Schadenfreude filter: I am looking for music videos that clearly convey a sad plot.
March 10, 2010 7:37 PM Subscribe
Schadenfreude filter: I am looking for music videos that clearly convey a sad plot. Happy ending acceptable, but not necessary.
I'm interested in music videos that have a distinctively sad plot that is clearly conveyed in the video. As in, watching the video makes you feel bad for some of the characters or just sad in general. The song itself doesn't have to be lyrically sad, just the video. Happy endings are fine, but not necessary. Examples of videos in the same vein as I'm looking for: Whiskey Lullaby by Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss. Pas Toi by Jean-Jacques Goldman.
Thanks!
I'm interested in music videos that have a distinctively sad plot that is clearly conveyed in the video. As in, watching the video makes you feel bad for some of the characters or just sad in general. The song itself doesn't have to be lyrically sad, just the video. Happy endings are fine, but not necessary. Examples of videos in the same vein as I'm looking for: Whiskey Lullaby by Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss. Pas Toi by Jean-Jacques Goldman.
Thanks!
Best answer: Coldplay's The Scientist, perhaps? Maybe it's not exactly what you're after, it seems OK for the majority of the video - you'll need to watch it to the end to see why it's not exactly happy.
posted by Nice Guy Mike at 7:43 PM on March 10, 2010
posted by Nice Guy Mike at 7:43 PM on March 10, 2010
"Always" by Bon Jovi is a pretty epically sad video, if you can get past the song.
posted by juniperesque at 7:46 PM on March 10, 2010
posted by juniperesque at 7:46 PM on March 10, 2010
Jeremy by Pearl Jam (uncut version, more explicit violence)
posted by ALongDecember at 7:52 PM on March 10, 2010
posted by ALongDecember at 7:52 PM on March 10, 2010
Best answer: The Ocean Breathes Salty - Modest Mouse. If sad lonely kids is what gets to you.
posted by Solon and Thanks at 7:54 PM on March 10, 2010
posted by Solon and Thanks at 7:54 PM on March 10, 2010
another link if that one doesn't work for you
posted by Solon and Thanks at 7:56 PM on March 10, 2010
posted by Solon and Thanks at 7:56 PM on March 10, 2010
Bone thugs & harmony - crossroads
posted by 2legit2quit at 7:57 PM on March 10, 2010
posted by 2legit2quit at 7:57 PM on March 10, 2010
November Rain by Guns'n'Roses. It has a sad ending, but if you're impatient for the sadness, it probably isn't what you're looking for. It's built up on good times, tho'!
posted by Atreides at 8:00 PM on March 10, 2010
posted by Atreides at 8:00 PM on March 10, 2010
Response by poster: Thanks for all the answers so far! In all of my Coldplay loving years, I'd never watched the video for The Scientist. Hmm.
posted by derogatorysphinx at 8:20 PM on March 10, 2010
posted by derogatorysphinx at 8:20 PM on March 10, 2010
No Rain, Blind Melon. Happy ending but sad, mostly.
posted by ethnomethodologist at 8:25 PM on March 10, 2010
posted by ethnomethodologist at 8:25 PM on March 10, 2010
More: not exactly a music video, but a wonderful, sad, short film with New Order's "Elegia" as its soundtrack.
posted by googly at 8:30 PM on March 10, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by googly at 8:30 PM on March 10, 2010 [1 favorite]
Brian McKnight -- Back at One, I think -- plane crash scenario.
Right Now - Van Halen
Michael Jackson Heal the World
Sarah McLachlan - World on Fire
posted by thorny at 8:57 PM on March 10, 2010
Right Now - Van Halen
Michael Jackson Heal the World
Sarah McLachlan - World on Fire
posted by thorny at 8:57 PM on March 10, 2010
Do they have to be the actual official video?
Because this video mashup for Used to Be by Beach House is sad.
posted by Ironmouth at 9:40 PM on March 10, 2010
Because this video mashup for Used to Be by Beach House is sad.
posted by Ironmouth at 9:40 PM on March 10, 2010
Best answer: Pretty much any Death Cab video, but A Move Script Ending and What Sarah Said are especially sad.
posted by elsewhen at 10:06 PM on March 10, 2010
posted by elsewhen at 10:06 PM on March 10, 2010
This video for the Arcade Fire song Neighborhoods #1 (Tunnels), by the Neistat Brothers, is not the official video for that song, but it is like a bittersweet punch to the gut every time. I just got a little choked up watching it now.
The video for "If I Were a Boy" by Beyonce is sad in a completely different way.
posted by lunasol at 10:10 PM on March 10, 2010
The video for "If I Were a Boy" by Beyonce is sad in a completely different way.
posted by lunasol at 10:10 PM on March 10, 2010
The Fray's "How to Save a Life." Not sure if it fits your definition of plot, but I think of the people shown as characters.
posted by tantivy at 10:19 PM on March 10, 2010
posted by tantivy at 10:19 PM on March 10, 2010
Best answer: The White Stripes: Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground -- boy returns home and finds his girl having abandoned him and his home having been trashed. Told in a way I dare call interesting.
posted by Anything at 10:30 PM on March 10, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Anything at 10:30 PM on March 10, 2010 [1 favorite]
The Dears - 22: The Death of all the Romance.
Sniff. Chalupas.
posted by herrdoktor at 10:33 PM on March 10, 2010 [1 favorite]
Sniff. Chalupas.
posted by herrdoktor at 10:33 PM on March 10, 2010 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I apologize OP, I can’t separate lyrics and the stories behind the songs that are sad (vs imagery?), so this is a hit or miss
Mad World by Gary Jules.
Hurt by Johnny Cash
For the next two songs it is also the stories behind the songs, disappearance of people in Chile during the Pinochet regime and the Mann Gulch Fire, respectively, that make these songs sad:
They Dance Alone by Sting
Cold Missouri Waters by Richard Shindell
These next 2 songs have a similar feel to the JJ Goldman song and video that you reference:
Quatre mots sur un piano by Patrick Fiori et al
La bas by JJ Goldman I think the lyrics are needed to make this really sad...
posted by Wolfster at 11:25 PM on March 10, 2010 [1 favorite]
Mad World by Gary Jules.
Hurt by Johnny Cash
For the next two songs it is also the stories behind the songs, disappearance of people in Chile during the Pinochet regime and the Mann Gulch Fire, respectively, that make these songs sad:
They Dance Alone by Sting
Cold Missouri Waters by Richard Shindell
These next 2 songs have a similar feel to the JJ Goldman song and video that you reference:
Quatre mots sur un piano by Patrick Fiori et al
La bas by JJ Goldman I think the lyrics are needed to make this really sad...
posted by Wolfster at 11:25 PM on March 10, 2010 [1 favorite]
I always found the video for Kate Bush's Cloudbusting terribly sad, even though there's a slightly happy ending. Bonus: it stars Donald Sutherland!
posted by platinum at 12:51 AM on March 11, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by platinum at 12:51 AM on March 11, 2010 [1 favorite]
UNKLE - Eye For An Eye
Massive Attack - Inertia Creeps
Kwoon - I Lived On The Moon
Interpol - Evil
Radiohead - Pyramid Song
Menomena - Evil Bee
Sigur Rós - Viðrar Vel Til Loftárása
Sigur Rós - Vaka
posted by churl at 1:06 AM on March 11, 2010
Massive Attack - Inertia Creeps
Kwoon - I Lived On The Moon
Interpol - Evil
Radiohead - Pyramid Song
Menomena - Evil Bee
Sigur Rós - Viðrar Vel Til Loftárása
Sigur Rós - Vaka
posted by churl at 1:06 AM on March 11, 2010
Best answer: Everywhere by Fleetwood Mac (taken from my teenage-angst favourite poem, The Highwayman).
posted by ninazer0 at 1:37 AM on March 11, 2010
posted by ninazer0 at 1:37 AM on March 11, 2010
Johnny Cash - Hurt
posted by The White Hat at 5:43 AM on March 11, 2010
posted by The White Hat at 5:43 AM on March 11, 2010
No youtube link because I'm at work, but Madonna's video for "Bad Girl" (directed by David Fincher) fits the bill, in addition to being one of the best examples of character development in a music video I can think of. Multiple viewings are required to unravel all the details of its tightly compressed narrative. Bonus: it has Christopher Walken.
posted by Prospero at 5:49 AM on March 11, 2010
posted by Prospero at 5:49 AM on March 11, 2010
I came in to post two videos by Sigur Rós: Viðrar vel til loftárása and [Vaka], but after seeing andoatnp's post, I'm wondering if I should just refer you to Sigur Rós' full corpus.
posted by dilettanti at 7:28 AM on March 11, 2010
posted by dilettanti at 7:28 AM on March 11, 2010
Doh! - I missed that churl posted both of those. Sorry for the redundancy.
posted by dilettanti at 7:29 AM on March 11, 2010
posted by dilettanti at 7:29 AM on March 11, 2010
Best answer: You didn't mention English was a requirement so I offer Because I'm a girl from Korean pop group KISS.
posted by tksh at 9:57 AM on March 11, 2010
posted by tksh at 9:57 AM on March 11, 2010
Toni Braxton's Un-Break My Heart
(Can't remember the plot of a book I read a year ago, but a music video I saw probably twice 15 years ago, that's vivid...hmmmm)
posted by MCMikeNamara at 4:56 PM on March 11, 2010
(Can't remember the plot of a book I read a year ago, but a music video I saw probably twice 15 years ago, that's vivid...hmmmm)
posted by MCMikeNamara at 4:56 PM on March 11, 2010
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posted by amro at 7:40 PM on March 10, 2010