across the street, on the 15th floor of the Gailmore Building I saw her in the shower, reaching for some soap I knew she had to be the girl for me, and to think I probably never would have met her If I hadn’t bought that telescope…\* Another is “The Good Old Days” \*Do you remember good ol’ Mr. Fender Who ran the corner grocery store? Oh he’d stroll down the aisle with a big friendly smile And he’d say “Howdy!” when you walked in the door Always treated me nice, gave me kindly advice I don’t know why I set fire to his place Oh I’ll never forget the day I bashed in his head Well you should’ve seen the look on his face \* And in the song “I Remember Larry”, Al spends several verses describing a “friend” from school who loved to play [sometimes cruel] practical jokes. In the last verse, Al get his revenge: \*Say, do you remember when I broke in Larry’s house Late at night and tied his mouth with a rag Then I dragged him by his ankles to the middle of the forest And stuffed him in a big plastic bag If the cops ever find him, who knows what they’d say But I’m sure if ol’ Lar’ were still with us today He would have to agree with me it was a pretty good gag Oh boy, what a joker What a funny, funny guy I’ll never forget about Larry No matter how I try \* ---
**Author:** ![Archie\_Spelunker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/67e7ee/32.png) [@Archie\_Spelunker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archie_Spelunker)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/119 "2009-12-13T10:34:56Z")
Another Beatles entry. **Run For Your Life** \*I’d rather see you dead, little girl Than to be with another man You better keep your head, little girl Or you won’t know where I am You better run for your life if you can, little girl Hide your head in the sand little girl Catch you with another man That’s the end, little girl\* ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775/120 "2009-12-13T15:07:29Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > **Fuck You** by Lily Allen - Incredibly bouncy and upbeat, but it’s a wicked excoriation of the Bush II administration. Actually an excoriation of the [British National Party](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_National_Party) a party built on racism (only caucasians can be members) that is growing ever more popular. > [@Zebra](#): > > Jonathan Coultan is pretty good at this. His best song in this vein, as yet unmentioned here, is “Re: Your Brains” a song sung by the leader of a group of zombies who have cornered their former co-workers and are trying to reason with them to give up and die already. [You can hear part of it here](http://www.themadmusicarchive.com/song_details.aspx?SongID=12853). Catchy ditty, with a chorus of: > [@](#): > > All we want to do > Is eat your brains > We’re not unreasonable > I mean, no one wants to eat your eyes [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-sound-happy-but-are-actually-dark/520775.md?page=7)