The 10 Best Dead Sara Songs of All-Time
Dead Sara just announced their first new alum in six years, which is fantastic news for fans. However, there’s plenty of great music from this fantastic band already out there. This music group has frequently made it into Loudwire’s top ten rock songs list, and there’s a good reason why, but you have to hear it for yourself. Old and new, we’ll show you the top ten best Dead Sara songs of all time.
10. Sorry For It All
Emily Armstrong wrote almost every song for Dead Sara. However, Sorry For It All was a joint effort between Emily and Siouxsie Medley. This song is special to the band because they played it, along with Weatherman, when they appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live in September of 2012.
9. Something Good
The lyrics for Something Good are deceptively simple. However, a quick look into the words shows a deeper philosophical meaning in this song. This cheery, throaty, bluesy song is all about not wasting your life or getting too self-involved. However, it’s also about hoping for the best and doing things that really matter. The whole song questions our assumptions with lines like ‘are you gonna hold yourself so highly regarded?’
8. Lemon Scent
The Video for Lemon Scent starts in a boxing ring with an announcer who asks if the crowd is ready for a fight. Something in the vocals of this song reminds us of Sarah McLachlan. Meanwhile, the lyrics are all about being hurt by other people—voluntary injuries and being taken advantage of unaware hurt the same. Telling yourself the truth is vital. As 25Years Later points out, this is a very one-sided look at how one person feels about a bad relationship.
7. Heart-Shaped Box (Nirvana Cover)
Nirvana was an instant classic, and their songs are often imitated. Usually, these attempts are largely unsuccessful because it is hard for any singer to mimic that Kurt Cobain like sorrow and rage. However, Dead Sara manages both musically, with instruments, and vocally to capture the spirit of this well-loved song. If Kurt had been born later and female, he would certainly be Emily Armstrong. The sheer range and versatility of her voice are incredible.
6. Mona Lisa
Addictive love is a common theme for singers, stories, and other media. Yet every good song has its own flavor. Mona Lisa manages to be part chant, part angry anthem, part desperation that borders on a threat, and so much more. Loudwire calls this song and video “unapologetically raw and beautifully bittersweet,” comparing her voice to Stevie Nicks, and they captured it well.
5. Heroes
Heroes is a song about how getting older makes you jaded, but it also makes you more self-aware. This song just dropped, and it has a superb beat, with a nice deep bassline under the angsty lyrics. The drums and guitar in Dead Sara’s music never disappoint, even as Emily’s voice takes center stage. The riff makes you want to dance along in a disjointed expression of inner turmoil. Moreover, some songs with a cold-turkey, dead-stop ending are abrupt and uncomfortable as though they didn’t know where to stop, but this is the perfect ending to Heroes.
4. Anybody
Seeking acceptance is a universal feeling. Anybody is all about finding your love, your people, or your family. Feeling alone is something we all experience, but you can’t give up. When you keep looking, it can feel rough and very lonely. It is normal to ask yourself if you fit in anywhere if anyone is proud of you or loves you. Anybody and everybody can understand this song.
3. Weatherman
The guitar in Weatherman is next level. Siouxsie Medley brings a loud, distorted sound to meet Emily’s voice perfectly. This is one of those songs you could listen to without words and enjoy just as much. However, the lyrics in Weatherman are more than they seem at first glance. In the late 1960s and 1970s, a terrorist group called the “Weathermen” were active in a series of jailbreaks, bombings, and incited riots. Weatherman is all about the anger and ferocity that fueled the group. Army War College points out, this radical group declared war on America with the intent to influence political outcomes.
2. Unamerican
Proving that she can scream with the best of them, Unamerican opens up with an outstanding guitar riff backed by heavy drums and a scream. With lines like ‘F-k you Donald Trump,’ and ‘I wanna be an alien,’ it’s easy to see the intent behind this song. Many people fought back and still fight against the crude and incorrect notion that refusing to toe the line makes you ‘Unamerican.’ This is a song that perfectly expresses the rage and oppression a majority of people feel.
1. Hands Up
Hands Up is top on our list because the 2020 song is all about a gaslighter throwing their hands up in an attempt at failing manipulation. If more people recognized this action for what it is, they wouldn’t spend so much time dealing with emotional abusers. Any great band can write a song about a bad relationship, but the incredible poignance and exact descriptions of the actions of an emotional manipulator and their victim is peerless.
Final Thoughts
Whether you’re planning to see one of the two new shows at the Roxy in Los Angeles, or you’re just looking to add to your collection of rock bands for a playlist, Dead Sara is a must-listen. These ten songs are their best, but when you’re done listening to this playlist, there are plenty more. With five albums already and a sixth on the way soon, you can get hours of outstanding songs for any modern rock playlist.