So here I am
Doing everything I can
Holding on to what I am
Pretending I'm a superman
Despite its lively ska melody and that it was featured in the Tony Hawk games, the lyrics are quite melancholic and depressing.
Submitted by: Maryellen Larkin
Waking up at 12 in my clothes again
Feel my head explode from a night of gin
Another night out late
I don't wanna drink, don't wanna be a clown
Gotta get my feet back on the ground
Before it pulls me in
An upbeat rock track about feeling like a liability to one's friends due to alcoholism and depression.
Submitted by: Nat
Life goin' nowhere
Somebody help me
Somebody help me, yeah
Life goin' nowhere
Somebody help me, yeah
I'm stayin' alive
I wouldn't call the rest of the song uplifting lyrically but the bridge and outro make no bones about the bleak and nihilistic themes of the song and the movie it was written for. Can we every truly understand the New York Times effect on man?
Submitted by: Deedee
ABBA's,
"On and On and On"
I was at a party
And this feller said to me
Something bad is happening
I'm sure you do agree
People care for nothing
No respect for human rights
Evil times are coming
We are in for darker nights?
These are dark, quasi-apocalyptic lyrics over perhaps the catchiest beat possible.
Submitted by: Sadie
UB40's,
"The Earth Dies Screaming"
Bodies hanging limp, no longer bleeding.
The earth dies screaming
Ok, the title and the lyrics are depressing but the rhythm/melody sounds joyful. Nevertheless, this song is generally very dark especially when you take into context the threat of nuclear war throughout the 80s.
Submitted by: Steve
My legs are dangling off the edge
The bottom of the bottle is my only friend
I think I'll slit my wrist again, and I'm gone, gone, gone, gone
My legs are dangling off the edge
A stomach full of pills didn't work again
I'll put a bullet in my head, and I'm gone, gone, gone, gone
The entire song is about a depressed person thinking about suicide, but it is so upbeat.
Submitted by: Whatever My Name Is
I should've stopped to think, I should've made the time;
I could've had that drink, I could've talked a while.
I would've done it right, I would've moved us on,
But I didn't, and now it's all too late;
It's over and you're gone.
Robert Smith wrote this dancey number about his friend Billy MacKenzie (from The Associates), who died by suicide - it's about how Smith regrets not spending more time with him while he had the chance.
Submitted by: Nat
All you ever do is bring me down
Makin' me a fool all over town
And they all wonder why I wear a frown
That's 'cause honey, all you do is bring me down
This is an upbeat track about an unhappy relationship.
Submitted by: Bob
Please release me let me go.
For I don't love you any more.
It has a grandiose lilting melody, but the message is about feeling trapped in a failed love.
Submitted by: Henrietta Caroleen Ellenboro
I wanna love you but I better not touch
It has a very upbeating melody, but it's sad mentions knowing not to touch the person he wants to love.
Submitted by: mads
