100 Most Depressing Songs

[AndyC]

I think we've touched on this in discussions of worst songs and treacly, sentimental songs, but I don't think we've explored it directly. Which songs do we find just really depressing? They can be songs we hate, songs we like, even songs that are not overtly gloomy, but really depressing on close examination.

I'll start with the song that inspired this thread, which I heard playing in a restaurant during lunch the other day.

1. Terry Jacks - Seasons in the Sun
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cd_Fdly3rX8
Probably the gloomiest song ever to have "joy" and "fun" as two of its most repeated lyrics.

[Mr. DS]

2.) Kansas - Dust In The Wind
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tH2w6Oxx0kQ
Aka we are just a speck of sand in the universe.

[Jack]

Let's see you top this one:

3)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwBirf4BWew

[AndyC]

2.) Kansas - Dust In The Wind
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tH2w6Oxx0kQ
Aka we are just a speck of sand in the universe.

I was planning to post that one next. Just about the most depressing rock song I know.

[Sleepyskull]

4. Christmas Shoes - Newsong   I absolutely loathe this song!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNsvE33pRSw

[3mnkids]

5. Evanescence~ Missing
qpxHzZ11qLo

I can only take evanescence in small doses, too much and I want to open a vein.   

[bloodkrishna]

6. Anathema - Lost Control

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGTeNwt1BMY&feature=related
I hate depressive music
anyway, here's one of the most depressing song I ever heard

[AndyC]

7. Gilbert O'Sullivan - Alone Again (Naturally)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhQgta94IG8&feature=related
Without a doubt, the bounciest, catchiest song ever written about a guy planning to jump off a building. I especially like how he spreads out from being stood up at his wedding and abandoned by everyone, to include the totally unrelated story of his father's death and his mother grieving until her own death. And then, having described all this sadness so matter-of-factly, he just stops.

[Mr. DS]

8.) Harry Nilsson - Without You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTMY_idZcjY
The pain of one leaving is great to Mr. Nilsson.  You can actually feel the pain in his voice.

I was planning to post that one next. Just about the most depressing rock song I know. 

I recall a Family Guy episode where Peter wonders around town in a montage in a sad mood to the song.

[Mr. DS]

9.)  NIN - Down In It
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrcTsxs-anU
Very up tempo and catchy song about losing one's self.

10.) Metallica - Fade To Black
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEQnzs8wl6E
Kind of overly melodramatic, almost to the point of being funny.

11.) Sarah McLauglan - When Somebody Loved Me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=px0j1EHF8Y0
This one rips out my heart and stomps on it because I think of Jessie in Toy Story 2.  I can hardly watch the above clip without getting misty eyed.  My four year old knows the song word for word and sings it a lot. Luckily I can control my emotions when hearing it.

[retrorussell]

12. All By Myself- Eric Carmen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQAT0Ln6ggc

[AndyC]

13. Michael Johnson - Bluer Than Blue
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdDSJ2NddyE

[Derf]

14. Cat's in the Cradle - Cat Stevens

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSwL9deXNW8



15. American Pie (The Day the Music Died) - Don McLean

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAsV5-Hv-7U

[Mr. DS]

16.) Don Henley - Boys Of Summer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeNmZ1-Svzc
I hear this song and simply think this time of year...the sad end of summer.  

17.) Beethoven - Moonlight Sonata
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQVeaIHWWck
Breaktaking yet so melancholy.

[Chainsawmidget]

18.  In the Year 2525 by Zager & Evans

and no, I won't post a link to it.  I refuse to listen to that song and will change the station whenever it comes on.