A large part of songwriting is conveying emotion. More often than not, musicians will present a unified front with their melody and lyrics. But, there are a few adventurous musicians who have chosen to put those two things at odds with one another. Find three rock songs you may not have known were sad because of how up-beat they are, below.
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1. “Nowhere Man”
The Beatles‘ “Nowhere Man” is a jaunty affair. Around the time of this song’s release, the band’s psychedelic era started to kick in, but the pop tendencies of their early days were still hanging around. “Nowhere Man” is the perfect intersection between those two sonic directions. Because the band wasn’t afraid of simple song arrangement at the time (an affinity that is characteristic of early ’60s rock), this song feels markedly upbeat. When you dig into the lyrics though, you’ll find something far less optimistic.
The lyrics tell the story of a lonely man with no direction in life. He’s a real nowhere man / Sitting in his nowhere land / Making all his nowhere plans for nobody, John Lennon sings with no plan to rectify the situation.
2. “Semi-Charmed Life”
When listening to “Semi-Charmed Life” you’d never guess that there is a depressing meaning behind that effervescent melody. According to Third Eye Blind frontman Stephan Jenkins, the upbeat musicality was meant to mimic a drug trip taken to escape “falling apart.”
Lyrics about “taking sips through his nose” and “bumps” reveal to the listener what is going on underneath the surface. The dichotomy between the lyrics and the melody is one of the most stark in rock history.
3. “Hey Ya”
I know what you’re thinking, “Hey Ya” is sad? There’s no way.” While it might not be considered sad by the traditional definition, there is a sense of pessimism hidden behind the dance-inducing melody.
If what they say is “Nothing is forever” / Then what makes, then what makes love the exception?…Are we so in denial when we know we’re not happy here, the lyrics read. When seeing the lines written out, you’d likely sooner attribute them to a wistful singer-songwriter than Outkast.
(Photo: Scott Gries/ImageDirect)
