According to James Hetfield, “It’s a suicide song, and we got a lot of flak for it, as if kids were killing themselves because of the song. Fade to Black, while a ballad, is a song that’s not about beautiful things. While Metallica is a band known for their heavy metal rock songs, they also have a handful of beautiful ballads. And the line about “today” being the greatest day means that things can’t possibly get any worse. He says the song was written while he was having suicidal thoughts. That is, until you hear what frontman Billy Corgan has to say about it. Memorable lyrics: Cause I’m cleaning my gun, yeahĪt first glance (and if you’re new to the Smashing Pumpkins), you might think that Today is more uplifting than most of its songs. His song Cleaning My Gun may have been written years before his eventual suicide (not with a gunshot, though), but even then it may have already been a cry for help. He was depressed, no doubt, but we only wish those around him knew just how depressed he was. Where to hide, suicide is the only way outĬhris Cornell was a lyrical genius who was taken from this world too soon. Memorable lyrics: Breaking laws, knocking doors The parents of a depressed teenager who committed suicide insisted that their son killed himself after listening to the song. If there’s one thing that attests to how hard this song hits you, it’s the lawsuit filed against Ozzy back in 1986. Memorable lyrics: Would it be wrong? Would it be right? He goes on to say that the song is cry for help. According to Papa Roach member Tobin Esperance, it’s a song about struggling with life and wondering if you have it in you to keep going on. It’s undeniably catchy, despite its dark lyrics. Memorable lyrics: Daddy didn’t give attention While some people might dismiss the child as a disturbed child, Eddie Vedder’s lyrics paint the life he lived thus allowing us listeners to empathize. While many songs on this list were inspired by the experiences of the artists, Jeremy was inspired by a teenager who shot himself in front of his English class in 1991. Memorable lyrics: Johnny boy always played the fool Even though they might have so much potential, their circumstances prevent them from living a better life… or a life at all. While not explicitly a song about suicide, it’s a song that tackles the difficult lives of some children and teens. There are uplifting songs about the youth like We Are the World and then there are songs like Youth of the Nation. Instead, these are songs that you want to empathize with, so that you can think twice about killing yourself. These songs aim not to push towards going through with taking your life. In other words, they’re so familiar with what it’s like to feel like there’s no way out that they don’t want their fans going through the same thing – hence the songs they’ve written about suicide.īelow are some songs about committing suicide. They’re so open with it that they want to use their creativity to reach out to people who might be going through the same thing. Many talented musicians have been open about their battle with mental illness. And there’s also Chester Bennington, the frontman of Linkin Park, who committed suicide not long after Chris Cornell did. There’s the very talented Chris Cornell who fronted bands like Soungarden and Audioslave. Over the years we’ve seen countless talented people who have lost their lives to suicide. In times like these, perhaps a song could help. And more often than not, the person we’re trying to talk out of suicide might not even care about anything else other than finding a way to end their life. Often we come up with some generic, cliched advice that might make things seem worse. If you know a person who’s thinking of committing suicide, it’s difficult to find the right words to say. Suicide is one of those topics that are so hard to talk about. There’s a quote that goes, “Suicide does not end the chances of life getting worse suicide eliminates the possibility of it getting better.”