Saddest Song of '80s.....

The video is sadder than the song, which is great, but it's a pretty sad story.

 

Naw. "Downbound Train," earlier on BITUSA, is much sadder.

I had a job, I had a girl, etc etc etc etc. Poor Bruce Btfsplk in that song loses about six jobs and ends up on a chain gang, swinging a sledgehammer in the rain.

And "Nebraska," as an entire album, goes from mournful to mordant. The happiest song on the album contains a verse about a dead dog in a ditch.

 

Top 10 for bad and cheesy. Also would like to throw Martina's Toy Soldiers in there.

 

I love 10,000 Maniacs, but Natalie Merchant almost belongs in a category of her own for the way she puts a peppy spin on really sad, depressing topics. You can really sing and dance along to the depravity of man when they take the stage.

"What's the Matter Here?" is a catchy little tune about child abuse:

"Like the Weather" is a jaunty dance number about dealing with crippling depression:

And then there's "Don't Talk," a song about domestic abuse and alcoholism with an upbeat tempo:

 

I remember a standup special I saw on Comedy Central growing up. In my mind, it's Eddie Murphy, but Google has no recollection of anyone. I think it was a black guy, but can't back it up.

Anyway - and this has stuck with me for 20 years now - the guy was talking about that song and the lyrics "Laughing like children, living like lovers/Rolling like thunder under the covers," and the punchline was, 'That's not the blues. What you have described is an orgy at Disneyland!" For whatever reason, that will stick with me until I die.

 

I'll nominate "The Living Years," Mike and the Mechanics.

 

The vast majority of "Disintegration," particularly side 2.

 

From 1989, Don Henley's "Heart of the Matter" is pretty damn depressing.

 

And while the song doesn't do much, this is a fairly sad video (though it's meant to be somewhat darkly humorous. Sadder because of the footage of Michigan losing to BYU in the Holiday Bowl):

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="The Alan Parsons Project - Let's Talk About Me - YouTube" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

I don't think either "The Heart of the Matter" or "Living Years" are really sad songs -- they're about getting through tough times and moving on. And thanking the people who helped you along the way, even if they've died, or even if, even if, they don't love you anymore.

For someone whose persona was a flat-out dick in about 85% of his songs, Henley really slammed it home with THOTM.

 

maybe my favorite album of all time. Never knew there were these videos.