"And if I could move I'd get my gun and put her in the ground."
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Wednesday, 6 April 2016 20:30 (eight years ago) link
Actually a country staple (a depressing genre on its own with many examples) but I hear it on classic rock radio all the time.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Wednesday, 6 April 2016 20:31 (eight years ago) link
Was Alan Parsons Project's 'Time' ever a classic rock staple? Because those might be the most depressing lyrics of any charting song ever.
you mean Pink Floyd's "Time"? yes it is a staple
pink floyd rules
― rockpalast '82 (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 6 April 2016 20:31 (eight years ago) link
From SONGFACTS.. "Mel Tillis wrote this song. He based the song on a couple who lived near his family in Florida. In real life, the man was wounded in Germany in World War II and sent to recuperate in England. There he married a nurse who took care of him at the hospital. The two of them moved to Florida shortly afterward, but he had periodic return trips to the hospital as problems with his wounds kept flaring up. His wife saw another man as the veteran lay in the hospital. Tillis changed the war in the song to the Korean War, and left out the life ending: the man killed her in a murder-suicide. In the song, the man says he would kill her if he could move to get his gun."
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Wednesday, 6 April 2016 20:33 (eight years ago) link
"no one told you when to run / you missed the starting gun" is like, too real for me
― Treeship, Wednesday, 6 April 2016 20:34 (eight years ago) link
"Time keeps on slippin' slippin' slippin' into the future" vs. "Don't fear the reaper"
― ... (Eazy), Wednesday, 6 April 2016 20:36 (eight years ago) link
don't fear the reaper is too Romantic to be bleak. in that song, death is the unknown, not the end.
― Treeship, Wednesday, 6 April 2016 20:37 (eight years ago) link
Petty has a lot:
Two cars parked on the overpass, Rocks hit the water like broken glass I should have known right then it was too good to last God, it's such a drag when you're livin' in the past
I've given up, I've given upI've given up, you tangle my emotions
Somewhere, somehow, somebody must have kicked you around someWho knows maybe you were kidnapped tied up,Taken away and held for ransomI've given up, honey please admit it is over
'Cause somewhere deep down insideSomeone is saying, "Love doesn't last that long"I got this feelin' inside night and dayAnd now I can't take it no more
It was too cold to cry when I woke up aloneI hit my last number and walked to the road
Last dance with Mary Jane, one more time to kill the painI feel summer creepin' in and I'm tired of this town again
You better watch what you sayYou better watch what you do to me
― rockpalast '82 (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 6 April 2016 20:38 (eight years ago) link
"born in the usa" prob the bleakest springsteen song you ever hear on the radio, even if he does end it with "i'm a cool-rockin' daddy in the usa!" for some reason
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Wednesday, 6 April 2016 20:39 (eight years ago) link
that song is mostly bleak because it sucks so much and it's a disgrace to the songwriter
― Treeship, Wednesday, 6 April 2016 20:40 (eight years ago) link
River is bleaker imho
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Wednesday, 6 April 2016 20:40 (eight years ago) link
the irony is too overt for it to be an effective song, i think, even if it was too subtle for reagan and his campaign team to understand
in born in the usa that is
yes, last dance with mary jane
I've given up, I've given upI've given up,
the definition of bleak
― Treeship, Wednesday, 6 April 2016 20:42 (eight years ago) link
petty also gets at the fundamental problem with marijuana, you can easily fall into a nostalgia hole
― Treeship, Wednesday, 6 April 2016 20:45 (eight years ago) link
Not sure if Depeche Mode gets played on classic rock radio, but they've got some cheery lyrics:
Girl of eighteen fell in love with everythingFound new life in Jesus ChristHit by a car ended upOn a life support machine
― o. nate, Wednesday, 6 April 2016 20:49 (eight years ago) link
I almost never listen to classic rock radio, does "DOA" by Bloodrock still get played anywhere? Because I really can't believe that song was ever a hit (and I owned the 45 when I was 12.)
― Retro novelty punk (Dan Peterson), Wednesday, 6 April 2016 21:13 (eight years ago) link
Wooden Ships by CSN is more bleak than the lovely harmonies would indicate.
― earlnash, Wednesday, 6 April 2016 21:18 (eight years ago) link
haha i don't think bloodrock gets much play but i picked up Bloodrock 2 on a whim cuz it was cheap and woah that band is bonkers
― rockpalast '82 (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 6 April 2016 21:19 (eight years ago) link
(always wondered if Axl had heard it prior to writing "Coma")
xpost: On the River, the whole song is depressing, probably the bleakest of Springsteen.
"At night on them banks I'd lie awake And pull her close just to feel each breath she'd take Now those memories come back to haunt me They haunt me like a curse Is a dream a lie if it don't come true Or is it something worse
That sends me down to the river Though I know the river is dry That sends me down to the river tonight "
The closing line is specially sad, previously in the song they set the river as the place they would go when things go bad and it would make it good at least for a little while. In the end the river has dried and it's heartbreaking, whatever metaphor you wish to attach to it.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Wednesday, 6 April 2016 21:20 (eight years ago) link
"Aqualung" always fills me with despair...
Sitting on a park bencheyeing little girls with bad intent.Snot running down his nosegreasy fingers smearing shabby clothes.Drying in the cold sunWatching as the frilly panties run.Feeling like a dead duckspitting out pieces of his broken luck.
Sun streaking coldan old man wandering lonely.Taking timethe only way he knows.Leg hurting bad,as he bends to pick a dog-endhe goes down to the bogand warms his feet.
Feeling alonethe army's up the rodesalvation à la mode anda cup of tea.Aqualung my frienddon't start away uneasyyou poor old sod, you see, it's only me.Do you still rememberDecember's foggy freezewhen the ice thatclings on to your beard isscreaming agony.And you snatch your rattling last breathswith deep-sea-diver sounds,and the flowers bloom likemadness in the spring
― lingereffect (Kent Burt), Thursday, 7 April 2016 01:37 (eight years ago) link
I glanced back on my lifeAnd thought about my wifeCause they took the keys, and she'll think it's me
― schlep and back trio (anagram), Thursday, 7 April 2016 07:54 (eight years ago) link
I'm not sure this counts as it's not really 'classic rock' but "Alone Again, Naturally" is lyrically the bleakest shit I've ever heard
― bunny slopes, Thursday, 7 April 2016 08:50 (eight years ago) link
When I was young, it seemed that life was so wonderful,A miracle, oh it was beautiful, magical.And all the birds in the trees, well they'd be singing so happily,Joyfully, playfully watching me.But then they sent me away to teach me how to be sensible,Logical, responsible, practical.And they showed me a world where I could be so dependable,Clinical, intellectual, cynical.
― reggie (qualmsley), Thursday, 7 April 2016 11:03 (eight years ago) link
i remember listening to "Dark Side of the Moon" for the first time when i was 16 or so and reading the lyrics to "Time" and thinking man, I kinda don't want to hear this stuff:
Ticking away the moments that make up a dull dayFritter and waste the hours in an off-hand way
Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the timePlans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines
― AdamVania (Adam Bruneau), Thursday, 7 April 2016 11:07 (eight years ago) link
"the time is gone, the song is over/thought i'd something more to say..."
― diana krallice (rushomancy), Thursday, 7 April 2016 11:18 (eight years ago) link
I don't think I've ever heard "Aqualung" on classic rock radio
― ejemplo (crüt), Thursday, 7 April 2016 11:19 (eight years ago) link
So you think you're a Romeoplaying a part in a picture-showTake the long way homeTake the long way home
Cos you're the joke of the neighborhoodWhy should you care if you're feeling goodTake the long way homeTake the long way home
― reggie (qualmsley), Thursday, 7 April 2016 11:31 (eight years ago) link
Really, crüt? It was a staple when I was growing up.
― Hi! I'm twice-coloured! (Sund4r), Thursday, 7 April 2016 13:04 (eight years ago) link
― rockpalast '82 (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, April 6, 2016 3:31 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Naw, man, I mean this song that reached #15 on the Billboard pop charts at a time when we were apparently in the throes of a collective depression:
Time, flowing like a riverTime, beckoning meWho knows when we shall meet againIf everBut timeKeeps flowing like a riverTo the sea Goodbye my love, Maybe for foreverGoodbye my love, The tide waits for meWho knows when we shall meet againIf everBut timeKeeps flowing like a river (on and on)To the sea, to the sea Till it's gone foreverGone foreverGone forevermore Goodbye my friends, maybe foreverGoodbye my friends, the stars wait for meWho knows where we shall meet againIf everBut timeKeeps flowing like a river (on and on)To the sea, to the sea Till it's gone foreverGone foreverGone forevermore
― My Whole Existence Is Flan (Old Lunch), Thursday, 7 April 2016 13:12 (eight years ago) link
And unlike some of the songs itt, the music does nothing to alleviage the heaviness.
Don't cryDon't raise your eyeIt's only teenage wasteland
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Thursday, 7 April 2016 13:45 (eight years ago) link
Just take those old records off the shelfI'll sit and listen to 'em by myself
― ejemplo (crüt), Thursday, 7 April 2016 13:46 (eight years ago) link
The percentage you're paying is too high-pricedWhile you're living beyond all your meansAnd the man in the suit has just bought a new carFrom the profit he's made on your dreams
― reggie (qualmsley), Thursday, 7 April 2016 14:43 (eight years ago) link
See lyrics like this seem to aestheticized to be truly bleak, they're transfiguting despair into art. What's unbearable about jack and diane is the trite bouncy melody juxtaposed with the suicidal lyrics. For captain jack it's the overall sordidness of the experience described.
― Treeship, Thursday, 7 April 2016 14:52 (eight years ago) link
lol Crüt
― thom yorke state of mind (voodoo chili), Thursday, 7 April 2016 15:13 (eight years ago) link
The question made me think of Manic Street Preachers' La Tristesse Durera (Scream to a Sigh), which after 23 years must be approaching classic rock status, at least in Europe. The song's title and chorus paraphrase the last words of Vincent van Gogh, "La trisesse durera toujours." ("The sadness will go on forever.")
― Vast Halo, Thursday, 7 April 2016 20:38 (eight years ago) link
best thing about alan parsons' "time" (he must not have known pink floyd had a song by the same name...) is the way mr. bungle used to cover it back in the day. this footage here is just beautiful, man, beautiful.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5DKXxMbrJE
― diana krallice (rushomancy), Thursday, 7 April 2016 21:22 (eight years ago) link
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Wednesday, April 6, 2016 3:39 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
I always heard the last line as bitterly sarcastic. And I think it's a great line, because it gives the speaker a sense of humor and makes him more than just an archetypal human tragedy. And yeah, I don't think there's anything much bleaker than the images in that song on classic rock radio.
― human life won't become a cat (man alive), Thursday, 7 April 2016 21:46 (eight years ago) link
I used to think that Pink Floyd came up with the phrase "quiet desperation" themselves.
― human life won't become a cat (man alive), Thursday, 7 April 2016 21:47 (eight years ago) link
Boomer Suicide Anthems
― never ending bath infusion (Doctor Casino), Thursday, 7 April 2016 21:52 (eight years ago) link
Just destroys mehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEH_ms8d1ws
― human life won't become a cat (man alive), Thursday, 7 April 2016 21:53 (eight years ago) link
I don't want to fade awayGive me one more day, please
― lute bro (brimstead), Thursday, 7 April 2016 21:58 (eight years ago) link
hungry heart is the saddest bruce springsteen hit, imo
― lute bro (brimstead), Thursday, 7 April 2016 21:59 (eight years ago) link
i can't even decide which verse is the saddest. or if the chorus is sadder.
i don't want to playi just want to bang or get drunk all day
― reggie (qualmsley), Thursday, 7 April 2016 23:10 (eight years ago) link
Born to Run is pretty sad to me.
― human life won't become a cat (man alive), Thursday, 7 April 2016 23:22 (eight years ago) link
I don't want to dieI sometimes wish I'd never been born at all
― reggie (qualmsley), Thursday, 7 April 2016 23:45 (eight years ago) link
classic rock was often super-maudlin, more convincingly despondent than "punk"
I'm going to rent myself a houseIn the shade of the freewayI'm going to pack my lunch in the morningAnd go to work each dayAnd when the evening rolls aroundI'll go on home and lay my body downAnd when the morning light comes streaming inI'll get up and do it againAmenSay it againAmen
I want to know what became of the changesWe waited for love to bringWere they only the fitful dreamsOf some greater awakeningI've been aware of the time going byThey say in the end it's the wink of an eyeAnd when the morning light comes streaming inYou'll get up and do it againAmen
Caught between the longing for loveAnd the struggle for the legal tenderWhere the sirens sing and the church bells ringAnd the junk man pounds his fenderWhere the veterans dream of the fightFast asleep at the traffic lightAnd the children solemnly waitFor the ice cream vendorOut into the cool of the eveningStrolls the PretenderHe knows that all his hopes and dreamsBegin and end there
Ah the laughter of the loversAs they run through the nightLeaving nothing for the othersBut to choose off and fightAnd tear at the world with all their mightWhile the ships bearing their dreamsSail out of sight
I'm going to find myself a girlWho can show me what laughter meansAnd we'll fill in the missing colorsIn each other's paint-by-number dreamsAnd then we'll put our dark glasses onAnd we'll make love until our strength is goneAnd when the morning light comes streaming inWe'll get up and do it againGet it up again
I'm going to be a happy idiotAnd struggle for the legal tenderWhere the ads take aim and lay their claimTo the heart and the soul of the spenderAnd believe in whatever may lieIn those things that money can buyThough true love could have been a contenderAre you there?Say a prayer for the PretenderWho started out so young and strongOnly to surrender
― reggie (qualmsley), Friday, 8 April 2016 00:44 (eight years ago) link
Well, I've been afraid of changing'Cause I've built my life around youBut time made you bolderEven children get olderAnd I'm getting older too
― thom yorke state of mind (voodoo chili), Wednesday, 20 April 2016 23:21 (eight years ago) link
I am never not haunted - even after hearing the song a zillion times in non-bleak contexts - by the backing vocals in Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game," distantly chanting "this world is only going to break your heart" over and over again
― Your Ribs are My Ladder, Thursday, 21 April 2016 02:17 (eight years ago) link
i always saw belle and sebastian's early work as like a response to the beatles' question of where lonely people in the uk come from/belong. it turned out they were predictably sad and lonely but also had rich inner lives, filled with transgressive sex and deep spiritual convictions. that made me feel better.― Treeship, Wednesday, April 13, 2016 4:47 PM (1 week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― Treeship, Wednesday, April 13, 2016 4:47 PM (1 week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― bernard snowy, Thursday, 21 April 2016 04:21 (eight years ago) link
Does "Johnny and Mary" by Robert Palmer count, because that's as bleak as bleak
― a hairy, howling toad torments a man whose wife is deathly ill (James Morrison), Thursday, 21 April 2016 06:02 (eight years ago) link
yeah, that's a great post, Treeship.
― never ending bath infusion (Doctor Casino), Thursday, 21 April 2016 12:28 (eight years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
― System, Sunday, 1 May 2016 00:01 (eight years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Monday, 2 May 2016 00:01 (eight years ago) link
Another year and then you'd be happyJust one more year and then you'd be happyBut you're cryin, you're cryin now
― Liquid Plejades, Monday, 2 May 2016 02:41 (eight years ago) link
OP didn't even choose the bleakest line of Jack & Diane, which is:
"Suckin' on a chili dog outside the Tastee-Freez"
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Monday, 9 May 2016 18:40 (eight years ago) link
I remember when rock was youngMe and Suzie had so much funHolding hands and skimmin' stonesHad an old gold Chevy and a place of my ownBut the biggest kick I ever gotWas doing a thing called the crocodile rockWhile the other kids were rockin' round the clockWe were hoppin' and boppin' to the crocodile rock
But the years went by and the rock just diedSuzie went and left us for some foreign guyLong nights crying by the record machineDreaming of my hevy and my old blue jeansBut they'll never kill the thrills we've gotBurnin' up to the crocodile rockLearnin' fast as the weeks went pastWe really thought the crocodile rock would last
Crocodile-rockin' is something shockin'When your feet just can't keep stillI never knew me a better time and I guess I never will
― Newb Sybok (Doctor Casino), Wednesday, 27 December 2017 17:52 (six years ago) link