Random Depressing Stories Behind Some Of Most Popular Songs In Modern History (25 items)

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  (#15) Shiny Happy People

  • R.E.M.

  While seemingly a jokey and slight REM song about people going through life with no cares, "Shiny Happy People" is thought to have drawn its initial inspiration from a fairly dark place. The title phrase was the translation of a propaganda poster from China's Mao era that read "shiny happy people holding hands." The song was written and recorded after the Tiananmen Square incident in Beijing, an event that weighed heavily on the band.

   
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  (#23) Escape (The Pina Colada Song)

  • Rupert Holmes

  Rupert Holmes’s cheery song about tropical drinks and getting caught in the rain actually has a dark undercurrent: it's about a couple cheating on each other. Holmes's song describes a man who uses a personal ad to find a woman with whom to cheat on his wife. When he goes to meet the woman, he finds out that she is actually his wife. 

  The song was a monster hit, but Holmes could never repeat its success.
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  (#16) Detroit Rock City

  • Kiss

  One doesn’t normally associate KISS with harrowing personal trauma, but guitarist Paul Stanley had that in mind when he wrote "Detroit Rock City." Stanley wrote the song about a KISS fan who was felled in a car crash after he went to see the band perform. 

   
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  (#21) Bob Dylan - 'Sara'

  Much of Bob Dylan's material in the '70s was inspired by the difficult relationship he had with his wife Sara. This was especially poignant in the 1975 album Blood on the Tracks, which is essentially a blow-by-blow account of their breakup. But a year later, Dylan pulled out all the stops to win Sara back, writing this harrowing ballad as the final track of his album Desire.

  The song was more personal and focused than almost anything Dylan ever wrote but it was not enough to win Sara back. They divorced in 1977.
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  (#7) Pink Floyd - 'Shine on You Crazy Diamond'

  Written as a tribute to Pink Floyd's original creative mastermind, Syd Barrett, the recording of the this nine-part opus took a bizarre turn when, in January 1975, Barrett himself showed up where the band was recording the song about him. At first, nobody recognized Barrett, who had gained weight and shaved his head since being ousted from the group years earlier. Before his death, he would only be seen by a band member once more. Roger Waters saw him buying sweets in London a couple of years later, but the two reportedly did not speak.
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  (#6) The Needle and the Damage Done

  • Neil Young

  While obviously about substance abuse, it's less well known that Neil Young wrote this song about a specific person. Included on the 1972 album Harvest, "The Needle and the Damage Done" eulogizes the addiction of his bandmate, guitarist Danny Whitten. As the story goes, while rehearsing for a tour, Young gave Whitten $50 and a plane ticket for Los Angeles so he could take care of his addiction. Whitten used the money to get high and suffered a subsequent overdose. 

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