Sad songs

[ERD50]

This surprised me a whole bunch - Lily Tomlin's voice is perfect in this version. Had no idea she could sound like such a perfect 20s-30s singer. Didn't even think of her as a singer.

Interesting, but IMO not anywhere near the best of the St James renditions, but if you look closer, you'll see a few members of the "Blues Brother's" band.

-ERD50

 

[gcgang]

I'd vote for the John Prince songs, especially Hello in There.

Here's another that makes me think of my departed mother. Warren Zevon's Keep Me in Your Heart for A While, written and performed as he was terminal with cancer, I think.

https://play.google.com/music/previ...rch&utm_campaign=lyrics&pcampaignid=kp-lyrics

 

[Murf2]

https://www.google.com/search?q=hard+time+hungrys&oq=hard+time+hun&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0l3.10330j0j4&client=ms-android-americamovil-us&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#mie=e,,bobby%20bare%20two%20for%20a%20dollar,H4sIAAAAAAAAAONgFuLWz9U3MDSstCyON1CCcuLT8woNtESzk630c0uLM5P1E3OSSnOtivPz0osBmEWIpjMAAAA
This one brings a tear to my eyes, being a small town guy. Don't give up on the very start, stick with it for a couple minutes.

Actually the whole album is pretty moving.

Murf

 

[HadEnuff]

Funny how context matters. The first time I heard St James Infirmary Blues was on SNL - one of their first shows. Lily Tomlin sang, Howard Shore was bandleader and the entire band wore old style nurse outfits. A young Paul Shaffer was at the piano, wearing his classic weird glasses. So, a sad song, but it brings back a great memory and makes me smile. https://vimeo.com/154846663

nice...I never knew she sang.

 

[Chuckanut]

I really enjoyed listening to St. James Infirmary Blues. How did it escape me for so long?

My nomination is for Blue Eyes Blue by Eric Clapton.

 

[Nemo2]

J. J. Cale No Time

The dichotomy of an upbeat tune with downbeat lyrics:

"Summer comes and summer's gone
Winter sings its very sad song
The saddest part of all it seems
How we lose most of our dreams

No time for making my moves, no time
I got no time for hitting the booze, no time

The clock it turns at a rapid pace
And takes us to another place
The train it goes from here to there
Just left me standin' here"

 

[Koolau]

Saddest song I've heard for a long time is "It Makes No Difference" by the Band. The song is featured in THE LAST WALTZ, Some of the song is cut from the version, but the combination of the sad subject and Rick Danko's strained voice give a doubly sad rendition.

The full version (not quite as powerfully delivered as the live version IMO):

WORDS:
It makes no difference where I turn
I can't get over you and the flame still burns
It makes no difference, night or day
The shadow never seems to fade away

And the sun don't shine anymore
And the rains fall down on my door

Now there's no love
As true as the love
That dies untold
But the clouds never hung so low before

It makes no difference how far I go
Like a scar the hurt will always show
It makes no difference who I meet
They're just a face in the crowd
On a dead-end street
And the sun don't shine anymore
And the rains fall down on my door

These old love letters
Well, I just can't keep
Cause like the gambler says
Read 'em and weep
And the dawn don't rescue me no more

Without your love I'm nothing at all
Like an empty hall it's a lonely fall
Since you've gone it's a losing battle
Stampeding cattle
They rattle the walls

And the sun don't shine anymore
And the rains fall down on my door

Well, I love you so much
It's all I can do
Just to keep myself from telling you
That I never felt so alone before

 

[Marita40]

I'm not really sad these days but after posting the Neil Young song above I have an ear worm that just won't quit and lends itself to melancholy: "gone, gone, the damage done..."

The mention of John Prine above makes me miss Steve Goodman so much. I used to see him in his heyday in Chicago venues. He left us at such a young age. Again, in a melancholy, but beautiful mood, here is Dutchman:

 

[Murf2]

I miss Chicago Shorty too.
I can't listen to Old Smoothies without tearing up. Not really sad tho, just very moving
Love the Dutchman too. Both stories of real love.

Murf

 

[Nemo2]

Here's a song, fraught with sad admonishments, but ultimately with a happy ending:

 

[jollystomper]

Harry Chapin, "Cat's In the Cradle". As a father, that always touched me... particularly when I had to travel a lot when my kids where young and missed me, and wanted to do a lot of things when I got home, when I would have preferred to rest. That song helped me to try to keep balance in my life.

 

[HFWR]

Speaking of Steve Goodman...

https://youtu.be/N6BB1FbCA2I

 

[6miths]

I have a special spot for two songs by 'Five For Fighting' partly because of synchronicity. The first is 'The Riddle' as my father-in-law passed away in 1995 when our son was 2 years old and our daughter had just been born. The second is '100 Years' as the dates fit with my own life so well and seem so compelling as so few of us actually have a hundred years to live.