With the exception of 1987 and 1988 (actually I think even 87 and 88 were depressing to an extent, 89 was much more upbeat), most of the years since the 60s that have ended in a 7 or 8 have felt, looked, or been depressing, regardless of whether or not the other years the decade were. Contrast this with years ending in a 9 which are more bubbly by comparison.

1967 and 1968 with all of the events that happened, especially Vietnam and Tet offensive, 2001: A Space Odyssey and the Martin Luther King Assassination. Contrast that to 1969 with Woodstock and the Moon Landings.

When I think of 1977 or 1978 I think of Bee Gees - Stayin Alive, YMCA - Village People, Star Wars, Saturday Night fever etc. But 1979 wasn't exactly a change from these years either other than the fact that people became sick of Disco, 1979 also had the Iranian Hostage crisis and the second Gas Crisis.

With the exception of 1990 and parts of 1999, the rest of the 90s felt dry, dark and cynical according to popular media.  1999 even had movies about identity crises like the Matrix and Fight Club. And then Columbine happened. 

For 2007 and 2008 all you need to do is look at the video games such as GTA 4, COD 4, Halo 3, Battlefield Bad company, early Youtube Videos which featured Adobe flash animations, and then there was the recession. 2009 was much more upbeat and the games and movies that came out were different than 2008 and 2007. Contrast COD MW2 with COD4 and COD WAW. Though there were still some dark games like Borderlands.

And 2017 and 2018 need no explanation, you all can recall recent events.

Aside from the ongoing Vietnam War, which plagued most of the 60s, 1967 was not depressing. In fact, the 60s were in full colorful flower in 1967. 60s psychedelia was at it's peak. The Summer of Love took place in 1967. The wondrous Monterrey Pop Festival took place. In fact it was the last gasp of psychedelic 60s "innocence"  before things got darker in 1968 with the assassination of RFK and Dr. King, and the Tet Offensive. And I hate to use that word "innocence", because everybody always says everything was "innocent" until some great tragedy happens, and then "we lost our innocence". It happens over and over. But you know what I mean.

Aside from the ongoing Vietnam War, which plagued most of the 60s, 1967 was not depressing. In fact, the 60s were in full colorful flower in 1967. 60s psychedelia was at it's peak. The Summer of Love took place in 1967. The wondrous Monterrey Pop Festival took place. In fact it was the last gasp of psychedelic 60s "innocence"  before things got darker in 1968 with the assassination of RFK and Dr. King, and the Tet Offensive. And I hate to use that word "innocence", because everybody always says everything was "innocent" until some great tragedy happens, and then "we lost our innocence". It happens over and over. But you know what I mean.


Yeah, you are right about 1967. But 1968 was much darker. Would you agree with the other decades?

Yeah, you are right about 1967. But 1968 was much darker. Would you agree with the other decades?


Well, I'll tell you about the 70s. 1977 and 1978 might have been depressing in a general way, keep in mind, the late 70s are referred to, after all, as the "era of malaise". There was this hangover, this shell-shocked tiredness as it were, when the Vietnam War ended for real in 1975. Bob Dylan described it very succinctly in a recent interview. He said "people lost their conviction" post-1975. At the same time, there was this intangible sense of freedom in the air. You had to be there to know what I mean. I contend that in the late 70s, from 1976-1979, "the 60s" actually came true. The ideals of the 60s actually came into being. There was a democrat in the White House, and one who actually referred to himself as a pacifist!  There was no war. There was forward movement and progressiveness like never before. But, here's the kicker. The 60s finally came true and nobody noticed! They were mindlessly in discos (or listening to disco), they were cocooning. It was strange. But I liked that period a lot. DESPITE disco.

Nearly every year has a "dark event" going on. You're not making any point by cherrypicking a bunch of events and trying to shoehorn a pattern with it.
You can do this with literally any years:

"Why are years ending with a 3 so depressing?"
1963 had the JFK assassination, 1973 had the oil crisis, 1983 had the video game crash, 1993 had the WTC bombing, 2003 had the war in Iraq, 2013 had the Boston bombing

Nearly every year has a "dark event" going on. You're not making any point by cherrypicking a bunch of events and trying to shoehorn a pattern with it.
You can do this with literally any years:

"Why are years ending with a 3 so depressing?"
1963 had the JFK assassination, 1973 had the oil crisis, 1983 had the video game crash, 1993 had the WTC bombing, 2003 had the war in Iraq, 2013 had the Boston bombing


A lot of those events aren't on the same level, and you can nitpick any bad event from every year. We're talking about specific years where a bunch of depressing events happened all at once or the vibe of the year was just dark.

My theory is that the reason the later years of the decade are more dark than the earlier years is because we are transitioning out of the decade and people miss the vibe of how earlier in the decade was. It's really just rose colored glasses to be honest. The later part of the decade has always gotten a lot of hate compared to the earlier part historically.

A lot of those events aren't on the same level, and you can nitpick any bad event from every year. We're talking about specific years where a bunch of depressing events happened all at once or the vibe of the year was just dark.




And that, with all due respect, is a load of nonsense. You guys look wayyy too deeply into these things. Bad events just happen, there’s no correlation or pattern to when they happen.

Here in the UK, 1998 and 2008 were not at all the same. 1998 wasn’t depressing - quite the opposite if anything because we had a new government promising change, the economy was good and the pop culture was dominated by Brit pop and cheesy boy/girl bands. 2008 had the start of a recession and the arrival of a very unpopular Prime Minister. I don’t think 2018 was any darker than 2016 or 2019.

I wouldn't say that every year ending with a 7 or 8 were depressing. For instance, why do people consider 1997 and '98 cynical? Was it because of goths and sinister people? Was it because of Grunge and its post version still popular during those years? Was it because people wore dark clothing compared to brighter apparel?

I haven't found anything that would convince me otherwise. Some of the statements I mentioned are nothing but subcultures. It's not like everyone wore all black clothing or even listened to grunge back then. There were all kinds of subcultures, varying from mainstream fashion, hip-hop, and goths. Same with music, TV shows, video games, etc.

I wouldn't say that every year ending with a 7 or 8 were depressing. For instance, why do people consider 1997 and '98 cynical? Was it because of goths and sinister people? Was it because of Grunge and its post version still popular during those years? Was it because people wore dark clothing compared to brighter apparel?

I haven't found anything that would convince me otherwise. Some of the statements I mentioned are nothing but subcultures. It's not like everyone wore all black clothing or even listened to grunge back then. There were all kinds of subcultures, varying from mainstream fashion, hip-hop, and goths. Same with music, TV shows, video games, etc.


97 or 98 didn't stand out as depressing years because most of the 90s had that feeling. That dry, cynical, angsty feeling.

1997/98 wasn't extremely depressing...

I don't really see it. I see years ending with a 6 the more depressing, and that's purely coincidental it seems. Although this decade seemed to have been the exception, 2016 wasn't really depressing, at least not to me.

I don't really see it. I see years ending with a 6 the more depressing, and that's purely coincidental it seems. Although this decade seemed to have been the exception, 2016 wasn't really depressing, at least not to me.


2016 was pretty depressing, and usually the Summer Olympics years are the happier years, which is why 2008 was pretty good despite the Recession. Normally the other even numbered years are the depressing ones, but 2018 was exceptional. 2010 wasn't bad either. 2014, 2006, 1998, and 1990 were pretty depressing, at least in my personal life.

The years 1997,1998, 2007, 2008, 2017, and 2018 were not depressing to me at all while I was living in them. I didn’t favor the new Transformers movie or the singles of Rihanna in 2007, but I still seemed to be full of hope for the future of pop culture in that year.

2007 and 1997/1998 weren’t depressing at all. I would say 2016 was the most depressing year of the decade.

2018 was probably the most depressing year of the decade or 2012. 2016 was not depressing at all. It was a downright happy time compared to 2018. Perhaps it can be seen as depressing because it was the start of the dreaded late 2010s era, and the year the mid 2010s ended, which I understand. But it is by far the most innocent year and upbeat year of the late 2010s for sure. Nowhere near as dark as today.

The years 1997,1998, 2007, 2008, 2017, and 2018 were not depressing to me at all while I was living in them. I didn’t favor the new Transformers movie or the singles of Rihanna in 2007, but I still seemed to be full of hope for the future of pop culture in that year.


2007 was an improvement over 2006, but I wasn't a fan of that year either except for the last quarter of it. 2008 was much better, one of my favorite years of that decade since it was filled with so many great memories.

2007 was an improvement over 2006, but I wasn't a fan of that year either except for the last quarter of it. 2008 was much better, one of my favorite years of that decade since it was filled with so many great memories.


How many times did you go to see “The Dark Knight” that summer?

How was 2017 depressing lol

How was 2017 depressing lol

2017 was depressing objectively speaking in the world and pop culturally but in my personal life it was an awesome year and one of my favourites in the decade. It was also Canada's 150th birthday and I saw some of the best fireworks that year.