# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Simmerdown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simmerdown/32/14859_2.png) [@Simmerdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simmerdown)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-depressing-songs/497421/81 "2009-05-28T17:37:23Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > I just listened to most of the songs on the first page and all I can say is that none of them made me as sad as my mom did a few minutes ago. > > I was having a snack to recuperate from all those songs and she was telling me her hands hurt and “… I’m getting old.” > > And it broke my heart. All I can think of is that at one point in time she was my age. Young, energetic, healthy and so many years ahead of her. > > Now it’s all the opposite. She’s not energetic, not as heathy as before and she’s been alive for longer than the amount of time she has left, likely. > > And what’s killing me is that I’ll be there too some day, telling my offspring that my hands hurt and they didn’t used to when I was young and healthy. Shit. ☹ This post somehow reminds me of “The Dutchman” made popular by Steve Goodman. _Long ago, I used to be a young man. And dear Margaret remembers that for me._ ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-depressing-songs/497421/82 "2009-05-28T19:52:52Z")
> [@Baggins111](#): > > Yeah, that whole album. > > Or worse, _The Wall_. Or even worse, The Final Cut. Many of the depressing songs that have been listed so far are just about ordinary sad things; Roger Waters pens songs (entire albums, actually) about being epically dysfunctional. ---
**Author:** ![Junior\_Spaceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Junior\_Spaceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Junior_Spaceman)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-depressing-songs/497421/83 "2009-05-29T00:29:12Z")
The only thing that gives ‘The Final Cut’ a red hot go for competition is Lou Reed’s ‘Berlin’ album. Absolutely wonderful, but beyond depressing, particularly [Kids](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3AEL9bhftw). ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-depressing-songs/497421/84 "2009-05-29T01:13:52Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > I’m a big Floyd fan so don’t go and think this song or The Wall escaped my notice. I would go with ‘Wish You Were Here’. also: ‘Pink Moon’ by Nick Drake ‘Sanitarium’ by Metallica ‘Closing in’ by Imogen Heap ‘Walk on the Ocean’ by Toad the Wet Sprocket ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-depressing-songs/497421/85 "2009-05-29T06:23:33Z")
Dogs from Pink Floyd’s Animals ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-depressing-songs/497421/86 "2009-05-29T06:33:45Z")
[![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QKorf4M0SQ) Live version of Dogs, no video ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-depressing-songs/497421/87 "2009-05-29T06:44:51Z")
> [@bobo t](#): > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QKorf4M0SQ](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QKorf4M0SQ) > Live version of Dogs, no video PLEASE do not click that link! I posted it assuming that it was the entire song, which it isn’t. The ending of that song is important, and it’s missing from that link. oops. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-depressing-songs/497421/88 "2009-05-29T09:03:56Z")
OK, I got kinda busy and couldn’t get back to this thread, but I see that no one else has posted a bunch of depressing music that I own. Clem Snide [Your Favorite Music](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cm30WLO_EmU) [1989](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWbDx9LIl80) [Johnny Dowd](http://www.johnnydowd.com/albums.html) No Woman’s Flesh But Hers (I’d list others but they range more from terrifying to disturbed, rather than depressing) [Katatonia - Soil’s Song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFs2n85_mfc) I love Nancy Griffith’s version of _Once In A Very Blue Moon_. [Mary Black does an excellent rendition](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmVvsr62PWo&feature=PlayList&p=478852987D18D4FD&index=0&playnext=1) too (plus it’s all I could find online :smack:) [Neil Young - Powderfinger](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAhg3Ge7TFM) For those who think that death metal sucks and is unlistenable, check this shit out from the Swedish masters: Opeth [Windowpane](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IzLDT73bkk) [In My Time Of Need](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IzLDT73bkk) [Death Whispered A Lullaby](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNbaGJRt25s) [Hope Leaves](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dboeolIb7hM) Those are all from their album **Damnation** ; I highly recommend it. ok, moving on [Pigeonhed - For Those Gone On](http://www.rhapsody.com/pigeonhed/the-full-sentence) [Porcupine Tree - Way Out Of Here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3ihI_5t9Ws) from the excellent album **Fear Of A Blank Planet** , which is about the medicated emptiness and cultural void that comprises the lives of so many young people in the UK/US. [Ralph Stanley - O Death](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpkdOA1LU5I&feature=related) Talk Talk [I Don’t Believe In You](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqCBnLO_jqk) from the excellent album **The Colour Of Spring** (1986) [I Believe In You](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSg2OIFum3o) from the excellent album **Spirit Of Eden** (1988) [Whiskeytown - 16 Days](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIVVj7Zbawc) That’s a pretty fair sample from my current mp3 rotation. I had a few I wanted to post but I couldn’t find links. Not surprising as the reason I wanted to find links was because they are fairly obscure artists, so you’ll just have to make do with this list for now. btw, I’ve spent a bit of time tracking other people’s stuff down that I didn’t know and was pleased to find that so much of it was excellent music. Oh yeah… one other… check out the soundtrack to the film **Solaris** (the 2002 version, not the 1972 Russian original). Cliff Martinez wrote some hauntingly beautiful melancholy music for the film. It fit the subject matter and visuals perfectly. Unfortunately the album is OOP\*, but you can hear some of it in videos people have made and posted on youtube. [You can start here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StICDw9aCYQ). \*I have a copy and I got it cheap for US$90 on ebay from a guy in the UK. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-depressing-songs/497421/89 "2009-05-29T12:09:38Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Along with _Eleanor Rigby._ I can be a real wet blanket. Sunday Morning Coming Down Alone Again, Naturally Sounds of Silence (Simon and Garfunkle) I am a Rock (Simon and Garfunkle) Casual Conversations (Supertramp) Hurt (cover by Johnny Cash) Home of the Blues (Cash) Only a Dream (Mary Chapin Carpenter) Empty Garden (Elton John) Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word (Elton) Both Sides Now (newer version by Joni Mitchell for the film, “Love Actually”) Call and Answer (Bare Naked Ladies–it’s more an angry song than sad, but if it truly describes the relationship discussed, it’s one depressing relationship) Pink Floyd’s The Wall–the whole album (from what I remember of it) You’re No Good (Linda Ronstadt–she did a lot of depressing songs) Lying Eyes (The Eagles) And many more–can’t think of them right now. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-depressing-songs/497421/90 "2009-05-29T12:13:44Z")
> [@outlierrn](#): > > \*Day after day, my love turns gray, > like the skin of a dying man. > > and night after night, we pretend it’s alright, > but I have grown older, and you have grown colder, > and nothing is very much fun, anymore.\* Christ, kill me now. Who sang this? (and where can I get a copy?) Harry Chapin–Cat’s in the Cradle. It made teenage me cry when I first heard it. Dan Fogelberg’s Auld Lang Syne. This is like pistachios for me. I can’t stop! ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-depressing-songs/497421/91 "2009-05-29T17:48:31Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > Christ, kill me now. Who sang this? (and where can I get a copy?) Dude (or dudette, if you prefer), that’s Pink Floyd. _One Of My Turns_, from **The Wall**. ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-depressing-songs/497421/92 "2009-05-30T03:23:52Z")
“Solitude” by Black Sabbath. ---
**Author:** ![Renz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Renz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renz)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-depressing-songs/497421/93 "2009-05-30T03:32:59Z")
[Mad World - Gary Jules](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4N3N1MlvVc4) Amazing, I can’t seem to get enough of this song. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-depressing-songs/497421/94 "2009-05-30T04:45:13Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Dude (or dudette, if you prefer), that’s Pink Floyd. _One Of My Turns_, from **The Wall**. I don’t remember much of PF The Wall–I mostly listened to it stoned out of my mind. I haven’t gone back and gotten the album as an adult. I prefer Queen of All She Surveys, btw. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Toolie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/41988e/32.png) [@Toolie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toolie)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-depressing-songs/497421/95 "2009-05-30T06:36:32Z")
[Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRMz8fKkG2g) The video’s context - the BBC Orchestra performing in honor of the 9/11 victims four days later - only adds to the mood of complete despair. ---
**Author:** ![horsetech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dec6dc/32.png) [@horsetech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/horsetech)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-depressing-songs/497421/96 "2009-06-18T23:47:49Z")
Well, since I listen to country, and I’m not really into the outlaw/badass bad boy style country, a lot of the songs I listen to are sad/depressing. Not all of them, but many. I don’t think of “The Dance” as being truly depressing – the melody is somewhat melancholy, but the lyrics are bittersweet, not desperate. A few of my favorites (to listen to, no comment on the videos): [“You Were Mine”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFTVGP4lVZ0) – The Dixie Chicks [Rainin’ You](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLYbIqGs4nk) – Brad Paisley You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive – haunting song with good covers by both Patty Loveless and Brad Paisley ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2009, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-depressing-songs/497421/97 "2009-06-19T01:16:41Z")
[Dust in the Wind](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkbdP7sq0w8) – Kansas _All we do crumbles to the ground, though we refuse to see Dust in the wind, all we are is dust in the wind_ Well, fuck, when you put it that way … ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2009, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-depressing-songs/497421/98 "2009-06-19T01:32:43Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > Christ, kill me now. Who sang this? (and where can I get a copy?) _and I can feel, **One of My Turns** coming on, I feel, cold as a razor blade, tight as a tournniquet, dry as a funeral drum._ you’re welcome ---
**Author:** ![MoodIndigo1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@MoodIndigo1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoodIndigo1)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2009, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-depressing-songs/497421/99 "2009-06-19T02:02:05Z")
When I’m in a wallow mode, I listen to this Billie Holiday song: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0677H1EPdB0](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0677H1EPdB0) It’s filled with hope, yet somehow, it gets me crying. As\*\* kenobi 65\*\* points out, some songs just echo our lives. BTW, great musicians on that clip. ---
**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:** [June 19, 2009, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-depressing-songs/497421/100 "2009-06-19T02:18:26Z")
_[New Destination](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tn6ckgFuQY)_ -Kottonmouth Kings. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-depressing-songs/497421.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-depressing-songs/497421.md?page=6)