10 Rock Songs With Really Disturbing Endings
3. Once - Pearl Jam
From day one, Pearl Jam were never really afraid to tackle some dark subject matter in their songs. Just looking at the music video for a song like Jeremy will tell you everything you need to know, complete with an ending implying that a middle schooler took his own life in front of his classmates. Though this came as a shock to the rest of the world, most of the Pearl Jam fans should have seen this coming based on the first track on the record.
Being part of a trilogy of songs that Eddie Vedder wrote in his demo for the group, the story of Once actually picks up right where the story of the song Alive ends. In that song, we have this young kid growing up and being told that his father was actually his stepfather and his real dad has been dead for years. After his mother tries to force sex upon him, the man eventually snaps under the information he is given and uses this song to go on a killing spree.
As he relives the trauma in his head, Eddie makes no apologies about having a 12 gauge shotgun buried under his clothes and unloading on anyone who gets on his bad side. The story eventually ends in the song Footsteps, where the man is taken in by the authorities and is given the death penalty at the end of the trilogy. We may have had to wait another song for his execution, but this is the last flash of hope, as he remembers the last time he could really control himself.