The two I can think of are:

  • It’s Not Unusual
  • Escape (The Piña Colada Song)
  • GoddessGundy@lemmy.world
    3·
    6 天前

    My boyfriend said he thought about me when we listen to Saturday Night by the Misfits. I’m like… do you want to murder me?..

    The lyrics always sounded very murdery to me. I think they did an amazing job of making it sound romantic but bf read through the lyrics after that and hugged me when I got home and said he definitely didn’t want to murder me.

    Edit: Ok this one is purely personal but I just got done with work and it came out on the playlist, Achilles Come Down by Gangs of Youth.

    I learned this song from my daughter. I let her control the music when we’d drive to school and back but I immediately loved this song because unlike me, she has an amazing voice. This is one I only ever heard underneath her crystalline soprano while she sang along.

    It was always so beautiful that I didn’t focus on the song so much as her. She made a haunting, sad song a beautiful, pleasant memory for me because now she’s had her license for a while, she’s doing her thing being an ambitious senior. I don’t get to listen to her sing anymore between my work and her school/social schedule.

    I miss the days when I stayed up after a 12 hour shift to take her to school because I miss listening to her sing. I brain was fuzzy and that morning sun seared my eyeballs but I cherish every morning now because I don’t have many left. I acutally miss everything about my kids needing me now that one has been independent for quite a few years and the other two are almost independent. I’m listening right now and all I can hear is her voice.

    Fuck that shit hits hard. Im going to be an empty nester soon. Fucking FUCK. Fuck does it hit hard. I should be proud. I am! Jesus am I. I don’t know how I was blessed with these people, bio and adopted, that’s how vlessed I am, but I don’t want to look the gift horse in the mouth. Fucking wow, am I proud. But really I’m sad, too.

    /soliloquy

  • EponymousBosh@awful.systems
    1·
    7 天前

    Like half of Fall Out Boy’s discography. “Hum Hallelujah” gets a special mention for literally being about a suicide attempt. Also “Dance In the Dark” by Lady Gaga, “Stomach Vs Heart” and “Humor of the Situation” by Barenaked Ladies (“Angry People” as well), “Slip Slidin Away” by Paul Simon, “When I Come Around” by Green Day…suffice it to say, I enjoy this trope a lot :P

  • mlfh@lemmy.sdf.org
    941·
    9 天前

    99 Luftballons is upbeat and fun, and about some balloons inadvertently kicking off a cataclysmic war that leaves the world in ruins.

    • Einar@lemmy.zip
      14·
      9 天前

      It’s about the cold war paranoia. Sound is all synth pop upbeat, though.

      The English version is called “99 Red Balloons”.

      • grue@lemmy.world
        12·
        9 天前
        excerpt from the last verse

        It’s all over and I’m standin’ pretty
        In this dust that was a city

        • ArxCyberwolf@lemmy.ca
          5·
          8 天前

          If I could find a souvenier just to prove the world was here… here it is, a red balloon. I think of you, and let it go…

      • hperrin@lemmy.caEnglish
        26·
        9 天前

        So you’re saying that the person standing in ruin at the end of the song thinks of their loved one and sets off a nuclear bomb?

        I think the red balloons were just red balloons, mistaken for an enemy attack.

        You and I in a little toy shop
Buy a bag of balloons with the money we've got
Set them free at the break of dawn
'Til one by one, they were gone
Back at base, sparks in the software
Flash the message "something's out there"
Floating in the summer sky
99 red balloons go by

99 red balloons
Floating in the summer sky
Panic bells, it's red alert
There's something here from somewhere else
The war machine springs to life
Opens up one eager eye
Focusing it on the sky
The 99 red balloons go by

99 Decision Street
99 ministers meet
To worry, worry, super scurry
Call the troops out in a hurry
This is what we've waited for
This is it boys, this is war
The President is on the line
As 99 red balloons go by

99 knights of the air
Ride super high-tech jet fighters
Everyone's a superhero
Everyone's a Captain Kirk
With orders to identify
To clarify and classify
Scrambling the summer sky
99 red balloons go by

As 99 red balloons go by

99 dreams I have had
In every one, a red balloon
It's all over, and I'm standing pretty
In this dust that was a city
If I could find a souvenir
Just the prove the world was here
And here is a red balloon
I think of you, and let it go

        From Wikipedia:

        The lyrics of the original German version tell a story: 99 balloons are mistaken for UFOs, causing a military general to send pilots to investigate. Finding nothing but balloons, the pilots put on a large show of firepower. The display of force worries the nations along the borders and the defense ministers on each side encourage conflict to grab power for themselves. In the end, a cataclysmic war results from the otherwise harmless flight of balloons and causes devastation on all sides without a victor, as indicated in the denouement of the song: “99 Jahre Krieg ließen keinen Platz für Sieger,” which means “99 years of war left no room for victors.” The anti-war song finishes with the singer walking through the devastated ruins of the world and finding a single balloon. The description of what happens in the final line of the piece is the same in German and English: “‘Denk’ an dich und lass’ ihn fliegen,” or “Think of you and let it go.”[11]

      • Fondots@lemmy.world
        19·
        9 天前

        In my opinion, the lyrics tell a pretty straightforward story, no real need for metaphor

        Someone releases a bunch of balloons into the sky, they get mistaken for enemy aircraft/missiles, and set off a war.

        If you get more out of it with your interpretation, more power to you, but it feels like a bit of an unnecessary stretch though.

  • wizardbeard@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    69·
    9 天前

    Semi-Charmed Life by Third Eye Blind is the usual one I see brought up.

    Push by Matchbox 20 and Possum Kingdom by Toadies are arguable ones.

    Also, Richard Cheese covers a lot of raunchy and dark stuff in a vegas lounge singer style. Rape Me sung in a cheesy upbeat tone is a trip.

    • KittenBiscuits@lemmy.todayOPEnglish
      91·
      9 天前

      Hey Ya is an excellent example.

      Steely Dan seems more low key. And he hates on my alma mater lol. And he acted like kind of a dick when I saw him live. But I do love his sound, like warm tea with honey and a lil splash of bourbon.

    • KittenBiscuits@lemmy.todayOPEnglish
      15·
      9 天前

      But it’s about the euphoria one may experience after deciding to go through with it. Yaayy

      /s

      PS, I have witnessed the euphoria, but I didn’t recognize it for what it was at the time. They were calling to say goodbye. Fuck, that still gets to me.

    • hitmyspot@aussie.zone
      11·
      9 天前

      I wouldn’t call the smashing pumpkins upbeat. Some are up tempo, .maybe, but upbeat is not their style. Their biggest album was titled Mellon Collie and the infinite sadness. Not exactly cheerful stuff.

      • hopesdead@startrek.website
        4·
        9 天前

        I’ve heard the song used in those compilations of sporting events you see on TV before said sporting event, to celebrate a athlete.

        • hitmyspot@aussie.zone
          4·
          9 天前

          I’ve just gone back for a listen, which is why these posts are great. I’d say it’s the opposite of the title. It’s a downbeat song with a very happy lyric, used to cover for a dark subject.

          I’m now listening to Mellon Collie album. It’s surprisingly similar to Ash, an Irish band. I liked them both at the time but never saw the similarity when I was young. I suppose with time, many similar styles sound similar.

        • hitmyspot@aussie.zone
          1·
          9 天前

          It can be powerful or emotional without being upbeat. It can also be used inappropriately. Do you think it’s upbeat?

          • hopesdead@startrek.website
            3·
            9 天前

            I guess The Smashing Pumpkins being my favorite band, has skewed my perspective. I’ve always felt that song was ironically upbeat for their style.

            • hitmyspot@aussie.zone
              1·
              9 天前

              Especially the intro, but I still wouldn’t call it upbeat in general, lol.

              Have you ever listened to Ash? They kind of alternate between rockier and poppier sounds. However, listening back to smashing pumpkins today, as I haven’t listened to more than one song in a while, it struck me as very similar. I think Ash is a little more upbeat in general though, so perhaps why they can lean into a more pop sound. They lean into a more heavy sound also, where I think pumpkins show more controlled restraint.

  • baldingpudenda@lemmy.world
    27·
    9 天前

    hey ya – Outkast It’s about relationships that aren’t working out, but you still stay together.

    " thank God for Mom and Dad / for sticking two together cause we don’t know how"

    Then later

    " are we so in denial when we know we’re not happy here? / y’all don’t want to hear me, y’all just want to dance"

    • shalafi@lemmy.worldEnglish
      10·
      9 天前

      Someone’s boat was blasting that at the 4th of July on the water. My brother in Christ, I understood the lyrics back in 1984. It’s a jammin’ tune, but damn.

  • ArxCyberwolf@lemmy.ca
    21·
    8 天前

    90% of ska/ska punk music is like this. A few examples:

    “The Science of Selling Yourself Short” - Less Than Jake

    “Beer” - Reel Big Fish

    “Struggler” and “I Don’t Love You Anymore” - Bomb the Music Industry!

    “The Last Bell I Will Ever Hear”, “1-800-ALARM-ME” and “Last on my List” - The Arrogant Sons of Bitches

    “Ska Dream” and “Checkerboard Ashtray” - Jeff Rosenstock

    “A Better Place, a Better Time” and “As the Footsteps Die Out Forever” - Streetlight Manifesto

    • Tehhund@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      7 天前

      Nearly Everything by Reel Big Fish. It’s all fun ska and mostly about social anxiety, broken hearts, and substance abuse. I love them.

      • ArxCyberwolf@lemmy.ca
        2·
        7 天前

        I’ll have to listen to that one! “I Know You Too Well to Like You Anymore” fits the bill as well. A very ugly fight between a couple who hate each other but can’t live without one another.