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Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsSad songs
I didn't see a recent thread on this, and it seems to be an appropriate time for one.
Go ahead and post names or videos of your favorite tearjerker tunes. I'll start with some of mine.
"I Know It's Over," the Smiths
"The Last Day of Our Acquaintance," Sinead O'Connor
"Fool in the Rain," Led Zeppelin
"Misunderstanding," Genesis
"It Doesn't Matter," Depeche Mode
"Whatever," Husker Du
"Skyway," the Replacements
"How Fortunate the Man With None," Dead Can Dance
"Say Hello, Wave Goodbye," Soft Cell
"Can't Stand Losing You," the Police
"Pictures of You," the Cure
"Like the Weather," 10,000 Maniacs
"Running," Information Society
"Rosealia," Better Than Ezra
"Love's in Need of Love Today," Stevie Wonder
"Baby Love," the Supremes
"The River," Bruce Springsteen
"Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," Elton John
"Stay Free," the Clash
"When You Were Mine," Prince
Let's hear 'em.
ailsagirl
(22,898 posts)He wrote American Pie.
He also penned Starry Starry Night about Van Gogh, where he writes
(close to the end of the song):
And when no hope was left in sight
On that starry, starry night
You took your life, as lovers often do
But I could have told you Vincent
This world was never meant
for one as beautiful as you
Prisoner_Number_Six
(15,676 posts)Shrek
(3,983 posts)kwassa
(23,340 posts)Need I say more?
ailsagirl
(22,898 posts)Or the song, for that matter.
Something like
It took so long to make/bake it
And I'll never have that recipe again!!!!!
Then it goes on about the
sweet green icing pouring down
WTH??
CBGLuthier
(12,723 posts)"It's clearly about a love affair ending, and the person singing it is using the cake and the rain as a metaphor for that. OK, it may be far out there, and a bit incomprehensible, but I wrote the song at a time in the late 1960s when surrealistic lyrics were the order of the day."
The love affair Webb speaks of was with Susan Ronstadt, Linda Ronstadt's cousin. Said Webb (in the Los Angeles Times), "MacArthur Park was where we met for lunch and paddleboat rides and feeding the ducks. She worked across the street at a life insurance company. Those lyrics were all very real to me; there was nothing psychedelic about it to me. The cake, it was an available object. It was what I saw in the park at the birthday parties. But people have very strong reactions to the song. There's been a lot of intellectual venom."
aint_no_life_nowhere
(21,925 posts)The lyrics seemed to have anticipated his untimely death.
cemaphonic
(4,138 posts)Really, at least half of his songs are pretty damn sad.
"Georgia Lee" - Tom Waits
He has lots of great tearjerkers too, but this one always really gets me.
"Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground" - Blind Willie Johnson
This one is so good, they put it in space
orleans
(34,072 posts)the last ride by todd rundgren
i am the blues by laura nyro
still got the blues by gary moore
the long and winding road by the beatles
the end by the doors
GReedDiamond
(5,316 posts)orleans
(34,072 posts)GReedDiamond
(5,316 posts)...as performed by Todd Rundgren and Daryl Hall
Skittles
(153,180 posts)Willie Nelson
AllenVanAllen
(3,134 posts)and it makes me cry.
orleans
(34,072 posts)easychoice
(1,043 posts)CanSocDem
(3,286 posts)...makes me weep openly.
&feature=player_detailpage
.
hifiguy
(33,688 posts)"Eat For Two" (though quiet panic may be a better descriptor)
"Don't Talk"
"Cherry Tree" (more bittersweet than truly sad)
What's The Matter Here?
Moody Blues - Watching and Waiting
Phil Manzanera's 801 - Postcard Love
Michael Johnson - This Night Won't Last Forever
Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb
King Crimson - Exiles (more of an existential sadness)
On the classical side of the ledger
Vaughan Williams Five Variants on Dives and Lazarus
Barber - Adagio for Strings
Many more, I am sure, but those came immediately to mind.
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,829 posts)Let me add this one to the classical collection: Alan Hovhaness, "Prayer of St. Gregory."
hifiguy
(33,688 posts)The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,829 posts)His music is wonderfully ethereal without any treacly new-aginess.
hifiguy
(33,688 posts)I think history will record Ralph Vaughan Williams and Alan Hovhaness as the greatest symphonists of the 20th century.
Doc_Technical
(3,527 posts)Danmel
(4,921 posts)Makes me weep like a baby.
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - Mr. Bojangles - YouTube
m.youtube.com/watch?v...
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)"Empty Garden", written for John Lennon.
"Candle in the Wind", written for Marilyn Monroe, and later dedicated to Princess Di.
Rowdyboy
(22,057 posts)Sam Stone came home,
To his wife and family
After serving in the conflict overseas.
And the time that he served,
Had shattered all his nerves,
And left a little shrapnel in his knee.
But the morphine eased the pain,
And the grass grew round his brain,
And gave him all the confidence he lacked,
With a Purple Heart and a monkey on his back.
There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes,
Jesus Christ died for nothin' I suppose.
Little pitchers have big ears,
Don't stop to count the years,
Sweet songs never last too long on broken radios.
Mmm....
Sam Stone's welcome home
Didn't last too long.
He went to work when he'd spent his last dime
And Sammy took to stealing
When he got that empty feeling
For a hundred dollar habit without overtime.
And the gold rolled through his veins
Like a thousand railroad trains,
And eased his mind in the hours that he chose,
While the kids ran around wearin' other peoples' clothes...
Sam Stone was alone
When he popped his last balloon
Climbing walls while sitting in a chair
Well, he played his last request
While the room smelled just like death
With an overdose hovering in the air
But life had lost its fun
And there was nothing to be done
But trade his house that he bought on the G. I. Bill
For a flag draped casket on a local heroes' hill.
Brigid
(17,621 posts)GoCubsGo
(32,086 posts)likesmountains 52
(4,098 posts)likesmountains 52
(4,098 posts)and
Arugula Latte
(50,566 posts)Sting's song "Fields of Gold" was recorded by Eva Cassidy, who knew she was dying:
Elliott Smith has many beautiful sad songs, but this is a favorite:
Mazzy Star -- Into Dust:
A friend died unexpectedly and all I could think of was the line from this song: "I always thought that I'd see you again" -- Fire & Rain:
Natalie Merchant wrote this for River Phoenix:
CTyankee
(63,912 posts)The 2nd movement of his Double Violin Concerto is the most sad/beautiful
piece of music,