You may not instantly feel better, but you will know you’re not alone. It doesn’t matter if it’s an R&B tearjerker, 12-bar blues or indie rock bummer jam - the next time you feel like shutting the windows, locking the doors and curling up in the fetal position, throw on one of these songs. Whether you’re mourning the end of a relationship or the death of a loved one, or just generally feeling down in the dumps, these 50 songs know exactly what you’re going through. The best sad songs don’t just whine and gesture at bad feelings - they almost seem to wallow in the depths with you.Īs they say, misery loves company, and the best songwriters know how to make it seem as though they’re in your lonely apartment with you, offering a sympathetic shoulder to weep on.

From artists as diverse as the Cure and Nirvana, Curtis has inspired countless musicians to bravely explore and express their inner pain.Sometimes, when the skies turn gray and you just can’t seem to muster the energy to change out of your sweatpants, all you want is to hear is a tune that feels your pain.

In the mid-'90s, Curtis' widow Deborah Curtis wrote 'Touching From a Distance,' a biographical account of her marriage to him, detailing how he had a relationship with another woman that ended before he killed himself. On May 18, 1980, Curtis hanged himself in his wife's kitchen. 'This is a crisis I knew had to come/Destroying the balance I'd kept,' Curtis sang on 'Passover,' hinting at his eventual suicide.

In Closer, Curtis wrote lyrics of unrelenting sadness and hopelessness. In 1980, Joy Division recorded Closer, a haunting masterpiece that symbolized the genesis of gothic rock. Onstage, Curtis' unbridled intensity and odd, violent body movements - a reflection of his epileptic seizures - captivated audiences. Warsaw quickly became Joy Division, and Curtis' deep, despondent voice and morose, personal songwriting achieved massive critical acclaim with the release of Joy Division's first LP, Unknown Pleasures, in 1979. Beginning with Warsaw in 1977, Curtis peered into the dark underbelly of human existence bellowing his grim lyrics with Iggy Pop's punk rage, Curtis directed the Sex Pistols' explosive anger inward.

As the singer/songwriter for Joy Division, Curtis wallowed in his own deep despair until he saw no purpose in living. Mesmerizing on stage but introverted and prone to desperate mood swings in his private life, Curtis died by his own hand on. Ian Curtis ended his life before he could feel the range of his influence. Revered by his peers and idolized by his fans, Ian Curtis left behind a legacy rich in artistic genius.

Ian curtis touching from a distance