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Your favorite dark song


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Hey Joe is definitely Dark as far as I am concerned.

Hurt-NIN

Everything Dies-Type O Negative

Settle For nothing- Rage against the machine

Hollow- Pantera

Alone- Suicidal Tendencies

How will I laugh tomorrow when i can't even smile today- Suicidal Tendencies

 

This just barely scratches the surface but it is early still.

Reach out and grab a clue.

 

Something Vicious

My solo crap

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Cancer - Meat Beat Manifesto

What Actually Happened - Brian Eno

I Wish I Had Duck Feet - Orbital

You've Never Seen Everything - Bruce Cockburn

Sex Kills - Joni Mitchell

Less Than Zero - Elvis Costello

Nine Inch Nails - The Wretched

 

of course, NIN is so relentlessly negative and angsty, it can get a little hard to take them seriously. And a lot of "happy" sounding stuff out there has a dark core - even a little ditty like "Dock of the Bay".

 

M Peasley

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Originally posted by Phait:

Originally posted by geekgurl:

Here's some more, dark in diff'rent ways:

 

"Animal," "terrible Lie," "sin," just about anything ... 9 Inch Nailz

I hate it when people always get the title wrong (animal?) it's "Closer" :D -- no offense. But hey, at least you heard more than that one song, because Trent write's some much less "disturbing" or dark songs and quite some beautiful inbetween calm-somber stuff - like the Still CD of the deluxe "And All That Could Have Been".
NiN - Closer :thu::thu:

 

Let me add:

 

Rammstein - Du Hast

Músico, Productor, Ingeniero, Tecnólogo

Senior Product Manager, América Latina y Caribe - PreSonus

at Fender Musical Instruments Company

 

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Originally posted by M Peasley:

And a lot of "happy" sounding stuff out there has a dark core - even a little ditty like "Dock of the Bay".

Yep, good one. Similar to Steve Earle's "My Old Friend The Blues" regarding prosody.

> > > [ Live! ] < < <

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Talking Old Soldiers (Elton) has always been one of my faves...All the Young Girls Love Alice would work too I guess.

 

One favorite from my childhood would be Johnny Cash's Delia's Gone...

 

Then there's that Donny Darko tune by Gary Jules Mad World that I can't seem to get out of my head...

 

Bob

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Originally posted by Rob4CU:

Talking Old Soldiers (Elton) has always been one of my faves...All the Young Girls Love Alice would work too I guess.

 

Bob

:thu:

 

And then there's Sixty Years On, Friends, Michelle's Song, Indian Sunset, I've Seen That Movie Too, Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word, Daniel, the last tune on Madman Across the Water.

 

:thu:

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A few more...

 

  1. Richard Cory - Simon & Garfunkel
  2. Losing My Religeon - REM
  3. Pride (In The Name Of Love) - U2
  4. Which Way Are You Goin' - Jim Croce
  5. Lover's Cross - Jim Croce
  6. It Doesn't Have To Be This Way - Jim Croce (Heck! Jim Croce could be a dark list to himself, save for a few character songs. :D )
  7. Flesh For Fantasy - Billy Idol
  8. A Trick Of The Tail - Genesis
  9. The Point Of No Return - Kansas
  10. Dust In The Wind - Kansas
  11. Snowblind - Styx
  12. Photograph - Def Leppard
  13. The Confessor - Joe Walsh (Wow!)
  14. My Little Angel - John Geib (with {a-hem!} Neil Bergman)
  15. I'm Innocent - John Geib (yep... with me again! :D )

It's easiest to find me on Facebook. Neil Bergman

 

Soundclick

fntstcsnd

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...and don't forget Gulliver ;)

 

Originally posted by LanceMo:

Originally posted by Rob4CU:

Talking Old Soldiers (Elton) has always been one of my faves...All the Young Girls Love Alice would work too I guess.

 

Bob

:thu:

 

And then there's Sixty Years On, Friends, Michelle's Song, Indian Sunset, I've Seen That Movie Too, Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word, Daniel, the last tune on Madman Across the Water.

 

:thu:

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Originally posted by LanceMo:

Originally posted by Rob4CU:

Talking Old Soldiers (Elton) has always been one of my faves...All the Young Girls Love Alice would work too I guess.

 

Bob

:thu:

 

And then there's Sixty Years On, Friends, Michelle's Song, Indian Sunset, I've Seen That Movie Too, Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word, Daniel, the last tune on Madman Across the Water.

 

:thu:

:thu:

 

And

 

  1. Have Mercy On The Criminal - Elton John
  2. Candle In The Wind - Elton John (Please don't mention that well intentioned, godawful re-write for Princess Di. :rolleyes: )
  3. I Need You To Turn To - Elton John

Thinking of mid-70's Elton John songs reminded me of Rod Stewart in the same era.

 

  1. Maggie May - Rod Stewart
  2. The Killing Of Georgie - Rod Stewart
  3. I Don't Want To Talk About It - Rod Stewart
  4. I Was Only Joking - Rod Stewart

.

Which led to Al Stewart

 

  1. Almost Lucy - Al Stewart
  2. Roads To Moscow - Al Stewart
  3. Life In Dark Water - Al Stewart

Somebody STOP ME!! ;)

It's easiest to find me on Facebook. Neil Bergman

 

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fntstcsnd

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Originally posted by Phait:

I hate it when people always get the title wrong (animal?) it's "Closer" :D -- no offense. But hey, at least you heard more than that one song, ..

Yeah, I hate it too. But here I am committing said music-lover's violation. The nerve of me, I tell ya. ;) Pretty much ever since CDs came out (yeah, I have some vinyl ...), song names seem to have less importance in my listening experience. "What side's that song on?" Doesn't matter.

 

I have a couple of NIN discs, so I've definitely heard more than one song. The dark stuff is what I think of because "Pretty Hate Machine" was a soundtrack for a certain time in my life, so that's what I know them for most. I'm not really in that headspace much these days.

Original Latin Jazz

CD Baby

 

"I am not certain how original my contribution to music is as I am obviously an amateur." Patti Smith

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Originally posted by LiveMusic:

"Hurt" by Johnny Cash

This would be my top pick hands down.

 

I might add "Hey Joe" by Jimi Hendrix and "Eleanor Rigby" by the Beatles.

 

I don't listen to a lot of depressing music. Isn't music supposed to RESCUE us from depression?

 

The most depressing music is written by women - Sarah McLachlan, Fiona Apple, Jewel, Janis Ian - those chick just WALLOW in it, song after song after song. The world is just so unfair (even though they're highly successful recording stars). Not my cup of tea. I like to listen to Sarah once in a while to appreciate her sheer virtuosity, but I have to observe a three song limit.

 

:D

The Black Knight always triumphs!

 

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Originally posted by Jon Doe:

Many of mine already listed, but what about "Brothers in Arms" by Dire Straits..

Whatta 'bout it?!? You wanna make somethin' of it?!? :mad:

 

It's great! (Did you see I posted The Man's Too Big? ;) Great album.

 

And speaking of Sarah McLaughlin and dark songs, how about When Somebody Loved Me from the Toy Story 2 soundtrack? (Written by Randy Newman) :thu:

It's easiest to find me on Facebook. Neil Bergman

 

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fntstcsnd

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Yikes! Good lists! Many of personal Dark favorites have been checked already, but here's a few that leave a mark:

 

My Mommy's Dead -- John Lennon. Too morbid perhaps.

 

I'm not exactly sure of the title 'cause I had it on unmarked cassette, but how about:

 

In Spite of Me, or virtually anything else by Morphine. Man, that band was so dark that they had no treble!

 

Stunned and Frozen, by the aforementioned Mark Eitzel

 

A Soldier's Things, by Tom Waits--dark but brimming with pathos...

 

and my personal Darkest Yet Still Strangely Listenable rock song of all time...

 

I Want You -- Elvis Costello and the Attractions. From the album Blood and Chocolate.

Check out the Sweet Clementines CD at bandcamp
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Originally posted by Rob4CU:

Then there's that Donny Darko tune by Gary Jules Mad World that I can't seem to get out of my head...

Yeah, that's a great cover version of a great song written by Tears For Fears (Roland Orzabal). It's on their masterpiece debut album "The Hurting," which is one of the darkest pop albums I've ever heard.

 

The Cure's "Pornography" might just be the darkest album I've ever heard. It's dark and dense, and completely depressing. I love it.

 

Donnie Darko is a brilliantly dark film, I might add. Apparently, they're going to release the director's cut to theaters sometime soon, or so I heard on NPR. I can't wait to see it on the big screen.

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Where to start?

 

Some that have been mentioned before:

 

Hurt - Johnny Cash (everyone knows this is a NIN song right?)

Man's too Big - Dire Straits

There was a little boy - Toy Matinee

 

Not yet mentioned:

 

The Choice - Jonatha Brooke

Shame on Us - Jonatha Brooke

Song for a Dead Friend - Kevin Gilbert

La Mer - NIN (instrumentals can be just as dark...)

 

Anything by the Afghan Whigs or Twilight Singers, Greg Dulli is a dark man...

 

Mike

Seriously, what the f*ck with the candles? Where does this candle impulse come from, and in what other profession does it get expressed?

-steve albini

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Originally posted by gearmike:

Hurt - Johnny Cash (everyone knows this is a NIN song right?)

This is mentioned so much I can't help myself. Would it be too illegal for me to post a version of "Hurt" done by myself and a friend of mine long before Johnny Cash touched it. Honestly, many people prefer our version to both the original and the JC cover.

 

Anything by the Afghan Whigs or Twilight Singers, Greg Dulli is a dark man...

:thu: Greg Dulli is brilliant.
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Fantasticsound mentioned "Richard Corey" an R. Robinson poem Simon put to music. I'd like to add Simon's own "Most Peculiar Man" to the list.

also, Bob Dylan's "Ballad of Hollis Brown".

 

Whitefang

I started out with NOTHING...and I still have most of it left!
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Originally posted by flyscots:

Originally posted by gearmike:

Hurt - Johnny Cash (everyone knows this is a NIN song right?)

This is mentioned so much I can't help myself. Would it be too illegal for me to post a version of "Hurt" done by myself and a friend of mine long before Johnny Cash touched it. Honestly, many people prefer our version to both the original and the JC cover.

 

I'm sure that your version is excellent. The fact that Cash recorded HIS version when he was dying adds a certain gut-wrenching quality, though.

The Black Knight always triumphs!

 

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I can't believe I'm the first to bring up "Everybody Knows" by Leonard Cohen.

 

"Third World Man" by Steely Dan is up there in my book: A detailed picture of a suburban survivalist who loses it.

 

"Screen Kiss" by Thomas Dolby, from the Flat Earth album. Just a snapshot of the life of an English girl married to a successful Hollywood type... who's also abusive. It hints at it, as opposed to throwing it in your face, which is what makes the song truly, effectively "dark."

 

For that matter, listen to the whole Flat Earth album. So many of its songs convey an atmosphere of fear and lonliness, in which glimmers of hope nonetheless rear their irrational, Quixotic, and therefore blessed little heads. Trent Reznor (who I admire a lot as well) could take lessons from this album.

Stephen Fortner

Principal, Fortner Media

Former Editor in Chief, Keyboard Magazine

Digital Piano Consultant, Piano Buyer Magazine

 

Industry affiliations: Antares, Arturia, Giles Communications, MS Media, Polyverse

 

 

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