Top 10 Saddest LANY Songs

(SPOT.ph) American band LANY announced on April 30 that they would be releasing a new album very soon with the first single set to drop on May 13. The indie pop trio is best known for their atmospheric synth-heavy songs with lyrics detailing personal topics like love, longing, and heartbreak. The group is particularly popular in the Philippines with the band having performed here several times throughout the years. In fact, four out of five of the cities that listen to LANY the most in the world, according to Spotify, are all here in the Philippines.

Perhaps it’s the Filipinos’ love for heartwrenching music that makes LANY such a hit in these parts—we’re all a little guilty of listening to sad songs in an attempt to make ourselves sadder, right? With that in mind, we round up 10 LANY songs that give us major feels with every listen—and we ranked them, too, from sappy to downright soul-crushing. Whether you’re obsessed with a new crush, overcoming a breakup, or going through hard times in a relationship, Paul Klein, Jake Goss, and Les Priest have got you covered.

Also read:
Best in Show: LANY Brings Malibu Nights to Manila
10 Anthems for Your Non-Relationship Relationship
Top 10 Catchiest Breakup Songs
10 Hugot Lines That Are Too Popular and Also Too Accurate

Ready your tissues! We ranked the top 10 LANY songs that will give you major feels every time:

10. "Super Far"

Nightly musing: "Wanna stay, can you give me a reason? I don't think so."

The atmospheric, synth-heavy spring of this song makes it fun to bop your head to, but it actually details the end of a long-distance relationship. As the title suggests, the singer is “super far” from his lover and he’s left realizing that his relationship is fizzling out, though he holds onto hope that it may still work out. “Can you show me that you care?” he asks, but answers his own question by saying “God, I hope so, but I don't think so,” resigned to his fate. We’ll keep this track at number 10 just because the beat is almost enough to distract you from its gloomy words. Pro tip: if you really want to feel how sad the song is, listen to LANY’s Spotify Singles version of the song: a down-tempo, stripped down rendition that’s sure to hit you right in the feels.

9. "Taking Me Back"

Nightly musing: "If I could, know I would try. Tell me now, tell me how to change your mind."

“Taking Me Back” is the second track off LANY’s Malibu Nights album—a record that seems to walk through each stage of grief involved in breakups, and this track in particular is all about bargaining. “Tell me how to change your mind,” begs the singer to an ex lover and later, “Can I talk you into taking me back?” If you’ve ever uttered such lines in the hopes of rekindling an old flame, no judgments here. We suggest turning up the volume when you listen to this one and letting the sonic melody thump along with your angsty feels.

8. "Mean It"

Nightly musing: "I'm all in, I'm falling faster, but if you're looking at me with a heart of doubt..."

Many of LANY’s most heartbreaking records usually detail the time after a breakup or right before it’s about to come, but “Mean It” is actually a song about a relationship that can’t quite happen—ever broken up with someone you weren’t even really in a relationship with? It’s okay, we’re clowns, too. The song describes the feeling of wanting someone who only sees you as a second choice (ouch, we know) and also goes into the self-inflicted trap of being led on. “Don't build me up just to let me down,” the song begs, followed later by a painfully self-aware “you know you got me in the palm of your hand.” The song is a collaboration with singer-songwriter Lauv, who is similarly known for his sad but catchy tunes, and fans of the two will enjoy hearing the artists’ sounds coming together. Though loaded with lots of emotions and quotable one-liners, we rank this track at number eight on our list because, well, you probably could have avoided the pain of a doomed flirtation if you’re really being honest with yourself.

7. "Thick and Thin"

Nightly musing: "Is this the end? Thought you'd be there through thick and thin."

The first track off of Malibu Nights, “Thick and Thin,” narrates a breakup at its freshest stage, describing a relationship crumbling “in the heat of the moment.” It's all about the suddenness of a relationship coming to an end—often over “just one mistake” or “something so innocent.” “You were happy last weekend,” sings Klein in confusion and disbelief. The song fades out as the singer repeatedly chants that he thought his lover would be there for him “through thick and thin.” What can we say, folks? We’ve all thought that, too, right? The relatable sentiments is the reason for this track's placement on this list. However, the fresh (and consequently, underbaked) emotions keep it from being too much of a tearjerker.

6. "Okay"

Nightly musing: "I know you're sleeping perfect while I'm over here hurting."

“Okay” is LANY’s first ever collaboration, one that they did with singer-songwriter Julia Michaels who has worked with artists like Selena Gomez, Niall Horan, and 5 Seconds of Summer, to name a few. According to Klein, the two came up with the song while having a conversation about their love lives in the parking lot of a recording studio. Klein recounts Michaels telling him about a crush she had while he told her that he was still not over his ex. At that point he asked her, “I’m gonna be okay, right?” and that became the hook of the song. Haven’t we all asked ourselves that question after struggling through heartbreak or unrequited love? This track snags a spot on this list for its ultra-personal vibe and lyrics. Plus, the fact that it’s a duet adds an extra gut-punch by making the song feel like a painful conversation between exes.

5. "Thru These Tears"

Nightly musing: "In the end I'm gonna be alright, but it might take a hundred sleepless nights."

The title of this track may be a good enough indication that it doesn’t bring about joyful feelings—perhaps a little melodramatic for some, but just mournful enough to start out the top half of our list. “This hurts like hell,” howls Klein in the first line. He says the song was written during “the worst 45 days of [his] life” at a time when he was trying to get over a breakup. Most of us know that even the worst heartbreaks can be overcome, but the days leading up to the point of moving on can be especially difficult, which is what the song acknowledges—the tough process of getting from point A to point B. “In the end I'm gonna be alright, but it might take a hundred sleepless nights,” sings Klein, knowing the end of the pain will come eventually, but “right now, I can’t see nothing through these tears.”

4. "Valentine’s Day"

Nightly musing: "I think it's time to give my heart a chance, see if it's healed by now."

According to Klein, “Valentine’s Day” was the last song to make it onto Malibu Nights and it fittingly describes the singer moving on after a breakup—or at least attempting to. He narrates “hanging out with someone else” and trying to test himself and see if he’s ready for a new relationship. Despite his efforts of meeting new people, the chorus ends with him saying “no matter what I tell myself … she's not as good as you”—an ode to the slow and painful process of getting over someone. Perhaps what makes this song extra woeful is the way you can feel the singer’s efforts to move on in his words as he struggles to hope for better things ahead. “I pray you're not the best that I will ever get,” he sings—a shot through the heart that's fit for the fourth spot.

3. "Hericane"

Nightly musing: "I love you still, I always will, but you're the one in the wrong."

Yes, that title is exactly what it looks like—a combination of the words “her” and “hurricane.” Klein sings about a girl who he loves, but whom he realizes is a destructive and unhealthy force in his life. He acknowledges that his lover may be acting wrong because of past heartbreak and trauma, but he has “done [his] best to carry all this weight” and can’t anymore. Ultimately, the song deals with the conflict of loving someone, but knowing they just aren’t right for you. “I love you still, I always will, even though you are wrong,” he sings as the song comes to a close—a painful, but sobering conclusion and a worthy contender for the third spot. Hey, we’ve all stuck around too long in a toxic relationship at least once, right?

2. "13"

Nightly musing: "Where did we go wrong? I swear I knew we'd last this time."

Did you know that the song “13” was over a decade in the making? Thirty-one-year-old lead singer Klein originally came up with the track’s guitar riff when he was just 18 and it was later given the signature LANY sound with the help of bandmates Priest and Goss. While the final lyrics didn’t come till much later, you can still feel that the song’s message comes from a much younger, more naive version of its writer. Thus, it has a raw vulnerability that stands out against the band’s other tracks, which is why it makes it this high up. According to Klein, the song was completed in just one day—July 13, 2016 to be exact, which is where it gets its title. The track narrates a relationship about to end as the singer both anticipates “the calm before the storm” and questions how they got there. “Where did we go wrong?” he sings repeatedly in the chorus, echoing a subdued frustration—not unlike how many of us have felt after one too many failed romances. 

1. "Malibu Nights"

Nightly musing: "Learning how to let it go, dealing with it on my own."

“Malibu Nights” is the last track on LANY’s album of the same name and die-hard fans know that nothing in the band’s discography hits you in the feels quite as hard as this song. Clocking in at nearly five minutes, the track talks about the aftermath of a breakup as the singer shares his experience of trying to cope with a split, the depth of which he is experiencing for the first time and must deal with on his own. He narrates an aimless, seemingly unending sadness amidst coping mechanisms and unanswered questions. “What do you do with a broken heart?” he asks. The line may remind you of Whitney Houston asking “Where Do Broken Hearts Go?” back in the '80s or even One Direction posing the same question in 2014. Thus, the track has a timeless, universal feel—a heavy, confused, borderline-existential sorrow we’re all familiar with.  They say that misery loves company and if you need a companion as you ride the wave of post-breakup agony, this song will be right there with you—unquestionably the perfect pick for our number one spot.