i also agree that there is a difference between sadness and depression. for me, depression and hopelessness in a song is usually tied with self-reflection and mood. sadness in a song is usually tied to a moment or event, or anything to do with a person/place/thing. to me, sad songs deals with topics that are more tangible than depressing of hopeless songs. that said, these are my opinions so others might differ.
anyway, these are some sad songs i can think of right now:
The Cure - Just Like Heaven: the most perfect of all songs. it's has a great pop hook, some of the best melodies of all time, the topic and the lyrics are utterly sad, poignant, and beautiful.
"daylight licked me into shape
i must have been asleep for days
and moving lips to breathe her name
i opened up my eyes
and found myself alone alone
alone above a raging sea
that stole the only girl i loved
and drowned her deep inside of me."
Robert Smith had said that "Just Like Heaven" is a true story, and that a night like this was worth a thousand nights of drudgery.
he's also said that this is one of the best songs he's ever written, and still remains his most favourite single. however, his most favourite Cure song still remains "Faith."
Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart and Twenty-Four Hours:
"Why is the bedroom so cold
Turned away on your side?
Is my timing that flawed?
Our respect run so dry?
Yet there's still this appeal
That we've kept through our lives
Love, love will tear us apart again"
"So this is permanence, love’s shattered pride.
What once was innocence, turned on it’s side.
A cloud hangs over me, marks every move,
Deep in the memory, of what once was love."
about Ian Curtis' detiorating marriage. where "Just Like Heaven" deals with the bittersweet and melancholy, these Joy Division tracks delve into the despair of love gone wrong. there aren't any clear and absolute reasons why Ian Curtis took his own life, but it is possible that his love affair and deterioating marriage might have something to do with it.
Pet Shop Boys - Your Funny Uncle:
"A windy day
The cars in slow formation
Not far away
A final destination
One mother's son
His father's distant gaze, regretting
Where they went wrong
He always found it too upsetting
Me and my friend
We lived our lives completely
From start to end
You and your friend, so sweetly
With strength and pride
In spite of everything, and swimming
Against the tide
To obstinately hope of winning
And at the end
Your funny uncle staring
At all your friends
With military bearing
And stopped to stand
To smile and speak of you directly
Goodbye, shake hands
Like you did everything correctly
To wipe away the tears
No more pain, no fear
No sorrow or dying
No waiting or crying
These former things have passed away
Another life begins today"
a sad sad song written after the funeral for a friend who's died of an AIDS related illness. unlike many PSB songs, this one features no percussions, and was done in one or two takes which results in the most naked and revealing vocal recordings Neil Tennant has ever done. the song even features a few quotes based on the Book of Revalations for effect, the same quotes were read by Neil at the funeral itself.
Public Image Ltd. - Death Disco
"Seeing in your eyes
Words can never say the way
Told me in your eyes
Final in a fade
Never no more hope away
Final in a fade
Never really know
Never realize
Silence in your eyes
Never really know
Til its gone away
Never realize
The silence in your eyes
Never no more hope away
Final in a fade
Watch her slowly die
Saw it in her eyes
Choking on a bed
Flowers rotting dead
seen it in her eyes
Ending in a day
Silence was a way
Seeing in your eyes
I'm seeing through my eyes
Words cannot express"
John Lydon wrote this sad sad song for his mother who was dying of a terminally ill cancer. Mr. Lydon said that when he played it back for her she laughed... he commented how she had a sense of humour even in the midst of things.
