# Sad Songs Released After the Musicians Death, That Shake You Up. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 6, 2006, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sad-songs-released-after-the-musicians-death-that-shake-you-up/363337 "2006-07-06T06:51:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Siege](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Siege](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siege)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sad-songs-released-after-the-musicians-death-that-shake-you-up/363337/21 "2006-07-06T16:27:16Z")
OK, **gigi** , obscure Meatloaf is one thing, but Stan Rogers?! šŸ˜‰ I was going to post ā€œDown the Roadā€ but you beat me to it. ā€œPhariseeā€, from that same CD is a theme song of mine. Just one thing. Please tell me a guy didnā€™t once propose to you after playing ā€œ45 Years From Nowā€. If that did happen, Iā€™m going to be interested in checking to see if we have some people in common! ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sad-songs-released-after-the-musicians-death-that-shake-you-up/363337/22 "2006-07-06T16:33:41Z")
The Beatlesā€™ ā€œFree as a Birdā€ always gets me ā€“ it sounded like Lennon was pining for the old days, but his death ruled a reunion out. When Delta blues great Charley Patton recorded the haunting spiritual ā€œOh Deathā€ in January of 1934, he was basically on his death bed. It was released just before Patton died that April, but itā€™s still chilling to hear him sing, ā€œLord I know, Lord I know, my time ainā€™t longā€. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sad-songs-released-after-the-musicians-death-that-shake-you-up/363337/23 "2006-07-06T17:06:57Z")
Doug Hopkins of the Gin Blossoms died after their debut album was released, but I didnā€™t hear the music or know the story until after he had shot himself. He had quit the Gin Blossoms during the recording due to alcoholism and depression. The lyrics of some of the songs are pretty sad in light of what happened, particularly Lost Horizons, Pieces of the Night, and Hold Me Down. Lyrics can be read [here.](http://www.elyrics4u.com/artist/g/gin_blossoms.htm) ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sad-songs-released-after-the-musicians-death-that-shake-you-up/363337/24 "2006-07-06T17:24:57Z")
_You Got It_ by Roy Orbison. I also tear up when I hear _Never Without You_ by Ringo Starr. Even though Ringo is still with us, the song is a tribute to the late George Harrison featuring Eric Clapton on guitar. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sad-songs-released-after-the-musicians-death-that-shake-you-up/363337/25 "2006-07-06T17:42:31Z")
[QUOTE=Siege] OK, **gigi** , obscure Meatloaf is one thing, but Stan Rogers?! šŸ˜‰ Please tell me a guy didnā€™t once propose to you after playing ā€œ45 Years From Nowā€. If that did happen, Iā€™m going to be interested in checking to see if we have some people in common! [/QUOTE] Sadly no, but you are one lucky girl! No one Iā€™ve met outside my family shares my interesting taste in music. My father hadnā€™t heard of Stan until they played a retrospective after his death and we were hooked. My mom had a class at Brown where she had to talk about something that reflected her identity and she played ā€œLiesā€.\* I think that may be my favorite/song I most respect ever. Itā€™s just so brilliant. And again, I played it for a friend who I really respect and she didnā€™t get it! :eek: \*She also plays her cassette of Bat Out of Hell whenever she starts quilting a new quilt. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Corrado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a88e4f/32.png) [@John\_Corrado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Corrado)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sad-songs-released-after-the-musicians-death-that-shake-you-up/363337/26 "2006-07-06T19:35:08Z")
[QUOTE=cochrane] _You Got It_ by Roy Orbison. I also tear up when I hear _Never Without You_ by Ringo Starr. Even though Ringo is still with us, the song is a tribute to the late George Harrison featuring Eric Clapton on guitar. [/QUOTE] Bye that same token, everything on Harrisonā€™s **Brainwashed** is in that same category as Zevonā€™s **The Rest of the Night** - Harrison was dying of cancer when he wrote it, and a lot of the spirtual work is made all the more powerful by it. And it ends on an extremely appropos note. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Who](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Doctor\_Who](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Who)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sad-songs-released-after-the-musicians-death-that-shake-you-up/363337/27 "2006-07-06T19:42:58Z")
[QUOTE=WordMan] **Jeff Buckley** was alive when his album Grace came out, but his cover of Leonard Cohenā€™s _Hallelujah_ still feels like it fits in this thread in a large wayā€¦ [/QUOTE] > [@gatopescado](#): > > Also So Real. Both great songs, but to really fit the OP - you have to think about Jeff Buckleyā€™s version of **Satisfied Mind**. Chills. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sad-songs-released-after-the-musicians-death-that-shake-you-up/363337/28 "2006-07-06T19:45:30Z")
The Carpenters ā€œA Song For Youā€. Especially when Karen sings the line: _And when my life is over Remember when we were together_ Justā€¦damn. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sad-songs-released-after-the-musicians-death-that-shake-you-up/363337/29 "2006-07-06T21:38:11Z")
Just about anything (I mean, just about anything she recorded- thatā€™s not the name of a song) by Eva Cassidy is deeply haunting, I find. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2006, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sad-songs-released-after-the-musicians-death-that-shake-you-up/363337/30 "2006-07-06T21:48:51Z")
Elliott Smithā€™s album **From a Basement on the Hill** was released postumously. The song ā€œA Fond Farewellā€ makes me want to weep and gives me chills. The Litebriteā€™s now black and white Cause they took apart a picture that wasnā€™t right Pitch burning on a shining sheet The only maker that youā€™d want to meet A dying man in a living room Whose shadow paces the floor Heā€™ll take you out any open doorā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2006, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sad-songs-released-after-the-musicians-death-that-shake-you-up/363337/31 "2006-07-07T05:29:08Z")
From 1971, ā€œ **Natureā€™s Way** ā€ by **Spirit** from ā€œ **12 Dreams of Doctor Sardonicus** ā€ written and sung by **Randy California**. Itā€™s natureā€™s way of telling you somethingā€™s wrong. Itā€™s natureā€™s way of telling you in a song. Itā€™s natureā€™s way of recieving you. Itā€™s natureā€™s way of retrieving you. Although this was Randy Californiaā€™s environment statement, the lyrics take on a creepier meaning when you learn that his death was caused by drowning off the coast of Molokai, Hawaii in January, 1997. His body was never found. > **[Randy California](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_California)** > > Randy Craig Wolfe (February 20, 1951 ā€“ January 2, 1997), known as Randy California, was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter, and one of the original members of the rock group Spirit, formed in 1967. > California was born as Randy Craig Wolfe into a musical Jewish family in Los Angeles and spent his early years studying varied styles at the family's Los Angeles folk club, the Ash Grove, which was founded by his uncle, Ed Pearl. He was 15 years old when his mother Bernice Pearl and new st... ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2006, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sad-songs-released-after-the-musicians-death-that-shake-you-up/363337/32 "2006-07-07T05:31:59Z")
:smack: Sorry for the previous posting. This was supposed to be for songs released _posthumously_ , right? :smack: ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG !!! :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2006, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sad-songs-released-after-the-musicians-death-that-shake-you-up/363337/33 "2006-07-07T12:27:48Z")
There was the posthumous release of **Elvis** singing **ā€œMy Wayā€**. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2006, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sad-songs-released-after-the-musicians-death-that-shake-you-up/363337/34 "2006-07-07T12:34:23Z")
I third Keep Me In Your Heart. I cried real, stupid tears the first time I heard it. Luther Vandrossā€™ Dance With My Father was touching too, but it didnā€™t make me cry. ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2006, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sad-songs-released-after-the-musicians-death-that-shake-you-up/363337/35 "2006-07-07T15:28:31Z")
Actually, Buckleyā€™s ā€œSatisfied Mindā€ off his post-mortem album ā€œSketches for My Sweetheart the Drunkā€ probably qualifies better than anything off Grace, since it was recorded closer to his death, and is just as pretty (and, I guess, has more to do with death than Hallelujah or So Real, though I do remember one or two songs of his having creepy drowning/dying references that seemed a little too predictive) ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2006, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sad-songs-released-after-the-musicians-death-that-shake-you-up/363337/36 "2006-07-07T15:29:53Z")
Oops. Didnā€™t read the whole thread. Sorry Who! ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2006, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sad-songs-released-after-the-musicians-death-that-shake-you-up/363337/37 "2006-07-07T16:35:00Z")
**soul radiation** , and everyone else: Please read [Forum Rules: PLEASE READ](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=343601a) and especially note post #2. You may NOT quote an entire song on these boards. The proper approach is to quote a line or two, and then provide a link to a website that has the rights to the entire song and has published all verses. We tend to be extremely sensitive to copyright issues here. Even if legally OK, we tend to moderate on the very conservative side: we donā€™t want people copying our material without permission, and therefore we donā€™t want our boards to be copying other folks material. Do unto others, yā€™know. **Soul radiation** , youā€™re new here and more than welcome. Itā€™s an interesting topic, but please review our rules and adhere to our respect for copyright rules. ---
**Author:** ![hawthorne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2006, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sad-songs-released-after-the-musicians-death-that-shake-you-up/363337/38 "2006-07-07T16:40:33Z")
Iā€™ll second Otis Reddingā€™s _Dock of the Bay_. Also, Chet Bakerā€™s performance of _Almost Blue_ from the film _Letā€™s Get Lost_ (not the soundtrack version, the film performance). Heartbreaking. A number of people have mentioned songs from Warren Zevonā€™s last record _The Wind_. I didnā€™t find it any more stirring than the couple prior to it. Itā€™s nothing like as bleak as earlier works like _Transverse City_. Sure, itā€™s affecting - but itā€™s a Zevon album. It didnā€™t shake me like his Letterman performance of _Genius_ did. ---
**Author:** ![ZebraShaSha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/eada6e/32.png) [@ZebraShaSha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZebraShaSha)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2006, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sad-songs-released-after-the-musicians-death-that-shake-you-up/363337/39 "2006-07-07T17:41:25Z")
[QUOTE=pinkfreud] Elliott Smithā€™s album **From a Basement on the Hill** was released postumously. The song ā€œA Fond Farewellā€ makes me want to weep and gives me chills. The Litebriteā€™s now black and white Cause they took apart a picture that wasnā€™t right Pitch burning on a shining sheet The only maker that youā€™d want to meet A dying man in a living room Whose shadow paces the floor Heā€™ll take you out any open doorā€¦ [/QUOTE] Even worse, I think the saddest song Iā€™ve ever heard is supposedly the last song he ever recorded. If youā€™ve seen Harold and Maude, it is 10 times sadder. Itā€™s a cover of Cat Stevenā€™s ā€œTroubleā€.. ā€œTrouble Oh trouble please be kind I donā€™t want no fight And I havenā€™t got a lot of timeā€ ā€œIā€™ve seen your eyes and I can see deathā€™s disguise Hanginā€™ on me Hanginā€™ on meā€ ā€œTrouble Oh trouble canā€™t you see Youā€™re eating my heart away And thereā€™s nothing much left of meā€ Verses are like that throughout the song. And since it has never been released, Iā€™m almost positive it is in the public domain, but Iā€™ll save the mods the trouble of finding out and wonā€™t post it here until I see something definite. Still, one of the few songs I actually can call haunting. His voice is on edge throughout, and it sounds so pained and troubled. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2006, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sad-songs-released-after-the-musicians-death-that-shake-you-up/363337/40 "2006-07-07T18:36:35Z")
[QUOTE=MLS] \*Time in a Bottle \* by Jim Croce. Actually Iā€™m not sure if he was still alive when it was released, but it ws the last thing he wrote and it breaks me up every time. [/QUOTE] Iā€™m going to have to ask where you heard that at. Time in a Bottle came out in [1972](http://www.jimcroce.com/mess_around.html) and he had two albums out after that and before he died in 1973. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sad-songs-released-after-the-musicians-death-that-shake-you-up/363337.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sad-songs-released-after-the-musicians-death-that-shake-you-up/363337.md?page=3)