Some of the old songs had sad content without sounding “sad”. Green Green Grass of Home (Tom Jones), MacArthur’s Park (Richard Harrison), Timothy (the Buoys), You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me (Dusty Springfield), Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow (Shirelles), and many others.
“Timothy”..the only pop song about cannibalism...or did they eat the ship’s dog? (Now we know what happened to “Shannon”!)