# Most achingly beautiful songs ever **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 17, 2010, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-achingly-beautiful-songs-ever/550584 "2010-08-17T23:15:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Septima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Septima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Septima)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-achingly-beautiful-songs-ever/550584/81 "2010-08-18T12:41:24Z")
"[The Moon is a Harsh Mistress"](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68Aq4NKbG-Q) sung by Radka Toneff ---
**Author:** ![jinty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dbc845/32.png) [@jinty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jinty)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-achingly-beautiful-songs-ever/550584/82 "2010-08-18T12:47:12Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > [Skye Boat Song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OnhtqnLSeU)- two [versions,](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1CTxa-FuKc)both of them far from my favorites (which aren’t on youtube) If you like the Skye Boat Song, you might like the [Mingulay Boat Song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgkGrm5516k&feature=related) too, Sampiro. ---
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-achingly-beautiful-songs-ever/550584/83 "2010-08-18T12:54:18Z")
How 'bout: [“Black Boys on Mopeds”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n14lwdpYkAA) - Sinéad O’Connor And from the world of show tunes: [“Pretty Women”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSTwoUys2zE#t=3m14s) (from **Sweeney Todd** ) [“Not While I’m Around”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZt0A4-d7Kk) (from **Sweeney Todd** , with added bonus of copious Patti Lupone cleavage) [“Fifty Percent”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6D2zJNUhWi8) (from **Ballroom** ) ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-achingly-beautiful-songs-ever/550584/84 "2010-08-18T14:17:27Z")
For the hippies: Mountain’s “For Yasgur’s Farm” [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQfR6LHvxag](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQfR6LHvxag) Nat King Cole’s “O Holy Night” [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=\_4dUxSq8gpk](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4dUxSq8gpk) Pachelbel’s Canon in D Minor [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOA-2hl1Vbc](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOA-2hl1Vbc) I’ll be back with more later. hh ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-achingly-beautiful-songs-ever/550584/85 "2010-08-18T14:23:02Z")
Anything by Lorena McKennitt. Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon and Garfunkle. Riders On The Storm - the Doors (maybe more hypnotic than beautiful, though) At Last - Etta James ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-achingly-beautiful-songs-ever/550584/86 "2010-08-18T14:25:16Z")
Art Garfunkel-[Bright Eyes](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MODq81_cDKI) ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-achingly-beautiful-songs-ever/550584/87 "2010-08-18T14:26:22Z")
Yikes! I forgot Roxy Music’s “Avalon” [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sA8ki5EG584&feature=related](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sA8ki5EG584&feature=related) ---
**Author:** ![ReticulatingSplines](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@ReticulatingSplines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReticulatingSplines)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-achingly-beautiful-songs-ever/550584/88 "2010-08-18T14:29:03Z")
The first song that popped into my mind was also Jeff Buckley’s Hallelujah, but I will also contribute [“I Will Follow You Into the Dark” by Death Cab for Cutie](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dniVqDTwOds). ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-achingly-beautiful-songs-ever/550584/89 "2010-08-18T15:14:31Z")
> [@Greg\_Charles](#): > > [Somewhere Over The Rainbow](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1bFr2SWP1I) by Iz. Yes, it’s my answer to a lot of these threads. No, I’m not getting tired of it. Yeah, this, by a long shot. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard anything even close. ETA : I also love the original version of [Jersey Girl](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyqeWtxGbls), by Tom Waits. Joe ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-achingly-beautiful-songs-ever/550584/90 "2010-08-18T15:55:11Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > The Alan Parsons Project was consistently pretty damn good on doing hauntingly beautiful. > > a) [I Robot](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgJA7lPkb1o). Suggestion: crank it and ignore the cheesy video. > > b) [Day After Day](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4yCgdeWp9s&feature=related) > > c) [In the Lap of the Gods](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohE76gJx0xI&feature=related) Crank this one to 11, boost the bass and middle-treble on the equalizer, and wish for better speakers. > > d) [Lucifer](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAGUUrgmBkQ&feature=related) > > e) [La Sagrada Familia](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebng2-OrYOM&feature=related) > > f) And even the closest thing to disco that I actively enjoy listening to, [In the Real World](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRCgTJkfNjQ) I have to agree with your assessment of Alan Parsons, but I’d have chosen The Traveller (Days Are Numbers). ---
**Author:** ![phungi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phungi/32/395_2.png) [@phungi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phungi)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-achingly-beautiful-songs-ever/550584/91 "2010-08-18T15:59:16Z")
[The Freshman](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVNAp1C8LIw) by The Verve Pipe ---
**Author:** ![NineToTheSky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@NineToTheSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NineToTheSky)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-achingly-beautiful-songs-ever/550584/92 "2010-08-18T16:10:27Z")
> [@handsomeharry](#): > > For the hippies: Mountain’s “For Yasgur’s Farm” [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQfR6LHvxag](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQfR6LHvxag) I’d replace that with their version of _Theme From An Imaginary Western_. > [@runner pat](#): > > Art Garfunkel-[Bright Eyes](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MODq81_cDKI) And that with his _Wooden Planes_. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-achingly-beautiful-songs-ever/550584/93 "2010-08-18T16:14:48Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Lyle Lovett’s “[Nobody Knows Me](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bF3KeXcRAhE)” This is my and my wife’s wedding song. I can’t link to YouTube from work, but: _Samba Pa Ti_, by Santana _I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For_, by U2, but the version from Rattle & Hum when they perform it with the Harlem Church Choir. Turn it up to 11. ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-achingly-beautiful-songs-ever/550584/94 "2010-08-18T16:14:51Z")
Reading through the thread I’ve found bunches I agree with but my kneejerk, unvarnished pick just from reading the title was David Ford’s [Go To Hell](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZjXu6uxjAM), in particular the linked version with the strings. That’s what adds the ache for me. ---
**Author:** ![carlb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carlb/32/5930_2.png) [@carlb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlb)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-achingly-beautiful-songs-ever/550584/95 "2010-08-18T16:16:33Z")
Alison Krauss’s cover of Keith Whitley’s [When You Say Nothing at All](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrSxa3lBfMw). It’s a sweet song on its own, but her voice puts it way over the top into really beautiful. I like the various live versions best; the studio cut is a little heavy on some of the instrumentation. I love how Krauss’s voice often seems like it’s just on the verge of descending to a whisper. It gives the song a real intimacy; like she really is singing this right to me. She’s also on my “Achingly Sad” list with [Whiskey Lullaby](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elZs9SkiOZs) (with Brad Paisley). My God, that song makes me cry like a little baby. “He put that bottle to his head and pulled the trigger” has got to be one of the saddest lyrics in popular music. Of course, I’d be tempted to put Alison Krauss’s cover of the Des Moines, Iowa phone book on this list. She’s just got that kind of voice. ---
**Author:** ![Loisseau](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/2bfe46/32.png) [@Loisseau](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loisseau)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-achingly-beautiful-songs-ever/550584/96 "2010-08-18T16:24:33Z")
Dido’s Lament from Henry Purcell’s opera- “Dido and Aeneas” [When I am laid in earth](http://abmp3.com/download/1680672-when-i-am-laid-in-earth.html) ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-achingly-beautiful-songs-ever/550584/97 "2010-08-18T16:49:01Z")
I like most of what has been posted, but [Beethoven Violin Romance No.2](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64KW04601ts) is the only one that brings tears to my eyes. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-achingly-beautiful-songs-ever/550584/98 "2010-08-18T17:03:46Z")
> [@Tibbytoes](#): > > [Beethoven Symphony #7 mvt II](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qs5pH4GKYkI) Excellent call. Most romantic pop song of all time (a slightly different category)…Hollies, The Air that I Breathe. And I’ll add Sarah Brightman / Andrea Bocelli, “Con Te Partiro”. Preferably while watching the fountains at the Bellagio, Las Vegas…one’s heart practically explodes with pure joy. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-achingly-beautiful-songs-ever/550584/99 "2010-08-18T17:07:42Z")
My last post had all songs by female singers. I thought I’d balance it out with some men: [Today](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uokp0aEiT-A) - Jefferson Airplane [Follow](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6Z1LmudNr8&feature=fvst) - Richie Havens [Imagine](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GAHFrLAxzM&feature=av2n) - John Lennon [Pink Moon](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9klMdQhIo9c&feature=related) - Nick Drake [Sadly Beautiful](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXILRZ17Nyo) - Paul Westerberg ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-achingly-beautiful-songs-ever/550584/100 "2010-08-18T17:20:32Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > [My Immortal](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-A-4NQfFRs) by Evanescence > > [Falling Slowly](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkFB8f8bzbY) by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova from the movie _Once_. Agree highly with both of these, and think you’ll also appreciate [Mad World, as performed by by Gary Jules](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYY-a0_Bb9Y&feature=fvst). Some others that (I think) haven’t been mentioned: Everyone loves “Hallelujah,” but [Lover, You Should’ve Come Over](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXe1jpHPnUs) by Jeff Buckley is wonderful. [No Lies, Just Love – Bright Eyes](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XM_hIwvI7uU). This song actually makes me cry. [Naked As We Came – Iron and Wine](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nd-A-iiPoLg&feature=av2n) [Come And Find Me – Josh Ritter](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMn0WEXZYjY) [Damien Rice – Cannonball](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJbz5HaKCJc) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-achingly-beautiful-songs-ever/550584.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-achingly-beautiful-songs-ever/550584.md?page=6)