Pleasent Valley Sunday by the Monkees; it’s about the dull monotony of living in the suburbs and keeping up with the joneses, but very upbeat.
The Happening by the Supremes. Such a cheery song until you pay attention to the lyrics*…“But I saw my dreams torn apart when love walked away from my heart.”*
Everclear - Wonderful
Seems a lot of their songs are that way. He must not have had a very happy childhood.
Sting does this a lot. With The Police, “De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da” is a jaunty tune about authoritarian oppression. “When The World Is Running Down, You Make The Best Of What’s Still Around” is an upbeat description of life after nuclear war, with nothing but a VCR and tinned food. “Invisible Sun” is about The Troubles in Northern Ireland but sounds very uplifting.
As a soloist, “I’m So Happy I Can’t Stop Crying” is a pleasant country rock tune about a divorced dad coming to terms with his new life sharing custody with a wife who cheated on him.
Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart,” aside from being a snide rejoinder to the saccharine “Love Will Keep Us Together,” is Ian Curtis’ suicide note. Damned if I haven’t seen a million emo kids dance to it, though.
"Run for your life"by the Beatles has really dark lyrics but happy and energetic lyrics.
I remember a monolingual girl from Taiwan telling me she loved this song, I didn’t have the heart to translate what it meant.
Foster the People, “Pumped Up Kicks”. Catchy-as-all-get-out tune, about an outcast kid plotting to massacre the popular kids.
I Killed Mommy by the Dayglo Abortions.
It’s an upbeat, happy-sounding tune. But the lyrics to the song are the most vile and disgusting I’ve ever heard. I love it!
It’s true that it’s darker than it sounds, because I keep hearing what it’s about and then forgetting (this is not the first time I’ve read this.)
But even given this, I don’t think it’s very happy sounding. Such Great Heights, Clark Gable, and Nothing Better sound happier. We Will Become Silhouettes sounds like a modern day dark and brooding hip hop artist attempting to make a happy song and failing (which isn’t to say the song is bad: I don’t fast forward past it when it comes up on my randomizer.)
Next Time You See Her, by Eric Clapton, is a jaunty, happy tune with lyrics like “Boy, you’re gonna be dead!.”
They Might be Giants have been mentioned a few times (five years ago), but they really do have a lot of songs that sounds cheerful until you pay attention to the lyrics. There’s one called “My Man” which is written from the perspective of a brain in a paralysed, atrophied body.
“My Man
Signals command the leg
To follow orders coming down from headquarters
Why then am I in bed?
I guess my man’s fallen out with my head”
“My man
How can he stand?
Your fingers could encircle clear around the ankle
My man won’t walk again
In conflict with express instructions given by the brain
Why can’t the message be sent?
I guess my man’s fallen out with my head”
How about Led Zeppelin’s “Gallows Pole”? Tune seems upbeat as all hell… until you pay attention to the lyrics, and realize the song is about a guy bribing the hangman by calling his brother over with all his money to give to him, and calling his sister over to “warm his blood from cold”… and after the hangman accepts these bribes, he hangs him anyways.
YM definitely V from mine on that one. Have you ever heard the song from the beginning?
That one about “Where oh where could my baby be…” (can’t remember the title or band). I was singing it to myself while walking my dog one time when I realized with horror that it’s about a fatal car accident.
If you mean that the video clearly defines the topic, sure. Sonically, it’s a bright-sounding song. The lyrics state what the narrator doesn’t want to experience (looking down the barrel of an Armalite, keeping out of trouble like a soldier says), and the “invisible sun” “gives us hope when the whole day’s done.”
I don’t think the casual listener would cotton on to the subject of the song. In fact, I didn’t know what it was about until I saw the video in '82 or so.
I simply can’t fathom where you’re hearing brightness. The song starts with a minor-key droning intro and continues at what I would call a funereal pace compared to most of their songs. The refrain perks up a bit, but I wouldn’t ever say it gets bright. The song is dark IMHO.
Fair enough, I am probably in the minority here. Wikipedia agrees with you, the chords are a flat major and a minor.
I’ll resubmit… The Police’s “Can’t Stand Losing You,” “Canary In A Coalmine,” and “Man In A Suitcase.”