Alison Krauss is my favorite singer – I came in here to add her song “Ghost in This House” to the list:
I’m just a ghost in this house.
I’m just a shadow upon these walls,
I’m living proof of the damage heartbreak does.
I’m just a whisper of smoke
I’m all that’s left of two hearts on fire
That once burned out of control
You took my body and soul
I’m just a ghost in this house.
Just sad.
Mr Zevon was hardly a ray of sunshine while healthy, either. Case in point, perhaps, being such beautiful songs as Carmelita .
Tom Waits is another one of those. I saw ‘Broken Bicycles’ mentioned, but for even more soul-killing power, there is:
House Where Nobody Lives, which puzzles over a derelict house.
‘Did someone’s heart break?
Did someone do somebody wrong?’
Georgia Lee, a murdered girl who is found in the woods.
‘Lonesome was the place where Georgia was found
She’s too young to be out
On the street.’
Hold On also sparks some tears.
Ooh, I’d forgotten that one, Annie-Xmas. Just reading the lyrics, I could ‘hear’ George’s voice and I was all over goosebumps… One of the greatest hurtin’ songs of all time!
DARCY FARROW By Steve Gillette and Tom Campbell. Best known recording of it was by John Denver.
But her pony did stumble and she did fall
Her dyin’ touched the hearts of us one and all
Young Vandy in his pain put a bullet through his brain
And we buried them together as the snows began to fall
Being the fan of traditional Appalachian and bluegrass music, I would have to recommend Body and Soul
Tomorrow as the sun sinks low
The shadows will cover her face
As her last sun goes down, she’s laid beneath the ground
And my teardrops are falling like rain
There are others but I’ll post them later.
OOh, I’ve just remembered another one. It’s called “Die For You” and it’s off the album Hey Stoopid, by Alice Cooper, of course. Man, it’s hurtin…
A sample -
Full lyrics here,
The sucky part is I know there are tons of songs but I can’t remember most of them right now
Thru the eyes of Ruby - smashing pumpkins
The Kids aren’t alright - Offspring
suicide is painless - Johnny Mandel
Local H - Bound for the floor
Last edited by C K Dexter Haven : 05-25-2006 at 11:55 AM. Reason: Mom asked me to and if I don’t obey she’ll make me kill the woman staying in our motel – CKDH
Not sure if its a remake, but November Rain by Guns N Roses.
Declan
Gilbert O’ Sullivan “Alone Again, Naturally”
following verses have more of the same
Just thought of another
Eddi Reader “Dear John”
She has a good voice for a sad song too as a bonus
The before mention Lover, you should have come over by Jeff Buckley and Hurt (both versions).
I’ll throw in Rabbit in your headlights on U.N.K.L.E’s Psyence Fiction sung by Thom Yorke of radiohead fame…
here a some snippets;
Im a rabbit in your headlights
Scared of the spotlight
You dont come to visit
…
…
If youre frightened of dyin and youre holding on…
Youll see devils tearing your life away.
It’s the combination of the lyrics and the simple piano accompanying it
How about The SMiths" most well known song How Soon Is Now:
There’s a club, if you’d like to go
You could meet somebody who really loves you
So you go, and you stand on your own
And you leave on your own
And you go home, and you cry
And you want to die
There’s also Rush’s “Losing It”:
The writer stare with glassy eyes –
Defies the empty page
His beard is white, his face is lined
And streaked with tears of rage.
Thirty years ago, how the words would flow
With passion and precision,
But now his mind is dark and dulled
By sickness and indecision
And he stares out the kitchen door
Where the sun will rise no more…
Lorena McKennit does a wonderful version of Alfred Noyes’ poem “The Highwayman”, although I don’t recall if she uses the poem verbatim or adapts it.
Blood-red were his spurs in the golden noon, wine-red was his velvet coat
When they shot him down in the highway,
Down like a dog in the highway,
And he lay in his blood in the highway, with the bunch of lace at his throat.
Cowboy Junkies are great for sad stuff. “Mining for Gold”, an a capella rendition of a traditional mining song, may be the best of the bunch for me:
Two years and the silicosis takes hold
and I feel like I’m dying from mining for gold
And then there’s “All Dead, All Dead” by Queen:
All dead all dead
And alone I’m spared
My sweeter half instead
All dead and gone