You'll never listen to these songs the same way again. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re looking at songs that have taken on a sadder meaning after their initial release.
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at songs that have taken on a sadder meaning
00:08after their initial release.
00:21Blackstar – David Bowie The star man himself shocked the world by
00:32announcing Blackstar, his first studio album since 2013's The Next Day.
00:38But in typical Bowie fashion, the biggest twist was yet to come.
00:42Blackstar, the album, was released on January 8th, 2016, and Bowie died on January 10th.
00:50Merely two days later, having kept his battle with liver cancer a secret known only to those
01:00closest to him, Blackstar's title song hits differently now that we know the circumstances
01:06of the singer's death.
01:07Pay particular attention to its cryptic, morbid lyrics, which seemingly allude to Bowie finding
01:13peace and tranquility in his final days.
01:17This calls to mind Leonard Cohen's You Want It Darker, also recorded shortly before
01:21the beloved Canadian singer-songwriter's 2016 death.
01:32Scared of the Dark – Ty Dolla $ign and Lil Wayne Featuring XXXTentacion
01:46Commissioned for the soundtrack to Sony Pictures' Oscar-winning Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse,
01:52Grammy winner Dwayne Lil Wayne Carter teased a special guest on Scared of the Dark, his
01:57collaboration with Ty Dolla $ign.
02:05That guest, upon the film's release, was revealed to be late rapper XXXTentacion.
02:11Born Jhaseh Onfroy, the controversial artist lost his life in 2018 after a botched robbery
02:17attempt.
02:18Originally intended for the Bad Baby song Trust Me, Onfroy's verse combines typical
02:23hip-hop bravado with the dark vulnerability he was known for in his lifetime.
02:28This verse, combined with the song's empowering chorus, now makes for difficult listening.
02:40I'm Not Gonna Miss You – Glen Campbell and the Wrecking Crew
02:48Legendary country singer Campbell, who was open about his worsening Alzheimer's disease
02:53in his final years, made it clear that he wouldn't die without a fight ahead of his
02:582017 passing.
03:00I'm Not Gonna Miss You is emblematic of the icon's refusal to give in.
03:05Recorded for and appearing prominently in the 2014 documentary, Glen Campbell, I'll
03:11Be Me.
03:17Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song and winning the Grammy for Best Country
03:22Song, this cinematic John Lennon-esque ballad finds Campbell coming to terms with his impending
03:28death.
03:29The last song Campbell ever recorded, I'm Not Gonna Miss You, is a simple, gorgeous
03:35and heartbreaking send-off to a long and storied career.
03:43Grace – Jeff Buckley
03:53Some of the greatest artists of all time, like Vincent Van Gogh or Buckley's fellow
03:57troubadour Nick Drake, went underappreciated in their lifetimes.
04:02It seems fair to say that Buckley falls into this category of artists as well.
04:13Buckley once referred to the titular song from his 1994 album Grace, the only album
04:19he released during his life, as being about not feeling so sad about your own mortality
04:25when you have true love.
04:26The multi-talented musicians plainly spoke in acceptance of his mortality and his seeming
04:31lack of fear or apprehension about exiting this mortal coil read very differently after
04:37his 1997 drowning, aged only 30, leaving morning listeners to wonder what could have been.
04:54Nutshell – Alice In Chains
05:06When asked which song most reminded him of late Alice In Chains frontman Layne Staley,
05:11the band's bassist Mike Starr responded with Nutshell, citing its poetic, vulnerable
05:17lyrics as the reason.
05:19According to the song, it becomes obvious as to why Starr, who passed away himself in
05:242011, made this particular selection.
05:33This mellow grunge tune, written by Staley, details the singer's battle with his darkest
05:39feelings.
05:40Staley later died in 2002 following years of extreme substance use issues.
05:45It's no surprise then that Jerry Cantrell, the band's guitarist and alternate lead singer,
05:51now dedicates live performances of Nutshell to both of his fallen bandmates.
06:07Freebird – Lynyrd Skynyrd
06:14It must be remembered that this nearly 10-minute southern rock epic, despite its hard-charging
06:20sound and legendary guitar solos, is, at its heart, a heart-wrenching ballad about being
06:26unable to conform to life and its expectations.
06:38Written by Alan Collins and Ronnie Van Zant, the band's guitarist and lead singer respectively,
06:44Freebird's lyrics tell the first-person story of a nomad who simply can't overcome
06:50his unchanging nature, though certainly not without regrets and reservations.
06:55While Freebird is sad enough on its own, already dedicated by the band to the late
07:00Dwayne Allman, it became a retroactive tribute to Lynyrd Skynyrd band members, including singer
07:05Van Zant, who died in the 1977 plane crash that temporarily ended the band.
07:19Like A Stone – Audioslave
07:30Chris Cornell, Audioslave's lead singer, was, and still is, widely regarded by fans
07:36and critics alike as one of rock music's greatest, most iconic voices.
07:41Despite this, Cornell was reportedly haunted by struggles with depression, drugs, and drink
07:47for the majority of his life, dating back to as early as his teen years.
08:00These struggles came to an end in May 2017, when the Soundgarden frontman was found lifeless
08:06following a concert in Detroit.
08:08While fans will point out that Cornell was no stranger to incorporating dark, highly
08:13personal themes into his music, Like A Stone stands out in his discography in terms of
08:19how plainly it expresses those themes.
08:30Morphine – Michael Jackson
08:43One of the King of Pop's darkest, rawest, and heaviest tunes, the Nine Inch Nails-esque
08:48Morphine finds Jackson incorporating heavy guitars and distorted drums into his sound.
08:54Fittingly enough, too, Morphine is a bitter, angry, no-holds-barred account of Jackson's
09:00feelings regarding his fame and media speculation about his controversial personal life.
09:16The song's bridge and refrain detail Jackson's resorting to drug use as a means of numbing
09:22those feelings.
09:23The singer died in 2009 of acute propofol intoxication, in what was later ruled an
09:29accidental homicide by Conrad Murray, Jackson's personal doctor.
09:34Listening in retrospect allows listeners a tragically prescient glimpse into Jackson's
09:39fragile mental states.
09:48The Show Must Go On – Queen
10:00It goes without saying that Freddie Mercury was a rock star until the very end.
10:05Released just a month before Mercury's untimely death from complications of HIV-AIDS, The
10:11Show Must Go On, in the band's characteristically bombastic style, is a gloriously defiant screw
10:17you to the Grim Reaper.
10:28Written by Queen guitarist Brian May, the song does a magnificent job of capturing Mercury's
10:33indomitable spirit and interstellar charisma.
10:37His body ravaged by the disease even then, Mercury's bandmates were initially pessimistic
10:43that he would be able to pull off the vocal gymnastics it called for.
10:46In response, the rock god downed a shot of vodka and, according to May, immediately nailed
10:52it.
10:53Who else but Freddie?
11:03Before we continue, here are a few honorable mentions.
11:07Whatever – Our Lady Peace
11:09Chris Benoit's theme song is now inextricably tied to his complicated legacy.
11:22Floating in the Fourth – Frightened Rabbits
11:25Alludes to the same Scottish river in which singer Scott Hutchinson's body was discovered.
11:39Wake Me Up – Avicii
11:41The Swedish DJ's dance floor anthem is about not letting life slip away.
12:09Leave Out All The Rest – Linkin Park
12:18A staple of the early 2000s nu metal scene, it can be argued that Linkin Park's success
12:24outside of that genre was due in part to lead singer Chester Bennington's soul-bearing,
12:29unflinching songwriting, as well as his powerhouse vocals.
12:33Phoenix, Arizona native Bennington took his own life in July 2017, two months after Chris
12:39Cornell's death.
12:41The two were reportedly close friends.
12:48Knowing that makes it difficult, then, to listen to Leave Out All The Rest from the
12:52band's 2007 album, Minutes to Midnight, without a teary eye by the end.
12:58A plaintive, heartfelt ballad, Leave Out All The Rest implores listeners to, as hard as
13:04it can feel, remember the good times.
13:13Which songs break your heart when you listen to them now?
13:16Let us know in the comments below.