# Your Favorite Depressing Songs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 23, 2009, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-depressing-songs/497421 "2009-05-23T21:11:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-depressing-songs/497421/1 "2009-05-23T21:11:34Z")
This is a shameless rip-off of [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=518609). Post the songs that depress the hell out of you, but still listen to on occasion. Probably when you’re feeling down and just want to wallow in your misery. I listen to the following songs on a regular basis, but they get a lot more attention from me if I’m feeling sad, even if some of the songs don’t actually have a sad theme. [_Nothing Else Matters_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prWq00wVi_s) -Metallica [_Cat’s in the Cradle_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH46SmVv8SU) -Harry Chapin [_Saved_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqQOgNu_JBE) -Zug Izland [_Dreams_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AH3BHv1xdg0) -Zug Izland [_Schism_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhjG47gtMCo) -TOOL [_Any Other Name_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfuTBFemn0Q) -Thomas Newman [_Serenity_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1cFVil6Qwo) -Godsmack [_Life is Beautiful_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYlS_kmxES0) -Sixx: AM [_Mr. Brightside (Thin White Duke Remix)_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSheh22KGQg) -The Killers [_Halcyon + On + On_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLpC2Wo3QVc) -Orbital The last two are two of my most favorite songs of all time, FWIW. What are the songs you go to when you’re feeling down? EDIT: And because I somehow forgot two more of my all time favorites: _[The Breakup Song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8QeT-xe2Ys)_ -The Greg Kihn Band _[Read My Mind](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Oec8RuwVVs)_ -The Killers ---
**Author:** ![Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunshine_and_Smiles)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-depressing-songs/497421/2 "2009-05-23T21:34:09Z")
[Imogen Heap - Hide and Seek](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhVfeOAgmAw) [Bright Eyes - Padraic My Prince](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KikndcmV5Fs) [Margot and the Nuclear So & Sos - A Sea Chanty of Sorts](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWCH0gWHq5I) Wilco - How to Fight Loneliness ---
**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-depressing-songs/497421/3 "2009-05-23T21:51:27Z")
“Read My Mind” is a great, great song. The Killers are really hit or miss with me, but, man: that one hits on every level. I tend to gravitate towards sparser stuff when I’m feeling grim. To wit: - The entire Fionna Apple “When the Pawn…” album is probably my favorite album to wallow with. A few tracks on there are serious kicks in the heart. - Springsteen’s “Nebraska” is right there too. - “Red Dirt Girl” (the song, not the album) by Emmylou Harris - “To the Races” (the album AND the song) by Eric Bachmann - Pretty much any Gillian Welch song Then there’s the entire gamut of admittedly saccharine pop that has struck the right chord with me at various times in my life: “Another Sad Love Song” (Toni Braxton), “I Can’t Make You Love Me” (Bonnie Raitt), “I Hope You Dance” (Leann Womack), and so on. They’re gaudy and over the top but I caught them after a break-up and they made me feel both way happier and way more miserable, as only a really good sad song can. A lot of Motown songs, strangely, are really sad. Lyrically at least. I had the mistaken idea that they’d cheer me up, but then you hear “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” and it all goes to shit. And then, any song or album I bought or was obsessive about during periods of turmoil, regardless of the subject matter, brings back those memories. Well. Now I’m depressed. (frantically searching for iPod) ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-depressing-songs/497421/4 "2009-05-23T22:47:54Z")
[**Ballad of the Sad Young Men.**](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQMIHllxgPU) \*Sing a song of sad young men, glasses full of rye, All the news is bad again, kiss your dreams goodbye. All the sad young men, singing in the cold Trying to forget, that they’re growing old. All the sad young men, choking on their youth Trying to be brave, running from the truth. Autumn turns the leaves to gold, slowly dies the heart Sad young men are growing old, that’s the cruelest part. \* ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-depressing-songs/497421/5 "2009-05-23T23:58:40Z")
“Suicide is Painless” from the original M_A_S\*H _motion picture_ directed by Robert Altman. “Nebraska” by Bruce Springsteen “Working Man’s Blues #2” by Bob Dylan ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-depressing-songs/497421/6 "2009-05-24T00:08:40Z")
[Tomorrow Wendy](http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Tomorrow-Wendy-lyrics-Concrete-Blonde/A7A91FDA7769FA3C48256AFE00056373) by **Concrete Blonde** \* is one of my favorites. "Underneath the chilly gray November sky We can make believe that Kennedy is still alive and We’re shooting for the moon and smiling Jackie’s driving by and They say ‘good try’ Tomorrow Wendy’s going to die. Tomorrow Wendy’s going to die." \*ok, it’s a cover. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-depressing-songs/497421/7 "2009-05-24T00:49:14Z")
[Yesterday,When I Was Young](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEY4LxORCeo)-Roy Clark There are so many songs in me that won’t be sung, I feel the bitter taste of tears upon my tongue. The time has come for me to pay for yesterday when I was young. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-depressing-songs/497421/8 "2009-05-24T02:32:10Z")
[And the Band Played Waltzing Mathilda](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_DvJ00jCJM), here performed by the incomparable Ronnie Drew. Cry my fucking eyes out, every time I hear it. Rob Williams of The Fenians also does a spectacular version, especially live. I would also include [Grace](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5WdoVaXzhU), a song about a woman visiting her condemned love in Kilmainham Gaol in Ireland. The link is a partial, sadly- Chris and Rob did a spontaneous a capella version outside the gaol in March of this year, and it took the gal a minute to get her video camera out. [Here is a full version performed by The Dubliners](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Skg36SrAG4&feature=related). ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-depressing-songs/497421/9 "2009-05-24T02:37:45Z")
[ul] [li]"-1" from Mudvayne’s L.D. 50.[/li][li]“Losing It” from Rush’s “Signals”[/li][li]“Saturn- The Bringer of Old Age” from Gustav Holst’s Planets Suite[/li][li]“She’s Gone” from Black Sabbath’s “Technical Ecstasy”[/li][li]“Epitaph” by King Crimson[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-depressing-songs/497421/10 "2009-05-24T02:52:37Z")
[Gary Jules - Mad World](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4N3N1MlvVc4) ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-depressing-songs/497421/11 "2009-05-24T02:53:29Z")
Big Brother and the Holding Company, [Ball and Chain.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CO0f2Yb7DAY) The greatest blues singer, the greatest bar band, and a song of total hopelessness. [And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WG48Ftsr3OI&feature=related), here by the author. One of the most cutting antiwar songs. Here with some of the poor bastards who fought at Gallipoli. ---
**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:** [May 24, 2009, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-depressing-songs/497421/12 "2009-05-24T02:54:43Z")
_[He Stopped Loving Her Today](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27jzHHN97gI)_ by George Jones ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-depressing-songs/497421/13 "2009-05-24T02:58:54Z")
Oh God, **Rik**! Absolutely devastating, if you are in the right frame of mind. ---
**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:** [May 24, 2009, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-depressing-songs/497421/14 "2009-05-24T03:40:16Z")
Funny thing is that George didn’t want to record the song, saying “It’ll never sell. It’s too damned sad!” But he was talked into it, and it completely revitalized his career. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-depressing-songs/497421/15 "2009-05-24T03:44:31Z")
George has wanted to be a rocker since the 50s. I don’t think he’s ever accepted that he’s a balladeer, especially one selling the most depressing ballads imaginable. Being married to Tammy shoulda clued him in, but it didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![partlycloudy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/partlycloudy/32/3114_2.png) [@partlycloudy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/partlycloudy)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-depressing-songs/497421/16 "2009-05-24T04:00:29Z")
Oh good thread! A number of Radiohead songs: Fake Plastic Trees, Street Spirit, How To Disappear Completely, Knives Out, You and Whose Army?, Gagging Order Gilbert O’Sullivan - Alone Again (Naturally) Conor Obert & Gillian Welch - Lua Iron & Wine - pretty much any song, but “The Trapeze Swinger” comes to mind first Des’ree - I’m Kissing You (from Romeo & Juliet - heart-wrenching!) Band of Horses - The Funeral That’s just a sampling. Sad songs are some of my favorites, so the list goes on and on. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-depressing-songs/497421/17 "2009-05-24T04:05:37Z")
Right now I’m listening to “No Myth” (“Romeo in Black Jeans”) by Michael Penn. “Walk Away Renee” is also an excellent example. ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucky_13/32/13209_2.png) [@Lucky\_13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_13)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-depressing-songs/497421/18 "2009-05-24T04:09:47Z")
_[[URL=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gc4GErjhcY4”]Whiskey Lullaby](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gc4GErjhcY4)_ by Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss. \*Hallelujah \*by Leonard Cohen _The Golden Age_ by Beck \*Eli the Barrow Boy \*by The Decemberists ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-depressing-songs/497421/19 "2009-05-24T04:11:11Z")
Radiohead’s _ouvre_ isn’t sunshine and rainbows. Two of my favorite songs of theirs would be Pyramid Song and How to Disappear Completely, which are far from their most depressing. The other day I heard Gregg Allman’s song Oncoming Traffic for the first time, or at least the first time in so long I’d forgotten it completely. It’s some of the saddest and most clear-eyed writing he ever did, and I’m tempted to say it’s his best song. > [@](#): > > Tell me when, when is my ship gonna come in? > I ain’t cold, I ain’t hungry, I got a little money to spend > But a man cannot live on riches alone > He needs love, friendship, and a home > or he stands alone …despite the two ‘alones’ here. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-depressing-songs/497421/20 "2009-05-24T04:16:23Z")
\*Sonora’s Death Row Four Strong Winds\* [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-depressing-songs/497421.md?page=2)