10 songs you never realised were incredibly sad
Not every hit song is necessarily meant to be a pick-me-up. For every great tune that gets people moving from the moment it starts, just as many resonate with people on a deeper level, making them get in tune with their emotions or sob uncontrollably depending on the kind of song it is. While it’s usually easy to differentiate which ones are which, artists like Outkast have been known to trick their audience into jamming to the darkest themes imaginable.
Then again, most artists make these contradictory songs to shake up their usual approach to songwriting. Compared to the usual rock songs that have to do with partying all night or their love for their other half, putting that same tone to a song about a killer or depression makes things all the more disturbing, as if the music is almost promoting the sinister urges inside.
While many artists may have been considered sick in their time for writing songs like this, it’s all about finding ways to twist the general narrative whenever you pick up a guitar. Considering that many of the songs have to do with the darker side of life, seeing fans study the dark elements of the piece makes them see the song in a completely different light, either relating to the singer differently or wanting to get as far away from them as possible.
For all of the whiplash that can come from listening to songs like this, none of that diminishes from each of them, leaving a lasting impact whenever they are put on the speakers. They might not be the most pleasant thing to listen to, but hearing them helps remind everyone that they are still human.
10 incredibly sad songs:
10. ‘Big Yellow Taxi’ – Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell has been the mother of writing wonderful folk tunes for over half a century. Although not every song leaves the listener with a smile on their face, half of her material revolves around music that moves people in their gut rather than in their feet. While many of her most celebrated songs had to do with affairs of the heart, one of her most upbeat songs is a more sombre look at reality than most realise.
When listening to ‘Big Yellow Taxi’, most are bopping along to the melody about putting up a parking lot, but Mitchell’s song is a satire of what corporations are designed to do. Instead of the usual way of preserving art, Mitchell is talking about the kind of people that take away everything sacred to make way for big business, stripping all of its dignity away. Mitchell was already ahead of the curve in fighting against corporate machines, and since many artists are going through the same problems, they could learn a thing or two from Mitchell’s words.
9. ‘Every Breath You Take’ – The Police
Nothing The Police ever did was meant to be easy to digest. As much as the band could create amazing music that blended punk, new wave, and pop, Sting had the idea of working against the norm to create most of his celebrated material. So when it came time to make one of the greatest pop songs known to man, Sting took on the character of a stalker slowly chasing after its prey.
Although ‘Every Breath You Take’ has been used in many wedding receptions for years, Sting never mentions that he even knows who this person is, preferring to look at them slowly creeping through their lives and watching them do their daily activities. The melody may be one of the sweetest sounds of the entire 1980s, but when you start reading the lyrics, you can picture this man slowly hiding in the bushes, waiting to finally get up the courage to pounce.
8. ‘Nowhere Man’ – The Beatles
It’s impossible to underrate the joy The Beatles have brought to Western culture. For as many great songs as the band came up with, their indelible spirit left a mark on everyone who heard them, resulting in mass hysteria when they first started. As they started to get introspective, though, John Lennon wrote one of his most enduring classics about feeling alone in his own existence.
Despite the massive major-chord introduction and soaring harmonies, ‘Nowhere Man’ is an autobiographical account of Lennon feeling more isolated than ever, realising that nothing he does tends to matter in the long run. Even though he claims that the world is at his command in the chorus, the lion’s share of the song talks about how no one can relate to him anymore, especially those working closest to him. Although the idea of Beatlemania might sound like the greatest job in the world, Lennon was the first to warn us that it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.
7. ‘Knock Me Down’ – Red Hot Chili Peppers
Half of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ catalogue isn’t necessarily music to help you think. From their first gig onward, the band always wanted to create a funky-fresh vibe for everyone to get down to, eventually working in some of their emotional material after the fact. Once their good-time spirit got the better of them with the death of Hillel Slovak, Anthony Kiedis eventually poured his heart into the track ‘Knock Me Down’.
Inspired by getting sober after Slovak’s overdose, the song is Kiedis giving himself a wake-up call to get out of his stupor. As much as the song was meant to be a reminder of what drugs can do to someone, Kiedis is still grieving with anger, never wanting his friend to fall victim to his own vices. Even though the band would see their first mainstream off the back of this song and eventually the album Blood Sugar Sex Magik, Kiedis would never forget he was playing without one of their founding members.
6. ‘Semi-Charmed Life’ – Third Eye Blind
It seemed that the 1990s had no limit for pop-flavoured rock and roll that sounded great blaring out of a minivan. Although many of the biggest post-grunge acts were making waves at the time, the sounds of pop-punk and power pop began to become en-vogue again, with artists like Blink-182 being on the horizon. Although Third Eye Blind got their foot in the door early with ‘Semi-Charmed Life’, Stephen Jenkins was going through a dark patch when writing these lyrics.
Inspired by his time looking at the seedy underbelly of California, many of the fast-paced lyrics involve him going through different failed love affairs and using crystal meth to help himself through his turmoil. That didn’t seem to matter to any of the mainstream crowd at the time, being more inclined to sing along to the massive chorus than even think about what the verses were. Although everyone might still be singing along to this song to this day, there’s a good chance that the protagonist of this track will end up in a barrel somewhere if he doesn’t get help fast.
5. ‘Fast Car’ – Tracy Chapman
From the moment it was released, ‘Fast Car’ has felt like it has always been there. By taking just a few deft strokes with her acoustic guitar, Tracy Chapman created a beautiful look about what life at the bottom really looked like, containing all of the drama that comes with being down on one’s luck. Even though the song has since been getting a resurgence thanks to Luke Combs’s version of the tune, neither of the songs ends on an optimistic note.
Although there’s a lot of sadness in the song surrounding the protagonist’s father and having to quit school to look after him, the song’s central premise seems disappointing coming out of Chapman’s mouth. While the idea of finally finding a house and living in the suburbs seems like the greatest solution to her problems, she also knows that she is doomed to repeat the sins of her father, getting wasted all the time and eventually in danger of going down the same road. She may have the dream that she can one day be someone, but there’s no real promise that that dream will ever come true.
4. ‘Bittersweet Symphony’ – The Verve
Everything about Britpop seemed to radiate positivity during the late 1990s. Since grunge had immersed itself in irony, many of the biggest names in Britpop were operating as a retort to that mentality, showing the optimistic flipside of the cynical edge that Kurt Cobain started with. Although The Verve had gone through their fair share of shakeups and emerged triumphant on Urban Hymns, one of their most celebrated songs is a punch in the gut if listened to for more than five seconds.
While the opening strains of ‘Bittersweet Symphony’ seem to suggest that everything will be lighthearted, Richard Ashcroft’s lyrics about the state of the world are about as blunt as it gets. Compared to Noel Gallagher writing about living forever, Ashcroft knows that everything in this world doesn’t matter, doing everything he can to make money and watching his body give out for it. Since The Verve had already been through more drama than any rock band could imagine, it’s only fitting that their eventual monster hit was about the realities behind achieving one’s dreams.
3. ‘Basket Case’ – Green Day
The arrival of Green Day’s Dookie in 1994 couldn’t have come at a better time. After being shaken up by the death of Kurt Cobain, hearing Billie Joe Armstrong write songs about being a teenager sick of watching TV and doing nothing but masturbate all day in ‘Longview’ was the ultimate palette cleanser for grunge’s cynicism. Although Green Day didn’t intend to take themselves that seriously, Armstrong eventually poured his internal struggles into one of their biggest hits.
While ‘Basket Case’ may have been one of the band’s radio staples at the time, many of the lyrics were taken directly from Armstrong’s experiences living with anxiety and mental health struggles. As he tries to find some help for his problems, he keeps getting rejected by everyone he meets, with his doctor saying that he needs to have sex and anyone he picks up saying that he should quit whining. The song may have captured the energy of pop-punk at its finest, but it’s also a cry for help for someone who can’t help but give themselves the creeps.
2. ‘Hey Ya’ – Outkast
By the time Outkast started work on Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, they had become one of the most in-demand duos in the hip-hop community. Although Big Boi and Andre 3000 were on two separate creative pages, seeing them split the album into two led to some of the most outstanding work of their career, with Andre embracing his Prince-like tendencies. While Big Boi is kept to a minimum on ‘Hey Ya’, Andre sings about the most optimistic idea anyone has ever come up with: LOVE IS DEAD.
Compared to the other dance tracks, Andre sings about how jaded the world has become, saying that most people looking for stable relationships are looking for nothing more than physical satisfaction. Even though it’s clear that these couples aren’t happy, Andre admits that no one wants to admit it to themselves, saying that no one wants to hear him and that they would rather dance. Amid all the dancing, though, let’s hope that a few of them can find love somewhere down the line.
1. ‘Mr Brightside’ – The Killers
If there is any song that could serve as the anthem for the 2000s, ‘Mr Brightside’ covers all the bases. Being beloved by any stripe of music fan, The Killers’ smash single is one of the most enduring hits from the era, getting people animated the first few seconds that they hear the signature guitar line. Once Brandon Flowers opens his mouth to sing, most of the optimistic side of the song goes out the window.
After initially wanting to be left alone post-breakup, Flowers becomes a borderline stalker in this song, falling prey to everything that’s going on behind closed doors when he sees his ex with another man. While the song claims that Flowers is taking the high road and trying his best to put on a happy face, the truth is that he’s still falling apart, thinking that he threw his life away by letting her go. The tune might sound like the triumphant ending of a film half the time, but the lyrics are much closer to melodramatic than victorious.
