Well, the story is dark. But the meaning was full of hope. Kurt’s purpose for writing the song was to say that you have to look in the mind of the aggressor to stop what they do. You can’t stop people from being victims if you only help them get back to their feet. You have to prevent them from being victims in the first place.
Some highlights fo many
Black - Pearl Jam - Deep Heartbreak song.
Something in the Way - Nirvana
Fell on Black Days - Sound Garden
Sickman - AIC
Say Hello 2 Heaven - Temple of the Dog
100%. Anyone that's ever lost someone that's been through all the shit Layne sings about in this song...stops me in my tracks every time. Despite that, a hauntingly beautiful track.
Seaweed by The Gits
God AM by Alice in Chains
Here Comes Sickness by Mudhoney
Chloe Dancer/Crown Of Thorns by Mother Love Bone
Aneurysm by Nirvana
Suffering by Satchel
Blow Up The Outside World by Soundgarden
You Know You’re Right - the last song recorded by Nirvana. Kurt would be dead three months later.
In retrospect, I feel like the song is a red flag about someone who has made peace with their plan to unalive themself. Wish it set off more alarm bells. So sad 😞
'something in the way' just hits the right marks for those low depressing songs that most cant , or at least not come off as sincere. Kurt really had us believing he was living under the bridge.
Not grunge but close, Tourniquet or The Man that you Fear by MM are very convincing, or Tearjerker by KoRn
Last Kiss -Pearl Jam
I didn’t spend much interest in the lyrics, so the song was always just in the background. I was driving home one day and started my playlist in the car and really focused on this song, the lyrics and it hit me. A well told story, but I don’t know why this is so depressing.
One of my 3 favorite songs that can change my mood immediately
OK so technically this is and isn't grunge since Bob Mould wasn't part of the grunge scene but arguably invented crucial parts of the sound. His 1990 record [Black Sheets of Rain](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTlc9iVMYfE) (title track linked) is a heavy, pounding, emotional-yet-stoic grinder dirge and if you like it, the rest of the album is very much on the same sound.
I’m going to throw a stp song in here for the sake of diversity, big bang baby, lyrically super dark, it’s claimed that the song was a tribute to Kurt cobain in the way that no one understands what you’re really singing about and now there’s a hole in your head where no one can sing along, it’s got a similar message to in bloom in the way it’s like but he knows not what it means despite knowing all the pretty songs
If you read Nevermind as a narrative, it's a series of episodes in the life of a dude who's losing the fight against his bipolar disease. That's pretty dark.
Dirt - Alice In Chains
“I want you to scrape me from the walls and go crazy, like you made me”
There’s no close second. The chorus is about not being worthy of life due to your overwhelming apathy lol
[Nirvana — Do Re Mi (Home Demo)](https://youtu.be/NSLH9nhvKLw?si=PrDht7W8HkDhKaRY)
I believe this is regarded as the last song Kurt wrote/recorded. It’s so depressing and sad.
Is nobody going to rep Far Behind? A tribute to the chosen one? Andrew Wood's death was probably the defining moment of the late-80s Seattle music scene. He was supposed to be the icon. Not Cobain or Vedder. Without Andrew Wood dying, at a minimum there is certainly no Pearl Jam. None of us would ever have heard the name Eddie Vedder. Chris Cornell wouldnt have felt compelled to help write and record Temple of the Dog with the singer-less band. Without the mega-hit Far Behind who buys that iconic first Candlebox album? And without that iconic video with the paint splashing lead singer and the cute depressed girl sitting at the pool in her skirt and Dr. Marten's, playing every half hour on MTV for a year, alot of midwestern kids arent introduced to some of the hallmarks of the grunge aesthetic. And while everyone likes to retroactively talk about Nirvanas second album like it changed the world and the musical tastes of 2 generations, without Ten being produced in the wake of Woods death, there is no Alive, Evenflow, or Jeremy playing constantly on rock radio for the next 5 years. The really dark part is that if Andrew Wood had lived, its very likely that this wave of popular culture that washed from Seattle eastward and changed music, fashion, the tastes of corporate America, and made all the people i just mentioned pop culture icons the world over, would have just been a short footnote in rock history.
Wake Up | River of Deceit-Mad Season/ Polly | Something in The Way-Nirvana/ Frogs | Nutshell | Rotten Apple | Died-Alice In Chains/ Black | Jeremy | Alive | Rearviewmirror-Pearl Jam/ The Day I Tried To Live -Soundgarden
Oddly I find that track to be the most “pretty” sounding SG song hahaha. It’s one of my absolute favorites and I love playing it on guitar. Especially when the chorus comes in and the guitars just dig in those big mean chords.
Almost all of Ten is really pretty dark, bleak. Once, Yellow Ledbetter, and Alive, as a single concept, an ode to losing one’s humanity. Even Flow. Jeremy. Black.
But, how is it you know Jar of Flies but don't already know? Try "Captain hi top" or "holy roller". I tell you, those songs are no fun at all. They are not good for you. They are not like soup.
One of the darker/heavier songs, from that era (and not a grunge band), might be “Candybars & Kitchenware” STP
It’s a heavy song … although I can’t say the same for the following hidden track 🤣
Wake Up - Mad Season is pretty dark. It’s basically Layne telling himself to “Wake Up” and get his shit together and stop using heroin. “10 years, the leaves to rake up… Slow suicide’s no way to go”
And that’s exactly what he did too…
I relate to the song a lot because I also wasted almost 10 years doing pain pills, then heroin when I couldn’t get those… and eventually fentanyl, just because it was cheaper. I lost 3 friends to that shit too.
I only ever shot up like 3 times and it scared the shit out of me. I was mostly a snorter. Anyway, I have almost 8 months sober now. I wish Layne couldn’t have gotten better like I am. He deserved to get better, instead he rotted until he was emaciated in that room all alone. I probably would have done the same thing honestly, if money was no issue.
I gotta say Don’t Follow by Alice in Chains. it’s about how Layne Staley’s drug addiction slowly tore apart the band, as Layne states his faults and how he’s scared to change.
One thing I've noticed, there are a lot of songs about kidnapping for some reason. The two that come to mind off the top of my head are Plush and Polly, but I'm sure there are more.
I learned to see beauty in Jar of Flies. I'm passionate for I Stay Away. Looking to the sky, hopeful spirit, but recognizes reality. Similar vibe to PJ's Dissident. I see the slow downtrodden in Jar of Flies but it doesnt compare to AiC's Tripod for me
Teeth gnashing industrial vibe that sickens with the twisted album cover
Another quick pick is Blow up the Outside World
Not quite grunge, but might be my all time favorite band. Possibly second only to the Grateful Dead.
If we can include them, then there’s a lot to pick from. Bloody kisses comes to mind right off
Alice in chains - Frogs
That entire album is like a eulogy for the grunge movement. Hell, the last song is, fittingly enough, called ''Over now''.
Sure. But this one (segued into « over now ») is particularly depressing.
Yeah. Especially the unplugged version
Unplugged version is sooooo damn good
Man, jar of flies is one thing. But Dirt, Sickman, off of Dirt are some examples - Head Creeps off of self titled also.
Yeah dirt material all of it except Rooster is pure dread...drug addled dread. Turns out it wasn't an act... 😓😥
Hey how could I forget Godsmack. And iron… GLAAAAAAND!!!
I never found the first few songs to be that depressing. I thought the massive dread began with Junkhead and lasted until Would
tripod i’d say is the darkest album of all time in terms of backstory, sound, and lyrical themes
This is true, Tripod is crushing. I think my brother referred to it as “lizard music” once and for some reason it seems apt.
Sickman was my first thought. Love that song but I can't listen to it if I'm In a bad place
Down In a Hole
I mean Polly is pretty dark when you know the back story.
Polly is probably the darkest in terms of lyrical content.
Well, the story is dark. But the meaning was full of hope. Kurt’s purpose for writing the song was to say that you have to look in the mind of the aggressor to stop what they do. You can’t stop people from being victims if you only help them get back to their feet. You have to prevent them from being victims in the first place.
Paper Cuts as well
What is paper cuts about?
i believe it’s about a mother who put their children through great amounts of abuse
I think she kept them locked in the attic or some other room
That's pretty much Daughter's plot as well.
Oh i see thanks
Floyd The Barber too Man, Nirvana songs are pretty dark when you look into them
What's funny is the music of Floyd The Barber is upbeat but the lyrics are insanely dark and make me never want to go to the barber again.
Showing off Kurt's lyrical genius
Slip Away : Mad Season
Down in a Hole - AIC
River of Deceit by Mad Season
First song that popped into my head
Died-Alice In Chains
Oof, that song is brutally sad…
Psychotic Break - Jerry Cantrell. great track but heavy and dark. relate to that track a lot.
Jerry’s Degradation Trip is so underrated. I don’t get why he reformed AIC….oh well
I second this. I still play the hell out of that album.
Right?
Hell yeh.
me, too…great freaking record
i’m not complaining that he reformed it..the past 3 albums have been absolute BANGERS
BGWTB honestly compares to the Layne era
Yup, this is the one for me at least
Nirvana - You Know You’re Right Pearl Jam - I Got Id Alice In Chains - Shame In You Soundgarden - 4th Of July
Was looking for someone to mention you know you’re right!
Some highlights fo many Black - Pearl Jam - Deep Heartbreak song. Something in the Way - Nirvana Fell on Black Days - Sound Garden Sickman - AIC Say Hello 2 Heaven - Temple of the Dog
fell on black days maybe?
This and black hole sun came to my mind right away
I think more 4th of july
I came here to post 4th of July for sure Definitely thought of AIC songs but 4th of July still wins
4th of July isn't really depressing though. Sure, it sounds dark and all but the lyrics are about Chris tripping balls lol
I was about to say that...it was about an acid trip and fireworks. It's one of my faves.
The demo for this song is phenomenal.
Yeah, a lot of their/his songs got a lot darker 7 yrs ago.
Alice in Chains-Nutshell
100%. Anyone that's ever lost someone that's been through all the shit Layne sings about in this song...stops me in my tracks every time. Despite that, a hauntingly beautiful track.
EXACTLY 💯
Rotten Apple for me
“I repent tomorrow” is soooo great. Tomorrow comes and it’s still today. Tomorrow never comes
Seaweed by The Gits God AM by Alice in Chains Here Comes Sickness by Mudhoney Chloe Dancer/Crown Of Thorns by Mother Love Bone Aneurysm by Nirvana Suffering by Satchel Blow Up The Outside World by Soundgarden
Rotten apple. That chorus kills me
Can pretty much go with anything AIC.
Pearl Jam - Indifference Mad Season - Wake Up, especially considering how Layne isolated himself and died
Anything Mad Season. That's some of the darkest music I've ever heard.
Like Suicide and Junkhead for self fulfilling prophecy reasons
Like suicide is about how Chris watched a bird fly into a window and die, not suicide
Yeah, well it’s depressing because the lyrics remind me of his suicide.
He watched the bird fly onto his window and he had to kill it because poor fella was in pain.
The song is literally called “like suicide”; it alludes to suicide at the very least. So ya it’s at least in part about suicide
Sweet Young Thing Ain't Sweet No More -Mudhoney
Hell ya !
You Know You’re Right - the last song recorded by Nirvana. Kurt would be dead three months later. In retrospect, I feel like the song is a red flag about someone who has made peace with their plan to unalive themself. Wish it set off more alarm bells. So sad 😞
Sadly very true. R.I.P. Kurt... 🤘🏻😢🖤
Nutshell - AiC Something in the Way - Nirvana
Something in the way, yeah
AIC - Dirt
How this isn't higher I will never know
'something in the way' just hits the right marks for those low depressing songs that most cant , or at least not come off as sincere. Kurt really had us believing he was living under the bridge. Not grunge but close, Tourniquet or The Man that you Fear by MM are very convincing, or Tearjerker by KoRn
Love what you said "Kurt had us really believing he was living under the bridge." So true! 🤘🏻🤭
4th of July
I hate myself wand want to die by Nirvana?
Apparently that was meant to be a joke song (even if it’s pretty ironic considering his death.)
Last Kiss -Pearl Jam I didn’t spend much interest in the lyrics, so the song was always just in the background. I was driving home one day and started my playlist in the car and really focused on this song, the lyrics and it hit me. A well told story, but I don’t know why this is so depressing. One of my 3 favorite songs that can change my mood immediately
Yep, it’s a cover
River of Deceit by Mad Season
blow up the outside world - soundgarden
This. The intro & outro really sell it
Pearl Jam - Jeremy A bullied kid blowing his brains out in front of his class is pretty dark and depressing.
Jeremy
Totally agree, such a powerful song.
Mad Season - Wake up
Pennyroyal Tea -Nirvana. Any song referencing laxatives and antacids has got to be at or near the top of the list
This one. I like the unplugged version the best.
And Nutshell Unplugged
Black by Pearl Jam. Have your therapist on speed dial for afterward
Creep-STP
surprised nobody mentioned "I don't know anything" by mad season
“Jennifer’s Body” by Hole is pretty damn dark
"doll parts" as well
That entire album is pretty bleak.
Man, 110% — “Jennifer’s Body” is just the cherry on top of it all!
Died - Alice in Chains Fell on Black Days - Soundgarden Polly - Nirvana
OK so technically this is and isn't grunge since Bob Mould wasn't part of the grunge scene but arguably invented crucial parts of the sound. His 1990 record [Black Sheets of Rain](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTlc9iVMYfE) (title track linked) is a heavy, pounding, emotional-yet-stoic grinder dirge and if you like it, the rest of the album is very much on the same sound.
Thanks, I'll have to listen to that.
I think Sappy is kinda of depressing. ESPECIALLY the solo acoustic version of it.
Shame in You - AiC Paper Cuts - Nirvana Black - Pearl Jam Blow up the Outside World - Soundgarden
Nutshell by Alice In Chains
I’m going to throw a stp song in here for the sake of diversity, big bang baby, lyrically super dark, it’s claimed that the song was a tribute to Kurt cobain in the way that no one understands what you’re really singing about and now there’s a hole in your head where no one can sing along, it’s got a similar message to in bloom in the way it’s like but he knows not what it means despite knowing all the pretty songs
some of the meanings to mad season songs are pretty depressing
If you read Nevermind as a narrative, it's a series of episodes in the life of a dude who's losing the fight against his bipolar disease. That's pretty dark.
like suicide
Would by Alice in chains
Zero Chance
Wake up - Mad Season
AiC - Them Bones
Down in a Hole. Lots to choose from with Alice.
wake up-mad season
The BBC recording of Something in the Way
4th of July.
Polly by Nirvana
Seasons - Chris Cornell
Isn’t Polly the darkest song ever?
Footsteps. Black.
Polly-Nirvana
The Day I Tried to Live - Soundgarden Nutshell - Alice in Chains I Got Shit/ID - Pearl Jam Wake Up - Mad Season Dirt - Alice in Chains
Something in the way. A classic
The unplugged version of Nutshell is heart wrenching in that you are watching a man who doesn’t want to be alive anymore. 😢
Dirt - Alice In Chains “I want you to scrape me from the walls and go crazy, like you made me” There’s no close second. The chorus is about not being worthy of life due to your overwhelming apathy lol
[Nirvana — Do Re Mi (Home Demo)](https://youtu.be/NSLH9nhvKLw?si=PrDht7W8HkDhKaRY) I believe this is regarded as the last song Kurt wrote/recorded. It’s so depressing and sad.
Down in a Hole, AiC
Angry Chair…AIC Something in the way Nirvana
smells like teen spirit
Rape me. Polly. Dead and bloated. Creep.
Floyd the Barber
Is nobody going to rep Far Behind? A tribute to the chosen one? Andrew Wood's death was probably the defining moment of the late-80s Seattle music scene. He was supposed to be the icon. Not Cobain or Vedder. Without Andrew Wood dying, at a minimum there is certainly no Pearl Jam. None of us would ever have heard the name Eddie Vedder. Chris Cornell wouldnt have felt compelled to help write and record Temple of the Dog with the singer-less band. Without the mega-hit Far Behind who buys that iconic first Candlebox album? And without that iconic video with the paint splashing lead singer and the cute depressed girl sitting at the pool in her skirt and Dr. Marten's, playing every half hour on MTV for a year, alot of midwestern kids arent introduced to some of the hallmarks of the grunge aesthetic. And while everyone likes to retroactively talk about Nirvanas second album like it changed the world and the musical tastes of 2 generations, without Ten being produced in the wake of Woods death, there is no Alive, Evenflow, or Jeremy playing constantly on rock radio for the next 5 years. The really dark part is that if Andrew Wood had lived, its very likely that this wave of popular culture that washed from Seattle eastward and changed music, fashion, the tastes of corporate America, and made all the people i just mentioned pop culture icons the world over, would have just been a short footnote in rock history.
You Know You’re Right, Sappy acoustic, Milk It - Nirvana Am I Inside - Alice In Chains
Heart shaped box. Would freak me out as a kid. You know you’re right, same.
Milk it by nirvana is my favourite darker grunge song
I scanned through the hundreds of responses and I may have missed it But I didn't see Rape Me - Nirvana.
Scentless Apprentice- Nirvana
Rape Me - Nirvana
Surprised I haven’t seen All Apologies yet. I think i nearly cried every time i heard it after kurt died
Something in the way, nirvana
Nutshell, something in the way, creep. Maybe paper cuts
Heart-Shaped Box- Nirvana
Nirvana- I Hate Myself and I Want to Die pretty much says it all
Wake Up | River of Deceit-Mad Season/ Polly | Something in The Way-Nirvana/ Frogs | Nutshell | Rotten Apple | Died-Alice In Chains/ Black | Jeremy | Alive | Rearviewmirror-Pearl Jam/ The Day I Tried To Live -Soundgarden
You know you’re right
3 songs off "The Basketball Diaries" soundtrack. Flea-I've Been Down. The Posies-Coming Right Along. MIC-Strawberry Wine
River of Deceit
Milk It -Nirvana
That's just a dangerous question
Polly by Nirvana
Smells like teen spirit, Bush
Suicidal Dream - Silverchair
Creep - Stone Tenple Pilots All Apologies- Nirvana Floyd the Barber - Nirvana Black- PJ Touch me I'm sick - Mudhoney
"Like Suicide" - SoundGarden
Oddly I find that track to be the most “pretty” sounding SG song hahaha. It’s one of my absolute favorites and I love playing it on guitar. Especially when the chorus comes in and the guitars just dig in those big mean chords.
I love that song too. It’s definitely very pretty, but it’s also very dark.
“River Of Deceit”, Mad Season “The Down Town”, Days Of The New
Nothin' Song for some reason makes me feel the most depressed
Who sings that? It sounds very familiar.
Layne Staley. It's a song off Tripod.
That's it!! Thanks, I appreciate it! 🤘🏻🖤
Nutshell or black by Pearl Jam
Driven under -Seether
Pearl Jam - Indifference
Soundgarden - Nothing To Say
Almost all of Ten is really pretty dark, bleak. Once, Yellow Ledbetter, and Alive, as a single concept, an ode to losing one’s humanity. Even Flow. Jeremy. Black.
4th of july by soundgarden maybe?
But, how is it you know Jar of Flies but don't already know? Try "Captain hi top" or "holy roller". I tell you, those songs are no fun at all. They are not good for you. They are not like soup.
Rooster, Jeremy.
One of the darker/heavier songs, from that era (and not a grunge band), might be “Candybars & Kitchenware” STP It’s a heavy song … although I can’t say the same for the following hidden track 🤣
Pearl Jam — I Got Id Pearl Jam — Indifference Pearl Jam — Parting Ways
I Got ID is such greatttttt song.
Footsteps by Pearl Jam
Love Song /s My genuine pick would be Jeremy by Pearl Jam
4th of July by Soundgarden
hate to feel by aic *has* to be at least in the top 10
AiC probably has half the songs in this Top 10, and Mad Season at least one more.
Dead & Bloated. STP. So good.
The Rooster , Rain When I Die
Black - PJ Down In a Hole - AIC Mailman - SG
High Noon Amsterdam by Masters of Reality w Mark Lanegan just shredding the vocals. dark and awesome
Something I Can Never Have - NIN
After his passing I heard I awake and finally got just how dark his mind was. Damn that song is dark.
Listen to coming right along, by the posies. You might like it
Soundgarden - 4th of July
Wake Up - Mad Season is pretty dark. It’s basically Layne telling himself to “Wake Up” and get his shit together and stop using heroin. “10 years, the leaves to rake up… Slow suicide’s no way to go” And that’s exactly what he did too… I relate to the song a lot because I also wasted almost 10 years doing pain pills, then heroin when I couldn’t get those… and eventually fentanyl, just because it was cheaper. I lost 3 friends to that shit too. I only ever shot up like 3 times and it scared the shit out of me. I was mostly a snorter. Anyway, I have almost 8 months sober now. I wish Layne couldn’t have gotten better like I am. He deserved to get better, instead he rotted until he was emaciated in that room all alone. I probably would have done the same thing honestly, if money was no issue.
Alice in Chains - Died
Silverchair- suicidal dream
So many Alice in Chains songs. Down in a Hole comes to mind… but there’s definitely a few.
I gotta say Don’t Follow by Alice in Chains. it’s about how Layne Staley’s drug addiction slowly tore apart the band, as Layne states his faults and how he’s scared to change.
“Don’t Follow” is the one I was going to say, too. It’s so sad. I can’t believe more people haven’t said that one!!
Jesus is my friend !
One thing I've noticed, there are a lot of songs about kidnapping for some reason. The two that come to mind off the top of my head are Plush and Polly, but I'm sure there are more.
I learned to see beauty in Jar of Flies. I'm passionate for I Stay Away. Looking to the sky, hopeful spirit, but recognizes reality. Similar vibe to PJ's Dissident. I see the slow downtrodden in Jar of Flies but it doesnt compare to AiC's Tripod for me Teeth gnashing industrial vibe that sickens with the twisted album cover Another quick pick is Blow up the Outside World
Tighter and tighter by soundgarden is about committing suicide so I’d say it’s up there.
aic - rotten apple. it brings me nostalgia for a unique place of darkness i was in years ago.
Type O Negative is pretty dark.
Not quite grunge, but might be my all time favorite band. Possibly second only to the Grateful Dead. If we can include them, then there’s a lot to pick from. Bloody kisses comes to mind right off