These 12 songs will make you feel happy until you listen to the lyrics
We’ve all fallen for it. You hear a breezy pop song or a killer pop-punk jam and before you know it, you’re taken in. Then you start to play it a couple more times while doing different things and then you begin to question the lyrics. Around maybe the fifth spin, you realize that you’re grooving along to someone else’s abject misery. Surprise! Our next APTV video features 12 deceptively happy songs that are actually depressing.
Not that we should or need to speak on behalf of artists. (Hey, they can do what they want, you know?) There’s a new generation of songwriters that love pop melodies and hooks. And like most of us, they’re dealing with the miasma of everyday living. Depression, negative thoughts and aching yearnings never go out of style. C’mon, do any good doom-scrolling lately? Don’t zone it, own it!
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The deceptively happy songs that made it onto this APTV countdown are all over the place. We’ve got beard-punks that love beer who remain trapped by their feelings. There are deep cuts from respected icons from this century, as well as one from a proto-emo gladiola-clutcher.
Don’t take it personally. Nobody was purposely taking your emotions for a ride and then throwing you out of the car at top speed. The entire “dark pop” genre is predicated upon catchy hooks carrying the weight of anxious lyrics. The difference between those pop practicioners and the teams on our list? The artists here have no desire to postpone your joy. They just didn’t feel they had to telegraph their intentions. These deceptively happy songs made you stop and think for a moment. Isn’t that what great art is supposed to do in the first place? Kick back and enjoy them. And another thing: Don’t Google the lyrics.
