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Musicians find inspiration everywhere; not just in happy moments, but also in uncertainty and pain, turning even the darkest experiences into a tune that resonates with the human soul.

So Reddit user Tangre79 decided to broaden their understanding of this complex art form and asked everyone on the platform to list some songs with devastating origin stories.

From popular rock ballads to reggae-pop hits, people immediately started sharing the tracks they can not listen to without getting emotional.

#1

“All These Decades I Didn’t Realize”: 30 People Reveal The Sad Stories Behind Popular Songs I always loved (and still do) The Show Must Go On, but once Freddie Mercury revealed he was dying of AIDS, those words suddenly made horrible sense.
supergeek921:
He recorded it after his diagnosis. Reportedly he could barely stand in the studio when they recorded it and the band offered to do it another time, but he just said “I’ll sing it darling” and belted it out in one take.
Amazing and tragic.

Wasps_are_bastards , Thomas Steffan Report

#2

“All These Decades I Didn’t Realize”: 30 People Reveal The Sad Stories Behind Popular Songs The best selling song in history, White Christmas, was written by Irving Berlin because his son Irving died on Christmas at 8 days old. Irving married an Irish Catholic girl, Ellin Mackay, whose family disowned her for marrying a Jew. Irving and Ellin would visit their son’s grave on Christmas. The song is about the Christmases he never saw.

jokumi , Al Aumuller Report

#3

“All These Decades I Didn’t Realize”: 30 People Reveal The Sad Stories Behind Popular Songs Dancing in the Moonlight. One of my favorite songs, very sad, unexpected origin. The songwriter and his girlfriend were on vacation at the beach when he was brutally beaten and his gf r*ped by gang members. He wrote the song afterwards, envisioning an idyllic world where everyone is happy and just dances all the time.

Clear_Pressure_2878 , brenoanp/pexels Report

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Scotira
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5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Sherman Kelly: "On a trip to St. Croix in 1969, I was the first victim of a vicious St. Croix gang who eventually murdered 8 American tourists. At that time, I suffered multiple facial fractures and wounds and was left for dead. While I was recovering, I wrote "Dancin in the Moonlight" in which I envisioned an alternate reality, the dream of a peaceful and joyful celebration of life. The song became a huge hit and was recorded by many musicians worldwide. "Dancin In The Moonlight" continues to be popular to this day." (Wikipedia)

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#4

Sittin' On The Dock of the Bay by Otis Redding. The final verse where he whistles the melody was a placeholder. He died (I think in a plane crash?) before he could record the lyrics to the end of the song. Hell of a voice in that man.

Tylensus Report

#5

“All These Decades I Didn’t Realize”: 30 People Reveal The Sad Stories Behind Popular Songs Definitely "Tears in Heaven" by Eric Clapton. Found out he wrote it after his 4-year-old son tragically passed away. Hit me differently ever since.

AniaAwe , Majvdl Report

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80 Van
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5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

He tragically died after falling out of a high rise window. That is devastating.

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#6

“All These Decades I Didn’t Realize”: 30 People Reveal The Sad Stories Behind Popular Songs Electric Avenue by Eddie Grant is about the Brixton riots and living in poverty, not being able to feed your kids despite working full time.

boomerxl , @britcultarchive Report

#7

“All These Decades I Didn’t Realize”: 30 People Reveal The Sad Stories Behind Popular Songs Bruce Springsteen - Born in the USA. I thought it was a happy song.. about being born in the USA, I guess? 

And of course it’s not. According to Wikipedia: “The song addresses the economic hardships of Vietnam veterans upon their return home, juxtaposed ironically against patriotic glorification of the nation's fighting forces.”

Yeah, not a happy song.

simulatislacrimis , Bruce Springsteen Report

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#8

Okay, not heartbreaking, but definitely more serious than I ever thought:

The dogs in Who Let the Dogs Out are men who harass women in the clubs. The song is basically “who let in these a******s who don’t know how to act?”.

12345_PIZZA Report

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#9

“House of the Rising Sun.” Most people know it from the Animals’ version, sung by a man. But it is written from the perspective of a young woman, forced into prostitution in the House of the Rising Sun. “It’s been the ruin of many a poor girl, and God I know I’m one.”.

GutterRider Report

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ColdSteelRonin
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5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

From Wikipedia: The House of the Rising Sun" is a traditional folk song, sometimes called "Rising Sun Blues". It tells of a person's life gone wrong in the city of New Orleans. Many versions also urge a sibling or parents and children to avoid the same fate....The song was first collected in Appalachia in the 1930s, but probably has its roots in traditional English folk song. It is listed as number 6393 in the Roud Folk Song Index.

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#10

“All These Decades I Didn’t Realize”: 30 People Reveal The Sad Stories Behind Popular Songs All of My Love by Led Zeppelin is about his 5-year-old son's unexpected death from a virus.

aflockofpuffins , Jim Summaria Report

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Ripley
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5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

As Led Zep is not a person, the "his son" was Robert Plant's son.

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#11

“All These Decades I Didn’t Realize”: 30 People Reveal The Sad Stories Behind Popular Songs I Don’t Like Mondays by the Boomtown Rats. I heard the song just a few years ago and recently learned the backstory. It’s about the Cleveland school shooting from 1979. When the shooter was asked why she did it, she said it was simply that she didn’t like Mondays.

fabulousmakeupcase , the Boomtown Rats Report

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John Carr
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5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

16 year old Brenda Spencer. Her father (who also sexually abused her) bought her the guns for her birthday.

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#12

“All These Decades I Didn’t Realize”: 30 People Reveal The Sad Stories Behind Popular Songs Wake me up when September Ends. It’s not just a meme. It’s literally all Billy Joe Armstrong said after his dad died when he was a teenager.

supergeek921 , Green Day Report

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The Doom Song
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Billie Joe is an amazing songwriter. Green Day are one of my all time favourite bands

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#13

“All These Decades I Didn’t Realize”: 30 People Reveal The Sad Stories Behind Popular Songs Glenn Campbell -- I'm not gonna to miss you -- A song to his wife while he has Alzheimer's, saying goodbye while he can because he knows he's not going to say goodbye later
Ashley Campbell -- Remembering-- A song from his daughter to him in response.

CorporateNonperson , Glenn Campbell Report

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Hippopotamuses
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That's really sad. He was the only singer that everyone in my family liked.

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#14

“All These Decades I Didn’t Realize”: 30 People Reveal The Sad Stories Behind Popular Songs When I Lost You by Irving Berlin. Irving Berlin was 24 years old and an early success. He married singer Dorothy Goetz who was in her early twenties. Five months after the wedding she died of typhoid fever. It's the first sad song he wrote. It was a year before he could bring himself to perform it. He didn't marry again for 14 years.

doublestitch , Unnamed photographer for Bain News Service Report

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#15

“All These Decades I Didn’t Realize”: 30 People Reveal The Sad Stories Behind Popular Songs Zombie by The Cranberries is about a bombing that [unalived] children during "The Troubles."

Chucks_u_Farley , TheCranberries Report

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80 Van
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Does anyone else find the word “unalived” more disturbing and unsettling than the word “killed”?

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#16

“All These Decades I Didn’t Realize”: 30 People Reveal The Sad Stories Behind Popular Songs "Jeremy" by Pearl Jam is inspired by the real-life s*icide of Jeremy Wade Delle, a 15-year-old student from Richardson, Texas who shot himself in front of his English class on January 8, 1991.

ballchamois , Pearl Jam Report

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Nikki Gross
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Pearl Jam is amazing and "Ten" is a masterpiece that still musically holds up today. The unedited version of "Jeremy" is especially hard to watch and Eddie Vedder wrote that YEARS before the Columbine shooting happened.

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#17

“All These Decades I Didn’t Realize”: 30 People Reveal The Sad Stories Behind Popular Songs American Pie - I already knew it was heartbreaking, I just didn't know what it was about.
mrglumdaddy:
[it's about] the plane crash that [unalived] Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and the Big Bopper among others.

1SassySeductress , United Artists Report

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Premislaus de Colo
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's about so much more... There is so much context in this incredible song, just unbelievable

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#18

Pink Floyds song dedicated to their former bandmate Syd Barrett who tragically lost his mind/mental state.
Shine on
You crazy
Diamond

"On 5 June 1975, Barrett, now heavyset, with a completely shaved head and eyebrows, wandered into the studio where the band were recording. They did not recognize him for some time because of his drastically changed appearance, but when they eventually realized who the withdrawn man in the corner was, Roger Waters became so distressed about Barrett's appearance that he was reduced to tears." Wikipedia.

I_suckyoungblood Report

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Little Wonder
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You were caught in the crossfire of childhood and stardom / Blown on the steel breeze / Come on, you target for faraway laughter / Come on, you stranger, you legend, you martyr, and shine

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#19

“All These Decades I Didn’t Realize”: 30 People Reveal The Sad Stories Behind Popular Songs “Take Me To Church”, by Hozier. On first listen, sounds like a love song. Music video with more visual details? OOF.
wootiown:
My whole life I thought it was just some Christian rock song. All the Jesus freaks would play and sing it nonstop.
Had no idea it's about a gay couple explicitly hiding from the church.

LostInTheMists , Hozier Report

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T'Mar of Vulcan
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Anybody who listened to the lyrics would know it's NOT a Christian song. But it is a very good song.

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#20

My darlin', Clementine is about a man who watches his lover drown in a river because he can't swim.

Final verse goes "Ruby lips above the water blowing bubbles sweet and fine. Alas for me, I was no swimmer so I lost my Clementine.".

03zx3 Report

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Min
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5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

One of the biggest culture shocks for me when I moved to the UK was hearing this tune being played by ice cream trucks.

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#21

“All These Decades I Didn’t Realize”: 30 People Reveal The Sad Stories Behind Popular Songs Gypsy by Fleetwood Mac.

Recently found out Stevie wrote it when her childhood friend was dying of leukemia. I have incurable leukemia so the lyrics hit harder now for me.

“Faces freedom with a little fear, I have no fear and have only love”.

hai_lei , Warner Bros. Records Report

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Epona
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I feel like Storms would also count. You can hear Stevie's voice break when she sings that song. She no longer performs it live, understandably

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#22

“All These Decades I Didn’t Realize”: 30 People Reveal The Sad Stories Behind Popular Songs It's not exactly tragic, but the wedding staple "At Last" by Etta James is actually about a widow who dies and meets her late husband in the afterlife. "My heart was wrapped up in clover the night I looked at you," cause she was buried.

Still a great love story that can be used for weddings but a touch darker.

Animelily , Louis Ramirez Report

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Patricia Sørensen
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I can see how you could interpret it this way, but it's really not. If the lyrical subject were reuniting with a lost love in death, the verses "And life is like a song" and especially "I found a thrill to press my cheek to, A thrill that I've never known" wouldn't fit. Life starting anew and being like heaven are fairly standard metaphors for falling in love. The text just doesn't support a "dead widow" interpratation above a "fallen in love for the first time" one. I also haven't found anything extratextual to support it.

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#23

“All These Decades I Didn’t Realize”: 30 People Reveal The Sad Stories Behind Popular Songs Before You Go by Lewis Capaldi. He wrote it for his aunt that took her own life.

umokaygotit , Raph_PH Report

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Eli
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I didn't know this but it always makes me think of my friend who did too...

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#24

“All These Decades I Didn’t Realize”: 30 People Reveal The Sad Stories Behind Popular Songs Definitely "Fast Car" by Tracy Chapman. found out it’s about escaping a life of poverty and unfulfilled dreams. hits way harder now.

RinaRadiant65 , Tracy Chapman Report

#25

“All These Decades I Didn’t Realize”: 30 People Reveal The Sad Stories Behind Popular Songs "Gone Away" is a favorite song by The Offspring, but it can be rough to listen to after reading about it. I can't imagine performing it.
PoetryUpInThisB*tch:
[the story behind it]
His girlfriend who was killed in a car accident.
Leaving flowers on your grave
To show that I still care
Black roses and Hail Mary's
Can't bring back what's taken from me
I reach to the sky
And call out your name
And if I could trade, I would

paiaw , The Offspring Report

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Emma S
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The kids aren't alright is another Offspring song that's quite dark.

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#26

Vera Lynn's "We’ll Meet Again" is inherently sentimental but it became synonymous with WW2 and the reality that many people were not going to see their friends and loved ones before the war ended. It's implied that "some sunny day" won't be a homecoming but rather a reunion in the afterlife.

joshuatx Report

#27

“All These Decades I Didn’t Realize”: 30 People Reveal The Sad Stories Behind Popular Songs Pumped Up Kicks by Foster the People, it sounds like a happy song but it’s about school shootings.

Rocketcheckman , Foster The People Report

#28

The d***s don't work, by The Verve, about Richard Ashcroft's mother dying of cancer.

Ikeepitinmesock Report

#29

“All These Decades I Didn’t Realize”: 30 People Reveal The Sad Stories Behind Popular Songs Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas. It was in theory about a family planning to move. But it was written and recorded during WWII. Some of the lyrics were later changed. It originally had: >Someday soon we all will be together, if the fates allow. Until then we’ll have to muddle through somehow. So have yourself a merry little Christmas now.

ReadinII , Judy Garland Report

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#30

I thought the song Wonder by Natalie Merchant was a whimsical song about a supremely gifted child, but it’s actually about a child born with a rare congenital disease. The lyrics fit both ways. It’s brilliant.  

overlyattachedbf Report

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Kate
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Okay, yeah the lyrics fit either way, but the video does make it pretty crystal clear.

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