# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-achingly-beautiful-songs-ever/550584/101 "2010-08-18T17:40:07Z")
“No Regrets” by Tom Rush “A Whiter Shade of Pale” by Procul Harum I’ll mention a “Secret Policeman’s Ball” video in the early 1980s had Midge Ure of Ultravox doing the former and original vocalist Gary Brooker doing the latter. ---
**Author:** ![Emily\_Litella](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emily_litella/32/3370_2.png) [@Emily\_Litella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emily_Litella)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-achingly-beautiful-songs-ever/550584/102 "2010-08-18T17:42:28Z")
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbcuteYm-EA](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbcuteYm-EA) Vaughn Williams – The Lark Ascending - classical [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2OMk3PNn\_M](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2OMk3PNn_M) Fleetwood Mac – Bleed to Love Her - rock ---
**Author:** ![Headrush042](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a5b964/32.png) [@Headrush042](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Headrush042)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-achingly-beautiful-songs-ever/550584/103 "2010-08-18T18:07:03Z")
This achingly beautiful song is especially poignant to me today; about an hour ago I found out a dear friend of mine was killed yesterday in an accident. You will be sorely missed, James. [Apocalyptica - Farewell](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaLoBdqcvVY) ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-achingly-beautiful-songs-ever/550584/104 "2010-08-18T18:11:32Z")
Joe Henderson’s tenor sax solo on “Idle Moments” ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-achingly-beautiful-songs-ever/550584/105 "2010-08-18T18:46:23Z")
[For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om7aUNZQVpQ) - Simon & Garfunkel ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-achingly-beautiful-songs-ever/550584/106 "2010-08-18T19:06:48Z")
“Love by Grace” by Lara Fabian “Hurt” by Christina Aguilera “Live to Tell” by Madonna “Sweet Surrender” by Sara McLachlan I’m sure I’ll have some others to post later. Also, I’ll add my vote for “My Immortal” and “Mummer’s Dance”. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-achingly-beautiful-songs-ever/550584/107 "2010-08-18T19:21:44Z")
> [@DragonAsh](#): > > Nocturnes, Op 9 - Chopin There are _two_ pieces in in Chopin’s Op.9. I’m going to guess you mean the more famous [Op. 9, No. 2 Nocturne in E-flat Major](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WI_2MSxiMIA). A couple more from Chopin: [Nocturne in C minor, Op. 48 No. 1](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjRky-ACSJg) [Etude in E Major, Op. 10 No. 3](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzIthKbraqc) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-achingly-beautiful-songs-ever/550584/108 "2010-08-18T19:23:08Z")
Lots of mine have already been covered, so I’ll just add a few I didn’t see: [Catch the Wind](http://il.youtube.com/watch?v=XxgpCfaXaAU). I actually like that cover by Joan Baez and her (late) sister better than Donovan’s. And if you hear that in the PBS American Masters show, it’s even more achingly beautiful. Sting’s [Ghost Story](http://il.youtube.com/watch?v=zNKJgAd_hyw). ---
**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, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-achingly-beautiful-songs-ever/550584/109 "2010-08-18T20:37:18Z")
Another Madonna: [“Oh Father”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvVvN0QvzTk&feature=av2e) Another Lyle Lovett: [“Old Friend”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_ZYgIFapIY) ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-achingly-beautiful-songs-ever/550584/110 "2010-08-18T20:49:10Z")
Terminal Frost: Pink Floyd [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULfJyo1swhI) ---
**Author:** ![from\_a\_to\_z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5fc32e/32.png) [@from\_a\_to\_z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/from_a_to_z)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-achingly-beautiful-songs-ever/550584/111 "2010-08-18T21:51:58Z")
3 by Mina, [ul] [li]Il cielo in una stanza ([YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11mejVpT6Yg))[/li][li]Un buco nella sabbia ([YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tpTrJNQlrk))[/li][li]Non credere ([YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lt1yzM80T4))[/li][/ul] “Buco” by her in Japanese [ul] li[/li][/ul] which reminded me of Kyu Sakamoto [ul] [li]Ue o muite arukō ([YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZrCFQAAD8w))[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-achingly-beautiful-songs-ever/550584/112 "2010-08-18T22:03:39Z")
[Song of Bernadette.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZIFavgLd38) ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-achingly-beautiful-songs-ever/550584/113 "2010-08-18T22:15:07Z")
No links (well, not many): “Oh Life (There Must Be More),” Alan Parsons “Old and Wise,” Alan Parsons Project “Skellig,” Loreena McKennitt “Harbour of Tears,” Camel “Believe,” Elton John “[Immortal,](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNcfYDM3kQA)” Eric Woolfson (from “Poe”) “[There But For the Grace of God Go I,](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfDORgUeVL8&feature=PlayList&p=E80F04C41132956D&index=0&playnext=1)” Eric Woolfson (from “Freudiana”) “[Jar of Hearts](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HH7WXlf9WLk),” Christina Perri “Winter,” Tori Amos “Hurt,” Johnny Cash (cover of the NIN song) ---
**Author:** ![CWN](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bc79bd/32.png) [@CWN](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CWN)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-achingly-beautiful-songs-ever/550584/114 "2010-08-18T22:47:18Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > Oh, boy, I get to be the first to post _Ashokan Farewell_? > > Add another for _Stardust_, plus _Clair de Lune_ and _Minstrel Boy_. I came to add [**Ashokan Farewell**](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30bDcvDqBXY) by Jay Unger and used by Ken Burns in his Civil War documentary ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-achingly-beautiful-songs-ever/550584/115 "2010-08-18T23:05:50Z")
> [@Southern\_Yankee](#): > > “Beloved Wife” - Natalie Merchant Oh, yeah. I’ll throw in (and I can’t believe I’m the first, for any of these): “Romeo and Juliet”, Dire Straits “The Dangling Conversation”, Joan Baez version “In Your Eyes”, Peter Gabriel “At Seventeen”, Janis Ian “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”, Gordon Lightfoot “Son of a Preacher Man”, Dusty Springfield version “Ode to Billie Joe”, Bobby Gentry and finally, “The Ode to Joy”, Ludwig van Beethoven (Okay, maybe that last is not particularly haunting, but it is one of the most joyous, beautiful pieces of music ever composed). ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-achingly-beautiful-songs-ever/550584/116 "2010-08-18T23:05:55Z")
[QUOTE=devilsknew] Did you hear this [Mongol version.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWz9gx188mo&feature=related)… Voce. Quite an interesting mix, I like it… [/QUOTE] That is… uh…it’s what I’d call… it has sort of a… yeah. Kind of like the film _Moulin Rouge_ when I first saw it, I can’t decide if I really like it or really don’t, but either way, thanks. 😃 (With _Moulin Rouge_ I ultimately decided I really liked it.) ========= [Meadowlands](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7zqfaiWV6M) (performed here by the Red Army Chorus, used in many many movies & TV shows about Soviet Russia). A separate thread idea perhaps, but- [Never Been to Me](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sn7d7gZj_qc)by Charlene is a song that I _love love love_ the melody to and _hate hate hate_ the lyrics to (and I particularly loathe the spoken part), but I like the melody enough I’ll include it. ---
**Author:** ![Winnie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e480ec/32.png) [@Winnie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winnie)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-achingly-beautiful-songs-ever/550584/117 "2010-08-18T23:26:55Z")
Reading the title of this thread, I immediately thought of nothing but: [“A Change is Gonna Come”,](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaNzxniXxYE)Sam Cooke That voice. It literally fills my heart. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-achingly-beautiful-songs-ever/550584/118 "2010-08-18T23:30:54Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > [QUOTE=devilsknew] > > Did you hear this [Mongol version.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWz9gx188mo&feature=related)… Voce. Quite an interesting mix, I like it… That is… uh…it’s what I’d call… it has sort of a… yeah. [/QUOTE] **Sampiro** : That’s called [Tuvan Throat Singing](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuvan_throat_singing). They are able to produce two pitches simultaneously. It is something to behold, or maybe that should be to behear. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-achingly-beautiful-songs-ever/550584/119 "2010-08-18T23:33:12Z")
Has anyone mentioned _Hey Jude_ yet? I’ve seen a few Simon and Garfunkel, but did anyone mention _Bridge Over Troubled Water_? ---
**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, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-achingly-beautiful-songs-ever/550584/120 "2010-08-18T23:44:10Z")
> [@Winnie](#): > > Reading the title of this thread, I immediately thought of nothing but: > > [“A Change is Gonna Come”,](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaNzxniXxYE)Sam Cooke > > That voice. It literally fills my heart. I can’t believe I left that one off. It’s literally my favorite song of all time. Old age is certainly taking its toll… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-achingly-beautiful-songs-ever/550584.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-achingly-beautiful-songs-ever/550584.md?page=7)