When you’re an emotionless piece of garbage like myself, sometimes you need a little help unraveling those feelings that you may not be able to express on your own.
In no particular order and accompanied with my personal interpretation, these 15 depressing songs will make even the most frigid of bitches warm their cold dead hearts with a fiery burst of emotion.
1. JMSN – Alone
Slightly trippy. When I listen to this song, I’m hearing someone struggling through life not wanting to conform to the typical avenues to achieve success. The only thing that really makes him happy is a girl in his life that he wants all to himself but it appears that he’s willing to accept whatever degree of love she’s willing to give him.
Of course, this is MY interpretation. Feel free to read JMSN’s pretentious explanation for the song here. hahaha.
2. Elliot Moss – Slip
Another beautiful song. In this, Elliot Moss describes a once radiant girl in a downward spiral and he’s pretty much saying to her that she’s in control of her own happiness and that he won’t stick around to watch her drown in her sorrows.
3. The Weeknd – Drunk In Love
The Weeknd truly kills it when it comes to depressing R&B, tapping into his emotions and taking a somewhat objective look into his own life. When I listen to his remix to Drunk In Love, I hear someone equating selfishness to alcoholism. In this song, he talks about his money, his sexual prowess, his friends… but the tone and repeated use of “how did this shit happen,” shows that he’s been so intoxicated, literally and figuratively, that these things aren’t really bringing him the happiness you would expect.
Though you’ve probably already heard it before, if you like this song, you will LOVE The Hills.
4. Kanye West – Say You Will featuring Caroline Shaw
(This isn’t the original version of this song, because Kanye’s a dick and doesn’t have the original anywhere I can find streaming free online.)
Say You Will is one of my favorite songs of all time, from one of my favorite albums of all time. This 808’s and Heartbreaks song by Kanye West tells the painful story of being cheated on, his violent reaction and his yearning to have that relationship back. The beat really draws you in and the powerful story through minimalist lyrics really just proves how talented Kanye really is.
5. Beyoncé ft. André 3000 – Back To Black
A great remake of Amy Winehouse’s original. What makes this song great is the slowed down and somber tone. The coupling of André 3000 with Beyoncé allows this story to be told from both the betrayer’s perspective along with the betrayed. Here, André 3000 seems to have left his girlfriend for some reason and has been spending time with Beyoncé, his on-and-off side-chick. He ends up going back to his girlfriend and completely leaving Beyoncé behind… an apparently very familiar situation to her.
6. Usher – His Mistakes
Easily one of my favorite Usher songs of all-time. If you’ve ever dated someone whose past experiences from a terrible relationship seem to creep their way into yours, you will definitely relate. In this song, Usher reluctantly tells his girlfriend that he has to leave her because he’s been faithful and doesn’t deserve to face the repercussions of her previous man’s indiscretions.
7. R. Kelly – Elsewhere
Something completely different from a man who can turn ANYTHING into a song about sex: Sex weed. Sex in the kitchen. Sex Planet. Ignition. Bump N’ Grind. Echo. Number One. Etc…… this really shows a whole different side to the singer. In Elsewhere, R. Kelly is in the middle of a breakup and watching his girl pack up her things and leave. It seems that this triggered all the thoughts of what she’ll be doing without him and how much he will and already misses her. Though I still love the song, I wish it remained all about heartbreak, but it ends with him deciding to try to get her back. However, his last words are “I’m out of time,” which could mean that he’s running out of time to get her back or that he missed the flight and she’s now officially gone (which I would prefer for the story’s sake).
8. Frank Ocean – Wise Man
A quite powerful song. Nothing innately sad about it except that it points out how simple and insignificant we really are here on this world. Frank Ocean challenges the idea of morality and the meaning of life with statements like “judge man named it sin, no evil man exist, good man don’t exist no” because no one on this earth has the authority to determine what is morally right and wrong. His repeated statement of “but your mother would be proud of you,” to me, shows how in the end, no matter what we’ve done in life, we always end up choosing to believe we’re good and at least our moms think so too.
9. Lana Del Rey – Young & Beautiful
I really like that this song begs the question, “will you still love me when I’m no longer young and beautiful?”
I think we often have anxieties and insecurities in relationships we have where sometimes we question what the true intention is. Was it physical attraction that brought us together and codependency keeping us there? The second we have a dry spell or disagreement, are you just going to move on?
A haunting dose of strings sets the mood with accompanying lyrics that make you ponder aging, the desire to please another person and ask yourself… can love really last?
Bonus: If you like Young & Beautiful, you’ll also love Once Upon A Dream. It’s another heart-heavy song. Give it a listen.
10. Beyonce – Crazy In Love
Though the original version of this song is exciting and the lyrics alone seem like this is the making for a simple love song, this slowed down version and change in tone expresses a completely different feeling to the story.
I’m sure some of you have done some out of character things when you’ve been in love, whether that be like Tom Cruise jumping on Oprah’s couch to profess his love to Katie Holmes or like when you slashed your boyfriend’s tires for texting another girl/guy.
This version of Crazy in Love shows how someone can get in your head and how love can quite literally make you insane.
11. Jhené Aiko – The Worst
In The Worst, Jhené Aiko tells us the personal struggle she’s having with her breakup. She struggles to protect her ego and tries to cut down the guy, but in the song she realizes she needs to face reality because it’s only then that she’ll be able to move on.
Jhené doesn’t need him, she just wants him. He was nothing special, she was just attached.
12. Kanye West – Coldest Winter
Based off the song Memories Fade by Tears For Fears, this song is open to a lot of interpretation. When Kanye wrote this, he was going through a breakup along with the death of his mother. Without that knowledge, I would interpret this song to be about a relationship gone south. Even with his partner, he feels alone because his partner and her love are so far gone at this point that every memory made now is negative. He wonders if time will heal their emotional wounds but in his last words saying “I won’t ever love again,” he doesn’t seem too hopeful.
13. Leona Lewis – Trouble ft. Childish Gambino
If you’ve ever been the cheater or the extrovert/flirt in a relationship, you may be able to identify with this song. Here, Trouble is about how Leona Lewis knows she’s up to no good, is being selfish and the song is about how she attempts to continue warning her love interest the whole time telling him “use your head and baby leave me.” Unfortunately he’s stuck around leading to a great last verse by Childish Gambino.
A leaked unreleased track from Miley’s Bangerz era electro-pop sound, Nightmare reminds you of the breakup you weren’t prepared for and never wanted. My favorite part of this song is how hard the beat hits you in the first few words of the chorus. It reminds you how powerful that reminder of loneliness can be. Miley’s daily life has become a nightmare because she never imagined being without her partner and to her, reality is a scary and surreal nightmare.
15. Young Buck – Lose My Mind
For all my emotionally unstable brethren, Young Buck’s Lose My Mind speaks to the crazy rage that we all have in our hearts and heads at times. With this scream/rap style, you can really relate to the fuck-all-and-everything attitude Young Buck has after life has dealt him one too many lemons bringing him closer and closer to the brink of insanity.
Anyway. Were there any songs you think should replace one on this list? Sound off in the comments?
1 Comment on “15 Depressing Songs… to cry yourself to sleep at night”
My top 5 would include
-Apoptygma Berserk – “moment of tranquility”
– Prick- “make believe” or “universe”
– Sara McLaughlin- “Angel”
– Joy Division “Atmosphere”
-The cure- “Apart”
Loving the episodes!!!
My top 5 would include
-Apoptygma Berserk – “moment of tranquility”
– Prick- “make believe” or “universe”
– Sara McLaughlin- “Angel”
– Joy Division “Atmosphere”
-The cure- “Apart”
Loving the episodes!!!
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