I can’t even listen to this one, it chokes me up so much.
[quote=“veryfrank, post:18, topic:991179”]
Cry? Can’t think of one. Emotional, with a swelling in my chest, and feeling like tears aren’t out of the question? Maybe these ones…[/quote]
Thank you for prefacing my choices as well as your own.
My Top Three are
- Traces (Classics IV)
- Woman (John Lennon) it embarrasses me to admit to this one. It’s insipid, should make me want to puke, and yet it never fails to get an emotional surge out of me.
- Keep Me From Blowing Away (Linda Rondstat)
and my bottom three
- Caroline, No (Brian Wilson)
- For No One (Beatles)
- Now You’re Gone (Boz Scaggs)
I’m a huge sap. I wouldn’t necessarily call these “maukish”, but they’re (mostly) intended to get a tear or three out of you.
“Change of the Seasons” by Dave Mallett. A beautiful song that goes in an unexpected direction.
“Kevin Jane” by Megan McDonough
“Daddy’s Little Girl” by Bryndle. I knew I’d never be able to listen to it again after my father died, and I haven’t.
“Only a Dream” by Mary Chaplin Carpenter
“White Squall” by Stan Rogers. I dare you not to fall apart.
“Flower Duet” by Délibes just kills me.
I can’t see Les Miserables because I sob through so many of the songs.
Mine are similar:
- “Elephant” by Jason Isbell
- “The Living Bubba” for Drive-By Truckers
I guess there is a theme there.
I’ll second The Dance by Garth Brooks
Another one by Garth, Cowboy Bill
The Ride by Chris Ledoux
And another by Chris Ledoux, You Just Can’t See Him From the Road
Fountains of Wayne’s All Kinds of Time gets me ever since we lost Adam Schlesinger in the early days of COVID. 'Cause you’ll never know if you really do have all kinds of time.
Couple of Drive-By Truckers-and-adjacent songs already in the thread, I’ll add 18 Wheels of Love, especially the Austin City Limits performance that ended up on a live release.
I’d suggest that the country music genre is full of tearjerkers. Not the hurtin’ and cheatin’ stuff, but real songs that deal with real problems that all of us deal with.
Take, for example, Love Me, by Collin Raye. The story of a 15-year-old whose grandmother has just died. And whose grandfather has kept a note (“my Grandma wrote, back in 1923”), about how despite her Daddy’s opposition, she would see him again. The pair planned to elope, and meet some place, so …
If you get there before I do, don’t give up on me.
I’ll meet you when my chores are through;
I don’t know how long I’ll be.
But I’m not gonna let you down, darling wait and see.
And between now and then, till I see you again,
I’ll be loving you.
*Love, Me."
Then, there’s Kathy Mattea’s “Where’ve You Been?”
(Discourse, you suck, because for some reason, I cannot embed media items in a post. Neither can I, apparently, just post a simple link to a YouTube item. Oh well, you folks can find it easily enough with a Google search.)
Two people, who really aren’t attracted to each other, but they’re the best chance they have, for fifty years. And develop an attraction in those fifty years. And they come to depend on, and love, each other. To the point where they are both elderly “in different beds on different floors.” And the singer says,
Claire 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 hair,
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.”
Get the Kleenex out for that one.
That version of 18 Wheels of Love is a good one. Patterson’s intro is so heartfelt and it’s just such a great love story. Gets me every darn time.
How about these tearjerkers:
“The Last Waltz”
“Kiss Me Goodbye”
“The End of the World”
She – Elvis Costello. Makes me think of my true love, who I have yet to find.
Cat’s in the Cradle- Cat Stevens. About a father and son who don’t spend enough time together, and how they regret it later in life. Makes me appreciate my family more.
It Was A Very Good Year- Frank Sinatra. About looking back at the different stages of life, from youth to old age. I listened to this song first when I was 17 and it made me contemplate mortality. Listening to it as a senior citizen hits me with nostalgia for the carefree days of youth.
Vera Lynn:
Vera Lynn (sang songs that gave hope and courage to people during World War II) was my mother’s favorite singer. Mom was a WWII British War Bride who met my father when he was stationed in England during the war. Lynn’s songs played on the radio gave her comfort during the bombing raids over London (she and her mother were bombed out of 3 houses). She and Dad married a couple weeks after VE Day. After my parents passed away Vera’s songs bring a tear to my eye.
I started a similar thread 18 years ago.
I added some thoughts on the song I mentioned in that OP in a later thread:
Speaking of Vera Lynn, here is a lovely do-wop version of another of her hits:
“I’ll Be Seeing You”
The message is not “Until we meet again” but “We may never meet again.”
Since I Fell for You - Lenny Welch (so full of regret and sadness - well, he chose to leave his ‘happy home’!)
Pretty Ballerina - The Left Banke (I was on a trip the day my mother died peacefully, in a nursing home, I heard this beautiful song when I was told, and I could never hear it again without tearing up).
Per Te - Il Volo or Josh Groban (in Italian, very downbeat and sad, though I don’t know what they are saying- it just gives me the tearful feels
Life and Death - theme from ‘Lost’ (a melancholy instrumental)…see you in another life, brother.
Nice song! According to Bing: The song is a cover of a popular standard written in 1938 by Sammy Fain and Irving Kahal. It was originally recorded by Bing Crosby and became a hit during World War II, as a sentimental expression of farewell to loved ones. I like the Poni Tail’s cover.
In a similar vein, Roy Clark’s “Yesterday, When I Was Young”.
And this pair: “The Circle Game” (Buffy version) / “Windmills of Your Mind” (Dusty version)
Mawkish? When I first listened through the Home album from The Chicks, this one just seemed mawkish. Then I saw a concert released at the same time in which they played the entire album and Natalie Maines told the backstory of the song in her intro. Now the song hits me hard every time I hear it.
Backstory
I think some people thought Roy Clark was a bumpkin since he was a regular on Hee Haw, but he was an incredibly talented musician and a virtuoso guitarist.
True American beauties. 
I shouldn’t have revisited this thread, since a couple comments made me realize there is one song that does indeed make me tear up everytime.
Jim Steinman’s “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now” as performed by Meat Loaf and Marion Raven in their music video. Sadly, my late wife and I enjoyed this song a lot and she looked quite a bit like Marion Raven. I hear the song now (any version) and I picture the video, in which the woman has died, and the tears just flow. It’s been 17 years since she passed, but you just don’t get over it.