# Most Depressing Love Song of all Time? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 13, 2003, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-love-song-of-all-time/154743 "2003-02-13T03:05:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-love-song-of-all-time/154743/81 "2003-02-14T20:15:19Z")
I wish someone would **Unbreak Toni Braxton’s Heart** because it puts me in a blue mood every time I hear it. And I’ll fifth Bonnie Raitt’s **I Can’t Make You Love Me**. Heart wrenching. Alison Krauss’s **It Doesn’t Matter** is good for putting me in a funk even though it’s short on lyrics. The melody and her haunting voice just sound so lonely. ---
**Author:** ![IAM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58956e/32.png) [@IAM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IAM)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-love-song-of-all-time/154743/82 "2003-02-14T20:48:40Z")
I will have to say Bonnie Raitt’ s – I Can’t Make You Love Me… it always brings a tear to me eye…and when I hear her sing it or even think about it I get all choked up… excuse me I need a minute… ☹ ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-love-song-of-all-time/154743/83 "2003-02-14T21:10:08Z")
If someone made a gravelly-voiced acoustic version of Herman’s Hermits’ **Mrs. Brown You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter** , I wonder if it would be perceived as earnest or camp. ---
**Author:** ![Super\_Gnat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Super\_Gnat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Super_Gnat)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-love-song-of-all-time/154743/84 "2003-02-14T21:27:06Z")
I’m surprised no one’s mentioned Sarah McLachlan _I Will Remember You_. Another one is _I Wish_ by Carl Thomas: > [@](#): > > It was love at first sight > I know from the way she looked at me > Her eyes said it all > Long days and nights, we spent > Until she dropped the bomb on me > When she said that she > Was unhappily married with children > > [CHORUS] > And I wish I never met her at all > Even though I love her so > She got love from me > But she still belongs to someone else > > It hurts so bad, for sure > Because she wants to be with me > But she cannot be with me > She chose to stay, at home > So they could be a family > For the children > But what about me? > > [CHORUS] > > Maybe in another life > Things could be the way we both desired > It’s a catch-22 > Either way it hurts > Someone that you lose > > I wish I wish I never met her at all > I wouldn’t hurt so much inside > Oh I wouldn’t feel this pain > If I never met her at all, at all, at all > Wish I never, wish I never ---
**Author:** ![ecugrad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ac8455/32.png) [@ecugrad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ecugrad)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-love-song-of-all-time/154743/85 "2003-02-14T21:28:33Z")
I can’t even think about, let alone listen to ‘Honey’ by Bobby Goldsboro. My mother used to cry when she heard it (she said it reminded her of her mother who had died). My mother died in 1975 when I was 12 so now every time I hear the song, I cry too. ‘My Heart Will Go On’ only makes me cry when I see the Celine Dion video with it. It’s the scene with the old couple clinging to eachother in bed and kissing good-bye while water surges around them that gets me. Sniff, sniff ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-love-song-of-all-time/154743/86 "2003-02-14T21:40:12Z")
Inspired by a similar thread on the Unaboard, I created a playlist of Sad Songs from my media files. Here it is: Valentine - Old 97s New Favorite - Alison Krauss All My Love IS Gone - Lyle Lovett Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain - Willie Nelson Dancing With Tears in My Eyes - Old 97s Distantly in Love - Jimmy Buffett Haunt Me - Countney Fairchild He Stopped Loving Her Today - George Jones How Do You Tell Someone? - Cowboy Mouth I Can’t Love You Anymore - Lyle Lovett Imaginary Love - Rufus Wainwright I Should’ve Known Better - Nickel Creek I Want Love - Elton John It Ought to Be Easier - Lyle Lovett I Wish I Felt Nothing - The Wallflowers Jagged - Old 97s Lonely In Love - Lyle Lovett Reasons Why - Nickel Creek Sabra Girl - Nickel Creek She Never Knew Me - Don Williams She’s Already Made Up Her Mind - Lyle Lovett She’s Leave Me Because She Really Wants To - Lyle Lovett Silver Wings - Merle Haggard Some Broken Hearts Never Mend - Don Williams Sorry - Courtney Fairchild These Reminders - Max Stalling This Train Don’t Stop There Anymore - Elton John Three Cigarettes in an Ashtray - k.d. lang Valentine’s Day - the Help Wavin’ My Heart Goodbye - The Flatlanders What A Crying Shame - The Mavericks What Bothers Me Most - Waylon Jennings ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-love-song-of-all-time/154743/87 "2003-02-14T21:45:17Z")
“I Can’t Make You Love Me” by Bonnie Raitt is my number two contender. What a great song! But I’m surprised that no one mentioned **The Dance** by Garth Brooks. To wit: > [@](#): > > …I’m glad I didn’t know > The way it all would end > The way it all would go > Our lives are better left to chance > I could have missed the pain > But I’d have had to miss the dance… First time I heard that was two days after breaking up with a girlfriend I’d been with for two and a half years…really hit home at that point in my life. ---
**Author:** ![Haplo721](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/90ced4/32.png) [@Haplo721](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Haplo721)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-love-song-of-all-time/154743/88 "2003-02-14T21:58:59Z")
My (not-very-definitive-at-all-due-to-my-relative-lack-of-exposure-to-music-before-the-mid-80’s) list: Total Eclipse of the Heart- Bonnie Tyler “Once upon a time I was falling in love, Now I’m only falling apart… Nothing I can do, a total eclipse of the heart…” I Let Love In- Nick Cave “Well, I’ve been bound and gagged and I’ve been terrorized And I’ve been castrated and I’ve been lobotomized But never has my tormentor come in such a cunning disguise– I let love in.” A Letter to Elise- The Cure “Oh Elise it doesn’t matter what you do I know I’ll never really get inside of you To make your eyes catch fire The way they should The way the blue could pull me in If they only would If they only would At least i’d lose this sense of sensing something else That hides away.” A Night Like This- The Cure “It goes dark… it goes darker still- please stay! But I’m watching like I’m made of stone as you walk away…” Strange Attraction- The Cure “I’m sorry, blame infatuation, Blame imagination, I was sure you’d be the one, but I was wrong, It seems reality destroys our dreams, I won’t forget you…” Painters- Jewel "Until one day the rain fell as thick as black oil, And in her heart she knew something was wrong. She went running through the orchard, screaming, “No God, don’t take him from me,” But by the time she got there, She feared he already had gone. She got to where he lay, Water-colored roses in his hands for her. She threw them down, screaming, ‘Damn you, man, don’t leave me with nothing left behind But these cold paintings, these cold portraits to remind me!’ He said, “Love I only leave a little, try to understand. I put my soul in this life we’ve created with these four hands. Love, I leave, but only a little, This world holds me still. My body may die now, but these paintings are real.” La de di, la de di, la de di, de di." _Snif_ Brings a tear to my eye every time. Okay, hundreds of tears. Foolish Games (Album Version)- Jewel “You’d teach me of honest things, Things that were daring, things that were clean, Things that knew what an honest dollar did mean. So I hid my soiled hands behind my back Somewhere along the line, I must have gone off-track with you. Excuse me, think I’ve mistaken you for someone else…” Creep- Radiohead “When you were here before, Couldn’t look you in the eye, You’re just like an angel, Skin makes me cry. You float like a feather In a beautiful world… You’re so f\*cking SPECIAL! I wish I were SPECIAL! But I’m a creep, I’m a weirdo. What the HELL am I doing here? I don’t belong here.” ---
**Author:** ![El\_Zagna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@El\_Zagna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Zagna)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-love-song-of-all-time/154743/89 "2003-02-14T22:32:13Z")
My pick would be Janis Ian’s **Jesse** as sung by Joan Baez. \*Jesse come home, there’s a hole in the bed Where we slept; now it’s growing cold. Jesse your face, in the place where we lay By the hearth, all apart, it hangs on my heart And I’m leaving the light on the stairs No I’m not scared; I wait for you Hey Jesse, it’s lonely, come home. \* ---
**Author:** ![Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-love-song-of-all-time/154743/90 "2003-02-15T05:05:59Z")
“When She Loved Me” by Jessie the Singing Cowgirl “For No One” by The Beatles “Thorn Tree In The Garden” by Derek and The Dominos “Girl From The North Country” by Bob Dylan ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-love-song-of-all-time/154743/91 "2003-02-15T06:50:37Z")
Al Green’s cover of “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?” Such a wrenching experience that this song should only be heard after taking Zoloft. ---
**Author:** ![teleute12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@teleute12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teleute12)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-love-song-of-all-time/154743/92 "2003-02-15T07:52:30Z")
I’ve always found Harry Nilsson’s “Without You” to be wonderfully depressing: \Can’t live, if living is without you Can’t live, can’t give anymore\ I may have the title wrong - that’s what the MP3 came off kazaa titled as, but who knows how accurate that is. ---
**Author:** ![Mothchunks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a587f6/32.png) [@Mothchunks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mothchunks)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-love-song-of-all-time/154743/93 "2003-02-15T07:58:29Z")
She sees him laying in the bed alone tonight The only thing a touching him is a crack of light Pieces of her hair are wrapped around and 'round his fingers And he reaches for her side, for any sign of her that lingers And she says you are not alone Laying in the light Put out the fire in your head And lay with me tonight One of them bullets went straight for the jugular vein There were people running , a flash of light Then everything changed Nothing really matters in the end you know All the worrys sever Don’t be afraid for me my friend, one day we all fall down forever ---
**Author:** ![Sagasumono](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Sagasumono](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sagasumono)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-love-song-of-all-time/154743/94 "2003-02-15T12:33:12Z")
Shodan hit it on the head with Nothing Compares 2 U. Damn cried my eyes out over that one today. Dittos as well for Fire & Rain and I can’t make you love me. Actullay being single ALL love songs are depressing to me right now, the top three being “Suddenly” by Billy Ocean, “Because I love you” by that other guy and “Still Ray” by Raphael Sadiq ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-love-song-of-all-time/154743/95 "2003-02-15T14:48:19Z")
**teleute12** [sup](there are 11 other posters by that name ?)[/sup] Without you - Nielson is far more tragic then most people realise. The song was credited as being written as a group effort by the UK band Badfinger, though the truth was that is was mostly the work of Pete Ham who was a depressive and very cut up over the breakup with his then girlfriend.(Tom Evans was the cowriter) Pete Ham had many serious depressive episode, not helped by wrangling over royalties between the band and a crooked management, and when Harry Neilson made the song a worldwide smash, this made the arguments even more bitter. Pete never really got over that breakup and committed suicide, the band split up, reformed some time later, only to have Tom Evans committ suicide in 1983 the same way as Pete. The song title is literally true. ---
**Author:** ![FranticMad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c68b51/32.png) [@FranticMad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FranticMad)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-love-song-of-all-time/154743/96 "2003-02-15T14:59:07Z")
A couple obscure songs: Sarah, from Bob Dylan’s album Desire Dancing with tears in my eyes - Ultravox’s album Lament ---
**Author:** ![bibliophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@bibliophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophile)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-love-song-of-all-time/154743/97 "2003-02-15T18:08:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kefka \* > \*\*i’m gonna have to go with “last night i dreamt that somebody loved me” by the smiths. i don’t even have to type out the lyrics. the title says it all… > most. depressing. song. ever. > (but also really beautiful) \*\* \ I can’t believe it took this long for someone to mention The Smiths!! Just about any one of their songs would qualify IMHO. A few others: “In the darkened underpass I thought Oh God my chance has come at last But then a strange fear gripped me And I just couldn’t ask” **There is a light and it never goes out** - Who doesn’t have regrets about a missed opportunity? Jeff Buckley’s **Forget her** is another good example. “But don’t fool yourself She was heartache from the moment that you met her Now my heart is frozen still as I try to find the will To forget her somehow… She’s somewhere out there now.” ---
**Author:** ![Fiat\_Lux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ea666f/32.png) [@Fiat\_Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiat_Lux)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-love-song-of-all-time/154743/98 "2003-02-15T19:03:37Z")
It’s a bit out of left field, but I’ve always found **They’ll Need a Crane** , by They Might Be Giants, to be one of the saddest songs there is. The lines: ‘I’m just tired/ And I don’t love you any more’, delivered without much of any kind of emotion, always just tears me up. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-love-song-of-all-time/154743/99 "2003-02-15T19:31:59Z")
It’s Too Late by Carole King ---
**Author:** ![Deadly\_Nightlight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Deadly\_Nightlight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deadly_Nightlight)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-love-song-of-all-time/154743/100 "2003-02-15T19:52:40Z")
Not even sure if it is a love song, but All the things she said makes me think of my ex in a love song kind of way [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-love-song-of-all-time/154743.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-depressing-love-song-of-all-time/154743.md?page=6)