Sad songs- We love them- We need them

"Everybody Hurts"  REM

@immatthewj 

 

"Everybody Hurts"  REM

This one and "Sweetness Follows." Really struck home when my father died. 

I'm amazed that I am the first one to respond to this post with a "classical music" response, but here it is.  Gustav Mahler's "Kindertotenlieder" - "Songs on the Death of Children".  His loss is so great that he can envision the lost child entering his room.  Now, THAT is sad !  Mahler lost a daughter and the librettist lost two children before the work was written.

I guess this forum population skews toward older demographics. Nonetheless we can consider many songs by Lana Del Rey (thanks to her we have the sub-genre sadcore). Summertime Sadness is an obvious early pick but not the only one. Generally beautiful singing and compositions across many albums. Also many artists she inspired.

Closer to home (mine anyway) we have some excruciatingly sad lo-fi from Lil Bo Weep, especially Sorry. As she's no longer with us I find her stuff way too sad to listen to lately.

The one that gets me is Sufjan Stevens "Casimir Pulaski Day" In the morning when you finally go And the nurse runs in with her head hung low And the cardinal hits the window In the morning in the winter shade On the first of March, on the holiday I thought I saw you breathing All the glory that the Lord has made And the complications when I see His face In the morning in the window All the glory when He took our place But He took my shoulders and He shook my face And He takes and He takes and He takes

"No Hard Feelings" - Avett Brothers, "Children of Children" - Jason Isbell, "Hallelujah" - Jeff Buckley, "Handbags and Gladrags" - Stereophonics. Each for various reasons make me a bit melancholy. 

From the "Human Remains" CD, "Little Sandy"  Terry Allen

I gotta go with @rpeluso. If "No Time To Cry" by Iris DeMent doesn’t produce a lump in your throat and tears on your cheeks, check your pulse.

The song may be found on Iris’ My Life album, currently available on CD only. There was an LP version made available by Plain Recordings in 2013, currently out-of-print. This album alone justifies---in fact mandates!---owning a CD player ;-) .

Great post.  Not just that but many meaningful replies.  From a classical perspective:

Der Leiermann by Schubert. Just soul crushing.

Death of Melisand by Sibelius.  title says it all.

Intermezzo from the Crown of India by Elgar.  Surely the most tender and intimate voice of comfort ever written.

To the posters who have suffered loss - thank you for sharing,  It is very meaningful.

Elephant- Jason Isbell

Crossing Muddy Waters- John Hiatt

Holding back the years- Simply Red

Two from Fairport Convention: Crazy Man Michael and Meet on the Ledge

Crazy Man Michael... Yeah!

Cowboy Junkies, Come Calling (his Song) and Come Calling (her Song)

A lifetime of love overshadowed by dementia. I wonder what inspired that?

I'll include the "Her" version. You can easily find the "His".

 

Excellent thread, though it would seem to be even more appropriate to the 'Music' category than the 'Misc Audio' one - might even get more responses! 

Try this instrumental one:

 

Lots of sad songs out there for sure. Many are great tunes. The only one that seems to really get to me? Terry Jacks: Seasons In the Sun. Dunno why, it just hits that spot.

Poppy Family (featuring the late Susan Jacks): "That’s Where I Went Wrong"

REM: "South Central Rain"

The Strawbs: "Lay Down"

Mike Oldfield: "Crime of Passion" , "Man In The Rain"

Kate Bush: "Giving It All"

Images In Vogue: "(You Mistook My) Lust for Love"

Depeche Mode: "Enjoy The Silence"

Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers: "Mary Jane’s Last Dance"

Rod Stewart: "Leave Virginia Alone"

Talk Talk: Living In Another World"

Ben Folds Five: Mess

Fleetwood Mac / Christie McVie: "Songbird"

It’s A Beautiful Day: "White Bird"

Burton Cummings: "Take One Away"

Creedence Clearwater Revival "Someday Never Comes"

Sheryl Crowe: "My Favourite Mistake"

Friends - Ryan Adams

About Today - The National

''Honey'' , by Bobby Goldsboro   and  ''The First of May''  ,by the Bee Gees.

"Put The Bone In" Terry Jacks.  (This was actually on the flip side of "Seasons In The Sun.")

Another sad...dish song, this one hit me like a train.... you can turn on English subtitles.

 

In memory of Mimi Parker of one of my favourite bands, Low, who sadly passed away this week. God Bless ❤️

 

Great thread!

Interesting, how subjective this can be. . .

A few that spring to mind:

Severely underrated, IMHO, Janis Ian has written some devastatingly sad songs. Try "Jessie".

Sandy Denny: I can’t listen to her solo recordings due to the emotionality. Nearly every performance seems laden with despair, whether explicit of implicit. Too dark for me-- I need some light along with the shadows.

Stones: Wild Horses, No Expectations, Let It Loose, I Got the Blues, ("interpreting" Robert Johnson): Love In Vain

Richard Thompson: The End of the Rainbow, Withered and Died, Never Again, Walking On a Wire, When the Spell is Broken, to name but a few.

Jesse Winchester: I Wave Bye Bye

Allmans: Whipping Post, Dreams, Please Call Home, Worried Down With the Blues

Emmy Lou Harris: Too Far Gone, Boulder to Birmingham, Tulsa Queen, to name but three.

John Hiatt: Take It Down, Icy Blue Heart

Janis Joplin: Kozmic Blues, Maybe, Little Girl Blue

Iris Dement; simply the timbre of her voice brings on the tears, so I rarely listen to her.

There are overtly sad songs and then there songs that are "pleasurably sad" ("wistful"?) that which I identify with songs such as "Winter" by the Stones, "Melissa" by the Allmans, "Stella Blue" by the Dead, "All In Love Is Fair" by Stevie Wonder, "The Wind Cries Mary" by Jimi Hendrix.

There are also songs whose theme is surviving sadness and finding some sort of inner strength to move on from it, such as "It Ain’t My Cross To Bear" by the Allmans, "Just Cause I’m In Love With You" by Jesses Winchester, "Walk Away" as sung by Ann Peebles and many others, particularly in the Blues and R&B genres.