Twelve Terrible Tunes—A Gloom Playlist

The right music can make a game into an event, so this is the first of several playlists we'll offer to enhance your enjoyment of our most popular games. For the Gloom soundtrack, you'll find a wide variety of the merry and the mournful, but the list is hardly exhaustive. Share your recommendations on social media with the hashtag #GloomyPlaylist!

12. “Danse Macabre” by Camille Saint-Saens

• This creepy classical composition brings images of a graveyard gala to mind. And this trippy little PBS cartoon from the 1980s delivered both horror and whimsy to a generation of school Halloween parties.

11. “Everybody Hurts” by R.E.M.

• A mournful anthem that commiserates with the common human experience of misery and pain. Whether it strikes you as poignant or funny, it's great for crying on one another's shoulders as your Gloom family dwindles. The music video also offers helpful strategies for dealing with rush-hour traffic.

10. “O Death” by Ralph Stanley

• A chilling ballad from the early Appalachian tradition that both asks for Death to spare the singer, and gives the gruesome details of how the Reaper does his work. The great Ralph Stanley performs this song live in 2008 at age 82, just down the hill from his famous brother Carter Stanley's grave.

9. “Don't Fear the Reaper” by Blue Oyster Cult

• On the flip side from “O Death” is this rock classic that welcomes death as a natural part of life. Blue Oyster Cult made the song famous, though New Zealand band The Mutton Birds did an excellent cover for the soundtrack of the '90s film The Frighteners. But, if we're all going to be honest about it, this is the version we think of now.

8. “Country Death Song” by the Violent Femmes

• This tune pays tribute to the great folk tradition of the “murder ballad”, serving up a grim tale of family demise in the Femmes' distinctive '80s alt-rock style. It's especially enjoyable in this clever animated video by LatockiFILM.

7. “This Could Be Love” by Alkaline Trio

• And then there are the songs that make murder downright merry. This punk classic, with a bloody 4-step checklist in the chorus, isn't for the faint of heart, but it's highly danceable. 

6. “Dancing with Mr. D” by the Rolling Stones

• A classic Stones tune about death and the Devil from Goats Head Soup album. This blues-infused song is filled with creepy, atmospheric graveyard imagery. 

5. “Poor Edward” by Tom Waits

• Some songs are just the sort of weird, mournful tales that could be taken straight out of a round of Gloom. Delivered in Tom Waits' gravelly voice, the saga of poor Edward is enhanced by this stop-motion video by Lucas van Leiden.

4. “Maxwell's Silver Hammer” by The Beatles

• Like many Beatles classics, this song is upbeat and catchy. The fact that it's about a guy who goes around knocking those who annoy him in the head with a hammer is just icing on the cake. A hilarious animated video by HotDiggetyDemon adds a new layer of enjoyment.

3. “People Ain't No Good” by Nick Cave

• While pretty much everything by this dark-voiced artist fits the list, especially his 1996 release Murder Ballads, this contribution to the Shrek 2 soundtrack sums up our feelings about the Gloom clans. 

2. “Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now” by The Smiths

• No self-respecting list of depressing, morbid songs would be complete without an entry by Morrissey and the Smiths. In this classic tune, absolutely everything is an Unhappy Event: finding a job, losing a job, going out, staying home, and of course, looking for love. 

1. “Gloomy Sunday” by Billie Holiday

• This song simply must rank as Number 1 on our countdown, and not just because of its title, or the classic mournful performance by the great lady Billie Holliday. In fact, this song may be directly tied to more untimely deaths than any other in recorded history. Read more about the dreary and depressing legend of “Gloomy Sunday”, a.k.a. “the Hungarian Suicide Song”.