Can you think of a song that sounded happy to you at first, but later realized how sad it actually was?

Let this video play but don’t pay attention to the lyrics pictured in video itself. Then, watch the video again and actually read the lyrics.

Devo’s Beautiful World

Me And Mrs. Jones Such a sad sad cheatin song.

@Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard Gulp

The first time that I heard Don McLean’s Song “American Pie” I didn’t know what is was about but liked it as it sounded good and happy. Later I learned that it was all about the 1959 plane crash that killed the great Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Hichardson. Now I hate listening to “American Pie” because it is so true that February 3, 1959 was the day that music died.

those are my favorite kind of songs! A lot of Man Man songs are like that. like this one

No——>This

Talking Heads’ Road To Nowhere. Or Once in a Lifetime. They’re both kinda depressing, but they’ve got a good beat and they’re easy to dance to!

@Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard I must be thick in the head. How could I watch that without reading the lyrics?

When I was little I loved to listen to Reba. Actually, I still do. Her song, Fancy never really clicked for me until I was about eleven and actually understood what she was singing about. The first time I understood it made me cry.

@faye, let the video play and minimize the window with the volume on. Or press play and don’t look at the screen. Point being… you should listen to the song first (which sounds… triumphant, I guess) and then watch again and see that the lyrics are pretty fucked up.

@Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard Will you explain? I’m afraid I’m too thick headed to catch what it is all about…

Cheer Up by Reel Big Fish sounds so upbeat and happy, but when you read the lyrics, it’s kinda a downer. Still a great song though

Hmm well listening to starting over by Killswitch engage is…sad for the meaning, but it’s something that makes me think…

One by U2

First couple passes I thought it was a song about devoted love.

But when you listen closely, you realize it’s really about emotional abuse.

SAMPLY LYRIC

Did I ask too much?
More than a lot.
You gave me nothing,
Now it’s all I got
We’re one
But we’re not the same
Well we
Hurt each other
Then we do it again
You say
Love is a temple
Love a higher law
Love is a temple
Love the higher law
You ask me to enter
But then you make me crawl
And I can’t be holding on
To what you got
When all you got is hurt

“Do I Make You Proud” by Taylor Hicks

The song itself sounds hopeful, but it appears that Hicks probably did not have a very happy childhood based on what he reveals in the song.

That and Hicks has not found great success since he won American idol, unlike most other winners.

“Ich will sterben” by Die Ärzte

@Joker94 A lot of Gorillaz songs are like that, I think. Feel Good Inc. is pretty upbeat and the line “feel good” is repeated throughout, but listening closely will tell you that the song is more about the desire to feell good than actually feeling that way, I think. Don’t Get Lost in Heaven is a very cheerful melody sung by angelic-sounding voices, but the lyrics are mostly about drugs. I like that about Gorillaz.

@Mariah I agree. The only exception I’ve heard was El Manana, which was sad sounding and sad lyrically at the same time.