What's the saddest song you know?

[Jejune]

Or more than one, if you have more than one. What songs do you like to chop onions to?

[Mary]

You are going to laugh at me but "Puff the Magic Dragon" has always made me cry. I HATE that song. LOL

Another one that gets me teared up at least half the time I hear it is "Austin" by Blake Shelton. It's not sad, though. I have no idea why it makes me cry! It always has, from the first time I heard it (which was out in public, I might add!)

[Lori]

There is this really sappy Dar Williams song, "The One Who Knows," that I'd normally hate, but I was listening to the album a lot when I was pregnant, so I was hormonal. It still makes me cry. Thinking about it makes me cry. I'm not proud of it, but it happens.

Time it was I had a dream
And you're that dream come true.
If I had the world to give
I'd give it all to you.
I'll take you to the mountains,
I will take you to the sea.
I'll show you how this life became a miracle to me.

You'll fly away, but take my hand until that day.
So when they ask how far love goes
When my job's done you'll be the one who knows.

All the things you treasure most
will be the hardest won.
I will watch you struggle long
before the answers come.
But I won't make it harder,
I'll be there to cheer you on.
I'll shine the light that guides you down
The road you're walking on.

You'll fly away, but take my hand until that day.
So when they ask how far love goes
When my job's done you'll be the one who knows.

Before the mountains call to you,
before you leave this home,
Wanna teach your heart to trust
As I will teach my own.
But sometimes I will ask the moon
Where it shined upon you last
And shake my head and laugh and say
It all went by so fast.

You'll fly away, but take my hand until that day.
So when they ask how far love goes
When my job's done you'll be the one who knows.

And in the same vein, except in this case I was post-partum and emotional, is Carrie Newcomer's "I'll Go Too."

When I was young I often said
That there were ugly things beneath my bed
I'd slip downstairs when I got scared
Into the safety of Dad's easy chair
That chair was like a long deep sigh
And I'd stay until he'd say it's time
But he'd always put his hand in mine
And tell me
"I'll go too."

I'll go too
I'll go too
That's what he'd say
That's what he'd do
Don't go alone I'll walk with you
I'll go too

When I was learning how to swim
I'd look down at the water and back at him
He'd say "Take my hand, we'll both jump in.
I'll go too."

I'll go too
I'll go too
That's what he'd say
That's what he'd do
Don't go alone I'll walk with you
I'll go too

So many nights I've wondered
So many things to brave
So many acts of courage we face each and every day

I put on my new white dress
I had my doubts if I could do the rest
And he said "Take my hand just do your best.
I'll go too."

I'll go too
I'll go too
That's what he'd say
That's what he'd do
Don't go alone I'll walk with you
I'll go too

In the quiet cold of the April snow
It was time to finally let her go
I took his hand and said "I know.
I'll go too."

One day we all will understand
As we walk right in to the Promised Land
But I hope an angel takes me by the hand
And tells me
"I'll go too."

I'll go too
I'll go too
That's what he'll say
That's what she'll do
Don't go alone I'll walk with you
I'll go too

I actually start to cry just reading the lyrics to both of these. It's not so much that they're sad, but they're sappy and sentimental and make me very emotional.

[ColleenC]

Arms of an angel by Sarah McLachlan. They played it at my nana's funeral :(

[Marzipan]

I generally hate sappy, overdone songs and find they have the opposite effect on my cold, black heart. (I'm looking at you, Christmas Shoes. Go home to your dying mother, you dumb kid. What the hell kind of values has she instilled in you that you're out shoe shopping while she wastes away?)

"Only A Woman's Heart" by Mary Black is one of the saddest songs I know. It's not shmaltzy, it just has a sad resignation that makes me ache. And Johnny Cash's cover of "Hurt." That just destroys me.

[Lori]

(I'm looking at you, Christmas Shoes. Go home to your dying mother, you dumb kid. What the hell kind of values has she instilled in you that you're out shoe shopping while she wastes away?)

I think that maybe the little boy somehow got Jesus confused with Stacy and Clinton. They'd care what kind of shoes you were wearing. Jesus? Not so much.

And then there's that awful main character. I'm so glad you learned a Christmas lesson thanks to some little boy's mother dying. It was so nice of God to do that for you. Maybe next year he'll kill an entire family so that you could learn a valuable life lesson.

I couldn't even begin to list the levels on which that song bothers me.

[off-kilter]

Cars -Drive
Rufus Wainwright - Hallelujah
Ben Folds Five - Brick

Sappy as all get out:
Tim McGraw Don't Take the Girl

[Jejune]

I have a whole playlist of my favorite sad songs, but of that list, the ones that stand out are:

I Wish I Was the Moon - Neko Case
Black Coffee - Ella Fitzgerald
A Man/Me/Then Jim - Rilo Kiley
Husbands and Wives - Roger Miller
Everywhere - Billy Bragg
Louisiana 1927 - Randy Newman

[Lori]

I thought of some more. Or, Sean reminded me of them while we were IMing. I guess I do have a lot of songs that make me cry than I'd care to remember. :giggle

"Piazza, New York Catcher" by Belle & Sebastian
For some bizarre reason, The Lemonheads version of "Mrs. Robinson" (I'm pretty sure this one must involve high school and a boy and details I'm not remembering, because there's no other explanation)
"June on the West Coast" by Bright Eyes
Another Dar Williams song, "After All"

[giana]

I cant handle tears in heaven...I love Ereic Clapton but the fact that he made it for his baby that died puts me in a crying sad mood

[Christine]

The one that makes me cry every time is "Thief" by Third Day. My poor girls - I was driving down the road once and just burst out crying!

I am a thief, I am a murderer
Walking up this lonely hill
What have I done? I don't remember
No one knows just how I feel
and I know that my time is coming soon.
It's been so long. Oh, such a long time
Since I've lived with peace and rest
Now I am here, my destination
guess things work for the best
and I know that my time is coming soon
Who is this man? This man beside me
They call the King of the Jews
They don't believe that He's the Messiah
But, somehow I know it's true.
And they laugh at Him in mockery,
and beat Him till he bleeds
They nail Him to the rugged cross,
and raise Him, they raise Him up next to me
My time has come, I'm slowly fading
I deserve what I receive
Jesus when You are in Your kingdom
Could You please remember me
and He looks at me still holding on
the tears fall from His eyes
He says I tell the truth
Today, you will live with Me in paradise
and I know that my time is coming soon
and I know paradise is coming soon.

The voice and tone of the song really adds to the feeling. The first time I ever heard it was in concert and I started crying then. Same thing happened to Dave the first time he heard it.

[MathSpeak]

Don't burn me at the stake... mine is actually a beyonce song :(
Daddy...
It made me cry nearly every day of my pg because I knew I was having a li'l girl who would never feel that way about her father :( and then mine died shortly after she was born.

I also don't like to hear "Strange Fruit" by Billie Holiday or Diana Ross... but that's more because I get p*ssed off... not necessarily that I cry.

[SabrinaJL]

Tears In Heaven by Eric Clapton definitely gets me every time. For daycare we have to take a child abuse prevention/recognition training class every year. We were watching a video on a family where the dad had shaken the baby to death. I was holding up quite well until they played that song. Then I completely lost it. Some others are....

Angel by Sarah Mclachlan
Falls Apart by Hurt (not sure why this one gets me)
There Goes My Life by Kenny Chesney
Cryin' by Joe Satriani (The first time I heard this song was a few weeks after my mom died. There are no words in the song, but it was just so sad. After it was over and I was done :tears I asked DH what the name of it was. I didn't believe him when he told me. He had to show me the tape case.)

[Shasta]

Lightning Crashes by Live always seems to make me teary eyed.

lightning crashes, a new mother cries
her placenta falls to the floor
the angel opens her eyes
the confusion sets in
before the doctor can even close the door

lightning crashes, an old mother dies
her intentions fall to the floor
the angel closes her eyes
the confusion that was hers
belongs now, to the baby down the hall

oh now feel it comin' back again
like a rollin' thunder chasing the wind
forces pullin' from the center of the earth again
I can feel it.

lightning crashes, a new mother cries
this moment she's been waiting for
the angel opens her eyes
pale blue colored iris,
presents the circle
and puts the glory out to hide, hide


Blake Shelton - The baby (my uncle, the youngest of 7 kids, bought this album after my grandma died a few years ago) It always brings tears to my eyes. I get goose bumps just reading it.

My brother said that I
was rotten to the core.
I was the youngest child,
so I got by with more.

I guess she was tired by
the time I came along.
She'd laugh until she cried,
I could do no wrong.
She would always save me,
because I was her baby.

I worked a factory in Ohio,
a shrimp boat in the Bayou,
I drove a truck in Birmingham.
Turned 21 in Cincinnati,
I called home to mom and daddy,
I said "Your boy is now a man."
She said "I don't care if you're 80,
you'll always be my baby."

She loved that photograph,
of our whole family.
She'd always point us out,
for all her friends to see.

That's Greg he's doing great,
he really loves his job.
And Ronnie with his 2 kids,
how 'bout that wife he's got.
And that one's kinda crazy,
but that one is my baby.

I got a call in Alabama,
said come on home to Louisianna
and come as fast as you can fly.
Cause your momma really needs you,
and says she's got to see you,
she might not make it through the night.
The whole way I drove 80
so she could see her baby.

She looked like she was sleepin'
and my family had been weepin'
by the time that I got to her side.
And I knew that she'd been taken,
and my heart it was breakin',
I never got to say goodbye.

I softly kissed that lady
and cried just like a baby.


Concrete Angel by Martina McBride, we won tickets to her concert last year and I saw her sing this live, VERY emotional, the video was playing while she sang it.

She walks to school with the lunch she packed
Nobody knows what she's holdin' back
Wearin' the same dress she wore yesterday
She hides the bruises with linen and lace

The teacher wonders but she doesn't ask
It's hard to see the pain behind the mask
Bearing the burden of a secret storm
Sometimes she wishes she was never born

Through the wind and the rain
She stands hard as a stone
In a world that she can't rise above
But her dreams give her wings
And she flies to a place where she's loved
Concrete angel

Somebody cries in the middle of the night
The neighbors hear, but they turn out the lights
A fragile soul caught in the hands of fate
When morning comes it'll be too late

A statue stands in a shaded place
An angel girl with an upturned face
A name is written on a polished rock
A broken heart that the world forgot


Wake Me Up When September Ends by Green Day...the baby that I lost was due in September and everytime I hear it I think of that, I love this song, but it's sad for me.

Summer has come and passed
The innocent can never last
wake me up when september ends

like my fathers come to pass
seven years has gone so fast
wake me up when september ends

here comes the rain again
falling from the stars
drenched in my pain again
becoming who we are

as my memory rests
but never forgets what I lost
wake me up when september ends

summer has come and passed
the innocent can never last
wake me up when september ends

ring out the bells again
like we did when spring began
wake me up when september ends

here comes the rain again
falling from the stars
drenched in my pain again
becoming who we are

as my memory rests
but never forgets what I lost
wake me up when september ends

Summer has come and passed
The innocent can never last
wake me up when september ends

like my fathers come to pass
seven years has gone so fast
wake me up when september ends
wake me up when september ends
wake me up when september ends

[Sarah]

There are a couple, but the only one I can think of right off the top of my head is "That's my Job" by Conway Twitty.

I woke up crying late at night
when I was very young.
I had dreamed my father
had passed away and gone.

My world revolved around him
I couldnt lay there anymore.
So I made my way down the mirrored hall
and tapped upon his door.

And I said "Daddy, I'm so afraid
how will I go on with you gone that way?
Don't wanna cry anymore
so may I stay with you?"

And he said "That's my job,
that's what I do.
Everything I do is because of you,
To keep you safe with me.
That's my job you see."

Later we barely got along
this teenage boy and he.
Most of the fights it seems
were over different dreams,
we each held for me.

He wanted knowledge and learning.
I wanted to fly out west.
Said, "I could make it out there
if I just had the fare.
I got half, will you loan me the rest?"

And I said "Daddy, I'm so afraid,
there's no guarantee in the plans
I've made and if I should fail,
who will pay my way back home?"

And he said "That's my job
that's what I do.
Everything I do is because of you
to keep you safe with me.
That's my job you see."

Every person carves his spot
and fills the hole with light.
And I pray someday I might
light as bright as he.

Woke up early one bright fall day
to spread the tragic news.
After all my travel, I settled down
within a mile or two.

I make my living with words and rhyme
and all this tragedy
Should go into my head and out instead
as bits of poetry.

But I say "Daddy, I'm so afraid,
how will I go on with you gone this way?
How can I come up with a song to say
I love you?"

That's my job, That's what I do
Everything I do is because of you
to keep you safe with me.
That's my job you see.
Everything I do is because of you
to keep you safe with me.

[off-kilter]

Never Leave Harlan Alive reminds me so much of the coal-mining area my father grew up in. It's saddening to think this is how much of the folk there live their lives. The guitar picking is sad an melancholy too.

In the deep dark hills of eastern Kentucky
That's the place where I trace my bloodline
And it's there I read on a hillside gravestone
You will never leave Harlan alive

Oh, my granddad's dad walked down
Katahrins Mountain
And he asked Tillie Helton to be his bride
Said, won't you walk with me out of the mouth
Of this holler
Or we'll never leave Harlan alive

Where the sun comes up about ten in the morning
And the sun goes down about three in the day
And you fill your cup with whatever bitter brew you're drinking
And you spend your life just thinkin' of how to get away

No one ever knew there was coal in them mountains
'Til a man from the Northeast arrived
Waving hundred dollar bills he said I'll pay ya for your minerals
But he never left Harlan alive

Granny sold out cheap and they moved out west
Of Pineville
To a farm where big Richland River winds
I bet they danced them a jig, laughed and sang a new song
Who said we'd never leave Harlan alive

But the times got hard and tobacco wasn't selling
And ole granddad knew what he'd do to survive
He went and dug for Harlan coal
And sent the money back to granny
But he never left Harlan alive

Where the sun comes up about ten in the morning
And the sun goes down about three in the day
And you fill your cup with whatever bitter brew you're drinking
And you spend your life just thinkin' of how to get away

Where the sun comes up about ten in the morning
And the sun goes down about three in the day
And you fill your cup with whatever bitter brew you're drinking
And you spend your life digging coal from the bottom of your grave

In the deep dark hills of eastern Kentucky
That's the place where I trace my bloodline
And it's there I read on a hillside gravestone
You will never leave Harlan alive

[Kristen]

Michael W. Smith's song about losing his newborn son always makes me sad.

[Mary]

Paul McCartney did a cover of an oldie called "Lonesome Town". He recorded it not too long after Linda died and it rips my heart out to listen to it because you can hear the pain in his voice.

There's a place where lovers go
To cry their troubles away
And we call it Lonesome Town
Where the broken hearts stay

You can buy a dream or two
To last you all through the years
And the only price you pay
Is heart full of tears

Going down to Lonesome Town, where the broken hearts stay
I'm going down to Lonesome Town, to cry my troubles away

And in the town of broken dreams
The streets are filled with regret
Maybe down in Lonesome Town
Well I can learn to forget

Lead solo

Going down to Lonesome Town, where the lonely hearts stay
I'm going down to Lonesome Town, to cry, to cry my troubles away

And in the town of broken dreams
The streets are filled with regret
Maybe down in Lonesome Town
I can learn to forget

Maybe down in Lonesome Town
I can learn to forget

[Jurgita]

Arms of an angel by Sarah McLachlan. They played it at my nana's funeral :(

I love that song, but it always makes me cry. And also My Immortal by Evanescence.

[Kate]

Puff the Magic Dragon always makes me cry too...and I have no idea why.

A friend burned a mix cd for me and she put Johnny Cash's Give My Love to Rose on it...huge, huge, huge mistake, that one...I know it's over the top sad, but the cd arrived on a day I was PMSing anyway, and I was a total wreck.

Into My Arms - Nick Cave

Love Rescue Me - U2

One - U2

[Beka]

Robbie Williams "Angels" - why? Because i danced to it with my dad at my wedding, he'd chose it himself and it was so very significant because I've known my whole life my mothers biggest regret is that she never danced with her dad on her wedding day because she thought he'd be there forever, live to be an old man and see her family grow but he died 2 years later at age 48 so dancing with my dad at my wedding was extremely emotional for me knowing she never had chance to go back and do that- she swears it's the only part of her life she'd ever do over- she'd make time to dance with him on that day.

My dad had chosen the track himself and i had no idea he had because apparently I have been his angel at times when he's needed someone to pick him up when he's been down- never realised how much my "being there" when his life more or less fell apart in my late teens had meant to him

[gr8mommy]

I second Don't Take the Girl, and add Where've You Been? by Kathy Mattea:

Clair had all but given up
when she and Edwin fell in love
she his touched his face and shook her head
in disbelieve and sighed and said
in many dreams i'I've held you near
now at last you're really here

Where've you been
I've looked for you forever and a day
Where've you been
I'm just not myself when you're away

He asked her for hand for life
and she became a salesman's wife
he was home each night by eight
but one stormy evening he was late
her frightened tears fell to the floor
until his key turned in the door

Where've you been
I've looked for you forever and a day
Where've you been I
I'm just not myself when you're away

they never spend a night apart
for sixty years she heard him snore
now they're in the hospital in seperate beds on different floors
Clair soon lost her memory, forgot the names of family
she never spoke a word again, then one day they wheeled him in
he held her hand and stroked her head, in a fragile voice she said

Where've you been
I've looked for you forever and a day
Where've you been
I'm just not myself when you're away
no, I'm just not myself when you're away

[YourMom]

Rufus Wainwright - Hallelujah
Ben Folds Five - Brick

Sappy as all get out:
Tim McGraw Don't Take the Girl


we must have similar tastes in music.. brick makes me feel mellow-sad. don't take the girl makes me cry.

[Desirae]

Don't take the Girl
Walking Her Home~ Mark Schultz (it's on my playlist on Myspace;))
I Can Only Imagine~ I think of my uncle who passed away last year.

[Amy J]

Don't Take The Girl....a country singer sings it. It's either Alan Jackson, Toby Keith or Tim McGraw, I think. Anyone know who sings it?? I've seen that video and I cry every time I hear the song now.

[Joni]

"Don't Take the Girl" is by Tim McGraw.

"Hanging By A Thread" by Jann Arden is incredibly sad.

"Come Awake" by David Crowder Band makes me cry. It's not the words that do it--the song starts with the sound of a heart monitor flatlining, but in the middle of the song the music builds and you hear the sound of an alarm clock ringing while David Crowder sings "Rise...rise...rise.." and the song ends with a heartbeat. I just find it so powerful for some reason. Of course, I listened to it a lot last spring and summer after I miscarried, so that might have something to do with it, too.

[GreysFan]

"Alyssa Lies" I can't even listen to it! I change the station RIGHT AWAY!

[Jejune]

I'm listening to Tom Waits' Tom Traubert's Blues (Four Sheets to the Wind in Copenhagen), about a wounded Vietnam vet having an alcoholic breakdown in a country where he's a stranger. That pretty much does me in.

Lyrics:
Wasted and wounded
It ain't what the moon did
I've got what I paid for now
See ya tomorrow
Hey Frank, can I borrow
A couple of bucks from you...
To go waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda
You'll go waltzing Matilda with me

I'm an innocent victim of a blinded alley
And I'm tired of all these soldiers here
No one speaks English
And everything's broken
And my Stacys are soaking wet...
To go waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda
You'll go waltzing Matilda with me

Now the dogs are barking
And the taxi cab's parking
A lot they can do for me
I begged you to stab me
You tore my shirt open
And I'm down on my knees tonight
Old Bushmill's I staggered
You buried the dagger in
Your silhouette window light...
To go waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda
You'll go waltzing Matilda with me

Now I lost my Saint Christopher
Now that I've kissed her
And the one-armed bandit knows
And the maverick Chinamen
And the cold-blooded signs
And the girls down by the strip-tease shows...
Go waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda
You'll go waltzing Matilda with me

No, I don't want your sympathy
The fugitives say that the streets aren't for dreaming now
Manslaughter dragnets and the ghosts that sell memories
They want a piece of the action anyhow...
Go waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda
You'll go waltzing Matilda with me

[Erika]

Mad World - DJ Jules (i think). Always makes me tear up.

Hurt - either NIN or Johnny Cash. Both are sad and poignant but in a different way, depending which version.

[Jejune]

Erika, it's Gary Jules. I love him. Princess of Hollywood Way is even sadder. Daniel likes the one about how you should stay in the bar.

Sample line from Princess of Hollywood Way:

Go to bed she said
I can't stand you
And that's the only thing
We have in common