SADDEST SONGS EVER!

[Ava]

What do you think are the saddest songs ever?

[SouthoftheBorderPaul]

1. Livin' La Vida Loca

:cry:

Gets me every time.

[Ava]

2. LOL!

:rofl:

[Misunderestimator]

159. That or the Macarena.... Definitely leaves me teary-eyed.

[Droopy]

3. Hank Williams "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry"

Hear the lonesome whiperwill
He sounds too blue to fly
The midnight train is whining low
I’m so lonesome I could cry

I’ve never seen a night so long
When time goes crawling by
The moon just went behind a cloud
To hide it’s face and cry

Did you ever see a robin weep
When leaves begin to die
That means he’s lost the will to live
I’m so lonesome I could cry

The silence of a falling star
Lights up a purple sky
And as I wonder where you are
I’m so lonesome I could cry

[JuniperLea]

17. Good one!

I've always loved it!




SOB!

[TroubleMan]

4. Not joking..."Me and Jesus the Pimp in a '79 Granada Last Night"

It's very sad, it's about a boy who's father killed his mother, and how he deals with it....read the lyrics:

Well, he was smilin' like a vulture as he rolled up the horticulture
Ignited it, and said, "I hope the vapors don't insult ya"
What I replied denied, but he mixin weed and hop
His head was noddin' up and down like he agreed a lot
Bored, said, "We need a plot," I comply, "Let's leave the spot"
Hopped in the Granada, he's impressed by the beat I got
His name is "hay-zoos" but his pimp name is "gee-zus"
Slapped a hoe to pieces with his plastic prosthesis
"Nigga don't you know that I'm your daddy?" said he
This is true, plus he schooled me for my mackin' degree
"Never plea, try not to flee, make niggaz pee when you stick around"
This man my momma had found taught me to put it down
I press the gas to the ground to show that I'm a hound
Makin' sho' that get rubber sound is heard throughout the town
Thirty years ago, Jesus could pull a hoe quick
But now he 50 and his belly hangs lower than his dick
Philosophy that he spit stuck in my memory chips
And now he puttin' in a disk of Gladys Knight and the Pips
Then that shit starts to skip, he said, "Somebody musta scratch it"
Put the 40 to his lips and poured the contents down the hatchet
Well since my adolescense, cause of his pimp lessons
smack my woman in the dental just for askin' silly questions
Relationship reduction to either rock the box or suction
Ain't got no close partners, socially I cain't function
From the pen he would scribe, on how to survive:
"Don't be Microsoft, be Macintosh with a Hard Drive"
Used to tell me all the time to keep a bitch broke
Did I mention that my momma was his number one hoe?
Clunked the 40 on the flo' and placed his palm on the dash
and wheezed out, "C'mon man, make this motherfucker mash!"
Ain't gon' mash too fast, cause my tags ain't right
Me and Jesus the Pimp in a '79 Granada last night

City lights from far way can make you drop yo' jaw
Sparklin' like sequins on a transvestite at Mardi Gras
There's beauty in the cracks of the cement
When I was five I hopped over them wherever we went to prevent
whatever it was that could break my momma's back
Little did I know that it would roll up in a Cadillac
And matta-fact, she couldn't see him like a cataract
And on the track, she went from beautiful to battle axe
And back at home, she would cry into her pillow
Vomit in the commode, I was six years old
I would crawl onto her lap and we would hug and hold
Never knew how she was suffering for my food and clothes
She asked me what I thought of Jesus when he broke off some bread
I said, "He missin' a arm, and he seem like a pee-pee head"
She said, "Don't cuss," and my teeth to go brush
And get ready for bed, and the toilet to flush
With tears in my momma's eyes, I was her everything
Before she went out on the stroll
She'd tuck me into bed and sing:

(woman singing)
"You're just too beautiful for words"
"You're just too beautiful for words"
"You're just too beautiful for words"
"You're just too beautiful for words"

I see the red and white lights as the ambulance flies
Reminds me of midnight in a dopefiend's eyes
And my 9-year-old self as paramedics leave
Left to ball my eyes out on a neighbor's sleeve
To give illustrations that are clear and clean
I'll take you two hours back before this scene:
Early in the morning when the sun starts to creep
When the birds start to chirp and crackheads go to sleep
Moms was comin' in I heard her keys go clink
Wearin' nothin' but pumps, bikini, and fake mink
Even though she served for fifty dollars-a-pop
Hardly had enough for rent after Jesus re-copped
That day the landlady got her rent befo' he got his knot
Slammed momma's head against the front bolt lock
Then the pump wit one arm done harm
Reached back and plowed into her head like a farm
Never saw the act, locked in the back, I was cussin'
Heard the blap blap of twenty headcrack percussion
and body blows, her body froze from bolo's to the spine
I was hysterically cryin', all she could do was whine
She didn't even have the strength to say, "I love you Boo"
But I said it to her and she knew that I knew
She was dead by the time the ambulance got on the case
But I never will forget the plastic hand stuck in her face
Stop at the intersection to ask Jesus 'bout directions
"go to Frisco.." (I got very friendly vocal inflections)
Mob a left at MacArthur to continue in flight
Me and Jesus the Pimp in a '79 Granada last night

The rain dropped giant pearls, God was pissin' on the world
or that old man who was snorin' rolled on over and earled
My temperature gauge read cold and blistery
Spinnin' wheels made each piece of asphault history
This was Jesus debut out the penitentiary
Fifteen years, but it seem like a century
See, he went in the pen for some other murder drama
Twelve years old when I wrote him quote I wanna be a pimp comma
You accidentally killed my mom, no playahation points
You know how bitches act, shit exclamation points
First it was a set up move, then it was the truth
His letters were the only friend I had as a youth
But his lopsided game, see, was really counterfeit
So my little son Dominic thinks that I'm a dick
Cause I was runnin' 'round like a little baby Jesus
To me women had to be saints, hoes, or skeezahs
And I don't think that it's gon' end til we make revolution
But who gon' make the shit if we worship prostitution?
Ain't no women finna die for the same ol' conclusion
Put they life on the line so some other pimp could use 'em
Pulled into a vacant lot, the road to recovery
Pulled out my pistol as we brushed against the shrubbery
Jesus said, "Why the hell you pointin' a gat?"
So I pulled a piece of game I could use out the hat
I said, "This trip is over, we ain't finna ride on
This is for my mental and my momma that I cried on
Microsoft motherfuckers let bygones be bygones
but since I'm Macintosh, I'ma double click your icons"
He struggled for life, then gave up the fight
Me and Jesus the Pimp in a '79 Granada last night

And I still remember momma:
(woman singing)
"You're just too beautiful for words"
"You're just too beautiful for words"
"You're just too beautiful for words"
"You're just too beautiful for words"

[ET Awful]

83. Ah yes, from one of the least known, but absolute best hip-hop groups

on the planet - The Coup.

Their first album kicked some major ass too.

[In_The_Wind]

5. Memories from Cats.

Another Day In Paradise by Phil Collins

[Strong Atheist]

94. Agreed. Good pick. nt.

[skygazer]

6. Green, Green Grass of Home

The old home town looks the same as I step down from the train,
and there to meet me is my Mama and Papa.
Down the road I look and there runs Mary hair of gold and lips like cherries.
It's good to touch the green, green grass of home.
Yes, they'll all come to meet me, arms reaching, smiling sweetly.
It's good to touch the green, green grass of home.
The old house is still standing tho' the paint is cracked and dry,
and there's that old oak tree I used to play on.

Down the lane I walk with my sweet Mary, hair of gold and lips like cherries.
It's good to touch the green, green grass of home.
Yes, they'll all come to meet me, arms reaching, smiling sweetly.
It's good to touch the green, green grass of home.



Then I awake and look around me, at four grey wall surround me
and I realize that I was only dreaming.
For there's a guard and there's a sad old padre -
arm in arm we'll walk at daybreak.
Again I touch the green, green grass of home.
Yes, they'll all come to see me in the shade of that old oak tree
as they lay me neath the green, green grass of home.

[bertha katzenengel]

48. they'll all come to meet Sweet Mary

hair of gold, and lips like cherries
it's good to touch the green green grass of home

i must remember the lyrics wrong, but still.

great song, thanks for the memories. :hi:

[mulsh]

7. somewhere over the rainbow

just listen to Judy singing it later in life.

[Strong Atheist]

95. Yeah, it is sad-sounding. nt.

[Ava]

8. depending on who sings it,

amazing grace can really choke me up.

[SiobhanClancy]

9. She Moved Through The Fair...

done by Sinead O'Connor.

Also "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda"...

Most Chopin Nocturnes...

"The Living Years" by Mike and the Mechanics(reminds me of my dad)

[Bridget Burke]

155. Not "She Moved Through The Fair" done by Julia Roberts?

As she sleepwalked her way through the Michael Collins movie....

[SeattleGirl]

10. In the Country genre, "He Stopped Loving Her Today"

by George Jones is a really sad song.

Non-country, my pick would be "I Can't Make You Love Me" by Bonnie Raitt.

[LostinVA]

44. DEFINITELY agree on Bonnie Raitt's song

In a certain mood, it makes me cry....

[SeattleGirl]

73. That song came out just at the time I was breaking up with

my Grand Obsession, and believe me, it pierced me to my soul.

[LostinVA]

85. OMG... I know. No Doubt's "Don't Speak" came out

right when I was having this horrible breakup with MY Grand Obssesion... I love the song, and think it's great... but it makes me feel agitated every time I hear it.

[Arugula Latte]

115. "He Stopped Loving Her Today" is indeed sad, sad, sad

:cry:

He said "I'll love you till I die."
She told him:"You'll forget in time."
As the years went slowly by,
She still preyed upon his mind.

He kept her picture on his wall,
Went half-crazy now and then.
He still loved her through it all,
Hoping she'd come back again.

Kept some letters by his bed,
Dated nineteen sixty-two.
He had underlined in red,
Every single "I love you".

I went to see him just today,
Oh, but I didn't see no tears.
All dressed up to go away,
First time I'd seen him smile in years.

He stopped loving her today,
they placed a wreath upon his door.
and soon they'll carry him away,
He stopped loving her today.

You know, she came to see him one last time.
Aww, an' we all wondered if she would.
And it kept runnin' through my mind:
"This time he's over her for good."

He stopped loving her today,
They placed a wreath upon his door.
And soon they'll carry him away,
He stopped loving her today.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

137. Damn, I was gonna post the Raitt.

Saddest. Song. Ever.

:cry::cry::cry:

"I can't make you love me, if you don't/You can't make your heart feel something it won't..."

:cry:

[alcibiades_mystery]

11. Iris Dement - Our Town

And you know the sun's settin' fast,
And just like they say, nothing good ever lasts.
Well, go on now and kiss it goodbye,
But hold on to your lover,
'Cause your heart's bound to die.
Go on now and say goodbye to our town, to our town.
Can't you see the sun's settin' down on our town, on our town,
Goodnight.

Up the street beside that red neon light,
That's where I met my baby on one hot summer night.
He was the tender and I ordered a beer,
It's been forty years and I'm still sitting here.

But you know the sun's settin' fast,
And just like they say, nothing good ever lasts.
Well, go on now and kiss it goodbye,
But hold on to your lover,
'Cause your heart's bound to die.
Go on now and say goodbye to our town, to our town.
Can't you see the sun's settin' down on our town, on our town,
Goodnight.

It's here I had my babies and I had my first kiss.
I've walked down Main Street in the cold morning mist.
Over there is where I bought my first car.
It turned over once but then it never went far.

And I can see the sun's settin' fast,
And just like they say, nothing good ever lasts.
Well, go on now and kiss it goodbye,
But hold on to your lover,
'Cause your heart's bound to die.
Go on now and say goodbye to our town, to our town.
Can't you see the sun's settin' down on our town, on our town,
Goodnight.

I buried my Mama and I buried my Pa.
They sleep up the street beside that pretty brick wall.
I bring them flowers about every day,
but I just gotta cry when I think what they'd say.

If they could see how the sun's settin' fast,
And just like they say, nothing good ever lasts.
Well, go on now and kiss it goodbye,
But hold on to your lover,
'Cause your heart's bound to die.
Go on now and say goodbye to our town, to our town.
Can't you see the sun's settin' down on our town, on our town,
Goodnight.

Now I sit on the porch and watch the lightning-bugs fly.
But I can't see too good, I got tears in my eyes.
I'm leaving tomorrow but I don't wanna go.
I love you, my town, you'll always live in my soul.

But I can see the sun's settin' fast,
And just like they say, nothing good ever lasts.
Well, go on, I gotta kiss you goodbye,
But I'll hold to my lover,
'Cause my heart's 'bout to die.
Go on now and say goodbye to my town, to my town.
I can see the sun has gone down on my town, on my town,
Goodnight.
Goodnight.

[WCGreen]

26. I love Iris......

[Bridget Burke]

156. That song was the soundtrack....

For the last scenes in the last Northern Exposure ever shown...

[Rowdyboy]

12. "Til I'm too old to die young"

I actually had too pull off the road once when this song came on. I'd recently lost a very close friend who was only 29 and left two children...



Till I'm Too Old To Die Young

by
Kevin Welch
John Hadley
Scott Dooley

If life is like a candle bright
Then death must be the wind
You know you can close your window tight
And it still comes blowing in

So I will climb the highest hill
And I'll watch the rising sun
And I pray that I won't feel the chill
Till I'm too old to die young

Chorus:
Let me watch my children grow
To see what they become
Lord don't let that cold wind blow
Till I'm too old to die young

I have had some real good friends
I thought would never die
But now all that I got left of them
Are these tear drops in my eyes

So if I could have one wish today
And I know it would be done
I'd say everyone could stay
Till they're too old too die young

Repeat chorus twice



Kevin Welch: vocal, guitar
Kieran Kane: octave mandolin
Fats Kaplin: button accordion

You Can't Save Everybody

[rockymountaindem]

13. Bobby Jean

By Bruce Springsteen

Well I came by your house the other day, your mother said you went away
She said there was nothing that I could have done
There was nothing nobody could say
Me and you we’ve known each other ever since we were sixteen
I wished I would have known I wished I could have called you
Just to say goodbye bobby jean

Now you hung with me when all the others turned away turned up their noise
We liked the same music we liked the same bands we liked the same clothes
We told each other that we were the wildest, the wildest things we’d ever seen
Now I wished you would have told me I wished I could have talked to you
Just to say goodbye bobby jean

Now we went walking in the rain talking about the pain from the world we hid
Now there ain’t nobody nowhere nohow gonna ever understand me the way you did
Maybe you’ll be out there on that road somewhere
In some bus or train traveling along
In some motel room there’ll be a radio playing
And you’ll hear me sing this song
Well if you do you’ll know I’m thinking of you and all the miles in between
And I’m just calling one last time not to change your mind
But just to say I miss you baby, good luck goodbye, bobby jean

[salin]

14. Ode to Billy Joe

about suicide.

[JuniperLea]

18. Hmmm...

I always thought it was about murder...


Ode To Billie Joe

( Bobbie Gentry )

It was the third of June, another sleepy, dusty Delta day
I was out choppin' cotton and my brother was balin' hay
And at dinner time we stopped and walked back to the house to eat
And Mama hollered out the back door "y'all remember to wipe your feet"
And then she said "I got some news this mornin' from Choctaw Ridge"
"Today Billy Joe MacAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge"

And Papa said to Mama as he passed around the blackeyed peas
"Well, Billy Joe never had a lick of sense, pass the biscuits, please"
"There's five more acres in the lower forty I've got to plow"
And Mama said it was shame about Billy Joe, anyhow
Seems like nothin' ever comes to no good up on Choctaw Ridge
And now Billy Joe MacAllister's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge

And Brother said he recollected when he and Tom and Billie Joe
Put a frog down my back at the Carroll County picture show
And wasn't I talkin' to him after church last Sunday night?
"I'll have another piece of apple pie, you know it don't seem right"
"I saw him at the sawmill yesterday on Choctaw Ridge"
"And now you tell me Billie Joe's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge"

And Mama said to me "Child, what's happened to your appetite?"
"I've been cookin' all morning and you haven't touched a single bite"
"That nice young preacher, Brother Taylor, dropped by today"
"Said he'd be pleased to have dinner on Sunday, oh, by the way"
"He said he saw a girl that looked a lot like you up on Choctaw Ridge"
"And she and Billy Joe was throwing somethin' off the Tallahatchie Bridge"

A year has come 'n' gone since we heard the news 'bout Billy Joe
And Brother married Becky Thompson, they bought a store in Tupelo
There was a virus going 'round, Papa caught it and he died last Spring
And now Mama doesn't seem to wanna do much of anything
And me, I spend a lot of time pickin' flowers up on Choctaw Ridge

And drop them into the muddy water off the Tallahatchie Bridge



Fourth verse... "And she and Billy Joe was throwing somethin' off the Tallahatchie Bridge"

[salin]

22. The song sounds like suicide

but there was a movie based on it (back when I thought Robbie Benson was SOOOOO cute) - but I never saw the movie (murder or suicide). Now, thanks to this suggestion, I know my brain is going to spin around the lyrics to think of it as murder instead of suicide... just because as a kid I never thought of it as murder - doesn't mean it isn't about murder...

[2bfree]

54. Billy Joe jumped off the bridge and killed himself.

No telling what it was that he threw off the bridge.

[2bfree]

56. Annie Lennox's Why.

How many times do I have to try to tell you
That I'm sorry for the things I've done
But when I start to try to tell you
That's when you have to tell me
Hey... this kind of trouble's only just begun
I tell myself too many times
Why don't you ever learn to keep your big mouth shut
That's why it hurts so bad to hear the words
That keep on falling from your mouth
Falling from your mouth
Falling from your mouth
Tell me...
Why
Why

I may be mad
I may be blind
I may be viciously unkind
But I can still read what you're thinking
And I've heard is said too many times
That you'd be better off
Besides...
Why can't you see this boat is sinking
(this boat is sinking this boat is sinking)
Let's go down to the water's edge
And we can cast away those doubts
Some things are better left unsaid
But they still turn me inside out
Turning inside out turning inside out
Tell me...
Why
Tell me...
Why

This is the book I never read
These are the words I never said
This is the path I'll never tread
These are the dreams I'll dream instead
This is the joy that's seldom spread
These are the tears...
The tears we shed
This is the fear
This is the dread
These are the contents of my head
And these are the years that we have spent
And this is what they represent
And this is how I feel
Do you know how I feel ?
'cause i don't think you know how I feel
I don't think you know what I feel
I don't think you know what I feel
You don't know what I feel

[JuniperLea]

129. Billy Joe's jumping is what the people of the town think

But I think the girl threw him off the bridge and it only looked like they were both throwing something off...




Just looked it up on Wikipedia.... I WAS WRONG! heh! Shocking!

[tallahasseedem]

15. This Woman's Work by Kate Bush

[Beaverhausen]

30. oh yeah

...all the things we should have said that we never said
all the things we should have done that we never did
all the things that you needed from me
all the things that you wanted for me
all the things I should have given but I didn't...

[fight4my3sons]

33. I tear up every time I hear that song.

What a great song.

[vi5]

91. Great song. Maybe not the saddest but a great song. (nt)

[Ryano42]

16. Platoon: Adagio for Strings

:cry:

And for me personally, from the Deer Hunter, Cavatina. I associate with my brother being killed.

:cry: :cry: :cry:

[TallahasseeGrannie]

19. Albinoni's Adagio

[TallahasseeGrannie]

20. All the dead teen songs

from the 60's...

Teen Angel...Honey....Leader of the Pack

[SharonRB]

29. Tell Laura I Love Her

[sakabatou]

21. "Farewell" by Yoko Kanno

[Benfea]

35. Yoko Kano rules!

PS—I refused to use the Anglicized Romajin spelling!

Care to let me know where that song is from? I don't recognize the title.

[sakabatou]

41. Escaflowne OST 3 I believe

[Benfea]

70. Haven't seen that one, to be honest. -NT

[sakabatou]

113. ...

OST = Original Sound Track

[TimeChaser]

120. I got mad at the ending to Escaflowne

[sakabatou]

126. It was supposed to be 39 eps but their funding got cut

[JuniperLea]

23. In The Ghetto

As the snow flies
On a cold and gray chicago mornin’
A poor little baby child is born
In the ghetto
And his mama cries
’cause if there’s one thing that she don’t need
It’s another hungry mouth to feed
In the ghetto

People, don’t you understand
The child needs a helping hand
Or he’ll grow to be an angry young man some day
Take a look at you and me,
Are we too blind to see,
Do we simply turn our heads
And look the other way

Well the world turns
And a hungry little boy with a runny nose
Plays in the street as the cold wind blows
In the ghetto

And his hunger burns
So he starts to roam the streets at night
And he learns how to steal
And he learns how to fight
In the ghetto

Then one night in desperation
A young man breaks away
He buys a gun, steals a car,
Tries to run, but he don’t get far
And his mama cries

As a crowd gathers ’round an angry young man
Face down on the street with a gun in his hand
In the ghetto

As her young man dies,
On a cold and gray chicago mornin’,
Another little baby child is born
In the ghetto

[salin]

25. first song that I heard that left me in tears...

was just a preteen in a college town (no real ghettos to speak of) and this song choked me up - in a big way.

[Ava]

34. i can't find that song depressing anymore

and it's all south park's fault

[miss_american_pie]

24. True Colors

but only Cyndi Lauper's version.

[Tikki]

49. ....and her "Time After Time"...........n/t

[Tikki]

50. "Everybody Hurts" REM..........

...sometime.



Tikki

[tallahasseedem]

52. Another good one off that CD...

is "The River".

[WritingIsMyReligion]

138. The Lauper version drives me kooky...

Her voice really makes me want to plug my ears. I love the Phil Collins version, but he doesn't make the song sound sad, so.... :shrug:

[Zorro]

27. Song for Adam

Jackson Browne.

Sad but poignant song about an acquaintance that committed suicide.

Apparently his first wife did the same thing.

[WCGreen]

28. Lonley Girls.... Lucinda Williams......

Blame it on the Moon.... Neko Case...

[JuniperLea]

31. "Grandpa" I sang it at my grandpa's funeral... still makes me cry

Grandpa, tell me ’bout the good old days
Sometimes it feels like this worlds gone crazy
Grandpa, take me back to yesterday
When the line between right and wrong
Didn’t seem so hazy

(chorus)

Did lovers really fall in love to stay
And stand beside each other, come what may
Was a promise really something people kept
Not just something they would say
Did families really bow their heads to pray
Did daddies really never go away
Oh, grandpa, tell me ’bout the good old days

Grandpa, everything is changing fast
We call it progress, but I just don’t know
And grandpa, let’s wander back into the past
And paint me the picture of long ago

(repeat chorus)

Did lovers really fall in love to stay
And stand beside each other come what may
Was a promise really something people kept
Not just something they would say and then forget
Did families really bow their heads to pray
Did daddies really never go away
Oh, grandpa, tell me ’bout the good old days
Oh, grandpa, tell me ’bout the good old days

[TallahasseeGrannie]

32. If You Leave Me Now

by Chicago. It just does me in. It reminds me of a rather poignant time in my life..when I was figuring out that I was a "grown up" and on my own.

[Benfea]

36. "Burn" by Sister Machine Gun and "Dead Souls" by Joy Division

"Dead Souls" isn't a sad song in the literal sense, but the lead singer killed himself not long after recording that song, and you can almost hear his mind fracturing in it.

[hellbound-liberal]

37. Abraham, Martin and John

gets me EVERY TIME! When I think of what might have been...

[GCP]

38. "Bright Eyes" by Art Garfunkel

From Watership Down - about the death of a rabbit - believe it or not. Beautiful song.

[bluhoodie]

39. Alone Again Naturally, by Gilbert O'Sullivan

Sad heartbreaking song. Hits close to home every time I hear it (though I've got to admit it's been a very long time).

I second the "nomination" of "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry," only I love the version by B.J. Thomas. He really croons in that song!

[CAG]

60. There we go!!! I was going to say it if noone else did....

Lookin back over the years,
a slow parade of tears,
I remember I cried when my father died,
never wishing to hold back the tears,
and at 65 years old, my mother God rest her soul,
couldn't understand, why the only man,
she had ever loved had been taken,
leaving her to start, with a heart,
so badly broken, despite encouragement from me,
no words were ever spoken,
and when she passed away, I cried and cried all day,
alone again, naturally....

wow. I typed that all by heart.

[Fenris]

40. "Asleep" by the Smiths

[theophilus]

42. Somebody's Darlin' (A Civil War Song), The Band Played Waltzing Matilda.

[Merrick]

43. "Disintegration" by The Cure, "Nutshell" by Alice in Chains

"Pitselleh" by Elliot Smith is pretty sad too.

[NYdemocrat089]

45. I always feel a little depressed when I listen to "Grace is Gone" by Dave

Matthews, but I'm sure that isn't the saddest song ever.

[tallahasseedem]

51. That is definitely a good one....

I think one of Dave's saddest is "Seek Up" when he plays it acoustically with Tim Reynolds.

[pokerfan]

46. Chapin

There was not much more for us to talk about,
Whatever we had once was gone.
So I turned my cab into the driveway,
Past the gate and the fine trimmed lawns.
And she said we must get together,
But I knew it'd never be arranged.
And she handed me twenty dollars,
For a two fifty fare, she said
"Harry, keep the change."

Well another man might have been angry,
And another man might have been hurt,
But another man never would have let her go...
I stashed the bill in my shirt.

And she walked away in silence,
It's strange, how you never know,
But we'd both gotten what we'd asked for,
Such a long, long time ago.

You see, she was gonna be an actress
And I was gonna learn to fly.
She took off to find the footlights,
And I took off for the sky.

And here, she's acting happy,
Inside her handsome home.
And me, I'm flying in my taxi,
Taking tips, and getting stoned,
I go flying so high, when I'm stoned.

[bertha katzenengel]

47. Alone Again, Naturally -- most especially this:

I remember I cried when my father died
never wishing to hide the tears
he was sixty-five years old
my mother, god rest her soul,
couldn't understand why the only man
she had ever loved had been taken
leaving her to start with a heart so badly broken
despite encouragement from me, no words were ever spoken
and when she passed away, I cried and cried all day
alone again, naturally

a lot of people probably see that song as one big "woe-is-me" whine -- but that last verse just kills me. i cry every time.

[Lindsey]

53. 2-The Dance-Garth Brooks and I Can't make You Love Me-Bonnie Raitt

Lookin' back, on the memory of
The dance we shared beneath the stars above
For a moment..all the world was right
How could I have known
That you'd ever say goodbye..
And now, I'm glad I didn't know
The way it all would end
The way it all would go
Our lives - are better left to chance
I could have missed the pain
ButI'd of had to miss...the...dance

Holdin' you
I held everything
For a moment
Wasn't I a king
If I'd only known
How the king would fall
Well who's to say
You know I might have changed it all

And now, I'm glad I didn't know
The way it all would end
The way it all would go
Yes our lives are better left to chance
I could have missed the pain
But I'd of had to miss the dance.

...I'm crying now.......

[nytemare]

55. Tonight, I'll go with "Vincent" by Don McLean.

Heartbreaking.

[BigMcLargehuge]

57. View from the Hill (Fish)

From the album Vigil in a Wilderness of Mirrors

View from the Hill

You sit and think that everything is coming up roses
but you can't see the weeds that entangle your feet.
You can't see the wood for the trees cos the forest is burning
and you say it's the smoke in your eyes that's making you cry.

They sold you a view from the hill.
They told you that the view from the hill would be
further than you'd ever seen before.
They sold you a view from the hill.
They sold you a view from the hill.

You were a dancer and a chancer, a poet and a fool
to the royalty of mayhem you were breaking all the rules.
Your decadence outstanding, your hopes flying high.
One eye looking over your shoulder, one on the hill.
You used to say you were scared of heights - you said you got dizzy.
You said you didn't like your feet being to high off the ground,
but they said that up there you'd find the air would be clearer
promised you more space to move and more room to breath.

They sold you a view from the hill.
They told you that the view from the hill would be
further than you'd ever seen before.

You were holding out forever - thought they'd never turn your mind.
Your ideals they were higher than you ever could have climbed.
We thought that they couldn't buy you - the price would be too high
that the riches there on offer they just wouldn't turn your eyes.
But your conscience it was locked up in the prisons of your schemes
your judgement it was blinded by your visions and your dreams
praying and hoping that the view from the hill
is wider than you've ever seen before.
For the view from the hill we held our heads so high (smell the roses)
All the loved ones that you lied to are strangers left behind.
All the ones that really mattered well you stood on as you climbed.
You were holding out forever for your fathers and your peers
holding out for everyone that ever walked in here.
The edge was inside and you rode it all the way.
You were playing the games that you learned yesterday
hanging around like a fool with a name
You are holding your place for the view, the view from the hill.

They sold you the view from the hill.
Look it all for a view from the hill
and you find the views no further than you've seen before.

They sold you the view from the hill.
And you stood and took it all from the view from the hill.
It's simply coming up roses

[bigwillq]

58. "The Promise"

By Tracy Chapman :cry:

[RetroLounge]

124. Yes. Definitely.

:cry:

RL

[Dinger]

59. All By Myself - Eric Carmen (nt)

[recoveringdittohed]

61. Faith in Santa (Red Sovine)

A morbidly sad country Christmas song

[Ava]

62. In The Sun

Joseph Arthur › In The Sun

I picture you in the sun wondering what went wrong
And falling down on your knees asking for sympathy
And being caught in between all you wish for and all you seen
And trying to find anything you can feel that you can believe in

May god’s love be with you
Always
May god’s love be with you

I know I would apologize if I could see your eyes
’cause when you showed me myself I became someone else
But I was caught in between all you wish for and all you need
I picture you fast asleep
A nightmare comes
You can’t keep awake

May god’s love be with you
Always
May god’s love be with you

’cause if I find
If I find my own way
How much will I find
If I find
If I find my own way
How much will I find
You

I don’t know anymore
What it’s for
I’m not even sure
If there is anyone who is in the sun
Will you help me to understand
’cause I been caught in between all I wish for and all I need
Maybe you’re not even sure what it’s for
Any more than me

May god’s love be with you
Always
May god’s love be with you

[Hissyspit]

63. "Blue Moon With Heartache" by Rosanne Cash

[Aristus]

64. "Cat's In The Cradle".

Sad, and very bitter.

[jschurchin]

154. Alway's, Alway's bring's tear's to my......

eye's. It is good way for me to remember my Dad. He went to be with the Lord in 1995.

[NuttyFluffers]

65. i have a positively pavlovian response to madame butterfly

that and Addio. i literally end up in a state of hysterical sobbing, almost like a religious ecstasy of agony. i have to be careful when i hear them because it's traumatized people before seeing my uncontrolled response.

other than that there's too many other sad songs that i treasure. 'isolation' by joy division immediately comes to mind, as does 'another lonely christmas' by prince, and 'high rising' by suede. but there's really too many in the running.

[donheld]

66. I Can’t Make You Love Me

Turn down the lights, turn down the bed
Turn down these voices inside my head
Lay down with me, tell me no lies
Just hold me close, don’t patronize - don’t patronize me

Chorus: cause I can’t make you love me if you don’t
You can’t make your heart feel something it won’t
Here in the dark, in these lonely hours
I will lay down my heart and I’ll feel the power
But you won’t, no you won’t
’cause I can’t make you love me, if you don’t

I’ll close my eyes, then I won’t see
The love you don’t feel when you’re holding me
Morning will come and I’ll do what’s right
Just give me till then to give up this fight
And I will give up this fight
Chorus: cause I can’t make you love me if you don’t
You can’t make your heart feel something it won’t
Here in the dark, in these lonely hours
I will lay down my heart and I’ll feel the power
But you won’t, no you won’t
’cause I can’t make you love me, if you don’t

[SeattleGirl]

75. I posted this as one of mine, too

Damn, that song can rip your heart out.

[donheld]

80. Bonnie Raitt makes you feel the hopelessness

of the heartbreak she feels. Prince and George Michael both covered the song, but you just can't get the feeling from them you get from Bonnie.

[HEyHEY]

67. Puff the magic dragon

[Atmashine]

88. Ya!

The ending sucks! :-(

[Strong Atheist]

96. Yeah, sad. nt.

[AngryAmish]

68. Walk This Way by Run-DMC

[Hissyspit]

69. "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine (Anymore)" Walker Bros.

[Hissyspit]

71. "Worst That Could Happen" written by Jimmy Webb

WORST THAT COULD HAPPEN
The Brooklyn Bridge
- words and music by Jim Webb
- #3 hit for The Brooklyn Bridge in 1969 (released November 1968 - entered the
Billboard Top 40 January 4, 1969)
- lyrics as recorded by The Brooklyn Bridge and included on the 1990 CD from
Dominion Entertainment called "Rock-n-Roll Years - 1968" (Dominion 0801-2).

Girl, I heard you're getting married
Heard you're getting married, this time you're really sure
And this is the end, they say you really mean it
This guy's the one that makes you feel so safe, so sane and so secure
And, baby, if he loves you more than me
Maybe it's the best thing
Maybe it's the best thing for you
But it's the worst that could happen to me

I'll never get married
Never get married, you know that's not my scene
But a girl like you needs to be married
I've known all along you couldn't live forever in between
And, baby, if he loves you more than me
Maybe it's the best thing
Maybe it's the best thing for you
But it's the worst that could happen to me

And, girl, I don't really blame you for having a dream of your own
Hey, girl, I don't really blame you
A woman like you needs a house and a home, baby
If he really loves you more than me
Maybe it's the best thing
Maybe it's the best thing for you
But it's the worst that could happen

Oh, girl, don't wanna get married
Girl, I'm never, never gonna marry, no no
No, it's the worst that could happen
The worst that could happen
Oh, girl, the worst that could happen

[NMMNG]

72. "Me and Little Andy" by Dolly Parton

My mom had this when I was little, and I loved to hear it. It is so heartbreaking. When Dolly sang the last verse, she said "Andy" as a whisper, as if the girl said it with her dying breath. :cry:


Late one cold and stormy night I heard a dog-a-barkin'.
Then I thought I heard somebody at my door a knockin'.
I wondered who could be outside in such an awful storm.
Then I saw a little girl with a puppy in her arms.

Before I could say a word she said,
"My name is Sandy. And this here is my puppy dog,
it's name is little Andy."
Standing in the bitter cold in just a ragged dress.
Then I asked her to come in and this is what she said.

"Ain't ya got no gingerbread? Ain't ya got no candy?
Ain't ya got an extra bed for me and little Andy?

Patty cake, a baker's man, my mommy ran away again.
We was all alone and didn't know what else to do,
I wondered if you'd let us stay with you.

Giddyup Charlie horse, going to the mill.
Can we stay all night?
If you don't love us, no one will, I promise we won't cry!
London Bridge is falling down, my daddy's drunk again in town.
We was all alone and didn't know what we could do.
We wondered if you'd let us stay with you."

She was just a little girl, not more than six or seven.
That night as they slept the angels took them both to heaven.
God knew little Andy would be lonesome with her gone.
Now Sandy and her puppy dog won't ever be alone.

"Ain't ya got no gingerbread? Ain't ya got no candy?
Ain't ya got an extra bed for me and little Andy."

[WCGreen]

74. Hard Candy Christmas.....

Dolly from the Best Little Whore House......

[NMMNG]

77. I'm not familiar with that one.

I'll have to Google it.


Wow, that is sad. :-(

[WCGreen]

109. The whore sleeps alone on Christmas.....

It's terribly sad....

I always toss it on a XMas CD just to break up the celebratin' ...

Get people to realize a lot of folk are alone on Christmas....

[WCGreen]

76. Where You Bin..... The song about the two old folks

with Al's Hammer in the nursing home.....

Song by Kathy Matea.....

[In_The_Wind]

105. I know that song.

:cry:

[ariesgem]

78. Village Ghetto Land - Stevie Wonder

Would you like to go with me
Down my dead end street
Would you like to come with me
To Village Ghetto Land

See the people lock their doors
While robbers laugh and steal
Beggars watch and eat their meal -from garbage cans

Broken glass is everywhere
It´s a bloody scene
Killing plagues the citizens
Unless they own police

Children play with rusted cars
Sores cover their hands
Politicians laugh and drink-drunk to all demands

Families buying dog food now
Starvation roams the streets
Babies die before they´re born
Infected by the grief

Now some folks say that we should be
Glad for what we have
Tell me would you be happy in Village Ghetto Land

Village Ghetto Land

[dorktv]

79. Y.M.C.A.

But not for the reason you think.

My high school always played that song at any dance, even Prom. It brings back so many bittersweet memories.

[MrScorpio]

81. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

It's something about him not being included in the Reindeer Games that just gets me

[ET Awful]

82. 'Flowers Are Red' - Harry Chapin

The little boy went first day of school
He got some crayons and started to draw
He put colors all over the paper
For colors was what he saw
And the teacher said.. What you doin' young man
I'm paintin' flowers he said
She said... It's not the time for art young man
And anyway flowers are green and red
There's a time for everything young man
And a way it should be done
You've got to show concern for everyone else
For you're not the only one

And she said...
Flowers are red young man
Green leaves are green
There's no need to see flowers any other way
Than they way they always have been seen

But the little boy said...
There are so many colors in the rainbow
So many colors in the morning sun
So many colors in the flower and I see every one

Well the teacher said.. You're sassy
There's ways that things should be
And you'll paint flowers the way they are
So repeat after me.....

And she said...
Flowers are red young man
Green leaves are green
There's no need to see flowers any other way
Than they way they always have been seen

But the little boy said...
There are so many colors in the rainbow
So many colors in the morning sun
So many colors in the flower and I see every one

The teacher put him in a corner
She said.. It's for your own good..
And you won't come out 'til you get it right
And are responding like you should
Well finally he got lonely
Frightened thoughts filled his head
And he went up to the teacher
And this is what he said.. and he said

Flowers are red, green leaves are green
There's no need to see flowers any other way
Than the way they always have been seen

Time went by like it always does
And they moved to another town
And the little boy went to another school
And this is what he found
The teacher there was smilin'
She said...Painting should be fun
And there are so many colors in a flower
So let's use every one

But that little boy painted flowers
In neat rows of green and red
And when the teacher asked him why
This is what he said.. and he said

Flowers are red, green leaves are green
There's no need to see flowers any other way
Than the way they always have been seen.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

84. "Let the Eagle Soar" by John Ashcroft.

[LostinVA]

86. OMG! I think I just changed my mind about being writer buddies with you!

[Starbucks Anarchist]

87. Why?

:shrug:

[LostinVA]

89. Because Ashcroft's song isn't sad, it's psycho!

You need to quit watching so much Rachael Ray... she's twisting your mind...

[Starbucks Anarchist]

90. Ironically, I don't have cable.

:)

[LostinVA]

93. *sigh*

[bluhoodie]

130. Despite seeing all these sad songs, you made me laugh!

I'm sitting here reading through this list of songs, some very sad ones, crying because I read the reply to my own post -- i.e., reading the sad poignant lyrics of "Alone Again Naturally" -- after a very hard day (a sad, disappointing, HARD day) :cry: and then I saw this song title in the list. I burst out laughing, and kept laughing. So thank you! "Let the Eagle Soar" by John Ashcroft. Too funny. :rofl:

[Starbucks Anarchist]

146. Glad I could help.

And welcome to DU! :hi:

[Burma Jones]

92. John Prine - Hello In There, Souveniers, Sam Stone

Iris DeMent - Our Town, Walking Home

From West Side Story - Somewhere

Beethoven - Second Movement of the Emperor Concerto

[Debbi801]

97. 41 Shots by Springsteen. (nt)

[WCGreen]

108. The River by Bruce is pretty powerful stuff

[atomic-fly]

98. *Time in a Bottle*JimCroce or *Space Oddity*David Bowie

[Allenberg]

99. Taps.

[Deep13]

100. Seasons in the Sun

Not just sad but really quite disturbing. Especially that weird sounding guitar strum at the beginning.

[atomic-fly]

103. good one!

[Alleycat]

121. I agree

It almost brings me to tears everytime I hear it. The words and music are both sad.

[Strong Atheist]

101. "Daniel" by Elton John, and a version of "Wind beneath my wings"

sung by a man whose name I don't remember now... popular in the nineties on country stations; one of the few country songs I liked...

Wind Beneath My Wings

Ohhhh, oh, oh, oh, ohhh.
It must have been cold there in my shadow,
to never have sunlight on your face.
You were content to let me shine, that's your way.
You always walked a step behind.

So I was the one with all the glory,
while you were the one with all the strain.
A beautiful face without a name for so long.
A beautiful smile to hide the pain.

Did you ever know that you're my hero,
and everything I would like to be?
I can fly higher than an eagle,
for you are the wind beneath my wings.

It might have appeared to go unnoticed,
but I've got it all here in my heart.
I want you to know I know the truth, of course I know it.
I would be nothing without you.

Did you ever know that you're my hero?
You're everything I wish I could be.
I could fly higher than an eagle,
for you are the wind beneath my wings.

Did I ever tell you you're my hero?
You're everything, everything I wish I could be.
Oh, and I, I could fly higher than an eagle,
for you are the wind beneath my wings,
'cause you are the wind beneath my wings.

[ThreeCatNight]

102. "How Can I Tell You"...Cat Stevens

Still tears (as in cry not rip..but then again either way would work) me up every time I hear it.
Unrequited love.....

[kimsterdemster]

107. Cowboy Bill by Garth

He told a good story and all of us kids listened
'Bout his life on the border and the way it was then
And we all believed him and when he would finish
We'd ask the old cowboy to tell 'em again

You could almost hear those prairie winds blowin'
His saddle a creakin' 'neath his old faded jeans
You could taste the dry dust from the trail he was ridin'
As he sat there and painted those west Texas scenes

And the grown-ups would tell us
You boys keep your distance, that old man's just tellin' you lies
But to all of us kids Cowboy Bill was a hero
Just as true as his blue Texas skies

He told of a time when he rode with the Rangers
Down on the pecos and he saved the day
Outnumbered by plenty, they were almost too cover
With thirty banditos headed their way

He looked back just in time to see a horse stumble
The captain went down and Bill pulled up on his rains
And through a flurry of bullets he rescued the captain
And they rode for a sunset, just the story remains

And the grown-ups would tell us
You boys keep your distance, that old man's just tellin' you lies
But to all of us kids Cowboy Bill was a hero
Just as true as his blue Texas skies

Well I still remember the day that it happened
We waited and we waited but Bill never showed
And the follks at the feed store said they hadn't seen him
So we set out for his place down Old Grist Mill Road

And we cried when we found him lying there with his mem'ries
The old trunk wide open, things scattered about
He was clutchin' a badge that said Texas Ranger
And an old "yeller" letter said Texas Is Proud

And the grown-ups that told us
You boys keep your distance, that old man's just tellin' lies
Well now they're all sayin' Cowboy Bill was a hero
Just as true as his blue Texas skies

Just as true as his blue Texas skies

[samplegirl]

158. Tear jerker

for sure.

[bullwinkle428]

104. "No Bravery" by James Blunt

[Nostradammit]

150. I was gonna say "Last Goodbye" by Jeff Buckley

- mostly 'cuz he drowned right after that came out and was his first hit, but I
gotta agree with "No Bravery."

Keep thinking I want to buy the Blunt album with that cut, but man -

Do I want to ever feel that sad again?

[StaggerLee]

106. Elise by The Cure

Oh Elise it doesn't matter what you say
I just can't stay here every yesterday
Like keep on acting out the same
The way we act out
Every way to smile
Forget
And make-believe we never needed
Any more than this
Any more than this

Oh Elise it doesn't matter what you do
I know I'll never really get inside of you
To make your eyes catch fire
The way they should
The way the blue could pull me in
If they only would
If they only would
At least I'd lose this sense of sensing something else
That hides away
From me and you
There're worlds to part
With aching looks and breaking hearts
And all the prayers your hands can make
Oh I just take as much as you can throw
And then throw it all away
Oh I throw it all away
Like throwing faces at the sky
Like throwing arms round
Yesterday
I stood and stared
Wide-eyed in front of you
And the face I saw looked back
The way I wanted to
But I just can't hold my tears away
The way you do

Elise believe I never wanted this
I thought this time I'd keep all of my promises
I thought you were the girl I always dreamed about
But I let the dream go
And the promises broke
And the make-believe ran out...

So Elise
It doesn't matter what you say
I just can't stay here every yesterday
Like keep on acting out the same
The way we act out
Every way to smile
Forget
And make-believe we never needed
Any more than this
Any more than this

And every time I try to pick it up
Like falling sand
As fast as I pick it up
It runs away through my clutching hands
But there's nothing else I can really do
There's nothing else I can really do
There's nothing else
I can really do
At all...

[elehhhhna]

110. Hurt. Johnny Cash's version.

[Ava]

114. the NIN version is really good too!

their live version is awesome!

[Thtwudbeme]

111. "The Dance"

Looking back on the memory of
The dance we shared 'neath the stars alone
For a moment all the world was right
How could I have known that you'd ever say goodbye

And now I'm glad I didn't know
The way it all would end the way it all would go
Our lives are better left to chance I could have missed the pain
But I'd of had to miss the dance

Holding you I held everything
For a moment wasn't I a king
But if I'd only known how the king would fall
Hey who's to say you know I might have chanced it all

And now I'm glad I didn't know
The way it all would end the way it all would go
Our lives are better left to chance I could have missed the pain
But I'd of had to miss the dance

Yes my life is better left to chance
I could have missed the pain but I'd of had to miss the dance

[CornField]

135. Bittersweet

At least to me, it is more bittersweet than outright sad. (We played that one at our son's funeral in 1998... I think I might have listened to it 4 times since then.)

[DelawareValleyDem]

112. Midnight Caller by Badfinger

Beneath the midnight caller
She thinks of paper green
You never hear them calling her name
They just know where they've been

You never hear her holler
The tears no longer come
She reads her daily book of the past
That shows of everyone

Grey years that show in her hair
Can't be, but don't seem to care
She unlocks the door and there's no one there

She sees a daytime stroller
Walk from the night before
And though she paints a smile on her face
He won't be back no more

She's got no saint to follow
She's got no place to go
Too proud to ask an old friend for help
Too proud to let him know

Grey years that show in her hair
Can't be, but don't seem to care
She knocks the door and there's no one there

Nobody, nobody, nobody's gonna help you now.

[ContraBass Black]

116. I Started a Joke - Bee Gees

Gunpowder - Wyclef Jean
Gone till November - Wyclef Jean
No Sunshine - Al Green

[helderheid]

117. Long and Winding Road

[helderheid]

118. another I find moving but maybe not the saddest song EVAH

Coldplay - Amsterdam

Come on, my star is fading
And I swerve out of control
If i, if I’d only waited
I’d not be stuck here in this hole
Come here my star is fading
And I swerve out of control
And I swear I waited and waited
I’ve got to get out of this hole

But time is on your side
Its on your side now
Not pushing you down and all around
It’s no cause for concern

Come on, oh my star is fading
And I see no chance of release
And I know I’m dead on the surface
But I am screaming underneath

And time is on your side
Its on your side now
Not pushing you down
And all around, no
It’s no cause for concern

Stuck on the end of this ball and chain
And I’m on my way back down again
Stood on a bridge, tied to the noose
Sick to the stomach
You can say what you mean
But it won’t change a thing
I’m sick of the secrets
Stood on the edge, tied to a noose
You came along and you cut me loose
You came along and you cut me loose
You came along and you cut me loose.

[bluhoodie]

132. Had a friend who made this her wedding song - ironically

About 35 years ago I had a high school friend who had this song as the centerpiece of her wedding music selections. Besides the fact that I've never liked the song because of the whiney sound of it - like a funeral dirge(IMHO), every time I hear it I can't get over the fact that this young couple (such an unstable mess they were) :crazy: ended up having the wedding annulled within a month.

"The Long and winding road" indeed!
:shrug:

[Tikki]

119. "Walk Away Rene"...The Left Banke and..

"New York Mining Disaster"....Bee Gees


Tikki

[tigereye]

122. Strange Fruit

[1gobluedem]

123. Kilkelly

An Irish song. Lyrics below:

Kilkelly
(Peter Jones)

Kilkelly, Ireland, 1860, my dear and loving son John
Your good friend schoolmaster Pat McNamara's so good
as to write these words down.
Your brothers have all got a fine work in England,
the house is so empty and sad
The crop of potatoes is sorely infected,
a third to a half of them bad.
And your sister Brigid and Patrick O'Donnell
are going to be married in June.
Mother says not to work on the railroad
and be sure to come on home soon.

Kilkelly, Ireland, 1870, my dear and loving son John
Hello to your Mrs and to your 4 children,
may they grow healthy and strong.
Michael has got in a wee bit of trouble,
I suppose that he never will learn.
Because of the darkness there's no turf to speak of
and now we have nothing to burn.
And Brigid is happy, you named a child for her
and now she's got six of her own.
You say you found work, but you don't say
what kind or when you will be coming home.

Kilkelly, Ireland, 1880, dear Michael and John, my sons
I'm sorry to give you the very sad news
that your dear old mother has gone.
We buried her down at the church in Kilkelly,
your brothers and Brigid were there.
You don't have to worry, she died very quickly,
remember her in your prayers.
And it's so good to hear that Michael's returning,
with money he's sure to buy land
For the crop has been bad and the people
are selling at every price that they can.

Kilkelly, Ireland, 1890, my dear and loving son John
I suppose that I must be close on eighty,
it's thirty years since goodbye.
Because of all of the money you send me,
I'm still living out on my own.
Michael has built himself a fine house
and Brigid's daughters have grown.
Thank you for sending your family picture,
they're lovely young women and men.
You say that you might even come for a visit,
what joy to see you again.

Kilkelly, Ireland, 1892, my dear brother John
I'm sorry I didn't write sooner to tell you, but father passed on.
He was living with Brigid, she says he was cheerful
and healthy right down to the end.
Ah, you should have seen him play with
the grandchildren of Pat McNamara, your friend.
And we buried him alongside of mother,
down at the Kilkelly churchyard.
He was a strong and a feisty old man,
considering his life was so hard.
And it's funny the way he kept talking about you,
he called for you in the end.
Oh, why don't you think about coming to visit,
we'd all love to see you again.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
recorded by Moloney, O'Connell & Keane on "Kilkelly" (1988)
copywrite Green Linnet Music 1983
130 years after his great grandfather left the small village of Kilkelly in
Co. Mayo, Peter Jones found a bundle of letters sent to him by his father
in Ireland. The letters tell of family news, births, death, sales of land and
bad harvests. They remind the son, that he is loved, missed and remembered
by his family in Ireland. The final letter informs him that his father, whom
he has not seen for 30 years, has died, the last link with home is broken.
Peter Jones used these letters to make this song.

The "trouble" in verse two is probably the Fenian rising of 1867.

[RetroLounge]

125. Got a few

I don't think I'll ever get over you - Colin Hay
Blower's Daughter - Damien Rice
So In Love - kd lang
I ache for you - Ben Lee
Breathe - Anna Nalick
Gray Sky Morning - Vertical Horizon
Mad World - Donnie Darko Soundtrack version
Beautiful - James Blunt

:cry:

RL

[stlchic]

127. "Drown in My Own Tears"

"Tracks of My Tears"

One I just heard this morning: "It's Too Late" (Carol King version - don't care for the remake...)

:cry:

[momophile]

128. I cry when I hear "The Rainbow Connection" by Kermit

maybe not the saddest, but pulls at the 'ole heart strings.

[KyndCulture]

131. Somebody by Depeche Mode.

[Texasgal]

134. Agreed...

Man, I forgot about that song! :cry:

[6000eliot]

133. "Vincent" by Don McLean

Always makes me cry.

[BrotherBuzz]

136. Shake Surgaree by Elizabeth Cotten

Shake Sugaree

by Elizabeth Cotten

I have a little song and it won't take long
And I'll sing it right once or twice-
Oh Lordy me, didn't I shake sugaree
Everything I got is in the pawn.
Everything I got.

Pawned my chair and I pawned my bed,
and ain't got no place to lay my head.
Oh Lordy me, didn't I shake sugaree
Everything I got is in the pawn
Everything I got.

Grow my tobacco and I spit my juice-
Well I would raise cain, but it ain't a bit of use
Oh Lordy me, didn't I shake sugaree
Everything I got is in the pawn.
Everything I got.

Pawned my tobacco and I pawned my pipe,
pawned everything that was in my sight.
Oh Lordy me, didn't I shake sugaree
Everything I got is in the pawn.
Everything I got.

I'm going sailing in a wooden shoe
looking foir a star I could tell my troubles to
Oh Lordy me, didn't I shake sugaree
Everything I got is in the pawn.
Everything I got.

First star to the right and it's straight on 'til morn,
I never saw such such night since I was born.
Oh Lordy me, didn't I shake sugaree
Everything I got is in the pawn.
Everything I got.

Have a little secret; I ain't going to tell,
I'm going to heaven in a brown pea shell.
Oh Lordy me, didn't I shake sugaree
Everything I got is in the pawn.
Everything I got.

Pawned my horse and I pawned my plow.
pawned everything, even pawned my old milk cow.
Oh Lordy me, didn't I shake sugaree
Everything I got is in the pawn.
Everything I got.

Have a little secret and I ain't going to teel,
I'm going to heaven and I'm not going to ....
Oh Lordy me, didn't I shake sugaree
Everything I got is in the pawn.
Everything I got.

Haver a little song and it won't take long
I'll sing it right, sing it all night long.
Oh Lordy me, didn't I shake sugaree
Everything I got is in the pawn. Everything I got.
Everything I have is down in pawn

I've got a secret
I ain't gonna tell
I'm goin' to heaven in a split pea shell
Oh, Lordy me, didn't we shake sugaree
Everything I have is down in pawn

[sheelz]

139. "Bridge Over Troubled Waters "

is great song that makes me cry!

[Kerrytravelers]

140. "Let the Eagle Soar" by john ashcroft

I laughed so hard I cried... it was that sad of a song.


Attorney General John Ashcroft unveils his two-fisted plan for school safety.

And in celebration of International Women's Day

[Spider Jerusalem]

141. Nick Cave & Barry Adamson, "The Sweetest Embrace"

Our time is done my love
We've laid it all to waste
One thousand moonlit kisses
can't sweeten this bitter taste
My desire for you is endless
and I'll love you 'till we fall
I just don't want you no more
and that's the sweetest embrace of all


To think we can find happiness
hidden in a kiss
Ah, to think we can find happiness
that's the greatest mistake there is
There is nothing left to cling to babe
There is nothing left to soil
I just don't want you no more
and that's the sweetest embrace of all


Ooohhh where did it begin
When all we did was lose
There's nothin' left to win


So lay your weapons down
they serve no purpose in your hands
And if you wanna hold me
then go ahead and hold me
I won't upset your plans
If it's revenge you want
then take it babe
Or you can walk right out the door
I just don't care anymore
And that's the sweetest embrace of all


Ooohhh where did it begin
When all we did was lose
There's nothin' left to win


It's over babe
And it really is a shame
We are losers you and me babe
In a rigged and crooked game
My desire for you is endless
And I love you most of all
I just don't want you no more
and that's the sweetest embrace of all


Also: The Smiths, "Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me"

[Xipe Totec]

142. Lament - Riverdance n/t

[qanda]

143. Tears in Heaven by Eric Clapton

And "The Living Years"

[chookie]

144. When I am Laid in Grave

from an opera by purcell

The monotonic repetition of "Remember me" is burningly haunting.

[Ava]

147. i used "remember me" for my animation about 9/11

it is a very haunting song.

[Broken_Hero]

145. anything by britaney spears, or

nysnc or any of the boy band nonsense...but in truth, the saddest song for me, is Drowning, by Life of Agony....makes me tear up...:(

[Puglover]

148. "The Man That Got Away"

Harold Arlen. Best performance IMHO. Judy Garland.

[Montauk6]

149. Copacabana - Barry Manilow

I still weep for Lola sitting on that ol' porch nursing a bottle of gin in that tattered disco dress.

[0007]

151. I'll Walk A Lone

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

152. Careless Whisper

That's a sad one.

[latebloomer]

153. "Speak Low"

Writer(s): Nash/Weill


Speak low when you speak, love
Our summer day withers away too soon, too soon
Speak low when you speak, love
Our moment is swift, like ships adrift, we're swept apart, too soon
Speak low, darling, speak low
Love is a spark, lost in the dark too soon, too soon
I feel wherever I go that tomorrow is near, tomorrow is here and always too soon
Time is so old and love so brief
Love is pure gold and time a thief
We're late, darling, we're late
The curtain descends, ev'rything ends too soon, too soon
I wait, darling, I wait
Will you speak low to me, speak love to me and soon

[Bridget Burke]

157. "Never Again" by Richard Thompson...

O who will remember, O who will be sure
And still feel the silence as close as before
And was there a season without any rain,
And never, O never, O never again?

The time for dividing and no-one will speak
Of the sadness of hiding, and the softness of sleep
O will there be nothing of peace ‘till the end,
Or never, O never, O never again?

Old man how you tarry, old man how you weep
The trinkets you carry and the garlands you keep
For the salt tears of lovers and the whispers of friends
Come never, O never, O never again.

www.richardthompson-music.com/song_o_matic.asp?id=58

Honorable mentions for Floyd Tillman's "It Makes No Difference Now" & "Dreaming My Dreams" as performed by Waylon Jennings.

And quite a few of Townes Van Zandt's tunes...

[CBHagman]

169. I like his "Keep Your Distance"

However, Richard Thompson's "Keep Your Distance" is nowhere near as sad as "It Makes No Difference" by the Band. Rick Danko breaks your heart on this one. :cry:

http://www.musicsonglyrics.com/B/thebandlyrics/thebanditmakesnodifferencelyrics.htm

[NoSunWithoutShadow]

160. Blue Eyes Crying in The Rain by Willie Nelson

In the twilight glow i see her
Blue eyes crying in the rain
When we kissed goodbye and parted
I knew we'd never meet again

Love is like a dying ember
And only memories remain
And through the ages i'll remember
Blue eyes crying in the rain.

Someday when we meet up yonder
We'll stroll hand in hand again
In the land that knows no parting
For blue eyes crying in the rain.

[patcox2]

161. Veronica, Elvis Costello, Seasons in the Sun

Veronica, the demented lady in the nursing home was young and in love once, long ago.

Seasons in the Sun was a french song called "le moribund" translated by Rod Mckuen, its better than its reputation as one of the most horrible songs ever.

[chemenger]

162. One Step Up

Woke up this morning my house was cold
Checked out the furnace she wasn't burnin'
Went out and hopped in my old Ford
Hit the engine but she ain't turnin'
We've given each other some hard lessons lately
But we ain't learnin'
We're the same sad story that's a fact
One step up and two steps back

Bird on a wire outside my motel room
But he ain't singin'
Girl in white outside a church in June
But the church bells they ain't ringing
I'm sittin' here in this bar tonight
But all I'm thinkin' is
I'm the same old story same old act
One step up and two steps back

It's the same thing night on night
Who's wrong baby who's right
Another fight and I slam the door on
Another battle in our dirty little war
When I look at myself I don't see
The man I wanted to be
Somewhere along the line I slipped off track
I'm caught movin' one step up and two steps back

There's a girl across the bar
I get the message she's sendin'
Mmm she ain't lookin' to married
And me well honey I'm pretending
Last night I dreamed I held you in my arms
The music was never-ending
We danced as the evening sky faded to black
One step up and two steps back

[zanne]

163. Puff the Magic Dragon

Seriously. I don't know how kids can handle that song; just the thought of the poor dragon crawling into his cave to die makes me want to cry.

[SteppingRazor]

164. "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda"

I can't think of anything sadder than this. I' mas emotional as a freakin' rock, and it even gets to me:

When I was a young man I carried my pack
And I lived the free life of a rover
From the Murrays green basin to the dusty outback
I waltzed my Matilda all over
Then in nineteen fifteen my country said Son
It's time to stop rambling 'cause there's work to be done
So they gave me a tin hat and they gave me a gun
And they sent me away to the war
And the band played Waltzing Matilda
As we sailed away from the quay
And amidst all the tears and the shouts and the cheers
We sailed off to Gallipoli

How well I remember that terrible day
How the blood stained the sand and the water
And how in that hell that they called Suvla Bay
We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter
Johnny Turk he was ready, he primed himself well
He chased us with bullets, he rained us with shells
And in five minutes flat he'd blown us all to hell
Nearly blew us right back to Australia
But the band played Waltzing Matilda
As we stopped to bury our slain
We buried ours and the Turks buried theirs
Then we started all over again

Now those that were left, well we tried to survive
In a mad world of blood, death and fire
And for ten weary weeks I kept myself alive
But around me the corpses piled higher
Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over tit
And when I woke up in my hospital bed
And saw what it had done, I wished I was dead
Never knew there were worse things than dying
For no more I'll go waltzing Matilda
All around the green bush far and near
For to hump tent and pegs, a man needs two legs
No more waltzing Matilda for me

So they collected the cripples, the wounded, the maimed
And they shipped us back home to Australia
The armless, the legless, the blind, the insane
Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla
And as our ship pulled into Circular Quay
I looked at the place where my legs used to be
And thank Christ there was nobody waiting for me
To grieve and to mourn and to pity
And the band played Waltzing Matilda
As they carried us down the gangway
But nobody cheered, they just stood and stared
Then turned all their faces away

And now every April I sit on my porch
And I watch the parade pass before me
And I watch my old comrades, how proudly they march
Reliving old dreams of past glory
And the old men march slowly, all bent, stiff and sore
The forgotten heroes from a forgotten war
And the young people ask, "What are they marching for?"
And I ask myself the same question
And the band plays Waltzing Matilda
And the old men answer to the call
But year after year their numbers get fewer
Some day no one will march there at all

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
Who'll come a waltzing Matilda with me
And their ghosts may be heard as you pass the Billabong
Who'll come-a-waltzing Matilda with me?

[ksilvas]

165. SMOG, from THE DOCTOR CAME AT DAWN LP/CD, "All Your Women Things"

I first heard this band when I moved to
Portland OR along with Guided by Voices and CatPower,
between this music and the rain and being
1000's of miles from home, I'm still surprised to
this day I didn't hang myself from one of the bridges.

[arwalden]

166. The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald

[Ava]

167. Yesterday - Beatles

Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away
Now it looks as though they’re here to stay
Oh, I believe in yesterday.

Suddenly, I’m not half the man I used to be,
There’s a shadow hanging over me.
Oh, yesterday came suddenly.

Why she had to go I don’t know she woldn’t say.
I said something wrong, now I long for yesterday.

Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play.
Now I need a place to hide away.
Oh, I believe in yesterday.

Mm mm mm mm mm.

[noonwitch]

168. The Flesh Failures/Let The Sunshine In from "Hair"

Very sad, very stirring. It always makes me cry, and it pisses me off when you hear the second part sung happily to get you to buy Windex or something. Or when a high school choir sings only the second part as if it is a happy song.