14 Popular Songs With Devastating Origins You'll Never Be Able To Listen To Again Without Sobbing

Content warning: This post contains discussions of sexual assault and suicide.

When I hear a great song, sometimes it takes me several listens to soak in the lyrics. Even then, it's hard to be entirely sure what the song is really about. So when Reddit user u/tangre79 asked redditors, "What song became heartbreaking once you learned the context behind its origin?" I was all ears. Here are 14 super popular songs that have devastating backstories:

1. " 'Dancing in the Moonlight' by King Harvest (originally recorded by Boffalongo). One of my favorite songs, with a very sad, unexpected origin. The songwriter (Sherman Kelly) and his girlfriend were on vacation at the beach when he was brutally beaten, and she was sexually assaulted by gang members. He wrote the song afterward, envisioning an idyllic world where everyone is happy and just dances all the time."

2. " 'Wake Me Up When September Ends' by Green Day. It’s not just a meme. It’s literally what Billie Joe Armstrong said to his mom after his dad died when he was a kid."

3. " 'The Show Must Go On' by Queen was recorded after Freddie Mercury's AIDS diagnosis. Reportedly, he could barely stand in the studio when they recorded it, and the band offered to do it another time. But he just said, 'Don't worry, I'll fucking nail it, darling,' and belted it out in one take. Amazing and tragic."

4. " 'Electric Avenue' by Eddy Grant is about the Brixton riots, living in poverty, and not being able to feed your kids despite working full time."

5. " 'Before You Go' by Lewis Capaldi . He wrote it for his aunt, who died by suicide."

6. " 'All My Love' by Led Zeppelin is about the lead singer Robert Plant's 5-year-old son's unexpected death from a virus."

7. " 'When I Lost You' by Irving Berlin. Irving Berlin was 24 years old and an early success. He married singer Dorothy Goetz, who was in her early 20s. Five months after the wedding, she died of typhoid fever. It's the first sad song he wrote. It was a year before he could bring himself to perform it. He didn't marry again for 14 years."

8. " 'I'm Not Gonna Miss You' by Glen Campbell. It's about the singer's Alzheimer's diagnosis."

9. " 'All That I've Got' by The Used. This song is about how the lead singer's dog escaped from his yard and was hit and killed by a car. He used the song to try to help deal with his pain."

10. " 'Save the Last Dance for Me' by The Drifters was written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman. Doc contracted polio as a child, and eventually had to be in a wheelchair by mid-life. The song is about him watching his new bride dance with their wedding guests."

11. " 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas' sung by Judy Garland . It was, in theory, about a family planning to move. But it was written and recorded during WWII. Some of the lyrics were later changed. It originally had: 'Someday soon we all will be together, if the fates allow. / Until then we’ll have to muddle through somehow. / So have yourself a merry little Christmas now.'"

12. " 'The Drugs Don't Work' by The Verve is about Richard Ashcroft's father dying of a blood clot."

13. " 'I Don't Like Mondays' by The Boomtown Rats was inspired by the Cleveland Elementary School shooting in San Diego."

14. And finally, " 'Limousine' by Brand New. It’s about the death of 7-year-old Katie Flynn , who was killed by a drunk driver. She was riding in a limousine with her family after a wedding in which she was the flower girl."

Some submissions have been edited for length and clarity.