Warning: This list will depress you

Time for us to come up with a new list: the most depressing songs of the 80s.

There are so many to choose from that it will actually be EXCITING if we can pare this list down to a paltry 25 or so tunes.

As always, the Stuck in the 80s lists count on reader participation. So drop us a comment with your favorite depressing song of the 80s. While you mull it over, here are some to consider.

Purple Rain (Prince): He sobs like a baby while singing this in the movie's finale (and then kisses Wendy ... or is it Lisa?). Glad someone knows what the song is about.

Blasphemous Rumors (Depeche Mode): A real contender for the top spot on the list. Possibly the most depressing song of all time. (Either this or "Tie a Yellow Ribbon" ... just kidding.) [Live on German TV]

Against All Odds (Phil Collins): What's more depressing -- the song ... or the really bad movie that it goes with? (And is this the most depressing Collins song. Because I'm thinking maybe "Separate Lives" is sadder.) [Live video]

Drive (The Cars): Saddest ... music ... video ... ever. [Video]

Just Once (James Ingram): I know I bring up this song a lot, but it's permanently logged in my subconscious -- sorta like those 200 pizzas from college are still logged in my arteries. [Listen]

Laura (Christopher Cross): Not a song about Luke and Laura from "General Hospital," Cross says, but about a friend who died in a random shooting. [Live video]

Dear God (XTC): The lyrics are depressing enough, but with the opening and closing verses sung by an 8-year-old? Ouch. [Video]

Missing You (John Waite): Not a love song, as Waite told Stuck in the 80s, but a song about two people who can't live with each other but can't be happy apart. [And which version is sadder: the 1984 version or the duet with Alison Krauss?]

So go ahead and give us as many entries to the list as you want. Be sure to let us know if you think any deserve the top spot. And then get your prescriptions filled for happy pills before reading the final list sometime in the future.

Comments

[Falco]

How about...

Since Your Gone (The Cars)

Every Rose Has its Thorn (Poison)

Hard to Say I'm Sorry (Chicago)

Hold On to the Nights (Richard Marx)

Love on the Rocks (Neil Diamond)

The Beautiful Ones (Prince)

[Tonianne]

Same Old Lang Syne - Dan Fogelberg
The River - Bruce Springsteen
Love Will Tear Us Apart - Joy Division
Last Time Forever - Squeeze
Prayers for Rain - The Cure

No "most depressing songs of the 80s list" could be complete without something, ok anything, by The Cure.

[chase]

"Luka," by Suzanne Vega ... Oh, c'mon, a song about child abuse? Always bums me out. I saw her in concert at a small club in NH, she was amazing.

and ...

"Fast Car," Tracy Chapman ... Not a song about "we're poor but happy," instead, a song about the hopelessness of poverty.

-- note, neither one is about falling in love, lost love, pining for love, nothin' about love.

[Walter Cox]

Anything by New Kids on the Block. I get depressed every time I think about how famous they were.

But at least Donnie turned out to be a good actor.

[Frank Koehntopp]

Whoa, that's my specialty ;)

Bruce Hornsby - Mandolin Rain
Queen - One Year Of Love
Chris Rea - September Blue
Del Amitri - As Soon As The Tide Comes In
Chris deBurgh - Carry Me
Styx - Haven't We Been Here Before
Supertramp - Don't Leave Me Now

[SpecialK]

Question of Lust (the whole Black Celebration Album, spent many times drinking and crying to that one) Somebody by Depeche Mode
totally agree with Blasphemous Rumors
Voices Carry but Til Tuesday (this song was my song)
Friends of Mine by Duran Duran (only a true Duranie would know this song)
Save a Prayer by Duran Duran
Look Away by Chcago
In Between Days by The Cure
Time After Time by Cyndi Lauper
Original Sin by INXS

[Spears]

Great choices, especially "Time after Time" -- which I've trained my body and mind to ignore since it's associated with a particularly painful breakup back in college.

[Dennis]

well, my fave subject as nearly all the stuff I love the most are sad and depressing songs anyway...
strong contender for the No1 would be in my opinion...
Joy Division - Atmosphere or Decades
The Cure - Faith (the whole album but the titletrack itself is the strongest contender)
Depeche - Blasphemous Rumours or Little 15
Ultravox - Lament
Clan Of Xymox - No Words or No Human Can Drown
Indochine - Okinawa
The Sisters Of Mercy - Marian
could go on for ages but to name just a few... some are pretty obscure though and mostly album stuff - it is where most bands hide the real depressing stuff + if I add an instrumental it is (well-chosen title by the way as it sounds exactly like it is called) Sad Day by Blancmange...

[Tom]

How about
Oh No- Commodores
The Last To Know- Asia, just for you Steve
Ghost Town- The Specials
But perhaps the most depressing song of all time would be Alone Again, Naturally- Gilbert O'Sullivan, gets me everytime.

[Brad]

Here are a few more, in no particular order:

The Church - Under The Milky Way
Don Henley - Boys of Summer
U2 - Running to Stand Still
R.E.M. - (Don't Go Back To) Rockville
Smithereens - Cigarette
Devo - Strange Pursuit
The Cure - A Forest

[Al]

Bruce Hornsby - Just The Way It Is, or Valley Road

Christopher Cross - Words of Wisdom

Springsteen - Racing in the Street (Live)

Don Henley - Love Rules (from Fast Times at Ridgemont High)

Zebra - Tell Me What You Want

Journey - The 1-2 Punch of Ask the Lonely and Who's Cryin' Now

Supertramp (Live in Paris) - Take the Long Way Home, from 1980.

The Henley, Journey and Supertramp I associate with a bad break-up, or it was that terribly awkward moment when I realized the girl didn't feel the same.

Oh well. Onwards and upwards.

[Shelly]

What about something....anything....by The Smiths?

[Marissa]

I must have been in an eternal state of bliss in the 80s. I don't recall depressing tunes. Maybe I'm a little too much little Mary Sunshine for this blog subject matter. I never really dated prior to 1988. So, no bad break up songs.
The closest I can get to depressing is Mr. Mister's Broken Wings.

[Ian from Down Under]

Is my life that sad, I love all these songs, just a few songs to add to sad soundtrack to my life.

Fairytale of New York - The Pogues & Kirst MacColl (Love gone wrong)

Same Old Lang Syne - Dan Fogelberg (Lost Love)

Keep Your Hands to Yourself - Georgia Satellites (Because it makes Steve hate)

But the saddest song of forever (not in the 80's) has to be

Honey - Bobby Goldsboro (She probably topped herself just to get away from you, you sad sad man)

[Marissa]

"Time" by Alan Parson's Project
1981
This song will forever make me sad and bring me to a very lonely place. I'd nearly forgotten about it, but thanks to Steve's ingenious idea I am now brought back to a time when I was 15. I guess I wasn't all Little Mary Sunshine in the 80s.
Thanks, man! Now my mascara is running down my cheeks. Wait, it's waterproof. Well, if it WASN'T waterproof and if I was really shedding tears it would be tear streaked. THANKS A LOT!
Time Lyrics
» Alan Parsons Project
Time, flowing like a river
Time, beckoning me
Who knows when we shall meet again
If ever
But time
Keeps flowing like a river
To the sea

Goodbye my love, Maybe for forever
Goodbye my love, The tide waits for me
Who knows when we shall meet again
If ever
But time
Keeps flowing like a river (on and on)
To the sea, to the sea

Till it's gone forever
Gone forever
Gone forevermore

Goodbye my friends, Maybe forever
Goodbye my friends, The stars wait for me
Who knows where we shall meet again
If ever
But time
Keeps flowing like a river (on and on)
To the sea, to the sea

Till it's gone forever
Gone forever
Gone forevermore

[Bassnote]

With Or Without You - U2
Throwing It All Away - Genesis
Lovesong - The Cure
Mercy Street - Peter Gabriel
No One Is To Blame - Howard Jones
Everytime You Go Away - Paul Young
Long Long Way To Go - Phil Collins
Hell Is For Children - Pat Benatar
New York Minute - Don Henley
Here Comes A Regular - The Replacements
That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore - The Smiths
Foolish Heart - Steve Perry

[Spears]

Bassnote, you golden god! Some real classics on that last list. Especially the Howard Jones, Paul Young and Replacements tunes.

I swear, it's sad just reading this list. If anyone wants to start giving me their top 2 or top 3 songs from what we've seen so far, that'd help tremendously in the final list.

[Spears]

BTW, Ian from Down Under is responsible for me nearly having a seizure from unexpected and violent chortling after seeing his Georgia Satellites remark.

[Bassnote]

Steve, I'm blushing... : )

[arbee]

Same Old Lang Syne - Dan Fogelberg - still cant listen to it without tearing up.

What is love - Howard Jones

[Spears]

I used to think of Howard Jones as being so happy. But the more I consider his catalog, the sadder I'm getting.

[Sherrie]

Personally, the most depressing 80's song for me (because it's associated with a very messy breakup) is Phil Collin's "Against All Odds". The ex from hell actually stood in my parents driveway and sang that song at me (not to me, as I was escaping his presence as fast as humanly possible). Yuck.
Others that are just plain depressing on their own-

Bruce Springsteen- the entire "Nebraska" album, but especially:
Atlantic City
Johnny 99
Nebraska (what could be more depressing than the story of a serial killer expressing his desire to have his girlfriend killed with him in the electric chair? Says Bruce: "Sheriff when the man pulls that switch sir and snaps my poor head back
You make sure my pretty baby is sittin' right there on my lap")

The Alarm:
Father to Son
Deeside

John Mellencamp:
Minutes to Memories
Rain on the Scarecrow

Lou Reed:
Dirty Boulevard (1989)
and the whole Magic and Loss album, considering that it's about cancer and death (with song titles like "Cremation"), but it was released in '92

[Anthony]

I have to go with "The Judgement is the Mirror" by Dalis Car or "See You" by Depeche Mode. I can't help but feeling like there really isn't any hope after listening to those songs.

[Menni]

Depressing songs? Not a single one of all the ones mentioned here are depressing to me, they're just about sadness. They might make you cry. But that's something completely different. So I'd like to nominate 2 Live Crew - Me So Horny. Now THAT is a truly depressing song.

But I honestly don't wanna spoil the party, so here's another one more in line of what's expected: Jim Diamond - I Should've Known Better.

[Debra Phillips]

How about "Wuthering Heights" by Kate Bush??

[Bassnote]

The Final Cut - Pink Floyd

[Craig Contardi]

Hi Steve & Sean - I was thinking, "Fast Car" by Tracy Chapman and then saw Chase beat me to it. That's definitely in the top-3. I put weight on songs with chart power as evidence of widespread listenership.

Did anyone mention "The River" by Springsteen? I saw a reference to Nebraska but not The River (as an album). That one hits home thanks to a relationship in the 80's with a "Mary" and time spent at a reservoir (apologies to those who do not know the lyrics).

Third choice: "Goodnight Saigon" by Billy Joel and its sad ending.

-Craig

[brett]

No One Is To Blame -- Howard Jones
The Bitterest Pill -- The Jam
Fast Car -- Tracy Chapman

These are three of the most depressing songs known to man.

[Al]

I can't believe I forgot the Replacements! Argh! Here Comes a Regular is sweet.

How about:

ABBA- The Winner Takes it All......I think that was 1980. Double divorce, that's pretty sobering.

U2 - October......if that doesn't depress you, you're the T-1000.

[Marissa]

I'm too depressed to offer any opinions.

[Sara Hardt-Bjorn]

U2- Sunday Bloody Sunday
Band-Aid, Do they Know it's Christmas (the imagery from this endeavor is depressing in its truth)
Pat Benetar- Hell is for Children

(the content is heartwrenching and depressing to me)

[Al]

That Benetar......she's a heartbreaker!

Ba dum tis!

[Ian from Down Under]

A couple more to add

Johnny Hates Jazz - Shattered Dreams

Naked Eyes - Always Something There to Remind Me

The Smiths - I Know It's Over

This Mortal Coil - Song to the Siren

One for the Country folk

George jones - He Stopped Loving Her Today

[Marissa]

Wow! After reading these songs choices it's no wonder the divorce rate is so high. What a pile of emotional wreckage!
If you throw out the songs about having your heart ripped out, what are we left with?

Fly On The Windscreen - Depeche Mode
Love Bites - Def Leppard
Welcome To the Boomtown - David & David
A Night Like This - The Cure
Better Be Home Soon - Crowded House
Ghost Town - Cheap Trick
I Don't Like Mondays - The Boomtown Rats
Breaking Us In Two - Joe Jackson

[Bassnote]

Sorry, that last list was me.

[SpecialK]

my top three - kudos to bassnotes for reminding me of this One:

I Don't Like Mondays by the Boomtown Rats
most of the songs on Black Celebration by Depeche Mode (Fly On the Windscreen, Sometimes, etc.)
Voices Carry by Til Tuesday (I was told to shut up too many times)
it's hard to leave off The Cure for me but there are so many Cure songs that I listened to on the way to soccer games that got me pumped up

[Marissa]

I still vote for "Time" by Alan Parson's Project. Go listen to it. See if you aren't begging for a bottle of Prozac by the time it's over. It's a serious buzz-kill. I think this could be played during riots and it would put everyone in a depressive coma. Don't get me wrong. I like APP. However, this song is just soooooooooooo depressing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJi2t5IXFZA

[Brad]

Don't You Want Me - Human League
Who's That Girl - Eurythmics
Poison Arrow - ABC
Mad World - Tears For Fears
Crazy - Icehouse
Taken In - Mike + The Mechanics

[martin]

I don't know the name of the song but it is by pearl jam about a guy who has crashed his car and his girl friend is dying in his arms, that would be the worst thing to have happen to you, I thought about that when I met my second wife (who is an angel) of how terrible it would be if you crashed and your girl was dying.