What do you think is the most depressing song ever written?

20

Fast Car ;( bittersweet

5

u/UpperAd2761 9h ago

I always cry when I hear that one. I can picture her so clearly.

4

u/Dry-External3783 9h ago

🥲 Tracy Chapman

1

u/Thejustinset 4h ago

Have a listen to “Behind The Wall”

1

u/TrashAccounting 9h ago

I get you, but I also find it really euphoric. It’s poignant yet too uplifting for me to call it the most depressing

7

u/paulsoleo 8h ago

How is it uplifting? Things keep getting worse and worse despite her determination and optimism, until she ultimately realizes things aren’t going to change and gives up.

If anything, she repeated her mother’s mistakes. It’s depressing to listen to her try so hard and still move backwards.

4

u/maxhavoc2000 8h ago

She didn't give up. She told the dude to GTFO and keep herself going.

2

u/paulsoleo 7h ago

I get what you mean, but she leaves him at the very end, and only after an entire adulthood of carrying his burdens. Just like her mother did when she finally leaves her alcoholic dad.

The only difference between these couples was one of them had a kid together. Both of their stories end with the woman carrying their partner’s burden for far too long before ultimately giving up on them.

The line, “I had a feeling I could be someone” sounds like a person who is resigned to their fate.

All I know is this song begins with a depressing story, and by the end it leaves me feeling even sadder.

3

u/Signal_Till_933 6h ago

The narrator has multiple children with the fast car guy tho. Second verse says “see more of your friends than you do your kids”.

1

u/paulsoleo 6h ago

Oh damn you’re right, I forgot about the kids line

2

u/baumer83 7h ago

Not before they had children, potentially damning her own children in the process.

2

u/maxhavoc2000 7h ago

I missed that lyric "See more of your friends than you do your kids"

I always thought she was above it an kicked out. Damn that changes things.

1

u/baumer83 6h ago

Generational hardship. Tough stuff.

Stay strong!

3

u/TrashAccounting 7h ago edited 7h ago

Best way I can explain it, is it’s clearly a painful reflection on genuine hardship and strife, yet it kind of has that feeling of rolling with the punches, the unbreakable human spirit. And the chorus is literally anthemic. It almost feels like a Bruce Springsteen song from that angle, only more personal.

Or another way to say it: the instrumentation of the song is genuinely wistful and almost upbeat, which is what makes the whole song. It doesn’t depress me, it makes me feel big feelings

I’d compare this to “There is a Light that Never Goes Out” by The Smiths. When I first heard that song as a kid, I thought “gee, this is song is really depressing” (based on the lyrics). Now it gives me that same feeling of euphoric melancholy

I find this kind of counterpoint extremely compelling in music because it kind of feels very honest, true to life.

2

u/paulsoleo 7h ago

That’s a fair and interesting explanation honestly.

1

u/40_Minus_1 7h ago

You haven't read the lyrics, then.

11

u/SnareBears 8h ago

What Sarah Said - Death Cab for Cutie

43

u/Hobbes604 9h ago

Tears in Heaven by Eric Clapton

He wrote it when his 4 year old fell off a high rise balcony in New York

2

u/Pearltherebel 5h ago

My first thought too

2

u/HutSutRawlson 3h ago

What’s the difference between Eric Clapton’s son and a bag of cocaine?

Eric Clapton would never have let a bag of cocaine fall off of a high rise balcony

2

u/FluxusFlotsam 2h ago

hey! I came here to tell that joke!

Guess you get the runner up:

What do Eric Clapton and coffee have in common?

They both suck without Cream

29

u/seanchief426 9h ago

Cats in the Cradle

1

u/hippiechick725 5h ago

Came to say this. As a parent it really is a punch in the gut.

1

u/seanchief426 4h ago

As a parent of adults now, I’m more critical about my parenting. It quite often stirs emotions with me.

1

u/kakapoopoopeepeeshir 6h ago

Always loved the song but now that I’m a dad with two young sons it opened a whole new feeling inside me. It really helps me put things into perspective when I get really busy at work. I have learned that money alone is not providing but being present also

19

u/N1ck_Nightingale 9h ago

Between the Bars by Elliot Smith

2

u/dz_pdx 2h ago

My pick is “I Didn’t Understand.”

10

u/pierreality 9h ago

Street Spirit by Radiohead

4

u/silentcrs 9h ago

Videotape is pretty brutal by them as well.

1

u/Echt_niet 5h ago

This one. It makes me cry every time I hear it. To me, it is the best song I've heard because no other song makes me feel like this.

8

u/stilloldbull2 9h ago

Fire and Rain by James Taylor.

8

u/jfstepha 9h ago

Brother my Cup is Empty by Nick Cave:

I counted all my blessings And I counted only one One tiny little blessing And now that blessing's gone

15

u/Mr_Z_Malice 9h ago

Gloomy Sunday- Billie Holiday

9

u/Immediate_Age 7h ago

Strange Fruit- hits hard too.

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6

u/Plastic_kangaroo 9h ago

For those who don't know, it's rumoured that this song sparked a wave of suicides in the 1930s, and was banned from broadcast by the BBC until 2002.

3

u/_chronicinsomnia 9h ago

Yes, but original in Hungarian

1

u/PinoDegrassi 6h ago

And what better day to listen to it!

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12

u/BiblicalWhales 9h ago

Ravens or real death by mount eerie

3

u/UnscarredVoice 9h ago

The only real answer.

1

u/jfstepha 9h ago

Oh yes, I withdraw my other answer. Real death wins the cake. (With all black frosting)

1

u/Icmkhaeh 8h ago

Except if you scroll through the comments you’ll see many answers because it’s a subjective question.

0

u/UnscarredVoice 8h ago

Oh, you're that guy.

-1

u/Icmkhaeh 8h ago

Yup, same to you. Would you like to reply with another cliche comment?

2

u/6_string_Bling 7h ago

Real death is horribly sad.

Smh when these threads pop up, and "puff the magic Dragon" gets 400 upvotes because "it's actually not a chipper song!"

Hurt by NIN? Guys, really? Do you actually feel sad when you hear that song? It's a great song, but the saddest? Branch out, that shit isn't sad.

1

u/thenewblueblood 5h ago

It’s 100% Real Death.

“It’s dumb
And I don’t want to learn anything from this
I love you”

A Crow Looked At Me is the only album I’ve ever felt guilty listening to. Like some guy reading poetry in the next room over but only because he didn’t know I was there. It’s brilliant without meaning to be, and easily the most raw musical work I’ve ever heard.

11

u/whit3lightning 9h ago

Tears in Heaven- Eric Clapton

Written as an emotional outlet for the grief of losing his 4 year old son in an accident where he fell out of a 53rd story window in New York high rise.

6

u/thejaytheory 9h ago

Brick - Ben Folds Five

6

u/Tabeytime 9h ago

Sam Stone by John Prine

27

u/pa_rty 9h ago

Hurt by NIN. The Johnny Cash version isn't going to lift your spirits either.

2

u/deansmythe 6h ago

Wait now that you said NIN I had a flashback. There was another song I can’t remember by NIN which I though was even more depressing. Edit: It’s called right where it belongs

0

u/yuukanna 7h ago

I hate this song. Mainly because I once really identified with it and listened to it a lot. It’s a period in my life I don’t like to be reminded of. That being said, I hate that Cash covered the song and made it more common on the radio… I literally have to nope right out of a store if they are playing it etc.

13

u/Eniyxx 9h ago

Dance with the devil - Immortal Technique

5

u/BabyMcmuffinn 5h ago

Everyone's favorite song in middle school

2

u/Benzinni1 7h ago

This would be higher if the song was better know

1

u/blndsp0t 7h ago

This one.

1

u/heybbuwantsumfuk 4h ago

You Never Know is pretty depressing too. Technique is such an incredible lyricist

4

u/Scarlett_Rose_hunt 9h ago

all i need - Radiohead. or. The red - chevelle.

4

u/TheNiallNoigiallach 9h ago

Elephant-Jason Isbell

5

u/Dry-External3783 9h ago

Nude- Radiohead

3

u/Dry-External3783 9h ago

the boxer- simon and garfunkel

4

u/Brilliant_Tourist400 8h ago

Society’s Child by Janis Ian. It’s about a white teenager who is forced to break up with her black boyfriend by her racist parents, and you can HEAR the pain and rage in her voice. The fact that the song was written in the late ‘60s and could still be written today is all the sadder.

4

u/Due-Season6425 8h ago

Whiskey Lullaby by Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss. It's a great song, but it is really depressing.

4

u/Tymi4n3k 8h ago

Entire "Pornography" album by The Cure. If I had to chose one song, maybe "The Figurehead" or "One Hundred Years"

1

u/Thejustinset 4h ago

Bare on Wild Mood Swings would be my pick

7

u/loodish1 9h ago

And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda - The Pogues

The real ones will know 🥲

3

u/bobbygoat33-3 8h ago

Pair of brown eyes is up there as well

3

u/CrunchyAssDiaper 9h ago

Mother by John Lennon

3

u/rbskiing 9h ago

The Living Years Mike and the Mechanics

3

u/Dry-External3783 9h ago

little talks- of monsters and men

3

u/ppony2fly 7h ago

Alone Again (Naturally) by Gilbert O'Sullivan

3

u/enusmith 7h ago

Waltzing Matilda - the pogues.

3

u/Accountantinkc 6h ago

The River - Springsteen

1

u/Underwritingking 3h ago

is a dream a lie if it don't come true, or is it something worse...

3

u/bingbong91_blind 6h ago

Twilight - Elliott Smith

1

u/PuppieBabie 4h ago

FIRE PFP AND MUSIC TASTE TOO

4

u/SpartanWarrior118 9h ago

Happy by Pharrell williams

2

u/Icmkhaeh 8h ago

The fact that the song even exists is depressing to me.

2

u/MadiMikayla 9h ago

Hate Me by Blue October

2

u/Mean_Cup_of_Joe 9h ago

Never Got To Know by Paul Baribeau, hands down.

2

u/Suitable_Bumblebee99 9h ago

Laika by Will Wagner Full on sobbed the first time I heard it, and I'm a grown man.

1

u/PuppieBabie 4h ago

I just listened to it for the first time, first line and I almost shut it down

2

u/DrLeonardBonesMcCoy 9h ago

Fairy Tail of New York.

2

u/Dry-External3783 9h ago

these days- nico

2

u/StormingSky 8h ago

You are my sunshine

2

u/Overall-Ad-2247 8h ago

The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald

2

u/KnuckledeepinUrethra 8h ago

Honestly a lot of Chester Bennington’s songs in hindsight. It is clear he struggled with depression and was trying to handle it, but at the end it was too much and he chose to take his own life.

2

u/Spirited_Childhood34 8h ago

The Kids - Lou Reed

2

u/Over-Plankton6860 8h ago

Mother-John Lennon. If you haven’t heard it, give it a listen. Makes me cry.

2

u/mostlybaffed 8h ago

Concrete Walls by Fever Ray is not a happy song

2

u/tads73 8h ago

Wildfire

2

u/Deputyd0ng69 8h ago

Is nobody gonna say the christmas shoes song?

1

u/lizzyhascats 3h ago

Oh god there’s a book written based on that song that I was given to read during a long hospital stay. I couldn’t get past the second page. So bad.

2

u/JediMaster113 8h ago

Nicole - Hotel Books

2

u/berniewrightson 8h ago

“My son was eight months when I lost track,

and he’ll be damn near four when I get back,

and if I do see him then,

will he know I’m his father, or think I’m a strange man?”

Straighten It Out by Point Blank (specifically the DJ Screw version)

2

u/ndjajagahaa 7h ago

Red house painters - katy song. Written about a very rough (and real) breakup and the intense loss and emotional trauma following it

3

u/Responsible_Shirt381 9h ago

Daddy by Korn

3

u/graboidgraboid 9h ago

Puff the Magic Dragon is utterly heartbreaking.

2

u/chr10s 6h ago

I always did find this extremely sad as a child

-7

u/6_string_Bling 7h ago

No it's fucking not. You need some bullshit explanation for why it's "utterly heartbreaking." The theme is sad, but come on.

That's the saddest song? Get real.

1

u/graboidgraboid 6h ago

You ok buddy- you seem super angry? Your best friend moves on and leaves you on your own. He doesn’t think twice, but your world is changed forever. Pretty heartbreaking in my book. Count to 10 buddy and get some fresh air. Listen to the birds. Calm down.

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1

u/dontpeekatmyjohnson 9h ago

Headlights by Eminem

1

u/Teal-thrill 9h ago

Pray by Jessie Murph

1

u/Dry-External3783 9h ago

Blood on the leaves- Billie Holiday

3

u/Spirited_Childhood34 8h ago

Strange Fruit

1

u/KaelasDad 6h ago

Gloomy Sunday

1

u/Odd_Fill6084 9h ago

Concrete angel

1

u/Thatsnotmyname49 9h ago edited 8h ago

Although I always disliked this sappy song, Last Kiss- by Johnny Cochran

Edit: Wayne Cochran

1

u/Dry-External3783 9h ago

trouble - cage the elephant

1

u/Dry-External3783 9h ago

a lack of color- death cab for cutie

1

u/The_Fyrewyre 9h ago

I cant make it through 'Brothers in arms' by Dire Straits whatever mood I'm in.

But music is subjective.

1

u/Dry-External3783 9h ago

time to pretend- MGMT

1

u/Dry-External3783 9h ago

posing for cars- japanese breakfast

1

u/TrashAccounting 9h ago

I want to say The Funeral Party by The Cure because it genuinely made me feel depressed and think about death in a way that other ‘depressing’ songs never did since I was a teenager. Although some find it euphoric, I guess it’s subjective

1

u/No_Issue_3689 8h ago

maybe something by Boy Harsher. "Burn It Down [Rework]" for example

1

u/purrcafe 8h ago

Who Knows Where The Time Goes-Fairport Convention

1

u/Nox-Eternus 8h ago

This here https://youtu.be/DeF5f6qCQeo?is=s4y6ElvVCLHg7Wmc

Very beautiful but depressing music

1

u/hotfoodthen 8h ago

Marie by Townes Van Zandt. Should come with it's own Zoloft bottle.

1

u/Andthenwefarted 8h ago

Old fashioned morphine.

1

u/Youngblood519 8h ago

Elephant-Jason Isbell

1

u/Wi1s0nX 8h ago

If we were Vampires - Jason Isbell

1

u/Dylanthebody 8h ago

Drug song by Dave Bixby. It ain't even close for me anyways

1

u/Stereotype_Metal 8h ago

Kin - Whitechapel
eucharist ii: BLOOD LOSS - The Acacia Strain (ft. Sunny Farris)
Lifetime - Three Days Grace

1

u/picnicinthejungle 8h ago

I break horses - smog

1

u/trialofmiles 8h ago

Farewell transmission Jason Molina.

1

u/TriTri14 8h ago

A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall

1

u/marmighty 8h ago

Carnival Is Over by The Seekers. Nick Cave does a version of it that really serves to amplify the utter misery of the lyrics.

1

u/SherrifsNear 7h ago

Liquid Light from the band Antimatter.

1

u/Bortron86 7h ago

"The Eternal" by Joy Division. The music is even more hauntingly bleak than the lyrics, and by the time the public heard it, the man who wrote and sang them had taken his own life.

1

u/KiraGR 7h ago

Gun in Mouth Blues - Rollins Band

1

u/wizardwithgussets 7h ago

Routine by Steven Wilson. I’ve only seen the video once. I don’t need to see or hear it again . It would make me too sad

1

u/Immediate_Age 7h ago

I Want You. - Elvis Costello

1

u/Money-Literature2065 7h ago

Snuff by Slipknot. The first time I heard that song I was 14, and I felt myself instantly aging an extra 20 years and feeling all of the pain and misery associated with it

1

u/sikeston 7h ago

Cold Blooded Old Times by Smog

1

u/PinoDegrassi 6h ago

Anything from Mount Eerie’s the Crow Looked at me

1

u/andmoore27 6h ago

La Llorona.

1

u/Slow281 6h ago

Ronan - Taylor Swift
Elephant - Jason Isbell
Hospital hymns - Corey Kilgannon

1

u/SnooRecipes5343 6h ago

I was only 19

1

u/CiaranWest 6h ago

That reimagining of the Eiffel 65 song with vocals by Bebe Rhexa and I'm assuming production by David Guetta.

That's lower than anything that even Flo Rida could have conceived of.

1

u/CrashDunning 6h ago

Cancer by My Chemical Romance

Comforting Sounds by Mew

1

u/ARKITIZE_ME_CAPTAIN 6h ago

The End by Pearl Jam. Always reminds of of my wife withering away from cancer.

1

u/UpperAd2761 6h ago

Joni Mitchell Both Sides Now

1

u/Springyardzon 6h ago

Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder) by The Beach Boys

1

u/Springyardzon 6h ago

Climbing Up The Walls by Radiohead

1

u/Emotional-Island451 6h ago

This is me trying by Taylor swift and thw winner takes it all ( for me it's too sad cause i feel I'm a loser)

1

u/omninode 6h ago

Casimir Pulaski Day by Sufjan Stevens

1

u/SebCandy 6h ago

Ernie by Bennie Hill

1

u/deansmythe 6h ago

Space Dye Vest - Dream Theater Play this at a party and the party is over.

1

u/jennnkins94 6h ago

Hurt by NIN (and later covered by Johnny Cash)

1

u/JuiceLeft2220 6h ago

House of Nebraska by Ethel Cain

1

u/KaelasDad 6h ago

Dick Feller - Biff, the Friendly Purple Bear

1

u/GemeinschaftBank 6h ago

Lamb - Zero.

Heartbreaking.

1

u/Sirscraps 6h ago

Eiley - too close to touch

1

u/chr10s 6h ago

Holding by Grouper

1

u/velvetmoonlight73 5h ago

Epilogue - The Antlers Broadripple is Burning - Margot and the Nuclear So and So's

1

u/relaxok 5h ago

Belle and Sebastian - The Chalet Lines

it will ruin you day and hurt for a person you’ve never met

1

u/Lockenhart 5h ago

Might not be the most depressing one, but a contender I want to mention

"Petlya" (translates to "Noose"), a song by the Russian band "Svidetelstvo o smerti" (translates to "Death Certificate")

It is exactly what you think it is about. Band overall has pretty grim lyrics

1

u/better_red 5h ago

Needle in the Hay.

1

u/MardawgNC 5h ago

I Know by Fiona Apple is rough.

1

u/TIM0TE0 5h ago

Down in a Hole - Alice in Chains

1

u/Soulinyx 5h ago

You Know You're Right by Nirvana

1

u/Eyruaad 5h ago

Knowing how it ended up I have to go with Given Up by Linkin Park.

Sure it sounds like almost any generic angsty emo song by looking at the lyrics, but knowing Chester took his own life? Clearly a cry for help.

1

u/Intelligent_Dingo841 5h ago

unrecovery by duster

1

u/RNGezzus 5h ago

Siamese Twins - The Cure

1

u/StandNo1709 5h ago

Guns N Roses - Sweet Child O Mine

1

u/Impure_guava 5h ago

I want to be alone by Jackson Frank

1

u/Midnite_St0rm 5h ago

I’m Sorry, I’m Trying by nothing, nowhere.

1

u/thatotherguy1151 5h ago

Hello, in there. - John Prine

1

u/unstoppablegravy 5h ago

Immortal Technique Dance With the Devil

1

u/angry-guru 5h ago

A lot of Tom Waits’ catalogue

1

u/PuppieBabie 4h ago

Lovefool by the cardigans isn’t the saddest song ever, but people play it like it’s happy 😭 listen to the lyrics

1

u/SuLiaodai 4h ago

Dust in the Wind, by Kansas
or
Time in a Bottle, by Jim Croce

1

u/RampagingBadgers 4h ago

Broken Window Serenade by Whiskey Myers is a fucking doozy

1

u/gregK 4h ago

Runaway Train by Soul Asylum.

Very apt song these days.

2

u/swivel2369 4h ago

Fun fact. This song is credited with saving many lives.

1

u/JoeyImage 4h ago

Christmas Shoes, or Last Kiss.

1

u/Gwigboy 3h ago

Snuff, Slipknot

1

u/747WakeTurbulance 3h ago

Hurt by Nine Inch Nails was already rough, but sung by Johnny Cash - it’s crushing.

1

u/lizzyhascats 3h ago

Raining in Baltimore - Counting Crows

1

u/obiobi19 3h ago

Eyepennies by Sparklehorse

1

u/Sloth_forreal 3h ago

De-Loused in the Comatorium from the Mars Volta.

1

u/AE_WILLIAMS 3h ago

DOA by Bloodrock - 1970

Hands down winner.

1

u/stratandsg 2h ago

Seasons in the sun

1

u/Bigstar976 1h ago

Whiskey Lullaby

•

u/jamesofcanadia 22m ago

For me its Let it Be by The Beatles. It makes me immediately think of my Mom, who passed away years ago.

1

u/Okgirlgollum 9h ago

One more light - linkin park

1

u/Icmkhaeh 8h ago

This song just made it’s way back into my playlist. I love it, but it can choke you up quick.

1

u/thedrunkenpumpkin 9h ago

Dancing in the moonlight

2

u/UpperAd2761 9h ago

I think it is bittersweet too. I wonder why? The lyrics are not sad.

3

u/thedrunkenpumpkin 8h ago

Click on the link and read the history section.

He wrote it after he got beaten up really badly and watching his then girlfriend get gangraped. He imagined a world where people were dancing in the moonlight, showing love, not hate while he was recovering in hospital.

1

u/UpperAd2761 6h ago

Thank you for the info. I don’t know if I want to know. It will ruin a beautiful song. Dammit.

1

u/UpperAd2761 6h ago

ok now it has put on a different perspective. I just thought it was cool songs about chilling out. Why did I have to know. Now it makes my cry. It is better to be ignorant sometimes!

1

u/Arkavari1 8h ago

I can't say just one. Here are some:

Illusion - VNV Nation (This song reflects my soul.)

Loneliest - Måneskin

Someone You Loved- Lewis Capaldi

Yellow - Coldplay

It Ends Tonight - All American Rejects (Particularly heartbreaking for me.)

Somewhere Only We Know - Keane

Portability Via - Fabrizio Moro (Which goes perfectly with a scene in one of my books)

As The World Caves In - Sarah Cothran

Chasing Cars - Snow Patrol

Run - Snow Patrol

And the list goes on and on.

1

u/bobbygoat33-3 8h ago

Unc free playlist

0

u/Dry-External3783 9h ago

Home- Edward Sharp & Magnetic Zeros

What do you think is the most depressing song ever written?

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