What is the saddest song or tune you've ever heard?

[henriquefd]

Painkiller by Judas Priest.

"Planets devastated
Mankind's on its knees
A saviour comes from out the skies
In answer to their pleas"

Ok, seriously now.

'Wish you were here", performed by Blackmore's Night.

[Fazor]

Heh, my brother just played Cash's "Hurt" for me last week. I'm not a fan, but maybe it's because I love the NiN version.

I don't really find it overly sad though, even though it should be. It's just too beautiful a song.

[DippyHippy]

Check it out...

http://www.toptenz.net/10-more-songs...ke-you-cry.php

[HenrikOlsen]

I've never heard of the song Tip of a flat belly that it looks like they have as no. 1

Some adverts are definitely placed in ways that makes the site next to useless by getting them visually confused for content.

[GalaxyGal]

Vivaldi's Four Seasons - Winter Largo.....one of the most beautiful and hauntingly sad pieces ever written - especially when performed by Itzhak Perlman

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dggfA9Vo64U

[Hugh Jass]

And no one has mentioned the famous "Car Crash Songs".
"Teen Angel", "The Leader of the Pack" . "Laurie" .
Quelle tragique! Oui.
Dan

Um… you forgot one as well,
Last Kiss.

I first knew the Cavaliers version, but have Pearl Jam’s on my ipod and it is definitely a song I wouldn’t be able to make it through if I tried Karaoke.

I concur with Clapton’s Tears in Heaven, always had an impact, then I had kids and it really gets to me now.

[peter eldergill]

I *love* one particular verse from Neil Young's "Rockin in the Free World" that always makes me sad/angry. (Well, same with CSNY's "Ohio")

Done by memory, so the words may not be 100% accurate, but certainly close enough to make the point..


There's a woman in the night
With a baby in her hand
By the old street light, near a garbage can

Now she put the kid away
'Cause she's gunna get a hit
She hates her life
And what she's done to it

There's one more kid
That will never go to school
Never get to fall in love
Never get to be "cool"

Keep on rockin' in the free world...


Pete

[peter eldergill]

Um… you forgot one as well,
Last Kiss.

I first knew the Cavaliers version, but have Pearl Jam’s on my ipod and it is definitely a song I wouldn’t be able to make it through if I tried Karaoke.

I concur with Clapton’s Tears in Heaven, always had an impact, then I had kids and it really gets to me now.

Love Pearl Jam's version of last kiss and I agree with you about the Karaoke!

Line that gets me the most: "Hold me darlin' just a little while.."

Another line that could be rough for karaoke for me

"All that remain are the faces and names
Of the wives and the sons and the daughters"

<The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald>

Pete

[Fazor]

"All that remain are the faces and names
Of the wives and the sons and the daughters"

<The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald>

Pete

Oh man, good song. I couldn't sing it though not because it's sad (It is, but it just doesn't get to me), but because it's completely out of my range.

Eta: By the way, just realized the beer I picked up yesterday was Great Lakes Brewing Co's 'Edmund Fitzgerald', witch is the company's porter. Good stuff, but I like almost all their beers.

[rommel543]

Love Pearl Jam's version of last kiss and I agree with you about the Karaoke!

Line that gets me the most: "Hold me darlin' just a little while.."

Another line that could be rough for karaoke for me

"All that remain are the faces and names
Of the wives and the sons and the daughters"

<The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald>

Pete

I forgot about how great that song is. Here is a YouTube video tribute. Had a hard time keeping back the tears.

[Argos]

Barry Manilow´s 'Mandy'.

[DippyHippy]

Yeah, Barry Manilow makes me want to cry too LOL (Sorry - no offence, but I couldn't resist)

[Randydeluxe]

Ben Folds - Missing The War
About midlife crisis, and how a man trapped in an entire life he was never cut out for deals with having never reached his goals or known his own dreams.

Toto - The Other End Of Time
It's a song about having lost someone, but what gets me is the idea that the event of loss is like the end of time for the aggrieved, and all that is left for the singer to do is endure until the other end of time.

Temple Of The Dog - Times Of Trouble
About the throes of heroin addiction. Hard to think of much that is more sad than that.

Ben Folds - Evaporated
A juxtaposition of two incredibly sad concepts: 1. The realization that you've committed a horrible act and can't reverse it, and 2. The act of giving your heart to someone or something entirely, and failing to find happiness in having done so. "I poured my heart out.... it evaporated."

Billy Joel - And So It Goes
Acceptance of the unbearable. Just... sad.

Pearl Jam - Nothingman
About the pain of being on the other side of success, and realizing that you're nothing in comparison to what you once were, or could have been.

Ben Folds - Fred Jones, Part 2
In the short song Cigarette, Folds used an extremely long sentence to introduce the character of Fred Jones, who at that point was the sole caregiver for his dying wife. In this full length continuation, Folds just crushes his fictional character into the experience of retiring and finding himself utterly alone. "He's forgotten, but not yet gone..."

[tommac]

Spanish songs on the average are much sadder than english ones.

Mi viejo is pretty sad even for a spanish song.

Es un buen tipo mi viejo
que anda solo y esperando
tiene la tristeza larga
de tanto venir andando

Yo lo miro desde lejos
pero somos tan distintos
es que crecio con el siglo
con tranvia y vino tinto....

Viejo mi querido viejo
ahora ya caminas lento
como perdonando el viento
yo soy tu sangre mi viejo
soy tu silencio y tu tiempo.....

El tiene los ojos buenos
y una figura pesada
la edad se le vino encima
sin carnaval, ni comparsa

Yo tengo los años nuevos
y mi padre los años viejos
el dolor lo lleva dentro
y tiene historia sin tiempo

Viejo, mi querido viejo
ahora ya caminas lento
como perdonando al viento
yo soy tu sangre mi viejo
soy tu silencio y tu tiempo

Yo soy tu sangre mi viejo.......

My spanish isnt good enought to do a full translation ... can someone give it a try?

[Argos]

My spanish isnt good enought to do a full translation ... can someone give it a try?

Definitely a classic in Latin America. One of my daddy´s favorites [he used to sing it to my grandpa, in the Portuguese version]. Here´s my translation:

My old man is a good fellow
He walks alone and waits
He has a big sadness
From so much walking

I see him on the distance
But we are so different
since he has grown along with the century
With trams and red wine

Old man, my dear old man
Now you walk slowly
As if pardoning the wind
I´m your blood my old man
I´m your silence and your time

He has lovely eyes
and a heavy figure
Age has taken a toll on him
Without carnival [party] nor companion

I am of young age
and my father is of old age
His pain he carries inside
and has a timeless history

Old man, my old man
Now you walk slowly
As if pardoning the wind
I´m your blood my old man
I´m your silence and your time

I´m your blood my old man...

***

Another very sad Spanish language song is the bolero "El Reloj".

[tommac]

In Latin America these are songs when you really want to get drunk.
Another song that is pretty sad ... however is played to an upbeat salsa is :
Un Vestido Bonito by Guayacan. Basically telling a woman ( his wife ? ) that when he dies ... he doesnt want her being sad, he wants her to put on a nice dress and be happy. There are a ton of these ... Once you get into the Mariachi stuff forget about it.

El dia en que yo me muera.
yo no quiero que estes triste.
yo quiero que tu te pongas un bestido bonito
yo no quiero que tu llores
yo quiero que estes contenta
y que todo el dia luscas un bestido bonito

Un vestido bonito (un vestido bonito)
de esos bien señiditos (un vestido bonito)
Un vestido bonito (un vestido bonito)
de esos bien señiditos (un vestido bonito)

Hay mi gente no me entierren
yo prefiero que me quemen
y que tiren mis cenisas, al atrato por favor
el rio se vaporiza, despues se vuelve aguacero
el agua a la licorera y al instante ya soy ron..

y quiero que tu te pongas (un vestido bonito)
un vestido bonito (un vestido bonito)
de esos bien señiditos (un vestido bonito)
que te quede apretadito (un vestido bonito)

Un vestido bonito (un vestido bonito)
de esos bien señiditos (un vestido bonito)
Un vestido bonito (un vestido bonito)
de esos bien señiditos (un vestido bonito)
que te quede apretadito (un vestido bonito)

Un vestido bonito (un vestido bonito)
de esos bien señiditos (un vestido bonito)
Un vestido bonito (un vestido bonito)
que te quede apretadito (un vestido bonito)

Y busca una modita que te sepa coser
y busca una modita que te sepa coser
ohhh ohhh maquina holandera
ohhh ohhh pa´ bailar con ella
ohhh ohhh maquina holandera
ohhh ohhh pa´ bailar con ella

Y busca una modita que te sepa coser
y busca una modita que te sepa coser
ohhh ohhh maquina holandera
ohhh ohhh pa´ bailar con ella
ohhh ohhh maquina holandera
ohhh ohhh pa´ bailar con ella

ohhh ohhh maquina holandera
ohhh ohhh pa´ bailar con ella
ohhh ohhh maquina holandera
ohhh ohhh pa´ bailar con ella
Y busca una modita que te sepa coser
y busca una modita que te sepa coser

Un vestido bonito (un vestido bonito)
que te quede apretadito (un vestido bonito)
de esos bien señiditos (un vestido bonito)

(un vestido bonito) (un vestido bonito)
(un vestido bonito)

Definitely a classic in Latin America. One of my daddy´s favorites [he used to sing it to my grandpa, in the Portuguese version]. Here´s my translation:

My old man is a good fellow
He walks alone and waits
He has a big sadness
From so much walking

I see him on the distance
But we are so different
since he has grown along with the century
With trams and red wine

Old man, my dear old man
Now you walk slowly
As if pardoning the wind
I´m your blood my old man
I´m your silence and your time

He has lovely eyes
and a heavy figure
Age has taken a toll on him
Without carnival [party] nor companion

I am of young age
and my father is of old age
His pain he carries inside
and has a timeless history

Old man, my old man
Now you walk slowly
As if pardoning the wind
I´m your blood my old man
I´m your silence and your time

I´m your blood my old man...

***

Another very sad Spanish language song is the bolero "El Reloj".

[GalaxyGal]

Another song with sad lyrics with an upbeat rhythm:
Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport

[ngc3314]

Maybe I'm too sensitive. "Puff the Magic Dragon" always gets to me - intimations of mortality and all that. When I was in college, I'd listen to Simon and Garfunkel to about 2 a.m. every Saturday (which now has an indelible mental association with physics homework). Then, most of their work would induce a sort of pleasant, mild melancholy for me. So 35 years on, I recently bought a boxed CD set of their albums. Bad bargain - by now, most of their songs are downright depressing and I can't stand to listen to them.

OTOH, I'm perfectly fine with the Barber Adagio, Siegfried's Funeral March (or, a little farther from the beaten path, Berlioz' Symphonie Funebre et Triomphale - and probably would even if I weren't a part-time trombonist).

[captain swoop]

Rod Stewart 'Sailing' or Python Lee Jackson 'In a Broken Dream' also sung by Rod are both quite downbeat. the latter is one of my Top 10 of all time.

Elvis 'In the Ghetto'
Tom Jones 'Green Green Grass of Home'

[tommac]

I thought Puff the Magic Dragon was about smoking p ot

Maybe I'm too sensitive. "Puff the Magic Dragon" always gets to me - intimations of mortality and all that. When I was in college, I'd listen to Simon and Garfunkel to about 2 a.m. every Saturday (which now has an indelible mental association with physics homework). Then, most of their work would induce a sort of pleasant, mild melancholy for me. So 35 years on, I recently bought a boxed CD set of their albums. Bad bargain - by now, most of their songs are downright depressing and I can't stand to listen to them.

OTOH, I'm perfectly fine with the Barber Adagio, Siegfried's Funeral March (or, a little farther from the beaten path, Berlioz' Symphonie Funebre et Triomphale - and probably would even if I weren't a part-time trombonist).

[blueshift]

Maybe somone here can help me with the title of the song by Christiana Kubrick at the ending of "Paths of Glory", Stanley Kubrick's one tear jerker. She was singing it in front of French troops as a prisoner and brought them all to tears right on the heels of the executions.

[AGN Fuel]

I thought Puff the Magic Dragon was about smoking p ot

No, Robert de Niro debunked that in 'Meet the Parents'!

Another song with sad lyrics with an upbeat rhythm:
Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport

Wha....??? :surprised

[GalaxyGal]

AGN,

Tie me Kangaroo down, Sport

....it's the story of a dying Australian Stockman and his instructions to his friend to take care of his affairs when he is gone.

[Neverfly]

Colonne Sonore

[AGN Fuel]

AGN,

Tie me Kangaroo down, Sport

....it's the story of a dying Australian Stockman and his instructions to his friend to take care of his affairs when he is gone.

Yep, I was forced to sing it ad nauseum in my primary school choir. I'm not sure it was written to be a sad song though - it's just the irreverent sense of humour that Aussies tend to have (if ever you saw Rolf Harris perform 'Stairway to Heaven' with a wobbleboard...!). I think the final verse gives it away:

" 'Tan my hide when I'm dead, Fred
Tan my hide when I'm dead'.
So we tanned his hide when he died, Clyde
And that's it hanging in the shed! "

It's inclusion here just surprised me a bit. Certainly when we sang it for the choir, it was sung as a 'fun piece', not a sad one.

[captain swoop]

Bruckner 7th Symphony Second Movement. Very Sad.

Prompted by the recent news of her death I have been listening to some Kate Mcgarrigle (and her sister)
'Heart Like a Wheel' and 'Go Leave' are both sad.

Heart LIke a Wheel has been covered by Linda Ronstadt, Billy Bragg, the Corrs and June Tabor(my fave)

[TheDeeR]

Hypocrisy
All Turns Black
I've been searching for the peace in my mind
It's nowhere to be found
Can we start over ???
??? leaked under my skin
I see no point of living the life I lead
It hurts me too much
Can you feel what I feel?

It must go deep
My own soul is my enemy

It seems like everything I do just drags us down
It leaves an open scar that I know will never heal
Broken promises now run through my head
I can't see the future. It all turns black

What's the point of bein' here?
When this whole life is dragging me down?
Is this how we'll be?
I don't want to be part of it

It must go deep
My own soul is my enemy

It seems like everything I do just drags us down
It leaves an open scar that I know will never heal
Broken promises now run through my head
I can't see the future. It all turns black

There's another way
Can't live another day
Then you'll know just when
pressure's getting stronger
I can hear voices calling my name
I guess they are all in my head

It seems like everything I do just lets us down
It leaves an open scar that I know will never heal
Broken promises now run through my head
I can't see the future. It all turns black

Anyone else listen to melodic death metal or black metal

[The_Radiation_Specialist]

"Baby I'm gonna leave you - Led Zeppelin"

It's been nearly 2 years now and I still can't listen to this song due to the strong feeling of pain in the chest it brings to me...

[Delvo]

It's inclusion here just surprised me a bit. Certainly when we sang it for the choir, it was sung as a 'fun piece', not a sad one.

I have no idea what that song is that you two are talking about, but context changes things pretty radically.

"Lean On Me" was not sad. If anything, it was cheerful or optimistic, although in a subdued, laid-back way in the original and all versions except a few bouncy dance-pop versions in the late 1980s; it's just about friends helping each other when help is needed. But, because my father loved it and it represented his attitude in life pretty well, it was used at his funeral, and my brother in law put it in a slide show of pictures of him as the final piece of music in the video, with the final slide appearing at it starts repeating to a fade-out. So now it's sad music to us (at least most versions, the ones that aren't just too bouncy for that).

[tbm]

I'd have to say :

Cat's in the Cradle by Harry Chapin,
Tears in Heaven, Eric Clapton
Honey, Bobby Goldsboro

Honey just tugs at my heartstrings.

tom