Entertainment For Lively Minds
Saddest Record
Posted by kgb on 20 May 2009 - 11:55am.
Just listening to the Steve Earle 'Townes' CD and got to Marie which reminded me that it is the saddest song ever. Runner up would be 'Hello in there' by John Prine.
Any other opinions?
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Just ask the boy from Tupelo
He's the king and he ought to know:
Billy Bragg
Man In The Iron Mask
Tank Park Salute gets me everytime
I remember seeing Bragg
playing Tank Park Salute at Shepherds Bush a couple of years back and the guy sitting next to me just dissolving into floods of tears which set a few of us round him off.
'I accepted the commiserations
Of all your friends and your relations
But there's some things I still don't understand
You were so tall
How could you fall?'
He often puts his fist to his heart and gives a little salute skywards when he finishes the song. Gets yer right there it does
Marie is certainly one of 'em.
I find the Steve Earle version a bit jolly, tho'.
Otherwise it is the allegedly humourous "Seeds 'n' Stems" by Commander Cody, level pegging with "Mama hated Diesels".
Willard Grant Conspiracy's "The Suffering Song" is also well named.
There is a simple bleakness in "Death don't have no Mercy".
And what about "Old Shep" or Henry Gross' "Shannon".
"Carmelita"/Warren Zevon has more than an iota of self pitying sadness, especially when covered by Adam Duritz (Counting Crows)
Further thoughts about Mr Earle
His Townes covers LP has just about sunk in now. Am I alone in expecting something a little bit more? It sounds as if he is just grunting his way thru' the songbook with little of the passion he declaims he has ever and always had for TVZ. It is more or less emotion free, and palls against, clearly, most of the originals and, indeed, many of the other covers of TVZ; I point you towards "Poet" which gives far more thought to the exercise. I know Steve Earle is never going to win an elocution or clarity of delivery prize and it his twang that I have always particularly enjoyed, but this offering seems hurried and on automatic pilot. Compare this to his 1995-7 triad of Train A'Comin' (with it's version of Tecumseh Valley knocking spots off anything on this offering), I Feel Alright and El Corazon to see how he can sound at his peak, but there are snippets aplenty from his pre-jail junkie years to far more recently that show a gutful more energy and a lighter touch. I had been really looking forward to this record. Disappointed. Try this instead-
Poet: 1. To Live Is to Fly - Guy Clark
2. Tower Song - Nanci Griffith
3. White Freightliner Blues - Billy Joe Shaver
4. Highway Kind - Cowboy Junkies
5. Snake Song - Emmylou Harris
6. If I Needed You - Ray Benson
7. Loretta - John Prine
8. Nothin' - Lucinda Williams
9. Blue Wind Blew - The Flatlanders
10. Mr. Mudd & Mr. Gold - Robert Earl Keen, Jr.
11. Two Girls - Steve Earle & the Dukes
12. Marie - Willie Nelson
13. Pancho & Lefty - Delbert McClinton
14. Waitin' 'Round to Die
15. My Proud Mountains - Townes Van Zandt
BTW, Willie can really wrench the sadness out of Marie that Steve somehow doesn't. And Nanci G's rendering of Tower Song certainly brings gushes of tears to my eyes, with it's bleak description of someone who may well be TVZ himself. (Someone like Bigsteviecook will assuredly know, I feel?)
Sorry Doc....I don't know who it's about.
This is a great thread, with tons of fantastic songs, but I hate it as it takes for ever to load on my pc.
I don't do Nancy Griffith. I love different voices, strange voices even, but her high pitched whine is a bit to shrill for me. Pity as I daresay she has some great lyrics.
I wasn't looking forward to this CD. I bought the one with the bonus disc which has most of the songs on the first disc stripped right back. I don't like either of the discs but if I had to choose, I'd take the bonus disc. I read someone describing it as dreary and I'm going to use that description....yep, dreary.
I do understand why he's done it. Townes was a great friend and mentor to Earle, but I wish he'd just recorded an album of chick songs, or maybe something with the Bluegrass Dukes. I've played it through 3 times now and it's now going to the bottom of the pile. Maybe I'll like it better in a couple of months...it certainly can't compete with the new Dylan, the Nick Lowe box set or Zevons eponomous album which are getting heavy rotation here.
I agree. Poet is a far better album than Townes. Is it because it's various artists? Does an artist doing a whole album of someone elses songs work? I think John Hammond covering Tom Waits on Wicked Grin (with Waits producing) is ok, but I much prefer the real thing. Stevie Forbert has an album called Any Old Time which is an album of Jimmie(The Singing Brakeman)Rodgers covers. I like that fine too but I only know a few of the originals.
Townes was once asked "Why do you always write sad songs?". He replied "They're not all sad. Some of them are hopeless!".
Earle was on stage the other night and said to the audience "I've just done an album of TVZ songs. This is a TVZ song but it ain't on the album". He sang Rex's Blues(a song about Wrecks Bell who still appears sometimes on the TVZ Yahoo list).
Little Feat
Long Distance Love
(not a great clip of it when compared to the original album, the guitar on the studio version can reduce me to tears - but it's not on Spotify)
Bobby Goldsboro - Honey
No question. Look no further than the man they call The Jones
He Stopped Loving Her Today.
oh yes
when the strings start cycling on the chorus ... *reaches for hankie*
Tim Hardin
Reason to Believe is always pretty upsetting.
http://open.spotify.com/track/5yJ8C5Eok2xR4hFz10Eurr
Another Warren Zevon song
Please Stay from his last cd The Wind is unbelievably sad. I remember hearing it for the first time and playing it over and over again.
Natalie Merchants 'King of May' from Ophelia is very sad for me for tragic family reasons although the song itself is strangely elegiac.
Loudon Wainwrights 'Your mother and I' because of the time when I had to tell my then 4 year old son that I wouldnt be living with him in future. Most sad records for me are sad because of a personal resonance.
I trawl the Megahertz - second reference in a week.
I shoved this track forward on the thread about long songs and thought about mentioning how sad the lyric is. First time I heard it I was immediately grabbed by the catchy hook - then the lyric hit me:
I said 'Your daddy loves you'.
I said 'Your daddy loves you very much';
he just doesn't want to live with us anymore'.
and the power of those words is enormous. Almost makes the track too emotional to enjoy.
So Steve - for what it's worth, you have my limitless sympathy.
Obvious choice I know but...
... as a teenager How Soon Is Now hit ever genuine sad button I had.
Seems less sad in my mid thirties, but still brilliant.
And I have bored my friends to death for years and years with the claim that Chic's "Happy Man" is a sad, sad song. If the singer was really so happy why would he need keep telling us?
I'm not
entirely convinced...
Neither are my friends.
But I'm right, dammit... And Chic have previous with the happy tune/sad words thing.
Jones
"This time he's over her for good"
A Candyman favourite from Gilbert
'Now looking back over the years
And whatever else that appears
I remember I cried when my father died
Never wishing to hide the tears
And at sixty-five years old
My mother, God rest her soul,
Couldn’t understand why the only man
She had ever loved had been taken
Leaving her to start with a heart so badly broken
Despite encouragement from me
No words were ever spoken
And when she passed away
I cried and cried all day
Alone again, naturally'
althou don't get me started on 'Puff The Magic Dragon' and the one damn line that makes me break down and cry 'dragons live forever but not so littke boys'
Gilbert @ Glasto 2008
His Saturday night spot in a half empty Acoustic Tent when he sang this song was well worth missing Jay-Z for!
Beautiful
and do you know what? I've heard that so many times since it was released but I never really listened to all of the words. Thanks
No argument here
The saddest song ever is San Francisco Mabel Joy by Mickey Newbury.
This Woman's Work
by Kate Bush
also:
Family Life by Blue Nile.
guaran-damn-teed to make you cry - both of em
Willie Nelson
She's Gone
(The song itself starts at about 1:15)
Good suggestions all but...
...the saddest song ever is 'The End of the World' by Skeeter Davis.
Abba's 'Dancing Queen' is up there for me...
I'm serious, by the way... it is joyous and really sad in equal measure (and that's why it's so utterly brilliant).
Seconded
I can't remember which mid-1990s American indie band covered it, and it doesn't matter, but they accentuated the song's core truth that the 'Dancing Queen' is experiencing pure happiness and such moments, though she doesn't realise it at 'just seventeen', may be thinner on the ground as she grows older.
The Yayhoos
It was covered by the Yayhoos, who are led by the excellent Dan Baird, formerly of the Georgia Satellites. A spiffing version.
That's definitely not the band I can't remember.
And she was 'only' seventeen, of course. It's the bittersweet way they sing, "Having the time of our lives."
...and the guitarist in the Yayhoos -
- is Eric "Roscoe" Ambel (I think) who is also Steve Earles guitarist in The Dukes.
The first post on this thread was about Earles cover of a TVZ song in case you're wondering what I'm on about.
"The Day Before You Came "
covers similar ground - one man can lift her from crashing humdrum, but why does she need that lift in the first place?
Pogues...
Not really in the "lost love" context of sad songs, but the one that always does it for me (tear to the eye, lump in the throat.....) is the Pogues "And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda"......
Can I point you at the original
stunningly poignant.
Or even...
Richard Jobson's acapella version on The Skids' curious but rather good final album Joy
http://open.spotify.com/track/2Ps1HPipYAFvcqkePsKCPi
Eric Bogle...
... I hear is doing a final farewell tour of UK this summer with loads of dates. Catch him if you can.
agreed.....
I was aware of the original but I still think the Pogues cover is the best version......
No Man's Land
Agreed. However, I think that for undiluted loss and sadness, he surpassed himself with this:
At a risk of upsetting anyone who's never heard of them before:
Negro Spirituals. Songs about slavery are sad.
"Tupelo" by John Lee Hooker. He describes a town full of people, then he mentions a natural disaster and it dawns on you what the song is commemorating.
Have we had any instrumentals? John Barry's theme to "Midnight Cowboy".
Rolf
Two Little Boys - "Did you think I would leave you dying..."
I defy anyone not to well up.
Rolf...
Off topic, but I thought Rolf was brilliant in last weeks HIGNFY..... and they had a singalong of Two Little Boys at the end.....
Back to Eric Bogle
Here is one I like to sing very late at night when people have had a few. Eyes will definitely moisten.
Has The Green Fields Of France Hitmaker
ever done a happy song?
A very sad song
truly
a wonderfully sad song
Another Vote For Chic
At Last I Am Free
At last I am free
I can hardly see in front of me
I can hardly see in front of me
At last I am free
I can hardly see in front of me
I can hardly see in front of me
I'm lonely, please listen to what I say
I can't go on livin' life this way
I've tried and I've tried to make you see
You call this love, all this lyin'
My friend, it just can't be
At last I am free
I can hardly see in front of me
I can hardly see in front of me
At last I am free
I can hardly see in front of me
I can hardly see in front of me
I'm lonely, please hold me
Come closer, my dear
It feels so good just havin' you near
But who am I foolin'
When I know it's not real
I can't hide all this hurt and pain
Inside I feel
At last I am free
I can hardly see in front of me
I can hardly see in front of me
[Repeat and fade]
And the version by Robert Wyatt is just as hellish sounding...in a good way.
Vote for Wyatt
I think my vote would have to go for Wyatt's version - the saddest voice in the western hemisphere singing one of the saddest songs...
Sad stuff.
Top call with Gilbert's wrenching 'Alone Again...'
Give a grief stricken ear to 'She's Gone' by Black Sabbath, and just utterly curl up at Melanie's version of 'My Father'.
and,'I'm Sorry, I'm Tied Up', by the Radio Stars pulls at scars.
Drunken Melancholy
Tom Waits "Tom Traubert's Blues" gets it done for me, also, Bruce "Racing in the Street" and Van & Chieftains "Carrickfergus", all too sad for tears.
Any version of She Moved Through the Fair
as it's just incredibly poignant. Here's a nice keening, spooky one for starters
(Maybe someone can explain this embedding business...sorry
Hey, it worked..
.
What simplicity can do...
When a) You put your heart into it and;
b) You're a genius
John Martyn
Even better version of Hurt In Your Heart here:
Get's me everytime.....
Right on the button.
Not the saddest song ever,
but this one always gets me:
The killer for me is in what isn't said - and the utter helplessness of an inevitable drift apart.
Call me a sentimental old fool but...
(Just Like) Starting Over by John Lennon has a poignancy way beyond the quality of the song. It's just so optimistic and hopeful...and...and...(sob!)
Lennon...
'Nobody Told Me' ditto. So 'up', and yet...
Have You Seen Her - The Chi
Have You Seen Her - The Chi Lites.
Tired Of being Alone - Al Green.
Hey There Lonely Girl - Eddie Holman
Without You - Nilsson
Reflections Of My Life - Marmalade
Mother - John Lennon
Fool To Cry - Rolling Stones
My Old Man - Ian Dury
You'll See Glimpses - Ian Dury
Someone Saved My Life Tonight - Elton John
I'm Still Waiting - Diana Ross
I've Been Lonely For So Long - Frederick Knight
One Better Day - Madness
Killing Of Georgie - Rod Stewart
Up The Junction - Squeeze
Labelled With Love - Squeeze
Something - The Beatles
Seasons In The Sun: Goodbye papa it's hard to die...
Must be the saddest opening line to a song...It got banned from hospital radio in its day. No surprises there then.
"Le Moribond" by Jaques Brel
was the original version of "Seasons in the Sun" before it was (cough) ....erm...... "translated" or adapted into English. Not one quarter or one eighth as mawkish, and the word "chagrin" in French just can't sound sad to me, though it should . See subtitled version below to see the degree of mawk-up applied to the Terry Jacks version.
Aimee Mann's "It's Not"
is about as good as it gets on hopelessness and inertia (if that makes sense). But I find it strangely uplifting, too.
Or, on a slightly different tack, how about Joni Mitchell's take on unrequited love (decades after the event, or non-event) in "Two Grey Rooms".
Moby..
has often been a purveyor of rather soulless melancholia but he tops himself with this one from Everything is Wrong. It's not sad ...it's miserable.
Title says it all:
This gets me every time
So simple and so sad:
Love hurts, love scars
Love wounds and marks
Any heart not tough
Or strong enough
To take a lot of pain
Take a lot of pain
Love is like a cloud
Holds a lot of rain
Love hurts
I'm young, I know
But even so
I know a thing or two
I learned from you
I really learned a lot
Really learned a lot
Love is like a flame
Burns you when it's hot
Love hurts
Some fools think of happiness
Blissfulness, togetherness
Some fools fool themselves I guess
But they're not fooling me
Lightning Express
This has never failed to turn me into a crumbling wreck:
Suprised no one has mentioned Mozza and co yet...
the Decemberists
I remember shedding a tear the first time I heard this one
Barrow boys reminds me of.....
Molly Malone. You know, "cockles and mussels, alive, alive-0" etc. But not the execrable and twee version as sung by whomsoever it was in the 60s, the Seekers, was it? Sinead imbues that much spooky pathos as to wring a tear or 2.
It's not on you tube, sadly.
But this is:
More sad songs sung by Sinead
Another vote for Wyatt
Robert Wyatt singing "Oh Caroline" on the first Matching Mole LP - I'm weeping on the keyboard just considering it...
Jimmy Webb
maps the the shape of sadness - heart-rendingly -
"The Moon's a Harsh Mistress" "By the Time I Get to Phoenix,", "Wichita Lineman", "Didn't we?"
And this,
Karen Carpenter
It's the control that's heartbreaking, the quiet despair. Sadness in a suburban silhouette
Agreed
An unfeasibly fantastic voice. Whenever I feel like a good wallow in self-pity (we've all done it!) nothing works as well as The Carpenters' Gold, which would only be bettered with the inclusion of the stunning 'Crescent Noon'.
totally agree about Karen Carpenter
But surely this is the saddest of the lot
Aye,
One of the best Bramlett, D&B/Russell, R songs written, that.
Townes, Townes, Townes, Randy
The person who started this thread mentioned Townes van Zandt, and it is to him that we must return.
Disc two of the peerless "Live at the Old Quarter" album has three songs in a row that are so sad that I'm just a big, lachrymose mess by the end, and they are...
- "Waiting Round to Die"
- "Tecumseh Valley" and
- "Lungs"
Am I allowed a fourth choice? All right, then, I'll go for "I Just Want You To Hurt Like I Do" by Randy Newman. Crikey, the title alone is sad enough...
A drop of plonk
Little Green - the only thing
that makes this song not unbearably sad is knowing that Joni and her daughter were reunited and reconciled later in life.
The lyrics are Joni's characteristic mixture of tenderness and a refusal to feel sorry for herself. The break in her voice as she sings it tells the whole story, the real story
Child with a child pretending
Weary of lies you are sending home
So you sign all the papers in the family name
You're sad and you're sorry, but youre not ashamed
Little green, have a happy ending
http://open.spotify.com/track/11ZNWD9Xzq9p3n07NbWSZw
New entry on the right thread
Sorry but I posted this in the wrong thread - what a dingbat!!
Gun Shy - 10,000 maniacs from the magnificent In my tribe. Very poignant song where the singer urges her brother to stay away from the army. Lovely stuff.
More Joni and Maniacs
Joni's "Peoples' Parties",even though it's only sad in the most elegant way imaginable.The Maniacs' "Dust Bowl" is very moving and evokes the era perfectly I think.
Sorry to do a mini list but...
Another Day (Roy Harper) as performed by KB & PG
Gloomy Sunday - Sarah McLachlan (I just remembered it's actually sadder than Billie's version)
Korn - Dead
Placebo - Without You I'm Nothing
Aimee Mann - Wise Up
Judy Collins - Both Sides Now (I always preferred her version)
And of course The Beatles - For No One
I'd better stop.
Emmylou Harris
Her version is heartbreaking, as is her version of Sleepless Nights, both of which are on her brilliant, pained Pieces of the Sky record.
And Boulder to Birmingham too
I can't make you love me
By the wonderful Bonnie Raitt. The live version especially. The guys who wrote the song got the line from a throwaway remark in a divorce court. They turned it into something special. She turned it into sadness itself. Makes me cry just to think about it.
Good stab at the same song
by George Michael, not as good as Bonnies, but still not bad.
No mention of Johnny Cash
No mention of Johnny Cash and his superb cover of hurt? Or Hank Williams? Most of his would bring a tear to the eye especially 'My Son Calls Another Man Daddy' and 'Be Careful Of Stones That You Throw'.
I feel the same
by Bonnie Rait on the Takin My Time record. Incredible slide by ol Little Feat himself too. Guilty on the same record is up there too.
Late for the Sky
Who will sing me lullabies?
Kate Rusby, about late singer Davy Steele.
Pass the kleenex....
Some late entries
Fleetwood Mac - Man of the World. The "and how I wish I was in love" line almost hurts.
Mary Chapin Carpenter - John Doe No 24. Just hearing the opening bars now brings a lump to the throat knowing what follows.
I'm sure I'll think of some more...
It's half eleven in the morning
and i've only actually watched two of those vids above and you buggers have made me cry ...
Buffy
http://open.spotify.com/track/4PQWrrddJ2LbKwu9AyNknp
Spoiler
Nothing to do with Buffy the Vampire Slayer
It'll Take a Long Time
by Sandy Denny. It's a mixture of her voice and Richard Thompson's guitar - particularly the solo.
Also, (She's Gone to) California by Tom Paxton, about a bloke who basically can't keep up. His wife/girlfriend has moved on in every way.
Farewell, Farewell
Fade into you by Mazzy Star
Elton 'I Want Love'
Sad and uplifting. As the best often are.
How good is that song?
Quite underrated I feel. I agree it is one of his and Bernie's best. Fantastic lyrics and a great Lennon-esque tune. Amazing video with Robert Downey Jr as well:
Pills
Sarah McLachlan and The Perishers do a right nice version of a very, very sad song....
Gaaah! Paul T beat me to it
After scrolling almost to the bottom thinking how funny it was that nobody had mentioned "Gloomy Sunday", the estimable Paul T has stolen my thunder.
This song is so eye-skeweringly bleak that it's thought to be cursed. Could be wrong but I believe that several acts who have covered this ditty have either done themselves in or met an untimely end.
I prefer the Christian Death version, though.
Honourable mention, too, to The Smiths for "Suffer Little Children". As a teenager this song never really stood out but now I'm a dad it's fu**ing heartbreaking. Hmmm. Maybe someone can tell me what the clinical term is for over-empathising.
Randy Newman
Living without you @ I think it's going to rain today
The rerecorded versions on songbook vol 1 are excellent
Watertown by Frank Sinatra
is a desperately sad collection of songs about an ordinary guy whose marriage breaks up and he is left to bring up his two sons. Incredibly moving songs of everyday struggle, trying to do the right thing and the hope of a reunion and reconciliation. It's only marred by the inclusion of a track called Lady Day which has no relation to the rest of the record or the moods contained
It is a quiet classic and demonstrates what a brave artist Sinatra could be at times.
Soundtrack to a fantastic sequence in The Sopranos
Watertown
I'd like to second this nomination. An underrated classic and one of my favourite albums. Here's a colmmentary on it: http://franktruth.noebie.com/2009/04/show-116-frank-sinatras-watertown.h...
It Makes No Difference - The Band
when Rick Danko sings
'Well I love you so much, and it's all I can do
Just to keep myself from telling you
That I never felt so alone before'
and then Garth's soprano saxophone. The old one-two. Gets me every time
Absolutely...
I have, on occasion, had the odd sniffle to it myself.
This is hard to beat given
This is hard to beat given the story behind it. I would also nominate 'it hurts to grow up' by Ben Folds and Blood Count by Billy Strayhorn. To clarify this post should have been a reply to the Eels nominaton (Elizabeth on the bathroom floor).
Ben Folds
Do you mean Still Fighting It? Great shout if you did.
outstanding
I've been reading this site for a while- browsing, nodding agreement, shaking my head in disbelief, being impressed/depressed with various viewpoints,etc- but this thread has been fantastic.
Apart from reminding me how good people like Lowell, Bonnie, Warren, John Martyn were/are, I have just spent the last three hours listening to and following up links to Mazzy Star (good video- reminded me of old OGWT "videos"), Kate Rusby, Robert Wyatt, Billy Bragg, George fecking Jones, umpteen versions of She Moved Through The Fair, and had forgotten how good Karen Carpenter's voice was on Superstar.
I might even get round to my own sad song at some point....
..once I've stopped following these other recommendations.
The Smiths "Well I Wonder".
Not much humour, irony or wit to be found here.
Bleak.
The The and their party tunes "Uncertain Smile" and "Perfect Day".
A feature on Matt Johnson would be welcomed.
"Please Please Let Me Get What I Want"
Particularly
this version
used in the final scene of This Is England
Gram Parsons - $1,000 wedding
Behind the cartoon image
is a seriously talented lady
Wendell Gee by REM
The last track on "Fables..."
Also:"Man of the World" Fleetwood Mac
and-gets me every time- "Fruit Tree" by Nick Drake
Fables of the Reconstruction
One of my favourite REM albums (apparently they hate it) - love Wendell Gee and Good Advices, in particular.
When all hope is gone....
Accidentally like a martyr - Warren Zevon
The Ballad of Yvonne Johnson - Eliza Gilkyson
Call it a loan - Jackson Browne
I hope that I don't fall in love with you / Martha - Tom Waits
4th of July -Aimee Mann
No mention for Mr. Thompson yet?
'Withered and died' by Richard & Linda Thompson is the saddest song ever. Ever. It can't just be me.
Also... 'People used to dream to dream about the future' by A Girl Called Eddy.
Mathematics by Cherry Ghost
Maybe too obvious, but surprised no-one's mentioned...
...Love Will Tear Us Apart by Joy Division yet. The tune is actually quite uplifting but the lyrics are just devastatingly sad, essentially detailing the deterioration of Ian Curtis' marriage.
And here's another achingly sad song. I'm not sure anyone's ever encapsulated loneliness and longing more accurately than this.
Here's another
The lyrics are a killer: "...I'm begging of you please don't take my man... please don't take him just because you can". Desperate and heart-breaking.
DavidBowie - Heathen The Rays
This piece has a very strong pull - it takes you with it. Reminds me of his 'Low' stuff too. There isn't anyone comes close when he does this - where will we be without him?
The cruel sea...
Heard "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" by Gordon Lightfoot the other day. What a brilliant record. Due to the passing of time perhaps now more 'atmospheric' than heartbreaking, unless you had some personal connection to the event, but a great song in any case.
Have to admit this is really funny (from Wikipedia):
In the Seinfeld episode "The Andrea Doria," Jerry and Elaine discuss the song. Elaine believes that Edmund Fitzgerald wrote the song and that Gordon Lightfoot was the ship that sunk. Jerry sarcastically responds that perhaps "it was rammed by the Cat Stevens"
Warren Zevon : Keep Me In Your Heart For A While
I could pick pretty much anything from "The Wind", but this is a beautifully crafted song, and it always makes me think of a dear friend who passed away.
Heartily
seconded. A sad good-bye from a talent who knew his time was coming.
Waltzing's For Dreamers
...by the ever-reliable Richard Thompson, sad song specialist extraordinaire.
Or perhaps "Banks Of The Nile" by Fotheringay, possibly Sandy Denny's finest recorded hour.
Old Tighe
by Sean Dunphy...'Old Shep's' Irish cousin. I still cant listen to it today for fear of drowning in my own tears. It's the way he tells them.
Spiritualized - Broken Heart
Still sounds like the saddest song ever to my ears...
... I'm sure that the 'ladies and gentlemen...' album was recorded following a breakup between Jason Pierce (singer) and Kate Radley, the keyboardist. Who'd want to be in a band recording music like this under these conditions?
One more, that's it...
...this is also not the happiest song ever...
Cat Power - The Greatest
Alone Again, Naturally ....
.. by Gilbert O'Sullivan, especially the last verse. Morrissey eat your heart out.
I've just posted this on the short song blog
but it belongs here too - Skyway by The Replacements.
http://open.spotify.com/track/4V8bQf6fVRCRd08hNYX4wQ
The most beautiful girl in the world
OK, so Charlie Rich looks like a used car salesman but he's hurtin' bad
The Pretenders
Saw them play an 'acoustic' set last night to a small gathering at Rough Trade. Up close and intimate, the emotional power of songs like 'Kid', 'I go to Sleep' and 'Talk of the Town' was really moving. I was filling up.
Saw the Blue Nile a few years back. When the lights came up the house was full of Scottish men of a certain age, in floods.
A couple more
Both these songs are about the damage of drugs but ignore preaching
Nina Persson - Black Winged Bird:
Stephen Duffy - The Postcard