Twisting In The Wind - David Byrne
In fact, the whole album's full of dark yet upbeat songs.
this post was submitted on 03 Sep 2025
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Ring around the rosey
And
Fuzzy wuzzy was a bear
Radiohead - No Surprises
I think Enola Gay by Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark is a perfect example.
It sounds upbeat and fun but it's about the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
Some of the lyrics are incredibly powerful and I still get chills when I hear it.
Last Kiss by Wayne Cochran. You kids probably remember the Pearl Jam version, which was a bit more subdued. But the 1964 hit by J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers is very upbeat and cheerful sounding. It’s about a boy who gets his girlfriend killed in a car accident while on a date and holding her as she dies. He’s consumed with guilt and can only think about dying so he can see her again in heaven.
My boyfriend said he thought about me when we listen to Saturday Night by the Misfits. I'm like.... do you want to murder me?...
The lyrics always sounded very murdery to me. I think they did an amazing job of making it sound romantic but bf read through the lyrics after that and hugged me when I got home and said he definitely didn't want to murder me.
Edit: Ok this one is purely personal but I just got done with work and it came out on the playlist, Achilles Come Down by Gangs of Youth.
I learned this song from my daughter. I let her control the music when we'd drive to school and back but I immediately loved this song because unlike me, she has an amazing voice. This is one I only ever heard underneath her crystalline soprano while she sang along.
It was always so beautiful that I didn't focus on the song so much as her. She made a haunting, sad song a beautiful, pleasant memory for me because now she's had her license for a while, she's doing her thing being an ambitious senior. I don't get to listen to her sing anymore between my work and her school/social schedule.
I miss the days when I stayed up after a 12 hour shift to take her to school because I miss listening to her sing. I brain was fuzzy and that morning sun seared my eyeballs but I cherish every morning now because I don't have many left. I acutally miss everything about my kids needing me now that one has been independent for quite a few years and the other two are almost independent. I'm listening right now and all I can hear is her voice.
Fuck that shit hits hard. Im going to be an empty nester soon. Fucking FUCK. Fuck does it hit hard. I should be proud. I am! Jesus am I. I don't know how I was blessed with these people, bio and adopted, that's how vlessed I am, but I don't want to look the gift horse in the mouth. Fucking wow, am I proud. But really I'm sad, too.
/soliloquy
Straw Hat and Old Dirty Hank by Barenaked Ladies is about the real stalking of a Canadian celebrity by a mentally unstable man who thought she was in love with him.
HEALTH - everything from the band is banger after banger but with lyrics that'll leave you feeling a certain type of sad
most of the after laughter album by paramore
also hey ya by outkast is often played at weddings while being about a relationship failing
I didn't see wake up boo by the boo radleys in here.
It's about suicide
Neutron Dance by the Pointer Sisters
Really? I'll have to check out the lyrics now. Such an 80s staple that I think I just sang along and never really processed the words.
I don't want to take it anymore I'll just stay here locked behind the door Just no time to stop and get away 'Cause I work so hard to make it every day
Whoo-ooh Whoo-ooh
There's no money falling from the sky 'Cause a man took my heart and robbed me blind Someone stole my brand new Chevrolet And the rent is due, I got no place to stay
Whoo-ooh Whoo-ooh
And it's hard to say Just how some things never change And it's hard to find Any strength to draw the line Oh, I'm just burning doin' the neutron dance I'm just burning doin' the neutron dance
Industry don't pay a price that's fair All the common people breathing filthy air (Lord, have mercy) Roof caved in on all the simple dreams And to get ahead your heart starts pumping schemes
Edit- but the vibe of the song is so upbeat you’d never know
The title of the song is a reference to nuclear war.
Komm Süsser Tod from The End Of Evangelion.
On the documentary 'shifty' they claimed that 'the land of make believe' by bucks fizz was written about Margaret Thatcher/Thatcherism. Really puts a depressing spin on it.
Happier - by Bastille and Marshmello. It might depend on the listener tho.
Aint it fun - Paramore
Honestly, i don't like that a lot of radio music is so sad. I have to look to real oldies to find a happy song.
Little Foot Big Foot - Childish Gambino
I always find it funny how upbeat the Cambodia version by Pulsedriver is. PTSD and dropping bombs on cambodia. What a topic for a dance tune.
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Rise Against - Tragedy + Time
Charlie's Inferno is about an innocent man being tortured in Hell. It's a 50's style tune reminiscent of Mr Sandman.
That's like Paul Simon's entire schtick. Alongside downbeat songs with uplifting lyrics.
The entirety of hissing fauna are you the destroyer by of Montreal
Fast Car
Pumped Up Kicks
Flowers on the Wall
I know that there are probably a lot that I'm forgetting but here are the ones I remember:
No more crying by Sound Holic (lyrics)
Border of my life by Sound Holic (lyrics)
THE END by A-One
IT IS SO by A-One
U.N. Owen Was Her? by A-One
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