Obscure Depression Songs
I am watching my only decent relationship collapse. Hooray me! This activity reminds me of my intense emotional deficiencies. As I progress in my life and work intently at becoming emotionally numb, I find that it becomes increasingly more difficult for me to respond to music that is conventionally "sad" and often times peoples choices for "OMGZ Thiz Songs iz moar sad :**(" end up contrived and boring. This is a list of tracks that have an abstract quality that still manage to tear holes in me when I need something forced out. There is Gnosis to be found among the pits of intense depression too you know. |
| 1 | Agalloch
Tomorrow Will Never Come
Title track from the EP of the same name. Painfully bleak acoustic guitars behind a wall of unsettling electronics. What sets this track apart are muffled spoken word passages lifted from a documentary about schizophrenia and the mentally-ill laid on top of the music. A true reminder that I am not normal. If I am buried in the depressive black-hole I am not able to make it all the way through this track without a break down. Recommended! |
| 2 | Wintersleep
Insomnia
Paul Murphy has a real knack for writing truly depressing songs when he wants to. Wintersleep , in my opinion, have kind of fallen into dull mediocrity with their latest two albums but their debut and sophomore releases are astonishing pieces of music! This track comes from the latter. A slow, brooding lullaby guitar line with abstract and child-like lyrics: "...And I will not, Grow Tired, Of Crayon Stars, and Fire..." This song defines an inability to find peace. Heartbreaking! |
| 3 | Kevin Devine
Letting a Good One Go
This inclusion requires a dose of self-mockery because it approaches emo... which is arguably the worst expulsion of musical vomit to be unleashed upon the world in the last 20 years, but lyrically this song just works. It benefits from an understated and stereotypically weepy guitar line while the lyrics very accurately yet abstractly describe the moments leading to the collapse of a relationship. "I'm timing my breath against, the back-beat of your footsteps, as we walk along cobblestone streets, eyes on the ground, counting down to when we can- talk out loud...". If you cannot recall that exact moment at some point in your life, I envy you. |
| 4 | Bon Iver
Blood Bank
Off the EP of the same name (again). It's all abstraction and interpretation in this one that causes a collapse for me. Something about simple descriptions of very abstract concepts set to an unhappy sonic backdrop allow me to fill in the blanks with my own depression. I love the lyrics in this song but I find it best to listen to only when I want to push myself over the edge. |
| 5 | Snow Patrol
Set the Fire to the Third Bar
I can't be bothered with anything else this band has done, but this particular track, featuring Martha Wainright, is a gem. The pain of separation without any real conclusion to support reconciliation. Sometimes piano just carries the mood better. |
| 6 | Sia
Breathe Me
I find the lyrics to this track rather contrived but the piano line that carries the song is enough to cause immense pain almost any time I hear it. I am unfamiliar with the rest of her work but I appreciate this track's ability to push me over the edge. |
| 7 | Wintersleep
Ambulance
Another example of Wintersleep's ability to convey a hopeless mood when they want to. This is off their debut album. It is all low-key acoustic tragedy which is a sound I really do mourn the loss of on their latest release. The primary riff in this track is perfect. |
| 8 | Colin Hay
I Just Don't Think I'll Ever Get Over You
This one is pretty self-explanatory really. The title more or less conveys the theme of the song. I like the "Yeah, I'll move on but I am forever impacted" vibe of this track. As close to country as this list is going to get. |
| 9 | Katatonia
Unfurl
This track comes off the July EP. Jonas Renske may get a bit melodramatic at times but he is one of the best lyricists I have ever come across. He has an uncanny ability to completely communicate mood and atmosphere without ever totally giving up the specifics of the topic. This enigmatic lyrical approach is what keeps Katatonia so interesting and upsetting. This track, at its heart, is about death, and the communication of the intent to die to a particular subject, but you are never really given the causes for the situation. Vastly underrated track in the realm of the truly depressing! |
| 10 | Hayden
Choking
Relatively unknown track. A rather dark and eerie parallel comparing choking to death with choking up with tears. Also represents the speakers inability to comfort the choker. Very dark and very sad. |
| 11 | Daniel Johnston
Some Things Last a Long Time
A simple song about emotional attachment that carries extra weight due to the well documented emotional state of the artist. Daniel suffers from extreme bi-polar disorder, which while I believe this grants him extra "artistic" cred that he doesn't really deserve, it does allow for emotionally intense tracks. I identify with emotional music when it is delivered by a mental state that causes me to see myself. Another hard one to get all the way through. |
| 12 | Bon Iver
The Wolves
There are a number of sad songs on this album but this one is probably the purest in emotion. Stark and painful with cryptic lyrics, this track crescendos into a void of distant, clattering percussion and ghostly wails. Who needs a light at the end of the tunnel anyway? |
| 13 | Eluvium
Taken
This track is multi-faceted. Sometimes it works wonders at allowing my ego to dissolve into a wash of pleasant numbness. Other times, under the appropriate combination of emotion and narcotics, it forces me into a 20 minute black-hole of inescapable nostalgia and desperation. A good, unusual choice for this list I think! |
| 14 | Katatonia
Black Session
Discordant, bleak and oppressive. An older Katatonia track. A decision has been made here, and I'll let you in on a secret: It's not to have a happy Monday. |
| 15 | Postdata
Tobias Grey
A solo effort by Paul Murphy of Wintersleep. This whole album is very stripped down and acoustically driven. This track is a definite standout. Describing abstract pieces of a mentally unfit man's life, the delivery of the lyrics has the power to drive a stake right through you. Simple repetition can make all the difference sometimes. Paul Murphy's voice is so soft and inviting and yet when he repeats "... Sometimes it won't go away, it just stays, it just stays, it just stays" I can?t help but break. This is one of the saddest songs ever written. |
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