Top 5 Most Depressing and Most Joyous songs!

[Zoots]

One per artist (in each category) if you can, to make it more interesting

MOST DEPRESSING
Don't Leave Me Now / The Trial - Pink Floyd
Street Spirit (Fade Out) - Radiohead
Wake Up Dead Man - U2
Eleanor Rigby - The Beatles
One - Metallica

MOST JOYOUS
Angel Of Harlem / Beautiful Day - U2
Imitation Of Life - REM
Here Comes The Sun - The Beatles
Happy Phantom - Tori Amos
New York New York - Frank Sinatra

Finding happy songs was a lot harder!

 

[Lancemc]

Depressing

How To Disappear Completely - Radiohead
Casimir Pulaski Day - Sufjan Stevens
Atlantic City - Bruce Springsteen
If You See Her, Say Hello - Bob Dylan
Goodbye - Emmylou Harris

Joyous

Where The Streets Have No Name - U2
Here Comes The Sun - The Beatles
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) - Bruce Springsteen
"Heroes" - David Bowie
I Believe - R.E.M.

 

[namkcuR]

Most Joyous:

1.The Beatles - Here Comes The Sun(AKA the most effortlessly but euphorically joyful song ever written - kudos, George)
2.U2 - Where The Streets Have No Name
3.ABBA - Dancing Queen
4.The Byrds - Turn Turn Turn
5.Grease Soundtrack - Summer Nights

Most Depressing:

1.Radiohead - Motion Picture Soundtrack
2.Radiohead - How To Disappear Completely
3.Nine Inch Nails - Hurt
4.U2 - Wake Up Dead Man
5.Nirvana - Something In The Way

 

[Zoots]

3.ABBA - Dancing Queen

Good choice! I almost put in one by ABBA myself!

4.

EDIT: Oops, forgot to finish the joyous list...editing now...

See how hard it is to come up with happy songs!

 

[Zoots]

Just thought of one more actually.

Not a very obvious choice but I'm sure Lance mc will appreciate this.

Why Not Smile? - REM

 

[cdisantis83]

I have one of each to offer here.

Depressing: Nobody Home, Pink Floyd.
"I've got a strong urge to fly...but I've got nowhere to fly to."

Uplifting: Beautiful Day, U2.
"What you don't have, you don't need it now; what you don't know, you can feel it somehow..." Pure elation.

 

[Lancemc]

Just thought of one more actually.

Not a very obvious choice but I'm sure Lance mc will appreciate this.

Why Not Smile? - REM

 

[GibsonGirl]

Top 5 Depressing Songs:

1. Pink Floyd - The Final Cut (I often cry when I listen to this one)
2. Radiohead - Exit Music (strange this one hasn't been mentioned!)
3. Nick Drake - Things Behind The Sun
4. Pink Floyd - The Gunner's Dream
5. Radiohead - How To Disappear Completely

The English are apparently good at writing depressing music.


Top 5 Joyous Songs:

1. U2 - Beautiful Day
2. Queen - Don't Stop Me Now
3. The Beatles - Here Comes the Sun

And I can't find anything else. Evidently, I need more positive songs. I have upbeat songs, just not many songs that have uplifting lyrics.

 

[Joey788]

Top 5 Joyous

U2 - Where the Streets Have No Name
The Beatles - Hey Jude
David Bowie - Heroes
The Beatles - Here Comes the Sun
U2 - Beautiful Day

5 Most Depressing

U2 - So Cruel
The Beatles - While My Guitar Gently Weeps
U2 - Wake Up Dead Man
Radiohead - How to Disappear Completely

(Can't think of a 5th one right now)

 

[xaviMF22]

Most Joyous:

1.U2 - Where the Street have no name
2.U2 - Beautiful Day
3.Radiohead- Let Down
4.Arcade fire- Rebellion (lies)
5.The Beatles - Here Comes The Sun

Most Depressing:

1.Radiohead - Motion Picture Soundtrack
2.Radiohead - How To Disappear Completely
3.Pink Floyd - The Final Cut
4. Johnny Cash - Hurt
5. Pink Floyd - Hey you

 

[SeattleVertigo]

Here are a few more joyful songs (not my top 5, since a bunch of those have been mentioned):

10,000 Maniacs - These Are The Days
Peter Gabriel - Solsbury Hill, I Go Swimming
Rolling Stones - Happy, Tumbling Dice
Afro Celt Sound System - When You're Falling
Beatles - A Hard Day's Night, Can't Buy Me Love, etc.
Sting - All This Time
Van Morrison - And It Stoned Me, Caravan, etc.
Wilco - Heavy Metal Drummer, Summerteeth
R.E.M. - Man On The Moon, It's The End of the World As We Know It, And I Feel Fine

 

[Bonos_Lemon]

Depressing

1. Coldplay - The Scientist
2. Placebo - Song to Say Goodbye
3. Death Cab for Cutie - Brothers on a Hotel Bed
4. Third Eye Blind - Motorcycle Drive-by
5. Gary Jules - Mad World

Joyous

1. Katrina and the Waves - Walking on Sunshine
2. Mama Cass Elliot - Make Your Own Kind of Music
3. Diego Torres - Color Esperanza
4. U2 - Gloria
5. Temptations - My Girl

 

[coemgen]

Most Depressing
1."When This is Over" by Hayden (Gut. Wrenching. I dare anyone to find a harder song to listen to.)




2."Blank Page" by Smashing Pumpkins
3. "Playboy Mommy" by Tori Amos
4. "Hurt" by Johnny Cash (although he turned it into a Gospel song)
5. "Walk" by Blind Melon (although it turns out to be pathetically hopeful at the end)

Most Joyous
1. "Window in the Skies" by the Larry Mullen, Jr. Band
2. "Beautiful Day" the Dalton Brothers Band
3. "All Because of You" by the Hype
4. "Too Much Sunshine" by Midnight Oil (Not so much lyrically, but the music gets me perky in a punk sort of way.)
5. "El Scorcho" by Weezer (How can you not feel joyful after screaming this at the top of your lungs?)
6. "Young Folks" by Peter, Bjorn and John (It's got whistling. There's nothing depressing about this . . . except for the fact I just heard it in a commercial)

 

[coemgen]

.

 

[coemgen]

1. Katrina and the Waves

Shouldn't this fall under the "depressing" category.

 

[FitzChivalry]

Most Joyous

5. "El Scorcho" by Weezer (How can you not feel joyful after screaming this at the top of your lungs?)

Weezer

Keep Fishin'

Talk about a happy song!!! (Ok, well, maybe not the lyrics . . . . but that video is DAMN CUTE!!!! )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLc1pQGcuCk

 

[Axver]

My problem is that I genuinely enjoy what many of you would consider to be very depressing songs, especially in a lyrical sense. Opeth's Bleak lyrically lives up to its title, but I find listening to the song to be genuinely enjoyable. I suppose Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree said it best: "Melancholic music is very uplifting. Why? Because it’s a shared experience. In contrast, I find music that is artificially happy or very joyful to be very depressing." So for the depressing songs selection, I've chosen some songs that genuinely bring feelings of sadness to the fore. I couldn't really organise them, so it's not a selection of five or anything.

Depressing

Agalloch: ...And The Great Cold Death Of The Earth
Anathema: Forgotten Hopes
The Chills: Frantic Drift (or Pink Frost)
Dream Theater: Space-Dye Vest
jesu: Friends Are Evil
Joy Division: Twenty Four Hours
Orphaned Land: The Beloved's Cry
Porcupine Tree: Collapse The Light Into Earth
Sculptured: Our Illuminated Tomb
U2: One Tree Hill

Joyous

The Chills: Heavenly Pop Hit
Crowded House: Distant Sun
Pop Art Toasters: Everyone's Gonna Wonder
Porcupine Tree: The Rest Will Flow (the most uplifting song I know; my goodness, this song is amazing)
Spock's Beard: Walking On The Wind (or Skin)
Edit: How on earth did I manage to forget Swingers' Counting The Beat?

 

[intedomine]

Depressing:

I Know It's Over - The Smiths

Joyous:

She Loves You - The Beatles

 

[FitzChivalry]

My problem is that I genuinely enjoy what many of you would consider to be very depressing songs, especially in a lyrical sense.

And you're assuming that we don't?

I love a good, depressing song. If I'm sad or feeling blue, a depressing song will perk me up more than something like Katrina and the Waves "Walking On Sunshine" (which would probably push me over the edge and you may as well call the Coroner's office at that point.)


"SRXT" by Bloc Party. has helped me through the last couple of days TREMENDOUSLY:

SRXT

Walking in the countryside
It seems that the winds have stopped
I took down the posters from my wall
Left letters for you all
I remember moments of happiness
Endless summers, acoustic guitars
Being a man made me coarse
When I wanted to be delicate

I called up Eugene told him I was drowning
I called up Eugene told him I was drowning

Like a castaway on a warm ocean
Waiting for purpose to rise
They say it’s not becoming
For a boy of my age
If you want to know what makes me sad
Well its hope, the endurance of faith
A battle that lasts a lifetime
A fight that never ends

Walking in the countryside
It seems that the winds have stopped
Tell my mother I am sorry
And I loved her

 

[1stepcloser]

Depressing:
1. The Smiths - I Know It's Over
2. The Smiths - How Soon Is Now (esp for the "There's a club if you'd like to go" verse)
3. Coldplay - The Scientist
4. U2 - Kite
5. Johnny Cash - Hurt

Joyous
1. The Divine Comedy - National Express (HOW has this not been mentioned yet??)
2. Faithless - We Come One
3. Daft Punk - One More Time
4. The Cure - Friday I'm In Love
5. The Fratellis - Chelsea Dagger (not amazing musically but if it comes on in a club it is impossible to stand still )

 

[annie_vox]

Depressing:

Love Is Blindness - U2
Karma Police - Radiohead
Fox In The Snow - Belle & Sebastian
Hallelujah - Jeff Buckley
Sing For Absolution - Muse
Sky Phenomenon - Jens Lekman
Drugs Don't Work - The Verbe
Louise Louisa - Mew

Joyous:

Michael - Franz Ferdinand
Trains To Brazil - Guillemots (it's not joyous but it reminds me some very good moments with friends)
Everyday I Love You Less And Less - Kaiser Chiefs
Mr. Brightside - The Killers
Tony The Beat - The Sounds (guilty pleasure)
Angel Of Harlem - U2
Single Again - Fiery Furnaces (the lyrics are crazy but this song makes me laugh...)


I know it's more then five...

 

[joyfulgirl]

I can't come up with 5 of anything right now but these 2 came to mind right away:

Depressing:
To Wish Impossible Things - The Cure

Uplifting:
Nearer Than Heaven - The Delays

 

[FitzChivalry]

Depressing:

To Wish Impossible Things - The Cure

That is a damn depressing song, but also, so good! I would also nominate "Closedown" from Disintegration as a great depressing song.

 

[Axver]

And you're assuming that we don't?

Yes. You can pretty much count on one hand the amount of people here who listen to death metal or black metal.

Now, if you ask me, Agalloch's The Mantle is a fantastic album that actually makes me feel good, especially when I'm feeling down. I'm sure even the majority of people who would actually listen to it disagree with me there!

 

[Canadiens1131]

MOST DEPRESSING/MOST JOYOUS

1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 

 

[angelordevil]

My problem is that I genuinely enjoy what many of you would consider to be very depressing songs, especially in a lyrical sense.

I feel the same attachment for the melancholy stuff--it somehow connects on a deeper level, even if you're not in such a mood while listening. Weird how that works.


Most joyous

Planet Telex - Radiohead (It could fit equally in 'depressing,' but the sound, and the lyrics, make me think about overcoming stuff in the face of adversity...the cycle of disappointment, but also of possibilities).

No Cars Go – Arcade Fire (A song I wish I had written ten years ago when strange little men in black suits and briefcases came to our house to tell us a four-lane highway was going to be constructed through our property...great things happen to those black suit guys every time I hear it).

Life Wasted – Pearl Jam (Featuring Eddie Vedder laughter...a rare thing!).

A Sort Of Homecoming - U2 (One of the most spontaneous-sounding things they've done).

Never Stop - Echo & The Bunnymen (Incredible wordplay).

Elsewhere - Sarah McLachlan (A coming of age/transitional song that always moves me).


Depressing

Harrowdown Hill - Thom Yorke (A song about Dr. David Kelly...and his equally sad story).

Helpless - Neil Young (Neil needing help, and you will be too, after listening).

Fallen Angel - Neil Young (Maybe about Kurt Cobain).

Immortality - Pearl Jam (Definitely about Kurt Cobain).

Black - Pearl Jam (Lost love...they tagged it with The Beatles'
Eleanor Rigby here in St. John's. Double dose of melancholic goodness).

Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd (Wonderful sadness).

I Will Not Forget You - Sarah McLachlan (When our German Sheppard died years ago, this was powerful stuff).

 

[Drea]

I'm going to break the rules a bit here and add a category (plus I'm doing the first five that come to mind )

Joyous:
Desire - U2 (I can't hear this song and not smile)
Tommy The Canexican - Eddie From Ohio
My Baby Loves A Bunch Of Authors - Moxy Fruvous
Beautiful - Danny Michel
Turn - The Supers

Depressing/Sad
All My Pretty Horses - The Nields (gorgeous but sad)
Mothers of the Disappeared - U2 (ditto)
Mortal City - Dar Williams
Vimy - Tanglefoot (cried the first time I heard this song - written from the point of view of a Cdn veteran of WWI)
Jonathan Gull - Danny Michel

Silly/Humour
History Is Made By Stupid People - The Arrogant Worms
Ash Hash - Bob Snider (also covered by Moxy Fruvous)
Hunting The Duck - Buddy Whatshisname and the Other Fellers
I Just Wanna Hear Another Bottle Go Pop - Martina Sorbara
I'll Pick - Wendell Ferguson

 

[xaviMF22]

"In between days "

and "boys don't cry" by the Cure

very joyous songs despite their dark lyrics

 

[xaviMF22]

Weezer

Keep Fishin'

Talk about a happy song!!! (Ok, well, maybe not the lyrics . . . . but that video is DAMN CUTE!!!! )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLc1pQGcuCk

Island in the sun is pretty joyous as well

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImpxJXFN6Kw

ignore the video

 

[LemonMelon]

Most joyous (no order):

1. Weezer - Surf Wax America
2. The Beatles - Good Day Sunshine
3. Radiohead - Airbag
4. Supergrass - Alright
5. U2 - Beautiful Day

Most depressing (no order):

1. Radiohead - No Surprises
2. Ween - Baby B*tch
3. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
4. Beck - Lost Cause
5. Nick Drake - Parasite