Ask Lemmy

Billy Idol - Dancing with Myself Loneliness masked as liberation.

Bulletproof - La Roux Emotional numbness disguised as empowerment

Some Linkin Park songs (Bleed it out, Up from the Bottom, etc.)

There's so many such songs...

Hard Times - Paramore first thing I thought of

I Am A Rock by Simon and Garfunkel

A winter's day  
In a deep and dark December

I am alone  
Gazing from my window to the streets below  
On a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow
I am a rock I am an island

I've built walls
A fortress deep and mighty
That none may penetrate
I have no need of friendship, friendship causes pain
It's laughter and it's loving I disdain
I am a rock I am an island

Don't talk of love
Well I've heard the word before
It's sleeping in my memory
I won't disturb the slumber of feelings that have died
If I never loved I never would have cried
I am a rock I am an island

I have my books
And my poetry to protect me
I am shielded in my armor
Hiding in my room safe within my womb
I touch no one and no one touches me
I am a rock I am an island

And a rock feels no pain
And an island never cries

• OutKast - Hey Ya!
• Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five - The Message
• Tones and I - Dance Monkey
• NENA - 99 Red Balloons
• The 88 - At Least It Was Here
• The Beatles - Help!
• R.A. the Rugged Man - Legendary Loser
• Theory of a Deadman - Bitch Came Back
• Atmosphere - The Best Day
• Atmosphere - Yesterday
• Gorillaz - DoYaThing (Full-Length)
• Eddy Grant - Electric Avenue
• Foster The People - Best Friend
• The Offspring - The Kids Aren't Alright
• Tyler, The Creator - 48
• Bruce Springsteen - Born in the U.S.A
• KISS - Detroit Rock City
• Scissor Sisters - Laura
• The Dead South - In Hell I'll Be In Good Company

The Science of Selling Yourself Short by Less Than Jake

Vamos a la playa - super catchy totally 80s pop song that was everywhere in amusement parks ..... and it's about nuclear hellscape.

My Worst Enemy - Lit

Man, who is probably an alcoholic, wakes up the next day from a bender to find his girlfriend has left him.

A good chunk of They Might Be Giants' discography.

Homeless Bleak Despair is about what's in the title.

Don't Let's Start "Everybody dies frustrated and sad and that is beautiful"

My Man is about being paralyzed.

That just scratches the surface.

Bullet by Hollywood undead

Almost anything by Tom Lehrer.

Surprised that people haven't mentioned Yoru ni Kakeru (Racing into the Night) by Yoasobi. It's a Japanese song about depression and commiting suicide.

Specifically, it follows a guy who falls in love with a depressed and suicidal girl. Over time, the guy himself becomes depressed and tired of life and they both decide to commit suicide together.

Polish Dancing Cow song is upbeat and catchy but the lyrics are about a man struggling with his cocaine addiction.

Fuck You - The Used

pretty much anything by third eye blind

I always found The Scientist by Coldplay to be a pretty upbeat song about the death of a loved one. And Viva la Vida upbeat, and all about the fall from grace.

Pumped Up Kicks - Foster the People.

• Eleanor Rigby by The Beatles
• Some Nights by Fun (and the music video really reinforces it)
• I Wanna Get Better by Bleachers
• a bunch of different songs by P!nk
• Weird Al's presidential debate autotune songs ("Bad Hombres, Nasty Women" from 2016, "WE'RE ALL DOOMED" from 2020, and "Deja Vu (But Worse)" from 2024)

You are my sunshine

The other night dear As I lay sleeping I dreamed I held you in my arms But when I woke up I was mistaken so I held my head and I cried You are my sunshine My ONLY sunshine

It doesn't get any better from there

Edit: I will never understand how to format things the way I want them to sorry

Zero 7 - Waiting to die

https://youtu.be/ge1_eVMO-mU

Snowpix mentioned lots of ska/ska punk I gotta agree, my pick is The Aquabats - chemical bomb

https://youtu.be/Y3fXdcHQY4o

Maybe a bit of a stretch but just running with the musical tone doesn't match the lyrics Ben Folds - bitches ain't shit cover

https://youtu.be/gjFRy8jQ_0U

Mark Knopfler has quite a few. Postcards from Paraguay. Quality Shoe. Romeo and Juliet. Boom Like That. It's a thing with him - contrasting the music with the theme.

A solid majority of Bastille's discography comes to mind, though not as outright depressing as Pumped Up Kicks or Youth of a Nation, most of their tracks tend to be very instrumentally upbeat and lively, with gorgeous vocals, but thematically darker lyrics / topics. Happier comes to mind as immediately fitting the prompt (and having enough radio play to be recognizable), but The Draw, Haunt, and Skulls also fit well (I'd also included their cover of City High's What Would You Do, also long as being a cover isn't a immediate disqualifier).

I feel like they're kind of slept on since they don't get a whole lot of radio play outside of a handful of songs, but all their other work is just so good. Personal top favorite artist, hands down.

the mountain goats - no children https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QS27S3mspjU

I'm Only Me When I'm With You by Taylor Swift. Granted, I have no experience with healthy relationships, but the relationship in that song sounds extremely unhealthy and codependent

Timothy by The Buoys is a very happy song about men trapped in a mine collapse cannibalizing each other to survive.

Paul Thorn - Bull Mountain Bridge

Jonathan Coulton - Shop-Vac®

for some reason there's a bunch of upbeat sounding Japanese songs that are actually disturbing if you look into the lyrics (for example racing into the night)

Mmmm Bop