Get Premium
Dark mode theme is available exclusively for premium users. Learn more about the benefits of subscribing.
No fees, cancel anytime.
Dark Mode 
No fees, cancel anytime 
then open in external browser
and click "Open in External Browser" 
“All These Decades I Didn’t Realize”: 30 People Reveal The Sad Stories Behind Popular Songs
Musicians find inspiration everywhere; not just in happy moments, but also in uncertainty and pain, turning even the darkest experiences into a tune that resonates with the human soul.
So Reddit user Tangre79 decided to broaden their understanding of this complex art form and asked everyone on the platform to list some songs with devastating origin stories.
From popular rock ballads to reggae-pop hits, people immediately started sharing the tracks they can not listen to without getting emotional.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
I always loved (and still do) The Show Must Go On, but once Freddie Mercury revealed he was dying of AIDS, those words suddenly made horrible sense.
supergeek921:
He recorded it after his diagnosis. Reportedly he could barely stand in the studio when they recorded it and the band offered to do it another time, but he just said “I’ll sing it darling” and belted it out in one take.
Amazing and tragic.
Anon822209 1 year ago (edited)
Brian May wrote most of it. He was worried Freddie wouldn't be able to sing it because of how sick he'd gotten. That's why Freddie wasn't in the music video for the song. Edit -- No *new* footage of Freddie was in the music video for the song.
Load More Replies...
Marcos Valencia 1 year ago (edited)
I was 18 yo when Innuendo was published. And, honestly, I had no idea what that album was about, and felt a little disappointed. I felt partially disappointed with The miracle, too, but Innuendo made no sense to me at that point. Probably because that was the time when I was starting moving musically backwards, from the 80s rock music to it's blues root, in a journey that would take the next 10 years of my life. Soon after the disc was released, I received some answers (all we did) to my unasked questions, and things took much more sense. Innuendo never has been one of my preferred albums, but is one of my most respected and valued.
Luke Branwen 1 year ago
I'm not a HUGE Queen fan, but this is my favorite Queen song. Much better than Bohemian Rhapsody IMO.
Mariele Scherzinger 1 year ago (edited)
Watch the video clip for "The days of our lives" from Innuendo (their last album while Freddie was still alive). He is rail-thin. And there is a reason why it's shot in black and white.
Gavin Johnson 1 year ago
Weird that they dropped the vodka but out of the story. Freddie took a shot of vodka and then said ‘I’ll sing it darling’.
Robyn Picknell 1 year ago
So Dear Friends is my favourite song by Freddie. Very short song, so incredibly sad yet beautiful at the same time. Last line is "And there will be no crying soon". No idea when it was written. First heard it on Greatest Hits Volume 2.
RELATED:
#2
The best selling song in history, White Christmas, was written by Irving Berlin because his son Irving died on Christmas at 8 days old. Irving married an Irish Catholic girl, Ellin Mackay, whose family disowned her for marrying a Jew. Irving and Ellin would visit their son’s grave on Christmas. The song is about the Christmases he never saw.
Anon822209 1 year ago
No.... Berlin wrote it for the movie "Holiday Inn." Which is why it won an Oscar for Best Original Song.
Robert Trebor 1 year ago
According to Wikipedia, the Berlins son Irving Berlin Jr., died on Christmas Day 1928, less than one month after he was born. The song was written in 1942 for Holiday Inn. It is possible that when Berlin wrote the song he was thinking of his infant son, but I think that this is a non-fact.
Michael Largey 1 year ago
Just after he finished it, He said to his secretary "This is the best song I've ever written. In fact, it's the best song anyone's ever written."
Just-4-2day 1 year ago
White Christmas by Irving Berlin......I'm dreaming of a white Christmas - Just like the ones I used to know. - Where the treetops glisten and children listen -To hear sleigh bells in the snow. - I'm dreaming of a white Christmas - With every Christmas card I write. - "May your days be merry and bright - And may all your Christmases be white". - I'm dreaming of a white Christmas - Just like the ones I used to know, - Where the treetops glisten and children listen To hear the sleigh bеlls in the snow. - I'm dreaming of a white Christmas - With еvery Christmas card I write, - "May your days be merry and bright - And may all your Christmases be white".
#3
Dancing in the Moonlight. One of my favorite songs, very sad, unexpected origin. The songwriter and his girlfriend were on vacation at the beach when he was brutally beaten and his gf r*ped by gang members. He wrote the song afterwards, envisioning an idyllic world where everyone is happy and just dances all the time.
Scotira 1 year ago
Sherman Kelly: "On a trip to St. Croix in 1969, I was the first victim of a vicious St. Croix gang who eventually murdered 8 American tourists. At that time, I suffered multiple facial fractures and wounds and was left for dead. While I was recovering, I wrote "Dancin in the Moonlight" in which I envisioned an alternate reality, the dream of a peaceful and joyful celebration of life. The song became a huge hit and was recorded by many musicians worldwide. "Dancin In The Moonlight" continues to be popular to this day." (Wikipedia)
Illifred 1 year ago
The Thin Lizzy one or the King Harvest one? I don't get it from the lyrics.
cecilia kilian 1 year ago
I think it is the King Harvest one, which I love. It played a lot on am radio when I was a pre-teen. The backstory is shocking.
Load More Replies... 
MagicJacket 1 year ago
Darn it. I heard it on a commercial, remembered it from childhood and loaded the King Harvest song onto my phone. And now it will go on the sad song playlist.
Dread Pirate Roberts 1 year ago
Love this song; never realized it had such a horrific background...
Just-4-2day 1 year ago
Dancing in the Moonlight Lyrics - We get it on most every night - And when that ol' moon gets so big and bright - It's a supernatural delight - Everybody was dancing in the moonlight. - Everybody here is out of sight - They don't bark and they don't bite - They keep things loose, they keep things light - Everybody was dancing in the moonlight. - [Chorus] Dancing in the moonlight - Everybody's feeling warm and bright - It's such a fine and natural sight - Everybody's dancing in the moonlight. - We like our fun and we never fight - You can't dance and stay uptight - It's a supernatural delight - Everybody was dancing in the moonlight. - [Chorus] -
#4
Sittin' On The Dock of the Bay by Otis Redding. The final verse where he whistles the melody was a placeholder. He died (I think in a plane crash?) before he could record the lyrics to the end of the song. Hell of a voice in that man.
Kiss Army 1 year ago
I literally learned this just this past weekend watching a You-Tube video about singers that died too soon.
Load More Replies...
Danny Eglen 1 year ago
He also never heard all the wave crashes and bird song. They were added later by Steve Cropper
Vix Spiderthrust 1 year ago
"Colonel" Steve Cropper of Blues Brothers fame?
Load More Replies...
Gingersnap In Iowa 1 year ago
The Bee Gees wrote To Love Somebody for Otis Redding but he died in a plane crash before he could record it.
Just-4-2day 1 year ago
Sittin' On The Dock of the Bay by Otis Redding. Lyrics - Sittin' in the mornin' sun - I'll be sittin' when the evenin' come - Watching the ships roll in - And I watch 'em roll away again, yeah. I'm sittin' on the dock of the bay - Watching the tide roll away - Ooh, I'm just sittin' on the dock of the bay - Wastin' time. - I left my home in Georgia - Headed for the 'Frisco bay - 'Cause I've had nothing to live for - And look like nothing's gonna come my way - So I'm just gonna sit on the dock of the bay -Watching the tide roll away - Ooh, I'm sittin' on the dock of the bay - Wastin' time - Look like nothing's gonna change - Everything still remains the same - I can't do what ten people tell me to do - So I guess I'll remain the same, yes. - Sittin' here resting my bones - And this loneliness won't leave me alone - It's two thousand miles I roamed - Just to make this dock my home - Now, I'm just gonna sit at the dock of the bay - Watching the tide roll away.
araT sdrawkcaB 1 year ago (edited)
Just the whistling. He hadn’t come up with lyrics before his untimely death.
Load More Replies...
Maggie Mae 1 year ago
Otis Redding was on a chartered plane that crashed into Lake Monona on Dec. 10, 1967, killing Redding and four members of his backup band, the Bar-Kays while they were flying to a scheduled performance.
ImATotalTina 1 year ago
For all we know, he had the lyrics on the tip of his tongue right before he died
#5
Definitely "Tears in Heaven" by Eric Clapton. Found out he wrote it after his 4-year-old son tragically passed away. Hit me differently ever since.
80 Van 1 year ago
He tragically died after falling out of a high rise window. That is devastating.
Upstaged75 1 year ago
The poor kid fell out of a window. I can only imagine how horrifying that must have been for his parents!
The Doom Song 1 year ago
My parents told me at a young age about the meaning behind this song. It's sad as fuxk but still an amazing song
Just-4-2day 1 year ago
Tears in Heaven by Eric Clapton - Lyrics - Would you know my name - If I saw you in heaven? Would it be the same - If I saw you in heaven? - I must be strong - And carry on - 'Cause I know I don't belong - Here in heaven. - Would you hold my hand - If I saw you in heaven? - Would you help me stand - If I saw you in heaven? - I'll find my way - Through night and day 'Cause I know I just can't stay - Here in heaven - Time can bring you down - Time can bend your knees - Time can break your heart - Have you begging please - Begging please - Beyond the door - There's peace, I'm sure - And I know there'll be no more - Tears in heaven - Would you know my name - If I saw you in heaven? - Would you be the same - If I saw you in heaven? - I must be strong - And carry on - 'Cause I know I don't belong - Here in heaven.
BollosDotCom 1 year ago (edited)
He likes that ppl think it's for his son. It's about his grandfather who raised him. 'My father's eyes' is about his son. He talks about this in his book.
Maggie Mae 1 year ago
Eric Clapton was on the Phone with his then Wife too and The Boy got so Excited His Dad was Coming to See him he Jumped up on the Widow Sill and Fell out through the Screen while his Mama was screaming and eric was Running towards the Building.
MissMePhoenix 1 year ago
I found this out when i was in high school like 15 years ago. I think i cried for a solid day, it was so heart breaking.
#6
Electric Avenue by Eddie Grant is about the Brixton riots and living in poverty, not being able to feed your kids despite working full time.
Just-4-2day 1 year ago
Electric Ave. by Eddie Grant Lyrics - Boy (boy, boy) - Now in the street, there is violence - And, and a lots of work to be done - No place to hang out our washing - And, and I can't blame all on the sun - [Chorus] We gonna rock down to Electric Avenue - And then we'll take it higher. - (Oh) we gonna rock down to Electric Avenue - And then we'll take it higher - Workin' so hard like a soldier - Can't afford a thing on TV - Deep in my heart, I abhor ya - Can't get food for them kid. - [Chorus] - Who is to blame in one country? - Never can get to the one - Dealin' in multiplication - And they still can't feed everyone. - [Chorus] - Oh, out in the street - Out in the street - Out in the daytime - Out in the night - [Chorus] - Out in the street - Out in the street - Out in the playground - In the dark side of town - [Chorus]
StretcherBearer 1 year ago (edited)
For my international Pandas. This was one of the favorite songs of my friend who passed away a few years ago. He was Native American and from a tribe called Supai. They live on a reservation in Arizona and many are Rastafarian. So if you happen to be wandering around the Grand Canyon you might end up hearing reggae echoing out of nowhere. I do believe that you have to have a permit to go into the area because it's a reservation and part of the Grand Canyon preservation area. My info may be dated. I'm always fascinated by the fact that music can be relevant to a person a million miles away and speak to the listener and their circumstances.
PixieVonBehr 1 year ago
There's an Electric Avenue in the town where I live in South East England and I get this song in my head every time I go past. Great song.
Sue Pemberton 1 year ago
There's an Electric Avenue in Brixton which is what it was named after.
Load More Replies... #7
Bruce Springsteen - Born in the USA. I thought it was a happy song.. about being born in the USA, I guess?
And of course it’s not. According to Wikipedia: “The song addresses the economic hardships of Vietnam veterans upon their return home, juxtaposed ironically against patriotic glorification of the nation's fighting forces.”
Yeah, not a happy song.
PSimms 1 year ago
How could anyone who knows the song not know this? Lyrics leave no room for confusion.
Marlowe Fitzpatrik 1 year ago
to be fair, a lot of people mostly sing "la la la la la blabla BOOOOORN IN THE YOOOU ASSSS AYYY!!!!"
Load More Replies...
Khavrinen 1 year ago
And so many ( usually right wing ) politicians try to use it ( without Springsteen's permission ) in their campaigns, because they don't pay attention to the lyrics, either.
Dread Pirate Roberts 1 year ago (edited)
Kinda obvious what it's about if you just listen to the lyrics
Just-4-2day 1 year ago
Born in the USA by Bruce Springsteen Lyrics - Born down in a dead man’s town -The first kick I took was when I hit the ground - You end up like a dog that’s been beat too much -Till you spend half your life just covering up - Born in the U.S.A. -[CHORUS] I was born in the U.S.A. - I was born in the U.S.A. - Born in the U.S.A. - Got in a little hometown jam - So they put a rifle in my hand - Sent me off to a foreign land - To go and kill the yellow man - [CHORUS] - Come back home to the refinery - Hiring man says “Son if it was up to me” - Went down to see my V.A. man - He said “Son, don’t you understand” - I had a brother at Khe Sanh fighting off the Viet Cong - They’re still there, he’s all gone - He had a woman he loved in Saigon - I got a picture of him in her arms now - Down in the shadow of the penitentiary - Out by the gas fires of the refinery - I’m ten years burning down the road - Nowhere to run ain’t got nowhere to go - [CHORUS]
Conny Klimas 1 year ago
It makes me sad that people seem to think song lyrics don't matter. Otherwise they would never misunderstand that song; the lyrics are very, very clear.
Sue 1 year ago (edited)
It was hilarious Reagan & used it for his campaign. It was about exactly the opposite of what Reagan was for. I always wonder if the Boomers these days even know what it was about.
Rosemary . 1 year ago
Springsteen is my all time favorite artist. I think I know every word to his first 8 albums by heart.
#8
Okay, not heartbreaking, but definitely more serious than I ever thought: The dogs in Who Let the Dogs Out are men who harass women in the clubs. The song is basically “who let in these a******s who don’t know how to act?”.
Linus Nilsson 1 year ago
Don't know why this is downvoted, that's the version that I heard as well at the time
Load More Replies...
glowworm2 1 year ago
Same. Was still a kid at the time when it came out so completely understandable.
Load More Replies... 
#9
“House of the Rising Sun.” Most people know it from the Animals’ version, sung by a man. But it is written from the perspective of a young woman, forced into prostitution in the House of the Rising Sun. “It’s been the ruin of many a poor girl, and God I know I’m one.”.
ColdSteelRonin 1 year ago
From Wikipedia: The House of the Rising Sun" is a traditional folk song, sometimes called "Rising Sun Blues". It tells of a person's life gone wrong in the city of New Orleans. Many versions also urge a sibling or parents and children to avoid the same fate....The song was first collected in Appalachia in the 1930s, but probably has its roots in traditional English folk song. It is listed as number 6393 in the Roud Folk Song Index.
Michael Largey 1 year ago
You can also sing "Amazing Grace" to its melody. It's a standard in the Blind Boys of Alabama's repertoire.
John Dilligaf 1 year ago
There was once a bar / brothel in Olongapo City (outside the Subic Bay Naval base) called The Rising Sun
kissmychakram 1 year ago
The oldest known version of the lyrics are indeed about a "poor girl"
Load More Replies...
#10
All of My Love by Led Zeppelin is about his 5-year-old son's unexpected death from a virus.
TheRightToArmBears 1 year ago
what?? next you're going to tell me Steely Dan isn't a person?
Load More Replies...
cecilia kilian 1 year ago
Karac Pendragon Plant. It is a beautiful song, with a very uplifting melody. A fitting tribute to an adored child. The photos of father and son together are lovely.
antoinette maldari 1 year ago
I think he is portrayed as one of the children on the Houses of the Holy album cover art?
Load More Replies... Just-4-2day 1 year ago
All of My Love by Led Zeppelin Lyrics - Should I fall out of love, my fire in the light - To chase a feather in the wind - Within the glow that weaves a cloak of delight - There moves a thread that has no end - For many hours and days that pass ever soon - The tides have caused the flame to dim - At last the arm is straight, the hand to the loom - Is this to end or just begin? [CHORUS] All of my love, all of my love - All of my love to you, oh - All of my love, all of my love, oh - The cup is raised, the toast is made yet again - One voice is clear above the din - Proud Arianne one word, my will to sustain - For me, the cloth once more to spin, oh All of my love to you - [CHROUS] - Yours is the cloth, mine is the hand that sews time His is the force that lies within - Ours is the fire, all the warmth we can find - He is a feather in the wind, oh - [CHORUS]
Vonny 1 year ago
I appreciate you posting the lyrics to these songs. ty so much
Load More Replies...
CheshirePhrogg 1 year ago
They've got a couple that are real heart breakers once you know about them. This one hits especially hard as Plant was out of the Country on tour when his son passed
Richard Wareham 1 year ago
So was Blue Train from the Walking Into Clarksdale album with Jimmy Page
#11
I Don’t Like Mondays by the Boomtown Rats. I heard the song just a few years ago and recently learned the backstory. It’s about the Cleveland school shooting from 1979. When the shooter was asked why she did it, she said it was simply that she didn’t like Mondays.
John Carr 1 year ago
16 year old Brenda Spencer. Her father (who also sexually abused her) bought her the guns for her birthday.
Enuya 1 year ago
*Possibly* sexually abused her. I'm not saying he's not to blame (who the hell buys a gun for 15-16 y.o.?) but sexual abuse is only an allegation and as far as I know was never proven. Brenda was known from changing her story and versions of events multiple times and shifting the blame. She's not exactly reliable. Also, other members of her family never experienced this kind of behaviour from the man and never noticed him behaving this way toward Brenda (which, admittedly, is not a proof that he didn't abuse her - but also tjere's no proof that he did).
Load More Replies...
Gavin Johnson 1 year ago
The quote is ‘I don’t like Mondays, this livens up the day’. Geldof regrets writing the song as is brought attention / fame to Brenda Spencer.
Just-4-2day 1 year ago
I Don’t Like Mondays by the Boomtown Rats Lyrics - The silicon chip inside her head - Gets switched to overload - And nobody's gonna go to school today - She's going to make them stay at home - And daddy doesn't understand it - He always said she was as good as gold And he can see no reasons - 'Cause there are no reasons - What reason do you need to be shown? - [CHORUS] Tell me why? - I don't like Mondays - Tell me why? - I don't like Mondays - Tell me why? - I don't like Mondays - I want to shoot - The whole day down - The telex machine is kept so clean - As it types to a waiting world - And mother feels so shocked - Father's world is rocked - And their thoughts turn to - Their own little girl - Sweet 16 ain't so peachy keen - No, it ain't so neat to admit defeat - They can see no reasons - 'Cause there are no reasons - What reason do you need? - [CHORUS] - *PG 1/2*
Just-4-2day 1 year ago
*PG 2/2* And all the playing's stopped in the playground now - She wants to play with her toys a while - And school's out early and soon we'll be learning - And the lesson today is how to die - And then the bullhorn crackles - And the captain tackles - With the problems and the how's and why's - And he can see no reasons - 'Cause there are no reasons - What reason do you need to die, die? - And the silicon chip inside her head - Gets switched to overload And nobody's gonna go to school today - She's going to make them stay at home - And daddy doesn't understand it - He always said she was as good as gold - And he can see no reasons 'Cause there are no reasons - What reason do you need to be shown? - [CHORUS]
Load More Replies...
David Martin 1 year ago
I also heard that the girl involved in the shooting was so excited to learn her story was going to be told in a song...and then went after the band for legal damages because her name is never used in the song, denying her the acclaim she felt entitled to. Sick
ThisIsTheRealBruno 1 year ago (edited)
The song is worth little more than that shock value. Everyone in America just learns that Bob Geldolf, the guy who organized Live Aid, was from some band, "Boomtown Rats," which is odd because nobody in America ever heard of the Boomtown Rats. They only had the one single in America, and it barely broke the top 100. OTOH, when people finally saw a face of Pink Floyd for the first time since long before Dark Side of the Moon (their first American hit), the face they saw was... Bob Geldolf? He was cast to play the role of the fictitious Pink from The Wall.
#12
Wake me up when September Ends. It’s not just a meme. It’s literally all Billy Joe Armstrong said after his dad died when he was a teenager.
The Doom Song 1 year ago
Billie Joe is an amazing songwriter. Green Day are one of my all time favourite bands
Dread Pirate Roberts 1 year ago
Same, I love Green Day. Even my dad loves them, and he's in his 70s!
Load More Replies...
Melissa Sawicki 1 year ago
Funny I knew the backstory of this song when it came out until my Dad passed in 05 and now it means a lot to me.
MissMePhoenix 1 year ago
Too bad they played this song to death on the radio and i literally can't stand to hear it anymore.
SkippityBoppityBoo 1 year ago
The video to this song? - "The song's music video depicts a couple broken apart by the Iraq War, which was intended to convey the song's central theme of loss."
#13
Glenn Campbell -- I'm not gonna to miss you -- A song to his wife while he has Alzheimer's, saying goodbye while he can because he knows he's not going to say goodbye later
Ashley Campbell -- Remembering-- A song from his daughter to him in response.
Hippopotamuses 1 year ago
That's really sad. He was the only singer that everyone in my family liked.
Data1001 1 year ago
This post misses the point of Glen Campbell's song. He says "I'm not gonna miss you" because eventually he's going to forget who you even are, so at that point he won't miss the relationship they had because he won't even remember they were together. The lyrics are completely devastating... although brilliant at the same time. He wrote it when he was still cogent enough to realize that he was going to lose his memory, but while he still knew her and loved her.
Lori T Wisconsin 1 year ago
The man beat his wives, especially Tanya Tucker. He was a coke addict, too.
Hannah Taylor 1 year ago
It was probably because of his cocaine habit, which he eventually beat.
Load More Replies... #14
When I Lost You by Irving Berlin. Irving Berlin was 24 years old and an early success. He married singer Dorothy Goetz who was in her early twenties. Five months after the wedding she died of typhoid fever. It's the first sad song he wrote. It was a year before he could bring himself to perform it. He didn't marry again for 14 years.
#15
Zombie by The Cranberries is about a bombing that [unalived] children during "The Troubles."
80 Van 1 year ago
Does anyone else find the word “unalived” more disturbing and unsettling than the word “killed”?
The only Plueschopossum 1 year ago
Definitely! It always sounds like Newspeak from Orwell's 1984 to me.
Load More Replies...
Marlowe Fitzpatrik 1 year ago
I mean.. it's not exactly a hidden meaning, is it? It says so in the lyrics! And the video is also pretty clear that it's not about Shawn of the Dead
Ms. Mack 1 year ago
My thought exactly... about as subtle as a brick upside the head, those lyrics.
Load More Replies...
Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa) 1 year ago
Yeah this one isn't news to me. I knew it because I was just becoming a news junky when The Troubles were coming to a close. Thank god for the Good Friday Agreement. It's not perfect but it keeps the peace.
Vix Spiderthrust 1 year ago (edited)
Until Brexit fu*ks it by plonking a border down where we've agreed there won't be one
Load More Replies... 
Ace 1 year ago
"The troubles" meaning Northern Ireland, but this particular bombing took place in England.
XenoMurph 1 year ago
No, it's not limited to Northern Ireland. It's about the whole Nationalist/Unionist terror campaign. Some of which involved activity in both GB and ROI.
Load More Replies...
Conny Klimas 1 year ago
Do people never listen to the lyrics?? Zombie makes all of that pretty clear, min no uncertain terms; literally the only thing that is not made explicit is Northern Ireland, and as the band is Irish, even that is not hard to guess.
#16
"Jeremy" by Pearl Jam is inspired by the real-life s*icide of Jeremy Wade Delle, a 15-year-old student from Richardson, Texas who shot himself in front of his English class on January 8, 1991.
Nikki Gross 1 year ago
Pearl Jam is amazing and "Ten" is a masterpiece that still musically holds up today. The unedited version of "Jeremy" is especially hard to watch and Eddie Vedder wrote that YEARS before the Columbine shooting happened.
Nikki Gross 1 year ago
@Ray Ceeya the difference is that it was shot from Jeremy's perspective. Which by the way it was approved by the real life Jeremy's father before it was released. Pearl Jam recently re-released the original uncut version to bring awareness to gun violence in this country. Telling Jeremy's story served as a cautionary tale of what could potentially happen given the right circumstances and unfortunately PJ was right because 8 years later Columbine happened.
Nikki Gross 1 year ago
That's surprising since there was an interview on MTV with Jeremy's Dad shortly after the video was originally released where he said he gave Eddie permission.
Load More Replies... 
BewilderedBanana 1 year ago
I'm confused... Aren't most songs "exploiting" an event (tragic, as in most of this list, or otherwise) to sell records? If you sing about something, then you're "exploiting" that thing to sell records. And since most songs are about something or other, this applies to most songs. You're correct, why/how would anyone prove you wrong?
Load More Replies...
#17
American Pie - I already knew it was heartbreaking, I just didn't know what it was about.
mrglumdaddy:
[it's about] the plane crash that [unalived] Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and the Big Bopper among others.
Premislaus de Colo 1 year ago
It's about so much more... There is so much context in this incredible song, just unbelievable
Kate 1 year ago
Yeah, it incorporates so much more, but it's about the airplane crash. How can you tell? Airplanes used to have names, like boats. Y'know, like the Spirit of St. Louis? Well, Buddy Holly &co. were flying in the American Pie.
Load More Replies...
JuJu 1 year ago
It's in the lyrics. Dors nobody listen to what they hear? It was even called "The day the music died" by the papers.
Lil Miss Hobbit 1 year ago
I love this song and did some research and he never confirmed that this was what the song was about. He left if up for interpretation.
Upstaged75 1 year ago
The plane that crashed and killed the singers was literally named American Pie. Pretty sure there's no interpretation needed on that.
Load More Replies... Karen Southern 1 year ago
In highschool I had to write an essay about all of the symbolism in this song there is soooo much
Stephen Hutchison 1 year ago
Just STOP with the "unalived" nonsense. It's too precious-wecious and it's going to eventually trigger the Bored Panda fear-bot to start censoring "alive" ...
Genie Krivanek 1 year ago
You mean KILLED Buddyy Holly? My, God, the PC police have gone INSANE!!! Holly DIED! He did not UNALIVE!!!!!!!
Chewie Baron 1 year ago (edited)
His other big song ‘Vincent’, about Van Gogh, and that was the song that was the inspiration for ‘Killing Me Softly’.
Vix Spiderthrust 1 year ago
Apparently not. It was a Don McLean song that inspired Killing Me Softly..., but it was Empty Chairs, not Vincent or American Pie (as is also sometimes claimed)
Load More Replies... #18
Pink Floyds song dedicated to their former bandmate Syd Barrett who tragically lost his mind/mental state.
Shine on
You crazy
Diamond
"On 5 June 1975, Barrett, now heavyset, with a completely shaved head and eyebrows, wandered into the studio where the band were recording. They did not recognize him for some time because of his drastically changed appearance, but when they eventually realized who the withdrawn man in the corner was, Roger Waters became so distressed about Barrett's appearance that he was reduced to tears." Wikipedia.
Little Wonder 1 year ago
You were caught in the crossfire of childhood and stardom / Blown on the steel breeze / Come on, you target for faraway laughter / Come on, you stranger, you legend, you martyr, and shine
antoinette maldari 1 year ago
Amazing how these bands from the 70's could get their point across in song without one f**king curse word?
Load More Replies... ColdSteelRonin 1 year ago (edited)
The Wall album and movie are about Syd and his descent into insanity
fan of phish 1 year ago
My absolute favorite Pink Floyd album. The whole thing is sadly beautiful. So powerful.
#19
“Take Me To Church”, by Hozier. On first listen, sounds like a love song. Music video with more visual details? OOF.
wootiown:
My whole life I thought it was just some Christian rock song. All the Jesus freaks would play and sing it nonstop.
Had no idea it's about a gay couple explicitly hiding from the church.
T'Mar of Vulcan 1 year ago
Anybody who listened to the lyrics would know it's NOT a Christian song. But it is a very good song.
Kate 1 year ago
Back in the day, Christian rock radio stations used to play "Sorrow" by Bad Religion, but would never say the name of the band. The punk kids thought it was hilarious that the holier-than-thou kids were going around blasting Bad Religion. According to my punky little sister.
Load More Replies... Marlowe Fitzpatrik 1 year ago
I honestly never bothered much with the lyrics so I didn't know the true meaning, but his voice when singing "Take me to church" and the way it is belted makes it very clear it's not actually about asking someone to drive them to Sunday-church.
jasper 1 year ago
No. The VIDEO is about a gay relationship. The song is not explicitly so, just a relationship the Catholic Church doesn't approve of. Considering they don't approve of unmarried sex, either, it could be about that. The Wiki article has some good insight about it.
CheshirePhrogg 1 year ago
The point is this song ripped my heart out the first time i heard it and it continues to do so to this day
Load More Replies...
Nimitz 1 year ago
Yeah, as a gay man, this song was about the abuse of Christians like my mom. A f*****g anthem to those of us dealing with Christian homophobia
devotedtodreams 1 year ago
Whenever I hear this song (which I try to avoid), it makes me feel like it's trying to pound me into the ground.
Sheena Leversedge Wood 1 year ago
how would anyone NOT know that's what it's about?! especially if they'd ever seen the video
#20
My darlin', Clementine is about a man who watches his lover drown in a river because he can't swim. Final verse goes "Ruby lips above the water blowing bubbles sweet and fine. Alas for me, I was no swimmer so I lost my Clementine.".
Min 1 year ago
One of the biggest culture shocks for me when I moved to the UK was hearing this tune being played by ice cream trucks.
Roan The Demon Kitty 1 year ago
My darling clementine is set to a tune that's existed for years with unknown origin, it's been used by a lot of things tbf.
Load More Replies...
Slapdash1 1 year ago
The NEXT verse goes " How I missed her! How I missed her, /How I missed my Clementine, / But I kissed her little sister, / I forgot my Clementine" So I guess it's all good?
Snowy Ashton 1 year ago
Yeah, Patches and Little White Dove are on that drowning list too. Right up there with Oh Where Oh Where Can My Baby Be. I hate those songs they're so freaking depressing.
glowworm2 1 year ago
The dead teenager trope was pretty popular for music. Don’t forget “Leader of the Pack” by the Sangri-las.
Load More Replies...
Robert Beveridge 1 year ago
Being the age I am, I can never hear this song without the line "and her shows were number nine." Which is now somehow more awful.
Max Fox 1 year ago
Another dumba$$ who refuses to read the lyrics or has no sense of humor. It's a satire on other sad songs. From the fact that she "fell into the foaming brine", even though they were far inland in the desert (her father was a "Miner 49er", and the gold in California was found inland, mostly in the desert), the lover who decides that it's just too dangerous to save her, to "though in life I used to kiss her, now that she's dead, I draw the line". Finally it ends with "How I missed her, how I missed her, how I missed my Clementine, 'till I kissed her little sister, and forgot my Clementine".
Holly Marley 7 months ago (edited)
Yes, its a dig at the romance stories and songs at the time, making fun of the heroines who were always so petite and lovely, and not a hair out of place. Notice she is wearing herring boxes - the box that fish are shipped in, similar to sardines - so very smelly, and size 9 so big feet.
Load More Replies... #21
Gypsy by Fleetwood Mac.
Recently found out Stevie wrote it when her childhood friend was dying of leukemia. I have incurable leukemia so the lyrics hit harder now for me.
“Faces freedom with a little fear, I have no fear and have only love”.
Ace 1 year ago
About the earlier times, but later dedicated to the lost friend.
Load More Replies... #22
It's not exactly tragic, but the wedding staple "At Last" by Etta James is actually about a widow who dies and meets her late husband in the afterlife. "My heart was wrapped up in clover the night I looked at you," cause she was buried.
Still a great love story that can be used for weddings but a touch darker.
Patricia Sørensen 1 year ago
I can see how you could interpret it this way, but it's really not. If the lyrical subject were reuniting with a lost love in death, the verses "And life is like a song" and especially "I found a thrill to press my cheek to, A thrill that I've never known" wouldn't fit. Life starting anew and being like heaven are fairly standard metaphors for falling in love. The text just doesn't support a "dead widow" interpratation above a "fallen in love for the first time" one. I also haven't found anything extratextual to support it.
ColdSteelRonin 1 year ago
From Melodyinsight: Etta James’ iconic “At Last” celebrates the euphoria of finally finding true love. This classic ballad articulates the deep satisfaction and joy of ending a prolonged period of loneliness and starting a chapter filled with love and harmony. It’s not centered on a specific person but encapsulates the universal feeling of love’s triumphant arrival. The song echoes the sentiment of waiting for that perfect moment when everything falls into place.
MissMePhoenix 1 year ago
Ok so this song was written for the 1941 film Sun Valley Serenade and has absolutely nothing to do with a widower meeting her love in the afterlife. Maybe BP should fùck off with the censoring and get to fùcking work with the fact checking.
Binky Melnik 1 year ago
‘ "My heart was wrapped up in clover the night I looked at you," cause she was buried.’ What? Does anyone understand what this means?
#23
Before You Go by Lewis Capaldi. He wrote it for his aunt that took her own life.
Bored Birgit 1 year ago
I am really faszinated by Lewis Capaldi. Saw the documentary about him on Netflix. Wish him all the best with his Tourette syndrome.
#24
Definitely "Fast Car" by Tracy Chapman. found out it’s about escaping a life of poverty and unfulfilled dreams. hits way harder now.
ynyrhydref56 1 year ago
Right? It's blatantly obvious and the whole story of the song.
Load More Replies...
ColdSteelRonin 1 year ago
Song probably saved my life. Was deep into c r a c k in the 80s. The song was playing and as I was coming down off a hit the last line played: "You gotta make a decision. Leave tonight or live and die this way.". was so out of my mind that I hadn't heard any other part but that moment of clarity as that part played seemed to be speaking directly to me. I took a look at my surroundings and "friends" , got up, walked away and left that life behind.
Stephen Hutchison 1 year ago
Yeah, the country singer white boy version of this song doesn't quite make a lot of sense.
Roan The Demon Kitty 1 year ago (edited)
Talking 'bout a Revolution is another one that hits hard, in the way that it just feels so relevant still... but it's also uplifting in a way, too.
#25
"Gone Away" is a favorite song by The Offspring, but it can be rough to listen to after reading about it. I can't imagine performing it.
PoetryUpInThisB*tch:
[the story behind it]
His girlfriend who was killed in a car accident.
Leaving flowers on your grave
To show that I still care
Black roses and Hail Mary's
Can't bring back what's taken from me
I reach to the sky
And call out your name
And if I could trade, I would
winterwidow87 1 year ago
I love that song but yeah the meaning is pretty intense.
Load More Replies...
AtMostAFabulist 1 year ago
Come Out and Play is another is another song with a serious subject. This band is phenomenal.
Leslie B 1 year ago
I love how the most unlikely public figure can surprise fans. This is an awesome song. Don't like the cover by Five Finger Death Punch. Also considering that the singer from Offspring is a Doctor in molecular biology.
StrangeOne 1 year ago
Yeah, he just recently got his Ph.D. That bit in Come Out And Play that goes "Gotta keep 'em Separated" he thought up while trying to do an experiment or store some sort of molecules or bacteria, some sort of organism, that were in test tubes. He was supposed to keep these things from merging but was having trouble. Some of the stuff that he gets inspo from is so random.
Load More Replies... StrangeOne 1 year ago
Oh, oh. This I know. Dexter wrote this song after him and his wife (not girlfriend), were in a Baskin Robins. Someone ran in yelling he was being chased by gang members with guns. The gang members ended up in the store and started shooting up the place. No one died. No one got really hurt. This was a pivotal point in his life, and he was also in the processes of making the album, Ixnay On The Hombre. He was wanting to do a heavier, slower song, got sorta inspired by the incident and thought up a scenario in which his wife had died. But she is, in fact, alive and well.
Louise Clarke 1 year ago
Also end of the line has lyrics that sound like it could also be about his gf
🦄 Unicorn Princess 1 year ago
This song was playing on the way home from my obgyn appointment for my 4 month check up. We were told I miscarried. It's the only thing I remember from that day; like it was meant to be...
#26
Vera Lynn's "We’ll Meet Again" is inherently sentimental but it became synonymous with WW2 and the reality that many people were not going to see their friends and loved ones before the war ended. It's implied that "some sunny day" won't be a homecoming but rather a reunion in the afterlife.
King Joffrey 1 year ago
If you live in the UK, most people remember her, even the young ones. She was still alive during Covid and was giving interviews trying to raise the spirits, the song became popular again (for obvious reasons).
Load More Replies...
SkippityBoppityBoo 1 year ago (edited)
This song became known about again during the Pandemic and Lockdowns here in the UK. It wasn't to take away from the original message of the song but... The lyrics - "We'll Meet Again, Don't Know Where, Don't Know When But I Know We'll Meet Again Some Sunny Day"?... It was just... Let's Keep Strong, We WILL Get Through It... Stay Safe, Stay Strong, Stay Healthy...
#27
Pumped Up Kicks by Foster the People, it sounds like a happy song but it’s about school shootings.
cadena kuhn 1 year ago
I'm always surprised people don't know this. The lyrics are pretty clear
Diana Burnwood 1 year ago
I thought so to. Literally says "run faster than my bullets" in it
Load More Replies...
mria alternativa 1 year ago
I'm surprised so many people think of this as a happy song, it doesn't sound very happy, tonally or lyrically. (To me, I should say.)
Moosy Girl 1 year ago
It’s the bass line, such a catchy bass line, I’m starting to bop a little just thinking about it.
Load More Replies... Marlowe Fitzpatrik 1 year ago
Why? Subject is dire, but it has a good tune and is easy to sing along to.
Load More Replies...
#28
The d***s don't work, by The Verve, about Richard Ashcroft's mother dying of cancer.
UpQuarkDownQuark (he/him) 1 year ago
The cancer d***s, BoredPanda. You don’t have to censor cancer d***s. 🙄
Moosy Girl 1 year ago
I feel terrible about laughing at this but I couldn’t help reading it wrong the first time. >.<
Load More Replies... 
Stephen Hutchison 1 year ago
"D R U G" when describing medications used to treat illness should NOT be censored.
#29
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas. It was in theory about a family planning to move. But it was written and recorded during WWII. Some of the lyrics were later changed. It originally had: >Someday soon we all will be together, if the fates allow. Until then we’ll have to muddle through somehow. So have yourself a merry little Christmas now.
Damned_Cat 1 year ago
The original lyrics were "Have yourself a merry little Christmas. It may be your last. Next year we may all be living in the past. Have yourself a merry little Christmas."
Panda'sMom 1 year ago
Judy Garland sang it in Met Me In Saint Louis to her little sister who was sad to be moving.
whineygingercat 1 year ago
When Judy Garland first read the lyrics to the song, she told the writers that they had to re-write this. She refused to sing it as it originally was written. It was too sad and horrible a song to sing. Add to the fact she had to sing it to a very young Margaret O'Brien. Apparently, some of the original lyrics were rather grim.
Celtic Pirate Queen 1 year ago
Um, the lyrics are the same. Who writes this sh*t? You're a f*cking moron.
#30
I thought the song Wonder by Natalie Merchant was a whimsical song about a supremely gifted child, but it’s actually about a child born with a rare congenital disease. The lyrics fit both ways. It’s brilliant.
Kate 1 year ago
Okay, yeah the lyrics fit either way, but the video does make it pretty crystal clear.
Shada 1 year ago
I've heard the song a thousand times but I've never seen the video.
Load More Replies... Elvira394 1 year ago
so is anybody on here old enough to remember the long running sitcom MASH? Or M*A*S*H? Do you not know the name of that title song or the lyrics? It's titled S**cide Is Painless..... "it brings on many changes, and I can take or leave it if I please...". A prime time hour long running sitcom that families watched together for how many years. That should totally be number one people!
CheshirePhrogg 1 year ago
If I remember right it was written by the producer or director's teenage son ... Might have been written for the movie and adopted by the show but I can't remember for sure
Load More Replies... Sheena Leversedge Wood 1 year ago
is this related to the film of the same name? (I've not seen it, but I know of it. I don't know the song)
#31
The Way by Fastball is about the tragic and mysterious disappearance of an elderly couple never to be seen alive again.
allthatandaduck888 1 year ago
Their names were Lela and Raymond Howard. May they rest in peace.
Katie Lutesinger 1 year ago
"The children woke up and they couldn't find them/They'd left before the sun came up that day" is definitely the most haunting line. Imagine waking up for school and both your parents are just... gone. Though before I knew the story behind the song I for some reason always pictured a pair of newlyweds deciding to run off together to start a new life.
#32
Time in a Bottle by Jim Croce. It's about not having enough time to spend with your loved ones. Not long after he was planning on winding down his career to be a father to his newborn child but died in a plane crash.
Dread Pirate Roberts 1 year ago
Wow, and to think my parents had this as their wedding song. They're divorced now.
Dawn Bodtke 1 year ago
Loved Chroce when I was younger, but now find his songs too sad to listen to more than one at a time.
#33
Luka by Suzanne Vega it's a song about physical and mental abuse by her step father. Another is hell is for children by Pat Benatar.
Little Wonder 1 year ago
Luka is very obviously about an abused child. If you listen to the lyrics...
Ms. Mack 1 year ago
Again the lyric thing. Next you'll be suggesting we read the actual words on book pages... smh.
Load More Replies... 
DigTheCatUp 1 year ago
A no holds barred song about child abuse is “Children Of The Night” by Richard Marx. The lyrics are heart rending
#34
Hey Ya by Outkast is really a sad song about a failing relationship.
Katie Lutesinger 1 year ago
"If what they say is 'nothing is forever' then what makes, then what makes, then what makes love the exception? So why oh why are we so in denial when we know we're not happy here?"
Sheena Leversedge Wood 1 year ago
yet again, lyrics. that said, it's such a bouncy song that it always makes me happy, but the lyrics say completely otherwise. "why are we so in denial when we know we're not happy here?"
#35
Janet Jackson's 'Together Again' was written for her friend that died of AIDS, gets me every time.
ynyrhydref56 1 year ago
Again, I thought this was fairly obvious ... that it's about a dear departed friend.
#36
All That I've Got by The Used I was like 13 years old and I came home from school, turned on Fuse TV, and they were playing some music videos, which was their usual content back in 2003. Saw this video of this dude with long hair in this trippy video that ended with some cool animation. Got hooked on the song and the band. Learned later that the song is about how shortly after their first album, the lead singer was dating a fan and they were having a baby together. She overdosed [unaliving] both herself and the baby. The lead singer felt like he had absolutely nothing left because of that moment, but then a month after their deaths, his dog escaped from his yard and was then hit and [unalived] by a car. The song is about him begging for at least his dogs life back because it was all that he had left.
Mariele Scherzinger 1 year ago
It's one of the words that are censored on this website. If you use the word "kílled", BP will automatically change it.
Load More Replies... araT sdrawkcaB 1 year ago
This is absolutely to this day one of this former punk gals favorite songs to scream sing!
Dread Pirate Roberts 1 year ago
That's so sad 🙁 My favorite song of theirs is The Bird and the Worm. It's dark but not super depressing....right? 😶
#37
Don’t Fear the Reaper. By Blue Oyster Cult. All these decades I didnt realize it was about committing su*icide.
BewilderedBanana 1 year ago (edited)
Doesn't have enough... it needs more cowbell!
Load More Replies...
araT sdrawkcaB 1 year ago
Well, it’s not titled “Don’t Fear the Fluffy Glitter Kitten”…sarcasm isn’t my strong suit. I preemptively apologize.
Wendy Miller 1 year ago
Ok. I get that people can be oblivious, but this one flew over his/her head. Do not most people know that the reaper aka Grim Reaper means death? Oof dah.
Vix Spiderthrust 1 year ago
And it explicitly references Romeo and Juliet, who both die by suicide. It's not a hidden meaning.
Load More Replies... 
#38
“Keep Me In Your Heart” by Warren Zevon. He knew he was dying.
AtMostAFabulist 1 year ago
David Letterman had Warren as his only guest for a week of shows. Wonderful music.
Janice 1 year ago
He wrote and recorded The Wind after he was diagnosed. Warren put off treatment so he could record the album and the VH1 special that documented the recording. Beautiful and heartbreaking to see so many of Zevon's friends join him for the last time to sing and say goodbye. Certainly worth watching
Vix Spiderthrust 1 year ago
My wife insisted on having this as our first dance at our wedding because she knows I love it. I did point out that it's not exactly a romantic one...
#39
Cat's In The Craddle.
Duel_Option:
I remember my Dad explaining the meaning of the song to me at probably age 13 or so as he was driving.
He was crying and I told him we’d never be like that not realizing that he was already an alcoholic who wasn’t there much already.
30 years later he hasn’t met his grandkids because the beer is still more important than family.
The self torment he puts himself through doesn’t make sense to me to this very day.
Maybe we’ll meet in the afterlife.
NotAPanda 1 year ago
Beer is unlikely more important to him. It’s the devil he’s stuck with. He may even think he’s doing them a favor by staying away.
Karina 1 year ago (edited)
And beating himself up also gives him a excuse to drink
Load More Replies... cecilia kilian 1 year ago
Ugly Kid Joe's version is better than the original imho. Give it a listen.
#40
One More Light became a depressing listen after Chester's s*icide.
MrLiesegang 1 year ago
Well even before that. It was written for a dead friend and performed a day after Chris Cornell’s death, who was also a friend of them.
Nikki Gross 1 year ago
That entire album "One More Light" is like a suicide note from Chester Bennington and is beautiful but heartbreaking to listen to knowing how things ended with him. I'm a HUGE Linkin Park fan and it took years before I could actually listen to OML because of CB's suicide.
BewilderedBanana 1 year ago
There are many references to what Chester was going through in LP's songs, some subtle and some very clear ("Given Up" for example). With hindsight, it looks like they were all auto-biographical
Nikki Gross 1 year ago
Chester battled Depression his entire life and in interviews he admitted that many of the songs that he wrote were autobiographical. That was one of the many reasons why I was drawn to their music, because here was someone that actually "Gets it" and understands how I was feeling. Chester screamed for so many of us when WE couldn't and needed someone to do it for us. The best description I've ever heard to describe him was that "He sang like an angel and screamed like a demon." Their music helped me through some of the darkest times of my life and I wish we could have saved Chester the same way that he saved so many of us.
Roan The Demon Kitty 1 year ago
for me, it was "Waiting for the end" that became one of the hardest to listen to. :(
#41
“Save the Last Dance for Me” was written by a wheelchair-using groom watching his new bride dance with their wedding guests.
#42
Don’t think this is unknown, but 3 AM by matchbox 20. About Rob Thomas’s mom having cancer when he was younger. Just really rips at me with my dad being sick now. Probably one of my favorite songs ever.
Sweet Taurus 1 year ago
Also, when Rob broke away from the band and produced songs on his own most of them are written for his wife whom suffers from Lupus. "Her Diamonds" was the first one I listened to knowing that. It hit home real hard because I had just been diagnosed myself and knew the pain it was causing the people I love.
#43
Brick by Ben folds five. I thought it was a catchy tune till a friend told me to really listen to the lyrics.
Nikmassnoo:
This is such a devastating song. I thought it was just about loving someone with depression who is dragging you down, I didn’t know the abortion reference.
Katie Lutesinger 1 year ago
As weeks went by it showed that she was not fine. They told me "son, it's time to tell the truth" and she broke down, and I broke down, 'cause I was tired of lying.
#44
How to save a life, The Fray, it's about d**g addiction and how he couldn't save his friend.
Fat Harry (Oi / You) 1 year ago
It is not. It's about a friend who worked with troubled teens as a counsellor.
UpQuarkDownQuark (he/him) 1 year ago
It’s a terrible song with a singer who mumbles like his tongue is paralyzed.
#45
My favorite are songs that sound happy, but aren't when you look at the lyrics. Semi-Charmed Life (by Third Eye Blind) sounds like a happy song, but it's actually about how a d**g user feels when he's high but lamenting nothing else can make him feel that way. Hey Ya (by Outkast) is about falling out of love with someone, but no one around you wanting to hear about it. Breakfast at Tiffany's (by Deep Blue Something) is about grasping at straws to find any reason not to break up when you know the relationship isn't working.
#46
I just started listened to a podcast called “60 songs that explain the 90s” and Hey Jealousy is way sadder now than it already was.
mr_ckean:
When I learned the story, it was the first time I felt I had any real understanding of the depths of alcoholism and depression like that.
Maggz Bennett 1 year ago
The story surrounding the song is sadder than the original meaning. It was written for their first album by ex Gin Blossoms member, Doug Hopkins, about trying to get back with his girlfriend after his heavy drinking and cheating. Doug was later kicked out of the band and cheated out of royalties (by A&M Records) before it was rerecorded and became a massive hit. Hopkins received the gold disc a few weeks before unaliving himself on December 5, 1993. RIP Doug, your music is amazing. Such a sad background to a beautiful, touching song.
Philly Bob Squires 1 year ago
And the band pretty much faded with his passing. RIP Doug.
Load More Replies...
#47
“Me and a Gun” by Tori Amos. It’s about her being r*ped earlier in life. It was one way she chose to cope, by writing a song about it.
Karina 1 year ago
"Me and a gun, and a man on my back" are the words. Hard to think its about anything else, especially since there are no instruments at all, just her voice.
ColdSteelRonin 1 year ago
Kinda hard to miss: It was me and a gun And a man on my back And I sang Holy holy As he buttoned down his pants
Load More Replies... Moosy Girl 1 year ago
For some reason I always assume most of her songs are about that and related things. :/ Can’t think of a single Tori song about happy things.
#48
Possession by Sarah McLachlan, based partly on disturbing lyrics that a stalker sent her, who eventually killed himself.
ynyrhydref56 1 year ago
Moreover, about her friend who died of an overdose.
Load More Replies... #49
Back to Black by Amy Winehouse. I had never really listened to her before, but I came across a video of one of her performances in which she was clearly struggling mentally. This made me dive into her life, and it was heartbreaking to see how she continued performing even while struggling, with no help from anyone. Knowing her past and hearing the song after that really hits me :/.
Sheena Leversedge Wood 1 year ago
what happened to her was so sad. she was very talented, had an amazing voice, and she was obviously suffering SO much emotionally. I don't have any of her albums, but from the singles, Back to Black is SO full of pain it's heartbreaking.
#50
If You Could Read My Mind by Gordon Lightfoot. It was about him falling out of love with his wife. He promised his daughter he would never sing it in concert.
#51
Everytime by Britney Spears.
Abby1006:
It’s an ode to the baby she would have had with Justin Timberlake. He wasn’t ready to be a father yet, so she had to undergo an abortion at home. They were both very young, and she mentions in her memoir that even though she doesn’t hold it against him, if it were completely up to her, she would’ve wanted to have the baby.
#52
U2 - Pride (In the Name of Love). Did you guys know that it's about Dr. Martin Luther King? Listen to it again. *Early morning, April 4th, A shot rings out in the Memphis sky. Free at last, they took your life They could not take your pride.*.
Sheena Leversedge Wood 1 year ago
I didn't actually know that, but I'm terrible at remembering dates, and I'm British. next time I hear it, I'll listen closer to it, with that context though
Load More Replies...
Michael None 1 year ago
“I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.” MLK
#53
Blackbird by The Beatles is often said to be a tribute to the Little Rock Nine.
ColdSteelRonin 1 year ago
I had heard differently. Doesn't matter, beautiful song.
Load More Replies... #54
Fiddler's Green by The Tragically Hip. Gord Downie wrote it after his 5 year old nephew died of a heart condition, to help his sister overcome the pain of releasing her little boy into the afterlife. Montreal, also by The Tragically Hip. Its about the massacre at the École Polytechnique in Montréal on Dec 6, 1989. I am old enough to remember the news coverage of the event and the line "don't you worry.....her mother's gonna make her look good" refers to a mother trying to make her murdered daughter look decent for her funeral. Heartbreaking.
StrangeOne 1 year ago
We learned this in Canadian History class. Marc Lepine went into Ecole Polytechnique, killing 14 women and injuring 10 other women, and 4 men. He targeted women because he strongly hated women and didn't want them to be able to get into engineering careers. It was the biggest school shooting in Canada for 30 years.
#55
You are my Sunshine.
tyboxer87:
For the longest time I thought it was about a miscarriage or a the death of child.
I was a little relieved when I dug a bit and realized its just any old person. Could just be breakup. That's much easier to live with.
Oskar vanZandt 1 year ago
It's a bit darker than that... Look up the lyrics. There's a bunch of gaslighting and emotional abuse going on...
#56
Limousine by Brand New. It’s about the death of 7-year-old Katie Flynn, who was [unalived] by a drunk driver. She was riding in a limousine with her family after a wedding in which she was the flower girl.
primeline31 1 year ago (edited)
July 2005 -a perfect wedding day & all headed home in a limousine. The limo was struck head-on by a drunk driver, 24-year-old Martin Heidgen. Police say he was driving 70 mph on the wrong side for at least two miles before he crashed into them. The limo driver, 59-year-old Stanley Rabinowitz, was killed instantly when the limo’s motor was driven on top of him. Lt. Michael Tangney, THE BRIDES UNCLE, who had attended the wedding just hours before, arrived. "I was walking to the rear of the limousine when a gentleman was coming away from it, and he said, 'Don't go back there. It's bad,' "Then all of a sudden Mrs. Flynn came out of the car with her daughter’s, 5 yr-old Katie’s head in her hand." Jennifer walked to side of the road and sat for about an hour with her daughter's head on her lap as she watched her family being cut out of the limousine. Lt. Tangney had to tell his niece it was time to leave. "She very lucidly, very calmly said she wasn't going anywhere. She wasn't leaving Kate."
#57
12/17/12 by the Decemberists. I don't usually look at titles so I didn't know until my husband pointed it out to me. It's about Sandy Hook.
araT sdrawkcaB 1 year ago (edited)
The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting here in the good ol’ US of A. Tragic.
Load More Replies... #58
Drops of Jupiter. He wrote it for his mother who died of cancer.
Katy McMouse 1 year ago
Train just lost one of their band members to a bathroom accident. I understand that he fell in the shower, of a home he was taking care of for traveling friends.
glowworm2 1 year ago
The creepy part was they didn't find his body until five days later when they got home.
Load More Replies... Dumb teenager 1 year ago
There was a phase before I googled the lyrics when I thought it was about thoughts of suicide. I heard the phrase "afraid that she might think of me as plain old jane told a story bout a man who was too afraid to fly so he never did land" as "afraid that she might think of me as plain old Jane told a story bout a man who was too afraid to fly himself to milky way land". Kinda fit with the space metaphore. It's absolutely one of my all time favourite songs. This article in particular really helped me grasp the true meaning of the song (safe for work/school): https://vassartoxford.wordpress.com/2017/07/21/drops-of-jupiter-a-story-of-grief-deep-fried-chicken-and-a-different-perspective-on-loss/
Dumb teenager 1 year ago
and I've written an essay. Guess that's what happens when you take music as a subject
Load More Replies... #59
What a Catch--FallOut Boy. It was years before I learned that Pete Wentz wrote it following his s*icide attempt.
mysterious(all pronouns) 1 year ago
Isn't the chorus, "I've got troubled thoughts and the self-esteem to match". What would make anyone think it's a happy song?
#60
Did you ever sing Ring Around a Rosie as a kid? It's about the bubonic plague and everyone dies at the end of the song.
Jess Smith 1 year ago
Even if it isn't, it still belongs in the "really creepy" category. I don't see a way to make "ashes, ashes / we all fall down" not morbid.
Load More Replies... Susie Elle 1 year ago (edited)
A quick google search reveals that there's no evidence for this claim?
Kat 1 year ago
I had already heard this. But you made me curious. So I Googled; and it was right there. 🤔 not sure why you didn't see it.
Load More Replies... StrangeOne 1 year ago
Most nursery rhymes have dark origins. It's fascinating when you get into it. Jack and Jill. Jack's crown means his actual head. Humpty Dumpty is supposed to be about King Louis the 8th
jasper 1 year ago
The fatalism of the rhyme is brutal: the roses are a euphemism for deadly rashes, the posies a supposed preventative measure; the a-tishoos pertain to sneezing symptoms, and the implication of everyone falling down is, well, death.
Kate 1 year ago
Yep, that's what modern people have decided. Because the song doesn't have anything to do with illness.
Load More Replies... Moosy Girl 1 year ago
Any nursery rhyme or clapping song that isn’t already morbid will be made so by the 8- to 13-year old kids singing it. :p
#61
There's a song by Spanish group Mecano called Cruz y Navaja. It tells the story of a young bartender in Madrid who, while trying to make ends meet, is working as much as he can. He arrives to his wife, who keeps wanting to be intimate with him. Because he is so tired, he always turns her down. One day, in the wee hours of the morning, he is walking to his house when he catches a glimpse of a couple being extra affectionate with each other. As he gets closer, he notices it's his wife. In a moment of anger and shock, he approaches the couple. His shock is further intensified when he sees that his wife has been kissing another woman. As he is about to break apart the two women, the wife's lover takes out a knife and stabs him to death. The group confirmed that the story was true. It had been taken from the police reports where the only thing that was changed for the song were the names.
#62
“Cowgirl in the Sand”, by Neil Young. A song from the perspective of her murderer, who repeatedly visits her decayed body. The guitar solo re-enacts her desperate struggle as he kills her. I have trouble listening to it since I learned that. He wrote the song the same fevered weekend as “Down By The River, I Shot My Lady.” ETA: I did not mean to imply that this interpretation is established fact. There are other competing theories.
#63
Edge of Glory by Lady Gaga, it’s about her grandpa dying and saying goodbye to him in the hospital with her grandma.
#64
Of Monster's and Men have Little talks. Which is actually about a grieving wife talking to her deceased husband and her sanity is slipping. King and Lionheart is another one. The story behind that one is the singer Nanna was forced to be separated from her brother when her father left for Canada and took her brother with him, leaving their mother and Nanna behind.
Katie Lutesinger 1 year ago
Of Monsters and Men is such a great underrated band! I gotta go listen to them right now!
#65
Blasphemous Rumors by Depeche Mode. His sister had just completed successful cancer treatment when leaving the hospital got hit by a car and died.
EDWIN FAWCETT 1 year ago
Absolute rubbish about the story of the song. The verses to "Blasphemous Rumours" describe a 16-year-old girl who attempts suicide but fails. She experiences a religious revival but is then "Hit by a car
Ms. Mack 1 year ago
I was in highschool when that song came out. A friend was in an industrial accident that caused third degree burns over 85% of his body. He was in a burn unit for months. Came back to school and the following summer was hiking and fishing when he had a seizure and drowned in a shallow creek. Still hits me when I hear that song.
Sheena Leversedge Wood 1 year ago
holy S word c**p! that's awful. that's even worse than the fact my mum got her cancer diagnosis on the same day my stepdad got the all clear. their appointments were at about the same time, so they were in different parts of the same hospital at the same time. thankfully, my mum now has the all clear too, but it felt really brutal that it happened like that
#66
Here's one, 'Year of the Cat' by Al Stewart, it's about the s*icide of a comedian, but you'd never know that from just the lyrics. Al has been pretty upfront about the meaning in interviews.
#67
La Mer - Nine Inch Nails It was pretty much Reznor’s s*icide note. So glad he made it through.
#68
POD - Youth of The Nation Listening to it as a kid you're like this kicks a*s. Listen as an adult.... "Johnny Boy always played fool, he broke are the rules so you would think he was cool, he was never really one of the guys, now matter how hard he tried of the thought of s*icide" **It was inspired in part by the school shootings at Santana High School and Columbine High School**. :(.
Nikki Gross 1 year ago
Anyone that listens to "Youth of the Nation" and thinks it's a happy song needs to get their head checked. Just listen to the lyrics and you will know that it's a dark and heavy song.
ynyrhydref56 1 year ago
So the line 'told the world how he felt with the sound of a [gün]' didn't tip you off?
StrangeOne 1 year ago
I thought it was cringy this song was used in Blue Crush for the surfing scenes, just because it has that typical surfer rock riff sound, but the lyrics were jarring and distracting. "Alive" would have been a better choice. js
Holly's House 1 year ago
That song was just so impactful at the time, being in high school when those first shootings happened. Now there's one every week
#69
I Wish It Would Rain by The Temptations Here is the background from Wikipedia: “The lyrics of this mournful song about a heartbroken man whose woman had just left him were penned by Motown staff writer Roger Penzabene. The lyricist had just learned that his wife was cheating on him and in his sorrow and pain, Penzabene penned both this and its follow-up "I Could Never Love Another (After Loving You)." Tragically the distraught Penzabene committed suicide barely a week after the single's release.”.
Anon822209 1 year ago
The opening verse is Sunshine, blue skies, please go away/ My girl has found another, and gone away/ With her went my future, my life is filled with gloom/ So day after day, I stay locked up in my room And the song goes on to say that the reason he wishes it would rain is so that he could go outside and no one would know he's crying. Y'all. How is that a happy song?
#70
An Innocent Warrior from the Moana soundtrack. It was written about 19 girls who died in a boarding school fire. .
ReadBannedBooks 1 year ago
From the Disney wiki: According to an interview with singer Vai Mahina[1], the song was original "Loimata E Maligi" which was written by Opetaia Foa'i in memory of the 19 females who lost their lives in a fire at Motufoua Secondary School on the island of Vaitupu, Tuvalu in 2000. The song was rewritten to "An Innocent Warrior" to fit in the theme of Moana.
#71
Sara by Stevie Nicks. Don Henley claimed it was about a child he conceived with Nicks, who she wanted to name Sara. I don't remember if it was a miscarriage or a termination, but no child was born and the lyrics lament the loss.
#72
Death of a Martian by Red Hot Chili Peppers. Anthony wrote it for Flea and his dog, Martian, who passed away. I believe Martian was a band dog, there for the recording of many songs.
cadena kuhn 1 year ago
The line there's a river meant to be a giver in give it away is about river Phoenix who Anthony said was the most generous person he knew. For some reason that fact has always stuck with me
araT sdrawkcaB 1 year ago
If you’re a fan and you haven’t read Scar Tissue, give it a read! Remarkable book!
cecilia kilian 1 year ago
On a happier note, Led Zeppelin's Bron-y-Aur-Stomp is a love song about Robert Plant's dog, Strider.
#73
That Year - Brandi Carlisle. This is a bit of a cheat on my part because I was at the same school as the person mentioned along with Brandi when it happened. He was one of her best friends and I knew him in a casual manner. When she released the song I was absolutely floored at how much strength she showed approaching the "what ifs." Heartbreaking song about such a gentle soul. Brandi treated it with a very delicate hand. Beautifully written song Brandi...RIP BB.
#74
Morning Grace by Ritsuko Okazaki, which was the opening title for Princess Tutu. She recorded it while battling stomach cancer and died not long after I know may not be quite what you asked, but it became even sadder to me whenever I listen to it.
#75
Heatwaves - Glass Animals It's about his dead friend.
Dumb teenager 1 year ago
This is gonna sound super dumb (in case the username wasn't enough of a warning) but for me I feel like no matter what, this song will always be about happy memories made with nieghbourhood friends in a small clearing between cane farms where a small abandoned bus was slowely decaying. It had clearly been there for decades and had seen some serious sh!t. People had lived and worked from that bus, there were legal papers, phone books, porn disks a satelite areil and a matress among litteral piles of other items there. It was also ahaven for local teenagers away from perants eyes, and it was clear we wern't the only group frequenting the place (the other group seemed to be scared sh!tless of us when we tried to make contact, probably a good thing given some of the stuff there suggested they may have been a pretty rough group). Anyway, a lot of good memories were made there before we drifted apart (and in some cases developed bitter grudges). damn, just hit the character limit
Dumb teenager 1 year ago
so yeah, for the off chance anyones bored enough to still be reading this, the reason this song always reminds me of then is because it was always the only song we could agree on. We'd blast it off a bluetooth speaker we found there (in near perfect condition!) at full volume on repeat. I'm gonna miss those times. Friend groups since collapsed, nobody talks anymore and the bus was removed for whatever reason last year.
Load More Replies...
#76
Tears in Heaven - Eric Clapton. Wondering if his son that died will recognize him in Heaven.
Karina 1 year ago
If he wanted to recognize him. Clapton felt very guilty, as he was ment to look after the child, but was consumed by gis gitar
araT sdrawkcaB 1 year ago
I was always under the notion he wasn’t there when this tragedy occurred? Must go read!
Load More Replies... #77
Jagged Little Pill: The ending of the relationship between Alanis Morissette and Dave Coulier.
Daniel Atkins 1 year ago
I thought she never named who she wrote it about but he said some of the lyrics hit home.
What do you think ?
James016 1 year ago
Every Breath You Take by The Police is about a stalker from the perspective of the stalker.
V 1 year ago
Same with You're Beautiful by James Blunt. It's about stalking his his on the subway with her new partner while high.
Load More Replies...
Major Harris 1 year ago
very surprised that "some one saved my life tonight" by sir elton john was not mentioned. in 1975 at the height of his early fame, he was under pressure from the studios to produce more hits, was going to be married to a woman while struggling with his sexuality. so he took d***s and jumped into his pool to end it all. paramedics saved him. the song is about this time in his life.
Chewie Baron 1 year ago
Philadelphia Freedom is about Billie Jean King and the starting of the WTA.
Load More Replies...
Samsquatch & Monko 1 year ago
Literally every song by The Orion Experience; Orion simprini, the lead singer, was a child groomer. All the songs were actually about his victims. Can’t listen to that band without feeling nauseous now.
Chewie Baron 1 year ago
I love finding out stories about songs and why they were written. Kate Bush alone could have a degree course dedicated to her and her songs! Wuthering Heights is based on the book, but only after she’d seen the last five minutes of a tv adaptation; Breathing is taken from the POV of a child in the womb not wanting to be born because of the Nuclear War threat in the 80s; Babushka is about a woman who is convinced her husband is having an affair, so she sets him a trap; Running Up That Hill is about her wanting to experience sex from the male perspective,; Moments of Pleasure is her tribute to friends lost to AIDS; The Sensual World is based on Maggie’s soliloquy from James Joyce’s epic ‘Ulysses’. The Bananarama song ‘Robert de Niro’s Waiting’ is about rāpe, another song of theirs called ‘Rough Justice’ is about them not being taken seriously, a friend of theirs who was killed in an IRA bomb and some at the time children disappearances.
StretcherBearer 1 year ago
Quite a few Joy Division songs are absolutely heartbreaking in context.
Daniel Atkins 1 year ago
Lightning crashes BY Live is about a mother dying from complications after giving birth.
James016 1 year ago
Every Breath You Take by The Police is about a stalker from the perspective of the stalker.
V 1 year ago
Same with You're Beautiful by James Blunt. It's about stalking his his on the subway with her new partner while high.
Load More Replies... Major Harris 1 year ago
very surprised that "some one saved my life tonight" by sir elton john was not mentioned. in 1975 at the height of his early fame, he was under pressure from the studios to produce more hits, was going to be married to a woman while struggling with his sexuality. so he took d***s and jumped into his pool to end it all. paramedics saved him. the song is about this time in his life.
Chewie Baron 1 year ago
Philadelphia Freedom is about Billie Jean King and the starting of the WTA.
Load More Replies... Samsquatch & Monko 1 year ago
Literally every song by The Orion Experience; Orion simprini, the lead singer, was a child groomer. All the songs were actually about his victims. Can’t listen to that band without feeling nauseous now.
Chewie Baron 1 year ago
I love finding out stories about songs and why they were written. Kate Bush alone could have a degree course dedicated to her and her songs! Wuthering Heights is based on the book, but only after she’d seen the last five minutes of a tv adaptation; Breathing is taken from the POV of a child in the womb not wanting to be born because of the Nuclear War threat in the 80s; Babushka is about a woman who is convinced her husband is having an affair, so she sets him a trap; Running Up That Hill is about her wanting to experience sex from the male perspective,; Moments of Pleasure is her tribute to friends lost to AIDS; The Sensual World is based on Maggie’s soliloquy from James Joyce’s epic ‘Ulysses’. The Bananarama song ‘Robert de Niro’s Waiting’ is about rāpe, another song of theirs called ‘Rough Justice’ is about them not being taken seriously, a friend of theirs who was killed in an IRA bomb and some at the time children disappearances.
StretcherBearer 1 year ago
Quite a few Joy Division songs are absolutely heartbreaking in context.
Daniel Atkins 1 year ago
Lightning crashes BY Live is about a mother dying from complications after giving birth.
You May Like 82 White Lies That Everyone Is Guilty Of 63 Best Opening Lyrics That Start The Songs Off Right 30 Wonderfully Weird English Terms You Might Not Know
Viltė Domkutė
Aivaras Kaziukonis
Saimonas Lukošius
Related on Bored Panda
