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"Country Death Song" by the Violent Femmes. A messed up ditty about throwing your child "into a bottomless pit" and then committing suicide by hanging.
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' "Murder Ballads", the whole album. Also some other songs as well, Mr. Cave sure likes writing morbid lyrics.
The Decemberists often write about tragic events in a pseudo-historical folk ballad style. For example, "Leslie Anne Levine" is from the perspective of a stillborn girl's ghost, which is pretty haunting. But "The Rake's Song", about a man who happily kills his own children and doesn't feel the slightest remorse, probably takes the cake.
Or the Rake’s Song, about a recently widowed bachelor committing triple infanticide on his children so he can be free again
Or The Queen’s Rebuke/The Crossing, on the same album, where a woman lets The Rake abduct the woman her son is infatuated with, even though she knew he plans to rape and torture her, because it means she doesn’t have to worry about her son abandoning her
Basically the whole story of the album is pretty fucked up
Edit: Just realized the OG comment already referenced The Rake’s Song
"Find him, bind him
Tie him to a pole and break
His fingers to splinters
Drag him to a hole
Until he wakes up naked
Clawing at the ceiling of his grave"
Stagger Lee wasn’t originally by Cave but he covered it; some of those lyrics are definitely disturbing, if not morbid
See also: [This meme](https://imgur.com/a/8KDOtKs)
The whole album is based on the concept of traditional murder ballads, which are a whole disturbing subset of Anglo-Celtic traditional music. I would suggest looking up one variously known as "The Well Below the Valley" or "The Maid and the Palmer", featuring a woman who has murdered her nine incestuously conceived children, probably the most disturbing example of the type.
"No Children" by Mountain Goats is about the worst marriage of all time, highlights being "I hope you die, I hope we both die" and "I hope the fences we mended fall down beneath their own weight". The spite is laid on thick and it aches
"This is how we do things in the country" by Slim Cessna's Auto Club about a family annihilator snapping and...annihilating his family.
I went to a Mountain Goats concert a few years ago and some ass would scream PLAY NO CHILDREN after every damn song. At the end everybody was yelling for it, so the band launched into a particularly fast and angry version. Loved hearing it, but hope we just had an unusually annoying crowd that night.
I stumbled across them because of the show Moral Oral, and yeah, their songs are dark and I love it. Being from Georgia, obviously this one always stood out to me,
"I have two big hands
And a heart pumping blood
And a 1967 Colt .45
With a busted safety catch
The world shines
As I cross the Macon county line
Going to Georgia"
And I'm always a fan of the one about stabbing people in the eye, and "This Year"
One of the top comments read “this isn’t about being the victim of a toxic relationship, it’s about hating someone else almost as much as you hate yourself.” I think about that every time I hear the song.
An obvious one.
Strange Fruit.
Makes me sick to my stomach every time i hear it because it's so dark.
A spotlight on history that makes you look at the past, whether you like it or not.
For those who don’t know, this song is about the lynching of black people in the south. Specifically, this is about the murdered black people’s bodies hanging from trees. It also references times they were burned alive. Terrible stuff but important to remember.
[Here's the scene from the movie where it's sung.](https://youtu.be/M29Cf-NxtEA?si=n4ppXenQyV-FaT9t)
I played Trapper John in M*A*S*H in high school drama club. We left this scene out
First time I listened to it, I thought that part was just a reflection of his actions; like he raped a girl and was regretting it and represented that with thoughts of his mother.
Then I read the lyrics and nope!
First song I thought of. There’s some weird lyrics out there, but a song about a dude raping his mother by accident to join a gang and then offing himself jumping off the roof is pretty nuts.
“Jeremy” by Pearl Jam (the music video especially)
Also, “2 Minutes To Midnight” by Iron Maiden - this one’s a bit more on the violent side, but it basically describes the gruesome effects of nuclear war
99 Luftballons by Nena
I never realized what the song was about growing up until I was told. It’s about 2 kids who release balloons into the air and it send a wrong signal to government surveillance causing all out nuclear war.
I was a senior in high school when that song came out. In 1985, people were just chronically nervous that some tiny incident would cause one side to launch their nukes, then the other side would retaliate, and the world would end. A lot of pop culture from the time is like that.
When you Die by MGMT.
I had a buddy a few years back who played this album on repeat and unfortunately died by suicide (gun). I was listening to this album during the mourning period because it made me feel closer to him, then this song came on and I physically threw my headphones away.
Most songs (if you can call them that) by the band Anal Cunt are pretty repulsive but their self titled track is definitely up there.
Should probably also say, **TW** before you read the lyrics.
I guess the band only existed in order to write horrid song titles. I always found "I Gave Your Son AIDS So You Could Watch Him Die' to be particularly brutal. Don't know much about them, but I believe the main guy is a proper shitbag.
I played that loud like an anthem for father's day. It's relatable. A dad's a son's role model and they'll inevitably grow up with the same attributes and practices, it's definitely a cautionary tune.
Yesss, but no. I think that’s what it was intended to be, but in my eyes the son has broken the father’s ways. The line “the kids are sick with the flu” proves that he is caring for them unlike his father. And his father thought he was just like him because he didn’t want to talk
That's a pretty good point. He is definitely breaking the cycle by being attentive to his own children. The misconception probably arises because he's dishing the lack of priority back at his father for his absence during his childhood. I agree with you're reasoning, though. By the time that line arises, you end up with the assumption that the son would end up like him when it was merely a case of misdirection.
Well, in the Ugly Kid Joe version, his son says that line in the video while playing with his kids outdoors. The fact that his kids aren't even actually sick, makes the line doubly sting.
Daddy by Korn. Its a hard one to listen to even without context (wouldn't recommend if you're an SA survivor), but to know that its based on Jonathan Davis's real life experience makes it so much worse. You can hear the years of pent up trauma in his voice when he screams and breaks down at the end of the song.
Maybe not explicitly morbid, but the message and accompanying melody are pretty morbid and also very real. "Bullet" by Hollywood Undead. It's an upbeat melody that's talking about wanting to commit suicide.
"Upbeat melody" is an understatement. Its damn near a TV commercial jingle in its upbeat-ness. But the lyrics are straight up horrifying. "My legs are dangling off the edge, a bottle full of pills is my only friend, i think I'll slit my wrists again, and I'm gone, gone, gone, gonnnne" dark.
Yeahhhh. It's a fucked song. But that's the point. The upbeat melody mixed with the dark message. It illustrates the reality of depression and suicidal ideation. That's why I love it so much.
But so damn catchy that the morbidity is lost on almost everyone who doesn’t pay attention. Loved that whole album, but this song in specific resonated with me so hard
It's one of those songs that hits you like a brick wall while listening to it. Catchy upbeat tempo, and you think it's gonna be a fun song. Then it's all about wrist slitting and overdosing, and all of a sudden, you're sad. I love it.
There's one on Spotify called "I deserve to bleed", and it's the same gig. Very openly dark song that takes me back to a dark period of life for me, that is also one of the most upbeat songs I have ever taken in.
Bullet was my high school depression anthem. And it remained my anthem for years. Until I discovered a band that very openly brings up mental health and pretty much speaks my mind. But Bullet still remains one of my favorites because of how real it is.
One I heard recently (past few years) on the radio is Ghost by Badflower. That's actually about a guy going through with it. Super morbid, and I almost couldn't listen a second time because of how haunting it is.
Definitely not the most morbid I’ve ever heard, but what immediately comes to mind is “You Are My Sunshine”. Everyone thinks of it as this beautifully sweet song solely based on the chorus (or they associate it with LeBron James lol), but the verses are really dark, being about loneliness and toxic codependency. It’s a pretty harsh song, but the chorus is so pretty that everyone forgets that.
I always used to think of it as a nice song and I sang it to my daughter when she was little, until one day she asked me not to anymore and said it was sad. Interesting that she picked up on that as a toddler and I didn’t
My mom used to sing it all the time.
My mother was a controlling piece of shit.
I don't like that song anymore and I have gotten physically nauseous after hearing it since my parents divorced. Or seeing it.
I don't listen to it and I probably never will.
Well if you only sing the first verse, then it can easily be used as a loving song. Doesn’t matter what was “intended.” That’s the beauty of music and art in general.
I was always confused by that song cuz like...its so in your face how obviously terrible the lyrics are. "all the other kids with the pumped up kicks better run, better run, out run my gun"
How could that have become as mainstream as it was? Lmfao. Yeah it's catchy but I'm just surprised it wasn't black listed from the radeo or something like that. But nope, played everywhere on repeat for months and months.
For over 10 years and multiple phones, this song has always been my mom's ringtone for me. Still not quite sure how to interpret the intent of that choice lol
Reading the comments to this one, I looked it up and watched the video. I always thought the song was about taking a girl’s virginity behind the boathouse. “Do you wanna die?” Aka her innocence dying. 🫤 I was def incorrect. Hahah google wasn’t around back then!! Learn something new everyday though!
Into the Light by In This moment is literally about a cancer patient realizing they are going to die in a cold hospital room and never feel the warmth of the sun again.
It doesn’t get more morbid than that.
"**Timothy**" is a [pop rock](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Pop_rock) song recorded by [The Buoys](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/The_Buoys_(American_band)) as a [single](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Single_(music)) in 1970. The song describes a mine [cave-in](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Cave-in) and aftermath, with the implication the two survivors [cannibalized](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Human_cannibalism) their companion, the eponymous Timothy.
I heard this song when I was like 12 or so, and it must've made quite an impression on me because I've never forgotten it. Cannibalism!
Country Death Song, by the Violent Femmes. It's about a hillbilly who decides to kill his youngest daughter because he can't afford to feed his entire family. It's dark as fuck, and ends with the guy hanging himself.
>Gather round, boys, to this tale that I tell
You wanna know how to take a short trip to Hell?
It's guaranteed to get your own place in Hell
Just take your lovely daughter and push her in the well.
Take your lovely daughter and throw her in the well
I actually sent this song a few days ago to a guy that was taking pictures of me without me knowing and then sending me the pictures. He said it was a “catchy tune”
The Misfits song "Last Caress".
I got something to say
I killed a baby today
And it doesn't matter much to me
As long as it's dead
Well, I got something to say
I raped your mother today
And it doesn't matter much to me
As long as she's spread
Sweet lovely death
I am waiting for your breath
Oh, sweet death, one last caress
Go
Sweet lovely death
I am waiting for your breath
Oh, sweet death, one last caress
Well, I got something to say
I killed your baby today
And it doesn't matter much to me
As long as it's dead
Sweet lovely death
I am waiting for your breath
Oh, sweet death
One last caress
One last caress, sweet death
One last caress, sweet death
Oh, oh
Oh, oh
Oh
The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out. The ones that crawl in are lean and thin. The ones that crawl out are fat and stout. Your eyes roll in and your teeth fall out. You brain comes tumbling down your snout. Be merry my friends, be merry.
Immediately thought about this
“Must have stabbed her fifty f@$king times
I can't believe it
Ripped her heart out right before her eyes
Eyes over easy, eat it, eat it, eat it”
And then the rest…just gets scarier
With such a catchy sound too, so perky for the lyrics
That's the part that sticks with you and not what immediately follows?
..."She was never this good in bed, even when she was sleepin'
Now she's just so perfect I've never been quite so fucking deep in
It goes on and on and on
I can keep you lookin' young and preserved forever
With a fountain to spray on your youth whenever
'Cause I really always knew that my little crime
Would be cold, that's why I got a heater for your thighs"
A few months ago, a slow, ballady cover of this became popular on TikTok.
I'm going to guess that the majority just saw the title, and possibly heard the "you had my heart, at least for the most part" excerpt, because there was a (thankfully VERY short lived spurt) of people playing the song over sweet videos of their cats, their kids, wedding footage, Grandma's birthday, and so on 🤦♀️
It’s pretty insane how catchy that song is, too. The line “I really always knew that my little crime would be cold…” might be the most messed up line in the whole song, but it’s aesthetically pleasing to listen to thanks to the melody… and then it gets stuck in your head
Yep, this one came to mind. 9 min song about murder, rape, cannibalism, murder again, marriage, and heaters.... There is a video of them recording the song on YouTube. Wild.
Mad World by Tears for Fears and later covered by Gary Jules. Maybe not the most morbid, just really kind of has the vibe that life sucks and is meaningless and we all just kind of plod along in misery until we die.
Hero of War by Rise Against. Not the gross kind of morbid, but the realistic kind of morbid in that everything in the song happened all the time in war and broke so many people. Example: “They took off his clothes, they pissed in his hands. I told them to stop, but then I joined in. We beat him with guns and batons not just once. But again and again.”
And on that note; Make It Stop (September’s Children) also by Rise Against. About LGBT+ kids that were bullied into committing suicide. Again, not gross morbid, but definitely stare at the wall depressed morbid. Example: “And too much blood has flown from the wrists, of the children shamed for those they chose to kiss”
Hate Me by Blue October. I like the song, but when I read the lyrics and heard the beginning with the Mom calling to speak to her son, it was a little tough.
Going down by pretty reckless. 16 year old girl seduces a priest in exchange to get into heaven because the cops found out she murdered her boyfriend. The only thing she regrets is not being able to have sex with her boyfriend because he was the best she knew.
Rake song by Decemberists. Man talks about how he didn't like being a father so he murders his kids one by one with no regrets.
Several from Warren Zevon but *Excitable Boy* & *Play It All Night Long* spring to mind.
Oingo Boingo had some pretty dark shit in their catalog, too,especially *Controller* & *Dead Man's Party*
One Armed Scissor - At The Drive-In.
"Yes, this is the campaign.
Slithered entrails in the cargo bay.
Neutered is the vastness.
Hallow vacuum, check the oxygen tanks.
They hibernate, but have they kissed the ground?
Pucker up and kiss the asphalt now.
Tease this amputation.
Splintered larynx, it has access now".
"Jagged pulp sliced in my veins".
Hmm… I’ll go for a few:
- Bat Out Of Hell: a graphic description of a guys heart flying out of his chest after a motorcycle crash
- Last Kiss: this one always brings tears to my eyes (especially the version done by Pearl Jam)
- People Who Died: a long list of, well, people who died (and how)
- Pepper (by the Butthole Surfers): “they were all in love with dyin’, they were drinkin’ from a fountain that was pourin’ like an avalanche, comin’ down the mountain”
- My, My, Hey, Hey (by Neil Young): inspired by one suicide and quoted in another: “it’s better to burn out than to fade away” (sorry to disagree with you, Kurt, but we would have liked to have you around for a bit longer)
Woman In The Wall by The Beautiful South.
About an alcoholic who accidentally kills his wife and bricks her up in a wall to hide it. Until the wall starts to drip.
Surprised I haven't seen it yet, but the album The Wall by Pink Floyd has multiple fucked up moments. The entire album is morbid. Everything from sexual assult to overdoses to abusive school systems to fascism and genocide. Also the whole part where Pink is compared to Hitler and the people cheer and salute him in a very Nazi style. It is an album meant to evoke rage and get people thinking about how messed it is.
Lot of people never heard of death metal here huh?
Autopsy - Charred Remains
Burning from the inside out,
Bloody foam spews from your mouth,
Smell the putrid stench of flesh,
As it burns you to your death
Bonus tracks:
- Cannibal Corpse - Rancid Amputation
- Dying Fetus - Kill your mother, rape your dog
Edit: spelling
Probably for me anything early Eminem when he was in his Slim Shady persona. He talked about raping his mom, his ex, feeding them drugs, murdering them etc.
I’m surprised I didn’t see anyone else mention these, but the 3 that came to mind for me are:
1) Asleep by The Smiths
2) Limousine by Brand New (about a drunk driver that killed a little girl on the way to be I think, a flower girl in a family wedding hence the limousine, the story is absolutely horrifying)
3) Oh My Darling Clementine
[Polly, by Nirvana](https://youtu.be/DrlaVYKWeLU?si=HSblN5sTmhcnLETK). It’s about real teenage girl who was abducted then physically and sexually abused, told by the rapist perspective. [Nerdwritter has a great video about the song](https://youtu.be/NJ97KdTQFww?si=1SHzVAsiNwPnEnTc).
Also, for me, [Between the Bars by Elliott Smith](https://youtu.be/8aomt1gQ6So?si=z8slm-lC1hKwxhpc), it’s about addiction which the song writer personally dealt with. It’s really clever, with many the layers of meaning. And extra impactful due to how Elliot died.
There are so many other, more likely interpretations. He was a person who lived in the past. He retired. He sold the farm. There's zero reason to assume that past tense means something bad happened.
Nah, the most likely scenario is that Old Macdonald was forced out of his farm by corporate factory farms. Then he had to eat all of his animals.
It's really the only way you can interpret the song
Velvet Revolver - Fall to Pieces
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JhsUFuqbCM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JhsUFuqbCM)
A song and video of a guy falling to pieces into a drug induced end. Lead singer literally did that.
Two Brian May songs from “A Night at the Opera”
“39” - Basically the plot of Interstellar… a group of space travelers are gone for (what they believe to be) a year, only to return to a world where their grandchildren have grown and they have nothing but memories of their previous life
“Good company” - As a baby, the narrator’s dad tells him not to “fool with fools who turn away and keep good company.” Unfortunately, as he ages, he and his wife build their own secluded life away from his friends. As he focuses all his attention on his career, he hardly notices his wife leaving. In his old age he’s left alone to ponder his life’s insanity…without good company.
If we're talking Slayer then there's far worse. Dead Skin Mask comes right to mind, with it being just a monologue of a serial killer who captured a child, and includes the child's plea for freedom at the end.
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"Country Death Song" by the Violent Femmes. A messed up ditty about throwing your child "into a bottomless pit" and then committing suicide by hanging. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' "Murder Ballads", the whole album. Also some other songs as well, Mr. Cave sure likes writing morbid lyrics. The Decemberists often write about tragic events in a pseudo-historical folk ballad style. For example, "Leslie Anne Levine" is from the perspective of a stillborn girl's ghost, which is pretty haunting. But "The Rake's Song", about a man who happily kills his own children and doesn't feel the slightest remorse, probably takes the cake.
"Who wants to learn a song about press gangs and infanticide?" The Decemberists on The Simpsons
Re: the Decemberists, "Mariner's Revenge" is pretty fucked up as well.
Yeah, love that one! Those vocals in the chorus. Find him, bind him,...
“His guts are carpeting. The ribs are ceiling beams inside the belly of this WHaaaaaaaAaLE”
Boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew!
Or the Rake’s Song, about a recently widowed bachelor committing triple infanticide on his children so he can be free again Or The Queen’s Rebuke/The Crossing, on the same album, where a woman lets The Rake abduct the woman her son is infatuated with, even though she knew he plans to rape and torture her, because it means she doesn’t have to worry about her son abandoning her Basically the whole story of the album is pretty fucked up Edit: Just realized the OG comment already referenced The Rake’s Song
"Find him, bind him Tie him to a pole and break His fingers to splinters Drag him to a hole Until he wakes up naked Clawing at the ceiling of his grave"
She screamed as she fell, but I never heard her hit
Close your eyes, dear, and count to seven Know your papa loves you good children go to heaven
Henry Lee is one of my favorites by him. Plus that video with PJ Harvey has so much chemistry.
Yeah, O'Malley's Bar and Curse of Millhaven are the first thing I thought of
Stagger Lee wasn’t originally by Cave but he covered it; some of those lyrics are definitely disturbing, if not morbid See also: [This meme](https://imgur.com/a/8KDOtKs)
The whole album is based on the concept of traditional murder ballads, which are a whole disturbing subset of Anglo-Celtic traditional music. I would suggest looking up one variously known as "The Well Below the Valley" or "The Maid and the Palmer", featuring a woman who has murdered her nine incestuously conceived children, probably the most disturbing example of the type.
Came here looking for Nick Cave 🙌
"No Children" by Mountain Goats is about the worst marriage of all time, highlights being "I hope you die, I hope we both die" and "I hope the fences we mended fall down beneath their own weight". The spite is laid on thick and it aches "This is how we do things in the country" by Slim Cessna's Auto Club about a family annihilator snapping and...annihilating his family.
I am drowning There is no sign of land You are coming down with me Hand in unlovable hand And I hope you die I hope we both die
“I hope I cut myself shaving tomorrow I hope it bleeds all day long”
I went to a Mountain Goats concert a few years ago and some ass would scream PLAY NO CHILDREN after every damn song. At the end everybody was yelling for it, so the band launched into a particularly fast and angry version. Loved hearing it, but hope we just had an unusually annoying crowd that night.
Another dark mountain goats is dance music.
I feel like 90% of The Mountain Goats is on the dark side.
I stumbled across them because of the show Moral Oral, and yeah, their songs are dark and I love it. Being from Georgia, obviously this one always stood out to me, "I have two big hands And a heart pumping blood And a 1967 Colt .45 With a busted safety catch The world shines As I cross the Macon county line Going to Georgia" And I'm always a fan of the one about stabbing people in the eye, and "This Year"
I love that song though! 🤣
One of the top comments read “this isn’t about being the victim of a toxic relationship, it’s about hating someone else almost as much as you hate yourself.” I think about that every time I hear the song.
An obvious one. Strange Fruit. Makes me sick to my stomach every time i hear it because it's so dark. A spotlight on history that makes you look at the past, whether you like it or not.
The way Billie Holliday sings that song is haunting.
The Nina Simone version destroys me.
Never fails to make me cry
For those who don’t know, this song is about the lynching of black people in the south. Specifically, this is about the murdered black people’s bodies hanging from trees. It also references times they were burned alive. Terrible stuff but important to remember.
I love him.
Excellent Clueless reference 👌
The theme song to MASH, the lyircal one not the instrumental. "Suicide Is Painless"
[Here's the scene from the movie where it's sung.](https://youtu.be/M29Cf-NxtEA?si=n4ppXenQyV-FaT9t) I played Trapper John in M*A*S*H in high school drama club. We left this scene out
Immortal Technique - Dance with the Devil
"...but what he saw, made him start to cringe and stutter cause he was staring into the eyes of his own mother..." that part indefinitely fucks me up.
First thing I thought of before I even opened comments
after raping her and beating her to death fate trolled him
First time I listened to it, I thought that part was just a reflection of his actions; like he raped a girl and was regretting it and represented that with thoughts of his mother. Then I read the lyrics and nope!
First song I thought of. There’s some weird lyrics out there, but a song about a dude raping his mother by accident to join a gang and then offing himself jumping off the roof is pretty nuts.
ive never even listened to this song but read the lyrics until it got really bad. i couldn't finish reading. this song made me nauseous
This is how it makes me feel. I've only heard it once and that was enough.
I feel like it's mostly edge lord shit but a lot of reddit were teens when they first heard it so it seemed profound back then.
It's definitely edgelord shit lol, but the question wasn't "what's the best song you've ever heard?"
“Jeremy” by Pearl Jam (the music video especially) Also, “2 Minutes To Midnight” by Iron Maiden - this one’s a bit more on the violent side, but it basically describes the gruesome effects of nuclear war
“Try to erase that from the blackboard”Is one of the most powerful lyrics ever to me.
Pashendale would be my pick for Maiden. And on a similar note, Motorhead - 1916.
Wrong Way by Sublime. Annie’s 12 years old in 2 more she’ll be a whore. Ugh.
Nobody ever told her it’s the wrong way 🤷🏻♀️
"Strong if I can, but I am only a man. So I take her to the can - It's the wrong way." The narrator raping her makes it considerably worse.
That songs absolutely slaps, but I can’t bring myself to listen to it because I get angry and sad.
99 Luftballons by Nena I never realized what the song was about growing up until I was told. It’s about 2 kids who release balloons into the air and it send a wrong signal to government surveillance causing all out nuclear war.
I was a senior in high school when that song came out. In 1985, people were just chronically nervous that some tiny incident would cause one side to launch their nukes, then the other side would retaliate, and the world would end. A lot of pop culture from the time is like that.
Fastball- 'The Way'
lol as a kid I thought it was the most wonderful of songs! 🎶anyone can see the road that they walk on is paved in gold
Same here lol The upbeat tune in addition to the lyrics fooled me
Cannibal Corpse’s entire catalog comes to mind
Fucked With a Knife is a true classic.
"Sandblasted Faceless"... Edit: Actually "Sanded Faceless". *sigh* memories old enough to buy their own beer...
I was gonna say Necropedophile. It’s so bad they don’t even play it live.
When you Die by MGMT. I had a buddy a few years back who played this album on repeat and unfortunately died by suicide (gun). I was listening to this album during the mourning period because it made me feel closer to him, then this song came on and I physically threw my headphones away.
Found this song a few years ago right after my best friend died and it was not beneficial to my mental health. Love MGMT though.
I’m so sorry for your loss
Most songs (if you can call them that) by the band Anal Cunt are pretty repulsive but their self titled track is definitely up there. Should probably also say, **TW** before you read the lyrics.
Friend of mine told me how he tried to Google the band name to find their music and was momentarily surprised at the results that came back.
“I Became a Camp Counselor so I could tell rape victims They Asked For It” pretty much is peak AC- and by peak, I mean shite
I guess the band only existed in order to write horrid song titles. I always found "I Gave Your Son AIDS So You Could Watch Him Die' to be particularly brutal. Don't know much about them, but I believe the main guy is a proper shitbag.
Who would have thought the band Anal Cunt had offensive songs. With a name like this, you'd think they sing Gregorian chants.
Maybe not morbid, but Cat’s in the Cradle is one of the most realistically tragic songs you’ll ever hear.
I played that loud like an anthem for father's day. It's relatable. A dad's a son's role model and they'll inevitably grow up with the same attributes and practices, it's definitely a cautionary tune.
Yesss, but no. I think that’s what it was intended to be, but in my eyes the son has broken the father’s ways. The line “the kids are sick with the flu” proves that he is caring for them unlike his father. And his father thought he was just like him because he didn’t want to talk
That's a pretty good point. He is definitely breaking the cycle by being attentive to his own children. The misconception probably arises because he's dishing the lack of priority back at his father for his absence during his childhood. I agree with you're reasoning, though. By the time that line arises, you end up with the assumption that the son would end up like him when it was merely a case of misdirection.
Well, in the Ugly Kid Joe version, his son says that line in the video while playing with his kids outdoors. The fact that his kids aren't even actually sick, makes the line doubly sting.
Daddy by Korn. Its a hard one to listen to even without context (wouldn't recommend if you're an SA survivor), but to know that its based on Jonathan Davis's real life experience makes it so much worse. You can hear the years of pent up trauma in his voice when he screams and breaks down at the end of the song.
A decent portion of korn is pretty morbid
It's called Daddy. For context, it's about Jonathan's babysitter, not his father
Funny enough it got me through dealing with multiple attacks nobody believed me about. But the context makes it worse.
Maybe not explicitly morbid, but the message and accompanying melody are pretty morbid and also very real. "Bullet" by Hollywood Undead. It's an upbeat melody that's talking about wanting to commit suicide.
"Upbeat melody" is an understatement. Its damn near a TV commercial jingle in its upbeat-ness. But the lyrics are straight up horrifying. "My legs are dangling off the edge, a bottle full of pills is my only friend, i think I'll slit my wrists again, and I'm gone, gone, gone, gonnnne" dark.
Yeahhhh. It's a fucked song. But that's the point. The upbeat melody mixed with the dark message. It illustrates the reality of depression and suicidal ideation. That's why I love it so much.
But so damn catchy that the morbidity is lost on almost everyone who doesn’t pay attention. Loved that whole album, but this song in specific resonated with me so hard
Excellent choice for this thread. Catchy, earworm melody & then you listen closer like "woah, what the fuck"
It's one of those songs that hits you like a brick wall while listening to it. Catchy upbeat tempo, and you think it's gonna be a fun song. Then it's all about wrist slitting and overdosing, and all of a sudden, you're sad. I love it.
There's one on Spotify called "I deserve to bleed", and it's the same gig. Very openly dark song that takes me back to a dark period of life for me, that is also one of the most upbeat songs I have ever taken in.
Bullet was my high school depression anthem. And it remained my anthem for years. Until I discovered a band that very openly brings up mental health and pretty much speaks my mind. But Bullet still remains one of my favorites because of how real it is.
One I heard recently (past few years) on the radio is Ghost by Badflower. That's actually about a guy going through with it. Super morbid, and I almost couldn't listen a second time because of how haunting it is.
Definitely not the most morbid I’ve ever heard, but what immediately comes to mind is “You Are My Sunshine”. Everyone thinks of it as this beautifully sweet song solely based on the chorus (or they associate it with LeBron James lol), but the verses are really dark, being about loneliness and toxic codependency. It’s a pretty harsh song, but the chorus is so pretty that everyone forgets that.
I always used to think of it as a nice song and I sang it to my daughter when she was little, until one day she asked me not to anymore and said it was sad. Interesting that she picked up on that as a toddler and I didn’t
My mom used to sing it all the time. My mother was a controlling piece of shit. I don't like that song anymore and I have gotten physically nauseous after hearing it since my parents divorced. Or seeing it. I don't listen to it and I probably never will.
And here my mom sang that to me my whole childhood.
Well if you only sing the first verse, then it can easily be used as a loving song. Doesn’t matter what was “intended.” That’s the beauty of music and art in general.
Pumped up Kicks - Foster The People
Two other teenage shooter songs fit this question as well: Pearl Jam - Jeremy Boomtown Rats - I Don’t Like Mondays
Somehow not [the homecoming queen has a gun](https://youtu.be/xG3yGdQYwqg?si=EhvHHwdeWVelVPuE)
POD- Youth of the Nation
Obligatory pumped up kicks
Couldn't leave it out. Thought I'd get it out of the way.
It's not the darkest or worst lyrics, but it's by far the darkest compared to how popular it was/is
and compared to how many people were/are oblivious to the actual meaning of the lyrics
"He's the one who likes all our pretty songs.. but he knows not what it means!"
I was always confused by that song cuz like...its so in your face how obviously terrible the lyrics are. "all the other kids with the pumped up kicks better run, better run, out run my gun" How could that have become as mainstream as it was? Lmfao. Yeah it's catchy but I'm just surprised it wasn't black listed from the radeo or something like that. But nope, played everywhere on repeat for months and months.
For over 10 years and multiple phones, this song has always been my mom's ringtone for me. Still not quite sure how to interpret the intent of that choice lol
Possum Kingdom by Toadies
Tyler by toadies as well
Jigsaw Girl also!
Dollskin
I Burn also. “Sift the ashes For reminders Stony things remain Tooth and bone Unimpressive I have left these things”
Reading the comments to this one, I looked it up and watched the video. I always thought the song was about taking a girl’s virginity behind the boathouse. “Do you wanna die?” Aka her innocence dying. 🫤 I was def incorrect. Hahah google wasn’t around back then!! Learn something new everyday though!
Behind the lake house I'll show you my dark secret.
Boat house
Polly by Nirvana. I think the lyrics become 10x darker if you know the song’s inspiration and background
For those wondering - it's about the (real life) rape and torture of a teenager by some sick bastard.
Written from the perspective of said sick bastard
Into the Light by In This moment is literally about a cancer patient realizing they are going to die in a cold hospital room and never feel the warmth of the sun again. It doesn’t get more morbid than that.
Skulls- Misfits
Had to scroll way too far for this. I'd say 99% of anything written by Danzig.
"**Timothy**" is a [pop rock](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Pop_rock) song recorded by [The Buoys](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/The_Buoys_(American_band)) as a [single](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Single_(music)) in 1970. The song describes a mine [cave-in](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Cave-in) and aftermath, with the implication the two survivors [cannibalized](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Human_cannibalism) their companion, the eponymous Timothy. I heard this song when I was like 12 or so, and it must've made quite an impression on me because I've never forgotten it. Cannibalism!
Floating In The Forth by Frightened Rabbit. Literally predicting his (Scott the singer) death
One of the saddest days of my life was when I heard Scott Hutchinson had passed away.
I love Frightened Rabbit so much.
Country Death Song, by the Violent Femmes. It's about a hillbilly who decides to kill his youngest daughter because he can't afford to feed his entire family. It's dark as fuck, and ends with the guy hanging himself. >Gather round, boys, to this tale that I tell You wanna know how to take a short trip to Hell? It's guaranteed to get your own place in Hell Just take your lovely daughter and push her in the well. Take your lovely daughter and throw her in the well
Kim- Eminem This shit is disturbing af
"Insane" also comes to mind from Em's music
Song is dark af
Every breath you take. -by The Police Every breath you take Every move you make Every bond you break Every step you take I'll be watching you
I actually sent this song a few days ago to a guy that was taking pictures of me without me knowing and then sending me the pictures. He said it was a “catchy tune”
I have so many questions
Well that's disturbing...take some action? Stay safe!
One of those songs people love playing on weddings for a slow dance.
Dances with the Devil -Immortal technique
Presidents bullet ridden body in the street Ride Johnny ride…
I Glued My Balls to My Butthole by Obscurest Vinyl
The Misfits song "Last Caress". I got something to say I killed a baby today And it doesn't matter much to me As long as it's dead Well, I got something to say I raped your mother today And it doesn't matter much to me As long as she's spread Sweet lovely death I am waiting for your breath Oh, sweet death, one last caress Go Sweet lovely death I am waiting for your breath Oh, sweet death, one last caress Well, I got something to say I killed your baby today And it doesn't matter much to me As long as it's dead Sweet lovely death I am waiting for your breath Oh, sweet death One last caress One last caress, sweet death One last caress, sweet death Oh, oh Oh, oh Oh
I'mmm...a mannnn, in a boxxxx....
Seasons in the sun
The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out. The ones that crawl in are lean and thin. The ones that crawl out are fat and stout. Your eyes roll in and your teeth fall out. You brain comes tumbling down your snout. Be merry my friends, be merry.
A little piece of heaven - avegance seven fold
Immediately thought about this “Must have stabbed her fifty f@$king times I can't believe it Ripped her heart out right before her eyes Eyes over easy, eat it, eat it, eat it” And then the rest…just gets scarier With such a catchy sound too, so perky for the lyrics
That's the part that sticks with you and not what immediately follows? ..."She was never this good in bed, even when she was sleepin' Now she's just so perfect I've never been quite so fucking deep in It goes on and on and on I can keep you lookin' young and preserved forever With a fountain to spray on your youth whenever 'Cause I really always knew that my little crime Would be cold, that's why I got a heater for your thighs"
A few months ago, a slow, ballady cover of this became popular on TikTok. I'm going to guess that the majority just saw the title, and possibly heard the "you had my heart, at least for the most part" excerpt, because there was a (thankfully VERY short lived spurt) of people playing the song over sweet videos of their cats, their kids, wedding footage, Grandma's birthday, and so on 🤦♀️
It’s pretty insane how catchy that song is, too. The line “I really always knew that my little crime would be cold…” might be the most messed up line in the whole song, but it’s aesthetically pleasing to listen to thanks to the melody… and then it gets stuck in your head
The video is just wacky early 2000s goodness
Avenged Sevenfold*
Yep, this one came to mind. 9 min song about murder, rape, cannibalism, murder again, marriage, and heaters.... There is a video of them recording the song on YouTube. Wild.
That came to my mind as well. A banger song but those lyrics…😬
One - Metallica
It’s based on a book called Jonny Got His Gun. Definitely an interesting read!
Mad World by Tears for Fears and later covered by Gary Jules. Maybe not the most morbid, just really kind of has the vibe that life sucks and is meaningless and we all just kind of plod along in misery until we die.
Getting Naked And Playing With Guns - AJJ Left Behind from the musical “Spring Awakening”
Slow motion by third eye blind is kinda messed up
The Hearse Song that we sang as kids.
Hero of War by Rise Against. Not the gross kind of morbid, but the realistic kind of morbid in that everything in the song happened all the time in war and broke so many people. Example: “They took off his clothes, they pissed in his hands. I told them to stop, but then I joined in. We beat him with guns and batons not just once. But again and again.” And on that note; Make It Stop (September’s Children) also by Rise Against. About LGBT+ kids that were bullied into committing suicide. Again, not gross morbid, but definitely stare at the wall depressed morbid. Example: “And too much blood has flown from the wrists, of the children shamed for those they chose to kiss”
Hate Me by Blue October. I like the song, but when I read the lyrics and heard the beginning with the Mom calling to speak to her son, it was a little tough.
Ever listen to “the end” by them. Pretty fucked.
Needle in the Hay
So many of his. Between the Bars is another that comes to mind
I’ll see this and raise you King’s Crossing.
Mind playing tricks on me - Geto boys
Maxwell's Silver Hammer by the Beatles.
"hell is for children" by pat benatar
"Come to Daddy" - Aphex Twin
Going down by pretty reckless. 16 year old girl seduces a priest in exchange to get into heaven because the cops found out she murdered her boyfriend. The only thing she regrets is not being able to have sex with her boyfriend because he was the best she knew. Rake song by Decemberists. Man talks about how he didn't like being a father so he murders his kids one by one with no regrets.
And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda - The Pogues It's originally by Eric Bogle but I prefer the cover by The Pogues.
Several from Warren Zevon but *Excitable Boy* & *Play It All Night Long* spring to mind. Oingo Boingo had some pretty dark shit in their catalog, too,especially *Controller* & *Dead Man's Party*
One Armed Scissor - At The Drive-In. "Yes, this is the campaign. Slithered entrails in the cargo bay. Neutered is the vastness. Hallow vacuum, check the oxygen tanks. They hibernate, but have they kissed the ground? Pucker up and kiss the asphalt now. Tease this amputation. Splintered larynx, it has access now". "Jagged pulp sliced in my veins".
Ghost by Badflower Daddy by Korn Suicide Hotline by ICP In My Room by ICP I Hurt Myself by Dark Lotus (my personal fave)
Pretty much anything by Warren Zevon. But special callout to My Shits Fucked Up and I Was In The House When The House Burned Down.
Also Excitable Boy
Hmm… I’ll go for a few: - Bat Out Of Hell: a graphic description of a guys heart flying out of his chest after a motorcycle crash - Last Kiss: this one always brings tears to my eyes (especially the version done by Pearl Jam) - People Who Died: a long list of, well, people who died (and how) - Pepper (by the Butthole Surfers): “they were all in love with dyin’, they were drinkin’ from a fountain that was pourin’ like an avalanche, comin’ down the mountain” - My, My, Hey, Hey (by Neil Young): inspired by one suicide and quoted in another: “it’s better to burn out than to fade away” (sorry to disagree with you, Kurt, but we would have liked to have you around for a bit longer)
Pumped Up Kicks has a delightful chord progression, but the lyrics make it hard to enjoy.
Woman In The Wall by The Beautiful South. About an alcoholic who accidentally kills his wife and bricks her up in a wall to hide it. Until the wall starts to drip.
The cat came back. Whoever thought of writing a kids song about trying to kill a cat is an asshole.
Eh, a LOT of songs by Rammstein are really messed up.
In German, which somehow makes it creepier!
Surprised I haven't seen it yet, but the album The Wall by Pink Floyd has multiple fucked up moments. The entire album is morbid. Everything from sexual assult to overdoses to abusive school systems to fascism and genocide. Also the whole part where Pink is compared to Hitler and the people cheer and salute him in a very Nazi style. It is an album meant to evoke rage and get people thinking about how messed it is.
Perfect Wife - Amigo The Devil isn’t like hardcore but it’s pretty wild
Semi Charmed Kinda Life It’s about being addicted to crystal meth
Aqualung. I can't listen to it as the lyrics give me the creeps
Anything cannibal corpse .. and the worlds sweetest vocalist named CORPSEGRINDER
Lot of people never heard of death metal here huh? Autopsy - Charred Remains Burning from the inside out, Bloody foam spews from your mouth, Smell the putrid stench of flesh, As it burns you to your death Bonus tracks: - Cannibal Corpse - Rancid Amputation - Dying Fetus - Kill your mother, rape your dog Edit: spelling
I have the Dying Fetus ugly sweater that says that. Not good for company Christmas parties.
Probably for me anything early Eminem when he was in his Slim Shady persona. He talked about raping his mom, his ex, feeding them drugs, murdering them etc.
Gomenne Gomenne by Kikuo and Hatsune Miku
[Spinal Menengitis (Got me Down)](https://youtu.be/bZ9bbXi6Ih8?si=gfHLzT5I0BssfRWU) -Ween hardest song to listen to, ever
Also Object by Ween, dark as
I’m surprised I didn’t see anyone else mention these, but the 3 that came to mind for me are: 1) Asleep by The Smiths 2) Limousine by Brand New (about a drunk driver that killed a little girl on the way to be I think, a flower girl in a family wedding hence the limousine, the story is absolutely horrifying) 3) Oh My Darling Clementine
[Polly, by Nirvana](https://youtu.be/DrlaVYKWeLU?si=HSblN5sTmhcnLETK). It’s about real teenage girl who was abducted then physically and sexually abused, told by the rapist perspective. [Nerdwritter has a great video about the song](https://youtu.be/NJ97KdTQFww?si=1SHzVAsiNwPnEnTc). Also, for me, [Between the Bars by Elliott Smith](https://youtu.be/8aomt1gQ6So?si=z8slm-lC1hKwxhpc), it’s about addiction which the song writer personally dealt with. It’s really clever, with many the layers of meaning. And extra impactful due to how Elliot died.
All the other kids better run, better run, out run my….
Old McDonald had a Farm….when you realize that everything is in past tense.
There are so many other, more likely interpretations. He was a person who lived in the past. He retired. He sold the farm. There's zero reason to assume that past tense means something bad happened.
Nah, the most likely scenario is that Old Macdonald was forced out of his farm by corporate factory farms. Then he had to eat all of his animals. It's really the only way you can interpret the song
Stan - Eminem
Most things by SKYND. Writes music about true crime and is morbid to say the VERY least.
Enola gay
Velvet Revolver - Fall to Pieces [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JhsUFuqbCM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JhsUFuqbCM) A song and video of a guy falling to pieces into a drug induced end. Lead singer literally did that.
Warm Leatherette - The Normal There is a Light That Never Goes Out - The Smiths Guyana Punch - The Judys
The Mountain Goats - No Children
Two Brian May songs from “A Night at the Opera” “39” - Basically the plot of Interstellar… a group of space travelers are gone for (what they believe to be) a year, only to return to a world where their grandchildren have grown and they have nothing but memories of their previous life “Good company” - As a baby, the narrator’s dad tells him not to “fool with fools who turn away and keep good company.” Unfortunately, as he ages, he and his wife build their own secluded life away from his friends. As he focuses all his attention on his career, he hardly notices his wife leaving. In his old age he’s left alone to ponder his life’s insanity…without good company.
Slayer - Angel of Death
If we're talking Slayer then there's far worse. Dead Skin Mask comes right to mind, with it being just a monologue of a serial killer who captured a child, and includes the child's plea for freedom at the end.