Music Playlist: Classic Alternative Suicide Songs
Published May 17, 2007
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I'm a sucker for a good death-related playlist and for this death-centric collection of songs I thought I'd return to a favorite subject of rock and roll — suicide. It’s a theme you can find woven through every style of music created by mankind. This playlist contains 19 great songs about the act of killing yourself, but it's limited to the "classic alternative" genre.
What's "classic alternative" you ask? Well, it's a personally tagged genre that helps me classify bands who create alternative music, but have been around for 15 years or more. It’s not adult alternative, or indie, but includes forefathers of these genres.
Bands like U2, R.E.M., The Replacements, Joy Division, New Order, The Smiths, The Cure, The Jesus and Mary Chain are all bands I would consider “classic alternative”, and are all included in this playlist.
The destructive act of suicide does not only destroy a single life, but has serious impact on the lives those who loved the deceased. It always leaves unanswered questions, which makes the healing process even more difficult for those left behind. These are 19 of the very best classic alternative songs to explore the subject from many different perspectives.
Please join in and add any "classic alternative" songs that are crafted around the subject of suicide in the comments.
Classic Alternative Suicide Songs
1. "Asleep" - The Smiths
2. "Blasphemous Rumours" - Depeche Mode
3. "Mad World" - Tears for Fears
4. "Rock ‘N’ Roll Suicide" - David Bowie
5. "Reverence" - The Jesus and Mary Chain
6. "From The Edge Of The Deep Green Sea" - The Cure
7. "A Day Without Me" - U2
8. "Kiss Off" - Violent Femmes
9. "Everybody Hurts" - R.E.M.
10. "Insight" - Joy Division
11. "Redondo Beach' - Patti Smith
12. "Sunset" - Roxy Music
13. "In A Lonely Place" - New Order
14. "All Apologies (Solo Acoustic Demo)" - Nirvana
15. "The Ledge" - The Replacements
16. "The Kick Inside" - Kate Bush
17. "Pepper" - Butthole Surfers
18. "The Downward Spiral" - Nine Inch Nails (okay, this one is a stretch for "classic alternative", but is close enough)
19. "Angel, Angel, Down We Go Together" - Morrissey
- Music Playlist: Classic Alternative Suicide Songs
- Published: May 17, 2007
- Type: Opinion
- Section: Music
- Filed Under: Music: Alternative Rock, Music: Lists, Music: Rock
- Part of a feature: Music Playlist
- Writer: Robert Burke
- Robert Burke's BC Writer page
- Robert Burke's personal site
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Comments on this articleComments
I would add Tori Amos - Jupiter, seems like the right choice for a suicide playlist, and she is very alternative!
Hey, um does anyone know a suicide song with the lyrics, "I'm sorry, but this is my fate. Everything's worhtless. No one wants me to stay. And I'm sorry, but I've waited too long. So here's my good bye, no one will cry over me. I'm not worth any tears." I heard it through my friend, but she cant remember who wrote the song.
That's "goodbye, I'm sorry" by And then I turned seven.
Brad paisley - Whiskey lullaby
suicidal dreams by silverchair
Another sorta Kate Bush, as she accompanies Peter Gabriel on "Don't Give Up."
Would Blink 182's "Adam's Song," and Pearl Jam's "Jeremy" qualify as 'classic alternative'?
How about "The Ballad of Lucy Jordan" by Marianne Faithfull?
Personally, I like Nine Inch Nails for that suicidal mood. And Brad Paisley's "Whiskey Lullaby" is (pardon the pun) a killer. :-D
I'd add
Please Please Let me get what i want
by THE SMITHS
Dont forget to add,
Pink Floyd --> Goodbye Cruel World
Lullabies-By All Time Low
"Hurt" by NIN but I have grown a liking to mr cash's version
Affliction by AFI
Add your comment, speak your mind
(Or ping: http://blogcritics.org/mt/tb/64044)
I'd also add Kate Bush's "Don't Put Your Foot on the Heartbreak," lyric: "She's dropping beads, red, red, glass is bleeding...on the parquet..."; and "The Wedding List": "After she shot the guy, she committed suicide, they found a little one inside..."