CH: Make a Depressing Song Hit #1

To those who mentioned Seasons in the Sun - are you referring to the Terry Jacks version? Because the original Jacques Brel version (which is jarring because it combines pretty depressing words - as well as being more explicit about the wife's infidelity - with a very upbeat, almost march-like, tempo (and was reproduced more or less accurately by the Kingston Trio) in a way that's someone unusual for chansons) is probably more depressing, in an ironic way, as well as having been widely covered and, IIRC, even got translated into Arabic by a Lebanese rock band:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Jl-R2NhUiI
 
To those who mentioned Seasons in the Sun - are you referring to the Terry Jacks version? Because the original Jacques Brel version (which is jarring because it combines pretty depressing words - as well as being more explicit about the wife's infidelity - with a very upbeat, almost march-like, tempo (and was reproduced more or less accurately by the Kingston Trio) in a way that's someone unusual for chansons) is probably more depressing, in an ironic way, as well as having been widely covered and, IIRC, even got translated into Arabic by a Lebanese rock band:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Jl-R2NhUiI

And then there was his follow up single another Brel song "ne me quitte pass"
 
And then there was his follow up single another Brel song "ne me quitte pass"

Ah, yes, that one too. That one is amazing (though he shows up bad in his live performances, as if he's terrified of something - which gives it a whole other experience).
 
I'm surprised no one's mentioned Barry Manilow, who's at least a two-time winner with Mandy in 1974 and Looks Like We Made It in '77. If you count the Adult Contemporary chart, he hit the trifecta with Weekend in New England in 1976 (#1 AC but only #10 on the Top 100).

Don Henley's The End of the Innocence hit #1 on the Billboard Top Rock charts in 1989 (#8 on the Top 100); that's pretty depressing.

Elton John is a pretty rich vein to mine, too; other posters have already mentioned Candle in the Wind, but there's also Daniel (#4 in 1973), Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (#6 that same year), I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues (#5 in 1983), and Sad Songs Say So Much (#7 in 1984).
 
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