Pop songs that are really, really dark.

[Yavin4]

I'll start. Tom Jones, "Delilah".

[padfun]

1. Wow. That IS dark.

I remember that song from decades ago but I never really listened to the lyrics before.

[True Dough]

2. I'd think this one qualifies

[padfun]

3. Foster the People - Pumped up Kicks

[DFW]

4. My pick would be Luka by Suzanne Vega

Last edited Mon Mar 1, 2021, 06:53 AM - Edit history (1)

It‘s a song sung from the viewpoint of a battered child.

[ZZenith]

5. Count on The Beatles to have all bases covered...

[multigraincracker]

6. Ted Nugent and his Kiddie Porn song.

I've got no inhibitions
So keep your keys out of your ignition
I steal a car like I got the curse
I can't resist the old lady's purse
Jailbait you look so good to me
Jailbait won't you set me free
Jailbait you look fine fine fine
I know I've got to have you in a matter of time
Well I don't care if you're just thirteen
You look too good to be true
I just know that you're probably clean
There's one lil' thing I got do to you
Jailbait you look so good to me
Jailbait won't you set me free
Jailbait you look fine fine fine
I know I've got to have you in a matter of time
So tell your mama that I'm back in town
She likes us boys when it's time to get down
She's got this craving for the underage
I just might be your mama's brand new rage
Jailbait you look so good to me…

[wnylib]

7. Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen

[no_hypocrisy]

8. Tell Laura I Love Her

Teen Angel
Where, Oh Where, Can My Baby Be
Run Joey, Run Joey

[TreasonousBastard]

9. Wow! I rarely listen to lyrics and never knew what happened to Delilah..

This is so much like that dark lit exploring diseased minds and how fate can rule us. He knows he done wrong, but he was fated to it.

That last prick is not a creature of fate. He's just a revolting pig. Celebrating the conquest of jailbait, not questioning it.

[uriel1972]

11. He chose to kill Delilah and blames her...

Not at all fated, at least that's my take.

[TreasonousBastard]

13. That's a legitimate take on it, but I like to look for hidden meanings. Even if there aren't any.

[Skittles]

10. Hey Joe

[Yavin4]

16. Yeah... that song is very dark.

Good choice.

[Brother Buzz]

29. An interesting side story to Hey Joe

Hey Joe was initially written as a folk song by Billy Roberts, and he introduced Huey Lewis to the harmonica.

When Huey was 11, his parents got divorced. His mom rented out a room to a boarder, Billy Roberts, who was a folk singer. He had a zillion harmonicas and he gave Huey a bunch of his old ones.

Before he became a front man and singer for Huey Lewis and the News, he was a very accomplished harmonica player

[Skittles]

31. that IS interesting

[uriel1972]

12. You oughta know... Alanis Morissette

The River... Bruce Springsteen

[Hotler]

14. Joey.... Concrete Blonde

[JanMichael]

24. That is a tragic song and video. nt

[Doc_Technical]

15. THE BUOYS- "Timothy"

[johnsolaris]

17. written by

Rupert Holmes & performed on it too.

[lastlib]

27. First one I thought of!

The reaction to this song when it was first released was so strong that the music company had to come out with the claim that Timothy was a mule. Nobody believed it, of course.

[ironflange]

18. The Police - Every Breath You Take

[Aristus]

19. Chris de Burgh, "The Sound Of A Gun", about The Troubles in Ireland.

The vocalist whispering "Hush, child..." is Tina Turner.

[flotsam]

20. Stagger Mountain Tragedy

[flotsam]

21. Take a message to Mary

[TexasBushwhacker]

46. Down in the Willow Garden

[flotsam]

48. Wow

My older sister was into the Everlys but I never heard that one!

[TexasBushwhacker]

49. Creepy, isn't it? N/t

[liberaltrucker]

22. Alone Again (Naturally)

[Iggo]

23. Nights On Broadway -- The Bee Gees

STALKER ALERT !!!

&feature=share

[JanMichael]

25. Talking Shit About a Pretty Sunset

Oh noose tied myself in, tied myself too tight
Looking kind of anxious in your cross armed stance
Like a bad tempered prom queen at a homecoming dance
And I claim I'm not excited with my life any more
So I blame this town, this job, these friends
The truth is it's myself
And I'm trying to understand myself
And pinpoint where I am
By the time I get things figured out
I've change the whole damn plan
Oh noose tied myself in, tied myself too tight
Talking shit about a pretty sunset
Blanketing opinions that I'll probably regret soon
I've changed my mind so much I can't even trust it
My mind changed me so much I can't even trust myself

[JanMichael]

26. Last Kiss

Oh, where oh where can my baby be?
The Lord took her away from me
She's gone to heaven, so I got to be good
So I can see my baby when I leave this world
We were out on a date in my daddy's car
We hadn't driven very far
There in the road, straight ahead
A car was stalled, the engine was dead
I couldn't stop, so I swerved to the right
I'll never forget, the sound that night
The screamin' tires, the bustin' glass
The painful scream, that I heard last
Oh, where oh where can my baby be?
The Lord took her away from me
She's gone to heaven, so I got to be good
So I can see my baby when I leave this world
When I woke up, the rain was pourin' down
There were people standing all around
Something warm flowin' through my eyes
But somehow I found my baby that night
I lifted her head, she looked at me and said
"Hold me darling, just a little while"
I held her close, I kissed her our last kiss
I found the love, that I knew I had missed
And now she's gone, even though I hold her tight
I lost my love, my life that night
Oh, where oh where can my baby be?
The Lord took her away from me
She's gone to heaven, so I got to be good
So I can see my baby when I leave this world

[lastlib]

28. Laurie - Dickie Lee

Strange things happen in this world......

[Mendocino]

30. Tonights the Night

Neil Young

people let me tell you
it set a chill up and down my spine
when I picked the telephone
and learned the he died out on the mainline

[jmowreader]

32. Iron Maiden's "Hallowed Be Thy Name" is extremely dark

This video is well worth watching: a trained opera singer picks apart Bruce Dickinson's performance. She's impressed.

I wonder if Bruce has seen this...she goes extremely deep into his vocal technique (which she highly approves of) and he may not realize he's doing all of this.

[retread]

33. Eleanor Rigby.

Ah, look at all the lonely people
Ah, look at all the lonely people

Eleanor Rigby picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been,
Lives in a dream
Waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door
Who is it for?

All the lonely people
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?

Father Mckenzie writing the words of a sermon that no one will hear
No one comes near.
Look at him working, darning his socks in the night when there's nobody there
What does he care?

All the lonely people
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?

Ah, look at all the lonely people
Ah, look at all the lonely people

Eleanor Rigby died in the church and was buried along with her name
Nobody came
Father Mckenzie wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave
No one was saved

All the lonely people (ah, look at all the lonely people)
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people (ah, look at all the lonely people)
Where do they all belong?

[Montauk6]

34. Barry Manilow - Copacabana (At The Copa)

[Paladin]

35. "Is That All There Is?" Peggy Lee

Makes most of the other songs listed in this thread seem like nursery rhymes, in my opinion.

[Yavin4]

36. Joelene by Dolly Parton

Incredibly sad and dark when you think about the lyrics.

[retread]

37. Billie Holiday

[retread]

38. More Billie Holiday

[uriel1972]

39. Tomorrow Wendy by Andy Prieboy

Also covered by Concrete Blonde.

[panader0]

40. 'Timothy' by the Buoys---about cannibalism.

[Tikki]

41. "Angie Baby"...Helen Reddy (1974)

[uriel1972]

42. Brick

https://music.

&feature=share

Ben Folds Five

[uriel1972]

43. Two words...

Leonard Cohen...

[Maraya1969]

44. "The night the lights went out in Georgia"

[Goodheart]

45. Alone Again, Naturally

Last edited Thu Mar 4, 2021, 01:03 AM - Edit history (1)

But, seriously, Pearl Jam - Jeremy

[Tikki]

47. "Psycho Killer"...Talking Heads (1977).

Tikki

[jrandom421]

50. Here's a few

The Animals - We gotta get out of this place

The Monkees - Last Train to Clarksville

Glen Campbell - Galveston

[Kaleva]

51. Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)