21 Unlikely Songs With Devastating Backstories

Everyone remembers where they were when they realized “Semi-Charmed Life” is about methamphetamine addiction. Pop music is full of such songs that sound happy but are obviously depressing if you pay attention to what you’re singing: “Pumped Up Kicks,” “Red, Red Wine,” Third-Eye Blind’s aforementioned paean to uppers, the list goes on and on.

There are some songs, however, that sound perfectly unaffecting even if you listen to the words, but once the artist explains what the song is about, will have you crying like a baby. Like, did you know “Drops of Jupiter” is about the death of Mr. Train’s mom? Yeah, the “checks out Mozart while she does tae-bo” song. He had a dream about her soaring through the solar system. It’s honestly rude to make us so emotional about a song that stupid.

It was these songs one Reddit user was interested in when they asked r/AskReddit, “What song became heartbreaking once you learned the context behind its origin?”