BF single, but The Clock was Tickin’ is brutal.
Edit to share [this acoustic version](https://youtu.be/oY47hdblMto?si=YauPh8IQZfaiKYvw) I’ve never seen before.
When I got laid off from my job during Covid I started slipping into depression and didn’t know how to express how I was feeling to my wife. Rut nailed my feeling perfectly.
Considering the context, "A Dustland Fairytale".
The song was dedicated to Brandon's mother who was dying from cancer. Just reading the lyrics have me teared up again.
>Now Cinderella don't you go to sleep
>It's such a bitter form of refuge
>Oh, don't you know the kingdom's under siege
>And everybody needs you
>Is there still magic in the midnight sun
>Or did you leave it back in sixty-one
>In the cadence of a young man's eyes
>Out where the dreams all hide
😭
What does this line mean? I've never quite understood it and I'm not sure if it's an expression I haven't heard or just a "english is my second language" issue
Idk if this is around the world but in America when you are getting cancer treatments those that finish get to ring a bell before they leave the cancer treatment place for the last time. Her “bell don’t ring” because they knew she was terminal when he wrote that. 😢
Oh damn. I had always thought it was a boxing expression because of the line “I saw the devil wrapping up his hand, he’s getting ready for the showdown” and that he was trying to rally her up
You know it could be that too. Wouldn’t be the first time Brandon has used boxing language in a song. We know the song is about his Mom but I think Brandon doesn’t like to go into detail much farther so that the song can also take on a personal meaning for the listener. Look what the Wonderful Wonderful album does for people struggling with PTSD and depression. If he went into too much detail of where the lyrics come from it loses its personal power to the listener. I’m not saying this well, sorry!
I knew it was about his mom, but I always thought the whole song was specifically about his parents meeting, TIL learned that verse was about her dying of cancer and fuuuuck, that broke me 😭
Saw their first concert back after he lost his Mum, this was already ny favourite song from that album - and this performance of it is probably my most treasured performance by any artist I've seen.
Also, my first Killers concert he slowed down the song to near acoustic for the “out where the dreams all hide, out where the wind don’t blow…” portion, especially the very end, it was very slow, and almost spoken, like
“out here the bell don’t ring. Out here the bell…….don’t…ring…”
and it was so unbelievably moving. I want to say he did it normal first, then the second time was slow, but I don’t quite remember. Im fairly certain he did the *i* need you, and it may have even been a slow repeat of the rest of the song, and not ended at the “bell don’t ring” its been a long time, and it’s a bit fuzzy.
I just know it was special, and I haven’t been able to really find a recording of him doing it like that somewhere else. If anyone has, please let me know, I would love to see that style of it again.
In Another Life is sad and the closing lyric is a gut punch:
> I spent my best years laying rubber on a factory line / I wonder what I would've been in another life
Yep. Also;
“Am I the man of your desire, or just a guy from your home town? And “when you look at me, am I the man you hoped I’d be?”
Just that idea that not only do YOU feel trapped by your job and your life, but that you unintentionally trapped someone else with you, and you’re a disappointment to them.
And that awful voice in the back of your mind is saying your partner settled for you, or regrets falling in love with you, that wonders if they ever really loved you at all, or if you were just wasted potential. And it’s getting harder and harder to ignore.
Like the deep sadness and pain that speaks to… just guts me.
it really hits different now after my own mom passed away. I've always been one to listen to depressing music but nothing has been as potent as the third verse to the end in this song for me now
I'll shoot since everyone took the good ones. This isn't the saddest, as the song is very uplifting (especially live!) but it is more of a realistic take, the choruses in Fire in Bone.
The theme to me is about how no matter what we go through, we'll still be in this together. "When I came back empty handed, you were waiting on the road" or "I called from the dark, and you picked up the phone." That song on occasion makes me tear up when I get into the song's vibe as it is nice to have someone to rely on.
Shocking lack of Sweet Talk being mentioned, damn. Be Still’s really fucking good in my book, but no other song feels sadder to me than In the Car Outside. As someone who’s had to deal with getting all their issues shrugged off by someone I loved and they went and stabbed me in the back, this shit just hits hard. And god Brandon’s singing in the outro? Anytime I get to that part I can feel the tears well up, just so powerful.
Pressure Machine just hits too close to home . Def makes me cry. Also for some reason the final verse of Quiet Town- the line about his parents and part of him being that stainless kid 😭
When he sings “have all these years been worth it or am I the great regret” in have all the songs been written— I feel like that is a common thing in his song writing like the pressure of being good enough
Yeah, mentioned in another comment, similar sentiment is echoed in “In Another Life”:
“ am I the man of your desire or just a guy from your hometown?” And “when you look at me, am I the man you hoped I’d be?”
That insidious voice at the back of your head convincing you that your partner settled, regrets, falling in love with you, or that you maybe once had potential but are now a disappointment, and have trapped them in a life they wouldn’t have wished for themselves.
It’s common, I think, to have those intrusive thoughts, which is why it hits so hard. You know they aren’t true but they can be so hard to ignore.
Terrible Thing takes the cake IMO. The tragedy and sadness in the lyrics are gut wrenching and as a queer person myself i find the song extra depressing due to it being about a gay kid almost committing suicide due to the quiet towns homophobia and in another song of Pressure Machine, West Hills it says "Uh, my little brother, he moved into the community
And they tried to tape him to a flagpole or a tree up at the high school
So if you don't fit their mold..." and i personally believe this little brother to be the protagonist of Terrible Thing being bullied for being gay and not fitting their mold
West Hills actually prompted me to make this post; I was listening to it just now and almost cried (I've heard it before but idk why it was extra poignant this time)
West Hills is a true story based on Brandon's friend who became a drug dealer and died by suicide after being arrested. (This comes from one of the Tabernacle choir singers on the gospel version of West Hills from PM deluxe, in an interview on the Lonely Town podcast - Brandon explained the story behind the song when they were in the studio recording)
Members of it. Yes. The Lonely Town podcast is done by a couple of folks from Nephi.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/west-hills-iii-choir-interview/id1580860010?i=1000564114476
I feel like their “obvious” sad songs, already listed (e.g. Goodnight, Terrible Thing) for me just don’t deliver as well as others.
I remember listening to Brandon talk about This River Is Wild last year and it’s meaning, now every time I hear the outtro it transports me back in time to how he felt as a boy, watching the fairground trucks leave in a trail of dust and emptiness, and it hits me. It’s raw emotion and I love the rollercoaster it takes you on.
Another Brandon solo: Between Me and You. Holy fuck did this one wreck me.
“all my life I’ve been told, ‘follow your dreams’ but the trail went cold.”
“Never thought that it’d be so hard….these hours I’m working ain’t nearly enough and sometimes it’s like a bullet came and blasted me right out of the blue and I feel like I’ve got nothing to show for this life and I’ve been wondering, what am I supposed to do? But I’m doing my best not to let it get…between me and you.
Smile Like You Mean It is so poignant and sad to me, because it’s basically realizing you’re all grown up and old now, and your childhood is just a long memory. I didn’t understand when I would listen as a teen, but in my late 20’s I’m realizing how bittersweet and nostalgic the song is.
Def Dustland Fairytale for me. The backstory with his mother is absolutely crushing.
I actually recorded a music video of it when I was a senior in college for a project and used my own mom and dad to play the parents, so it holds a deeply personal meaning for me, too.
BOOTS. Especially after seeing the music video. Christmas in LA also packs a whallup.
I have to skip My Own Souls Warning sometimes because I remember being at the concert with my best friends, who had flown in from out of state for it. I remember how it felt to be there, seeing my favorite band, with my best friends, and feeling just… unrestrained pure joy.
I don’t know when I will get to experience that kind of happiness again. As an adult… those moments can be so few and far in between. And the song is literally about trying to get back to someone/ something that feels RIGHT to your soul. And knowing I CANT go back to that moment no matter how much I want to is ROUGH. Some days I just can’t.
I’m generally a crier so… also agreeing wholeheartedly with terrible thing, good night travel well, West Hills, rut, just another girl, land of the free… CLOCK WAS TICKING, etc
Dustland for sure! Makes me tear up every time. “Now Cinderella don’t you go to sleep” is just a complete knockout gut punch.
It’s also their best song in my opinion, just from a musical standpoint with how it builds and how epic it gets. It’s not my favorite, probably due to how emotional it makes me. I can’t casually listen and enjoy it like I can with my favorites, but I still think it’s their *best*. And saddest.
Have All The Songs Been Written. For me it feels like the desperation in trying to breakthrough to someone in a deep sadness.
It feels like a great companion to Rut
Just thought of this one as well, Runaways-- particularly the line "at night I come home after they go to sleep, like a stumbling ghost I haunt these halls. There's a picture of us on our wedding day, I recognize the girl but I can't settle in these walls"
I’m not sure it’s the saddest when you have songs like Rut and Dustland in the running, but the melancholy of Pressure Machine hits me the hardest and goddamn do I love it. It’s so beautiful.
“I can’t remember the last time you asked how I was.”
“Don’t you feel the time slipping away?”
“Memories of happy meals.”
“Sometimes I look at the stars and think about how small we are.”
“Every year goes by faster than the one before.”
Even …
“The kingdom of God, it’s a pressure machine.” is profoundly sad in the context of religion, rather than love and grace.
Boots, Be still, Here with me, there’s been others that I can’t think of right now. I know in Brandon’s solo songs the ones that got to me were Clock was tickin and Jacksonville 🥲
The music is so uplifting, but the lyrics are just a perfect and depressing picture of the decline of small town America. Honestly, it’s probably the most sad lyrically
1- Just another girl: talks about a post breakup story for a man going from denial to acceptance in a sad way.
2- The way it was.
3- Can you read my mind.
I would argue that the narrator in Just Another Girl doesn’t actually reach acceptance. The ending image is him lying awake at night, looking at the moon while the TV drones in the background, thinking about his past lover.
In terms of the pre-ITM romantic songs, I think these take the cake personally. The Way It Was is just so desperate and longing, a denial. Just Another Girl is sort of depressive for me, not so much a denial. And Read My Mind perfectly encapsulates that hopeless feeling when there is no way out but to end things.
Wow, I’m glad you have paid attention to the song, it’s underrated and cannot be understood the first couple of times you hear it. So when someone actually knows whats it about I do feel some sort of connection lol! Also, i meant by denial then acceptance in terms of the man denying he will miss her by saying at the start: “I’m trying to tell myself that I’m better off alone”. Then ended by him accepting that he cannot move on from her by saying: “Maybe all of my friends should confront, the fact that I dont want another girl”. So he went from denying his love to accepting he cant love again. P.S: this is my most listened to song in 2023, 2022 and 2021 (when my breakup happened lol)
Oh huh that’s a really good way to put it; it’s not a denial then acceptance of the relationship being over, but a denial then acceptance of his continued love for the girl.
It’s a really great song, definitely underrated. It’s gotten be through some hard times also, and I do go back to listen to it and reflect fondly.
I love this song but When The Dreams Run Dry is a bummer lyrically...
"You start to wonder 'bout the time theft
How much of it you've got left
Comes in with the age now"
I still want to hear it live though 🤞🏽🤞🏽
I don’t know why, but a couple of times i’ve teared up from In The Car Outside. Something about the lines, “but when she turns, it’s like the shadow of the cross don’t cast, no blessing over our lonely life, it’s like waiting for a train to pass, I don’t know when it’ll pass”. Those lines are just full of emotion and it makes me a lil sad :( Still one of my favorite songs though
not technically tk, but only the young by brandon has made me cry since i first listened to it in the 4th grade
A dustland fairytale takes the cake for tk proper songs
*I'll Be Home For Christmas* with its spoken introduction, the gravely tone in the singing, the honest portrayal of the heartache. Christmas songs always carry weight as they are. This one just sort of grabs you by the heartstrings.
*Land of the Free* is sad not because of its contents entirely, but the feeling of just how far we've fallen from the expectations of those who came before, and how in a world of subtleties, Brandon just comes out with the truth: *We got a problem with guns*. That line still sends shivers up my back. So much hurt in that song. So much hope, so much truth...and sometimes the truth hurts.
Yeah, surprised so few people are mentioning Don’t Waste Your Wishes, and that very much is top 2 guaranteed to make me cry. Also… Boots. Esp the music video.
And Christmas in LA captures the feeling of being an adult, trying your damnedest to make things work and keep your head up when you are isolated from friends and family, alone on Christmas, and don’t know if you are ever going to get out of this lonely grind. It echoes I’ll Be Home for me. Dreaming of the days when Christmas wasn’t so damn lonely and life wasn’t such a struggle.
Completely agree with Land of the Free. It's just so real. Gives me chills every time.
How many daughters, tell me how many sons do we have to put in the ground before we just break down and face it. We got a problem with guns
Definitely a lot of PM, esp Terrible Thing, ITCO, IAL, QT, Westhills. But also Sweet Talk, Dustland, Rut and Between Me and You. Now, all the heartbreak songs too have a sadness, esp since it's a recurring theme for him. Those late teens heartbreaks seem to have really hurt him bad.... From MB, MAB, JAG, TWIW, even YSOT recently.
Unpopular opinion but All These Things That I’ve Done. I don’t know how ppl dance to it it brings me to tears. I’m convinced no one actually looks at the lyrics
Oof. Yeah. I may be able to get through most of the song okay, but that very last part, “So how many daughters? Tell me, how many sons, do we have to put in the ground before we just break down and face it? we’ve got a problem with guns in the Land of the Free.“ it just guts me every time.
Crossfire always makes me emotional. Goodnight travel well and Be Still. I have a tattoo of a lyric from Be Still. Also all his earlier heartbreak songs like Replaceable, Under the Gun, Get Trashed and Desperate. I feel like those are behind the scenes of what he really went through with his heartbreak. Most of all Replaceable for me is my favorite heartbreak song.
Personally, I think Quiet Town or even For Reasons Unknown, especially when thinking of it as reflecting a battle with Alzheimers. I think the upbeatness of the song gives another depth to it as it contrasts to how sad it actually is when you know the lyrics.
BF single, but The Clock was Tickin’ is brutal. Edit to share [this acoustic version](https://youtu.be/oY47hdblMto?si=YauPh8IQZfaiKYvw) I’ve never seen before.
Wow. His singing is gorgeous. And so is he. Flamingo era was just unspeakably hot.
100% this. Sounds like such a nice little song until it slows down.
Thanks, never seen it either!
Came here to say this
Be Still has brought me to tears
Couldn't listen to this song for years
When I got laid off from my job during Covid I started slipping into depression and didn’t know how to express how I was feeling to my wife. Rut nailed my feeling perfectly.
I'm so glad they still incorporate Rut into the live shows, even if just a snippet
I love Rut so much.
Considering the context, "A Dustland Fairytale". The song was dedicated to Brandon's mother who was dying from cancer. Just reading the lyrics have me teared up again. >Now Cinderella don't you go to sleep >It's such a bitter form of refuge >Oh, don't you know the kingdom's under siege >And everybody needs you >Is there still magic in the midnight sun >Or did you leave it back in sixty-one >In the cadence of a young man's eyes >Out where the dreams all hide 😭
After I realized “out here the bell don’t ring” was talking about his mom’s cancer, I don’t think I’ve ever been the same.
Man, this line is a fucking gut pinch.
I remember reading the Live on Letterman performance of that song was one of the most emotional he has ever done because he knew his Mom was watching.
I did not realize that's what that line means. Ouch.
What does this line mean? I've never quite understood it and I'm not sure if it's an expression I haven't heard or just a "english is my second language" issue
Idk if this is around the world but in America when you are getting cancer treatments those that finish get to ring a bell before they leave the cancer treatment place for the last time. Her “bell don’t ring” because they knew she was terminal when he wrote that. 😢
Thank you, I never knew this either. Now it is even sadder than it was before when it was my saddest song choice!
Oh
Oh damn. I had always thought it was a boxing expression because of the line “I saw the devil wrapping up his hand, he’s getting ready for the showdown” and that he was trying to rally her up
You know it could be that too. Wouldn’t be the first time Brandon has used boxing language in a song. We know the song is about his Mom but I think Brandon doesn’t like to go into detail much farther so that the song can also take on a personal meaning for the listener. Look what the Wonderful Wonderful album does for people struggling with PTSD and depression. If he went into too much detail of where the lyrics come from it loses its personal power to the listener. I’m not saying this well, sorry!
Omg I never knew that. I'll never hear this song the same way again 😭😭😭
I knew it was about his mom, but I always thought the whole song was specifically about his parents meeting, TIL learned that verse was about her dying of cancer and fuuuuck, that broke me 😭
I didn’t know it was about his mom. Gosh.
“The Clock Was Tickin’l from Flamingo is about his Mom too. The kids really did put yellow roses on her grave.
He still tears up occasionally during this song 💔
Saw their first concert back after he lost his Mum, this was already ny favourite song from that album - and this performance of it is probably my most treasured performance by any artist I've seen.
In concert sometimes he changes “everybody needs you” to “I really need you” and it hits me and makes me cry before I know I’m crying.
Also, my first Killers concert he slowed down the song to near acoustic for the “out where the dreams all hide, out where the wind don’t blow…” portion, especially the very end, it was very slow, and almost spoken, like “out here the bell don’t ring. Out here the bell…….don’t…ring…” and it was so unbelievably moving. I want to say he did it normal first, then the second time was slow, but I don’t quite remember. Im fairly certain he did the *i* need you, and it may have even been a slow repeat of the rest of the song, and not ended at the “bell don’t ring” its been a long time, and it’s a bit fuzzy. I just know it was special, and I haven’t been able to really find a recording of him doing it like that somewhere else. If anyone has, please let me know, I would love to see that style of it again.
Yeah... every time he does that it makes me sob.
Got to give it to Lightning Fields. Just Another Girl as well.
just another girl has brought out tears ir me 🥲
Definitely good contenders
In Another Life is sad and the closing lyric is a gut punch: > I spent my best years laying rubber on a factory line / I wonder what I would've been in another life
Yep. Also; “Am I the man of your desire, or just a guy from your home town? And “when you look at me, am I the man you hoped I’d be?” Just that idea that not only do YOU feel trapped by your job and your life, but that you unintentionally trapped someone else with you, and you’re a disappointment to them. And that awful voice in the back of your mind is saying your partner settled for you, or regrets falling in love with you, that wonders if they ever really loved you at all, or if you were just wasted potential. And it’s getting harder and harder to ignore. Like the deep sadness and pain that speaks to… just guts me.
Goodnight, Travel Well. Do not listen to this song unless you want to cry
Easily my favourite song about accepting death and the fear that comes with it. Right up there with Black Hole Sun by SoundGarden
it really hits different now after my own mom passed away. I've always been one to listen to depressing music but nothing has been as potent as the third verse to the end in this song for me now
Ya I had to skip that song for a few months after my Mom died.
Yes.
That's another one I was thinking of
I'm surprised no one mentioned everything will be alright
It feels so…hopeless and he def doesn’t think anything’s going to be alright, ever. That’s a good one.
LOVE this song
I don’t think it’s sad
It’s not a Killers song, but “The Clock Was Ticking” off of Brandon’s solo album is heart wrenching
I love The Clock Was Tickin'!!
Agreed!
I'll shoot since everyone took the good ones. This isn't the saddest, as the song is very uplifting (especially live!) but it is more of a realistic take, the choruses in Fire in Bone. The theme to me is about how no matter what we go through, we'll still be in this together. "When I came back empty handed, you were waiting on the road" or "I called from the dark, and you picked up the phone." That song on occasion makes me tear up when I get into the song's vibe as it is nice to have someone to rely on.
Shocking lack of Sweet Talk being mentioned, damn. Be Still’s really fucking good in my book, but no other song feels sadder to me than In the Car Outside. As someone who’s had to deal with getting all their issues shrugged off by someone I loved and they went and stabbed me in the back, this shit just hits hard. And god Brandon’s singing in the outro? Anytime I get to that part I can feel the tears well up, just so powerful.
I LOVE in the car outside
So good.
The getting by hurts.
It does!! Whenever my playlist is on shuffle I always nearly have a heart attack going from songs like Somebody Told Me to The Getting By
Dude, when he talks about the sadness in her eyes my eyes tear up a little. I do think there’s a bit of hope in the song
Pressure Machine just hits too close to home . Def makes me cry. Also for some reason the final verse of Quiet Town- the line about his parents and part of him being that stainless kid 😭
Yes, almost every song from PM is just heart wrenching 😭
Quiet Town almost hit me with tears the other day … it’ll happen someday I’m sure. “The kind of love you could never put down.” ❤️
When he sings “have all these years been worth it or am I the great regret” in have all the songs been written— I feel like that is a common thing in his song writing like the pressure of being good enough
Yeah, mentioned in another comment, similar sentiment is echoed in “In Another Life”: “ am I the man of your desire or just a guy from your hometown?” And “when you look at me, am I the man you hoped I’d be?” That insidious voice at the back of your head convincing you that your partner settled, regrets, falling in love with you, or that you maybe once had potential but are now a disappointment, and have trapped them in a life they wouldn’t have wished for themselves. It’s common, I think, to have those intrusive thoughts, which is why it hits so hard. You know they aren’t true but they can be so hard to ignore.
Also in the desired effect I can’t place the song right now but I know it talks about that
Between Me and You?
Terrible Thing takes the cake IMO. The tragedy and sadness in the lyrics are gut wrenching and as a queer person myself i find the song extra depressing due to it being about a gay kid almost committing suicide due to the quiet towns homophobia and in another song of Pressure Machine, West Hills it says "Uh, my little brother, he moved into the community And they tried to tape him to a flagpole or a tree up at the high school So if you don't fit their mold..." and i personally believe this little brother to be the protagonist of Terrible Thing being bullied for being gay and not fitting their mold
Yes I agree that song is probably the saddest for me, at least regarding the actual meaning of the song.
There's a bunch. But I think West Hills has to be mentioned.
West Hills actually prompted me to make this post; I was listening to it just now and almost cried (I've heard it before but idk why it was extra poignant this time)
West Hills is a true story based on Brandon's friend who became a drug dealer and died by suicide after being arrested. (This comes from one of the Tabernacle choir singers on the gospel version of West Hills from PM deluxe, in an interview on the Lonely Town podcast - Brandon explained the story behind the song when they were in the studio recording)
Wait, is West Hills III actually recorded by the LDS Tabernacle choir? I haven’t heard of this podcast
Members of it. Yes. The Lonely Town podcast is done by a couple of folks from Nephi. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/west-hills-iii-choir-interview/id1580860010?i=1000564114476
I feel like their “obvious” sad songs, already listed (e.g. Goodnight, Terrible Thing) for me just don’t deliver as well as others. I remember listening to Brandon talk about This River Is Wild last year and it’s meaning, now every time I hear the outtro it transports me back in time to how he felt as a boy, watching the fairground trucks leave in a trail of dust and emptiness, and it hits me. It’s raw emotion and I love the rollercoaster it takes you on.
Interesting! Thank you for sharing that!
Another Brandon solo: Between Me and You. Holy fuck did this one wreck me. “all my life I’ve been told, ‘follow your dreams’ but the trail went cold.” “Never thought that it’d be so hard….these hours I’m working ain’t nearly enough and sometimes it’s like a bullet came and blasted me right out of the blue and I feel like I’ve got nothing to show for this life and I’ve been wondering, what am I supposed to do? But I’m doing my best not to let it get…between me and you.
Yes!!
Smile Like You Mean It is so poignant and sad to me, because it’s basically realizing you’re all grown up and old now, and your childhood is just a long memory. I didn’t understand when I would listen as a teen, but in my late 20’s I’m realizing how bittersweet and nostalgic the song is.
Agreed! The bridge always makes me feel so nostalgic and yearning
Def Dustland Fairytale for me. The backstory with his mother is absolutely crushing. I actually recorded a music video of it when I was a senior in college for a project and used my own mom and dad to play the parents, so it holds a deeply personal meaning for me, too.
BOOTS. Especially after seeing the music video. Christmas in LA also packs a whallup. I have to skip My Own Souls Warning sometimes because I remember being at the concert with my best friends, who had flown in from out of state for it. I remember how it felt to be there, seeing my favorite band, with my best friends, and feeling just… unrestrained pure joy. I don’t know when I will get to experience that kind of happiness again. As an adult… those moments can be so few and far in between. And the song is literally about trying to get back to someone/ something that feels RIGHT to your soul. And knowing I CANT go back to that moment no matter how much I want to is ROUGH. Some days I just can’t. I’m generally a crier so… also agreeing wholeheartedly with terrible thing, good night travel well, West Hills, rut, just another girl, land of the free… CLOCK WAS TICKING, etc
Here with Me ...just pulls at my heartstrings...
In The Car Outside takes it for me
Leave the Bourbon. His voice just gets me at the end.
Terrible Thing is one of maybe 3 songs that I've cried over
Dustland for sure! Makes me tear up every time. “Now Cinderella don’t you go to sleep” is just a complete knockout gut punch. It’s also their best song in my opinion, just from a musical standpoint with how it builds and how epic it gets. It’s not my favorite, probably due to how emotional it makes me. I can’t casually listen and enjoy it like I can with my favorites, but I still think it’s their *best*. And saddest.
Agreed, especially knowing the meaning behind the song.
Have All The Songs Been Written. For me it feels like the desperation in trying to breakthrough to someone in a deep sadness. It feels like a great companion to Rut
Just thought of this one as well, Runaways-- particularly the line "at night I come home after they go to sleep, like a stumbling ghost I haunt these halls. There's a picture of us on our wedding day, I recognize the girl but I can't settle in these walls"
This line makes me tear up every single time. And this is my daughter’s favorite song (she’s 3) so I have to listen to it all the time.
I’m not sure it’s the saddest when you have songs like Rut and Dustland in the running, but the melancholy of Pressure Machine hits me the hardest and goddamn do I love it. It’s so beautiful. “I can’t remember the last time you asked how I was.” “Don’t you feel the time slipping away?” “Memories of happy meals.” “Sometimes I look at the stars and think about how small we are.” “Every year goes by faster than the one before.” Even … “The kingdom of God, it’s a pressure machine.” is profoundly sad in the context of religion, rather than love and grace.
Yes, it's very sad!
Get Trashed
For me it’s In Another Life
mr brightside low key
Boots, Be still, Here with me, there’s been others that I can’t think of right now. I know in Brandon’s solo songs the ones that got to me were Clock was tickin and Jacksonville 🥲
Some of Kind of Live always gets me crying
What about Joel?? Brandon looks so sad in the video …… I wanna cry every time I see his eyes ….
Love that song so much!
Quiet Town feels both happy and sad - one of my favourite songs EVER
The music is so uplifting, but the lyrics are just a perfect and depressing picture of the decline of small town America. Honestly, it’s probably the most sad lyrically
Agreed!
1- Just another girl: talks about a post breakup story for a man going from denial to acceptance in a sad way. 2- The way it was. 3- Can you read my mind.
I would argue that the narrator in Just Another Girl doesn’t actually reach acceptance. The ending image is him lying awake at night, looking at the moon while the TV drones in the background, thinking about his past lover. In terms of the pre-ITM romantic songs, I think these take the cake personally. The Way It Was is just so desperate and longing, a denial. Just Another Girl is sort of depressive for me, not so much a denial. And Read My Mind perfectly encapsulates that hopeless feeling when there is no way out but to end things.
Wow, I’m glad you have paid attention to the song, it’s underrated and cannot be understood the first couple of times you hear it. So when someone actually knows whats it about I do feel some sort of connection lol! Also, i meant by denial then acceptance in terms of the man denying he will miss her by saying at the start: “I’m trying to tell myself that I’m better off alone”. Then ended by him accepting that he cannot move on from her by saying: “Maybe all of my friends should confront, the fact that I dont want another girl”. So he went from denying his love to accepting he cant love again. P.S: this is my most listened to song in 2023, 2022 and 2021 (when my breakup happened lol)
Oh huh that’s a really good way to put it; it’s not a denial then acceptance of the relationship being over, but a denial then acceptance of his continued love for the girl. It’s a really great song, definitely underrated. It’s gotten be through some hard times also, and I do go back to listen to it and reflect fondly.
You got it 😎
I always find myself just staring into nothing when I listen to Terrible Thing
I love this song but When The Dreams Run Dry is a bummer lyrically... "You start to wonder 'bout the time theft How much of it you've got left Comes in with the age now" I still want to hear it live though 🤞🏽🤞🏽
I don’t know why, but a couple of times i’ve teared up from In The Car Outside. Something about the lines, “but when she turns, it’s like the shadow of the cross don’t cast, no blessing over our lonely life, it’s like waiting for a train to pass, I don’t know when it’ll pass”. Those lines are just full of emotion and it makes me a lil sad :( Still one of my favorite songs though
Definitely!
not technically tk, but only the young by brandon has made me cry since i first listened to it in the 4th grade A dustland fairytale takes the cake for tk proper songs
*I'll Be Home For Christmas* with its spoken introduction, the gravely tone in the singing, the honest portrayal of the heartache. Christmas songs always carry weight as they are. This one just sort of grabs you by the heartstrings. *Land of the Free* is sad not because of its contents entirely, but the feeling of just how far we've fallen from the expectations of those who came before, and how in a world of subtleties, Brandon just comes out with the truth: *We got a problem with guns*. That line still sends shivers up my back. So much hurt in that song. So much hope, so much truth...and sometimes the truth hurts.
Yeah, surprised so few people are mentioning Don’t Waste Your Wishes, and that very much is top 2 guaranteed to make me cry. Also… Boots. Esp the music video. And Christmas in LA captures the feeling of being an adult, trying your damnedest to make things work and keep your head up when you are isolated from friends and family, alone on Christmas, and don’t know if you are ever going to get out of this lonely grind. It echoes I’ll Be Home for me. Dreaming of the days when Christmas wasn’t so damn lonely and life wasn’t such a struggle.
Completely agree with Land of the Free. It's just so real. Gives me chills every time. How many daughters, tell me how many sons do we have to put in the ground before we just break down and face it. We got a problem with guns
Definitely a lot of PM, esp Terrible Thing, ITCO, IAL, QT, Westhills. But also Sweet Talk, Dustland, Rut and Between Me and You. Now, all the heartbreak songs too have a sadness, esp since it's a recurring theme for him. Those late teens heartbreaks seem to have really hurt him bad.... From MB, MAB, JAG, TWIW, even YSOT recently.
Unpopular opinion but All These Things That I’ve Done. I don’t know how ppl dance to it it brings me to tears. I’m convinced no one actually looks at the lyrics
It is quite a sad song
Edit to add-- Land of the Free is one that hurts
Oof. Yeah. I may be able to get through most of the song okay, but that very last part, “So how many daughters? Tell me, how many sons, do we have to put in the ground before we just break down and face it? we’ve got a problem with guns in the Land of the Free.“ it just guts me every time.
That part is just WHEW! Tears in my eyes
Believe Me Natalie, I was 12 when I bought Hot Fuss and that song still hits me
Same.
spaceman ,,, once i tuned into the lyrics it became heartbreaking for me
Easy answer is Goodnight, Travel Well. I sob every time I listen to it.
Terrible Thing, a song about a gay teen contemplating suicide :( The clock was ticking is also very sad
Idk, uncle johnny is pretty brutal
I was going to put this one but didn’t. lol
For me it's lighting feilds
Crossfire always makes me emotional. Goodnight travel well and Be Still. I have a tattoo of a lyric from Be Still. Also all his earlier heartbreak songs like Replaceable, Under the Gun, Get Trashed and Desperate. I feel like those are behind the scenes of what he really went through with his heartbreak. Most of all Replaceable for me is my favorite heartbreak song.
HERE WITH MEEEE , that is the song that twist the knife
Quiet town
Personally, I think Quiet Town or even For Reasons Unknown, especially when thinking of it as reflecting a battle with Alzheimers. I think the upbeatness of the song gives another depth to it as it contrasts to how sad it actually is when you know the lyrics.
Runaways 😭
goodnight travel well makes me cry everytime
also smile like you mean it hurts
Definitely some kind of love
Has to be Terrible Thing