The Saddest Songs of 2014 (So Far)

Most of BANKS' songs are moody and tinged with either darkness or anger in some way, but "Beggin' For Thread" not only contains one of her biggest choruses, but also one of her most directly depressed.

Stooped down and out, you got me beggin' for thread / To sew this hole up that you ripped in my head.

Oh man, we hope you're feeling better now Banks.

Broods’ "Mother & Father" is one of the catchiest songs of the year so far, but despite that thumping production and big chorus, it's also one of the saddest. If you're getting older—you probably are—then you'll be able to relate. The saddest songs are often the ones that we can apply to our own lives, and the subject of Broods' "Mother & Father" is something we can all feel in some way.

I don't want to wake up lonely

I don't want to just be fine

I don't want to keep on hoping

Forget what I had in mind

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"Smile" doesn't sound as obviously sad as "Stay," but what it lacks in sad tone, it makes up for with lyrics:

Smile

The worst is yet to come

We'll be lucky if we ever see the sun

Even before we saw the cinematic video (part two of three in the "What Is This Heart?" video series) for "Face Again," it was already a powerful song. The song is based around the uncertainties that can creep in to relationships, and the heaving, churning production reflects this mood as Tom Krell sings:

Look into my face again and tell me what you wanna see

I don’t think you know what’s best for me

No, I don’t think you know what’s best for me

Just kiss me on my face again and tell me what love’s supposed to be

No, I don’t think you know what’s best for me

No, I don’t even know what’s best for me

Towards the end of the song, there is a glimmer of hope as the lyrics change to, "Yeah I know you know what's best for me," but even with those final moments of hope, the overall package of the song and video is ultimately a tearjerker.

The lyrics to Låpsley’s "Station" are vague, but the feeling is unmistakable. The song sounds like a duet, but it's actually just the young singer pitching down her own voice and singing with herself. Knowing that just makes this even more lonely.

Well I will ring you up

Say I want you back

Chat back stab say I never wanted that

It's just inevitable distance

Twisted bitterness

Give her two months she’ll be over that

The whole PC Music aesthetic is so internet friendly that the most appropriate reaction to this song is probably some combination of the following:

~tearz~

#crying

But seriously, get past Hannah Diamond's hypnotic, high pitched voice, and listen to the lyrics. Unadorned by simile, metaphor, or imagery, they cut straight to the honest sadness of being alone and missing someone.

"Just Once" is only the second song that Shura has shared with the world, but she's already proven herself to be a master at storytelling, adding in those little personal details ("If you get my name wrong I won't get pissed off 'cause I wish I was someone else.") that make her songs both relatable and believable.

Add to that the mellow production and you've got a song that packs an emotional punch while still being almost endlessly replayable.

Cloaked behind JJ's grandiose production, hip-hop references, and general love of weird left turns are painfully honest songs. "Dean & Me" might be the best example of that on their new album V. At first listen the soaring melodies might grab your attention, but listen carefully to the lyrics and you'll find something poignant, a soul-bearing stream of consciousness, and an ode to the perils of drunk calling.

I know I'm drunk I know it's late but I will call you anyway calling because I fucking shake calling hoping you awake because I'm falling apart because I'm falling in love with you and something inside me tells me we could be together something inside me tells me we could be forever but something inside tells me we will never be together.

There are always layers to JJ songs, it's just a matter of peeling them back.

Lana Del Rey has become known for her pouting, but it's way deeper than that. The lyrics in "Pretty When You Cry" are only half the story here. For the rest, just listen to Lana's quivering voice.

All those special times I spent with you, my love,

They don't mean shit compared to all your drugs

But I don't really mind I've got much more than that

Like my memories, I don't need that

I'll wait for you, babe,

You don't come through, babe,

You never do, babe,

That's just what you do.

Related: Lana Del Rey Explains How Dan Auerbach Made Her Feel Interesting Again

Johnny Lloyd's music, recorded on an 8-track, feels lived in, like an old armchair that is frayed around the edges and sags a little in the middle, but is perfect to just sink back gently into. It wouldn't come as a surprise if someone told you that "Pilgrims" was 20 years old, a lost classic from a vault somewhere, but behind the mellow guitar and lo-fi recording values lie some heartbreaking lyrics. What may at first appear to be a love song, seems to actually be a painful reflection on a lover from the past.

"I've been thinking of you lately, but I know, I'll never love somebody like you," sings Johnny Lloyd. It's ambiguous (Is he deciding never to love someone like that in the future? Is he realizing he'll never meet someone as perfect? We don't know.), but heartbreaking nonetheless.

Annie Clark told NPR that this song is about her mother. "My mother got sick earlier, about a year ago, and she’s all better now, but we had a very scary moment. So I actually wrote that song for my mother." There is nothing in this world more sad than a sick mother.

I prefer your love to Jesus

Little baby on your knees cause the world has got you down

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