TOP TEN SAD SONGS TO LISTEN TO WHEN YOU'RE SAD

Zach is really slacking on getting his top ten albums list done, and I never expected Sam to, so I’m moving right along with a different top ten list.

I am a sad person. Sad not as in pathetic (but maybe a little). Sad as in the opposite of happy. Every year my Spotify wrapped comes out, and I just think to myself, “Man I was really depressed most of the year.” I used to be concerned by this, but now I’ve come to accept it. It’s who I am.

It’s like that scene from the first Avengers movie where Bruce Banner says his secret is that he’s always angry as he transforms into the Hulk and pummels a gigantic alien into the ground. It’s the same for me, but I’m always sad. I’m never not in the mood to throw on those melancholy blues. Slow jams that make her heart break into a thousand pieces. Songs that no ordinary human should listen to on a regular basis.
 
I have to admit though, If I were to transform into anything as my heart rate drops below 50, it’d probably be one of those floppy eared droopy eyed basset hounds. Or, going way back, I’d be Droopy, that sad ass cartoon dog.
 
But I believe there’s a certain comfort and understanding listening to sad music while your sad that most other things simply just can’t provide.
 
As the moody little bitch that I am, I love to wallow, and I live for the moments that I’m feeling down in the dumps, which if I’m being totally honest, is more often than not. The sad music just hits right during these times.
 
I don’t know how many times I can try to explain the beauty I find in sadness, but I’m going to try. Here are my Top Ten Sad Songs to Listen to When You’re Sad:

​10. “Light Years” by The National. You could make a whole list of sad songs by The National, and I will probably do this one day. But you’re going to have to wait on that. There’s nothing more welcoming than a sad piano melody. The song makes me think of a love that could’ve been but wasn’t, and there’s nothing more fitting to get you in a melancholic mood than that. I just love the hook of this song. “And I would always be light years light years away from you.”

​9. “What Sarah Said” by Death Cab for Cutie. Much like The National, you could fill an entire top ten list and more with Death Cab’s catalogue. This song is a beautiful story about the final moments of life and being on the verge of crossing over into the next. A hospital portrayed as the afterlife’s waiting room. But the most beautiful part of the song comes at the end when Ben utters, “I’m thinking of what Sarah said. Love is watching someone die.” And then the outro repeats, “So who’s going to watch you die?” over and over until it fades out.

​8. “Jesus Christ” by Brand New. “Jesus Christ I’m not scared to die but I’m a little bit scared of what comes after.” This song is full of brilliant lyrics that paint a perfect picture of how anyone has ever felt when thinking about the afterlife. The imagery of the lyrics alone could make a grown man weep. Add that with a guitar that actually sounds like it’s weeping, and you get the wonderful masterpiece that is “Jesus Christ” (the song, not the Son of God).

​7. “Hurt” by Johnny Cash. I found this song at the height of my teenage angst which was slowly turning into just depression. Seeing as this song was done in the twilight of his career, it adds a whole new level to it. His deep, gravelly voice has a soothing quality to it that makes you believe that maybe Wesley was right in saying that life is pain.

​6. “I’m Fine” by Hazel English. “I just smile and tell you that I’m fine” has become a mantra of mine. The more I listen to the lyrics it pretty much describes my philosophy of life. The only time I lie is when the lie is easier to explain than the truth. Why tell people the truth when you can just give that fake ass white person smile and say, “I’m fine”?

​5. “New York” by St. Vincent - Do you want the breakup song of all breakup songs? Well listen to this song shortly after a breakup and you will surely not get over your ex as long as you consistently to this song. The prechorus of “You’re the only motherfucker in this city that can handle me,” straight into the powerful chorus “I have lost a hero, I have lost a friend/ But for you darling I’d do it all again.” And then the piano hitting those strings as if hammering your literal heartstrings. Absolutely fucking beautifully tragic. St. Vincent I’m sorry you lost Cara Delevingne. We’d all be this sad if we lost her.

​4. “And It’s Still Alright” by Nathaniel Rateliff. I’m not sure I could write any commentary to do this song justice. It came out this year and is the newest song on this list but it’s a damn flood of emotions.

​3. “60 & Punk” by Death Cab for Cutie. I couldn’t help myself with another Death Cab song, but one that really hit me in the feels hard was “60 & Punk” off the band’s most recent album Thank You for Today. Much like Ben Gibbard, I am obsessed with the concept of an unfulfilled life. This is most likely because it’s my greatest fear to look back on my life 20 or 30 years from now and realize I didn’t live up to my potential. And that is what this song describes to me. Someone who didn’t live up to their potential. Someone at the end of life who is stuck in the past and beyond saving.

2. “About Today” by The National. Okay, I couldn’t help myself. I had to add another song by the National. “About Today” is an incredible storytelling device that envelopes you with simple percussion and sad guitar. I think this song makes the entire movie The Warrior worth watching. The movie ends with this song, and I swear I tear up every time I watch that movie mostly because of this song.

​1. “Rescued” by Jack’s Mannequin. I’ve gone through some dark times in my life, but there’s a line in this song that has made me feel more understood than any other thing in this world: “And I’m thinking I’d prefer not to be rescued.” That is all. I won’t be taking questions at this time.

I think people see being sad as a bad thing, and I completely disagree with that. You probably shouldn’t stay sad as long as I do, but one of my favorite quotes from one of my favorite books is from Tuesday’s with Morrie. “If you hold back on the emotions--if you don't allow yourself to go all the way through them--you can never get to being detached, you're too busy being afraid. You're afraid of the pain, you're afraid of the grief. You're afraid of the vulnerability that loving entails. But by throwing yourself into these emotions, by allowing yourself to dive in, all the way, over your heard even, you experience them fully and completely.” Listen to these songs when you’re feeling sad. Embrace the beauty in melancholy. Allow yourself to be sad and then move on. I’m still working on the second part of that but I’m better than I used to be.
 
P.S. completely unrelated, but someone told me that I remind them of Joaquin Phoenix in Her with my mustache, and I’m not sure that’s a compliment.
 
Honorable Mentions:
 
"Amsterdam" by Gregory Alan Isakov. If you really want a gut punch listen to the version with the Colorado symphony and let the strings carry you away into a never ending whirlwind of melancholic bliss.
"The Luckiest" by Ben Folds
"Sometime Around Midnight" by Airborne Toxic Event
"The Three of Me" by William Ball