Music can be powerfully emotive, and can evoke various feelings. Sad songs typically have melancholic undertones with slow tempos and sad chords to convey the message of sorrow.
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Lyrics
Sad songs typically cover topics such as heartbreak, betrayal and loneliness in life; however they can also include death, regret, longing for someone or something, anxiety and many more. There is no set subject matter; rather its choice depends on what resonates with an audience. Sad song lyrics can range from soft to loud or even angry but should all convey the sentiments of melancholy. Tempo, tune key chords can also affect their effect; Happy Birthday has an upbeat melody while Eleanor Rigby by The Beatles gives way to melancholy sounds compared with their melancholy melody.
Beginning your song can be daunting, so begin by using simple yet poignant lyrics that express what it is you want to convey. From there you can expand upon them into chorus and verses with different moods. Make sure your focus lies in storytelling and using metaphors so listeners can relate more directly with what’s being described.
In a break-up song, for example, you might describe how and where you met as well as your feelings towards one another and then discuss both positive and negative moments during your relationship before it ended. Finally, the song could end by discussing life after your breakup has taken place.
Making use of personal experiences is one effective way of writing sad lyrics, although it’s not always necessary. Leonard Cohen’s song Alexandra Leaving can be read either as being about the end of a love affair, or it can even be taken as being about death itself if enough people can relate. Your song can have more of an emotional impact if people can identify with its theme – in this instance being considered sad lyrics by listeners.
Melodies
Many sad songs feature soothing and melancholic melodies that create an air of melancholy; often played on instruments like piano or guitar. Additionally, sad sounding chord progressions or keys may create an uneaseful feel to the song while its tempo may also be slow; some songs may feature upbeat melodies with upbeat lyrics (e.g. “Bright Eyes by Art Garfunkel” is such a song), as well as general feelings like longing for something difficult to obtain.
Subject matters for songs can range greatly, but all should focus on telling an engaging narrative relevant to its listener. Songs should be relatable and emotive while stirring the appropriate emotions within listeners. While structures of songs vary greatly, most commonly include verse-chorus structure with bridge section that offers contrast using different melodies or keys.
Song lyrics that express sadness should also include an effective vocal delivery that emphasizes this sentiment, such as vibrato or catch, adding emotion with vocal runs or pauses, or using slow tempos – such as those found in ballads – can all help create this effect.
Mood
Music can be powerfully emotive; lyrics and melody alone may not create the desired atmosphere for an emotional piece, however. Tempo, tone, chord progressions and key can all affect its mood; for example a slow pace or using minor scales and chord progressions may create an introspective vibe, whereas an uptempo piece with bright sounds often convey joy or happiness; sometimes an upbeat tune may contain heartbreaking lyrics that cause more sorrow. Music can also elicit powerful memories; its lyrics may trigger memories of someone we have lost or bring forward emotions from events in life or trigger memories of an unpleasant past event that trigger an emotional reaction in us all – as is so often said to cause its listeners.
Writing a sad song requires careful consideration of its subject matter and telling a narrative – this can include anything from personal experiences of relationship breakdown or universal themes such as loneliness. Selecting your topic carefully as it will have an enormous effect on listeners; choosing one which doesn’t become too dark can provide meaning across generations of listeners; however, remembering not to create too dark an atmosphere, instead evoking emotions such as grief, longing, anxiety or any life experience is key to creating effective music that resonates.
An effective way to begin is to write some free verses about an issue that has affected you personally. This exercise can help focus on words while working out how many verses the song will contain and its structure; using an old-school formula such as verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge may prove useful.
Triggers
At first glance, soft strumming guitar or sad sax solo might not make you cry – yet many people experience emotional contagion from listening to music that they have no prior connection with – yet many feel their throat tighten upon hearing unfamiliar pieces! Emotional contagion occurs when sound produces an emotional response in us which could range from vocal intonations or beat patterns, all the way through to triggers like the rhythmic beat or voice tone of someone in another location causing discomfort. Theories abound as to what causes emotional contagion; theories range from natural body rhythm synchronization or response mechanisms like synchronizing music to our bodily rhythms (such as heartbeat), through to specific triggers like lullabies being heard or playing before becoming emotionally affected.
But all this scientific speculation on what makes us sad when listening to music doesn’t explain why we enjoy sad songs so much in the first place. Researchers have noted correlations between certain acoustic characteristics (pitch-bending, mumbling and dark timbre) and music’s capacity for invoking sadness – yet none provide any explanation why that should be so.
Perhaps the key to understanding why we enjoy sad songs lies in our need for empathy. Expressions of sadness in others can elicit a positive empathic response that makes us want to help. Additionally, feelings of sadness within ourselves may bring out this trait, especially if they come as the result of experiences like divorce or loss that we’ve personally been through.