# Depressing Music



## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

Let's keep it simple shall we? What's the most depressing piece of music you've ever heard?

I'll start...

*Luciano Cilio - (1977) Dell'Universo Assente*

View attachment 35453







"Luciano Cillio (sic) seems to have released an album almost by accident, spirited away from him as he slept." So wrote Jim O'Rourke in the liner notes for a limited edition reissue of an album made in 1977 by an obscure Italian musician composer named Luciano Cilio back in 2004. It was the lone album that Cilio ever released, and he took his own life in 1983, at the age of 33."

_* Note that the album's title has been changed for reissue._


----------



## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

If we did not have the accompanying *biographical story* of this young composer's suicide, would there be anything depressing about the music on the album itself? Me, I don't think so.


----------



## Guest (Feb 19, 2014)

I can't think of any classical that I would describe as depressing (though I used to think Mahler's 5th was - you'll know which movement.)

Tracks on Bowie's _Low _and _Heroes,_Joy Division's _Closer _and _Peter Gabriel (I) _on the other hand...beautifully depressing!


----------



## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

My general thought, as suspicions so far are confirmed above, 
the music needs --
a known attached dark biographic note, / a known dedication (to those who died horribly, etc.) / 
and-or to be accompanying a sung text, the text cementing the _"Depressing?" Certo!_ factor.


----------



## Guest (Feb 19, 2014)

PetrB said:


> My general thought, as suspicions so far are confirmed above,
> the music needs --
> a known attached dark biographic note, / a known dedication (to those who died horribly, etc.) /
> and-or to be accompanying a sung text, the text cementing the _"Depressing?" Certo!_ factor.


Up to a point, you may be right. What known biographic note, or dedication or sung text goes with Bowie's _Sense of Doubt _or _Warszawa_?

And why is Mozart's use of G Minor famed for expressing sadness?


----------



## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

PetrB said:


> If we did not have the accompanying *biographical story* of this young composer's suicide, would there be anything depressing about the music on the album itself? Me, I don't think so.


That's a matter of opinion, my dear PetrB.


----------



## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

MacLeod said:


> I can't think of any classical that I would describe as depressing (though I used to think Mahler's 5th was - you'll know which movement.)
> 
> Tracks on Bowie's _Low _and _Heroes,_Joy Division's _Closer _and _Peter Gabriel (I) _on the other hand...beautifully depressing!


I find Bowie's "Station to Station" to be a downer, particularly his rendition of 'Wild is the Wind'. Joy Division's "Closer" is pure misery. It's a great album.


----------



## Guest (Feb 19, 2014)

Lope de Aguirre said:


> Joy Division's "Closer" is pure misery. It's a great album.


It's probably in my top 20 all time...


----------



## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

Mercedes Sosa: 'Gracias a la Vida'


----------



## Guest (Feb 19, 2014)

PetrB said:


> If we did not have the accompanying *biographical story* of this young composer's suicide, would there be anything depressing about the music on the album itself? Me, I don't think so.


Whatever the merits of the argument about whether music can 'be' depressing, it doesn't have to be rehearsed yet again. The OP's common or garden question is inviting us to offer examples of music we have listened to and found depressing; not to invite us to assert that there must be something intrinsically depressing 'in' the music.

Speaking personally, I think much of the music I enjoy is at least melancholic, if not depressing. Having said that, I find it therapeutic to listen to it. It doesn't drive me to want to take drastic action - drugs, drink, listen to Leonard Cohen - about my terrible life - which isn't _actually _terrible, but some might say that listening to sad music leads them to dwell on the negatives.


----------



## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

MacLeod said:


> Whatever the merits of the argument about whether music can 'be' depressing, it doesn't have to be rehearsed yet again. The OP's common or garden question is inviting us to offer examples of music we have listened to and found depressing; not to invite us to assert that there must be something intrinsically depressing 'in' the music.
> 
> Speaking personally, I think much of the music I enjoy is at least melancholic, if not depressing. Having said that, I find it therapeutic to listen to it. It doesn't drive me to want to take drastic action - drugs, drink, listen to Leonard Cohen - about my terrible life - which isn't _actually _terrible, but some might say that listening to sad music leads them to dwell on the negatives.


Music, sad or otherwise is definitely therapeutic. Mahler's first symphony, the oft called "Titan" carried me through those tumultuous teenage years. Good insight, MacLeod.


----------



## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

*Atahualpa Yupanqui*

Atahualpa Yupanqui, to me, was and is the greatest folk artist of all time. And he was quite a gloomy Gus too; more of a reason to love him.

Atahualpa Yupanqui - (1957) Camino del Indio


----------



## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

Mainstream popular music.


----------



## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

brotagonist said:


> Mainstream popular music.


Indeed. Here's another; Canada's treatment of its Native population... Everyone calm down! I am Canadian too!


----------



## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Pink Floyd's Jugband Blues. Syd Barrett writing what seems to be a farewell note to the group he founded while he still had just about enough unfried brain left to do it. It's almost like eavesdropping on a mental collapse. The coda is heartbreaking.


----------



## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

*Valentina Lisitsa - Moonlight Sonata Op.27 No.2 Mov.1,2,3 (Beethoven)*

The Piano Sonata No.14 "Quasi Una Fantasia" Opus 27 No.2 (Moonlight Sonata)
Movement 1: Adagio sostenuto
Movement 2: Allegretto
Movement 3: Presto agitato

Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer: Valentina Lisitsa


----------



## aleazk (Sep 30, 2011)

Mercedes Sosa, Atahualpa Yupanqui?, I didn't know these Argentine folk musicians were that well known outside.
Maybe you already know this one: "Como la Cigarra"


----------



## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

Mercedes Sosa, Atahualpa Yupanqui?, I didn't know these Argentine folk musicians were that well known outside. Maybe you already know this one: "Como la Cigarra"

Sure do. She was a treasure. I don't think they are well known in North America but they do enjoy more popularity in Europe and Japan, to some degree.


----------



## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

*Mstislav Rostropovich - Bach Cello Suite 5 IV. Sarabande*

If I could only save one composer's work from certain destruction...


----------



## dgee (Sep 26, 2013)

Call that Mercedes Sosa depressing? Amatuers!






Probably the most brutally depressing song I know of


----------



## Gilberto (Sep 12, 2013)

Lope de Aguirre said:


> I find Bowie's "Station to Station" to be a downer, particularly his rendition of 'Wild is the Wind'.


There is sad and there is depressing. And people's emotions are a funny thing. For instance, Bowie's Wild Is The Wind is one of my favorite songs that he covers. And it makes me so happy that he makes me feel sad. It is not so much the music as the heart felt vocal performance.

Most people will happily sing along to You Are My Sunshine and yet when asked to read it as poetry come away with feeling different. Music alone is one thing but adding lyrics tinkers with emotions. How many songs have become hits that are completely sad or depressing but presented in a major key or up tempo?

Is this music happy or sad?


----------



## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

That song Llorando from Mulholland Drive is quite depressing (the original is Roy Orbison - Crying).


----------



## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

Something very gloomy about this ambient/drone piece


----------



## Matsps (Jan 13, 2014)

Chopin Nocturne in C# minor 




When listened to in context, how can anything be more sad?


----------



## Whistler Fred (Feb 6, 2014)

There are certainly sad or tragic pieces of music, like Mahler's 6th or Tchaikovsky's Pathétique. But they don't leave me feeling depressed. But the two or three times I listened to John Cage's "Four Walls" it left me gloomy for days afterwards. It's so inwards and yet full of angry bombast that I literally felt constrained, even claustrophobic, while listening to it. I suppose that may have been the point of the music, but it did the job on me too well.


----------



## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

Gilberto said:


> There is sad and there is depressing. And people's emotions are a funny thing. For instance, Bowie's Wild Is The Wind is one of my favorite songs that he covers. And it makes me so happy that he makes me feel sad. It is not so much the music as the heart felt vocal performance.
> 
> Most people will happily sing along to You Are My Sunshine and yet when asked to read it as poetry come away with feeling different. Music alone is one thing but adding lyrics tinkers with emotions. How many songs have become hits that are completely sad or depressing but presented in a major key or up tempo?
> 
> ...


----------



## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

dgee said:


> Call that Mercedes Sosa depressing? Amatuers!
> 
> Probably the most brutally depressing song I know of


Jara met a sad end. Great artist.


----------



## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

Matsps said:


> Chopin Nocturne in C# minor
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Chopin doesn't get enough respect as a great composer. He and Mahler first welcomed me into the world of classical/art music almost a decade ago.


----------



## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

aleazk said:


> Mercedes Sosa, Atahualpa Yupanqui?, I didn't know these Argentine folk musicians were that well known outside.
> Maybe you already know this one: "Como la Cigarra"
> 
> Sure do. She was a treasure. I don't think they are well known in North America but they do enjoy more popularity in Europe and Japan, to some degree.


----------



## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

Whistler Fred said:


> There are certainly sad or tragic pieces of music, like Mahler's 6th or Tchaikovsky's Pathétique. But they don't leave me feeling depressed. But the two or three times I listened to John Cage's "Four Walls" it left me gloomy for days afterwards. It's so inwards and yet full of angry bombast that I literally felt constrained, even claustrophobic, while listening to it. I suppose that may have been the point of the music, but it did the job on me too well.


I quite like this piece. Had not heard it. Will continue listening.


----------



## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Matsps said:


> Chopin Nocturne in C# minor
> 
> 
> 
> ...


What context? That he composed it for his sister? That is was published posthumously? There is no context there to either rip the heart or make one depressed.

It is just another nocturne, one of less interest than the ones published during his lifetime, and it was published after his death. Things not published in his lifetime were _those he wished were not published_, including that damned fantasie-impromptu. Chopin never "assigned," a context to his nocturnes, Etudes, Sonatas, Preludes, etc.

Sorry, but you've hit on one of my pet peeves -- Chopin being a composer whose music people react to so emotionally they will believe just about anything other than the known fact the composer himself wanted no such truck with the Romantic Contexts / Associations game as were the taste and what were going on during his own time.


----------



## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


----------



## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Lope de Aguirre said:


> The Piano Sonata No.14 "Quasi Una Fantasia" Opus 27 No.2 ~ Beethoven.


_Not the Moonlight, and having nothing to do with moonlight_..."Moonlight" slapped on as a title by a publisher well after the composer's death.

This has to be one of the most over-sentimentalized and over-romanticized pieces of the entire piano repertoire, by both listeners and many a performer, both professional and amateur.

The entire work is, if done right, restless, agitated and unsettling, none of which equates to 'depressing' in my book. There are a lot of seriously depressing performances of it though


----------



## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

PetrB said:


> _Not the Moonlight, and having nothing to do with moonlight_..."Moonlight" slapped on as a title by a publisher well after the composer's death.
> 
> This has to be one of the most over-sentimentalized and over-romanticized pieces of the entire piano repertoire, by both listeners and many a performer, both professional and amateur.
> 
> The entire work is, if done right, restless, agitated and unsettling, none of which equates to 'depressing' in my book. There are a lot of seriously depressing performances of it though


Point taken. Can you recommend any recordings of the piece with the aforementioned characteristics?


----------



## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

*Nick Drake - (1972) Pink Moon*

Nick Drake's bleakest album.

View attachment 35578


----------



## lupinix (Jan 9, 2014)

problem with "depressed" is that its actually not an emotion, rather a whole emotional "process"
people tend to confuse depressed with gloomy or dejected, or sometimes apathetic, but depression can have many forms and states and if someone has been depressed for several weeks it doesn't necessarily mean (s)he has been gloomy all the time
many people with depression can in fact be very agitated or agressive sometimes, other common emotions are despair, sadness, fear, panic..., depressed people can even have moments of restlessness and arousal, especially when someone has manic depression/bipolar disorder.

but I guess there should be music that is totally someones *personal * depression, but I must admit I am myself more interested in emotions themself, or the composer as a whole himself

If you just meant gloomy though, I agree with chopin's 20th nocturne, I think it might be too personal to publish for him? But I've no idea, I don't need to know anyway.


----------



## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

I guess some folks would consider the Pettersson 7th Symphony and the final movement of Mahler's 9th Symphony depressing.

If what I consider profoundly moving, others hear as depressing, so be it. I really don't care.


----------



## Eviticus (Dec 8, 2011)

I've always found the music of _The Carpenters_ depressing even when they have tried being happy. They seem to suck the soul out of a room like the Dementor's from Harry Potter. They make _The Smiths_ sound like the Beach Boys.

As for classical, i can't really think of anything.


----------



## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Eviticus said:


> I've always found the music of _The Carpenters_ depressing even when they have tried being happy. They seem to suck the soul out of a room like the Dementor's from Harry Potter. They make _The Smiths_ sound like the Beach Boys.
> 
> As for classical, i can't really think of anything.


What I found truly depressing was the death of Karen Carpenter. I loved her singing.


----------



## Schubussy (Nov 2, 2012)




----------



## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Lope de Aguirre said:


> Point taken. Can you recommend any recordings of the piece with the aforementioned characteristics?


Kemff and Brendel are both quite alright


----------



## Guest (Feb 22, 2014)

Most depressing album:
Skepticism - _Stormcrowfleet_

Most depressing songs:
Various folk songs probably. Townes Van Zandt and Jackson C. Frank have written many.

Most depressing classical:
Thank god I can't name any that hits me as hard as the above.

As someone who used to put certain songs on repeat in the car every night while applying various...er..."sharp objects", I'm quite familiar with the topic.


----------



## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

PetrB said:


> _Not the Moonlight, and having nothing to do with moonlight_..."Moonlight" slapped on as a title by a publisher well after the composer's death.
> 
> This has to be one of the most over-sentimentalized and over-romanticized pieces of the entire piano repertoire, by both listeners and many a performer, both professional and amateur.
> 
> The entire work is, if done right, restless, agitated and unsettling, none of which equates to 'depressing' in my book. There are a lot of seriously depressing performances of it though


The last movement is indeed lunar. Hard-edged and violent. Blinding sun, no g, no air, a man against the elements. Death never very far away. One shot and your suit's gone. I've seen it, son, and it ain't pretty. <drains glass>


----------



## shangoyal (Sep 22, 2013)

Lope de Aguirre said:


> Let's keep it simple shall we? What's the most depressing piece of music you've ever heard?
> 
> I'll start...
> 
> ...


I am listening to this, and it is very good. It sounds like a lost piece of music that I always wanted to hear.


----------



## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Nereffid said:


> The last movement is indeed lunar. Hard-edged and violent. Blinding sun, no g, no air, a man against the elements. Death never very far away. One shot and your suit's gone. I've seen it, son, and it ain't pretty. <drains glass>


Well, all I can say is my reaction to that is very similar to those generic television adverts for perfumes:

_She_ is in a meadow of waving grasses peppered with wildflowers, on a sunny summer day, dressed in a gown.

_He_ is wearing a tux or some other very inappropriate clothing for loping through any meadow.

He approaches her in bounding steps in 1/4 or more slow motion, they come together, he picks her up, twirls her around...

and I marvel to myself, _*It does all that?*_

(maybe it is time to put a cork in the bottle which filled that glass? ... or at least cut back on the psychotropic drugs. You know, "Never mix; never worry.")


----------



## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

shangoyal said:


> I am listening to this, and it is very good. It sounds like a lost piece of music that I always wanted to hear.


Nicely put! In a way, a brand new piece can feel like that, if not lost, something that we feel always existed but was somehow not within our reach, then one day someone has realized that 'collective dream' which the piece is.

That Cilio _Dell'Universo Assenteis (1977)_ is but the tip of an iceberg... try Franco Battiato's _Juke-box_ (1978). He is one of a handful of composers who work in and around this 'hybrid' area or genre... Juke box is 'conservative' compared to some of his other work, but it gets you 'in' and the link should lead you to others in and around the same 'experimental' areas.
The link is for a youtube playlist.
Franco Battiato ~ Juke Box


----------



## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

PetrB said:


> If we did not have the accompanying *biographical story* of this young composer's suicide, would there be anything depressing about the music on the album itself? Me, I don't think so.


Definitely yes. 
Can't you hear a deep melancholy and resignation in this piece?


----------



## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

anyway Lope, I'm beginning to fear I'm schizophrenic and you are me that post with another account! I'm a big fan of Kinski and Herzog, Atahualpa, Nick Drake and Cilio too (the earliest Cilio video on youtube was posted by me). 
If I have to think something depressed the first two examples are Peter Warlock's The curlew (I don't know how many times I've said I consider it a masterpiece, I suspect I'm beginning to be pretty monotonous)





Robert Pete Williams is my favorite bluesman and guitarist ever, but his music is REALLY depressing (check out his album "Free again" to have an idea)


----------



## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

elgars ghost said:


> Pink Floyd's Jugband Blues. Syd Barrett writing what seems to be a farewell note to the group he founded while he still had just about enough unfried brain left to do it. It's almost like eavesdropping on a mental collapse. The coda is heartbreaking.


Well, this is serendipitous! There's an obscure but favorite song of mine by the Be Good Tanyas called The Littlest Birds Sing the Prettiest Songs. At the end of the song is a coda with a cryptic line which didn't fit with the song. It turns out to be taken from Jugband Blues. I didn't know that until you posted this. Thanks!


----------



## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

This one takes me to a very dark place. I've only heard it twice. I guess today would make it thrice.


----------



## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

norman bates said:


> anyway Lope, I'm beginning to fear I'm schizophrenic and you are me that post with another account! I'm a big fan of Kinski and Herzog, Atahualpa, Nick Drake and Cilio too (the earliest Cilio video on youtube was posted by me).
> If I have to think something depressed the first two examples are Peter Warlock's The curlew (I don't know how many times I've said I consider it a masterpiece, I suspect I'm beginning to be pretty monotonous)
> 
> 
> ...


Many thanks for the introduction to these artists. Their music is sublime!


----------



## aleazk (Sep 30, 2011)

Maybe more melancholic than depressing, but here we go.

Ravel - Sad Birds: 




Ravel - Violin Sonata (first movement): 




Ravel - Piano Concerto for the Left Hand (the cadenza at the end and the bits of unaccompanied piano during the piece): 




I find Ravel's music one of the more vivid and intense in terms of these kind of complex and abstract emotions.

Bach - Toccata und Fuge in d-moll, BWV 538 ("Dorian"... not the famous BWV 565!) (the fugue):


----------



## DrKilroy (Sep 29, 2012)

Sibelius - Symphony No. 4 
Lutosławski - Funeral Music.

Best regards, Dr


----------



## Haydn man (Jan 25, 2014)

I don't think music can ever be depressing as surely that is the term for an illness not a feeling
However some music makes me feel sad when I listen to it, Barbers Adagio for strings being an example


----------



## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

Haydn man said:


> I don't think music can ever be depressing as surely that is the term for an illness not a feeling


a strange distinction. Never heard of anybody who says that he "feel depressed"?


----------



## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Manxfeeder said:


> Well, this is serendipitous! There's an obscure but favorite song of mine by the Be Good Tanyas called The Littlest Birds Sing the Prettiest Songs. At the end of the song is a coda with a cryptic line which didn't fit with the song. It turns out to be taken from Jugband Blues. I didn't know that until you posted this. Thanks!


You're welcome - I like making little discoveries like this myself.


----------



## Svelte Silhouette (Nov 7, 2013)

Haydn man said:


> I don't think music can ever be depressing as surely that is the term for an illness not a feeling
> However some music makes me feel sad when I listen to it, Barbers Adagio for strings being an example


Agreed and similar applies with Gorecki's 3rd's 1st Mvt for me


----------



## OldFashionedGirl (Jul 21, 2013)




----------



## clara s (Jan 6, 2014)

Lope de Aguirre said:


> Mercedes Sosa: 'Gracias a la Vida'


is "gracias a la vida" depressing?


----------



## Svelte Silhouette (Nov 7, 2013)

I'd guess someone can manage to make 'Thanks to the life' depressing.

The words in the picture 'When I look at the background' could be a clue though as maybe the studio was depressing.


----------



## Schubussy (Nov 2, 2012)

I always listen to this when I'm feeling down.


----------



## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

clara s said:


> is "gracias a la vida" depressing?


It's her phrasing that gives the song it's melancholy. If you listen to Violeta Parra's original version, it's not anymore uplifting.


----------



## Haydn man (Jan 25, 2014)

Sorry to be tiresome here and repeat a previous post but music is not depressing.
Yes it evokes emotion that can be melancholic, sad or however you wish to describe it.
Depression is an illness and I feel the term is too often used in an inappropriate way when describing appropriate and normal feelings,which depression certainly is not
Sorry rant over now


----------



## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

Haydn man said:


> Depression is an illness and I feel the term is too often used in an inappropriate way when describing appropriate and normal feelings,which depression certainly is not
> Sorry rant over now


considering that the vast majority of people on the planet at a certain point has experienced depression I wonder how can you say that isn't normal. Maybe you're lucky enough to have not experienced it, but to me your idea that "depressive music" doesn't exist because depression is not a feeling is absurd. I know that many could perfectly say what characterize depression in terms of feelings.


----------



## Haydn man (Jan 25, 2014)

I was trying to draw a distinction between a set of normal emotional responses to a given situation or stimulus in this case music and the illness depression, perhaps not very well.


----------



## Oskaar (Mar 17, 2011)

Haydn man said:


> I was trying to draw a distinction between a set of normal emotional responses to a given situation or stimulus in this case music and the illness depression, perhaps not very well.


That is a very importent destinction.

I have the illness depression and is medisinised for it. It does not meen that I am always depressed, but that I have longer or shorter periods of physical and psycological depression, that influence my way to cope dayly life. ( mess up my house, dont eat, no social contact, no tothbrushing, showering etc)

In such periodes ith can be soothing to hear depressive music (dark melancolic etc) and just provocative to hear uplifting music (birdsinging, dance rythms, music you can associate to spring, summer etcetc

*That is a paradox* but understandable if you think after...


----------



## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

oskaar said:


> That is a very importent destinction.
> 
> I have the illness depression and is medisinised for it. It does not meen that I am always depressed, but that I have longer or shorter periods of physical and psycological depression, that influence my way to cope dayly life. ( mess up my house, dont eat, no social contact, no tothbrushing, showering etc)
> 
> ...


I suffer from it as well. I take medication and it helps to mask the symptoms but naturally, it doesn't cure it. I suppose life could always be much worse. Anyway, I enjoy depressing music at certain periods but at others I avoid it because it puts me in an uncomfortable place.


----------



## Oskaar (Mar 17, 2011)

Lope de Aguirre said:


> I suffer from it as well. I take medication and it helps to mask the symptoms but naturally, it doesn't cure it. I suppose life could always be much worse. Anyway, I enjoy depressing music at certain periods but at others I avoid it because it puts me in an uncomfortable place.


Yes.. and all that suffers from this have maybe simularities, and all is different. But completly at the bottom of depression I cant stand any music, then I lay passive on the sofa, looking apathic at some meeningless tv-program without sound (only norwegian text)


----------



## atsizat (Sep 14, 2015)

Gilberto said:


> There is sad and there is depressing. And people's emotions are a funny thing. For instance, Bowie's Wild Is The Wind is one of my favorite songs that he covers. And it makes me so happy that he makes me feel sad. It is not so much the music as the heart felt vocal performance.
> 
> Most people will happily sing along to You Are My Sunshine and yet when asked to read it as poetry come away with feeling different. Music alone is one thing but adding lyrics tinkers with emotions. How many songs have become hits that are completely sad or depressing but presented in a major key or up tempo?
> 
> Is this music happy or sad?


I don't feel any sadness at all in that music so I say happy.

The most depressiving classical music I listed to is Adagio in G minor.


----------

