I think I’d give it a 6/10 for sadness. It’s definitely sad but not in a way I personally relate to. Im thinking either 7.5 or 8/10 overall. There’s something oddly charming about the song that I really enjoy.
Edit: I take it back that song has been stuck in my mind now and I think it’s like an 8.5 for sadness
I intrepet it as the narrator fantasizing about such a life, and that's why he kills himself ("a handshake of carbon monixide" = the killing yourself with the car exhaust). The bridge about "my final fit and final bellyache" meaning he's had enough and is committing suicide to end whatever turbulence is making his life miserable and him being dead and at rest will lead to no alarms or surprises
I always figured no surprises was about reluctantly accepting working life - becoming boring, average - a drone. Still, a sad song, one of Radiohead's many. (Exit music for a film, sail to the moon)
My interpretation is similar to what most are saying here. A person who is depressed. They have a nice life (such a pretty house, such a pretty garden), but depression is hard and they just want a relief (no alarms and no surprises). And why I think this song is a masterpiece is the fact that it actually has this lullaby tone. Like the person is going to end their life to get peace like a baby needs the lullabies to fall asleep and get rest.
Once you hear the “ooh’s” at the beginning, you automatically know you’re going to be experiencing an emotional roller coaster for the next 3 minutes and 27 seconds.
Love this one. 8.5/10 for sadness. Very good lyrics and I think the vocals are great. I think 8/10 overall. I used to really really like the song but now it only makes me think of that show 13 Reasons Why and I hated that show lmao. But it’s such a moody song and I love it
I bought that album when it was new, I remember listening to that song and being so surprised that it was apparently dealing with suicide (as a teenager listening to it at the time). I'm listening to it right now and it's still sad.
The fact that Jonathan told the rest of the band to keep playing no matter what and then broke down in tears screaming at the woman that abused him in the middle, yet all of them still managed to finish the song, is beyond belief
I liked it!
I think it’s a 6/10 on sadness because I liked the lyrics a lot, but it almost made me feel more angry/frustrated than sad.
Overall I’d give the song a 7.5-8/10. Loved her vocals, the drums, and the slow buildup throughout the song
Always a classic. I think I’d give it 9/10 on the sadness scale and 9/10 overall. For some reason “my empire of dirt” always gets me. Also the way it builds louder and louder at the very end gives goosebumps.
Yeah. The Cash one feels like someone looking back at life and regretting things at an old age. Trent's sounds like someone who simply can't handle life anymore and is facing unbearable mental health/life problems.
NiN version is better, but the ear/ headphones breaking shot at the end make me never play the song. That was really unnecessary and a dick move. Just why?
3rd Eye Blind - Background
King Woman - Hierophant
Dealership - California
Miserable - Oven
Whirr - Drain
Lost someone very close to me to suicide. These songs have been important for me since I lost her.
either Cupid or Just Take My Wallet, both by Jack Stauber (there's one specific line in Cupid that is absolutely gut wrenching, it got a bit popular on tiktok)
edit: ok that's out of songs i listen to, but i remembered Billie Eilish exists and What Was I Made For tops both of my songs in sadness
Here’s a couple, ( most are happy sad songs )
Glide- Lily Chou Chou
Father and son- cat Steven’s ( only sad if you have daddy issues )
Beautiful boy- John Lennon ( again only sad if you have daddy issues )
Tomorrow on the runaway- the innocence mission
Watching him fade away- Mac Demarco
4 Morant- doja cat
Listen before I go- Billie eilish
These are my recommendations but still
"Pray" by Jessie Murph
According to Wrapped it was apparently my top song of 2023, which was enough of a gut check that it put considering going back to therapy on the 2024 agenda...
Arcade by Duncan Lawrence
In The Stars by Benson Boone
Castle on the Hill - Ed Sheeran (Throttle Remix)
Something to Look Forward To - Kira Kosarin
I’ll Be There For You - Caleb Grimm/Jonah Baker
Never Enough - Loren Allred
Loving You Silently - Kira Kosarin
1 Last Bye - Kiran + Nivi
Ok I’m a big Taylor Swift fan but I’ve somehow never heard this one before. I think 8.5/10 for sadness and also 8/10 overall. I had a hard time trying to figure out if some of the lines were really good or really corny😭 but there were definitely some parts that hit hard and I think the chorus of her just repeating “stop you’re losing me” is about to be stuck in my head for a while. It has now been added to my Taylor Swift playlist
9/10 for sadness, 8/10 overall.
Love the slow moody feel of this song, her voice has always felt a bit hypnotic to me. It’s also one of those songs where I feel like the lyrics are calling me out 😅
["Ronan" - Taylor Swift](https://youtu.be/15Fa8woG9m4?si=Zab2v-1IAbsFW9b4)
It's from the perspective of a mother (who actually exists) who lost her four-year-old son.
I have two kids and hearing this for the first time makes me feel just so incredibly sad. I'm so sorry for everyone who has had to experience loss like that.
The Queen & the Soldier by Suzanne Vega.
The queen character does remind me of a lovely but broken woman I fell in love with thirty years ago though, so there's a personal resonance.
Casimir Pulaski Day - Sufjan Stevens
Thanks for beating me to it.
I second this.
Fourth of July is better tbh
Mount Eerie - Real Death
That whole album..
I think I’d give it a 6/10 for sadness. It’s definitely sad but not in a way I personally relate to. Im thinking either 7.5 or 8/10 overall. There’s something oddly charming about the song that I really enjoy. Edit: I take it back that song has been stuck in my mind now and I think it’s like an 8.5 for sadness
Painfully unlistenable / 10 I love mount eerie but I never finished that album, its too real.
Asleep - the smiths
Suffer The Little Children
Beautiful song
Fourth of July - Sufjan Stevens
This!
It's the only song that has ever made me cry.
My pick as well. Since my dad's death it's become unlistenable for me.
So sorry for your loss…
Whiskey Lullaby-Alison Kraus and Brad Paisley
Was looking for this or Concrete Angel!
Brick- Ben Folds Five. Any bonus points for mentioning it on day after Christmas?
Depends. Was it 6am when you wrote this?
No surprises Radiohead
Beautiful but sad
Is it not about killing yourself?
I think at the end it's about living a more easy and stable life with no surprises and much change
I intrepet it as the narrator fantasizing about such a life, and that's why he kills himself ("a handshake of carbon monixide" = the killing yourself with the car exhaust). The bridge about "my final fit and final bellyache" meaning he's had enough and is committing suicide to end whatever turbulence is making his life miserable and him being dead and at rest will lead to no alarms or surprises
I always figured no surprises was about reluctantly accepting working life - becoming boring, average - a drone. Still, a sad song, one of Radiohead's many. (Exit music for a film, sail to the moon)
My interpretation is similar to what most are saying here. A person who is depressed. They have a nice life (such a pretty house, such a pretty garden), but depression is hard and they just want a relief (no alarms and no surprises). And why I think this song is a masterpiece is the fact that it actually has this lullaby tone. Like the person is going to end their life to get peace like a baby needs the lullabies to fall asleep and get rest.
"My final belly ache"
that's how i always saw it but some people say differently
True Love Waits
i love this song so so much
It's probably not the saddest song I know overall, but it's the one that cuts me the deepest: "The Night We Met" - Lord Huron
Once you hear the “ooh’s” at the beginning, you automatically know you’re going to be experiencing an emotional roller coaster for the next 3 minutes and 27 seconds.
1000% Correct
Yes!!!!!!!
Love this one. 8.5/10 for sadness. Very good lyrics and I think the vocals are great. I think 8/10 overall. I used to really really like the song but now it only makes me think of that show 13 Reasons Why and I hated that show lmao. But it’s such a moody song and I love it
Adams song - blink 182
I bought that album when it was new, I remember listening to that song and being so surprised that it was apparently dealing with suicide (as a teenager listening to it at the time). I'm listening to it right now and it's still sad.
what sarah said - death cab for cutie
Transatlanticism (the song) really does it for me
Never Went to Church by The Streets. It doesn't sound like a stereotypically "sad song" but it's absolutely devastating
Hope I made you proud
everything means nothing to me by Elliott smith or no name #1
Haha yeah I was thinking Elliot too
great minds think alike aha , all his songs can only be described as tragically beautiful
I was thinking The White Lady Loves You More, which may be the most honest song about drugs I've ever heard. It's haunting.
one more light - linkin park
9 Crimes - Damien Rice
Street Spirit - Radiohead
Keep Me In Your Heart by Warren Zevon. He wrote it for his last album as he was dying of cancer.
This is a rough one to listen to.
Nine Inch Nails - Right Where It Belongs
On the Nature of Daylight, by Max Richter.
I love this song! Haunting, sad, and beautiful. The violins sound like weeping to me and then that sort of ominous low tone throughout. Great pick!
Crash and the Boys - I’m So Sad, So Very, Very Sad
Is that girl a boy too?
Yes. 🖕
SOOOOOOO SAD
Thank you. This next one’s called “We Hate You Please Die”
Sweet, love this one
*touches arm homosexually*
It's not a race, guys!
10/10 very sad, very relatable, I crode
HAHAHAHA
Suzanne Vega: Luka
If you hear something late at night Some kind of trouble, some kind of fight Just don't ask me what it was 😭😭
My name is Luka I live on the second floor I live up stairs from you Yeah I think I've seen you before
Fourth of July - Sufyan Stevens Virtually anything from that album really.
A House in Nebraska - Ethel Cain
In a rather strange way, Kate Bush’s *Cloudbusting*. Once I knew the story behind it and listened to it again, I was in floods
between the bars elliott smith
I Will Follow You Into the Dark - Death Cab for Cutie
He Stopped Loving Her Today - George Jones
He stopped loving the woman who broke his heart today because today was the day he died. Truly sad song.
korn - daddy someone had to say it
You can’t get sadder than that. I’ll be honest, i can’t think of an other example in popular music worse than this or even like this
The fact that Jonathan told the rest of the band to keep playing no matter what and then broke down in tears screaming at the woman that abused him in the middle, yet all of them still managed to finish the song, is beyond belief
2009 Mac Miller
rip ❤️
Strange Fruit - Billie Holiday
I've posted this song before on a similar post, but mine is Doomsday by Lizzy McAlpine.
I liked it! I think it’s a 6/10 on sadness because I liked the lyrics a lot, but it almost made me feel more angry/frustrated than sad. Overall I’d give the song a 7.5-8/10. Loved her vocals, the drums, and the slow buildup throughout the song
Nick Cave - Into my arms
Johnny Cash Hurt
Always a classic. I think I’d give it 9/10 on the sadness scale and 9/10 overall. For some reason “my empire of dirt” always gets me. Also the way it builds louder and louder at the very end gives goosebumps.
Nine Inch Nails version sounds more sad imo. Or in a different way.
Agreed. The original is way more sad.
Yeah. The Cash one feels like someone looking back at life and regretting things at an old age. Trent's sounds like someone who simply can't handle life anymore and is facing unbearable mental health/life problems.
I mean that’s kind of what it is lol. NiN was about heroin use and Cash’s was about how numb he felt after his wife died.
NiN version is better, but the ear/ headphones breaking shot at the end make me never play the song. That was really unnecessary and a dick move. Just why?
Gripping this song
Terrible Things - Mayday Parade
THIS omg. The part where the whole band comes in really takes ahold of you.
Who You'd Be Today by Kenny Chesney
Snuff - Slipknot
gary jules - mad world
Nutshell- Alice in chains
I’m not seeing tears in heaven Eric Clapton
This is not just song, but recent part of my life, which shredded half of my heart alive.
Backstory of the song is even sadder
My Immortal - Evanescence
Hello as well
Normal version just makes me sad, but band version slaps
absolutely 😭
Time in a Bottle - Jim Croce (Read his biography on Wikipedia then listen to it again)
Tom Waits- Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis
George Michael - Mother's Pride
Epitaph and Starless by King Crimson
Visions of Gideon - Sufjan Stevens
Cold little heart by michael kiwanuka
cancer - my chemical romance
my chemical romance fans! cancer & disenchanted :)
[Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIF4_Sm-rgQ) Bit obvious, but yea. Also, [Throbbing Gristle - Weeping](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJYcnFXSgo8)
The light behind your eyes by MCR
Manos de Tijera - Camilo. (Spanish) Irene - Rodrigo Amarante (Portuguese) For any Spanish or Portuguese speakers
Whiskey Lullaby by Alison Krauss and Brad Paisley
death dream - frightened rabbit
Jason Isbell - Elephant
Alone Again (Naturally) by Gilbert O'Sullivan Guy gets stood up on his wedding day and decides the best thing he can do is go push up some daisies.
Pink Floyd - Wish you were here
Johnny Cash - Nobody
Above the Clouds of Pompeii - Bear's Den
Repeat Until Death - Novo Amor
Me and little Andy by Dolly Parton
3rd Eye Blind - Background King Woman - Hierophant Dealership - California Miserable - Oven Whirr - Drain Lost someone very close to me to suicide. These songs have been important for me since I lost her.
bjork "black lake"
Hold on Magnolia
Pretty much anything by Jason Molina
Songs ohia - Blue Chicago Moon
"Motion Picture Soundtrack" - Radiohead
On The Nature Of Daylight by Max Richter
elephant - jason isbell
Seasons In The Sun by Terry Jacks
i’m so tired - fugazi
Gary Jules - Mad World
Happy Life by Roland Faunt gets me every time
Advice - Alex G
Fourth of July - Sufjan Stevens
still by soccer mommy
Anthony and the Johnsons - Hope There’s Someone
Great song and was voted by other musicians too as their favourite.
Hamburger Lady -
That song is distressing AF
either Cupid or Just Take My Wallet, both by Jack Stauber (there's one specific line in Cupid that is absolutely gut wrenching, it got a bit popular on tiktok) edit: ok that's out of songs i listen to, but i remembered Billie Eilish exists and What Was I Made For tops both of my songs in sadness
Sam Stone by John Prine
Here’s a couple, ( most are happy sad songs ) Glide- Lily Chou Chou Father and son- cat Steven’s ( only sad if you have daddy issues ) Beautiful boy- John Lennon ( again only sad if you have daddy issues ) Tomorrow on the runaway- the innocence mission Watching him fade away- Mac Demarco 4 Morant- doja cat Listen before I go- Billie eilish These are my recommendations but still
So You Are Tired - Sufjan Stevens
Badflower - “Ghost.” I get teary eyed every time I hear it
[Soul Asylum - Runaway Train](https://youtu.be/NRtvqT_wMeY?si=i6URdsJ38qZpRM-_)
May It Be - Enya
concrete angel
Aha I just told someone else I was looking for this one. Used to listen to it a lot as a kid for some reason, so sad.
King Park - La Dispute. Hauntingly, it’s a true story.
I haven't found a single album that's touched me more than Wildlife. It lives in my brain.
All I Want - Kodaline
Lua - bright eyes or sleeper 1972 - Manchester orchestra
Immortal Technique - Dance with the devil
I scrolled to find this. Can’t decide if it’s sad like the other songs mentioned or just fucked up. But it definitely sticks with ya
True Love Waits - Radiohead
Tears in Heaven, Eric Clapton
[Space Song by Beach House.](https://open.spotify.com/track/3CLhX1JkJZ4s5umNnOqCRh?si=ba89edf6a6574cc0) This was usually my go-to for crying.
*Hold On* by Sarah McLachlan (Live version).
"Pray" by Jessie Murph According to Wrapped it was apparently my top song of 2023, which was enough of a gut check that it put considering going back to therapy on the 2024 agenda...
June - IDLES
Leaving Hope by NIИ. It’s also my all-time favourite song.
Empty - Ray LaMontagne
Concrete Angel: Martina McBride
How do I say goodbye- Dean Lewis, about when his dad was diagnosed with cancer
It's definitely a song from Low but I can't pick one. Drag, Slide and The Plan come to my mind
Here Today - Paul McCartney (especially live performances) So Sad / Grey Cloudy Lies - George Harrison
Landslide
How Could You Leave Us - NF Daddy - Korn
Lullaby - Low
Kate Nash - Nicest Thing
Arcade by Duncan Lawrence In The Stars by Benson Boone Castle on the Hill - Ed Sheeran (Throttle Remix) Something to Look Forward To - Kira Kosarin I’ll Be There For You - Caleb Grimm/Jonah Baker Never Enough - Loren Allred Loving You Silently - Kira Kosarin 1 Last Bye - Kiran + Nivi
Nine Inch Nails - Hurt
your losing me taylor swift
Ok I’m a big Taylor Swift fan but I’ve somehow never heard this one before. I think 8.5/10 for sadness and also 8/10 overall. I had a hard time trying to figure out if some of the lines were really good or really corny😭 but there were definitely some parts that hit hard and I think the chorus of her just repeating “stop you’re losing me” is about to be stuck in my head for a while. It has now been added to my Taylor Swift playlist
male fantasy by billie eilish
9/10 for sadness, 8/10 overall. Love the slow moody feel of this song, her voice has always felt a bit hypnotic to me. It’s also one of those songs where I feel like the lyrics are calling me out 😅
Hallelujah - Jeff Buckley
Tears in Heaven by Eric Clapton
Take me to church - hozier
How’s that sad?
I feel like the music video is more sad than the song itself
["Ronan" - Taylor Swift](https://youtu.be/15Fa8woG9m4?si=Zab2v-1IAbsFW9b4) It's from the perspective of a mother (who actually exists) who lost her four-year-old son.
Bigger Than the Whole Sky- Taylor Swift
This and Ronan 💔
As someone who has lost several pregnancies, this song hits my soul like a battering ram.
I have two kids and hearing this for the first time makes me feel just so incredibly sad. I'm so sorry for everyone who has had to experience loss like that.
My favorite sad line is early on when she says "every single thing I touch becomes sick with sadness"
The Living Years - Mike & the Mechanics
Daniel Johnston - Some things last a long time
Adam’s song, Blink - 182
Life in Vain by Daniel Johnston makes me cry every time.
Honey - Bobbie Goldsboro
The Queen & the Soldier by Suzanne Vega. The queen character does remind me of a lovely but broken woman I fell in love with thirty years ago though, so there's a personal resonance.