Sad songs can be an incredible way to express our emotions, helping us cope with distressing events in life while providing comfort at crucial times.
Spotify uses an algorithm that measures how sad a track is by looking at its valence and energy score; tracks with lower valence tend to be more depressing while those with higher valence may be angry-sounding.
Nine Inch Nails – Hurt
Hurt is one of the most iconic rock songs ever composed and was an essential component of Nine Inch Nails’ landmark album The Downward Spiral. The track describes someone struggling with addiction, self-harm and regrets – it is an emotional gut punch often used as an encore at NIN concerts.
Trent Reznor’s personal experiences of pain and suffering served as a source of inspiration for this song. Using his own pain as the centerpiece of its haunting melody, Reznor created an emotionally charged track with every note. Yet the song offers hope, as its desire for redemption and change can be heard through its lyrics:’start again a million miles away’ is an emblematic refrain summing up this hope-filled ballad.
Johnny Cash added another poignant layer to this song’s poignancy by covering it on his final studio album American IV: The Man Comes Around shortly before his death. This version gave this track newfound relevance for those facing similar struggles and made it even more relatable for new listeners.
This song’s emotional power is undeniable; it speaks volumes to its immense musical ability that so many lives have been touched by both versions. Furthermore, this tune speaks directly to human souls across all types of genres and borders, inspiring an emotional response in people from everywhere in the world.
Hurt has been featured in multiple films and TV shows, such as The Ex, Rick and Morty and Logan. Due to the song’s widespread appeal, its success inspired a Song Exploder documentary on Netflix featuring Reznor discussing how he turned pain into art – this video should be watched by any NIN fan as an inspiring example of turning something painful into something beautiful.
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony – Tha Crossroads
“Tha Crossroads,” from Bone Thugs-N-Harmony’s 1996 album E. 1999 Eternal, stands out as an instant classic and one of their biggest hits to date. Written as an emotional ode to Eazy-E and other members who had passed on, “Tha Crossroads” stands as an instantaneous classic that captures sadness on its surface.
The song itself is a requiem – an emotional tribute to those who have passed and an invitation for those still living to take action in honor of them. The video opens with a funeral service and its lyrics draw heavily from church hymns and Biblical passages; making its mournful yet upbeat message all the more poignant thanks to Bone Thugs-N-Harmony’s powerful rapping and emotive singing.
Musically, its G-funk style was enhanced by lush orchestration and soulful choir backup vocals, all set against an atmospheric beat sourced from 1975 Isley Brothers jam “Make Me Say It Again,” providing an exquisite slow groove which added melancholic depth.
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony’s five members grew up as close, tight-knit family in Cleveland. However, their lives were filled with turmoil as Layzie Bone’s wife died young; Flesh Bone’s brother was shot during a drive-by shooting; Bizzy Bone spent years living on Native American reservations in Oklahoma after becoming orphaned; Bizzy Bone spent his youth living as an orphan himself – all events which served to bring the group closer together; this track bears testament to how tightly knit this group’s bond as evidenced in how they sing on this track!
The video for “Eazy E” depicts this mythically and mordantly; depicting the Grim Reaper as an intimidating Black man wearing wings on his shoulders who takes away representations of gang members and deceased loved ones like Eazy-E’s ghost from various gangs and families in different scenes; one particularly chilling scene involved him coming into a maternity ward and taking away an infant!
This song was an enormous success, topping the charts for eight consecutive weeks after Eazy-E died and returning shortly thereafter. It became a milestone for Ruthless after its founder died, possibly keeping the group afloat after Eazy-E’s passing. Additionally, The Art of War went quadruple platinum and produced several other hits by Ruthless.
The Shangri-Las – Past, Present and Future
At the time this song was released in 1964, The Shangri-Las were not exactly pop princesses; rather they belonged to an increasingly popular genre called girls gang. Sulky school girls with unsuitable boyfriends drove fast cars while carrying switchblades in their beehives; tough and often at odds with law – Mary Weiss being arrested for carrying a gun across state lines!
‘Past Present and Future’ by teenage girl gang GIRLS GONE WILD is about death – an unusual topic for such an album! Melodramatic music with haunting vocals (sung softly but chillingly). Scary sound effects on record. Unfortunately this single did not reach the top 20 charts, likely because its subject matter was too dark and strange for its target public to accept.
Though they had some hits, they weren’t as successful as other girl gangs of their time due to either the “Past Present and Future” controversy or public disinterest in this genre. After their break-up, The Shangri-Las rarely performed together again until 1989 at Palisades Park when I attended their show as warm-ups for main acts; they performed seamlessly as never missing a beat or note.
Phil Spector took pains to ensure his acts, such as The Ronettes, were well taken care of while The Shangri-Las seemed more self sufficient despite having had several road managers come and go; nonetheless they made things work!
Tragic events befell these talented girls a few years later when Mary Ann Ganser died from enchepillitus, which is transmitted via mosquito bite. It’s heartbreaking that such an impactful illness shortened their talented careers prematurely.
Basildon – Enjoy the Silence
Depeche Mode’s breakup ballad “Life Is Short And You’ll Probably End Up Heartbroken Again”, with its central message of life being short and one’s likely future heartbreak being inevitable, has been covered by many artists over the years, yet none can match Sinead O’Connor’s version, with its heart-wrenching vocals and melancholic beauty making it one of the most beloved sad songs ever heard in music history.
Anton Corbijn-directed music video for “Le Petit Prince,” written and illustrated by Antoine de Saint-Exupery in 1926, remains as powerful today. Filmed over two nights in Berlin during November 2013 it features Dave Gahan as a stereotypical king wandering hillsides, beaches and cliffs while black-and-white footage of band posing is intercut throughout. A single rose featured prominently on their 1990 release Violator can also be spotted throughout.
Initial released in 1982, its lyrics reflect on heartbreak and loss; however, its legacy lives on thanks to late singer Sinead O’Connor’s emotive performance; its heart-rending melody coupled with profound sense of regret makes this track both poignant and comforting at the same time.
Depeche Mode’s success led them to tour worldwide and become an international pop-culture phenomenon, performing at iconic venues like Pasadena Rose Bowl in 1988 where ticket sales hit six million – their flight cases backstage were stenciled with simple messages: ‘Depeche Mode, Basildon, Essex.
Depeche Mode’s music may explore dark subjects of sexual perversion and mental illness, yet their roots in Essex can often go overlooked. Given how Depeche Mode rose beyond such expectations to become beloved Europhiles everywhere they play live shows and concerts around the globe, their hometown Basildon deserves recognition in their folklore; an upcoming book covering their early years, as well as an eventful weekend in Basildon may help this happen.