Sometimes I get obsessed with songs that are super depressing and sad. Umm yeah, I’m weird. I think probably lots of people do this though (right?? right??). A couple weeks ago I wrote about songs that make me happy and giddy, so now I’m going to write a list of the songs that make me sad. Yippee. Really, it’s sad in a good way though. Does that make sense? Songs that really touch me and make me super emotional for whatever reason. Songs that are good for when I’m feeling down and just want to wallow in my sorrow. When I’m writing something or working on a project that involves a lot of personal emotion, I like to put super sad songs on and just make myself feel everything in the music, in my thoughts, and in my writing.
This list will probably be super cheesy, including many songs with super cheesy lyrics, but I’m in a kind of cheesy emotional mood, so I can’t help it. I’m realizing that a lot of the songs have meaning because of my ex-boyfriend. Which might make me seem kind of pathetic. But a) he is what I know of love, and b) honestly, I count myself lucky that the saddest times in my life have had to do with a boy. As writers/artists/whatevers, I think we sometimes like to feel sad. It depresses me that I actually want to be sad, but I think it’s important for us to face our emotions and attempt to understand them and be comfortable with them. Okayyy enough psychology talk. Anyway, all of these songs are fabulous and you should check them out, too. Especially if you want to feel sad. And really, who doesn’t? Ha.
“Accidental Babies” by Damien Rice- I had this song on my iPod for a while but never listened to it. One night I was in bed and it came on and I was like “omg, prettiest song in the world” and I fell in love with it. The line that touches me the most, “Is he dark enough, enough to see your light?” because the ex wasn’t at all emotional and didn’t understand a lot about me.
“Like a Star” by Corinne Bailey Rae- I’ve never fought with anyone (besides small fights) until I was with my ex. Even my first bf and I were together 3 years and had maybe 2 arguments. While I accept some responsibility for me and the ex’s fights (umm a tiny bit), I also saw how he fought with the people he loves and know it was part of his nature and not something that I could control. I tried to come to terms with this and this song was sooo how I felt about him. “Just like a star across my sky, just like an angel off the page. You have appeared to my life. Feel like I’ll never be the same…Still I wonder why it is. I don’t argue like this with anyone but you. We do it all the time. Blowing out my mind.”
“Almost Lover” by A Fine Frenzy- Just a sweet, sorrowful song. “I never want to see you unhappy. I thought you’d want the same for me. Goodbye my almost lover, goodbye my hopeless dream. I’m trying not to think about you. Can’t you just let me be? So long my luckless romance. My back is turned on you. Should have known you’d bring me heartache. Almost lovers always do.” Side note: this song was on The Hills this week. You know, as Audrina is leaving Justin Bobby after he kisses some other chick in the bar. Sooo I have a feeling this song is gonna get big. And it’s so so appropriate for Justin Bobby. How you can you not be sad by the ending of that relationship??? Right.
“Ocean Size Love” by Leigh Nash- Because I might take chances in love I maybe shouldn’t. But what’s life if you don’t follow your feelings? “I know what I’m doing may be dumb. I know I should not be staring at the sun. But the thought of you leads me to temptation. It’s the saying whatever side you’re on…I see you right in front of me, as close as you can get. And I pray that you won’t leave this daydream yet.”
“Leave” by Matchbox 20- The ex had an amazing way of turning off his feelings, something I could never do. And while I recognized a lot was wrong with our relationship, I always thought we’d work through it. “It’s amazing how you make your face just like a wall. How you take your heart and turn it off. How I turn my head and lose it all. And it’s unnerving how one move puts me by myself…I’m not saying there wasn’t nothing wrong. I just didn’t think you’d ever get tired of me. And I’m not saying we ever had the right to hold on. I just didn’t want to let it get away from me…”
“Kidding Ourselves” by Stabilo- We kidded ourselves for like a year. All I needed was my cellphone and the knowledge I could take a taxi away from him. But then I’d be alone. “We’re kidding ourselves, kidding ourselves, so what do you want from me? As long as there’s a payphone and a taxi, I’m alright, because I can leave home. We’re kidding ourselves, kidding ourselves, so what are you waiting for? Cause even with a fast car and a cellphone, I won’t leave, cause I’d be alone…”
“Blossom” by Ryan Adams- Just look at the lyrics. This is one of my favorite songs in the world. I think a lot of us feel this way. “Without anyone to love you, what will you blossom into? Without anyone to hold you, how will you grow? And with no one to care for you, who knows…and in the shadows of the past where you’re spinning so fast, it’s hard to see it coming and it never lasts. And with nothing to judge your life by how will you know?
“If I am a Stranger” by Ryan Adams (the Follow the Lights version)- He never really knew who I was. “To tell the truth, it’s hard enough without a lover, who you only want to hide your darkness from, so you don’t let them down. If I am a stranger now to you, I will always be. I will always be…I will try and be there for you. If I can. What if I can’t? ” I could probably put almost every Ryan Adams song on this list…but I am restraining myself and only putting two.
“Warning Sign” by Coldplay- I don’t know why this song affects me so much, but it does. I’ve always loved it, but when I heard it in The Last Kiss (gooood soundtrack!), it made me pretty much cry. When I hear it, I just sit and stare into space. “When the truth is, I miss you…”
“The Story” by Tristan Prettyman- Because I think he’s missing out on a lot by not getting it together. I think he knows it too. “I’m the icing on the cake. I’m the secret ingredient you’re missing. And I’m the sidewalk, but not complete. And I’m the reason that, baby, you’re tripping on decisions you didn’t make. I’m the chance you chose not to take. And I’m the one you wish you were kissing. Pray for clear skies tonight. You better start wishing.”
“Pieces” by Rascal Flatts- So true. Everything Rascal says is true. They are amazing. “I don’t want to see you anymore. I’m just not strong. I love it when you’re here, but I’m better when you’re gone. I’m certain that I’ve given and oh, how you can take. There’s no use in you looking, there’s nothing else for you to break. Baby, please release me. Let my heart rest, in pieces.”
“Seamless” by Christopher Jak- Love this man and his lyrics. “All you want now is so much more than you’ve got, you want everything.”
“Anna Begins” by the Counting Crows- For when you think your feelings for the friend you’ve been hooking up with might be turning into something more. But you can’t explain it. And he can’t either. So you just don’t talk about it. Le sigh. “It does not bother me to say this isn’t love. Because if you don’t wanna talk about it then it isn’t love. And I guess I’m gonna have to live with that. But I’m sure there’s something in a shade of grey, or something in between…And then I start to think about the consequences.”
“Brothers on a Hotel Bed” by Death Cab For Cutie- The piano playing is soo beautiful, especially in the beginning of this song. The song’s about growing older with the one you love and realizing how you’re changing in their eyes. And how you sleep like brothers on a hotel bed instead of like lovers. Super depressing. And I hope I don’t end up like this…”You may tire of me as our December sun is setting cause I’m not who I used to be. No longer easy on the eyes, these wrinkles masterfully disguise…cause now we say goodnight from our own separate sides, like brothers on a hotel bed.”
“Your Ex-Lover is Dead” by Stars- This sums up how I feel about my ex-boyfriend. “I’m not sorry I met you, I’m not sorry it’s over, I’m not sorry there’s nothing to say.”
“Sunken Treasure” by Wilco- I daze out during this song. Jeff Tweedy’s voice is so mournful, yet comforting. Plus, I love when he sings “I am so out of tune with you” out of tune. And “music is my savior” is basically a line I love. Wilco reminds me of my dad, too, which makes them extra special to me.
“Make This Go On Forever” by Snow Patrol- This song made me really sad when the ex and I first broke up. As much as I hate to admit it, he taught me soo much, made me such a better person, and made me feel true love. I don’t think he realizes this. A lot of my changes didn’t take place until we were apart for a while. I don’t necessarily like the way he did it, but it worked. “The first kiss and the first time that I’ve felt connected to anything. The weight of water, the way you taught me to look past everything I have ever learned. The final word in the final sentence you ever uttered to me was love.” All of the lyrics in this song are powerful.
“Nothing Lasts for Long” by the Samples- I used this quote in my senior bio in my high school yearbook, and I still love it. “Maybe nothing lasts forever, not the mountains or the sea. But the times we had together, they will always be with me.” The Samples got me through high school.
“Stop This Train” by John Mayer- Makes me really sad when I think about life, growing up, and my parents getting older. “Once in a while, when it’s good it’ll feel like its should. And they’re all still around and you’re all safe and sound. And you don’t miss a thing. Till you cry when you’re driving away in the dark. Singing stop this train. I want to get off and go home again.”
“The Pieces Don’t Fit Anymore” by James Morrison- You can give everything you have, but that doesn’t mean it’s right. “Well I can’t explain why it’s not enough, cause I gave it all to you. And if you leave me now, then just leave me now. It’s the better thing to do. Well it’s time to surrender, it’s too long pretending. There’s no use in hiding when the pieces don’t fit anymore…”
“Absence of the Sun” by Duncan Sheik- You can’t pretend to be friends when you still love each other just because you’re afraid of the pain you’ll feel from ending it for good. “I don’t want to feel this way, no. I don’t want to say I’m just a friend. I don’t want to wait around here cause you don’t want to feel no pain again. We just lie about. As we become shadows of ourselves.”
“All I Can See” by Brendan James- This guy is so amazing. And the last lines of this song touch me soo much. Get his 4-song EP; it seriously rocks. This song doesn’t make me sad per say, just emotional. “I want to know where the strength of a person lies, in their past or their future? Is it in the way that they hurt or they love themselves or is it all an illusion? I want to crawl from this skin that we’re painted in, body please let it give. I want to find the creator of all good things and ask what it means to live.
So are you wicked depressed yet?? Sorry 😡 Seriously though, I highly recommend all of these songs and artists. But I’m done with sad songs for the evening…going to pump some JT or something. So I don’t cry myself to sleep. Kidding, obviously. But it is bedtime…work, party planning, and cooking tomorrow.