How To Write A Sad Song Even When You Are Feeling Happy

There are merry songs, sad songs, fun songs, intellectual songs, and so on and so forth.

One of the constant questions you would occasionally come across in your songwriting career is “how to write a sad song?” or “how to write a depressing song?”.

Human beings are dynamic beings, never staying in a particular emotional wavelength for too long. People love to listen to sad songs to trigger the memories of certain events in the past or to associate the feelings of sobriety.

No matter what you have heard;

You or anyone can learn how to write a sad song. It only requires some simple improvisations from you.

Are you ready? Let’s get this show on the road.

How To Write A Sad Song Even If You’re A First-Timer

Explore your feelings

In order to write a good sad song, it must come from the heart. (how to write a song from the heart)

Sometimes all it takes to write a sad song is to dwell on your feelings. What depressing experience happened to you recently? Did your cat die? Do you miss the companionship of an old lover? Do you know someone who had a life-threatening encounter with substance abuse?

There is no limit to what can make us experience intense feelings of sadness, so explore any that comes to your mind and take it as the theme for your sad song.

Listen to your favorite sad songs

You may find it difficult to produce your best work if you don’t listen to other artists’ songs. Before writing your sad song, find time to listen to your favorite songs that evoke feelings of sadness each time you listen.

One more thing:

Pay close attention to the lyrics and overall vibe of the song as you listen. Try to deconstruct what makes you tick by listening to the song, 

Lyrics

It is not a sad song if it is not eliciting the right emotion in your listener. By now you should not be thinking what the right emotion should be. You’re writing a sad song, aren’t you?

Your theme would inform the type of words you will use in your song. The words should be simple and easy to pronounce. Otherwise, your song may not have a long shelf life.

Invoke the dark side of the song

Sad songs are essentially dark at the core. This does not mean, we don’t have bright bubbly songs conveying a depressing message. 

The choice of instrumental engaged in creating a melody for the song largely influences this factor. An introspective view of available sad songs on the market shows that placing minor chords at the beginning of a phrase makes it sad.

Also;

Singing without instrumentals, ‌Acappella singing, also makes a song sad. As well as, slowing the tempo of the song

What Are Some Sad Songs About Feelings?

Below is a playlist of my favorite sad songs. They are:

• Billie Eilish – When The Party Is Over
• Johnny Cash – Hurt
• Adele – Someone Like You
• Drake – Doing It Wrong
• Olivia Rodrigo – traitor
• Coldplay – Fix You
• Elliot Smith – No Name #5

How Do I Create A Title For My Depressing Song?

The simplest means to do this is to use a song name generator. These are free and paid tools scattered all over the internet for generating titles for your songs.

The downside is it may suggest names that don’t reflect the essence of your song. Thinking about the upside? It is fast and super fast.

Don’t want to go this route? You’d find the following strategies more than helpful.

1. Summarize the message of the song in 3 lines, and from there pick the primary keyword that seems to reflect the message of your song.
2. Think about numbers? You could title the song the time you recorded it, the date it was recorded.
3. Explore other languages. Find synonyms of your preferred title in other languages. It creates a mysterious vibe about the song, making it stand apart in the market.
4. What is the most repeated line in your song? You could use as a title after making a few tweaks.

Take another look at the above and use them when next you’re thinking of a title for your song.

Are we good?

Are There More Sad Songs?

Fact:

People love songs that invoke their emotions with intensity, whether happy or sad.

Now:

As much as people love merry songs, a research shows that sad songs have dominated the airwaves and the chart for the past 30 years.

Does Listening To Depressing Music Makes You Depressed?

Formerly:

It was popularly misconceived that listening to sad songs perpetuates the feelings of depression and depression in the audience, especially those that are already depressed.

Now:

A recent study published in Emotion journal in 2019 has countered this claim. In this study, participants reported feeling better after listening to sad music, not that it perpetuated a low mood as was previously thought.

What Are The Traits You Need To Unlock How To Write A Depressing Song?

As a songwriter, you are a creative whose job is to make beautiful writings needed to make songs. Your job is quite tasking, paved with rejections, and you’ll need the following traits to pull through.

These are even more important if you are looking to learn how to write a depressing song.

Ready?

• Constant learning
• A knack for adventures
• Patience
• Strong vocabulary bank
• Discipline 
• Ability to express yourself without restraint.

The aforementioned are important for any songwriter because they spotlight the commitment required to achieve success in writing songs. Which of these do you possess?

Related Post: Before writing your first sad song, do you know how long does it take to write a song?

The End

Your first attempt at writing a sad song may not be what you want. This, however, should not derail you. Whether you realize it, you are making progress. 

Many of the successful songwriters ‌acknowledge today had their piece torn apart at various points in their careers.

If they had quit, no one would hold them in reverence today. So, why should you?