NationStates Jolt Archive

Ever been listening to a song that's merrily bopping along only to realize that the lyrics talk about death and despair?

Or to an elegiac hymn in minor keys that's really about love in the spring and happy puppies?



One of my favourite "Wait a second..." songs is Del Amitri's Nothing Ever Happens.

It sounds like this (http://media.putfile.com/Del-Amitri---Nothing-Ever-Happens-88) - and reads like this (http://www.delamitri.com/music/lyrics/w10.html).
The last lines especially never fail to give me a very uncomfortable shiver.


I'm sure there are more (and of course every single one of them is going to better than mine, too, so save your breath. :rolleyes: :p).

Ingen vill veta var du köpt din tröja. (http://www.raymondochmaria.se/video.php?play=ingen)

As you can hear it has a very happy and hand-clappy melody, but the lyrics are about being alone and having no friends and no one caring or mourning when you die.

I have a friend who equates horns with happy tunes so when he was listening to some Cherry Poppin' Daddies he was boppin' along and all of a sudden, "Wait, is this song about a drunk abusive step father?" Yep.

That song drives like a Mack truck, though, so it's just him that missed that.

Until I listened to the lyrics I thought Strange Fruit was just this pretty song, then I listened to it and realized it was about lynching...eek...

Disney songs.

"Alive" by Pearl Jam might be a good example. Musically, it sounds like an upbeat inspirational anthem, but it's lyrics are about a kid who is sexually abused by his mother.

Puff the magic dragon (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZYgxdQDlw4) :(

Puff the magic dragon (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZYgxdQDlw4) :(
Too true. Gah, why does everything to do with a dragon have to end on a negative note?

I guess that there's "Two Little Boys (with two little toys)" following on with the same theme. It seems kind of innocent, but it's about war.

Umm, Billy Joel's 'Pianoman'? It's got a really catchy chorus, but it's about depressed drunk people so in that sense it's quite dark.

Ingen vill veta var du köpt din tröja. (http://www.raymondochmaria.se/video.php?play=ingen)

As you can hear it has a very happy and hand-clappy melody, but the lyrics are about being alone and having no friends and no one caring or mourning when you die. Yeah - if I hadn't seen the video (in which they do admittedly look rather depressed) I would have thought it was a nice summer song, seeing how I don't understand a word of the text. Except "extra semestren" or something like that. I could probably pick that out in any language. :rolleyes:

I have a friend who equates horns with happy tunes so when he was listening to some Cherry Poppin' Daddies he was boppin' along and all of a sudden, "Wait, is this song about a drunk abusive step father?" Yep.

That song drives like a Mack truck, though, so it's just him that missed that. I have absolutely no idea what that means.

Until I listened to the lyrics I thought Strange Fruit was just this pretty song, then I listened to it and realized it was about lynching...eek... I have heard the title, but I don't even know by whom it is.

"Alive" by Pearl Jam might be a good example. Musically, it sounds like an upbeat inspirational anthem, but it's lyrics are about a kid who is sexually abused by his mother.Yep, that works.

Puff the magic dragon (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZYgxdQDlw4) :( True. :(

Umm, Billy Joel's 'Pianoman'? It's got a really catchy chorus, but it's about depressed drunk people so in that sense it's quite dark. Oh, absolutely. It's pretty melancholic and depressing, really.

Loads of Belle and Sebastian songs. They all have really upbeat, happy-sounding music, but so many are downbeat when you listen to the lyrics.

Lou Reed's Perfect Day is an example of the opposite. It sounds like a dirge, but it's, well, about a perfect day (The celebrity cover - for Children in Need was it? - was even worse :D ).

I always love how I can listen to a song umpteen million times and never catch something and then one time I listen and I am like W.....T......F

like that oldies song where the lyrics are "if her daddy's rich take her out for a meal, if her daddy's poor do what you will"

WTF!?!

and then there's this........
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0S8wBNoiv90

Ever been listening to a song that's merrily bopping along only to realize that the lyrics talk about death and despair?

Or to an elegiac hymn in minor keys that's really about love in the spring and happy puppies?



One of my favourite "Wait a second..." songs is Del Amitri's Nothing Ever Happens.

It sounds like this (http://media.putfile.com/Del-Amitri---Nothing-Ever-Happens-88) - and reads like this (http://www.delamitri.com/music/lyrics/w10.html).
The last lines especially never fail to give me a very uncomfortable shiver.


I'm sure there are more (and of course every single one of them is going to better than mine, too, so save your breath. :rolleyes: :p).

The opera bit in Bohemian Rhapsody. It's jsut bouncing merrily along, but the guy's talking about being a puppet, and eventually, it jsut gets more and more frenzied, until you're really panicked.

PS: 600th post!

Loads of Belle and Sebastian songs. They all have really upbeat, happy-sounding music, but so many are downbeat when you listen to the lyrics. Yup.

Lou Reed's Perfect Day is an example of the opposite. It sounds like a dirge, but it's, well, about a perfect day (The celebrity cover - for Children in Need was it? - was even worse :D ).Not sure I even know that. Though it's the first one that has come up where it's the other way round, so yay for Lou Reed's Perfect Day, anyway. ;p

Lou Reed's Perfect Day is an example of the opposite. It sounds like a dirge, but it's, well, about a perfect day (The celebrity cover - for Children in Need was it? - was even worse :D ).

Actually, it very well could be a downbeat song. If you read between the lines you might interpret it as being about heroin, like many of Lou Reed's other songs. In which case it's not such a cheerful song.

The opera bit in Bohemian Rhapsody. It's jsut bouncing merrily along, but the guy's talking about being a puppet, and eventually, it jsut gets more and more frenzied, until you're really panicked. He is? <.<

I always love how I can listen to a song umpteen million times and never catch something and then one time I listen and I am like W.....T......F

like that oldies song where the lyrics are "if her daddy's rich take her out for a meal, if her daddy's poor do what you will"

WTF!?! Lol. >.<

and then there's this........
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0S8wBNoiv90 Now that is just plain awesome. :p
And yeah, kinda scary, the crap one listens to without even noticing. I actually always used to think it was just because it wasn't my native language that I didn't really pay attention to English lyrics too much, but I guess most people don't.

Puff the magic dragon (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZYgxdQDlw4) :(

If that counts then so does "Minnie the Moocher."
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy's remix moreso

Not sure I even know that. Though it's the first one that has come up where it's the other way round, so yay for Lou Reed's Perfect Day, anyway. ;p

Well, say you were to type "it's such a perfect day" into Google (http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=it%27s+such+a+perfect+day&meta=) (without quotes), and click on the first link it pops up (at paradise-engineering.com), there might just be a link to an MP3 for you...

Oh, the Del Amitri song is really good, too :)

Ooh, Winamp just threw up another one: Mr E's Beautiful Blues, by the Eels, is downbeat-but-sounds-upbeat.

Actually, it very well could be a downbeat song. If you read between the lines you might interpret it as being about heroin, like many of Lou Reed's other songs. In which case it's not such a cheerful song.

Oh... Ho hum, eh?

Actually, it very well could be a downbeat song. If you read between the lines you might interpret it as being about heroin, like many of Lou Reed's other songs. In which case it's not such a cheerful song.
Well, say you were to type "it's such a perfect day" into Google (http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=it%27s+such+a+perfect+day&meta=) (without quotes), and click on the first link it pops up (at paradise-engineering.com), there might just be a link to an MP3 for you... Whaddaya know, turns out there actually was. :p

Of course, now that I listened to it (and yeah, of course I knew it) I don't think it's a "downbeat tune with upbeat lyrics" at all, rather the exact opposite. I think the song itself sounds rather happy and light - whereas the lyrics sound very obviously dire, like Cosmo Island said, what with the "You made me forget myself. I thought I was someone else, Someone good" and the "You're going to reap just what you sow"... :/

Ooh, Winamp just threw up another one: Mr E's Beautiful Blues, by the Eels, is downbeat-but-sounds-upbeat.Holy crap - I've been actually singing along to this song for years and never even noticed the terrible lyrics. :eek: >.<

sorry can't think of one song i stopped and listen to the lyrics
then all i listen to on youtube when im up is Rammstein and Disturbed

He is? <.<

Lol. >.<

Now that is just plain awesome. :p
And yeah, kinda scary, the crap one listens to without even noticing. I actually always used to think it was just because it wasn't my native language that I didn't really pay attention to English lyrics too much, but I guess most people don't.

There's a country song, really bouncy and catchy, that goes "You got the money, honey, I got the time..." For those who can't pick up on the subtlety, it's about fucking a rich girl.

Of course, now that I listened to it (and yeah, of course I knew it) I don't think it's a "downbeat tune with upbeat lyrics" at all, rather the exact opposite. I think the song itself sounds rather happy and light - whereas the lyrics sound very obviously dire, like Cosmo Island said, what with the "You made me forget myself. I thought I was someone else, Someone good" and the "You're going to reap just what you sow"... :/

I thought it sounded more like someone who's usually down had a good day, that someone made him feel much better than normal, and that "reap what you sow" was a good thing; by making others happy they'll be happy themselves. I assumed he was singing about a woman, because almost all songs are love songs really.
But thinking about it, and just listening to it, I can see why it might be about heroin, as Cosmo Island said...

Holy crap - I've been actually singing along to this song for years and never even noticed the terrible lyrics. :eek: >.<

She's crawling out her window 'cos her daddy just don't care... :D

"Mack the Knife" is probably the most famous example..

If I remember right, the guy rapes and kills at least one person during the course of the song, but most versions of the song are sung in peppy lounge style tempo. Of course, some versions are downbeat or ironically happy, but the popular versions are basically sung in the upbeat Sinatra style.

Just had a look through my music collection - many Manic Street Preachers songs fit the upbeat sound, downbeat lyrics model, such as Australia (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ngp2NIRSIg) and Little Baby Nothing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUaytvw9AaM), the former is about depression and the latter about exploitation. Champagne Supernova (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNPumgrTnRA)by Oasis has great rock'n'roll guitar riffs but is about the negative effects of fame. Disco 2000 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61ThRHYFQvU) by Pulp sounds positive but is about the unfulfilled ambitions from your childhood. There She Goes (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opH3svESRDY) is another cheerful sounding song about heroin addiction.

not really the same, but the video to katrina and the waves' walking on sunshine always struck me as odd. it's a happy upbeat song with cheerful carefree lyrics, but in the video the band members are all dressed in grey trenchcoats looking all dour and depressive. i sort of get the concept (as in the juxtaposition of happy with dour makes the happy all the more exceptional) but it still jars a little.

I have absolutely no idea what that means.

.

It has a heavy, intense drive to it. But it also has a horn line, so my friend assumes it's a happy song.

O Valencia! By the Decemberists.

It seems so upbeat, until you get into the lyrics about the girl getting shot by her brother, and the star-crossed lovers theme.

yeah mack the knife is a great example.

ever hear that martina mcbride song "broken wing"? people love that song as if it is about overcoming an mentally abusive relationship. dont they hate it when i point out that the woman killed herself at the end of the song

one sunday morning she didnt go to church

he wondered why she didnt leave

the went up to the bedroom found a note by the window

and a curtain blowing in the breeze.


uh, people really DONT FLY. she jumped out the fucking window. she left a freaking suicide note. what more do you need to figure out that shes DEAD?

"Mack the Knife" is probably the most famous example..

If I remember right, the guy rapes and kills at least one person during the course of the song, but most versions of the song are sung in peppy lounge style tempo. Of course, some versions are downbeat or ironically happy, but the popular versions are basically sung in the upbeat Sinatra style.
Well, he is a gangster. :/ But yeah, you're right, it's usually sung in an all nochalant, "charming, gentlemanly criminal" way.

Disco 2000 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61ThRHYFQvU) by Pulp sounds positive but is about the unfulfilled ambitions from your childhood.Yep, a pretty sobering song. But then I find Jarvis Cocker's voice just doesn't lend itself to sounding truly "happy", so to me, all Pulp songs have at least an underlying strain of melancholy.

There She Goes (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opH3svESRDY) is another cheerful sounding song about heroin addiction.Man, this thread is turning out to be really educative. All I ever understood from the lyrics of that song was "there she goes", so I always just blindly assumed it was about some girl he was in love with. I looked up the lyrics right now and - yeah, not so much. >.<

not really the same, but the video to katrina and the waves' walking on sunshine always struck me as odd. it's a happy upbeat song with cheerful carefree lyrics, but in the video the band members are all dressed in grey trenchcoats looking all dour and depressive. i sort of get the concept (as in the juxtaposition of happy with dour makes the happy all the more exceptional) but it still jars a little.Hee, I had to watch the video on Youtube, I couldn't remember a thing from it. I think it's supposed to show us JUST HOW MUCH SHE IS ACTUALLY WALKING ON SUNSHINE and how she even helps other, grey, trenchcoated people out of their funk. Except all I was thinking was "Man, she must have been freezing!" and "What an exceptionally crappy 80s' video." :p

Babybird's You're Gorgeous probably fits here.

It has a heavy, intense drive to it. But it also has a horn line, so my friend assumes it's a happy song.Ah, thanks.

O Valencia! By the Decemberists.

It seems so upbeat, until you get into the lyrics about the girl getting shot by her brother, and the star-crossed lovers theme.No fair! I don't have their new CD yet. *mopes*

yeah mack the knife is a great example.

ever hear that martina mcbride song "broken wing"? people love that song as if it is about overcoming an mentally abusive relationship. dont they hate it when i point out that the woman killed herself at the end of the song

one sunday morning she didnt go to church

he wondered why she didnt leave

the went up to the bedroom found a note by the window

and a curtain blowing in the breeze.


uh, people really DONT FLY. she jumped out the fucking window. she left a freaking suicide note. what more do you need to figure out that shes DEAD?:p

I personally really like songs that sound really upbeat and happy but have absolutely filthy lyrics. i.e. Come On Eileen - Dexy's Midnight Runners

At least five come to mind right now.
"Free Four" by Pink Floyd (pre-Dark Side of the Moon, so most people don't know it). Jaunty melody, but it's kind of a four-and-a-half minute version of "The Wall".
"We'll All Go Together When We Go" by Tom Lehrer... but, then, it's a satire, so that's kind of the point (just like most of his stuff; if you haven't heard him, you are deprived of one of life's great experiences)
"Race for the Prize" by the Flaming Lips. An impossibly catchy melody about two obsessed scientists destroying each other and themselves through competition.
Pretty much the entire Manhattan Transfer album "Brazil": cool vocal jazz about poverty, deforestation, racism, alienation, and urban violence.
CCR's "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" great tune that, when you listen to the lyrics, turns out to be about a Faustian bargain.

Oh, and this is kind of tangential, but there's a classical piece by Sant-Saens which takes the famous can-can melody (you know the one) and plays it really, really slowly. That's kind of fun. It's from the same piece where he makes a joke about piano students belonging in a zoo. One more reason why I stopped taking piano lessons years ago. :D

There's a song in the anime Curse of the Undead Yoma (stupid movie, but great song). It has a beautiful, haunting melody and is sung by a girl in a cute voice.

The lyrics are:

Hitotsu, hitoyo no koi naraba
Futatsu, futari de jigoku he to
Mittsu, mina no koroshitemo
Yottsu, yomi he no michi-shirube
Yottsu, yomi he no michi-shirube
Itsutsu, ikusa no chi no ame no
Muttsu, mukuro to kawarya senu
Nanatsu, namida no kare hate te
Yattsu, yami yo ga tokete yuku
Yattsu, yami yo ga tokete yuku

And then I finally found a translation of the lyrics and... well...

One, it's a love in one generation
Two, the two of us go to hell
Three, even though we kill everybody
Four, signpost for the land of the dead
Four, signpost for the land of the dead
Five, the rain of blood because of war
Six, just like a dead body
Seven, my tears run out
Eight, a dark night starts to melt
Eight, a dark night starts to melt

Babybird's You're Gorgeous probably fits here.
Hehe. I just found this in the user comments for this article (http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/culturevulture/archives/2006/04/18/post_79.html) about misunderstood lyrics:

I think BabyBird's You're Gorgeous would have to be up there too. Chorus played loads on TV over footage of attractive persons/children/animals, verses about exploitation of some girl by a dodgy photographer. Hmmm.



They also had a comment on Lou Reed's Perfect Day that was discussed above:
Favourite misunderstood lyric? I don't think you can beat the BBC using Lou Reed's Perfect Day, an ode to being blissed out on smack.

Although I still hold that he doesn't sound very "blissed out" at all. ;)

Babybird's You're Gorgeous probably fits here.

Why..?
I'm being dense, aren't I?
Oh, I just saw WYTYG's comment in the Topic Review box. Don't really see it, but that's twenty past one in the morning filling in an application form for you.

--

Is James Dean by the Eagles too obvious?

And Stayin' Alive, by the Bee Gees. "Life going nowhere, somebody help me, somebody help me yeah*"
*I thought it was "care", so much for my ears.

There's a song in the anime Curse of the Undead Yoma (stupid movie, but great song). It has a beautiful, haunting melody and is sung by a girl in a cute voice.

The lyrics are:

Hitotsu, hitoyo no koi naraba
Futatsu, futari de jigoku he to
Mittsu, mina no koroshitemo
Yottsu, yomi he no michi-shirube
Yottsu, yomi he no michi-shirube
Itsutsu, ikusa no chi no ame no
Muttsu, mukuro to kawarya senu
Nanatsu, namida no kare hate te
Yattsu, yami yo ga tokete yuku
Yattsu, yami yo ga tokete yuku

And then I finally found a translation of the lyrics and... well...

One, it's a love in one generation
Two, the two of us go to hell
Three, even though we kill everybody
Four, signpost for the land of the dead
Four, signpost for the land of the dead
Five, the rain of blood because of war
Six, just like a dead body
Seven, my tears run out
Eight, a dark night starts to melt
Eight, a dark night starts to melt
Cute. :p

I personally really like songs that sound really upbeat and happy but have absolutely filthy lyrics. i.e. Come On Eileen - Dexy's Midnight Runners Hmm. I actually looked it up and I don't see how they're "absolutely filthy". :confused: The most explicit parts are "With you in that dress my thoughts I confess verge on dirty" and "Ah come on let's take off everything, That pretty red dress Eileen".

Am I missing some major innuendo? Or is there an X-rated version nobody told me about? :p

Why..?
I'm being dense, aren't I?

Selected lyrics:

Remember that tank top you bought me.
You wrote 'You're Gorgeous' on it.
You took me to your rented motor car and filmed me on the bonnet.
You got me to hitch my knees up and pulled my legs apart.
You took an instamatic camera and and pulled my sleeves around my heart.
You said my clothes were sexy, you tore away my shirt.
You rubbed an ice-cube on my chest snapped me 'til it hurt.
You said I wasn't cheap. You paid me twenty pounds.
You promised to put me in a magazine on every table in every lounge.


I guess Turning Japanese also deserves a mention here, oh yeah, and Tubthumping, while we're at it.

Ah, I didn't understand You're Gorgeous because it's sung by a bloke.

Hmm. I actually looked it up and I don't see how they're "absolutely filthy". :confused: The most explicit parts are "With you in that dress my thoughts I confess verge on dirty" and "Ah come on let's take off everything, That pretty red dress Eileen".

Am I missing some major innuendo? Or is there an X-rated version nobody told me about? :p

It relies on reading the word 'come' as 'cum'.

It relies on reading the word 'come' as 'cum'.Seriously? http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/images/smilies/custom/doubt.gif

This song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYnjfsaqrcY) by Deathstars.

Ingen vill veta var du köpt din tröja. (http://www.raymondochmaria.se/video.php?play=ingen)

What does the last bit of the sentence mean?

Puff the magic dragon (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZYgxdQDlw4) :(

What is it with youtubers and Danny Phantom montages? Oh yeah that's right, they're the stupidest people on the whole internets...

I guess Turning Japanese also deserves a mention here, oh yeah, and Tubthumping, while we're at it.
Huh? Why?

Oh, can we mention sonnets why we're at it?

Huh? Why?

Oh, can we mention sonnets why we're at it?
There is a sonnet you always thought was upbeat until you read the lyrics? :p

There is a sonnet you always thought was upbeat until you read the lyrics? :p

More like reading Shakespeare's Sonnet 116:

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

Read often times at weddings, printed on valentines, read as love poetry and so on...

BUT, as my Shakspeare professor said, read that with the dirtiest mind you have and tell me that's not talking about errections. :D

Road to Mandalay of Robbie Williams sounds happy and all, but the lyrics freak me out (I should have guessed seeing where Mandalay is located).

Mockingbird-Eminem

Coin Operated Boy, by the Dresden Dolls. Or really anything by them. The music's really bouncy, happy. And then you realize "Holy shit, she's saying she's giving up on boys because she mentally scars them."

Road to Mandalay of Robbie Williams sounds happy and all, but the lyrics freak me out (I should have guessed seeing where Mandalay is located).And yet another song I've been mindlessly singing along to all happily...

I have absolutely no idea what that means.
It means it doesn't handle well rather clanky, maybe even messy and doesn't gel well as a song.

Huh? Why?

One is about compulsive wanking to hardcore porn, the other is about being an out of control alcoholic.

It's Not Unusual - I thought that song was all bravado, then I listened...

It's not unusual to be loved by anyone...
bum badum
It's not unusual to ha-ve fun with any-o-o-ne.
ba da da da dummm
But when I see you out on the town with some other guy
It's not unusual to see me cry...

...I wanna die.

What the hell? Now I actually sympathize with Tom Jones...

A fairly well known one, but "Polly" by Nirvana is a fairly upbeat song about the true story of a girl being raped and tortured with a blowtorch.

One of my favourite "Wait a second..." songs is Del Amitri's Nothing Ever Happens.

Well, say you were to type "it's such a perfect day" into Google (http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=it%27s+such+a+perfect+day&meta=)

I fucking love you both for reminding me of those songs...seriously. hardcore fluffles. :fluffle:

Iron Man is one of the top songs...it gets used at every sporting event for a "pump up" song, but is really very dark.

Ever been listening to a song that's merrily bopping along only to realize that the lyrics talk about death and despair?

Or to an elegiac hymn in minor keys that's really about love in the spring and happy puppies?



One of my favourite "Wait a second..." songs is Del Amitri's Nothing Ever Happens.

It sounds like this (http://media.putfile.com/Del-Amitri---Nothing-Ever-Happens-88) - and reads like this (http://www.delamitri.com/music/lyrics/w10.html).
The last lines especially never fail to give me a very uncomfortable shiver.


I'm sure there are more (and of course every single one of them is going to better than mine, too, so save your breath. :rolleyes: :p).

Most songs that sound happy but the words would give you a different mood contain subliminal messaging, usually its sociopath propaganda. They're just out to get us because they have problems.

I have known at least one person who believed that "Pinch Me" by the Bare Naked Ladies was a happy song until I suggested they listen a little more closely to the lyrics.

I've also, bafflingly enough, seen "Mack the Knife" advertised as part of a collection of "The Most Romantic Love Songs of All Time." I can only conclude that whoever compiled that collection has some very, very, very, very strange ideas about love and romance. (Of course, "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" and "Hello, Dolly!" were also in that list, so I wouldn't be surprised if the compiler of that collection made his choices by drunkenly throwing darts at a pile of CDs or something, since little else could account for any of those pieces being called "romantic.")

I guess Turning Japanese also deserves a mention here, oh yeah, and Tubthumping, while we're at it.


Really? It isn't that dark. Now, if you know the band it's by, then it gets ironic, I guess, since Chumbawamba are hardly an upbeat pop band, but the song itself is pretty innocuous.

"Ladies for Compassionate Lynching" or "I'm With Stupid" maybe...

"Little Girls" by Oingo Boingo. It is a happy upbeat song about PEDOPHILIA!

"Little Girls" by Oingo Boingo. It is a happy upbeat song about PEDOPHILIA!

Ugh.

Yeah, a lot of Chumbawamba's stuff sounds happy but its actually depressing.

Lets use songs from Tubthumber album for example.

-Drip, Drip, Drip, sounds happy, its about living in low income housing.

-The Big Issue, which sounds REALLY happy, but its about the homeless.

-The Good Ship Lifestyle is upbeat (minus the sad trumpet), and its about being lonley and miserable.

-Outsider is upbeat and about being ostracized in school.

I could go on an on. I wish I could drop links to the songs but I cant find them anywhere.

"Kringle" by Jack Off Jill.

At first, you think it's an innocent song sang by a little girl. Then, you pay attention to the lyrics, and realize it is one of the most fucked up songs ever.

Gloomy Sunday?

Oh wait!:p

On the other hand, there is Itsy Bitsy Titsy Girl by Deadsy, not sad as such but just creepy.





As fuck.

Well, I always thought Turning Japanese was a great song. Then I realised it was about masturbation.


That's not exactly what you meant, but I know what you're talking about. That's pretty much like every Smith's song, from the sweet ballads that turn out to be about child molestation to the chouruses of happy school children singing "Hang the DJ." Oh, what a brilliant band!

The last lines especially never fail to give me a very uncomfortable shiver.

That's because you're a self-loathing German.

I thought you were talking about 'The Happy Song' by Otis Redding... I'm fairly sure it actually is a happy song. It's not trying to be ironic or anything.

Type O Negative's cover of Summer Breeze is very slow and the notes are sung very deep, making it seem like something that the goth kids on your block would listen to while painting their nails black and pondering which eyebrow to get pierced but the words are about coming home to a loving wife and being as happy and content as you can get with the simple life.

Type O also took Britney Spears' Hit me Baby and turned it into something that's actually sexy, on a faintly related tangent.

"99 Luftbaloons" by Nena. It was about a nuclear war that gets started when a bunch of baloons are mistaken on radar for an enemy attack, but since it was originally recorded in German, not many in this country knew what it was about. Even when it was released with English lyrics, most people didn't pay attention to the words.


Hast Du etwas Zeit für mich
Dann singe ich ein Lied fuer Dich
Von 99 Luftballons
Auf ihrem Weg zum Horizont
Denkst Du vielleicht grad' an mich
Dann singe ich ein Lied fuer Dich
Von 99 Luftballons
Und dass sowas von sowas kommt

You and I in a little toy shop
Buy a bag of balloons with the money we've got.
Set them free at the break of dawn
'Til one by one, they were gone.
Back at base, bugs in the software
Flash the message, Something's out there.
Floating in the summer sky.
99 red balloons go by.


99 Luftballons
Auf ihrem Weg zum Horizont
Hielt man fuer UFOs aus dem All
Darum schickte ein General
Eine Fliegerstaffel hinterher
Alarm zu geben, wenn es so war
Dabei war da am Horizont
Nur 99 Luftballons


99 red balloons.
floating in the summer sky.
Panic bells, it's red alert.
There's something here from somewhere else.
The war machine springs to life.
Opens up one eager eye.
Focusing it on the sky.
Where 99 red balloons go by.



99 Duesenjaeger
Jeder war ein grosser Krieger
Hielten sich fuer Captain Kirk
Das gab ein grosses Feuerwerk
Die Nachbarn haben nichts gerafft
Und fuehlten sich gleich angemacht
Dabei schoss man am Horizont
Auf 99 Luftballons


99 Decision Street.
99 ministers meet.
To worry, worry, super-scurry.
Call the troops out in a hurry.
This is what we've waited for.
This is it boys, this is war.
The president is on the line
As 99 red balloons go by.



99 Kriegsminister
Streichholz und Benzinkanister
Hielten sich fuer schlaue Leute
Witterten schon fette Beute
Riefen: Krieg und wollten Macht
Mann, wer haette das gedacht
Dass es einmal soweit kommt
Wegen 99 Luftballons


99 Knights of the air
Ride super-high-tech jet fighters
Everyone's a superhero.
Everyone's a Captain Kirk.
With orders to identify.
To clarify and classify.
Scramble in the summer sky.
As 99 red balloons go by.



99 Jahre Krieg
Liessen keinen Platz fuer Sieger
Kriegsminister gibt es nicht mehr
Und auch keine Duesenflieger
Heute zieh ich meine Runden
Seh die Welt in Truemmern liegen
Hab' nen Luftballon gefunden
Denk' an Dich und lass' ihn fliegen


99 dreams I have had.
In every one a red balloon.
It's all over and I'm standing pretty.
In this dust that was a city.
If I could find a souvenier.
Just to prove the world was here.
And here is a red balloon
I think of you and let it go.

EDIT: I have a feeling the German and English Lyrics don't match up exactly. Don't blame me, I didn't write the translation.

"99 Luftbaloons" by Nena. It was about a nuclear war that gets started when a bunch of baloons are mistaken on radar for an enemy attack, but since it was originally recorded in German, not many in this country knew what it was about. Even when it was released with English lyrics, most people didn't pay attention to the words.




EDIT: I have a feeling the German and English Lyrics don't match up exactly. Don't blame me, I didn't write the translation.

Great song, I was introduced to it last year or the year before and I loved it, then I downloaded the English lyrics. ;)

I don't find it sad, it just shows the stupidity of people.

Great song, I was introduced to it last year or the year before and I loved it, then I downloaded the English lyrics. ;)

I don't find it sad, it just shows the stupidity of people.

Ummm, the English and the German lyrics don't match up at all. Someone changed them around, a lot.


The first line when translated into English is: "Do you have some time for me?"

Anyway some generally sad songs that are absolutely transcendent.:

Mad World - Gary Jules
The Trapeze Swinger - Iron and Wine

Ska-P's Villancico (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyBWTuqWj0o) springs to mind. It's a Chrismas song (http://www.hotlyrics.net/lyrics/S/Ska_P/Villancico.html) about hypocrisy, hopelessness & people starving to death.

I Don't Like Mondays by Boomtown Rats (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SpeLEgbK_k) is another great example. The song's about the acts of Brenda Ann Spencer. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brenda_Ann_Spencer)

Bonny Ship the Diamond it a quite jolly tune an song util you know that the Diamond was crushed in ice the same year the the song was wriiten and the sailotr that wrote could of been died along with the ship
http://www.mudcat.org/@displaysong.cfm?SongID=5963

Born in the USA

This song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYnjfsaqrcY) by Deathstars.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Fassigen
Ingen vill veta var du köpt din tröja.




What does the last bit of the sentence mean?


It's "Noone wants to know where you bought your shirt."

Sorry, I suck at quoting...

Ummm, the English and the German lyrics don't match up at all. Someone changed them around, a lot.

Yes, yes, I got that.

"Super high-tech jet fighters" I found as a particularly funny line in the English "translation".

Ska-P's Villancico (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyBWTuqWj0o) springs to mind. It's a Chrismas song (http://www.hotlyrics.net/lyrics/S/Ska_P/Villancico.html) about hypocrisy, hopelessness & people starving to death.
I was going to say that. :( I was going to say the Dresden Dolls as well, but someone else posted them. Jeep Song is a pretty damn good example - nice tinkly piano in it, then you really listen and find out it's about a woman who is reminded of a past relationship every time she sees a black Jeep Cherokee.

I Don't Like Mondays by Boomtown Rats (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SpeLEgbK_k) is another great example. The song's about the acts of Brenda Ann Spencer. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brenda_Ann_Spencer)
You think the music in that is happy? You ask me it's quite haunting, and Geldof's vocals (the tone of them not the actual words) adds to that.

Ummm, the English and the German lyrics don't match up at all. Someone changed them around, a lot.

IIRC this was the cause of a court case back in the day.

Then again, I mostly listen to things like this, (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WA4fb_1BURI) so I might not be the right person to rant about pop music.

Oi! Oi! Oi! ;)

I was going to say that. :( I was going to say the Dresden Dolls as well, but someone else posted them. Jeep Song is a pretty damn good example - nice tinkly piano in it, then you really listen and find out it's about a woman who is reminded of a past relationship every time she sees a black Jeep Cherokee.I'm so sorry. Perhaps I can make up for it by saying you've got great taste? :p


You think the music in that is happy? You ask me it's quite haunting, and Geldof's vocals (the tone of them not the actual words) adds to that.Yea. I always thought it was one of those cutesy tunes you get pist at at work when shit falls apart. Maybe it's the piano?

Then again, I mostly listen to things like this, (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WA4fb_1BURI) so I might not be the right person to rant about pop music.

"99 Luftbaloons" by Nena.
There goes the first song that came to my mind.


I Don't Like Mondays by Boomtown Ratsis another great example.

And there goes my second nomination.

So all I'm left with are crappy third-rate choices..

Meine Explodierte Freundin - Ärzte (if you count that as unhappy/creepy.. "Ich wollt sie grade küssen / da gab es einen Knall / grad eben lag sie neben mir / jetzt liegt sie überall / im Raum verteilt")
Zehn kleine Jägermeister - DTH (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFQVJX8xjz0)(unless you count that as purely humorous rather than cruel..) ETA: Hah, I've never seen the video before..
Guter Freund - Ganz Schön Feist (Best Song Ever. It's an utter shame it's not youtubed)
Was soll das - Grönemeyer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jefTRBmmKZU)

Ich nehme Polloption fünf: Ich bin ein Erbsenzähler und merke an, dass diesem Poll das eine oder andere Semikolon fehlt. ;P

Here's a proper translation of 99 Luftballons:

If you have some time for me
Then I'll sing a song for you
About 99 balloons
On their way to the horizon
Perhaps you think of me a bit
Then I'll sing a song for you
And that something comes from such a thing

99 balloons
On their way to the horizon
Seemed like UFOs from space
So a general sent
A flying squad out there
To raise the alarm if it was true
Yet there on the horizon were
Only 99 balloons

99 jet hunters
Each was a great warrior
Thought that they were Captain Kirk
There were great fireworks
The neighbours didn't understand anything
And immediately felt pissed off (provoked)
Yet there they shot on the horizon
At 99 balloons

99 war ministers
Matches and petrol cans
Thought that they were clever people
Already smelled greasy loot
Shouted: War, and wanted power
Man, who would have thought
That one day it would come to this
Because of 99 balloons

99 years of war
Don't leave a place for victors
There are no ministers any more
No jet engines either
Today I'm doing my rounds
Seeing the world lying in ruins
Found a balloon
Think of you and let it fly

http://www.inthe80s.com/redger3.shtml

Here's a proper translation of 99 Luftballons:

http://www.inthe80s.com/redger3.shtml
Hee, "greasy loot" - now that's a too literal translation. :p
But no, you're right, even though it was apparently translated by a German it's at least true to the original.

Of course it also sounds like shit and doesn't rhyme, but eh. :p

Hee, "greasy loot" - now that's a too literal translation. :p
But no, you're right, even though it was apparently translated by a German it's at least true to the original.

Of course it also sounds like shit and doesn't rhyme, but eh. :p
What should it be then?

The German version sounds a lot better than the English version, I must admit. I was singing it to myself as I read the German and it kicks seven shades of shit out of the English "translation".

What should it be then?


Umm.. "rich booty" maybe?

Umm.. "rich booty" maybe?

How about 'dirty money'?

Oi! Oi! Oi! ;)

http://images6.theimagehosting.com/Biertrinken.th.jpg
:p

How about 'dirty money'?Phat Lewt?

"Another Day in Paradise" by Phil Collins, it's about the plight of the homeless.

<snip>
Umm, Billy Joel's 'Pianoman'? It's got a really catchy chorus, but it's about depressed drunk people so in that sense it's quite dark.

Bravo! The words "irony" and "jaded" also apply. Big hit in it's day, and a flippant day it was too. Certainly managed to bring me down at the time.

For mine, it's the Brandenburg Concertos. Pompous rubbish which JSB couldn't possibly have meant seriously.

Ska-P's Villancico (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyBWTuqWj0o) springs to mind. It's a Chrismas song (http://www.hotlyrics.net/lyrics/S/Ska_P/Villancico.html) about hypocrisy, hopelessness & people starving to death. Okay, now that certainly fits the bill.

I Don't Like Mondays by Boomtown Rats (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SpeLEgbK_k) is another great example. The song's about the acts of Brenda Ann Spencer. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brenda_Ann_Spencer)You think the music in that is happy? You ask me it's quite haunting, and Geldof's vocals (the tone of them not the actual words) adds to that.
To me, the song has always been kinda happysad, because the melody and the vocals are somewhat haunting - but really only somewhat, and it's such a well-known "happy song" I never really thought about it.
Obviously another song where I never listened to the lyrics, and I certainly didn't know about the story behind it. :o
Thanks for the video, though - this might actually be the first time I've ever seen the young Bob Geldof. :p

Bonny Ship the Diamond it a quite jolly tune an song util you know that the Diamond was crushed in ice the same year the the song was wriiten and the sailotr that wrote could of been died along with the ship
http://www.mudcat.org/@displaysong.cfm?SongID=5963
:(

Born in the USAYeah, although I think the discrepancy is less between the message and the music than between the message and the way the song has been (mis)understood by so many people.

Type O Negative's cover of Summer Breeze is very slow and the notes are sung very deep, making it seem like something that the goth kids on your block would listen to while painting their nails black and pondering which eyebrow to get pierced but the words are about coming home to a loving wife and being as happy and content as you can get with the simple life.I found a snippet of that on the internet - and let's just say that "coming home to a loving wife and being as happy and content as you can get with the simple life" wouldn't exactly have been my first guess. ;p

That's because you're a self-loathing German.Yes, of course. Because self-loathing Germans are of course the only ones who would not rejoice at the line "they'll burn down the synagogues at 6 o'clock and we'll all go along like before". Which is no doubt why a British band used it in their lyrics of what is, then, of course a really happy song after all. :rolleyes:

It's Not Unusual - I thought that song was all bravado, then I listened...

It's not unusual to be loved by anyone...
bum badum
It's not unusual to ha-ve fun with any-o-o-ne.
ba da da da dummm
But when I see you out on the town with some other guy
It's not unusual to see me cry...

...I wanna die.

What the hell? Now I actually sympathize with Tom Jones... :p

A fairly well known one, but "Polly" by Nirvana is a fairly upbeat song about the true story of a girl being raped and tortured with a blowtorch.:o I never, um, actually noticed... >.<

I fucking love you both for reminding me of those songs...seriously. hardcore fluffles. :fluffle: Hardcore fluffles? Oh my! :p

I've also, bafflingly enough, seen "Mack the Knife" advertised as part of a collection of "The Most Romantic Love Songs of All Time." :eek:

How about 'dirty money'?
Nah, it really just means "lots and lots of booty".

:o I never, um, actually noticed... >.<


Well then, it seems i've served this thread well. :)

How about 'dirty money'?
Hmm, I wouldn't connotate "fette Beute" with it being 'dirty'. It's just an expression for when you haul in the goodies big time, so to speak, not necessarily in an illegal/dirty/wrong kinda way.

"Another Day in Paradise" by Phil Collins, it's about the plight of the homeless.

Oh, so you think it to sound like a happy song? Funny, that'd never have occured to me.

"summer here kids" by grandaddy comes to mind. it sounds very upbeat but it is about being desillusioned.

and "hitler in my heart" by anthony and the johnsons starts extremely happy, but it's not.

It's "Noone wants to know where you bought your shirt."

Sorry, I suck at quoting...
Hah, I guessed it meant "no one wants to know why you cut your wrists". :p

"summer here kids" by grandaddy comes to mind. it sounds very upbeat but it is about being desillusioned.

and "hitler in my heart" by anthony and the johnsons starts extremely happy, but it's not.

I love Grandaddy, that's an excellent song.

I love Grandaddy, that's an excellent song.

yes, it is. sadly they quit not long ago:(.

yes, it is. sadly they quit not long ago:(.

Yes, I was very disappointed when I heard that. I'm glad that I managed to see them last time they were over here.