# Saddest love song ever. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 14, 2007, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518 "2007-08-14T03:33:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/61 "2007-08-14T16:28:40Z")
I hereby nominate [Delta Dawn](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta_Dawn). ---
**Author:** ![SaharaTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/62 "2007-08-14T16:34:59Z")
Forgot one… **La Cienega Just Smiled** by Ryan Adams. About having to choose between two lovers. “And I hold you close in the back of my mind And raise my glass 'cause either way I’m dead. Neither of you really help me to sleep anymore One breaks my body and the other breaks my soul La Cienega just smiles as it waves goodbye.” ---
**Author:** ![Hamadryad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6de8d8/32.png) [@Hamadryad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamadryad)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/63 "2007-08-14T16:37:04Z")
[QUOTE=ZipperJJ] Ben Folds writes some particularly sad love songs. The one that fits this thread best is perhaps [Selfless, Cold and Composed](http://benfolds.bluni.com/display.php?songid=56) come on baby, now throw me a right to the chin don’t just stare like you never cared I know you did but you just smile like a bank teller blankly telling me: “have a nice life” [/QUOTE] I was going to post this one, too. I swear, Ben hauls in the 6/8 signature and it’s like he’s never been anything BUT heartbroken. ---
**Author:** ![Gail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Gail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gail)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/64 "2007-08-14T16:38:03Z")
another one: Stabbing Westward’s _What Do I Have To Do?_ ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/65 "2007-08-14T17:01:09Z")
“Neither One of Us Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye” - I have the version by Gladys Knight and the Pips. _There can be no way There can be no way This can have a happy ending So we just go on Hurting and pretending Convincing ourselves to give it just one more try_ “Hope Alone” - Indigo Girls _You’re a land of secrets, its only citizen And though I paid my dues I was never allowed in And so I am a stranger especially today I get sad and lonely and you get your way You were looking for your distance and sensing my resistance you had to do your will I had to learn the hard way We were just an empty dream too big for hope alone to fill_ ---
**Author:** ![Rasa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rasa/32/3578_2.png) [@Rasa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rasa)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/66 "2007-08-14T17:05:07Z")
[St Swithin’s Day](http://www.lyricsdownload.com/billy-bragg-st-swithins-day-lyrics.html) by Billy Bragg. Billy can sound sad singing happy songs though. [Do You Realize?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tRXO9Q8LkY) by the Flaming Lips. Though it’s not really sad when you think about it. I had a loverly chat with Wayne about this song in person (brag brag brag) and I wish I could post a transcript here because it was really cool. Aimee Mann’s [Wise Up](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fn7F75stXxI) , from the Magnolia sountrack. Maybe not strictly a love song. But damn, can Aimee write. ---
**Author:** ![FlyingDragonFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c89c15/32.png) [@FlyingDragonFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingDragonFan)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/67 "2007-08-14T17:21:49Z")
I love sad songs. My weepiest is “Maggie” by Colin Hay (former lead singer of Men At Work). He’s loved her all his life, but only found out she loved him back from the suicide note she left: _I hadn’t heard from you in years And then your mama called She couldn’t speak for tears She said you left me a note Inside my pocket burns With these words you wrote_ Another one where the straight lyrics don’t do the sadness justice, you have to hear it. ---
**Author:** ![Rasa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rasa/32/3578_2.png) [@Rasa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rasa)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/68 "2007-08-14T17:27:07Z")
**FlyingDragonFan** , I love Colin Hay! And I agree on _Maggie_. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/69 "2007-08-14T17:31:45Z")
These are some songs that aren’t necessarily, nor strictly, sad love songs. They are kind of reflexive or conditional love songs depending on how you look at them. I think they are pretty sad, lyrically and musically and they all have a certain ambience and style that you can tell comes from the artist’s heart, lots of Emotion. **Uncle Tupelo** - _Fatal Wound_ **Fuel** -_Shimmer_ **Beck** -_Lost Cause_ **Audioslave** -_Shadow On The Sun_ These are some love songs that I think are sad, but are more conventional and less apocryphal. **Ramones** -_I Remember You_ **Everything But The Girl** -_Missing_ **Vertical Horizon** -_Best I Ever Had_ ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/70 "2007-08-14T17:46:15Z")
Jim Croce’s “Time in a Bottle” always makes me think of the one that got away. ---
**Author:** ![Ceejaytee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ceejaytee/32/2956_2.png) [@Ceejaytee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ceejaytee)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/71 "2007-08-14T18:09:08Z")
**I Can’t Make You Love Me** by Bonnie Raitt is just devastating: I’ll close my eyes then I won’t see The love you don’t feel when you’re holding me Morning will come and I’ll do what’s right Just give me till then to give up this fight And I will give up this fight **Blues As Blues Can Get** by Delbert McClinton: Gonna sit right down in my easy chair Pull out a deck of cards, play some solitaire Break out a bottle, wash me a glass To keep me company 'til the feelings pass Everybody needs something to do Me, I’ll just sit here and think about you It might seem hopeless, but it ain’t that bad yet It’s just the blues as blues can get… ---
**Author:** ![Sateryn76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Sateryn76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sateryn76)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/72 "2007-08-14T18:18:56Z")
Cole Porter’s _Night and Day_ - super sad version by Bing Crosby… I_n the roaring traffic’s boom In the silence of my lonely room I think of you… Night and Day_ Good for just blubbering to… ---
**Author:** ![tiltypig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dbc845/32.png) [@tiltypig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiltypig)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/73 "2007-08-14T19:42:55Z")
[QUOTE=Guy Incognito] Aimee Mann writes a hell of a song. Don’t let anyone tell you differently [/QUOTE] A lot of her songs on “The Forgotten Arm” are incredibly bittersweet and sad when you listen to them carefully. I especially like “Goodbye Caroline,” which you can listen to here: [http://www.aimeemann.com/theforgottenarm.html](http://www.aimeemann.com/theforgottenarm.html) ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/74 "2007-08-14T20:20:35Z")
It’s hard to pick just one. You Were Mine by The Dixie Chicks: > [@](#): > > I Can Give You Two Good Reasons > To Show You Love’s Not Blind > He’s Two And She’s Four, And You Know They Adore You > So How Can I Tell Them You’ve Changed Your Mind Lyin’ Eyes by The Eagles: > [@](#): > > She rushes to his arms, > They fall together > She whispers that it’s only for awhile > She swears that soon she’ll be comin’ back forever > She pulls away and leaves him with a smile My Immortal - Evanescence: > [@](#): > > I’m so tired of being here > Suppressed by all my childish fears > And if you have to leave > I wish that you would just leave > 'Cause your presence still lingers here > And it won’t leave me alone Something I Can Never Have - Nine Inch Nails: > [@](#): > > Grey would be the color if I had a heart. > I just want something I can never have. > In this place it seems like such a same. > Though it all looks different now, > I know its still the same > Everywhere I look youre all I see. > Just a fading fucking reminder of who I used to be. Hurt - Johnny Cash, also Nine Inch Nails did the original: > [@](#): > > What have i become? > My sweetest friend > Everyone i know > Goes away in the end > You could have it all > My empire of dirt > I will let you down > I will make you hurt Every Rose Has Its Thorn - Poison: > [@](#): > > But now I hear you found somebody new > And that I never meant that much to you > To hear that tears me up inside > And to see you cuts me like a knife I Know You’re Married (But I Love You Still) - Patty Loveless & Travis Tritt, plus many other artists: > [@](#): > > You broke a heart dear that would die for you > I’d give the world if I could be with you > The game is over now I know I’ve lost > My broken heart will have to pay the cost > > I love you darlin’ and I always will > I know you’re married but I love you still ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Ryle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8dc957/32.png) [@Mark\_Ryle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Ryle)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/75 "2007-08-14T20:29:39Z")
\*Up Where We Belong \* (music Jack Nitzsche and Buffy Sainte-Marie, lyrics Will Jennings) is from An Officer and a Gentleman (1982). Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes performed the hit version, but there is another version that convinced me the song is religious in its essence. It’s also a song that bridges the religious/secular chasm to the complete satisfaction of whichever type of listener. The religious version I am familiar with is by BeBe and CeCe Winans. The first line is changed slightly from Cocker’s “Love lift us up where we belong,” to Winans’ “Lord lift us up where we belong.” I once (probably in the 1980’s) saw a performance of it on Jim Bakker’s PTL (Praise the Lord) Club, sung with such feeling and fervor that it choked me up, at a time I had no religious leanings. Joe Cocker tries to sound African-American, but when you witness a black man sing this song with feeling it is truly impressive. > [@](#): > > Who knows what tomorrow brings > In a world few hearts survive ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/76 "2007-08-14T20:37:24Z")
[QUOTE=Sophistry and Illusion] Ooh, that’s a good one. Traveling further along the traditional music route, we have Bill Monroe’s [Body and Soul.](http://www.cowboylyrics.com/lyrics/monroe-bill/with-body-and-soul-17478.html) The combination of the powerfully sad music, the lyrics, and Bill Monroe’s singing is something else. And, joy of joys, it’s available on I-Tunes. [/QUOTE] Aha! you’ve inspired me to make a “sad songs” playlist. I live my iTunes. 🙂 Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![SSG\_Schwartz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SSG\_Schwartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SSG_Schwartz)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/77 "2007-08-14T20:47:59Z")
I gotta submit Jerry Lee Lewis’ [“She even woke me up to say Goodbye”](http://www.actionext.com/names_c/charlie_louvin_lyrics/she_even_woke_me_up_to_say_goodbye.html) It’s not that they don’t want to be together, they can’t. What makes it even better is we don’t know why. Just that she couldn’t handle the stress of the relationship. SSG Schwartz ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/78 "2007-08-14T21:06:26Z")
Largely because of a personal experience; “Lips of an Angel”, by Hinder. [the yrics](http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/hinder/lipsofanangel.html) What sometimes happens when you do choose to “Love the One You’re With”. And don’t we all. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/79 "2007-08-14T21:09:43Z")
Warren Zevon’s **Hasten Down the Wind** _She’s so many women he can’t find the one who was his friend…_☹ ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/80 "2007-08-14T21:53:03Z")
Hm, I have three that always make me feel sad. “Carelessly”, when sung by Billie Holiday. About throwing aside someone who loves you truly, maybe because it was too “easy,” and realizing later what a mistake it was. > [@](#): > > How carelessly > You gave me your heart > And carelessly I broke it, sweetheart > … > But now at night I wake up and cry > I wish I knew a way to find the love > I threw away so carelessly Another is “Artichoke” by Cibo Matto. This is one you really have to listen to, but it’s very haunting, and conveys such a sense of longing. It really captures that feeling of being in a relationship with someone that isn’t going anywhere, and you just can’t understand how to end it, of even if you should, and it’s eating you up. > [@](#): > > My heart is like an artichoke > I eat petals myself one by one > … > Though I can’t stop plucking off > I can’t see my core > I keep asking for you more and more But my favorite (drumroll!) is “Pissing in a River” by Patti Smith. It’s not “sad” in the most conventional sense (Patti rocks too hard for that) but it’s one of the most true songs I’ve ever heard about the anguish of being left by someone you love. > [@](#): > > Everything I’ve done, I’ve done for you > Oh I give my life for you. > Every move I made I move to you, > And I came like a magnet for you now. When her voice fades out at the end, oh! You just feel it! She’s so enraged, but it’s all so hopeless. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518.md?page=5)