Topic: Happy songs about death (Read 23077 times)

Phrozen · « **on:** 20 Jan 2005, 16:20 »

I just bought the Iron&Wine album Our Endless Numbered Days off of iTunes and have been listening to it for the last two or so hours... or at least I would have been if I had gotten past Naked As We Came. that song is effing amazing, never have I felt so good after listening to a song about death, I've had it on repeat for at least an hour now.

So do you have any happy songs about death, or songs about death that make you feel good?

muffy · « **Reply #1 on:** 20 Jan 2005, 16:30 »

"I had a brother once, he drowned in a bathtub, before he ever learned how to talk..."
Bright Eyes - Padraic my Prince

It makes me smile everytime, but possibly because I find it funny...

Also, and I think many people will suggest this, The Flaming Lips - Do You Realise
which is the loveliest ode to everyone dying around you, ever, and makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

I love morose music.

betteroffdead · « **Reply #2 on:** 20 Jan 2005, 16:30 »

hmm all i can think is "last caress" by the misfits. makes me dance around!

happybirthdaygelatin · « **Reply #3 on:** 20 Jan 2005, 16:34 »

awesome points +25 to alex!

the unicorns "who will cut our hair when we're gone" has some songs i find pretty uplifting about dying.

now that's just a weird phrase i like alot, mmm hmm.

nickyandthefuture · « **Reply #4 on:** 20 Jan 2005, 16:36 »

Cinnamon - "Maybe in the Next Life"
Fatalist orchestral pop rocks my face.

betteroffdead · « **Reply #5 on:** 20 Jan 2005, 16:53 »

yes! point increase! soon i'll have enough for a free life! mm green mushrooms... o yea i just got that unicorns album! haven't listened to it enough to catch the death theme though...

and i just remembered "don't fear the reaper" by blue oyster cult. it's about death, and it's all danceable... *cough*gottahavemorecowbell*cough*

nothingwitty · « **Reply #6 on:** 20 Jan 2005, 16:56 »

Sheep Go to Heaven - CAKE

Goodbye Forever - Alkaline Trio

Number Nine - Twilight Singers

Pretty as You Please - Ass Ponys

nickyandthefuture · « **Reply #7 on:** 20 Jan 2005, 16:58 »

Oh also, "I Nominate My Kitten for the King of the Dead" by the Bonaduces

Shaft · « **Reply #8 on:** 20 Jan 2005, 19:37 »

Many, many songs by Alkaline trio.

nothingwitty · « **Reply #9 on:** 20 Jan 2005, 23:56 »

Pretty much all of them, huh?

Boy do I love the Alkaline Trio.

Trouble Breathing is another good one.

Keith Decent · « **Reply #10 on:** 21 Jan 2005, 00:39 »

I would have to say "We Will All Become Silhouttes"

But who did it first, Shins or Postal Service? I think it was the Shins, either way, their version is way happier (and better in my opinion).

"The air outside will make our cells divide at an alarming rate,
till our shell simply cannot hold all our insides in and that when
we explode...

and it won't be a pretty sight."

Samedi · « **Reply #11 on:** 21 Jan 2005, 01:04 »

Dropkick Murphys - Curse of a Fallen Soul
- The punk I was in high school will never really go away
My Morning Jacket - I Will Be There When You Die
- I love the vocals on this song. It gives me warm fuzzies.
Les Miserables - "Javert's Suicide" & "A Little Fall of Rain"
- Not happy songs about death, but they are good and about death so that can count. I nearly cried during A Little Fall of Rain when I first saw it.

And Postal Service came first. The Shins did a cover of it on the Postal Service's Such Great Heights EP.

Keith Decent · « **Reply #12 on:** 21 Jan 2005, 02:16 »

Quote from: Samedi

And Postal Service came first. The Shins did a cover of it on the Postal Service's Such Great Heights EP.

thanks, never picked it up.

rynne · « **Reply #13 on:** 21 Jan 2005, 05:35 »

I went to a show by this dude I know (Steve Devil) last week, and he introduced his song â€œEveryone Dies in Carsâ€? specifically as his happy song about death.

Morokrat · « **Reply #14 on:** 21 Jan 2005, 06:01 »

"we will all go together when we go"-tom lehrer.
although the basic menaing of this song is that of uplifting thoughts about an atomic holocaust, it still quite hits it.

ooh, and "5000 ways to die" by nerf herder, which is just awesome and makes me want to go wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee(damn, i showed of my nerditude once again...)

Beano · « **Reply #15 on:** 21 Jan 2005, 07:57 »

One of my friends keeps telling me that Good Riddance (Time of your life) is about death, so I'll put that in order to show her I've acknowledged this.

JJ72 - Brother Sleep is a nice song that appears to be about suicide.

Karl · « **Reply #16 on:** 21 Jan 2005, 08:01 »

Three Evils by Coheed and Cambria.

Got quite the upbeat tune which makes it sound happy. But with lyrics like Pull the trigger and the nightmare ends... says different.

Tinjessla · « **Reply #17 on:** 21 Jan 2005, 08:40 »

I looked at the title of this thread and instantly thought of The Flaming Lips - Do you Realise??? Bless yer, Mr. Coyne.

blindsuperhero · « **Reply #18 on:** 21 Jan 2005, 08:42 »

Girlfriend in a Coma

Praeserpium Machinarum · « **Reply #19 on:** 21 Jan 2005, 11:36 »

Happy Phantom by Tori Amos maybe, though it is a little hysterical in weird sort of way, the beginning lyrics goes like this:

If I die today/I`ll be the happy phantom/and I`ll go chasing nuns out in the yard

mookers · « **Reply #20 on:** 21 Jan 2005, 21:39 »

belle & sebastian - if you're feeling sinister

SeanBateman · « **Reply #21 on:** 23 Jan 2005, 09:00 »

I want to say anny track off of the eels electroshock blues, but it's really just PS You Rock My World that needs the credit

KharBevNor · « **Reply #22 on:** 23 Jan 2005, 09:52 »

Pretty much everything by Zombina and the Skeletones, especially 'The Grave...and Beyond' and 'Nobody Likes You When You're Dead'.

Way more, but I find lots of dark music to be really enjoyable. Nothing like a good sing-along to Cradle of Filth's hyper-cliched 'Suicide and Other Comforts' (It actually has the line 'I slit my wrists and quickly slip away' in it. Lines like that come up in jokes quite a bit, but scarcely in actual songs.) Then there's peaces of ass-kickery like 'Elegy' by Edge of Sanity (which is basically about dying from excessive drug use, essentially tripping stright into the afterlife) with it's (to me anyway) awesomely catchy chorus:

Next time you see the stars alight,
Like diamonds in the winter night,
Do think of me, remember me...
So reads my elegy.
Next time I see the stars shine bright,
Like white eyes in the darkened light,
I'm free no chains are holding me,
But still I live by your elegy!

Pretty much all music can make you feel good if you're in the right mood.

blindsuperhero · « **Reply #23 on:** 23 Jan 2005, 10:51 »

Quote from: SeanBateman

I want to say anny track off of the eels electroshock blues, but it's really just PS You Rock My World that needs the credit

Well I wouldn't really say it has any particularly happy songs about death, and PS You Rock My World is really more about life (or not dying). Or at least, that's where the happiness in that song comes from. Incredible album, though

unknowner · « **Reply #24 on:** 23 Jan 2005, 11:06 »

Josh Joplin Group's one semi-hit, "Camera One."

The sandy-haired son of Hollywood
Lost his faith in all that's good
Closed the curtain
Unplugged the clock
Hung his clothes on the shower rod
But he never got undressed
And no, he never made a mess
It's funny how
Life turns out
The odds of faith
In the face of doubt
Camera one
Closes in
The soundtrack starts
The scene begins
You're playing you now...

It's not their best by any stretch of the imagination, but it's their only one I've heard that actually adresses death. You can download it at the band's website.

I've plugged my fave band yet again... my work here is done!

~U
...AWAY!

betteroffdead · « **Reply #25 on:** 25 Jan 2005, 16:43 »

o come on nobody gets the cowbell/snl reference? pssh...

"dear everybody" by jamisonparker is pretty damn upbeat for a song about suicide

happybirthdaygelatin · « **Reply #26 on:** 25 Jan 2005, 16:53 »

I had to have that explained to me awhile back and never saw the skit!

betteroffdead · « **Reply #27 on:** 25 Jan 2005, 17:04 »

haha one of my FAVOURITE snl sketches... ahh christopher walken you are so awesome. my dad and i quote it like everyday.

"fellas, i have a disease. and the only cure for it, is more cowbell"

ahahahha

karma monger · « **Reply #28 on:** 25 Jan 2005, 19:34 »

Aeroplane over the sea? Neutral Milk hotel?
Geez people.

Naya · « **Reply #29 on:** 27 Jan 2005, 18:19 »

I think that the happiest song about death is a song from a chilean group called
"javiera y los imposibles" ("javiera and the impposible ones")

it's called "te amo tanto" ("i love you so much"). It's about a gir who finds her boyfriend dead, completly mutilated.

It's funny. sounds really happy.

Suburban Post-Modernist · « **Reply #30 on:** 27 Jan 2005, 22:08 »

Exquisite Dead Guy by TMBG...maybe not the best happiest, but one of the funniest.

Do you Realize by The Flaming Lips, deserves another mention.

Pigeon · « **Reply #31 on:** 05 Feb 2005, 23:03 »

Maxwell's Silver Hammer by the Beatles

devils_daughter · « **Reply #32 on:** 06 Feb 2005, 04:39 »

My girlfriend's dead (haven't got a clue who it's by though)

Eva Cassidy - Somewhere over the Rainbow, I always thought this could be interpreted to be about suicide. Maybe not exactly upbeat but reassuring.

AndSheeWas · « **Reply #33 on:** 06 Feb 2005, 09:11 »

Quote from: blindsuperhero

Girlfriend in a Coma[/quote

I love that song.

And I can't believe no one mentioned "Dead" by They Might Be Giants!

I will never say the word "procrastinate" again.
I will never see myself in the mirror with my eyes closed.

FfaMat · « **Reply #34 on:** 06 Feb 2005, 09:50 »

get me away from here i'm dying -belle and sebastian and i will be there when you die- my morning jacket would be my two songs about death. the former is really only the happy song so... uh... yeah

Morokrat · « **Reply #35 on:** 06 Feb 2005, 10:10 »

@devil's daughter:
"my girlfriend's dead" is, i think, by the vandals...a shame i forgot to pick that one.

blindsuperhero · « **Reply #36 on:** 06 Feb 2005, 10:17 »

Yep, The Vandals

AnonymousPosterChild · « **Reply #37 on:** 06 Feb 2005, 22:06 »

I'm going to have to go with Record Body Count by the Rheostatics. Its not exactly happy, but at first glance it isnt exactly depressing.

blackmage · « **Reply #38 on:** 07 Feb 2005, 16:01 »

I'll have to say 'Everyone I love is dead', by Type O Negative. Most of their songs are really grim, but humourous.

Conatonc · « **Reply #39 on:** 07 Feb 2005, 20:54 »

3-4 songs off of each and every They Might Be Giants Album, including-

"Youth Culture Killed My Dog"
"Dead"
"Turn Around"
"The End of the Tour"
"Hopeless Bleak Despair"

ColdSteelRain · « **Reply #40 on:** 09 Mar 2005, 18:30 »

Don't fear the Reaper- Blue Oyster Cult

Great song

Inlander · « **Reply #41 on:** 09 Mar 2005, 18:48 »

"Powderfinger" by Neil Young. Perhaps not happy, per se, but definitely hard-rockin' and custom-made for dancing around the room like an idiot, smashing your air-guitar to imaginary pieces on your air-amp at the end of it all.

Freezey · « **Reply #42 on:** 09 Mar 2005, 21:32 »

I'll second the Vandals "My Girlfriends Dead" and several Alkaline Trio songs. Nothing like morbid lyrics with happy, upbeat music.

jeph · « **Reply #43 on:** 09 Mar 2005, 22:36 »

Man fuck ALL of this shit.

"Feeling Yourself Disintegrate" by the Flaming Lips.

YOU ALL LOSE FOR NOT MENTIONING THIS BEFORE ME.

Argonath · « **Reply #44 on:** 10 Mar 2005, 03:57 »

Ben Folds Five-Whatever and Ever Amen-Fair

I guess she made her way
Through the mob too late to hear him say
That he'd gotten all he'd wanted
A crowd to watch him bear the pain

Phantom planet- Is missing- Dont Get down

wanna live on the moon,
Never see a human again,
And as the earth explodes,
I'll light a candle for my dead best friends

KharBevNor · « **Reply #45 on:** 10 Mar 2005, 04:00 »

Carpathian Forest-He's Turning Blue

Extremely fun and rocking track about suicide

"He's turning blue!
He's turning blue!
He's turning bluuuuuuueee...
And nobody cares!"

seakerthehamster · « **Reply #46 on:** 10 Mar 2005, 09:17 »

Eleanor Rigby-The Beatles.

It's not exactly happy, but it make you feel sad in a happy way...

Apathy · « **Reply #47 on:** 10 Mar 2005, 09:26 »

Probably already mentioned countless times but The Smiths would be the band I'd give this title to.

mysceneiscooler · « **Reply #48 on:** 10 Mar 2005, 11:03 »

Quote from: muffy

Also, and I think many people will suggest this, The Flaming Lips - Do You Realise
which is the loveliest ode to everyone dying around you, ever, and makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

I love morose music.

I was about to name that one. I already told my mother and some friends that when I die, this song is to be played at my funeral.

fwiffo · « **Reply #49 on:** 10 Mar 2005, 11:07 »

Quote from: Conatonc

3-4 songs off of each and every They Might Be Giants Album...

Ah, so many songs about death, aging, corpses, decapitated heads, skulls, murder, presidents... All wrapped up in such a bubbly, boyant package.

Exquisite dead guy
Rotating in his display case
Exquisite dead guy
Swear I saw his mouth move
Exquisite dead guy
Outside my high rise apartment
Exquisite dead guy
Hanging from a skyhook

...Or...

You're older than you've ever been
And now you're even older
And now you're even older
And now you're even older
You're older than you've ever been
And now you're even older
And now you're older still

THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)

Author Topic: Happy songs about death (Read 23077 times)

Phrozen

betteroffdead

betteroffdead

nothingwitty

nothingwitty

Keith Decent

Samedi

Keith Decent

Morokrat

Beano

Karl

Tinjessla

blindsuperhero

Praeserpium Machinarum

mookers

SeanBateman

blindsuperhero

unknowner

betteroffdead

betteroffdead

karma monger

Naya

Suburban Post-Modernist

Pigeon

devils_daughter

AndSheeWas

FfaMat

Morokrat

blindsuperhero

AnonymousPosterChild

blackmage

Conatonc

ColdSteelRain

Freezey

Argonath

seakerthehamster

Apathy

mysceneiscooler