# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/81 "2007-08-14T21:54:19Z")
“[Gone Away](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0NDTkk_E64)” by The Offspring Another good one is “Healing Time” by Poor Katrina. I know, you’ve never heard of them. Unless you went to UNH in the late 90s, there’s no reason you should have. I used to work with the male singer 🙂 I’m not going to leave it up long(so don’t look for it months from now if you stumble across this thread), but [here’s a link](http://www.geocities.com/mulderscreek/poorkatrina.zip) to it. ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/82 "2007-08-14T21:54:50Z")
How did I not think of the Rolling Stones’ “Angie”? “Angie, I still love you, baby. Everywhere I look, I see your eyes. There’s not another woman that comes close to you… c’mon, baby, dry your eyes…” ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/83 "2007-08-14T22:11:34Z")
[QUOTE=Ludovic] I’ve never heard this song, but I suspect it’s disqualified, as even _happy_ Cure songs are _depressing_. [/QUOTE] I dunno, here is a [Firefly tribute video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVV_vS5H2gI) that uses the song. It’s wistful. Also, the OP didn’t say “bands whose songs are often sad, macabre, strange and depressing are disqualified.” either. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sophistry_and_Illusion)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/84 "2007-08-14T23:34:03Z")
[QUOTE=control-z] Hurt - Johnny Cash, also Nine Inch Nails did the original [/QUOTE] This is a great song, and Johnny Cash is one of my favorite artists. I only wish he had recorded this song 5 or 10 years earlier, when his voice was stronger and more expressive. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/85 "2007-08-14T23:39:28Z")
[QUOTE=Sophistry and Illusion] This is a great song, and Johnny Cash is one of my favorite artists. I only wish he had recorded this song 5 or 10 years earlier, when his voice was stronger and more expressive. [/QUOTE] The frailty you can hear in his performance adds depth to the song I think. He might not have been able to put the same strength into the performance that he once could, but he still got the meaning across. It was a sort of opus by him. All his life’s experience went into that performance, all that he had felt, and was feeling. ---
**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, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/86 "2007-08-14T23:50:15Z")
[QUOTE=Zabali\_Clawbane] I dunno, here is a [Firefly tribute video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVV_vS5H2gI) that uses the song. It’s wistful. Also, the OP didn’t say “bands whose songs are often sad, macabre, strange and depressing are disqualified.” either. 😉 [/QUOTE] The OP _did say_ “-est” and “ever”, but realizes now how impossible that is. 😃 But sticking to love songs should be no problem. For example, also by Johnny Cash who I love, "[Give My Love to Rose"](http://www.lyricsdepot.com/johnny-cash/give-my-love-to-rose.html). It’s about love, but not about lost love. Johnny had a most excellent TV show in '69 or so. It was, I think, the best music show on TV at the time, but he pissed off a lot of his “core” audience. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2007, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/87 "2007-08-15T00:15:54Z")
[QUOTE=villa] [Whiskey Lullaby](http://www.lyrics007.com/Brad%20Paisley%20Lyrics/Whiskey%20Lullaby%20(Featuring%20Alison%20Krauss)%20Lyrics.html) - Brad Paisley & Allison Krauss. “She put him out, like the burning end of a midnight cigarette.” I mean, who hasn’t been there… [/QUOTE] yup. I came here to mention this one. This is the total redneck Romeo and Juliet. > [@](#): > > The rumors flew but nobody know how much she blamed herself > For years and years she tried to hide the whiskey on her breath > She finally drank her pain away a little at a time > But she never could get drunk enough to get him off her mind > Until the night > > **She put that bottle to her head and pulled the trigger** > And finally drank away his memory > Life is short but this time it was bigger > Than the strength she had to get up off her knees The line bolded always touches a note with me. ---
**Author:** ![Sanders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sanders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sanders)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2007, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/88 "2007-08-15T00:21:16Z")
_Grace_, all the more because it’s true: As we gather in the chapel here in old Kilmainham Jail I think about these past few weeks, oh will they say we’ve failed? From our school days they have told us we must yearn for liberty Yet all I want in this dark place is to have you here with me _Fields of Athenry_ is up there, too. ---
**Author:** ![phungi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phungi/32/395_2.png) [@phungi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phungi)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2007, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/89 "2007-08-15T00:38:37Z")
Two Pearl Jam songs come to mind: [I Got Shit](http://www.theskyiscrape.com/website/wikijam/index.php/I_Got_Shit): > [@](#): > > My lips are shakin’ my nails are bit off > Been a month since i’ve heard myself talk > All the advantage this life’s got on me > Picture a cup in the middle of the sea [Light Years](http://www.theskyiscrape.com/website/wikijam/index.php/Light_Years): > [@](#): > > …I’ve understood feelings.. and I’ve understood words… > But how could you be taken away?.. > > And wherever you’ve gone…and wherever we might go… > It don’t seem fair…today just disappeared… > Your light’s reflected now,… reflected from afar… > We were but stones,… your light made us stars Of course, there is always Terry Jackson’s [Seasons in the Sun](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seasons_in_the_Sun), the Verve Pipe’s [The Freshman](http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=2474), and [Can’t Live](http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~maverick/old_public_html/lyrics/WithoutYou.html) by various artists… ---
**Author:** ![percussion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/43a26b/32.png) [@percussion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/percussion)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2007, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/90 "2007-08-15T01:09:21Z")
Grapefruit moon - Tom Waits!! ---
**Author:** ![percussion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/43a26b/32.png) [@percussion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/percussion)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2007, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/91 "2007-08-15T01:15:03Z")
lyrics! Grapefruit moon, one star shining, shining down on me. Heard that tune, and now I’m pining, honey, can’t you see? 'Cause every time I hear that melody, well, something breaks inside, And the grapefruit moon, one star shining, can’t turn back the tide. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2007, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/92 "2007-08-15T01:25:05Z")
I love the Indigo Girls version of “Romeo and Juliet” even more than the Dire Straits original. Here are the two saddest love songs of all time… “Lover, You Should’ve Come Over” by Jeff Buckley > [@](#): > > Lonely is the room the bed is made > The open window lets the rain in > Burning in the corner is the only one > Who dreams he had you with him > My body turns and yearns for a sleep > That won’t ever come And the most heartbreak in the fewest lyrics…Josh Ritter’s “Drive Away”. > [@](#): > > I don’t have any questions that you can not answer > I’m pretty simple that way > Any fears I have left are just ghosts of ghosts > That you drove away ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2007, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/93 "2007-08-15T01:27:50Z")
Lyrics don’t mean much when its a song about feeling…and true sadness is all feeling. “My Immortal” doesn’t have tragic lyrics but it’s melancholy is powerful. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2007, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/94 "2007-08-15T02:55:58Z")
Cheap Trick’s _The Flame_. Righteous Brothers’ _Unchained Melody_. ---
**Author:** ![denquixote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@denquixote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/denquixote)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2007, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/95 "2007-08-15T10:25:11Z")
Another vote for “He stopped loving her today.” Also the most unheralded soul group in history “The Checkmates Ltd.” singing “Love is all I have to give.” ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2007, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/96 "2007-08-15T11:16:03Z")
No love for Johnny Preston’s _Running Bear_ ? Yeah, I guess it was kind of sappy. More seriously, I nominate Dylan’s _Simple Twist of Fate_ . > [@](#): > > He woke up, the room was bare > He didn’t see her anywhere. > He told himself he didn’t care, pushed the window open wide, > Felt an emptiness inside to which he just could not relate > Brought on by a simple twist of fate. ---
**Author:** ![pprgrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f6c823/32.png) [@pprgrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pprgrl)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2007, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/97 "2007-08-15T11:43:50Z")
“Independence Day” by Ani DiFranco > [@](#): > > so many sheep I quit counting > sleepless and embarrassed about the way that I feel > trying to make mole hills out of mountains > building base camp at the bottom of a really big deal > and did I tell you how I stopped eating? > when you stopped calling me > and I was cramped up shitting rivers for weeks > and pretending that I was finally free ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2007, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/98 "2007-08-15T11:55:27Z")
Another vote for “Romeo & Juliet”, just to hammer home that it wins the thread 😉 It is widely regarded as being about Knopfler’s romance with Holly Vincent, an (ultimately) minor recording artist herself. If you want a real rollercoaster ride, listen to “Romeo & Juliet”, then “It Never Rains”, then “Love over Gold”, the latter two being tracks off Dire Straits’ Love Over Gold set. Other band members have confirmed that their understanding is that all three are about Holly Vincent, though I’m not sure how much they know and how much they are guessing given Knopfler’s legendary reticence (his magical ability with the written word and his mumbling ineloquence in any interview I’ve ever heard are remarkable for their disparity). “Romeo & Juliet” is of course all about a starry eyed lover singing in stunned disbelief, which kicks me in the guts every time. “It Never Rains” is an angry, vicious and slightly gloating song accusing an ex-lover of whoring herself to further her career but ultimately getting nowhere - “you threw people over on your way up, 'cos you thought that you were never coming down”. Finally, “Love over Gold” is more forgiving - picturing a former lover as being more capricious than deliberately hurtful - “you go dancing through doorways, just to see what you will find…” Gosh, I think I’d better go down to my workshop and do some manful things: I’m coming over all mushy just thinking about this stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2007, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/99 "2007-08-15T12:47:14Z")
I keep thinking of more… While this is somewhat untraditional, I’ve always been extremely moved by Aerosmith’s ‘‘What it Takes,’’ which I hold as their best ballad to date. \* Well I used to feel your fire But now it’s cold inside And you’re back on the street Like you didn’t miss a beat\* Garth Brooks has some particularly sniff-worthy songs, too. The one that always rips me up is ‘‘Learning to Live Again,’’ which as far as I can make out is a man who lost his wife in a car accident and is trying to re-enter the dating scene at the urging of his friends. _Little cafe, table for four But there’s just conversation for three I like the way she let me get the door I wonder what she thinks of me._ At the end of the date, he realizes he really does like the woman, and he asks if he can see her again. _And she just smiles her best smile And she laughs like it’s going out of style Looks into my eyes and says, "We’ll see. Oh this learning to live again is killing me. God this learning to live again is killing me.’’_ ☹ ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2007, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/100 "2007-08-15T13:09:01Z")
[QUOTE=Finagle] I’m partial to “Forever Autumn” by Justin Hayward of the Moody Blues. “The summer sun is fading as the year grows old And darker days are drawing near… The winter winds will be much colder Now you’re not here” Ooh yeah, that’s cheery. [/QUOTE] This song is on my “Music to Commit Suicide By” CD… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518.md?page=6)