Need a few depressing rock songs to get into your feelings? These five tracks are some of our favorites. And the stories behind a few of them are heartwrenching.
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1. “Something In The Way” by Nirvana
Few depressing rock songs from the 1990s hit quite like Nirvana’s 1991 grunge track “Something In The Way”. The album version, as well as the acoustic MTV Unplugged version, are incredibly beautiful albeit depressing pieces of work.
The story behind this song is still a bit of a mystery. It was originally believed to be about a bout of homelessness Kurt Cobain experienced. Cobain himself said the song wasn’t necessarily autobiographical.
2. “Hurt” by Johnny Cash
For a man known for his country music stylings, Johnny Cash knew how to take something as intense as an industrial rock song and turn it into one of the most existential, depressing songs of the 2000s. Cash’s version of this Nine Inch Nails track is agonizing in the best way possible, with the vocal delivery of a man who lived a long life with plenty of regrets.
3. “Wish You Were Here” by Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd explored the experience of being a rock star and the pitfalls that came with it often. “Wish You Were Here” is one of the most depressing explorations of that concept.
It’s a very psychological song and also one likely based on reality. “Wish You Were Here” has been interpreted by many as a tribute to Syd Barrett, who had left the band due to a combination of mental health struggles and substance abuse.
4. “Nutshell” by Alice In Chains
Depressing rock songs can be found in abundance throughout the 1990s era of grunge, and “Nutshell” by Alice In Chains is one of the roughest cuts out there.
Layne Staley, who had suffered for years under the boot of heroin addiction, basically begs the listener to help him on “Nutshell”. “If I can’t be my own / I’d feel better dead” hits hard, considering that Staley died alone in 2002 from a drug overdose.
5. “Black” by Pearl Jam
In the same vein of depressing rock songs from the grunge era, “Black” by Pearl Jam is your typical heartbreak song that is made better by its poetic lyricism. Eddie Vedder sets the scene with a painful level of relatability: The one he loves is gone, and he’s left to scream into the darkness over his pain. There’s no bitterness here; just pure, raw emotion.
Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage
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