Funny But Sad

Discussed in Gigantic, songs that are funny, but sad, or songs with depressing lyrics, but cheerful music.

• Become A Robot - Upbeat and bouncy with lyrics such as "Hip hip horrific is our thing."
• Broke In Two - Seems to have been written with this theme in mind. "You said, 'I'm gonna run you down.' I heard, 'I'm an orangutan.'"
• Brontosaurus - Lyrics are full of sadness and wistfulness, all set to a rocking, upbeat tune
• By The Time You Get This - A song from people a millennium ago which talks about how good the world will be in a millennium. It specifically refers to the year 1937, even though that year was actually between the Great Depression and World War II. It also mentions that the sounds of barking dogs and crying babies will no longer exist, which is, of course, not true. This is humorously ironic, but also sad as it highlights how utopia has not happened.
• Can't Keep Johnny Down - According to Flans: "a very nice, bittersweet concoction of a very bitchy lyric with an incredibly sunny arrangement."^[1]
• Dark And Metric - Includes lyrics about drowning, despite its "Sesame Street vibe"
• Destination Moon - A sick man deludes himself about being able to fly in a rocket to the moon, while bells, horns, and drums pound away merrily.
• Don't Let's Start - "Everybody dies frustrated and sad, and that is beautiful", etc.
• ECNALUBMA - The song mostly revolves around some sort of day gone bloody to the tune of a cheerful horn arrangement.
• Elephants - The chorus and third verse sing about elephants trampling a town to a bright and cheery tune.
• Four Of Two - His date never shows up, and yet he still just keeps waiting and waiting and waiting. In the original Dial-A-Song version, he strangles himself to death out of boredom.
• Fun Assassin
• Hopeless Bleak Despair - He finally gets rid of his despair when he dies and goes to hell, and his despair goes to heaven. That's some quality despair, there.
• I Palindrome I
• I'm Having A Heart Attack - The lyrics describe an explosively painful and melancholy event, but Linnell's voice is indifferent and the music is calm and groovy.
• In Fact - A bouncy song with chipper horns about a guy who is a self-described mess.
• It's Not My Birthday - The lyrics weave together a number of rainy and depressing ideas which otherwise have little relation (liner notes reveal that even TMBG classed this one as hard to interpret), and are sung to an upbeat and cheery tune for an amusing contrast. It's a notable example.
• Last Wave - "We die alone, we die afraid, we live in terror, we’re naked and alone"
• Lucky Ball & Chain
• Mr. Me - "He ended up really, really, really sad" is one of the most gleefully sung lines in the TMBG canon.
• My Man - A song about a paralyzed man set to sprightly synthesizers and zippy horns, with a rather wan Linnell vocal.
• Narrow Your Eyes - An upbeat pop song detailing a breakup.
• No One Knows My Plan - A conga song sung from a prisoner's perspective.
• Now Is Strange
• Older - Ceaselessly reminds you of your inexorable aging and the inevitability of death. How fun.
• South Carolina - Peppy piano and drums encircle a man who has suffered a big bicycle wreck. Also, Linnell's low vocals for the man's neighbor and the policeman could be considered humorous.
• Stalk Of Wheat - Sounds like a kids song, but the lyrics are about a guy down on his luck.
• They Got Lost
• They'll Need A Crane
• Thunderbird - An energetic and confident song about a vague pastime (the titular "Thunderbird") that the protagonist promised to quit, but clearly has a dependency on.
• Twisting
• When Will You Die - The whole song has very upbeat music and focuses on being joyful when someone eventually reaches death.