Devastating songs

I'm looking for suggestions for songs which have a story and something unexpected or devastating happens in the story. I'm thinking along the lines of George Jones 'He stopped loving her today', Jamie Lawson 'Wasn't expecting that', Nick Cave and Kylie Minogue 'Where the wild roses grow', Stan 'Eminem', Plan B 'Charmaine'. (All bangers, by the way).

The genre doesn't matter, as long as there's a suitable twist in the story, dark or otherwise.

Edit: I have downloaded all the suggestions. Ta.

21 points · 22 comments · view on lemmy.world

22 Comments

NauticalNoodle@lemmy.ml · 6 pts · 292d (1 reply)

Story of the Hurricane - Bob Dylan

Tippon@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 2 pts · 292d

It's a fantastic song, but the title is just Hurricane :)

https://youtu.be/bpZvg_FjL3Q

I believe there's a movie of the story too :)

borokov@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 293d

The kids aren't alright, The Offspring https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iNbnineUCI

I listen it as a teen without understanding the lyrics (I'm French). Just figured out what it means a few years ago.

owenfromcanada@lemmy.ca · 3 pts · 293d

The Crane Wife by the Decemberists. Parts 1&2, and Part 3 - based on a Japanese folk tale.

RyGuy3000@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 292d

Dance With The Devil by Immortal Technique fits this theme perfectly imo

ape_arms@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 293d

Have you heard 1952 Vincent Black Lightning by Richard Thompson? The story is simple and sad, but the way it's sung makes it especially emotional (at least for me).

HobbitFoot@thelemmy.club · 3 pts · 293d

Going for three from Against Me!

Thrash Unreal

Borne in the FM Waves of the Heart

I Was a Teenage Anarchist

And one from Rise Against

Help is on the Way

Know_not_Scotty_does@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 293d

A Better Place, A Better Time by Streetlight Manifesto

DioramaOfShit@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 293d (4 replies)

You'll never know by immortal technique

Diddlydee@feddit.uk · 1 pts · 293d (2 replies)

I read your comment then listened to all 7 mins 50 seconds. Perfectly fits the remit and a cracking tune. It's getting downloaded and going on the list.

DioramaOfShit@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 293d (1 reply)

Glad you enjoyed it. Immortal technique is a great story teller. If you haven't listened to him before, you should also check out "dance with the devil"

ieatpwns@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 292d

Mannnn. I saw this song in a comment last week and just read the lyrics. That still didn’t prepare me for the climax

sopularity_fax@sopuli.xyz · 0 pts · 293d

Whats the story it tells?

Wild_Mastic@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 293d

The willow maid, by Erutan fits perfectly

Mary, by Cécile Corbel also a very good fit

Also, don't know if you cold be interested in but fields of sorrow by orden ogan, the chorus gets new parts each time (the lyrics is not exactly a story like you find in a novel, but still narrates something)

Qkall@lemmy.ml · 2 pts · 292d

Basically the entire discography of la dispute. But this was the first one that came to mind

King's Park https://youtu.be/H8IT-xrQRqk

iamdisappoint@reddthat.com · 2 pts · 293d

Timothy by The Buoys comes to mind.

https://youtu.be/AXn0uIF60iU

ptc075@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 292d

Under the Red Hot Moon by Rancid

muxika@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 293d

For one song, I'd say "The Downward Spiral."

For an album, I'd say The Downward Spiral.

ReluctantMuskrat@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 292d
ReluctantMuskrat@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 292d
onlooker@lemmy.ml · 1 pts · 292d

Beauty is Within Us by Scott Matthew: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LKBoFra5YA

I'm cheating a little bit, because this song is tied to the second episode of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. It's a standalone story, by the way, so if you want context, you don't have to watch the whole show, just that episode. The episode's title is Runaway Evidence - Testation, for those curious.

But anyway, slight spoilers for that episode: it's about a man with medical issues that could easily be solved, but his parents won't let him take the medical procedure that would alleviate those problems due to their religious beliefs, so he lives life in anguish. If you just listen to the chorus, it might seem like a beautiful, feel-good song, but it's so, so far from that. Just... read the lyrics.

isyasad@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 292d

Alone Again, Naturally by Gilbert O'Sullivan.
A small twist, but a very devastating song