Saddest songs ever?....I'll start,

[clarice]

Watching Scottie grow. Booby Goldsboro
The Grand Tour. George Jones or Aaron Neville

[Scuba]

1. "Build me up, Buttercup." Everytime I hear it I cry ...

... knowing I'll have it as an earworm for the next three days.

[Skittles]

12. JUST FOR YOU MY SWEET

[trueblue2007]

31. love this!! I have done this in our car. soooooooooooooooooooooo funny

[ailsagirl]

2. Long, Long Time (Linda Rondstadt)

Last edited Thu May 21, 2015, 09:27 PM - Edit history (1)

Starry, Starry Night (Don McLean)
Cat's in the Cradle (Harry Chapin)
Candle in the Wind (Elton John)
Elinor Rigby (Beatles)
For No One (Beatles)
Auld Lang Syne

Can't think of any more tho' I know there are plenty

[mythology]

131. I always think of Auld Lang Syne has a happy song

But my strongest association with that song is from the end of "It's a Wonderful Life".

[ailsagirl]

139. The only times I ever seem to hear it...

is on New Year's Eve when the clock strikes midnight. To me, it's a reminder of all those we lost in the old year. Interesting how it reminds different people of different things.

[Arkansas Granny]

3. "Alone Again", Gilbert O'Sullivan.

[Lil Missy]

15. Ditto. That song used to make me feel suicidal it was so sad.

Now I recognize it for a pity party.

[SCantiGOP]

150. Ark Granny--

No question that is the saddest ever

[trof]

4. 'Have yourself a merry little Christmas.

A version you've probably never seen before.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=unD_GQIDywc

[greendog]

5. Boulder to Birmingham - Emmylou Harris

[hopemountain]

146. ha! you already posted it. nt.

[Tom_Foolery]

6. Bonnie Raitt's "I Can't Make You Love Me"...

[seveneyes]

7. The Host Of Seraphim

[cemaphonic]

8. Love sad songs

Townes Van Zandt - Tecumseh Valley:

Townes has at least a dozen of the saddest songs you will ever hear.

Tom Waits - Georgia Lee

This one kills me, Waits is another who has written tons of great tearjerkers.

Blind Willie Johnson - Dark Was the Night, Cold was the Ground

So sad they shot it into space. And it doesn't even have any words.

[Tom Ripley]

17. Dark Was the Night, Cold was the Ground is just sublime

[CrawlingChaos]

9. I'll pick "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"

Really evokes the feeling of a cold, lonely, watery death.

Also I just really like the song.

[ailsagirl]

32. Excellent choice n/t

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

55. An excellent choice! n/t

[panader0]

10. Back on the Chain Gang

ETA:

[Skittles]

11. the formerly married Lulu and Maurice Gibb singing First of May

not long before Maurice passed away (they had not sung together for 27 years)

[clarice]

13. Thought of a few more.....

Everything that glitters is not gold. Dan Seals (if you haven't heard it, give it a listen)
What's your Mamma's name. George Jones

[grasswire]

14. okay, go listen to this one -- by the man who voiced Jiminy Cricket

His name was Cliff Edwards. He had a magnificent romantic style. Gives me shivers.

[Tom Ripley]

16. The Kids

[Tom Ripley]

18. Hello In There

[bullsnarfle]

46. Paradise

"And daddy won't you take me back to Muhlenberg County
Down by the Green River where Paradise lay
Well I'm sorry my son, but you're too late in asking
Mr. Peabody's coal train has hauled it away."

John Prine



Tears me up every time.

[Jamaal510]

19. D.R.S.: "Gangsta Lean"

[WinkyDink]

20. "Ave Maria."

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

105. Which one? There are two very famous Ave Marias

There's the Franz Schubert composition and then the composition by Charles Gounod. Both are incredibly beautiful and moving.

[LoveMyCali]

21. Diary

by Bread

[clarice]

48. ooooooooo....GREAT one. nt

[malthaussen]

66. See your Diary and raise you Aubrey

Bread was good at songs like that.

-- Mal

[DebJ]

106. I'll see you both and add this: Everything I Own

Always made my Mom cry; her Dad had passed away not long before.

[In_The_Wind]

22. Wildfire & Tears In Heaven

just because I enjoy listening to Aaron Neville

[Arkansas Granny]

23. Tears in Heaven is heartbreaking.

[In_The_Wind]

117. We all miss loved ones who have gone before us.

If there is a place like heaven I embrace the thought of seeing my rock again. He has been gone, but never out of my heart, since '93.

[LongTomH]

137. I listened to that song a lot when my Jeanne was fighting her last fight with cancer!

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

24. The song from this Kodak camera TV commercial from the 60s I always found very, very sad

"Turn Around"

[femmocrat]

26. LOL -- Great minds think alike!

That song always made me cry.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

27. I'm crying now just having listened to it again - lol

[femmocrat]

25. "Turn Around"

"Where are you going my little one?"

"Sunrise, Sunset"

[LuckyLib]

28. American Anthem by Norah Jones

[Omaha Steve]

29. American City Suite (Full Version)-Cashman & West (HQ) part 4 "A Friend Is Dying"

I think of her
I think of life's own music
At least that's the way
It used to be

I think of her and I
See the children laughing
But it's only on the streets
Of my memory

And I never felt so lonely
And so helpless
Wishing that I didn't
Know the truth

But they tell me
That a friend is dying
And there's nothing
In this world I can do

When she was good
It was, oh, so good
You were blessed
If she smiled on you

You could be king
If she believed your story
When it was over
If she laughed at you

Now I've never felt so lonely
And so helpless
I'm wishing that I
Didn't know the truth

They tell me
That a friend is dying
And there is nothing
In this world that I can do

The hands that used to
Reach out to everybody
Now they're lying by her side

And her eyes are closed
No one really knows
If she can make it through
Another night

Still most of what I love
Is locked inside her
Everything I thought
I'd ever need

My heart keeps crying
You've got to hold on
A little bit longer
But my head is sure
That it's time to leave

And I've never felt so lonely
And so helpless
I'm wishing that I
Didn't know the truth

And they tell me that
My friend is dying
And there's nothing
In this world that I can do

I've never felt so lonely
And so helpless
I'm wishing that I
Didn't know the truth

They tell me that
A friend, a friend is dying

Oh, New York City
Can you say it ain't true
Can you tell me now
Before I'm leaving you

I'd give anything I own
Just to believe in you again
Written by:
Terry Cashman and Tommy West

http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=14870

Cashman & West were Terry Cashman and Tommy West. Cashman wrote it about his home town of New York City. In our interview with Terry Cashman, he told us: "It was actually four songs strung together as a suite. Tommy and I signed as an act, Cashman & West, with ABC Dunhill. We had written a number of songs, but I really wanted to do something that would be special for the album. And it was a very sad time for me. A lot of my friends were leaving the city and going off, getting married, and you know, things were changing. I was 30 years old, and New York where I had grown up all my life was really deteriorating. It was a very bad time financially, and it was a time of turmoil and of racial strife. It looked like the city was gonna collapse. This great place where I had grown up and enjoyed so many friendships and so many good times - the city that I love - was actually dying. I was going into our office the next day, and I said to Tommy, 'I had this thought about New York in particular, but it's really happening to all the Eastern cities. They're decaying and white people are moving out of the cities and going to the suburbs. There are only very rich people and very poor people in the cities, and homelessness.' We started talking about the whole phenomenon, and we came up with this idea to do a song about how it was, which was the first movement of the first song of the suite was called, 'Sweet City Song,' and it was very happy, it was about growing up in a city where everyone got along and it was fun to be there - rock and roll was in the air. And then tracing that through, going away to school and coming back and seeing that things had changed, and then the third movement is an up-tempo song about how things were at that particular time as opposed to ten years before. And then it goes into 'A Friend Is Dying,' which is the last movement of 'American City Suite,' which is about the city dying. And that's the way it seemed to us at the time. That it was not only New York City, but all the Eastern industrial cities were having the same problems."
The four songs that make up the Suite are:

"Sweet City Song," "Hello Jack," "All Around The Town," "A Friend Is Dying."

Cashman and West were Jim Croce's producers they had recorded his album You Don't Mess Around With Jim, but couldn't get any record companies to sign Croce and release it. This song changed all that. Says Cashman: "When we started recording 'American City Suite,' ABC out in California became so excited about Cashman & West as an act that they listened to us about Jim Croce. They started playing 'You Don't Mess Around With Jim' and 'Operator (That's Not the Way It Feels)' for various people out there, and all of a sudden they said, 'Hey, this is really good.' (laughs) And you know, without all that happening, nobody would have ever heard of Jim Croce."

This is an unusually long song, and there was some concern about getting radio stations to play it. Says Cashman: "At that time there was 'Nights in White Satin' and 'Papa Was A Rollin' Stone,' there were other records that were being played by AM radio, because they were trying to be like FM. FM had become so popular that AM was loosening the restrictions on only playing 3-minute records. But I think the full version is almost 12 minutes, and when they put out the single it was about 7 minutes."

More songs from Cashman & West
More songs about places
More songs inspired by New York City

[malthaussen]

65. Heh, I posted that one in a "Songs About New York" thread.

Always a tear-jerker.

-- Mal

[mucifer]

30. Janis Ian: At 17

[Smarmie Doofus]

103. I thought of this as *jarring*. Not sad.

She'd already slapped America "across the face" w. "i Can't See You Anymore." ( re. problems associated w. an interracial hetero relationship.). ( What was she? 15 years old?)

"Seventeen" took it a huge step further: challenging societal conceptions of "beauty", "popularity", esp. for females.

Janis Ian was/is underrated. Later she challenged heterosexism itself. She pretty much was never heard from again.

Are you surprised?

[mucifer]

115. FYI I saw her in concert a few weeks ago with John Prine here in Chicago

It was an amazing concert. Yes, it was a small venue, The Old Town School of Folk Music and her newer albums aren't popular. But, it's not correct that she was never heard of again.

[marym625]

33. I have a few

A particularly intense version of And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda by The Clancy Brothers

The Clancy Brothers - And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda

An Irish folk song based on letters from a father, Brian Hunt, to his son John who emigrated to America. The letters were found by the great grandsons of Brian, who then made them into a son

Women of Celtic Song-Kilkelly

This song has special meaning for me. I was alone with my father when he died. After getting off the phone with my brother, the only boy, and when I could finally get in my car and bring myself to leave, I turned on the radio and this was playing

Simple Man - Lynyrd Skynyrd

Though I have a ton more, this has been a song that has resonated with me since I was a small child. Knowing this song before I heard the celebration song it was turned into in the US has always made it more poignant. It has also made me angry that a song that tells the horror of war could be changed to a celebration

The Irish Rovers- Johnny I hardly knew ye

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find a version with the last verse:

They're rolling out the guns again hurroo, hurroo
They're rolling out the guns again, hurroo, hurroo
They're rolling out the guns again,
but they'll not take my sons again
No they'll not take my son's again,
Johnny I'm swearing to ya.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

56. Your choices brought this one to mind

Sgt. MacKenzie http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sgt._MacKenzie

[marym625]

58. Great choice

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

85. Thanks and thanks for your additions as well

[marym625]

86. .

[The Second Stone]

34. Wharf Rat -- The Grateful Dead

[Enthusiast]

40. Incredible! And with Pete Townshend too!

[Danmel]

35. Mr. Bojangles

And puff the magic dragon

[Skittles]

77. "the dog up and died.....he up and died..after twenty years he still grieves"

that line always gets to me

[polly7]

144. Mr. Bojangles ..... that one gets me every time. nt.

[laundry_queen]

36. Luba

Every time I see your picture:

[sharp_stick]

60. I love that song

Luba has an incredible voice.

[HeiressofBickworth]

37. Here's an oldie that makes me cry every time

Old Shep - Red Foley

When I was a lad and Old Shep was a pup
O'er hills and meadows we'd stray
Just a boy and his dog, we both full of fun
We grew up together that way

I remember the time at the old swimmin' hole
When I would have drowned beyond doubt
Shep was right there, to the rescue he came
He jumped in and helped pull me out

So the years sped along and at last he grew old
His eyesight was fast growin' dim
Then one day, the doctor looked at me and said
"I can't do no more for him, Jim"

With a hand that was tremblin', I picked up my gun
I aimed it at Shep's faithful head
I just couldn't do it, I wanted to run
And I wished they'd shoot me instead

I went to his side and I sat on the ground
He laid his head on my knee
I stroked the best pal that a man ever found
I cried, so I scarcely could see

Old Sheppie, he knew he was goin' to go
For he reached out and licked at my hand
He looked up at me, just as much as to say
‽We're partin' but you understand”

Now Old Shep is gone where the good doggies go
And no more with Old Shep will I roam
But if dogs have a Heaven, there's one thing I know
Old Shep has a wonderful home
Read more at http://www.songlyrics.com/red-foley/old-shep-lyrics/#ly1zyExOExp5fPm5.99

[DFW]

38. Another Bonnie Raitt classic

"Love Has No Pride"

She sings it from somewhere where I think some deep wounds still fester.

For all her talent and success, I think she has suffered some serious hurt in her life.

[sarge43]

39. Baker Street, Diamonds and Rust, Brothers in Arms, Leaving on a Jet Plane, Daniel. n/t

[Ron Obvious]

41. Looking for space...

I've talked about it here before.

[Tom Ripley]

45. Denver had an incredible talent for writing plaintive melodies (Leaving On A Jet Plane...

Country Roads) This is another one.

[Gloria]

126. I think I wor this album out...

He had so many "sad songs"...or, at the very least, heartfelt numbers...

Sigh...gone way too soon!!!

[Number9Dream]

43. Wind on the Water (To the Last Whale) - Crosby / Nash

Beautiful song about the hunting and slaughter of whales. Gives me goose bumps.

[CanSocDem]

44. speaking of George Jones...

[clarice]

49. The King of "cryin in your beer" nt

[okaawhatever]

134. That song is so, so sad. Much sadder than most mentioned here. Thx for posting nt

[a kennedy]

47. any smooth jazz makes me cry......

and I don't know why.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

50. As someone who played the saxaphone --

listening to Kenny G certainly makes ME cry.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

51. "The Dutchman" always brings a tear. Probably no more than 20% of DUers even heard of it.

[StarlightGold]

98. I just posted this downthread!

Chokes me up always...

"Margaret comes to take him home again".

[lovemydog]

52. The Tears of a Clown

by the great Smokey Robinson.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

53. "Suicide is Painless" form M*A*S*H

Trivia: The 14-year-old son of Robert Altman, Mike Altman, wrote the lyrics to the theme song "Suicide is Painless". Because of its inclusion in the subsequent TV series, he continued to get residuals throughout its run and syndication. His father was paid $75,000 for directing but his son eventually made about $2,000,000 in song royalties.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066026/trivia?ref_=tt_trv_trv


OT personal note: In the 80s I worked for this company with building wide radio for background music. The older women in the manufacturing had basically dictatorial control of what station was tuned and their preference was this small station that had a stack of maybe 6 or 7 records that were all old sad love songs. I rather disliked all of those and had a special hatred for one or two of them. The two younger guys that worked in our lab as techs hated everyone of those songs.

One Saturday morning, after a week of 12 hour days, Andy just couldn't take it any longer. He said it was making him suicidal. I talked to someone who had a key to the closet where the receiver was kept and he changed the station to something contemporary. That lasted about a half hour before complaints forced a return to the original station of sad misery.

Undaunted by this setback, I mentioned 2 interesting fact to our lab techs; first, our principle product at the time was a radio jamming system for the Army; second was that the frequency of the offending station was in the covered range of our product. Several hours of peaceful silence followed.

[hifiguy]

64. Check out this version

by the incomparable Bill Evans

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

87. Great, thanks

An old movie but I like some of the soundtrack from Three Days of the Condor.

Check out this version:

[lovemydog]

54. Oh and pretty much anything by Joy Division

(sad/sad) or The Smiths (sad/hilarious).

[cdogzilla]

73. Good call. [n/t]

[Rhythm]

141. No kidding...

[cwydro]

57. Cat's In The Cradle.

I always found that sad.

[Gloria]

125. ANd it was even sadder when Harry Chapin

died on the highway in a crash.

I remember that so well....

[cwydro]

127. Yep.

Life is sad.

Often.

[Brother Buzz]

59. Elizabeth Cotten's granddaughter singing a haunting rendition of Shake Sugaree

[sharp_stick]

61. Concrete Angel - Martina McBride

All about child abuse and the effects of ignoring it. Horribly sad but beautifully sung.

[geardaddy]

62. Myfanwy

It always brings a tear to my eye.

Paham mae dicter, O Myfanwy,
Yn llenwi'th lygaid duon di?
A'th ruddiau tirion, O Myfanwy,
Heb wrido wrth fy ngweled i?
Pa le mae'r wên oedd ar dy wefus
Fu'n cynnau 'nghariad ffyddlon ffôl?
Pa le mae sain dy eiriau melys,
Fu'n denu'n nghalon ar dy ôl?

Pa beth a wneuthum, O Myfanwy
I haeddu gwg dy ddwyrudd hardd?
Ai chwarae oeddit, O Myfanwy
 thanau euraidd serch dy fardd?
Wyt eiddo im drwy gywir amod
Ai gormod cadw'th air i mi?
Ni cheisiaf fyth mo'th law, Myfanwy,
Heb gael dy galon gyda hi.

Myfanwy boed yr holl o'th fywyd
Dan heulwen ddisglair canol dydd.
A boed i rosyn gwridog iechyd
I ddawnsio ganmlwydd ar dy rudd.
Anghofia'r oll o'th addewidion
A wneist i rywun, 'ngeneth ddel,
A dyro'th law, Myfanwy dirion
I ddim ond dweud y gair "Ffarwél".

Why is it anger, O Myfanwy,
That fills your eyes so dark and clear?
Your gentle cheeks, O sweet Myfanwy,
Why blush they not when I draw near?
Where is the smile that once most tender
Kindled my love so fond, so true?
Where is the sound of your sweet words,
That drew my heart to follow you?

What have I done, O my Myfanwy,
To earn your frown? What is my blame?
Was it just play, my sweet Myfanwy,
To set your poet's love aflame?
You truly once to me were promised,
Is it too much to keep your part?
I wish no more your hand, Myfanwy,
If I no longer have your heart.

Myfanwy, may you spend your lifetime
Beneath the midday sunshine's glow,
And on your cheeks O may the roses
Dance for a hundred years or so.
Forget now all the words of promise
You made to one who loved you well,
Give me your hand, my sweet Myfanwy,
But one last time, to say "farewell".

[geardaddy]

63. Learning How to Live - Lucinda Williams

"Learning How To Live"

I'm learning how to live
Without you in my life.

I'm learning how to live
Without you in my life.

I'll take the best of what you had to give.
I'll make the most of what you left me with.
I'm learning how to live.

They say the best is still yet to come
But the taste of you is still on my tongue.
I can't forget and I won't even try
To erase your image
And the way you made me cry.
I'm learning how to live.

All I have left is this dime store ring
But I wouldn't trade it for anything.
The days ahead will never be the same.
For you I might have even changed my name.
I'm learning how to live.

I'm learning how to live
Without you in my life.

I'll take the best of what you had to give.
I'll make the most of what you left me with.
I'm learning how to live.

[hifiguy]

67. For an aching sense of loss of times and friends now gone

This one does it for me:

The grass was greener
The light was brighter
With friends surrounded
The nights of wonder....

[malthaussen]

68. Comin' Back to Me

Jerry Garcia on guitar, too.

-- Mal

[pokerfan]

69. Without You

"Without You" is a song written by Pete Ham and Tom Evans of British rock group Badfinger, and first released on their 1970 album No Dice. The song has been recorded by over 180 artists and versions released as singles by Harry Nilsson (1971) and Mariah Carey (1994) became international best-sellers.

Paul McCartney once described the ballad as "the killer song of all time."

[Paper Roses]

70. You are my Sunshine. Always makes me cry. My Dad usd to sing this all the time to me.

Johnny Cash, tears as I listen.

[cdogzilla]

71. "Emma" by Hot Chocolate should be right up there ...

[cdogzilla]

72. "The Bitterest Pill (I Ever Had to Swallow)" by the Jam

[shenmue]

75. Oh yes

[shenmue]

74. "I Know it's Over," the Smiths

"Fool in the Rain," Led Zeppelin

"The Last Day of Our Acquaintance," Sinéad O'Connor

[PasadenaTrudy]

76. Seasons in the Sun by Terry Jacks n/t

[progressoid]

78. Warren Zevon - Keep Me In Your Heart

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

84. Veracruz also comes to mind n/t

[bobjacksonk2832]

79. Without you - Harry Nilsson

Makes me want to tear up every time I listen to it. Very powerful.

[Heddi]

80. Dark Globe by Syd Barrett, but the REM Cover makes me cry

please...
please lift a hand, I'm only a person....
won't you miss me?
why don't you miss me at all......

[BeyondGeography]

81. More Prine...Sam Stone

And the real-world desperation from Dorothy Melton here:

[TeeYiYi]

82. Louise by Bonnie Raitt...

TYY

[MH1]

88. Bee Gees - I started a joke

I started a joke
Which started the whole world crying
But I didn't see
That the joke was on me, oh no

I started to cry
Which started the whole world laughing
Oh, if I'd only seen
That the joke was on me

I looked at the skies
Running my hands over my eyes
And I fell out of bed
Hurting my head from things that I'd said

Till I finally died
Which started the whole world living
Oh, if I'd only seen
That the joke was on me

[LiberalLoner]

89. "Maybe" by Janis Joplin and lately for me, tears come when I hear

Any song with Jim Gordon playing drums on it because I just learned the whole sad story of what happened to him, in the past couple of weeks.

[Smarmie Doofus]

102. Ok. Ya got me. I'm googling. n/t

BTW... love JJ's "Maybe" also.

[Generic Brad]

90. Seasons in the Sun

By Terry Jacks.

Nothing like singing a ditty from your deathbed to cheer everyone up.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

91. Ray Charles singing the greatest version of the greatest song about unrequited love

One of my favorite Ray Charles hits from the very early 60s. I used to sing this song as a kid until my parents got a tape recorder and I heard how badly I sung it.

[Art_from_Ark]

92. Abraham, Martin, and John (and Bobby)

[Bonobo]

93. Life Without You

Stevie Ray Vaughan

[Art_from_Ark]

94. "I'm Nobody's Child"

If this song doesn't bring a tear to your eye, no song will.

[SwissTony]

95. "Friend in a bar" by Tina Dico (sometimes spelled "Dickow")

very powerful

[pinboy3niner]

96. Billy Joel - Goodnight Saigon

[ProfessorGAC]

97. Maybe Already Mentioned, But Last Kiss

By Frank Wilson in the mid 60's. "Oh where oh where can my baby be. . ."

That's a sad song.

[Recursion]

99. "Innocent When You Dream", "Grace", and "Suzanne"

Tom Waits, Jeff Buckley, and Leonard Cohen, respectively.

[kairos12]

100. Concrete Angel. Also, saddest video EVER. Martina McBride

[Smarmie Doofus]

101. You're all wrong. It's Joni Mitchell's The Arrangement.

Back in the day, I used to make sure I followed this up something w. something like Carey, or Big Yellow Taxi or Rainy Night House.

You know... so I wouldn't want to jump out the window... or whatever.

[Jade Fox]

104. The Drugs Don't Work - Verve

This song was actually declared the Saddest Song Ever by some group.

It is also a gorgeous song. I love it.

[DebJ]

107. Honey Bobby Goldsboro

Came out in April and my grandfather had passed away March 17, 1968.

Mom would sob hysterically whenever it came on.

[DebJ]

108. Holes in the Floor of Heaven Steve Wariner

I can't listen to this with dry eyes.

[DebJ]

109. oh now I'm blubbering.........n/t

[lastlib]

110. "Seasons in the Sun," by Terry Jacks

....

[amerikat]

111. Girl From The North Country. Dylan/Cash

[amerikat]

112. Roads to Moscow Al Stewart

Russian soldier in WW2. Just for the shear magnitude of the suffering that millions endured.

[malthaussen]

114. Follow it up by reading...

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.

-- Mal

[hifiguy]

123. Al Stewart could set history to music

like absolutely no one else. What a talent.

[amerikat]

113. The Boxer by Simon and Garfunckle.

In the clearing stands a boxer,
And a fighter by his trade
And he carries the reminders
Of ev'ry glove that laid him down
Or cut him till he cried out
In his anger and his shame,
"I am leaving, I am leaving"
But the fighter still remains,

[mike in raleigh]

116. Mr. Tanner

Harry Chapin wrote great songs about losers.

[ArnoldLayne]

118. When the Tigers Broke Free-Roger Waters

[3catwoman3]

119. Sarah McLachlan's In the Arms of the Angel...

...as set to the ASPCA ad. Rips my heart out every time.

[SwissTony]

135. Wintersong is pretty sad too

The lake is frozen over
The trees are white with snow
And all around
Reminders of you
Are everywhere I go

It's late and morning's in no hurry
But sleep won't set me free
I lie awake and try to recall
How your body felt beside me
When silence gets too hard to handle
And the night too long

And this is how I see you
In the snow on Christmas morning
Love and happiness surround you
As you throw your arms up to the sky
I keep this moment by and by

Oh I miss you now, my love
Merry Christmas, merry Christmas,
Merry Christmas, my love

Sense of joy fills the air
And I daydream and I stare
Up at the tree and I see
Your star up there

And this is how I see you
In the snow on Christmas morning
Love and happiness surround you
As you throw your arms up to the sky
I keep this moment by and by

[Lizzie Poppet]

120. Beloved by VNV Nation

It's colder than before
The seasons took all they had come for
Now winter dances here
It seems so fitting, don't you think?
To dress the ground in white and grey

It's so quiet I can hear
My thoughts touching every second
That I spent waiting for you
Circumstances afford me
No second chance to tell you
How much I've missed you

My beloved, do you know
When the warm wind comes again
Another year will start to pass
And please don't ask me why I'm here
Something deeper brought me
Than a need to remember

We were once young and blessed with wings
No heights could keep us from their reach
No sacred place we did not soar
Still greater things burned within us
I don't regret the choices that I've made
I know you feel the same

My beloved, do you know
How many times I stared at clouds
Thinking that I saw you there
These are feelings that do not pass so easily
I can't forget what we claimed was ours

(CHORUS)
Moments lost, though time remains
I am so proud of what we were
No pain remains, no feeling
Eternity awaits
Grant me wings that I might fly
My restless soul is longing
No pain remains, no feeling
Eternity awaits

[Lizzie Poppet]

121. Forever - Bruderschaft

I don't believe in the existence of mercy's guiding hand
Not with all that I have witnessed, I cannot understand
Forever burdened with the knowledge that I could have been so much more
When the truth is hard to suffer, I knew this all before

There is no comfort in faith, the heavens still will fall
A thousand towers rise before me and I cannot climb them all
There is no kind of joy in this, there is no time that it can heal
When emptiness and shadows bliss, there is nothing left to feel

I have not abandoned hope, though I know there's nothing more
Tired and alone, you forget what you have hoped for

I will walk this ground forever
And stand guard against your name
I will give all I can offer
I will shoulder all the blame
I am sentry to you now
All your hopes and all your dreams
I will hold you to the light
That's what forever means

I was never what you wanted, I could never never please
I swallowed all our sorrow in the midst of my disease
All my fortunes, all my gains, all the battles I have won
Now collapsing like the rain, I stand alone, your only son

Take some solace in these words, take notice of this place
Hollow whispers that they are, like the wind upon my face
Just sing softly in my ear and look at me with wonder
I will try to ease your fear as the darkness pulls you under

I will walk this ground forever
And stand guard against your name
I will give all I can offer
I will shoulder all the blame
I am sentry to you now
All your hopes and all your dreams
I will hold you to the light
That's what forever means

[Lizzie Poppet]

122. Everything Is Cold - Lycia

Note: the first two I posted are some of the saddest I know...but they are also hopeful in many ways. This one is just...bleak.

life is so bare, life is so, so bare
we must not run, must not fight
we must stay here forever
everything is cold, everything is cold
i am such a child, just let me take this away... again
everyday i pray for love of...
life, every day i pray for love of...
life is so bare, life is so, so bare
i don't think that i can take this again
everything is cold, everything is cold
i am such a liar, just let me throw this away... again
everyday i pray for love of...
life, everyday i pray for love of...

[Gloria]

124. "Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word", with "Desperado" thrown in for good measure...

Elton John, his life was a mess at the time...the song, a masterpiece!!

"Desperado": just gets me all the time..."let somebody love you before it's too late...."

Live version, not quite the same emotional punch for me as the original, but still, it's a great song!

[cbayer]

128. Blue - Joni Mitchell

[cbayer]

129. River - Joni Mitchell

[Wolf Frankula]

130. The Cat Carol

I want to open the door and let the cat in.

John Prine's Ben Stone..

The second movement of "The Vengeance Suite". But I know it is followed by the third movement, "The Dragon Stirs', the fourth movement "Tasaien Suya Tanaituen" and the fifth movement, "Operation Righteous Vengeance". BTW, the fourth movement has never been performed.

Wolf

[alcibiades_mystery]

132. How many People Posted a Song Made SINCE 2010 (which was, by the way, half a decade ago)?

Y'all folks is old. That ain't a bad thing, but the kids is moving on. Goodnight Saigon. Jeez.

[sakabatou]

133. Is it Real? - Yoko Kanno

[quickesst]

136. I have two....

....both country, and if you pre judge, you miss out. don't know how to link them here, but they are as follows....

Ships That Don't Come In by Joe Diffie and
Bobby by Reba McEntire (horseshit politics doesn't keep me from enjoying good music)

[TexasBushwhacker]

138. Some Fantastic Place by Squeeze

It's about Glenn's first love, who died of leukemia.

[polly7]

140. Such nice songs here.

These are very sad, but I think they're beautiful.

[Rhythm]

142. ~Any version~ of "You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive"

This ones one of my favorite, but this is an Appalachian standard by now...

[AwakeAtLast]

143. "The Wrong Child" - R. E. M., for a start

R.E.M.The Wrong Child - YouTube

P!nk - Glitter In The Air (GRAMMYs on CBS) - YouTube

Maybe not the saddest song ever written, but I cry every time I hear it.

Johnny Cash - Hurt HD 720p - YouTube

No explanation needed. Trent Reznor is a genius, but Johnny Cash killed it.

Ben Folds Five - Brick - YouTube

Love Ben Folds - I've loved everything he's done

[Sancho]

145. Eva Cassidy - Fields of Gold

"Fields Of Gold"

You'll remember me when the west wind moves
Upon the fields of barley
You'll forget the sun in his jealous sky
As we walk in the fields of gold

So she took her love
For to gaze awhile
Upon the fields of barley
In his arms she fell as her hair came down
Among the fields of gold

Will you stay with me, will you be my love
Among the fields of barley
We'll forget the sun in his jealous sky
As we lie in the fields of gold

See the west wind move like a lover so
Upon the fields of barley
Feel her body rise when you kiss her mouth
Among the fields of gold
I never made promises lightly
And there have been some that I've broken
But I swear in the days still left
We'll walk in the fields of gold
We'll walk in the fields of gold

Many years have passed since those summer days
Among the fields of barley
See the children run as the sun goes down
Among the fields of gold
You'll remember me when the west wind moves
Upon the fields of barley
You can tell the sun in his jealous sky
When we walked in the fields of gold
When we walked in the fields of gold
When we walked in the fields of gold

[DFW]

147. Poor old Jimmy sits alone in the moonlight

Poor ol' Jimmy sits alone in the moonlight
He saw his woman kiss another man
So he takes a ladder, steals the stars from the sky
Puts on Sinatra and starts to cry

On and on
He just keeps on trying
And he smiles
When he feels like crying
On and on, on and on, on and on

[Va Lefty]

148. Hasten down the wind Linda Ronstadt

[Myrina]

149. Not meant to be sad, perhaps, but ...

"Going Home" by Dan Auerbach (Black Keys) ...

It's actually a cool song but it came out around the time that my old, old rescue Beagle passed.
The words and the vibe of the song just fit him - he was a man who had been many places & seen many things, before he came to me, so every time I hear it, I cry my eyes out.


AND

"When the Night Comes" - also by Auerbach ...

This one reminds me of my other rescue dog, my BFF for 15 years.
The words fit so perfectly with how I was feeling as he got closer to needing to let go.
It also makes me cry like a baby.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

151. Johnny Horton ~ Comanche (The Brave Horse)

Yet another reason to hate George Armstrong Custer

[kairos12]

152. Last Kiss by The Cavaliers.