When I’m feeling down I always end up putting a Tom Waits cd on and bawling lol. My favourite weepy album is his Mule Variations but he has a selection of other ballads across his career that get the waterworks going for me. What’s your sad song(s)?
I used to have a mixed tape, labeled “sad” and “sadder.” The songs weren’t always sad songs, as such, but songs that elicited a sad, sort of “groove on the depression” kind of mood. This was quite a while ago (it was a cassette tape, remember) so don’t put me down for my age, but here were some of the selections:
The Living Years – Mike & the Mechanics
Manic Monday – The Bangles
Life in a Northern Town - The Dream Academy
Take On Me – Aha
Wouldn’t It Be Good - Nik Kershaw
Get the picture? I wonder if I can find that tape anywhere…?
The vast majority of the music I listen to is melancholic and almost all of it either has no effect on my mood or actually puts me in a better one but for reasons I can’t explan, *Joey *by Concrete Blonde really hits me, as does *Bonnie and Clyde II *by Martina Sorbara.
For some reason, I thought it would be a good idea to create a playlist for my iPod and put all my sad songs on it. Then, for some reason, I also thought it would be a good idea actually to listen to it. Things like Tim McGraw’s “You Don’t Love Me Anymore” and “Angry All The Time,” Mary Chapin Carpenter’s “Late For Your Life,” Rascall Flatt’s “I’m Movin’ On,” and tons of Lyle Lovett, including “She’s Already Made Up Her Mind,” and “Nobody Knows Me,” which rips my heart out every time.
So after about an hour of listening to this playlist, I’m practically bawling. Because I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer, it takes me another hour to figure out why I’m so sad.
When I’m sad (not often) I listen to minor key songs like Procul Harum (I have their first four albums) and Flash and the Pan.
Despite its perky melody, Gilbert O’Sullivan’s Alone Again, Naturally has some of the most despair-filled lyrics ever written.
Sad songs, they say so much.
Tom Waits, Nick Cave, Hem and a Johnny Cash mix of sad songs.
You are right. I have yet to hear that song without at least tearing up and usually full out crying. For me, the jaunty rhythm and perky melody underscore the fatalism in the song. Perfect match. It’s also not hard for me to accept that Gilbert O’Sullivan never reached that height again.
I have a similar reaction to the more syrupy If by Bread.
There’s an instrumental that chokes me up and it’s less from sadness than from some mix of joy and other-worldliness. It’s on Paul Winter Consort’s Canyon and features a church organ. I’m not sure of the title of the track, but the entire album is uplifting in times of sadness.
I had a similar one! Only mine was full of melancholy songs on Side A, for wallowing in my sadness, and upbeat songs on Side B, for snapping myself out of it. Side A had, among other things, two Smiths songs and one by Joy Division.
slashes wrist with something dull 
This is actually a music therapy technique - matching the tempo of the music to fit the patient’s mood, then slowly increasing the tempo to lift the mood. (From Tune Your Brain by Elizabeth Miles.)
Sorry for the slight hijack, this is just what the title reminded me of. Carry on.
That’s a really interesting concept!
Latest sad songs I’ve been listening to are off the latest Arcade Fire album. Nice mix of melancholy and driving rhythms.