Stone Temple Pilots - Creep
Sublime - PoolShark
Radiohead - Paranoid Andriod
Pearl Jam - Footsteps
NOFX - Whoops, I Od'd
Nine Inch Nails - Hurt
Johnny Cash - The Mercy Seat
Everlast - What It's Like
Temple Of The Dog - Wooden Jesus

That's all I got off the top of my head

The smiths - most stuff by them but the best are "How soon is now" and "That joke isnt funny anymore"

NIN - Burn

Handsome Family - "pigeons" "Woman downstairs"

Therapy? - "screamager"

That Mad mad world song of Donnie Darko soundtrack

Radiohead - the whole of ok computer (currently listening to) +fake plastic trees and street spirit

Leonard Cohens first album

REM - low

and loads more.....hmm going to have to make a dpressed compilation now...


edited - Had to include most stuff by nick cave but especially -last boatmans call (for the whole girl thing depression)

oh goodnes, sorry KWSN i wasnt here then and must have missed it when i posted, it was like 6:00 am and it'd been up for a million hours, i couldnt even think of bands to list for my own post

Mojave 3. Either very few people have heard of this band, or 90% of those who have commited suicide after being reduced to tears by their music. Holy GOD! This band is soooo depressing, but sooo beautiful. Listen to them, but keep sharp objects at a safe distance.

I'm suprise there is not a single song mention from The Cure or Joy Division.

Doesnt seem to be many british people here - i was the first to mention the smiths

The Cure - Disintegration

It's hard to go past The Verve's <I>The Drugs Don't Work</I>
That said, I prefer Ben Harper's cover

Also great:
Paul Kelly - Deeper Water
The Who - Behind Blue Eyes
Machine Gun Fellatio - Unsent Letter
Ben Folds - Rockin' the Suburbs (the whole album)
The Whitlams - Charlie No. 1 (no.s 3 and 2 as well)

Opeth-Still day beneath the sun
Ben harper-walk away
Actally a lot of Ben Harper now that I think of it.

I like the Current 93 song I've quoted below. But historically, the most depressing song ever written is this one http://www.phespirit.info/gloomysunday/ sk

the cure, morrisey and Erasure tend to be on the darker side of things.

Alice In Chains - Junkhead

NIN - Hurt

Simon And Garfunkel - The Boxer

Ben Folds Five- Brick

The Eels- Elizabeth On The Bathroom Floor

and pretty much anything by Nick Drake, Tim Buckley or Joy division.

I noticed somebody put "Vincent" by Don McClean.... did anyone else find "American Pie" depressing or did I miss the point...?

But here's the list:
"Bro Hymn" - Pennywise
"Sad But True" - The Transplants (no, it's not a Metallica cover)
"Hurt" - Johnny Cash does it more justice than Trent..... just seems more meaningful coming from an old guy

and last.... I didn't see this on any of the lists I read, but "Jeremy" by Pearl Jam

Johnny Cash - Hurt
Tears in Heaven - Clapton
The Little Girl - John Michael Montgomery (God DAMN, this song is sad, but hey, after all it is country, The Music of Sadness, The Music of Pain.)
I Miss You - DMX
Dear Mama - 2Pac
Undying Love - Nas

Side note: I took you guys' advice and downloaded God Said No by Dan Bern, and I'm sorry but I just don't get it, I mean I DO get it completely, but what makes it so special? I think its very mediocre songwriting. Sorry, guys.

Good call, that song was definately depressing!
How about Cinderella- "Don't know what you got 'til it's gone":(

Some of these have already been said, but what the hell

George Jones- He Stopped Loving Her Today
Ben Folds- Still Fighting It
Radiohead- Creep
A Perfect Circle- 3 Libras
Smashing Pumpkins- Disarm

The new Lisa Germano album, "Lullaby for Liquid Pig," doesn't have an optimistic thought on it. If that helps.

Anything by Joy division

Idiot Wind - Bob Dylan
Needle and the Damage Done - Neil Young
Stringman - Neil Young

Bob Dylan - Forever Young
Neil Young - Old Man
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here, Time, Vera, Pigs on the Wing
Ween - Alone
Blues Traveler - 100 Years
most Van Morrison songs

Two songs:

The Smiths--Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want
Jeff Buckley--Hallelujah

Bob

anything by The Cure

Mad World by Gary Jules is insanely depressing.

funny, I never thought of Green Day's "Good Riddance" as a depressing song at all until it was featured at my ex's funeral. Now, it makes me a little sad to hear it, but it's for her, not the song.

Gotta agree with Cash's "Hurt" and PJ's "Black"...


Kevin Gilbert - Song for a Dead Friend

Danny my friend
I think you knew me better than I ever knew you
Cause you read every chapter
And I just glossed right over them and pretended I knew
But I believed in you
I loved you for your brilliance
and your way of making everything absurd
And I relied on you
To make me see the foolishness
of paragraphs that were better as one word

What could I have told you to make you think again
We draw the same conclusions but we choose a different end

When you tear it down it only looks more ragged
And when you build it up it only looks more fake
So why not let it be at least until tomorrow
And then you just might see your sad mistake
Cause life has more to give that what you take

Danny my friend
Forgive me if I break our rule but I think it's overdue
I really cared about you
I didn't think that I could love a friend
as much as I loved you
And we were always friends
We were Captain Jim and Billy
the Super-human Crime-avenging Twins
I'm gonna miss you
I truly am alone now
because there's no one to congratulate my sins

I wish I could have been for you a more consistent friend
The chapters that I skipped I'm going to have to read again

But when I tear it down it only looks more ragged
And when I build it up it only looks more fake
But I can't let it be because part of me died with you
And there's lots of pages missing from my book
You had more to give than what I took.

Harry Chapin-Cats in the Cradle

Billy Joel-I've Loved These Days

Actually:

Billy Joel-Goodnight Saigon

_________________________

We met as soul mates
On parris island
We left as inmates
From an asylum
And we were sharp
As sharp as knives
And we were so gung ho
To lay down our lives
We came in spastic
Like tameless horses
We left in plastic
As numbered corpses
And we learned fast
To travel light
Our arms were heavy
But our bellies were tight
We had no home front
We had no soft soap
They sent us playboy
They gave us bob hope
We dug in deep
And shot on sight
And prayed to jesus christ
With all our might
We had no cameras
To shoot the landscape
We passed the hash pipe
And played our doors tapes
And it was dark
So dark at night
And we held on to each other
Like brother to brother
We promised our mothers we’d write
And we would all go down together
We said we’d all go down together
Yes we would all go down together
Remember charlie
Remember baker
They left their childhood
On every acre
And who was wrong?
And who was right?
It didn’t matter in the thick of the fight
We held the day
In the palm
Of our hand
They ruled the night
And the night
Seemed to last as long as six weeks
On parris island
We held the coastline
They held the highlands
And they were sharp
As sharp as knives
They heard the hum of our motors
They counted the rotors
And waited for us to arrive
And we would all go down together
We said we’d all go down together
Yes we would all go down together

Creep - Radiohead

Matthew Good, formerly of the Matthew Good Band, has done some rather depressing songs in his time. He's relatively unknown here in America though, as he's Canadian.

Some of his more depressing songs include Suburbia, Fated, Running for Home, The Fine Art of Falling Apart, A Boy and his Machine Gun, My Life as a Circus Clown, The Rat who would be King, and Going All The Way.

Now that I think of it, most of Matthew Good's songs are depressing =p. Good stuff nevertheless.

Edit: Just thought of another artist with a tendency to depress the hell out of you, Aimee Mann. Just about all of her stuff will make you want to bawl your eyes out, but "Wise Up" takes the cake.

Wise Up

It's not
What you thought
When you first began it
You got
What you want
Now you can hardly stand it though,
By now you know
It's not going to stop
It's not going to stop
It's not going to stop
'Til you wise up

You're sure
There's a cure
And you have finally found it
You think
One drink
Will shrink you 'til you're underground
And living down
But it's not going to stop
It's not going to stop
It's not going to stop
'Til you wise up

Prepare a list of what you need
Before you sign away the deed
'Cause it's not going to stop
It's not going to stop
It's not going to stop
'Til you wise up
No, it's not going to stop
'Til you wise up
No, it's not going to stop
So just...give up

Radiohead - How To Disappear Completely.

Gordon Lightfoot - Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

ok, so I just asked a good friend of mine and mind you, he was a roadie for a number of years (AC/DC, Metallica, Crue, KISS), so he's a few light years beyond your average jaded music fan, but this was his answer:

"Don't Worry, Be Happy"

heh.

Mike Oldfield - Embers.
This one REALLY gets me down, if I'm feeling weary.

Elton John - Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word
Personal reasons :\

yup daryl was so pissed off when he wrote all those lyrics he in away regrets it because hs been branded a schovanist(spelling?)
but he had just gotten out of bad relationship and seemed to be angry and women in general ath that point... but its a great album none the less

the district sleeps alone tonight is sooooooooooooo depressing i mean wow....its such a great song tho i almost cried the first time i heard it


bliss tearing eyes - dead poetic
horns and tales - poison the well
mercury rising - from autumn to ashes
the fine art of falling - boy sets fire
(almost anything in that real emo related genre is depressing... real emo not pop punk)

Tea Party - Requiem
Opeth - In my time of need
Radiohead - Exit Music/Karma Police/No Surprises
Tool - No Quarter
Endorphin - Cant hold on

Townes Van Zandt - Pancho and Left

Tool - H (fucking awesome song)

Gin Blossoms - Hey Jealousy

Yasunori Mitsuda - Radical Dreamers, Without Taking the Jewel

Anything by Cinderella...really like that band, but everysong is about being sad and heartbroken...

Type O Negative - Bloody Kisses

Not long ago but far away.
A rainy winter's day.
All her pain she kept inside.
Could no longer hide.
No cry for help.
She killed herself.
Both life & love could not be saved.
She took them both to the grave.

A pair of souls become undone.
Where were two now one.
Divided by this wall of death.
I soon will join you yet.
With my blood I'll find your love.
You found the strength to end your life.
As you did so shall I.

Oh no.
Please don't go.
It's like a death in the family.

A crimson pool so warm & deep.
Lulls me to an endless sleep.
Your hand in mine - I will be brave.
take me from this earth.
An endless night - this, the end of life.
From the dark I feel your lips.
And I taste your bloody kiss.

Oh no.
Please don't go.
It's like a death in the family.

Don't die on me.
Don't die on me.
Don't die on me.
Don't die.

That Lux Aeterna song from Requiem for a Dream is pretty depressing, don't know if anyone has mentioned it yet. Its a really good instrumental, there's a lot of emotion in it even though it has no words. Nirvana's unplugged CD has a couple: The Man who Sold the World and Where Did You Sleep Last Night (In the Pines). Marilyn Manson's Coma White is also depressing. Ozzy's Goodbye to Romance makes me think of all the friends I've lost.

The song "Mad World" from Donnie Darko was pretty damn depressing.

Sundays - Wild Horses

I know, I know. But this particular version gets to me.

Lux aeterna is part of the catholic requiem mass, I think the version used in requiem for a dream is by faure.

The Pogues - Band Played Waltzing Matilda

Tom Waits - Romeo Is Bleeding

Nina Simone - The Ballad of Hollis Brown ( Dylan lyrics, but Simone broods better )

And of course if it hadn't been for disintegration, I might have accidently cracked a smile at some point through high school

I'll second that one. The teenage angst it inspired back in the day all comes flooding back to the surface everytime I hear it.

For me, it's a toss-up between either Exit Music (For A Film) or Motion Picture Soundtrack, both by Radiohead.
Parasite by Nick Drake is a pretty depressing song too.

Widespread Panic- cover of Wish You Were Here
Tori Amos- Me and a Gun
CandleBox- Far Behind
Nirvana- All Apologies, Where did you sleep last night? (cover)
Dave Matthews Band- Grace is Gone

Bob Dylan--Masters of War
Come you masters of war
You that build all the guns
You that build the death planes
You that build the big bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks

You that never done nothin'
But build to destroy
You play with my world
Like it's your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly

Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain

You fasten the triggers
For the others to fire
Then you set back and watch
When the death count gets higher
You hide in your mansion
As young people's blood
Flows out of their bodies
And is buried in the mud

You've thrown the worst fear
That can ever be hurled
Fear to bring children
Into the world
For threatening my baby
Unborn and unnamed
You ain't worth the blood
That runs in your veins

How much do I know
To talk out of turn
You might say that I'm young
You might say I'm unlearned
But there's one thing I know
Though I'm younger than you
Even Jesus would never
Forgive what you do

Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul

And I hope that you die
And your death'll come soon
I will follow your casket
In the pale afternoon
And I'll watch while you're lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I'll stand o'er your grave
'Til I'm sure that you're dead

Pink Floyd - Nobody Home

Alice Cooper - Only Women Bleed

That song is really sad. I remember watching the Unplugged episode when he played that. It just blew me away.

Also, "Dust in the Wind" by Kansas is depressing as hell.

"Last Kiss" is really depressing. I can't think of who originally sung it but I know Pearl Jam covered it. Its a really sad song.

Black - Pearl Jam

Dream Theater <em>are</em> depressing, because they are so bad.

and ugly.

Eric Clapton - Tears in Heaven

Luther Vandross - Dance With My Father

anything off the Disintegration album by The Cure

Im surprised no one mentioned Angus Dei and Barbers Adagio for Strings - Basically same songs but ones a choir version and the other strings.. If any of you have played Homeworld the song in the intro when the homeworld gets destroyed. Or watched Platoon.

"already dead" -beck

all the songs on Arcology Mix Six by Dj Straylight|Xian

Harry Chapin, Cats in the Cradle.

Really makes one think about the whole "coming of age" deal.

NIN - Hurt
NIN - Something i can never have
NIN - And all that could have been


yeah, i'm a Nine Inch Nails fan..

I am a rock - Simon and Garfunkel.

:( :(

Yeah, I've heard all these interviews with him and stuff where he says the same thing but if you ask me the entire album is pretty much summed up in the hidden track after "Motel of the White Locust"... if you really listen to the lyrics than it makes a lot more sense... the last verse of the song is almost the defining moment of the album for me

"Now I have you where I want you
And I know that you are listening
This is my chance to tell you everything
My chance to tell you I love you
But I've waited too long
And now the record's over
Now the record's over"

on another note...

A few people (I remember crow_daw in particular) mentioned Mad World by Gary Jules... that's an INCREDIBLE song. At the end of Donnie Darko (my favorite film BTW) I never cease to be leveled by the power that song has over that final montague (sp, I know). His version is a lot more soulful than the Tears for Fears (original) one, if you ask me.

Heroin - Velvet Underground...

makes me want to curl up and die.

:( ;)

Just yesterday morning they let me know you were gone
Susanne the plans they made put an end to you
I walked out this morning and I wrote down this song
I just can’t remember who to send it to

"Fire and Rain" by James Taylor


Down in a hole, feelin’ so small
Down in a hole, losin’ my soul
I’d like to fly,
But my wings have been so denied

"Down in a Hole" by Alice in Chains

it's been mentioned a few times but portishead's stuff for sure, especially dummy (album). sneaker pimps have a similar vibe but it's just a bite off portishead

Modest Mouse, Nick Cave, Morphine

Reflection, by Tool. Always gets me.

not saddest song ever, but pretty sad

Sad Angel - Computor Girl

Something Corporate - Konstantine

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Under the Bridge

I second that.

"im not in love" Tori amos, Strange Little Girls

I have you all beat. I once saw a commercial with Dolly Parton's "I will always love you"

They showed a son being born and growing up through the years with his mother always by his side. There is nothing like a mother's love. Just typing this up is choking me up. Now everytime I hear that sweet voice sing that song, I start to cry.

I love you mom.

Trouble Every Day by Frank Zappa. Not the song itself that depresses, but the subject matter..

More poignant social commentary in music you will not find.

My vote goes to Eminem's "Stan." That is one seriously disturbing story, and the sampling of Dido's song makes it all the more haunting. *shudders*

Dreamer - Ozzy

eric clapton - tears in heaven
metallica - mama said
bob segar - running against the wind
(used to listen to it with my dad when i was young)

and i feel like a loser for saying this one, but i dl'ed "gollum's song" from the lord of the rings soundtrack, check it out, the music and the words come together to make a really fkin depressing song

Exit Music (for a film) by Radiohead is my sad song of choice.

Any rendition of "Gloomy Sunday" and anything performed by Radiohead is pretty damn depressing and moody.

Oh, and Lou Reed singing "Just A Perfect Day".

Just a perfect day
drink Sangria in the park
And then later
when it gets dark, we go home

Just a perfect day
feed animals in the zoo
Then later
a movie, too, and then home

Oh, it's such a perfect day
I'm glad I spend it with you
Oh, such a perfect day
You just keep me hanging on
You just keep me hanging on

Just a perfect day
problems all left alone
Weekenders on our own
it's such fun

Just a perfect day
you made me forget myself
I thought I was
someone else, someone good

Oh, it's such a perfect day
I'm glad I spent it with you
Oh, such a perfect day
You just keep me hanging on
You just keep me hanging on

You're going to reap just what you sow
You're going to reap just what you sow
You're going to reap just what you sow
You're going to reap just what you sow

Pool Shark - Sublime
He Stopped Loving Her Today - George Jones
I Will Remembar You - Sarah Maclochlan

Gary Jules - Mad World wins this by a landslide. Period.

Here's an instrumental (kinda) song that gets me pretty worked up. Godspeed You! Black Emporer - "Sleep".

um... oh man... i have heaps... but everything has been making me sad lately... um.. here goes...
blow up the outside world- soundgarden
spacing- pacifier
everything- pacifier
my immortal- evanesance (sp?)
alice in chains- no excuses
kashmir- surfing the warm industry (just some of the lyrics... like the chorus- "its up to you coz im absolutly numb")
getaway car- audioslave
hmmm.... and heaps more that i can think of...

- Love Hurts

I agree, Mad World by Gary Jules is overly depressing.

Heaven (911 Remix) by DJ Sammy is not so much depressing, but so damn sad it'll make you bawl till you can't bawl anymore.

Other very depressing songs:
Nothing Compares 2 U by Sineod O'Connor
The Christmas Shoes by Newsong
In The Air Tonight by Phil Collins
Asleep by The Smith's
Hide and Seek by Imogen Heap (strange song, but very beautiful)
I'm Sorry by Glassjaw
Konstantine by Something Corporate (You have GOTTA get this song)
Bluebird Of Happiness by Mojave 3
Wonderwall by Ryan Adams (The tune of this is really really depressing)
Forgotten Hopes by Anathema
Rainy Days by Guster
Stan by Eminem (The words are disturbing)

These songs aren't as depressing, but they're really good and they make me want to kill myself for some reason:
Walking By by Something Corporate
Only Ashes by Something Corporate
Good News by Something Corporate:

"And then she looked at me to scream,
'my castles are falling'
But I can't look into the street,
without everything changing

I wanna read good new, good news
I wanna be innocent again
I wanna read good news, good news
But nothing good is happening"

...
 

Mariah Carey - Looking In

Deftones - Digital Bath

Jewel - Daddy

Carl Thomas - Emotional

Brian McKnight - Anytime

Sweetbox- Everythings Gonna Be Alright

A Perfect Circle -
-Orestes
-Brena
-Gravity

Andre 3000 - Pink and Blue

my nomination, which is pretty solid, is "starry starry night" by don mclean....but i dont know if that compares to mad world by gary jules, that is just incredible.

Anyone heard Jeff Buckley on Mystery White Boy sing "Hallelujah" and then continue into The Smith's "I Know It's Over"? Hands down the worst I've ever heard depressing-wise. Or best, depending on your view point

the 70's song "Season's in the Sun" How this song about dying got so popular and made it so big is beyond me....it's the saddest fucking song in the world when you pay attention to the lyrics.

and without doubt............. 2 songs from The KINKS "Phobia" album are depressing in other ways to me personally.

Better off in A Pine Box~ Doug Stone

I remember this coming out when I was in high school. Song writer must have had a pretty broken heart.

"colourblind" - counting crows
"my chosen one" - guillemots
"seems so long ago, nancy" - leonard cohen


and even though it's probably the most romantic song written/covered in the past 5 years, it has broughten me to tears a few times:
"such great heights" - iron and wine


but the one that REALLY takes the cake is
"have you passed through this night?" - explosions in the sky
listen to it. it'll leave you numb/

The Decemberists' song Grace Cathedral Hill had me crying on the subway when the line "Are you feeling better now?" repeated and I realized that I wasn't.

Natalie Merchant's The Living is very very sad. (the lyrics)

i SWEAR i posted on this thread already, but I guess not. I've got two for you:

"Lua" by Bright Eyes

"Adam McCarthy" by Ralph Covert

1) Fade to Black - Metallica
2) Girlfriend in a Coma - The Smiths
3) Tail lights fade - Buffalo Tom

Knowing the story behind the lyrics, I gotta go with:

Tears in Heaven - Eric Clapton

A lot of Chopin's piano works are extremly sad and moving, but the one that comes to mind is Nocturne in E minor, Op. 72, No. 1. I remember listening to it right after my grandfather on my mother's side had passed away. The tone of the piece coupled with the memories make it kinda depressing, but in a good way.

Maybe it's just self pity at the moment, but I have got to go with Jackson Browne - The Pretender.


Say a prayer for the pretender, who started out so young and strong, only to surrender...

"You Gave Me a Mountain"

I find Coldplay (everything) to be quite depressing at times, though hauntingly beautiful on some occasions.

don't you mean vincent? yeah that's a hell of a depressing song.

Anther one that makes me get all weepy: Elvis Costello - Veronica. About an old woman with Alzheimers and what a full life she had.

Is it all in that pretty little head of yours?
What goes on in that place in the dark?
Well I used to know a girl and I could have sworn
that her name was Veronica
Well she used to have a carefree mind of her own
and a delicate look in her eye
These days I'm afraid she's not even sure if her
name is Veronica