10 Happy Songs That Are Insanely Dark
2. No Surprises - Radiohead
No self-respecting Radiohead fan comes to the band's music for a pick-me-up. Throughout their storied career, the band have been known to pump out some of the saddest music that the rock genre has to offer. However, no one would necessarily blame you for thinking "No Surprises" is a happy tune on first glance.
With most of the track is dominated by clean guitars and the delicate sounds of a glockenspiel, the song's sonic aura seems to be pulled straight out of the Beach Boys' playbook. Once Thom Yorke starts to sing though, we're back on familiar and dreadful territory. As Yorke assesses all the hurt that he has felt in his life, he starts to express his desire to just be numb with no more surprises to speak of.
It seems simple enough, but Yorke's method of doing this through "a handshake of carbon monoxide" hints at the incredibly dark nature behind his distaste for hangups. In a world so set on change, Yorke's method of suicidal actions may be the only way for him to carry on existence knowing what the outcome is. Out of all the depressing songs this band has put out, this dour look at life has the most sugar-coated disguise of any track in Radiohead's catalog.