# What are some of the most depressing songs you've ever heard? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 21, 2007, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-most-depressing-songs-youve-ever-heard/401032 "2007-04-21T03:09:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2007, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-most-depressing-songs-youve-ever-heard/401032/21 "2007-04-21T04:37:37Z")
[QUOTE=DfrntBreign] “music to slit your wrist to”. [/QUOTE] That’s the exact phrase I use to refer to pretty much the entire catalog of the [Eels](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eels_%28band%29) (best known for their hit single _Novocaine for the Soul_). Mark Oliver Everett (a.k.a. “E”), the singer/songwriter/only permanent member of the group, suffered from not only the death of his famous physicist father at a very young age, but also his sister’s suicide in 1996, his mother’s death from cancer in 1998, and his cousin’s death as a flight attendant on the 9/11 plane that hit the Pentagon. He has drawn quite frankly and freely on that pain in his band’s recordings. _Electro-Shock Blues_ is probably their most depressing (and absolutely brilliant) album. Some of the more notably miserable songs from that and other discs include: _Dead of Winter_ _The Medication is Wearing Off_ _Elizabeth on the Bathroom Floor_ _Checkout Blues_ _Suicide Life_ _The Stars Shine in the Sky Tonight_ _Things the Grandchildren Should Know_ _If You See Natalie_ _Blinking Lights (For Me)_ What separates the Eels from many other bands, IMHO, is that while their songs are some of the saddest things I’ve heard in my life, they almost always manage to work in some minuscule glimmer of hope. ---
**Author:** ![Clockwork\_And\_Candy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b782af/32.png) [@Clockwork\_And\_Candy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clockwork_And_Candy)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2007, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-most-depressing-songs-youve-ever-heard/401032/22 "2007-04-21T04:48:52Z")
[QUOTE=Nzinga, Seated] Why does this song make you feel empty? This precise song has brought me much comfort when I needed it badly. [/QUOTE] I don’t know! It probably has something to do with Björk’s haunting voice or Chris Cunningham beautiful and frightening music video for it. I understand that the lyrics and message of the song are meant to be uplifting and that they are for most people but there’s just something about it that makes me extremely depressed. (In a good sort of way, if that sheds any light on it.) I just remembered two more sad songs: _Where The Birch Trees Lean_ and _Weightless Again_ by The Handsome Family. Ugh. I have a real love/hate thing going on with those two. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2007, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-most-depressing-songs-youve-ever-heard/401032/23 "2007-04-21T04:56:58Z")
The Maccarana makes me sad. Funny how I feel much better as soon as its over. 😃 I also like (for sadness) The Pogues “Waltzing Mathilda”. There are others, but damned if I can think of them now… ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2007, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-most-depressing-songs-youve-ever-heard/401032/24 "2007-04-21T05:00:40Z")
[QUOTE=Gatopescado] I also like (for sadness) The Pogues “Waltzing Mathilda”. [/QUOTE] [nitpick] The title is actually “And the Band Played ‘Waltzing Mathilda’.” [/nitpick] Not the same thing as the more well-known song that’s simply titled “Waltzing Mathilda.” ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2007, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-most-depressing-songs-youve-ever-heard/401032/25 "2007-04-21T05:07:08Z")
Another nitpick, that song is originally by Eric Bogle. Most of Xiu Xiu’s material is quite depressing, although sometimes you can’t exactly tell why it seems that way. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2007, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-most-depressing-songs-youve-ever-heard/401032/26 "2007-04-21T05:24:39Z")
30KFT by Assemblage 23. Oh Life (There Must Be More) by the Alan Parsons Project Disappoint by Assemblage 23 ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2007, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-most-depressing-songs-youve-ever-heard/401032/27 "2007-04-21T05:28:14Z")
[QUOTE=DfrntBreign] A friend used to say of Cowboy Junkies’ music “music to slit your wrist to”. [/QUOTE] I saw Cowboy Junkies this past summer and Margo Timmins joked about how every time she was asked to dedicate a song to someone having a happy event, she had to sing “Anniversary Song” no matter if it was a marriage, birth, graduation, birthday, new puppies or whatever. Because, as she said, it was the only ‘happy’ song they really had in the catalogue to sing. I find most of it melancholy but not really _depressing_. Just to add to the thread, Merrilee Rush’s “Angel of the Morning” is always good for blunting my mood. ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2007, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-most-depressing-songs-youve-ever-heard/401032/28 "2007-04-21T05:38:48Z")
_The World I know_ by Collective Soul is kind of depressing and they video doesn’t help matters either. I like the song though. I also find _With or Without You_ by U2 pretty sad as well. ---
**Author:** ![zoog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7ea924/32.png) [@zoog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoog)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2007, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-most-depressing-songs-youve-ever-heard/401032/29 "2007-04-21T05:45:26Z")
No depressing song thread is complete until someone chimes in with John Prine’s **Sam Stone** or **Hello In There**. And I was just listening to Patty Griffin right before I opened this thread singing **Long Ride Home**. Patty can inject a sense of emptiness and regret into a lyric like nobody’s business. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2007, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-most-depressing-songs-youve-ever-heard/401032/30 "2007-04-21T05:50:01Z")
“Gollum’s song” _You are lost You can never go home_ ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2007, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-most-depressing-songs-youve-ever-heard/401032/31 "2007-04-21T05:55:16Z")
**Queen’s** _These Are the Days of Our Lives_ .I can’t watch the video without tearing up.When Freddie looks into the camera for the final time and sings “I still love you” and then walks off is very sad. ☹_Don’t try So Hard_ and _The Show Must Go On_ from the same album are hard to deal with also.\*No-one But You \*,the bands goodbye song to Freddie, makes me cry also. The opening lyrics A hand above the water An angel reaching for the sky Is it raining in heaven - Do you want us to cry? and later… And now the party must be over I guess we’ll never understand The sense of your leaving Was it the way it was planned? The whole damn song is a tear jerker for any Queen fan I think. Miss Ya,Freddie. ---
**Author:** ![buns3000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c89c15/32.png) [@buns3000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buns3000)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2007, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-most-depressing-songs-youve-ever-heard/401032/32 "2007-04-21T06:28:59Z")
Most of the first three or four Red House Painters albums. ---
**Author:** ![mamboman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecb155/32.png) [@mamboman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mamboman)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2007, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-most-depressing-songs-youve-ever-heard/401032/33 "2007-04-21T06:30:20Z")
30 posts and no Leonard Cohen? 30 years ago ole’ Laughing Lenny was the gold standard for “depressing”. He walked the walk, he talked the talk. “Dress Rehersal Rag”, for example, is miserable. mm ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2007, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-most-depressing-songs-youve-ever-heard/401032/34 "2007-04-21T06:40:47Z")
Of NIN’s catalog, I’m most depressed by “Eraser” (especially the “(polite)” mix), and it is indeed the most depressing song I know. Maybe it’s just me, and the memories it sets off. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2007, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-most-depressing-songs-youve-ever-heard/401032/35 "2007-04-21T07:11:11Z")
Gordon Lightfoot’s, _[The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald](http://www.corfid.com/gl/Albums/Summertime_Dream/The_Wreck_Of_the_Edmund_Fitzgerald.htm)_ ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2007, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-most-depressing-songs-youve-ever-heard/401032/36 "2007-04-21T07:22:39Z")
“I’m the Happiest Girl in the Whole USA” by Donna Fargo. The lyrics are upbeat, but the tune and singing style make it sound like she’s holding a gun to her head in the sound booth. “Hate Me” by Blue October, but it might mostly be the video. “Willing to Wait” by Sebadoh. Just have a mental image of the girl he’s obsessed with hooking up with basically anyone who isn’t him, and frequently. “Don’t Close Your Eyes” by Keith Whitley. ---
**Author:** ![This\_ll\_Do](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/this_ll_do/32/3023_2.png) [@This\_ll\_Do](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/This_ll_Do)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2007, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-most-depressing-songs-youve-ever-heard/401032/37 "2007-04-21T11:06:08Z")
“Seasons in the Sun” Terry Jacks recorded the version I’m thinking of. I can’t even bear to listen to it. “Send in the Clowns” from _A Little Night Music._ Sondheim ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2007, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-most-depressing-songs-youve-ever-heard/401032/38 "2007-04-21T11:52:25Z")
[QUOTE=Chronos] Ah, I see I’m the first this time around to mention “Willie McBride (No Man’s Land)”, most famously done by the Pogues. Also, a number called “Kilkelly, Ireland”, a collection of letters from the family back in Ireland to an emmigrant to the New World, repeatedly asking him when he’s going to come home. [/QUOTE] There are a number of Irish songs that don’t have particularly sad tunes, but terribly upsetting words (here acknowledging Willie McBride is Scottish). [The time has come](http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=16569) is about a hunger striker asking permission from his wife to allow him to die. [Spancil Hill](http://www.thebards.net/music/lyrics/Spancil_Hill.shtml) is a deeply moving song representing the awful tragedy of the Irish diaspora’s irreversible emigration, told through the author imagining returning to his home town in Ireland. [And it’s true](http://www.geocities.com/lorettapage/irish/span2.html) if that cite is correct. I agree about “And the band played Waltzing Matilda”, though should point out that it was written by Australian Eric Bogle. The last verse is often missed out, but is devastating when included: > [@](#): > > And now every April I sit on my porch > And I watch the parade pass before me > And I watch my old comrades, how proudly they march > Reliving old dreams of past glory > And the old men march slowly, all bent, stiff and sore > The forgotten heroes from a forgotten war > And the young people ask, “What are they marching for?” > And I ask myself the same question > > And the band plays Waltzing Matilda > And the old men answer to the call > But year after year their numbers get fewer > Some day no one will march there at all Finally, for the umpteenth time, I reval that the saddest song I’ve ever heard is [John Doe No. 24](http://www.cowboylyrics.com/lyrics/carpenter-mary-chapin/john-doe-no-24-5242.html) by Mary Chapin Carpenter, the [true story](http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3945/is_200107/ai_n9004336) of a deaf, dumb and blind man found wandering the streets of Jackson, Illinois in the 1940s, who spent 50 years in institutions before dying, still nameless. Her lyrics are beautifully efficient in conveying the terrible tragedy of his life, and her speculation on what his early life may have been life are gorgeous. It never fails to reduce me to a sobbing pile of mush. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2007, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-most-depressing-songs-youve-ever-heard/401032/39 "2007-04-21T12:09:06Z")
Sorry for the double post. My grandfather died this morning, so I’m in a melancholic mood. [QUOTE=WhatHappenedNext?] “Seasons in the Sun” Terry Jacks recorded the version I’m thinking of. I can’t even bear to listen to it. [/QUOTE] I forgot Jacques Brel. I think Terry Jacks’s version of “Seasons in the sun” is an abomination - both the performance and the crap translation - when compared to Brel’s original _Le Moribund_. Oh, and [Ne me quitte pas](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEAGoLHMMoA). In English this has been badly translated as “If you go away” and performed by people like The Seekers. The original is not a proposition, though: he’s begging her to stay. "Do not leave me! Do not leave me! Do not leave me. Do not leave me. Do not leave me." It’s so hard to watch. It was written from his own life, and he wept with genuine emotion every time he performed it. The desperation and glimmer of false hope in the song is almost unbearable. And another one that is beautifully observed, [Madeleine](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRCBpMmhrgg) - his performance always gives me a lump in my throat. The strength of these songs is that they don’t even need you to understand French to get what they’re about, and to be profoundly moved by them. Now excuse me while I go and have a little cry. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2007, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-most-depressing-songs-youve-ever-heard/401032/40 "2007-04-21T12:16:34Z")
[QUOTE=winterhawk11] 30KFT by Assemblage 23. [/QUOTE] This is the very one I was going to mention. I haven’t been able to bring myself to listen to it a second time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-most-depressing-songs-youve-ever-heard/401032.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-of-the-most-depressing-songs-youve-ever-heard/401032.md?page=3)