7 Upbeat Songs with Sad Lyrics

There are tons of party songs out there – songs that get people pumped up. Some of these songs are played at parties, at sports events, andon the radio. But some of those upbeat songs, despite a happy beat have really melancholy lyrics. These lyrics make you look at the song in a different light, think twice as you belt out the lyrics. Long time readers of our blog might remember our blog 10 Happy Sounding Songs That Are Actually Very Dark. This is a sort of part two to that blog, but with a fresh list of deceptively happy-sounding songs. We hope we don’t ruin any of these songs for you! 

"Some Nights" - Fun 

With a group named Fun, clearly all their songs would be fun too, right? Well, not really. You can look to one of their biggest hits, “Some Nights,” and swiftly realize there are darker thoughts hidden in this party track. This song is so fun to sing along to, but the lyrics are sad as hell. The song touches on doubt and regret from the members about being away from their families. They fear that the dream isn’t what they expected it to be, that they’re losing themselves with lyrics like, “I sold my soul for this? Washed my hands of that for this? I miss my mom and dad for this?” The song does talk about how some of those nights are good, but some nights they don’t know what they’re doing or why they’re doing it. Bleak.   

"Chandelier" - Sia 

I’m sure many readers are familiar with this hit by Sia, as it was everywhere in the 2010s. The chorus, “I’m gonna swing from the chandelier,” is iconic. I guess when an artist belts out lyrics, people don’t realize how dark the lyrics being sung are. “Chandelier is actually a song about a battle with alcoholism and the struggles of breaking out of the cycles of addiction. The party atmosphere in the song is actually a form of escapism. The song begins with a feeling of invincibility, “party girls don’t get hurt,” and the partying to avoid life continues, “I push it down” and “one, two, three, drink.” While the song is about partying, it explores the ramifications of a lifestyle like this, where you drink to forget every night, living like tomorrow doesn’t exist, with no consequences. When reality hits and there are consequences, it can hit you like a truck. Try not to feel too existential next time you hear this track. 

"Semi-Automatic" - Twenty One Pilots 

Having happy-sounding songs with dark lyrics is kind of the brand of Twenty One Pilots. You can find tons of songs in their discography that match this vibe. The one chosen for this list however, is “Semi-Automatic,” a song all about not knowing who you are. Lyrics like “taking my only friend I know/he leaves a lot/his name is hope” and “I will be saved/ for one whole day/until the sun makes the hill its grave” depict the experiences of depression, how every day can feel like a battle. It has such an upbeat bubblegum chorus that you sometimes forget it’s about not liking oneself and the struggle to get out of bed every morning to face the day. It’s deceptive

"Chlorine" - Trophy Eyes 

This Trophy Eyes is so catchy and easy to sing along to that fans sometimes forget that this is a song about death. “Chlorine” appears to be about being happy to be alive, with lyrics like “I’m still breathing.” But it’s actually about a friend’s suicide and the singer trying to understand why he had to die, and he lived all those years ago. The story in the song describes a time the vocalist almost drowned but a boy saved him. Yet in the present, as an adult, that boy has committed suicide. It’s a beautiful song about the cycles of life, the motives, and kindness of others, but it’s also a very harrowing track, with chilling lines like, “When you saved my life, did you know that you would take your own?” 

"Little Talks" - Of Monsters and Men   

This is another song heard everywhere in the 2010s. It seems like a song with random lyrics strung together, but it’s meant to represent a woman slowly losing herself to mental illness and grief after her partner dies. The conversation within the lyrics is between someone who has died, and the person forced to live on without them in their life. It isn’t all sad, however. There are some comforting and reassuring lines given by the deceased in the song meant to give the living person comfort as life continues without them. 

"Smile" - Lily Allen 

On the surface, seeing the title, just hearing this song, and not looking at the lyrics, one may think “Smile” is a happy song. It’s about smiling! Looking at the lyrics, however, the song is truly about how a breakup emotionally and mentally wrecks Allen after being cheated on. So, when the partner tries to crawl back to her, she smiles through her rage and emotional turmoil because she knows she’s better off without him.  

"Take a Walk" - Passion Pit 

This 2012 indie hit is very upbeat and happy on the surface, especially in the chorus. If you didn’t look into the lyrics and just heard the chorus about taking a walk, you could easily see this as a song about the joys of a stroll on a good day. But the lyrics tell a different story. The song is about the struggles of economic hardship from multiple perspectives, including from an immigrant trying to make enough money to send home to feed his family with the intention to eventually afford to bring them over to join him. There’s another perspective that discovers a bad investment has drained their pension. The burden of financial responsibilities to try to give your family a better life is why the protagonists of the song take a walk. It is a reprieve from all the pressure placed on their head. They can remove themselves from the stress. It’s a rather depressing track when you look at the lyrics.  

This list only has 7, but if you’re looking for more happy-sounding sad songs, you can check out the other blog referenced in this intro. What’s crazy is that this is just one small list of hundreds that could fit into a blog under this topic. If this is the kind of list you’d like to see a part two (or technically part three) of, let us know in the comments or leave a like. Thank you so much for reading.  

 Written by Kristen Petronio