# Name the song that cuts. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 8, 2012, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-song-that-cuts/615106 "2012-03-08T03:17:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-song-that-cuts/615106/81 "2012-03-26T15:36:10Z")
I first heard Shirley Bassey’s recording of [_Ballad of the Sad Young Men_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wL6AvSgO6Ak) back in the early '80s, when all my friends were dying of AIDS. That song will always remind me of those horrible years. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-song-that-cuts/615106/82 "2012-03-26T15:44:13Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > my favorite Cohen song may be a much more recent song: “Thousand Kisses Deep.” I think [this is the original](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xt_rlHdTYMU). Am I the only one who usually prefers, vastly, the original recording to new versions or “covers”? (Just after posting I searched and listened at Youtubes, and decided I’d better post a link to the “real” Thousand Kisses Deep! 😃 ) Some Lou Reed songs, especially “Heroin” and “Walk on the Wild Side”, also deserve mention. ---
**Author:** ![ArrMatey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrmatey/32/3522_2.png) [@ArrMatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArrMatey)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-song-that-cuts/615106/83 "2012-03-26T17:32:23Z")
‘The Drinking Song’ by Moxy Früvous. First heard it on the anniversary of the (way unexpected and sudden) death of one of my good friends. The line, “…Told him he couldn’t just die.” Gets me every single time. I sing along with it, and my voice always catches before the last word. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-song-that-cuts/615106/84 "2012-03-26T17:54:30Z")
The Rolling Stones songs that “cut” me the most isn’t _Angie_ (though that’s a very good candidate) but _Memory Motel_ and _Shine A Light_. _You’re just a memory, of a love that used to be And you used to mean so much to me_ or \*Angels beating their wings all in time With smiles on their faces, and a gleam right in their eyes Thought I heard one of them sigh for you Come on up now, come on up now, come on up now Let the good Lord shine a light on you Make every song your favorite tune Let the good Lord shine a light on you Warm, like the evening sun\* ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-song-that-cuts/615106/85 "2012-03-27T00:52:15Z")
#1. Kesha’s “[The Harold Song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkS70kPSLNI).” It’s even better watching her sing it [live](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2jnbxP3vsk&feature=related). #2. Eric Carmen’s [“Never Gonna Fall in Love Again”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPL8piHGriA). I just recently found out (I think on SDMB) that the melody comes from Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2. > [@salinqmind](#): > > In a lesser way, “Pretty Ballerina” by The Left Banke is so mesmerizing in its melancholy way. ‘Somewhere a mountain is moving’. This is a song to listen to while you have a cup of tea and look out at the pouring rain. I don’t know what it is about the mode of music, I’ll leave the explanation to a music expert. But it’s both sad and crushingly beautiful. #3. I pick the better-known Left Banke song, “[Walk Away Renee](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqAh1dQu_pg).” ---
**Author:** ![Feyrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/fbc32d/32.png) [@Feyrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Feyrat)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-song-that-cuts/615106/86 "2012-03-27T02:18:42Z")
[Torn](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhtkKAvZPSk) by toad the wet sproket. Never, EVER fails. Ever. It hurts me to hear it, but it’s beautiful. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-song-that-cuts/615106/87 "2012-03-27T21:11:12Z")
Forgot Billie Holliday’s _Strange Fruit_, about lynching. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-song-that-cuts/615106/88 "2012-03-27T22:49:36Z")
Into Dust by Mazzy Star - music to play while you search for a good strong crossbeam to toss a rope over…I have this burned to a CD, right before I Want To Party by The Venga Boys - they cancel each other out :D. (another sad one - The Reason by Hoobastank. There are a LOT of songs of this ilk, aren’t there?) ---
**Author:** ![williamweigand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b3f665/32.png) [@williamweigand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/williamweigand)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2012, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-song-that-cuts/615106/89 "2012-03-28T12:46:21Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > I think [this is the original](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xt_rlHdTYMU). Am I the only one who usually prefers, vastly, the original recording to new versions or “covers”? (Just after posting I searched and listened at Youtubes, and decided I’d better post a link to the “real” Thousand Kisses Deep! 😃 ) > > Some Lou Reed songs, especially “Heroin” and “Walk on the Wild Side”, also deserve mention. A couple of other Lou Reed songs - “Pale Blue Eyes” and “Street Hassle” …and I almost forgot “The Day John Kennedy Died”. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2012, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-song-that-cuts/615106/90 "2012-03-28T13:40:28Z")
> [@zoog](#): > > Every time one of these threads come up, I have to chime in with [Sam Stone](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbcZMocgYrk) by John Prine. If “There’s a hole in Daddy’s arm where all the money goes” doesn’t cut, I don’t know what could. Good choice. But I’m going to go with Prine’s [Bruised Orange (Chain of Sorrow)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFD2wZaBciY). It is ostensibly a true tale Prine experienced as a youth about an altar boy being hit by a train. > [@](#): > > You can gaze out the window get mad and get madder, > Throw your hands in the air, say "what does it matter? " > But it don’t do no good to get angry, > So help me I know > > For a heart stained in anger grows weak and grows bitter. > You become your own prisoner as you watch yourself sit there > Wrapped up in a trap of your very own > Chain of sorrow. mmm ---
**Author:** ![SykoSkotty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@SykoSkotty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SykoSkotty)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2012, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-song-that-cuts/615106/91 "2012-03-28T14:20:35Z")
Well these are all good, thought provoking choices so far. Great thread idea. Now as much as I dislike country music, my emotional outburst song is [Don’t Take The Girl](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-TXBniRz1g) by Tim McGraw. The use of that phrase in so many different ways is brilliant. Each verse evokes an entirely new set of emotions. As a kid my father took me fishing often, and as a father and husband this really hits home. What you have could be lost in the blink of an eye - take nothing for granted. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2012, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-song-that-cuts/615106/92 "2012-03-28T14:36:35Z")
Mitch Benn’s [A Minute’s Noise For John](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KiLeUV98nY) Probably meaningless if you didn’t grown up listening to John Peel, but if you did… ---
**Author:** ![tullsterx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tullsterx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tullsterx)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2012, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-song-that-cuts/615106/93 "2012-03-28T15:55:34Z")
Every time I hear anything by Kid Rock I get nauseous, does that count? ---
**Author:** ![fjs1fs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9e8a1a/32.png) [@fjs1fs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fjs1fs)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2012, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-song-that-cuts/615106/94 "2012-03-28T17:33:52Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > The first title I thought of is _The First Cut is the Deepest_. Both Rod Stewart and Sheryl Crow have very good versions of it. > > But I think the one that gets me most is another Rod Stewart song – _Reason to Believe_ > > _Knowin’ that you lied > Straight-faced while I cried > Still I look to find a reason to believe_ I have to second Rod’s version of “The First Cut is the Deepest.” Just an unbelievable song/performance. Saw him do a live accoustic version at MSG in early 90s and it just blew me away forever. Unfortunately Crow’s version doesn’t do it for me–it’s not emotional or “deep” enough. ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-song-that-cuts/615106/95 "2012-03-30T05:27:13Z")
[Rain by Patty Griffin](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFbjE7NFmUI) > [@](#): > > Sometimes a hurt is so deep deep deep > You think that you’re gonna drown > Sometimes all I can do is weep weep weep > With all this rain falling down > > Strange how hard it rains now > Rows and rows of big dark clouds > **But I’m holdin’ on underneath this shroud** > Rain Also [Jeff Buckley’s “Lover You Should’ve Come Over”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXe1jpHPnUs) > [@](#): > > So I’ll wait for you… and I’ll burn > Will i ever see your sweet return > Oh will I ever learn > > Oh lover, you should’ve come over > 'cause it’s not too late They work for me right now, when I’m no longer nursing a broken heart I’ll move on to something else. ---
**Author:** ![cwthree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@cwthree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cwthree)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-song-that-cuts/615106/96 "2012-03-30T17:37:12Z")
A couple of people already mentioned “Cat’s in the Cradle”. Gary Jules’ cover of [“Mad World”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Az2BvTcshg). It’s a good example of how the performance really makes the song work (or not) - compare the cover to Tears for Fears’ [original](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBJePxdPX3Y). ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-song-that-cuts/615106/97 "2012-03-30T20:27:55Z")
For me, [Neil Young’s Powderfinger](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6xNft9MutQ) and [Pink Floyd’s The Gunner’s Dream](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIJN6WWf3Rg). Fortunately, neither of them are ever played on the radio. ---
**Author:** ![Imago](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/85e7bf/32.png) [@Imago](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imago)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-song-that-cuts/615106/98 "2012-03-30T22:42:48Z")
“Hurt” has made me cry since I was a preteen, both versions. Swearcuss. [This.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mF2Y-BnqGys) (“Shiva” by The Antlers) I thought the first time I heard it that it was just a metaphor for how badly she’d cut him up emotionally, but then, almost out of nowhere, I realized- it’s a wish. He’s just found out his would-be wife is dead of bone cancer, and his dearest wish in the whole world is to take her place in that hospital bed so she can live. I sobbed for ages. And though there’s no good version of it on the internet, the song “My Brother and the Pixie” by Vera Mesmer. Guy loves his little brother, worries about him, knows he has a habit of getting into trouble, wants to watch out for him, knows no one else will… And his brother wants nothing to do with him. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-song-that-cuts/615106/99 "2012-03-31T05:33:18Z")
[“Into the West”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24fGmWG6kpg), from Return of the King. I first started listening to this as my father was in the hospital, dying of cancer. In spite of the message of the song, I can’t hear it without thinking that he’s gone, and I won’t get to talk to him ever again. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-song-that-cuts/615106/100 "2012-03-31T08:42:26Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > For whatever reason, the song that never fails to have me in tears whenever I listen to it is “[My Hand To God](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Czj5xtpHvE)” by Daniel Amos: the singer is an old man on his deathbed saying his last goodbyes to his wife. > > It’s especially poignant as the last track of a concept album about the fictional couple and their life together, but even hearing the song by itself makes me break down crying. Along this vein is “Where Have You Been?” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-song-that-cuts/615106.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-song-that-cuts/615106.md?page=6)