Sad songs

[Marita40]

Reviving an old thread. I was listening to several things on Youtube this morning and came across this old and very sad song by the incomparable Neil Young. Seems even more relevant today with all the news about drug deaths lately:

 

[imoldernu]

My mother has been gone for eight years, this was one of her favorite songs, and I invariably tear up whenever I hear it.

- Time To Say Goodbye Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman
........................................................................

Me too.

 

[W2R]

 

[travelover]

You guys are so sophisticated.

 

[euro]

The rose with a broken neck by Danger Mouse

 

[Nemo2]

This one does it for me:

"How the hell can a person go to work in the morning
And come home in the evening and have nothing to say."


I really like the Susan Tedeschi version too.

 

[W2R]

You guys are so sophisticated.

Oh my gosh!! I cried REAL HEARTBROKEN TEENAGE TEARS over that song when it first came out. Honkin' snortin, nose runnin', coughing tears. It was so sad.

The perspective of an additional 54 years has helped me to cope with it...

 

[MichaelB]

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

 

[W2R]

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.

Very nice!

 

[Sojourner]

This one always brings a few tears to me eyes, as it reminds me so much of my childhood and of the brevity of life.

 

[ABQ2015]

Life has turned very sad for me and DH. Lost some rescue kittens. Yeah, I know, not people, but damn we loved them. Lost little furry souls. Faces looking at me. Sh!t. Hurts.

I'm so sorry. My brother found a litter of abandoned kittens at his workplace last year but was able to save them. They had a camping trip to the Grand Canyon planned when the kittens were three weeks old but just brought them along. All now have good homes.

On the sad songs, I like the simple ones from the 1960's or about then. Some of my favorites are:

Johnny Cash - Sunday Morning Coming Down
Gordon Lightfoot - Early Morning Rain (and If You Could Read My Mind)
Marianne Faithful - As Tears Go By
Left Bank - Walk Away Renee
Judy Garland - Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Can't remember who - Bing? - I'll Be Home for Christmas (reminds me of the WWII soldiers who did not make it back)

I thought of another one prompted by EastWest Gal's choice:
Patsy Cline - I Fall to Pieces

 

[EastWest Gal]

Is That All There Is -Peggy Lee

That played in my head when I first tried to retire in 2014. It made me cry. I've gotten over it, thankfully.

It Was a Very Good Year -Frank Sinatra

 

[48Fire]

YouTube - peter gabriel - Don't Give Up - So

Got to walk out of here, I can't take anymore
gonna stand on that bridge, keep my eyes down below
what ever may come, and what ever may go
that river's flowin', that river's flowin'

Funny, this has always been one of my inspirational songs when times were tough. Not sad at all for me, but to each their own. Just encouraged me to pull myself up by the boot straps....

 

[marko]

Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd (if you know the background)
Somewhere Over the Rainbow

 

[Bamaman]

Take this job and shove it
I ain't working here no more
My woman done left and took all the reasons
I was working for
You better not try to stand in my way
'Cause I'm walkin' out the door
Take this job and shove it
I ain't working here no more

Read more: Johnny Paycheck - Take This Job And Shove It Lyrics | MetroLyrics
​

 

[frank2009]

Wichita Lineman fits the bill for me. Especially knowing that Glen Campbell is in the last stages of his life.

 

[txtig]

One Dying and a Burying by Roger Miller.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

About the most mournful-sounding song I can think of is Led Zepplin's version of "When the Levee Breaks."

 

[target2019]

Eleanor Rigby
The Beatles

Eleanor Rigby, died in the church
And was buried along with her name
Nobody came
Father McKenzie, wiping the dirt
From his hands as he walks from the grave
No one was saved

Written by John Lennon, John Winston Lennon, Paul Mccartney, Paul James Mccartney • Copyright © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

 

[HFWR]

Any song by Journey makes me want to cry. Or barf...

 

[Nodak]

Attics of my life, written after the death of the man's mother.

Song :Attics of My Life
Artist : The Grateful Dead
Album : American Beauty
Year : 1970

Lyrics :
In the attics of my life, full of cloudy dreams unreal
Full of tastes no tongue can know, and lights no eye can see
When there was no ear to hear, you sang to me

I have spent my life seeking all that's still unsung
Bent my ear to hear the tune, and closed my eyes to see
When there was no strings to play, you played to me

In the book of love's own dream, where all the print is blood
Where all the pages are my days, and all my lights grow old
When I had no wings to fly, you flew to me, you flew to me

In the secret space of dreams, where I dreaming lay amazed
When the secrets all are told, and the petals all unfold
When there was no dream of mine, you dreamed of me

 

[ERD50]

Any song by Journey makes me want to cry. Or barf...

Hah - and I just can't understand how Gregg Rolie (organist) could have been a founding member of both Santana (originally (The Santana Blues Band) and Journey? Cognitive dissonance for me.

I better go listen to "Oye Como Va" just to get the thought out of my head.

But there sure are some great sad songs in this thread (that started in 2011!), from the classical works like Barber, to the Jazz "St James Infirmary" (so many great versions of that song, that one had a great video adapted to it), and yes, Led Zep's "When the Levee Breaks" sure is a mournful sound...

Cryin' won't help you, prayin' won't do you no good
Now, cryin' won't help you, prayin' won't do you no good
When the levee breaks, mama, you got to move

All last night sat on the levee and moaned
All last night sat on the levee and moaned
Thinkin' about my baby and my happy home

Have heard many versions of John Prine's "Angel from Montgomery", but not Prine & Bonnie Rait together (have each of their separate recordings).

We sound like a depressed bunch here, but I always feel the sad songs help you get it out of your system. How to contribute, Hmmm, so many to chose from, how about:

and

Although I also found one section of lyrics to be celebratory, and I played this everyday for the weeks leading up to my last day at MegaCorp, and played it as I left the parking lot:

See here how everything lead up to this day
and it's just like any other day that's ever been
Sun goin up and then the sun it goin down
Shine through my window and my friends they come around

-ERD50

 

[bjorn2bwild]

A misery twofer, sad and bad - Bob Dylan "Standing In The Doorway"

 

[calmloki]

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

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.

 

[Sojourner]

About the most mournful-sounding song I can think of is Led Zepplin's version of "When the Levee Breaks."

Absolutely love Led Zeppelin's cover of that song, but you might find this rendition even more beautifully soulful and melancholy.