There's plenty of upbeat songs out there such as "Tubthumping" or "Best Day Of My Life". But what about the songs that sounds happy upon listening, but after reading/translating the lyrics, it sounds the complete opposite? Here are some examples:
Foster The People - Pumped Up Kicks (school shootings)
NENA - 99 Red Balloons (nuclear war)
The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - Face Down (domestic violence)
Hollywood Undead - Bullet (suicide and drug abuse)
The Superjesus - Down Again (depression and suicide)
Outkast - Hey Ya! (relationship falling apart)
Of Monsters and Men - Little Talks (a lady talking to her dead husband)
Green Day - Basket Case (struggles with anxiety; a person losing his mind and going insane)
Third Eye Blind - Semi-Charmed Life (struggles with drug addiction)
Deep Blue Something - Breakfast at Tiffany's (relationship falling apart)
Bowling For Soup - 1985 (a woman who can't forget about the past)
The Offspring - The Kids Aren't Alright (happy childhoods turned depressing)
Bruce Springsteen - Born in the USA (war veteran returning home, and getting treated like trash)
Jebediah - Leaving Home (getting free from abusive parents)
FUN - We Are Young (domestic violence?)
Imogen Heap - Goodnight and Go (creepy stalker)
SIA - Chandelier (alcoholism)
Meg & Dia - Monster (a rape story)
Nick Gilder - Hot Child in the City (self-explanatory)
Uncle Kracker - Follow Me (cheating)
Rupert Holmes - Escape (cheating)
Hanson - Mmmbop (aging and dying alone)
Sublime - Wrong Way (child prostitution)
Men At Work - Who Can It Be Now? (extreme paranoia; schizophrenia)
What do you guys think? Is there any more examples I could've used?
PS: screw you u/spez