# 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:** 8
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2007, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/141 "2007-08-18T16:45:00Z")
[QUOTE=olivesmarch4th] What makes that song even sadder is that it’s supposed to be about his Mom, and (if the video is any indication) his regret now that his Mom is dead. ETA: Wiki link: [Hate Me.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hate_Me) [/QUOTE] The video is linked on youtube in post #123. Thanks for the informative wiki link. ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2007, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/142 "2007-08-18T17:34:42Z")
This is a great thread, but please remember to only post a few lines of a song and then link to the rest so as to avoid [post=6769907]copyright issues[/post]. I’ve gone through and removed excess lyrics for a lot of the posts, so if you see that your post has been edited, that’s the reason why. ---
**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 18, 2007, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/143 "2007-08-18T17:37:03Z")
> [@](#): > > The video is linked on youtube in post #123. Thanks for the informative wiki link. Oh, thanks. I have no idea how I missed that post. According to the link, though, it does say his Mom is still alive, it just made him think of her. I’m sure it touches a chord with lots of people, though. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2007, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/144 "2007-08-18T18:08:41Z")
I vote Willie Nelson’s “Always On My Mind.” He loves her to pieces, but he knows he’s fucked up-- not just once, but lifetime’s worth. And Marvin Gaye’s “I Heard it Through the Grapevine.” Not CCR’s, not Gladys’, but Marvin’s. If you listen closely, you can actually hear his heart breaking. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2007, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/145 "2007-08-18T18:09:19Z")
[QUOTE=olivesmarch4th] Oh, thanks. I have no idea how I missed that post. According to the link, though, it does say his Mom is still alive, it just made him think of her. I’m sure it touches a chord with lots of people, though. [/QUOTE] I actually wondered about that last scene. I couldn’t decide whether she was alive, or the scene was a good time he was remembering. If she’s alive, then what’s with the graveyard scene? And check the looks on the faces of the band members. One does hope, though, that she is indeed alive. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2007, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/146 "2007-08-18T20:50:10Z")
On the way home from breakfast I heard Tracy Chapman singing “Fast Car”. The lyrics are hopeful, but Tracy soesn’t sound really convinced. It always makes me feel sad for her. I think the melancholy will be more apparent if you’ve ever been _really, really_ poor. Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![Memphisgreene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/74df32/32.png) [@Memphisgreene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Memphisgreene)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2007, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/147 "2007-08-18T20:58:08Z")
The saddest love song that I’ve heard is “My Very Best” by Elbow, about the singer breaking up with a girl but being proud to have known her and wishes things could have worked out as he still, in a ways, loves her. Give that girl my very best Though it never made the grade When it seems that it’s just not enough to love Then love lie down ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2007, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/148 "2007-08-18T21:54:23Z")
Here’s Bob Dylan, [Your long time curse hurts but what’s worse is this pain in here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueGuzmotwaI) _almost_ vunerable, 'cause he “just don’t fit”. 😉 Time for us to quit. Mangeorge ---
**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 18, 2007, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/149 "2007-08-18T22:01:54Z")
> [@](#): > > I actually wondered about that last scene. I couldn’t decide whether she was alive, or the scene was a good time he was remembering. > If she’s alive, then what’s with the graveyard scene? And check the looks on the faces of the band members. > One does hope, though, that she is indeed alive. Yeah, I think the Wiki says the song was originally being written for an ex-girlfriend, but the writer just kept thinking about all the people in his life who he had loved. I guess the video is supposed to be more like a warning for others. From the Wiki: > [@](#): > > " Basically, I was in L.A. for awhile, and going through some stuff…and my mom hadn’t heard from me for three or four months, and she was just kinda getting worried about me and checking into see if I had re-upped all my medication. Which I hadn’t. And she probably knew that, cause of mom’s intuition, you know…they always know when something’s wrong. And I actually realized at the beginning of that song that it wasn’t just a song about relationships anymore, it was more of a song about a universal theme about not forgetting who’s important to you, and things like that…so I wanted to add my mom into the beginning of that just cause you only get one chance at having a great relationship with everybody you’re surrounded with." ETA: Fast Car is a really moving song too. It’s just so matter of fact about some very tough realities. ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2007, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/150 "2007-08-18T23:42:14Z")
I nominate [And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPFjToKuZQM&mode=related&search=). No, its not about love unrequited or lost, but how can you listen to this and not just sit there in stunned silence? ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2007, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/151 "2007-08-19T00:48:55Z")
[QUOTE=divemaster] I nominate [And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPFjToKuZQM&mode=related&search=). No, its not about love unrequited or lost, but how can you listen to this and not just sit there in stunned silence? [/QUOTE] You’re absolutely right. I just could not sit through the whole tune. I was stunned into submission. Or something. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![theater\_in\_a\_crowded\_fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aca169/32.png) [@theater\_in\_a\_crowded\_fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/theater_in_a_crowded_fire)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2007, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/152 "2007-08-19T01:17:08Z")
This thread actually got me to come out of chronic lurker mode and post. I doubt I can add much considering all the great ones already mentioned, but for me almost any ballad by Paul Thorn qualifies. The one that most comes to mind for me is “Almost What You Need” You smile at me but your green eyes Never linger, you turn away You talk to me and twirl your long hair with your finger, I’m blown away I don’t think there are many of us who haven’t been there in one way or another. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2007, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/153 "2007-08-19T01:29:45Z")
Never was a truer thing said, in my opinion, than: > [@](#): > > hold it true, whate’er befall; > I feel it, when I sorrow most; > 'Tis better to have loved and lost > Than never to have loved at all. From Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem In Memoriam:27, 1850: ---
**Author:** ![rayh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@rayh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rayh)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2007, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/154 "2007-08-19T03:07:36Z")
[This Boy](http://www.sing365.com/music/Lyric.nsf/This-Boy-lyrics-The-Beatles/6FB57A73FF38111548256BC2001CADE6) - the Beatles > [@](#): > > This boy wouldn’t mind the pain > Would always feel the same > If this boy gets you back again [Night of the 4th of May](http://www.lyricsandsongs.com/song/632589.html) - Al Stewart > [@](#): > > And I knew all at once what you’d done > And I heard myself say > “Why did you have to sleep with him > Anyone else > Wouldn’t have mattered > Half > As much as him” [Don’t Cry](http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/seal/dontcry.html) - Seal > [@](#): > > Don’t be so hard on yourself. > Those tears are for someone else. > I hear your voice on the phone. > I hear you feel so alone. > My baby. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2007, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/155 "2007-08-19T03:16:37Z")
Oops…nevermind. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2007, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/156 "2007-08-19T04:20:50Z")
Jim Croce’s [“Operator.”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2iS8XctJKo) I’m surprised we got four pages in and no one had brought it up; in my mind, this is The Great Sad Love Song. Especially that quiet little, “You can keep the dime” in the last verse. ---
**Author:** ![GraceTX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c4cdca/32.png) [@GraceTX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GraceTX)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2007, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/157 "2007-08-19T04:49:25Z")
[QUOTE=Cicero] Both Sides Now by Joni Mitchell. [/QUOTE] I don’t know if you’ve seen _Love Actually_, but there’s a scene in it with Emma Thompson crying while this song is playing and it absolutely breaks my heart. ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2007, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/158 "2007-08-19T12:20:40Z")
“Try not to Breathe” REM, and old man literally trying not to breathe, in order to be less or a burden to his family. “Charley” SPLIT ENZ, the singer wakes up in the morning, wondering why he can’t wake his girlfriend, it becomes clear during the song that he realises he’s killed her. “Raised my hand in anger, hurt you again, dust to dust and fire to ashes you can thank me for nothing now, Charley.” Different kinds of love, definitely not if the ‘she dun broke my heart’ kind. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_0f\_Hearts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bb73d2/32.png) [@Jack\_0f\_Hearts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_0f_Hearts)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2007, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/159 "2007-08-19T13:35:24Z")
I don’t think anyone has mentioned “Love will tear us apart”. By Joy Division Even the singer, Ian Curtis commited suicide before the song was even released When routine bites hard, And ambitions are low, And resentment rides high, But emotions won’t grow, ---
**Author:** ![SandyHook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dec6dc/32.png) [@SandyHook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SandyHook)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2007, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518/160 "2007-08-19T21:03:49Z")
“At Seventeen,” by Janis Ian I learned the truth at seventeen That love was meant for beauty queens And high school girls with clear skinned smiles Who married young and then retired Now that is some sad shit!!! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-love-song-ever/415518.md?page=9)