Favorite songs with conflicting emotions?

alonzomourning23

alonzomourning23

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What are your favorite songs with conflicting emotions? For example, songs that sound upbeat and happy, due to the music, vocals and speed, yet the lyrics are actually depressing?

My favorite is phil ochs "cross my heart". It has happy, almost carefree music and the refrain

"I'm gonna give all I've got to give
Cross my heart, and I hope to live"

Reinforces that.

I listened to it many times and thought it was a typical, upbeat song. But then I actually started to pay attention to the lyrics and realized how depressing it really was. For example:

"But it's true, so many things you do
Please you so they leave feeling warm
It's the calm before the storm
For the habit grows and before you know it you're deformed"
http://lyrics.duble.com/lyrics/P/phil-ochs-lyrics/phil-ochs-cross-my-heart-lyrics.htm

Even the "hope to live" part started sounding different when I thought about it, as other music he released in this time period was becoming darker and darker, the beginnings of a downward spiral towards his suicide.
 
The album "Long Gone Before Daylight", by The Cardigans.

All of their work has an apparent juxtaposition of lyrical content, vocal content and musical content -- I think that album executed it the best, though.
 
The Mountain Goats "No Children"

A lot of their songs are peppy with depressing lyrics but this one is especially fantastic.

"I hope I cut my self shaving tommorow,
I hope it bleeds all day long.
Our friends say it's darkest before the sun rises,
we're pretty sure they're all wrong
I hope it stays dark forever,
I hope the worst isn't over.....

I hope you die..I hope we both die"
 
[quote name='starman9000']The Mountain Goats "No Children"

A lot of their songs are peppy with depressing lyrics but this one is especially fantastic.

"I hope I cut my self shaving tommorow,
I hope it bleeds all day long.
Our friends say it's darkest before the sun rises,
we're pretty sure they're all wrong
I hope it stays dark forever,
I hope the worst isn't over.....

I hope you die..I hope we both die"[/quote]

No offense, but just the first two lines scream emo...
 
[quote name='HumanSnatcher']No offense, but just the first two lines scream emo...[/QUOTE]


I guess you'd have to listen to it. I don't think anyone would classify them as emo, unless something can be emo based on lyrics alone...in which case every thing mentioned in this thread would end up being emo.
 
there's a lot of stuff like that, but beulah popped in my head first, specifically the song "landslide baby". for instance:

and my baby says,
"it's a lie, it's a cop-out and I know you know I know why
you won't try, cause you're scared and you're weak
and you don't give a fuck about me
and I do believe that you hate yourself
and I knew you'd never stay forever
holding it together, making songs for me
and all right, forevers on your side
oh it's only time
it's longer than you think."
 
Catch 22's Keasbey Nights and its sequel song, Streetlight Manifesto's Point Counterpoint

Also, The Saddest Song by Streetlight Manifesto. When I first heard the song, I thought the name was just being ironic and it actually was meant to be upbeat, but then i started paying attention to the lyrics and... now I'm just kind of sad...

Also, Alkaline Trio's This Could Be Love... or just about anything by them
 
Alot of Devo's songs fit in here - Specificaly "Beautiful World" the entire song is very upbeat about how beautiful the world is, how it's all sweet and romantic, yadda yadda yadd. But then at the very end of the song the lyrics go "It's a beautiful world - for you, it's not for me."
 
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