Is there a word meaning songs where the musical content contradicts the lyrical content? Like dirges set to upbeat funky piano, say, or emo rock with a lead of “I love sunshine and butterflies, woo!”. Like Fairy Tale of New York, perhaps. That’s kinda musically upbeat but lyrically down.
I’m not sure there’s an established technical term for this, but music reviewers often seem to reach for the word “incongruity” to describe it:
Some Smiths songs remind me of what is being mentioned here. The one that leaps to mind is Girlfriend in a Coma but I think there are others. The song is morbid but the music that goes with it is light and upbeat. Very odd…
Whack-a-Mole, you night want to ask a mod to cut down your quote – that’s whe whole song.
I’ve seen this described as “juxtaposition” and “dissonance” from different writers. I’d love to know if there’s an agreed-upon word for it, too.
Can’t find the lyrics, but “Vindictive” by Gangbang UK
“Crippled Inside” by John Lennon
Simon and Garfunkel’s “I Am a Rock” comes to mind.
“You are my Sunshine”
How about “Mad World” by Tears for Fears?
Not to mention
But all set to a nice chirpy beat - it’s definitely a little disconcerting.
Uh, folks, I think the OP was looking for a word to describe this phenomenon, not examples of the phenomenon itself:
So far, the only suggestions offered have been “incongruity”, “juxtaposition” (which I don’t much care for—it doesn’t necessarily imply juxtaposition of opposites), and “dissonance”. None of these, AFAWCT, is an accepted terminus technicus for what they’re trying to describe. Anybody have any better ideas?
An old fashioned term for a titularly happy story that becomes sad is a “Merry-Go-Sorry”.
Where Is the Love by Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway.
1999 by Prince, is about nuclear armageddon – and it’s danceable!
Nina Simone
Little Girl Blue
What a depressing song, but hey it’s Christmasy!
What can you do
Old girl you’re through
No use old girl
You might as well surrender
'Cause your hopes are getting slender and slender
I know of no official term for it, but I tend to refer to it as the “Cardinal Rule of Pop songs” - when you want to be popular while also being critically lauded, take this approach…
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Most of Sting’s Police songs: King of Pain, Message in a Bottle, Every Breath You Take, Man in a Suitcase - this approach is basically Sting’s Police-era raison d’etre
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John Lennon - I’m a Loser, Help, Run for Your Life, etc…
Many more examples, but those are a start…