It's Top 10 Tuesday time again and this one is personal because this one was my suggestion! So, check out Kate's and Tiff's blogs too. Neither one of them strikes me as the "dark" type, so I'm curious to see what they consider depressing. To be honest, I don't really consider a single song on my list "depressing" per se...it is just "how I roll". Oh, and sorry about the "old" nature of this music...I literally haven't listened to the radio seriously in about 10 years. I never thought I'd reach that age when you can't stand the music of the youth, but I peaked a long time ago. About the only new music I get nowadays is new stuff from my favorite bands.
Maybe it was because I wasn't the happiest of children that this type of music appealed to me, but whatever the reason, I still love all these songs to this day. Looking back, I think it was just because it takes a lot of effort to make me feel anything, so it takes a very heavy song to affect me. My style was (and is) New Wave with a touch of goth, so it's pretty standard that it falls in the "depressing" category anyway. I wouldn't refer to myself as "depressed" now, but a lot of people get that vibe from me for some reason. I honestly think I'm quite happy, I just don't feel the need to shout it from the mountain tops at every turn (or any turn for that matter). But anyway, time to get started!
#1: BLASPHEMOUS RUMOURS - DEPECHE MODE
It really doesn't get any darker than this song...at least not in my book. An extremely suicidal teen girl tries to kill herself and fails...she gets her life all straightened out, turns to god, only to get run over by a car, yeah, happy days. "I don't want to start any blasphemous rumours, but I think that god's got a sick sense of humor and when I die, I expect to find him laughing"...I truly do.
#2: THE EDGE OF THE DEEP GREEN SEA - THE CURE
I'm not sure that this song was meant to be a depressing one, but I've always thought it was. But it's also The Cure, so practically every song of theirs is like this, even the most romantic of love songs.
#3: SUBCULTURE - NEW ORDER
One of many of my "theme" songs, warning of the dangers of choosing loneliness..."one of these days you'll go back to your home, you won't even notice that you are alone".
#4: HOW SOON IS NOW - THE SMITHS
I guess I have a theme when it comes to these...loneliness.
#5: DARKNESS - DARREN HAYES
Oh, my beloved Darren. There are less than a handful of any of his songs, be it his solo stuff or Savage Garden songs, that I can't relate to in some way, shape, form, or fashion. Again, another one of those "story of my life" songs.
#6: LITHIUM - EVANESCENCE
If you would have told my younger self that I would enjoy music with such a heavy guitar, I would have laughed in your face. But now that I'm old and dull, I honestly think bands like Evanescence and Linkin Park are really nothing but modern versions of The Cure and Depeche Mode...they have the same vibe running through both the music and the lyrics. "Lithium, don't want to lock me up inside, lithium, don't want to forget how it feels without, lithium, I want to stay in love with my sorrow". Sounds like The Cure to me!
#7: ALONE WITHOUT YOU - MARK OWEN
I don't think Mark Owen gets his props...the man knows pain. Granted, he's also a drunk cheater, but still, there is just something about his voice that breaks my heart. He doesn't get the chance to show that nearly as much with Take That, but if you have never checked out his solo stuff, especially In Your Own Time, you're missing out. His voice did get better as he got older (I think this album was from the early 00's), but it still gets to me. I couldn't find the music video for this, but this acoustic version has more passion than the original, even if his voice cracks a couple of times. I don't usually do "love depression" songs, but I think we've probably all felt this way at one time or another.
#8: SOMEWHERE I BELONG - LINKIN PARK
Again, like #6, this could literally be out of the Depeche catalog but I also get a Darren Hayes vibe from it as well (without the heavy pop, of course). Guess it's all in perception, but I've always thought their influences were obviously 80's goth...maybe it's just me.
#9: CONVERSATION WITH GOD - DARREN HAYES
There is nothing like driving and singing an upbeat-melody song about driving yourself off a bridge! This is usually the song I pitch to people when I mention Darren's name and they go "oh, you mean that Truly Madly Deeply guy?". Yeah, dude has SERIOUS depression issues!
#10: DO YOU BELIEVE IN SHAME - DURAN DURAN
Obviously, Duran wasn't going to be completely absent from this list, but it wasn't easy finding one because Duran doesn't really "do" depressing. There are a couple on the Arcadia album and several on John's solo stuff, but barely any in their band stuff. At the time this song came out, I didn't care for it because of Simon's hair in the video (does that show how shallow I was as a kid?). Now I get it the meaning behind the song. Funnily enough, my natural hair (albeit a bit curlier), actually looks a lot like his in this video, cowlick and all. Be careful what you make fun of as a kid...you might end up living with it as an adult!
I literally could probably make this a top 100 list, but alas, I'm restricted to 10! Besides, it would just be a top 100 list of songs by these same artists, so you get the point.
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By the way, I was always under the impression that #3 was about the pleasure of er self-love if I can call it that! I'll have to listen to it again. It came out when I was a teenager and it was considered a bit "naughty" to like it!