# Your happiest sounding song with the saddest lyrics... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 7, 2002, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-happiest-sounding-song-with-the-saddest-lyrics/117825 "2002-07-07T22:28:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2002, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-happiest-sounding-song-with-the-saddest-lyrics/117825/21 "2002-07-08T11:24:47Z")
**The Beautiful South** have this thing down to an art. In addition, I think **Rush** ’s _The Pass_ may qualify. Not upbeat, really, but it sounds a hell of a lot more neutral than its lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2002, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-happiest-sounding-song-with-the-saddest-lyrics/117825/22 "2002-07-08T13:39:58Z")
Does anyone remember Gilbert O’Sullivan’s _Alone Again, Naturally_? It’s a cheerful, bouncy little tune, similar to the theme from “Cheers.” The opening lyrics: “In a little while from now, If I’m not feeling any less sour, I promise myself to treat myself and visit a nearby tower. And, climbing to the top, would throw myself off…” It goes on like that for 3 verses, about being left standing at the altar and his parents dying. In the right mood, it can make me cry. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2002, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-happiest-sounding-song-with-the-saddest-lyrics/117825/23 "2002-07-08T14:01:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Caprese \* > \*\*Feelin’ All Right > by Dave Mason of Traffic > (later made popular by Joe Cocker) > > sprightly song > bummer lyrics \*\* Not really. The final verse shows the singer has gotten over things. Try Irving Berlin’s **You Can’t Get a Man with a Gun.** Sung at an uptempo (like Ethel Merman’s version), it is a sprightly bit of fluff. Sung slowly (like when Bernadette Peters sings it), it is heartbreakingly sad. ---
**Author:** ![Canyon\_Surfer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Canyon\_Surfer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canyon_Surfer)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2002, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-happiest-sounding-song-with-the-saddest-lyrics/117825/24 "2002-07-08T14:24:55Z")
Got to agree with **Happy Lendervedder**. Listen to the cover of Help by _The Carpenters_ to really hear how sad this song is. ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2002, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-happiest-sounding-song-with-the-saddest-lyrics/117825/25 "2002-07-08T14:41:27Z")
_My Daddy’s Dream-Time Lullaby,_ recorded by **Coon-Sanders Original Nighthawks** in the late twenties. The melody is a bouncy, catchy dance tune, but the lyrics are all about how the narrator’s late father used to tell him stories and how much he misses his daddy whose voice still comes to him sometimes as he’s dropping off to sleep. Last survivor of the Victorian genre of tear-jerker songs. ---
**Author:** ![Jorel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f19dbf/32.png) [@Jorel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jorel)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2002, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-happiest-sounding-song-with-the-saddest-lyrics/117825/26 "2002-07-08T16:55:05Z")
Christmas songs seems so happy on the surface, but really they have this melancholy aspect that seems so sad: “I’ll be home for Christams…but only in my dreams” seems sad ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’ (seems almost like a dirge) ‘Greensleeves’ also sounds sad to me. of course, all of the reindeer make fun of Rudolph, and Frosty melts, so who knows? Maybe they just sound that way to me. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2002, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-happiest-sounding-song-with-the-saddest-lyrics/117825/27 "2002-07-08T17:27:56Z")
How about Third Eye Blind’s “Jumper” ? ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2002, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-happiest-sounding-song-with-the-saddest-lyrics/117825/28 "2002-07-08T17:37:47Z")
Like the Weather - 10,000 Maniacs. My Sister - Tindersticks. Maybe the most depressing saga I’ve ever heard. This person in the song was born and there was nowhere to go but down. But the music is an upbeat, cocktail-partyish bouncy thing. It’s a very strange combination. ---
**Author:** ![Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9fc348/32.png) [@Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Luna)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2002, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-happiest-sounding-song-with-the-saddest-lyrics/117825/29 "2002-07-08T17:50:16Z")
My name is Luka by Suzanne Vega. I believe it’s a song about child abuse. ---
**Author:** ![Politzania](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ab097/32.png) [@Politzania](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Politzania)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2002, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-happiest-sounding-song-with-the-saddest-lyrics/117825/30 "2002-07-08T18:47:47Z")
**Tonight is the Night I Fell Asleep at the Wheel** – BareNaked Ladies – off of _Maroon_ The music sounds almost like a carnival/circus - the lyrics describe a (fatal) car crash: > [@](#): > > Now I’m floating above looking in > As the radio blares and wheels spin > I can see my face slump with a grin > And you … you’re the last thing on my mind And how is one to interpret the final line? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2002, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-happiest-sounding-song-with-the-saddest-lyrics/117825/31 "2002-07-08T19:41:28Z")
Posers, all of them–if you want chipper-sounding sad/depressing songs, visit a Ren Faire. Look for traditional/trad-style Celtic music and sea shanties. IIRC, “lullabye” is from Gaelic and means “cradle lament”, if that gives you the idea. A few examples: “Roddy McCorley”–A sprightly little number about a young man about to be hanged. “The Ship that Never Returned”–a rollicking ditty that includes such lyrics as “It was a gleam of hope in the midst of danger/and her heart for her youngest yearned/but she sent him forth with a smile and a blessing/on the ship that never returned.” “Step It Up Mary”–a dancing tune about a girl who commits suicide to escape being married off unwillingly. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2002, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-happiest-sounding-song-with-the-saddest-lyrics/117825/32 "2002-07-08T19:41:44Z")
Everytime I hear Bruce Springsteen’s “Glory Days” at a ball game I wonder if they’ve even listened to the lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2002, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-happiest-sounding-song-with-the-saddest-lyrics/117825/33 "2002-07-08T19:44:01Z")
The correct answer to this question is: The finale from **Porgy and Bess** by **George Gershwin** ---
**Author:** ![Sealemon88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c68b51/32.png) [@Sealemon88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sealemon88)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2002, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-happiest-sounding-song-with-the-saddest-lyrics/117825/34 "2002-07-08T19:52:55Z")
“Bad Moon Rising” by Creedence Clearwater. That “I Used To Love Her, But I Had To Kill Her” song by Guns and Roses (I’m not sure if that was the title, but that was sure a good summary of the song). The Toadies had a couple of good ones: [Jigsaw Girl](http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Alley/7060/lyrics.html#jigsaw) and [Possum Kingdom.](http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Alley/7060/lyrics.html#pk) Also, while [Tyler](http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Alley/7060/lyrics.html#tyler) sounds more melancholy than happy, it does seem to be a typical pinning love song until the last verse. Those Toadies sure were wacky! ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2002, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-happiest-sounding-song-with-the-saddest-lyrics/117825/35 "2002-07-08T19:52:55Z")
They Might Be Giants have lots of songs with upbeat tempos and downer lyrics. Take, for example, “Mr. Me”, with a repeated refrain of “He ended up sad, he ended up sad, he ended up really really really sad”. Or “Youth Culture Killed My Dog”. Or “The World’s Address”. Or, hell, even “The Famous Polka.” Anyway, TMBG has a million of 'em. ---
**Author:** ![HookerChemical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/278dde/32.png) [@HookerChemical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HookerChemical)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2002, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-happiest-sounding-song-with-the-saddest-lyrics/117825/36 "2002-07-08T20:15:02Z")
99 Luftbaloons by Nena It’s a nice little upbeat pop song about the apocalypse. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2002, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-happiest-sounding-song-with-the-saddest-lyrics/117825/37 "2002-07-08T20:17:11Z")
Kurt Weill (music) & Berthold Brecht (lyrics) did this sort of thing for a living. Just from the Three-Penny Opera there’s Mack the Knife, The Ballad of Pirate-Jenny, and the Cannon Song. Devo’s “Beautiful World” kind of works, except you have to know the ‘punchline’ for the lyrics to seem sad. ---
**Author:** ![scott\_evil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@scott\_evil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scott_evil)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2002, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-happiest-sounding-song-with-the-saddest-lyrics/117825/38 "2002-07-08T22:05:51Z")
Seasons in the Sun by Terry Jacks. ---
**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:** [July 8, 2002, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-happiest-sounding-song-with-the-saddest-lyrics/117825/39 "2002-07-08T22:21:11Z")
**1952 Vincent Black Lightning** by our good friend Richard Thompson. ---
**Author:** ![QueenAl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/d26b3c/32.png) [@QueenAl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QueenAl)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2002, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-happiest-sounding-song-with-the-saddest-lyrics/117825/40 "2002-07-08T22:27:47Z")
**Jorel** , I agree about ‘Have yourself a merry little Christmas.’ If you listen to the lyrics, it sounds like they’re talking about death (but in a comforting way). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-happiest-sounding-song-with-the-saddest-lyrics/117825.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-happiest-sounding-song-with-the-saddest-lyrics/117825.md?page=3)