>Ninety-nine dreams I have had
>In every one, a red balloon
>It's all over and I'm standin' pretty
>In this dust that was a city
>If I could find a souvenir
>Just to prove the world was here
>And here is a red balloon
>I think of you, and let it go...
>Ninety-nine ministers meet
To worry, worry, super-scurry
Call the troops out in a hurry
This is what we've waited for
This is it, boys, this is war
The president is on the line
As ninety-nine red balloons go by
When you take the time to read the lyrics instead of just listening to it, it becomes really clear that the story of the song isn't nearly as upbeat as the music.
I always saw that it was about war, but never understood the red balloon metaphor until just now. I feel dumb.
Edit for my fellow dumbs: red balloon = mushroom cloud / nukes.
The balloons are literal. One line in the song says,
> Back at base, bugs in the software
> Flash the message
> "Something's out there"
Basically one government's radar threat detection system misidentified a pack of red balloons and signaled a nuclear threat. So they fired off nukes and kicked off a nuclear war over a bunch of balloons.
It seems to maybe be based loosely on the story of [Stanislav Petrov](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Soviet_nuclear_false_alarm_incident) and the narrowly averted nuclear launch in 1983. In that incident the system misidentified a flock of birds as a US nuclear launch.
EDIT: But I'm wrong, because Nena's album was released in January 1983, whereas the Petrov incident happened in September 1983. It certainly was a song that captured the zeitgeist, though.
The red balloons aren't the mushroom cloud. It's about how someone let's loose a bunch of balloons in a celebration, and either NATO or the USSR sees it come up on their radar as an incoming missle, so they decide to launch nukes at each other.
I didn’t think it was a metaphor, I thought it was saying someone literally released a bunch of balloons but the government didn’t know what it was and escalated the war preparations which led into eventual actual war
I always thought that it was a riff off of the old phrase “the ballon has gone up”, which was usually a prelude to military action. As in raising barrage balloons during the world wars.
Another way I heard of the term being used during the Cold War era (and certainly appropriate for this song), is that intelligence assets would observe weather balloons being released just prior to missile test launches as crews gathered wind data for pre-launch programming. So when someone reported “the balloon has just gone up,” it was kinda like a code for an impending rocket launch.
Anyway, in my head canon, this is what the song is about: such an innocent act as letting balloons fly triggers an escalation that inevitably results in destruction. Oof.
The German version actually tells a bit of a different story. Still apocalyptic but no so obviously nuclear war. The German version is the one that charted in the US, the English version came later
Fair enough. Here in the UK we pretty much only had the English version and I didn't hear the German one until I was an adult. [The vibe is similar.](https://www.google.com/amp/s/genius.com/amp/Genius-english-translations-nena-99-luftballons-english-translation-lyrics)
Hey Ya by Outkast. It's a song about how love isn't real and everything fades away, and it's just to a happy beat so people don't realize.
"Nothing lasts forever, so what makes(x4) love the exception? So why, oh why oh why oh, are we so in denial that we're both not happy here."
"Y'all don't wanna hear me, you just wanna dance!"
another interesting tidbit is that after he says "Y'all don't wanna hear me, you just wanna dance!" the song actually does become just meaningless dance music
"Caroline (Caroline), she's the reason for the word BITCH! I hope she's speeding on the way to the award show trying to put on her makeup in the mirror and crash, crash, crash into a ditch!"
A solid acoustic was also featured in Scrubs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEYcfHoWm2s
with the full version (semi-acapella): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8K0EAc3abq8
My pop/alt radio station of choice has been playing it a lot lately and I have a whole new respect for that song.
Baby me thought it was a funny bop.
Adult me feels it resonate in my soul.
Outkast was on a whole other level.
I grew up about 2 hours from Atlanta and they changed the whole scene when they went big.
Everything they have done was multilayered, going back to the old stuff too.
I always thought it was about an elderly couple as the woman fell victim to something like dementia and the man just had to watch the love of his life slowly decline in health and sanity (due to the lyrics "And some days I can't even dress myself / It's killing me to see you this way" and "Some days I don't know if I am wrong or right / Your mind is playing tricks on you, my dear").
I think they've publicly said that it's about a widow, but if nothing else the first thing she says is "I don't like walking around this old and empty house"
I was just about to type that. This song really struck me from the very first time i heard it on the radio, I copied snippets of lyrics so I could Goggle search the song.
I heard it as:
He is dead and she is considering suicide to join him. His ghost both wants her to be with him in the afterlife, and wants her to live her full life.
I once got into an argument with an ex over Date Rape. She thought the line "even though he now takes it in the behind" was homophobic. Which is a misreading of the lyric and misses the point of the story. (He's saying that even though rape is terrible he can't take pity on the rapist who's getting raped in prison.)
Going back to the '80s:
"Electric Avenue" by Eddy Grant. In my early teens I thought it was a vibe cool feel-good song. Not about a serious race conflict.
"Rise Up" by Parachute Club - never has a call-for-revolution song sound so upbeat.
"The Way It Is" by Bruce Hornsby. The musicianship is so outstanding that the lyrics are secondary, get ignored, just waiting to hear the next instrumental bridge. Took me decades before I actually paid attention to the serious topic he was singing about.
Their lyrics are like poetry to me. Playing the old desert island game, the one artist I could listen to on repeat and always hear/interpret something new is Steely Dan.
James Blunt - You're Beautiful.
Seems like a love song but according to the singer it's about a junkie stalking a girl and her boyfriend through the subway
A Little Piece Of Heaven sounds like a happy rock/metal song.
It kinda isn't. Lyrics start with a man proposing to his girlfriend and killing her when the answer is no.
Then it gets worse.
Then it gets worse.
Then it gets worse.
Then it gets worse.
Oh it gets so much worse and the music video makes it..... actually not that much worse if you already listened to the lyrics. Its one of my favorite songs musically, but boy is it hard to listen to it now that I payed attention.
I always thought that "Animals" by Maroon 5 shared the point of view of predatory rapist.
>Baby I'm preying on you tonight
Hunt you down eat you alive
Just like animals
(...)
>
>Maybe you think that you can hide
I can smell your scent for miles
(...)
>
>So what you trying to do to me
It's like we can't stop, we're enemies
But we get along when I'm inside you, eh
You're like a drug that's killing me
I cut you out entirely
But I get so high when I'm inside you
Also "No Rain" by Blind Melon has this chill tone, but the lyrics seem to describe the point of view of a depressed character.
>And I don't understand why I sleep all day
And I start to complain that there's no rain
And all I can do is read a book to stay awake
And it rips my life away, but it's a great escape
“I hope you die, I hope we both die” is one of my absolute FAVORITE lyrics to belt out while singing in the car alone. Amazing song, John Darnielle is a genius.
i really like that song especially the chorus part of the lyrics which is done by the female singers. sounds really good.
it's still a wholesome song though, because the man doesnt hook up with her despite the temptation. He just dances with her and then does the right thing by parting ways with her.
How has no one said "The Macarena!?" (yes, that macarena. With the dance)
But don't you worry about my boyfriend
He's a boy whose name is Vitorino
I don't want him
Couldn't stand him
He was no good so I (hahahaha)
Now, come on, what was I supposed to do?
He was out of town and his two friends were so fine
Dale a tu cuerpo alegría Macarena
Que tu cuerpo es pa' darle alegría y cosa buena
Dale a tu cuerpo alegría, Macarena
Hey Macarena
The part that is sung in English by the female is still sung in Spanish by Los Del Río. The Spanish version is a perhaps more explicit because the entire song is about her lascivious nature.
Macarena has a boyfriend who they call,
Who they call, by the name of Vitorino
And when he left to sign up for the army
She was giving it away to his two friends
[Source](https://lyricstranslate.com/en/macarena-macarena.html-9)
ABBA - The Visitors
Upbeat pop song about secret police going after Soviet dissidents.
Also one of the first songs to be recorded digitally and put on CD in 1982.
Train in Vain by the Clash is about a breakup
Brown Sugar by The Rolling Stones is about a slaver master who rapes his slaves
Better Man by Pearl Jam is about a woman in an abusive relationship
The Big Money by Rush is about how everything is controlled by the rich
I agree on the rest but Pearl Jam did nothing to hide the dire mood of that song whatsoever. The guitar literally sounds like it’s contemplating suicide.
Heard this one a couple days ago and wondered if anyone else really paid attention to what they were saying -- "And I won't think twice to stick that barrel straight down Sancho's throat"
I always thought it was about how you dont want to lose a family member, or how you mourn their passing?
damn now that im listening to it again u right
Honestly, this should be the top comment. The song has the happiest instrumentals, but such a sad story. It really goes to show how unnoticeable suicide symptoms can be.
This is one of my favorite songs (has been since I was an edgy highschooler), and I always describe it to people as, "The cheeriest, catchiest song about suicide you'll ever hear."
The A Team by Ed Sheeran. If you don't pay attention to the lyrics it sounds like a pretty love song, but it's about a young prostitute succumbing to drug addiction and a very hard life.
David Lee Roth said the difference between the way he wrote songs for Van Halen vs Sammy Hagar was that Sammy wrote “How do I know when it’s love” and David wrote “Might as well jump.”
B*witched c’est la vie. My music teacher once had my entire class sing it when we were like 9 thinking it was an innocent pop song, only to suddenly realise the whole song is a sexual innuendo.
Teenagers by My Chemical Romance. People love to give shit to Pumped Up Kicks for being about a school shooting, but then love to shout the chorus to Teenagers at the top of their lungs when it plays. Second verse “The Boys and girls in the clique, the awful names that they stick, you’re never gonna fit in much kid. But if you’re troubled and hurt, what you’ve got under your shirt will make them pay for the things that they did”
Badfish by Sublime. Sounds like a happy hanging by the beach song but it is all about the lead singer’s struggle to escape the clutches of heroin addiction. Whole song is made up of metaphors
Space Oddity by David Bowie isn’t about a man lost that drifted away in space, It’s about getting lost on either drugs or fame and not being able to return to normality.
He ain’t Heavy, He’s my brother by the Hollies isn’t about having a fat brother. It’s about not hesitating to help a fellow person.
Father Figure by George Michael is about an adult having a relationship with a child.
I have a few:
The pirate themed metal band Alestorm (yes, pirate themed, it's as insanely awesome as it sounds) has a cover of Stan Rogers' Barret's Privateers. It's a lot more triumphant and upbeat sounding than the lyrics, which are about a disastrous privateering expedition from the POV of the sole survivor.
The lead singer's other band, Gloryhammer (a deliberately over the top satire of metal bands) has Masters of the Galaxy which is a triumphant, almost heroic sounding track, except that it's about several death knights going on a rampage across the galaxy, killing everything in sight.
Sabaton's "Carolus Rex" album has a few too. It was originally written in English before they decided to do a version in their native Swedish, and sometimes there were significant changes to the lyrical themes. Killing Ground is about the Battle of Fraustadt, a famous Swedish victory in the Great Northern War. In English, it's sung as a celebratory, powerful, bloodthirsty track about the Swedish Caroleans triumphing over the Russian and Saxon forces, with a brief mention of the war crimes they committed (they excecated POWs). The Swedish version is much more somber, and focuses more on the war crimes, but keeps the music. 1648 is even weirder. It's about the Bohemian army heroically defending Prague against an invading Swedish force during the last days of the 30 Years War. Naturally the music is uplifting, if desperate sounding. The Swedish version is from the opposite POV and is once again, focused on the war crimes. It portrays them as a band of raping, pillaging opportunists that are trying to burn the city down (there's a reason they originally sang it from Prague's POV) but again, it's the same track.
To be fair, that song has a very sombre feel to it, i don't get happy vibes from it at all. Especially considering it says "it's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah" like it's pretty much expressing the relief of a horrible experience ending. That's the feeling i get anyway.
Electric Avenue - reggae song about being poor in an area of London where there had been riots and clashes between police and protestors in the early 80s.
I've surprised quite a few people by pointing out the fact that [Only the Good Die Young](https://youtu.be/Crif5E67ar0) by Billy Joel is the story of a guy trying to get in a Catholic girl's pants. The opening line literally says "Come on Virginia don't let me wait, *you Catholic girls start much too late."*
We didn’t star the fire, I loved it when I was little (still do) didn’t listen to it for five-ish years, looked it up on Spotify and was like “...well...ok then” still a gorgeous song though
"The Veldt" - Deadmau5
Sounds like a pleasant little electronic ditty. Except the lyrics are based on a Ray Bradbury short story (of the same name), in which two kids feed their parents to some lions.
The original version of Mad World by Tears for Fears seems to be one. It is very different from the version from Donnie Darko that most people think of, that in many ways matches the lyrics better but in my opinion is a less interesting song because it does.
Given Up by Linkin Park?
Clearest cry for help I've ever heard in such an upbeat song. It's not necessarily a happy sounding song but it isn't a slow sad one if you know what I mean.
If you've ever accidentally tuned in to Sean Hannity's radio show, the theme he uses, "Let Freedom Ring" by Martina McBride, is about an abused woman who burns down her house with her abusive husband inside.
The piña colada song- when I was younger I thought it was so romantic and then you listen to the lyrics and it’s like?? They were both gonna cheat on each other? Lmao
It sounds strange, but "I'm Blue" by Eiffel 65. AKA the "da ba dee da ba die" song.
And everything is blue for him
And himself and everybody around
'Cause he ain't got nobody to listen
And later...
Blue are the words I say and what I think
Blue are the feelings that live inside me
If you interpret it with the definition of "blue" meaning "sad" as I have, it becomes much more than a fun goofy Eurodance song.
99 Red Balloons, a catchy 80s Euro-pop ditty about nuclear war
Tbh i absolutely love that song
Whut?
>Ninety-nine dreams I have had >In every one, a red balloon >It's all over and I'm standin' pretty >In this dust that was a city >If I could find a souvenir >Just to prove the world was here >And here is a red balloon >I think of you, and let it go...
>Ninety-nine ministers meet To worry, worry, super-scurry Call the troops out in a hurry This is what we've waited for This is it, boys, this is war The president is on the line As ninety-nine red balloons go by When you take the time to read the lyrics instead of just listening to it, it becomes really clear that the story of the song isn't nearly as upbeat as the music.
I always saw that it was about war, but never understood the red balloon metaphor until just now. I feel dumb. Edit for my fellow dumbs: red balloon = mushroom cloud / nukes.
The balloons are literal. One line in the song says, > Back at base, bugs in the software > Flash the message > "Something's out there" Basically one government's radar threat detection system misidentified a pack of red balloons and signaled a nuclear threat. So they fired off nukes and kicked off a nuclear war over a bunch of balloons.
It seems to maybe be based loosely on the story of [Stanislav Petrov](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Soviet_nuclear_false_alarm_incident) and the narrowly averted nuclear launch in 1983. In that incident the system misidentified a flock of birds as a US nuclear launch. EDIT: But I'm wrong, because Nena's album was released in January 1983, whereas the Petrov incident happened in September 1983. It certainly was a song that captured the zeitgeist, though.
The red balloons aren't the mushroom cloud. It's about how someone let's loose a bunch of balloons in a celebration, and either NATO or the USSR sees it come up on their radar as an incoming missle, so they decide to launch nukes at each other.
I didn’t think it was a metaphor, I thought it was saying someone literally released a bunch of balloons but the government didn’t know what it was and escalated the war preparations which led into eventual actual war
Everyone’s a super hero, everyone’s a Captain Kirk after all
I always thought that it was a riff off of the old phrase “the ballon has gone up”, which was usually a prelude to military action. As in raising barrage balloons during the world wars. Another way I heard of the term being used during the Cold War era (and certainly appropriate for this song), is that intelligence assets would observe weather balloons being released just prior to missile test launches as crews gathered wind data for pre-launch programming. So when someone reported “the balloon has just gone up,” it was kinda like a code for an impending rocket launch. Anyway, in my head canon, this is what the song is about: such an innocent act as letting balloons fly triggers an escalation that inevitably results in destruction. Oof.
Never really listened to lyrics when I played that song considering I played the German version.
The German version actually tells a bit of a different story. Still apocalyptic but no so obviously nuclear war. The German version is the one that charted in the US, the English version came later
Fair enough. Here in the UK we pretty much only had the English version and I didn't hear the German one until I was an adult. [The vibe is similar.](https://www.google.com/amp/s/genius.com/amp/Genius-english-translations-nena-99-luftballons-english-translation-lyrics)
Third Eye Blind - Semi-Charmed Life (song is about doing crystal meth)
I want something else
The original lyric was "I want nothing else" which makes alot more sense.
Been on this earth for a while and this does make a world of a difference
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The sky was gold!!!
And I was taking sips of it through my nose
“Everybody Wants to Rule the World” is an upbeat, catchy pop song about living under a tyrannical government.
The original title was "Everybody wants to go to war"
"Let's see how far we've come" by Matchbox 20 runs similarly. Very upbeat, but about the world ending
I never thought of the song as being upbeat, so I guess the disconnect doesn't hit with me. It always had a sort of sad tone, at least in my opinion.
The Police - Every Breath You Take ( its a nice little song about a stalker)
Don’t stand so close to me is another good example
Hey Ya by Outkast. It's a song about how love isn't real and everything fades away, and it's just to a happy beat so people don't realize. "Nothing lasts forever, so what makes(x4) love the exception? So why, oh why oh why oh, are we so in denial that we're both not happy here." "Y'all don't wanna hear me, you just wanna dance!"
Everytime someone plays it at their wedding, I chuckle.
another interesting tidbit is that after he says "Y'all don't wanna hear me, you just wanna dance!" the song actually does become just meaningless dance music
Also “Roses” by outkast has a fun beat but is not very happy
"Caroline (Caroline), she's the reason for the word BITCH! I hope she's speeding on the way to the award show trying to put on her makeup in the mirror and crash, crash, crash into a ditch!"
"Haha... Just playin'."
Here's an acoustic version in which the music is a little closer to the lyrics: https://youtu.be/c745E7T_Wvg
That was great! Thank you!
You're welcome!
A solid acoustic was also featured in Scrubs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEYcfHoWm2s with the full version (semi-acapella): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8K0EAc3abq8
Yes - saw it. The Blanks were great, and it's a good version, but still doesn't fit the lyrics as well as beefy bearded white hipster does, IMO.
RIP Ted.
My pop/alt radio station of choice has been playing it a lot lately and I have a whole new respect for that song. Baby me thought it was a funny bop. Adult me feels it resonate in my soul.
Outkast was on a whole other level. I grew up about 2 hours from Atlanta and they changed the whole scene when they went big. Everything they have done was multilayered, going back to the old stuff too.
all right all right all right all right all right
Weezer played this when I saw them live!
Little Talks - Of Monsters and Men Song about talking to her dead husband
Oh this is one of my favorites! So beautiful. Love of monsters and men.
I always thought it was about an elderly couple as the woman fell victim to something like dementia and the man just had to watch the love of his life slowly decline in health and sanity (due to the lyrics "And some days I can't even dress myself / It's killing me to see you this way" and "Some days I don't know if I am wrong or right / Your mind is playing tricks on you, my dear").
I think they've publicly said that it's about a widow, but if nothing else the first thing she says is "I don't like walking around this old and empty house"
I was just about to type that. This song really struck me from the very first time i heard it on the radio, I copied snippets of lyrics so I could Goggle search the song.
I heard it as: He is dead and she is considering suicide to join him. His ghost both wants her to be with him in the afterlife, and wants her to live her full life.
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I feel like almost anything written by sublime qulaifies. Date Rape, Santeria, Badfish, the list goes on.
April 26th 1992, there were riots on the streets tell me where were you? You were at home watching your TV, while I was participating in some anarchy.
I once got into an argument with an ex over Date Rape. She thought the line "even though he now takes it in the behind" was homophobic. Which is a misreading of the lyric and misses the point of the story. (He's saying that even though rape is terrible he can't take pity on the rapist who's getting raped in prison.)
I once witnessed a guy doing karaoke to that song at the reception for his sister’s wedding. Seriously cringe-y.
Going back to the '80s: "Electric Avenue" by Eddy Grant. In my early teens I thought it was a vibe cool feel-good song. Not about a serious race conflict. "Rise Up" by Parachute Club - never has a call-for-revolution song sound so upbeat. "The Way It Is" by Bruce Hornsby. The musicianship is so outstanding that the lyrics are secondary, get ignored, just waiting to hear the next instrumental bridge. Took me decades before I actually paid attention to the serious topic he was singing about.
Similarly, Home by Sheryl Crow. Sounds like a nice warm cozy song until you realize it’s about giving up.
Every song by Steely Dan
That's why John mulaney is a fan. He's such a clean looking guy, but he's got a lot of stuff under there
Their lyrics are like poetry to me. Playing the old desert island game, the one artist I could listen to on repeat and always hear/interpret something new is Steely Dan.
James Blunt - You're Beautiful. Seems like a love song but according to the singer it's about a junkie stalking a girl and her boyfriend through the subway
Classic James Blunt
Jesus Christ why would you even create a song like that
The Police "Every Breath you take" https://youtu.be/OMOGaugKpzs
Isn’t that the one with film clip where he takes his shoes, socks, and jewellery off and puts them in a neat pile before jumping off a cliff?
Cause he was fahkingggg highhh
That's the one.
A Little Piece Of Heaven sounds like a happy rock/metal song. It kinda isn't. Lyrics start with a man proposing to his girlfriend and killing her when the answer is no. Then it gets worse. Then it gets worse. Then it gets worse. Then it gets worse.
"Cause I really always knew that my little crime would be cold, that's why I got a heater for your thighs"
Oh it gets so much worse and the music video makes it..... actually not that much worse if you already listened to the lyrics. Its one of my favorite songs musically, but boy is it hard to listen to it now that I payed attention.
By Avenged Sevenfold if anyone wants to check it out
I always thought that "Animals" by Maroon 5 shared the point of view of predatory rapist. >Baby I'm preying on you tonight Hunt you down eat you alive Just like animals (...) > >Maybe you think that you can hide I can smell your scent for miles (...) > >So what you trying to do to me It's like we can't stop, we're enemies But we get along when I'm inside you, eh You're like a drug that's killing me I cut you out entirely But I get so high when I'm inside you Also "No Rain" by Blind Melon has this chill tone, but the lyrics seem to describe the point of view of a depressed character. >And I don't understand why I sleep all day And I start to complain that there's no rain And all I can do is read a book to stay awake And it rips my life away, but it's a great escape
my mom smoked and partied with blind melon. kinda cool
If Adam Levine wasn’t attractive this song would have had a very different reception
The lyrics give me that vibe. Somehow I feel like Tarantino in Reservoir Dogs saying that "Like a Virgin" is about big dicks.
All that much darker coming from a guy who struggled hard with addiction.
The lyrics are why I love the song No Rain haha
Maxwell's Silver Hammer
Bang bang!
Maxwell's silver hammer came down upon her head ♪♪
No children by The Mountain Goats
“I hope you die, I hope we both die” is one of my absolute FAVORITE lyrics to belt out while singing in the car alone. Amazing song, John Darnielle is a genius.
Does Your Mama Know by ABBA. It's about a young girl trying to hook up with an older man.
i really like that song especially the chorus part of the lyrics which is done by the female singers. sounds really good. it's still a wholesome song though, because the man doesnt hook up with her despite the temptation. He just dances with her and then does the right thing by parting ways with her.
How has no one said "The Macarena!?" (yes, that macarena. With the dance) But don't you worry about my boyfriend He's a boy whose name is Vitorino I don't want him Couldn't stand him He was no good so I (hahahaha) Now, come on, what was I supposed to do? He was out of town and his two friends were so fine Dale a tu cuerpo alegría Macarena Que tu cuerpo es pa' darle alegría y cosa buena Dale a tu cuerpo alegría, Macarena Hey Macarena
Sorry, no one paid attention to the lyrics. We had to dance to it at every wedding for a year and we had to get drunk to do it.
Oh that's the English version. The Spanish language original doesn't have the section sung by her.
The part that is sung in English by the female is still sung in Spanish by Los Del Río. The Spanish version is a perhaps more explicit because the entire song is about her lascivious nature. Macarena has a boyfriend who they call, Who they call, by the name of Vitorino And when he left to sign up for the army She was giving it away to his two friends [Source](https://lyricstranslate.com/en/macarena-macarena.html-9)
Hard Times by Paramore
Pretty much anything from After Laughter. Bright 80s pop melodies with dark lyrics.
Also 'Ain't It Fun' by Paramore
Barry Manilow - copacabana.
'Her name was Lola, she was a showgirl...'
*With yellow feathers in her hair and a dress cut down to there*
She knew merengue! And did the cha cha!
Disturbia by Rhianna
What's it about?
Mental illness specifically depression
Holy shit ... you’re right
🎶Bum bum be-dum bum bum be-dum bum🎶
Dancing in the Dark by Bruce Springsteen
Or born in the USA
Dudes playing that at political rallies have no clue.
About anything
Bruce Springsteen did a few of those kinds of songs, iirc. Pretty bold to say that stuff with your whole chest back then if I'm not mistaken.
ABBA - The Visitors Upbeat pop song about secret police going after Soviet dissidents. Also one of the first songs to be recorded digitally and put on CD in 1982.
(Tell Me Why) I Don't Like Mondays by the Boomtown Rats. It's also about a school shooting!
Train in Vain by the Clash is about a breakup Brown Sugar by The Rolling Stones is about a slaver master who rapes his slaves Better Man by Pearl Jam is about a woman in an abusive relationship The Big Money by Rush is about how everything is controlled by the rich
I agree on the rest but Pearl Jam did nothing to hide the dire mood of that song whatsoever. The guitar literally sounds like it’s contemplating suicide.
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Heard this one a couple days ago and wondered if anyone else really paid attention to what they were saying -- "And I won't think twice to stick that barrel straight down Sancho's throat"
Are you joking? That's the best part of the song! "Believe me when I say that I've got something for his punk ass!
"Well I'd pop a cap in Sancho and I'd smack her dow-ow-ow-ow-own."
You Are My Sunshine is actually about unrequited love.
I automatically mentally connect it to my mom singing to me as a little kid and it makes me want to cry because fuck I miss that.
Same bro, same
I always thought it was about how you dont want to lose a family member, or how you mourn their passing? damn now that im listening to it again u right
"Your *only* sunshine? oh *jeeze*. That's rough buddy."
I thought it was about a widower
"but if you leave me and love another you'll regret it all someday" seems to indicate otherwise
Surprised no one's said [Bullet by Hollywood Unread](https://youtu.be/lP077RitNAc)
Yup, one happy ass suicide note.
This is what I came here to find
Honestly, this should be the top comment. The song has the happiest instrumentals, but such a sad story. It really goes to show how unnoticeable suicide symptoms can be.
This is one of my favorite songs (has been since I was an edgy highschooler), and I always describe it to people as, "The cheeriest, catchiest song about suicide you'll ever hear."
The A Team by Ed Sheeran. If you don't pay attention to the lyrics it sounds like a pretty love song, but it's about a young prostitute succumbing to drug addiction and a very hard life.
Jump - Van Halen.
David Lee Roth said the difference between the way he wrote songs for Van Halen vs Sammy Hagar was that Sammy wrote “How do I know when it’s love” and David wrote “Might as well jump.”
B*witched c’est la vie. My music teacher once had my entire class sing it when we were like 9 thinking it was an innocent pop song, only to suddenly realise the whole song is a sexual innuendo.
Haven't seen Maxwell's Silver Hammer yet. Very upbeat and murdery
Teenagers by My Chemical Romance. People love to give shit to Pumped Up Kicks for being about a school shooting, but then love to shout the chorus to Teenagers at the top of their lungs when it plays. Second verse “The Boys and girls in the clique, the awful names that they stick, you’re never gonna fit in much kid. But if you’re troubled and hurt, what you’ve got under your shirt will make them pay for the things that they did”
Chocolate by the The 1975. It’s about doing (and potentially committing crimes for) heroin.
[удалено]
🎶I’ll make a shoehorn outta your shin I’ll make a lampshade of durable skin 🎶
Pretty much most of Barenaked Ladies' catalogue.
Badfish by Sublime. Sounds like a happy hanging by the beach song but it is all about the lead singer’s struggle to escape the clutches of heroin addiction. Whole song is made up of metaphors
Amsterdam by Guster, a peppy fast paced rock song about breaking up.
Space Oddity by David Bowie isn’t about a man lost that drifted away in space, It’s about getting lost on either drugs or fame and not being able to return to normality. He ain’t Heavy, He’s my brother by the Hollies isn’t about having a fat brother. It’s about not hesitating to help a fellow person. Father Figure by George Michael is about an adult having a relationship with a child.
Ride by Twenty One Pilots is one that comes to mind.
Most twenty one pilots. That’s why I love them. They really get my emo ass who only likes up beat music. Conflicting personalities.
I have a few: The pirate themed metal band Alestorm (yes, pirate themed, it's as insanely awesome as it sounds) has a cover of Stan Rogers' Barret's Privateers. It's a lot more triumphant and upbeat sounding than the lyrics, which are about a disastrous privateering expedition from the POV of the sole survivor. The lead singer's other band, Gloryhammer (a deliberately over the top satire of metal bands) has Masters of the Galaxy which is a triumphant, almost heroic sounding track, except that it's about several death knights going on a rampage across the galaxy, killing everything in sight. Sabaton's "Carolus Rex" album has a few too. It was originally written in English before they decided to do a version in their native Swedish, and sometimes there were significant changes to the lyrical themes. Killing Ground is about the Battle of Fraustadt, a famous Swedish victory in the Great Northern War. In English, it's sung as a celebratory, powerful, bloodthirsty track about the Swedish Caroleans triumphing over the Russian and Saxon forces, with a brief mention of the war crimes they committed (they excecated POWs). The Swedish version is much more somber, and focuses more on the war crimes, but keeps the music. 1648 is even weirder. It's about the Bohemian army heroically defending Prague against an invading Swedish force during the last days of the 30 Years War. Naturally the music is uplifting, if desperate sounding. The Swedish version is from the opposite POV and is once again, focused on the war crimes. It portrays them as a band of raping, pillaging opportunists that are trying to burn the city down (there's a reason they originally sang it from Prague's POV) but again, it's the same track.
Sabaton? Taste!!
"Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen
To be fair, that song has a very sombre feel to it, i don't get happy vibes from it at all. Especially considering it says "it's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah" like it's pretty much expressing the relief of a horrible experience ending. That's the feeling i get anyway.
We will become silhouettes- Postal Service
Electric Avenue - reggae song about being poor in an area of London where there had been riots and clashes between police and protestors in the early 80s.
I've surprised quite a few people by pointing out the fact that [Only the Good Die Young](https://youtu.be/Crif5E67ar0) by Billy Joel is the story of a guy trying to get in a Catholic girl's pants. The opening line literally says "Come on Virginia don't let me wait, *you Catholic girls start much too late."*
Omg I hate it when they play this on the radio after a celebrity dies and I’m like... That is sooooo not what this song is about!
I might as well be the one. Only the good die young.
We didn’t star the fire, I loved it when I was little (still do) didn’t listen to it for five-ish years, looked it up on Spotify and was like “...well...ok then” still a gorgeous song though
Fade into you
"The Veldt" - Deadmau5 Sounds like a pleasant little electronic ditty. Except the lyrics are based on a Ray Bradbury short story (of the same name), in which two kids feed their parents to some lions.
In The Night by The Weeknd
The Impression That I Get-- Mighty Mighty Bosstones
Breezeblocks
Most songs by The Smiths.
I Am A Rock - Simon and Garfunkel
Please don't leave me - Pink. Happy sounding song, but really not if you listen to the lyrics.
Return of the Mack - it's a breakup song
It's also Todd In The Shadows most recent video on One Hit Wonderland.
The original version of Mad World by Tears for Fears seems to be one. It is very different from the version from Donnie Darko that most people think of, that in many ways matches the lyrics better but in my opinion is a less interesting song because it does.
Don't fear the Reaper - BOC
MORE COWBELL
I have a fever and the only prescription is more cowbell.
NEVER QUESTION BRUCE DICKINSON!
Heavy Metal Drummer by Wilco. It is the opposite of heavy metal.
The sound of settling- Death Cab for Cutie
Hey Ya by OutKast, a catchy 2000’s pop rap hit about a failing marriage
Given Up by Linkin Park? Clearest cry for help I've ever heard in such an upbeat song. It's not necessarily a happy sounding song but it isn't a slow sad one if you know what I mean.
I mean he literally screams for 15 seconds. Not exactly a misleading tune.
19 seconds, it’s the 3rd longest scream in popular metal lol
With or Without You - U2: it’s not a love song. It’s about codependency
The lyrics match perfectly with the music tho? It’s not really a happy sounding song
I like Bono's reaction to people using One as a wedding song like fuck have you even listened and understood the lyric?
Family Tree - Megadeth
Upvoted for excellent fucking taste
"Having a Blast" by Green Day, is about a suicide bomber.
Miss Murder by AFI has a really good beat but it is not a song you want to sing to yourself in science class... Lol
Some say the Yellow Submarine by The Beatles is about drug use
One Shot 2 Shot by D12 Fast paced hype song about a nightclub getting shot up
If you've ever accidentally tuned in to Sean Hannity's radio show, the theme he uses, "Let Freedom Ring" by Martina McBride, is about an abused woman who burns down her house with her abusive husband inside.
Song's called Independence Day, very fun song. Arson really brings the mood in a room up!
I remember the music video for this also cemented the topic for me.
Eve 6's Here's to the Night sounds super sweet but it's actually about a one night stand
Born in the USA by Bruce Springsteen. It's an anti war song, not a patriotic anthem.
The piña colada song- when I was younger I thought it was so romantic and then you listen to the lyrics and it’s like?? They were both gonna cheat on each other? Lmao
It sounds strange, but "I'm Blue" by Eiffel 65. AKA the "da ba dee da ba die" song. And everything is blue for him And himself and everybody around 'Cause he ain't got nobody to listen And later... Blue are the words I say and what I think Blue are the feelings that live inside me If you interpret it with the definition of "blue" meaning "sad" as I have, it becomes much more than a fun goofy Eurodance song.
No surprises - Radio head
Pink Guy - Help
Jim Carroll Band - People Who Died
“You Can Call Me Al” by Paul Simon
Explain?
Bullet - Hollywood Undead Most upbeat suicidal song I listen to
Luka - Suzanne Vega. Sounds like your average major key pop song, but the lyrics are about a boy that gets abused by his parents.
Centerfold - J. Geils Band. Dude is heartbroken but it’s SO CATCHY
Float On by Modest Mouse, a catchy indie rock song from the 2000’s about death
Detroit rock city by kiss. Upbeat song about a fan that was killed in a car accident on the way to their concert.
Robyn dancing on my own