# Saddest song you know **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 11, 2014, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-song-you-know/683461 "2014-03-11T17:50:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-song-you-know/683461/61 "2014-03-12T03:42:03Z")
For me, a toss up between Concrete Blonde’s _[Joey](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdpTcvSn8HQ)_ and Evanescence’s _[My Immortal](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IHszGKqFOU)_. Of course pop music is one thing. For true, mind-numbing, soul-crushing sadness, nothing beats a classical piece like _[Adagio for Strings](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcflwUYYoXk)_… ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-song-you-know/683461/62 "2014-03-12T04:13:50Z")
If we’re going the classical route, [Abinoni’s Adagio in G Minor](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdc4D7Eib78) literally hits every sad note in the book. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-song-you-know/683461/63 "2014-03-12T04:17:29Z")
Since I had to look it up anyway, [Into The West](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24fGmWG6kpg) by Annie Lennox. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-song-you-know/683461/64 "2014-03-12T04:27:45Z")
[Johnny Cash - Hurt.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmVAWKfJ4Go) I think this is a contender, especially considering the context. In the same vein (and with the same name), [Christina Aguilera - Hurt.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcAiasm3ooM) ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-song-you-know/683461/65 "2014-03-12T04:38:52Z")
Nobody’s mentioned Elanor Rigby by The Beatles. Also Queen’s Save Me and U2’s Love Is Blindness. ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-song-you-know/683461/66 "2014-03-12T04:41:03Z")
> [@Helena330](#): > > Mike & The Mechanics _The Living Years._ It came out right when my father died, and still breaks me up pretty badly. Can’t even see through the tears while I type. > > http://www.lyricsfreak.com/m/mike+the+mechanics/the+living+years\_20093565.html I once saw this song reduce a room of fifty-eight newly recovering male addicts to blubbering messes when it was played after a lecture on the importance of communication. It was a bit lugubrious but I suspect, for them, refreshingly cathartic. My earliest sad songs were sung to me by my grandmother and still can move me to tears - for mysterious strangers! _Babes in the Woods_ and _Red Wing._ Jeez, Grandma! ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-song-you-know/683461/67 "2014-03-12T04:51:18Z")
Most of my sad songs have been mentioned already, but these haven’t: “The Flowers Of The Forest”, cause I did some research about what it’s really about. John McDermott sings a wonderful cover of it, but there are alternate lyrics. “Too Ra Loo Ra Loo Ra (That’s An Irish Lullaby)”, not because I’m Irish but because my mom passed a couple of years ago. “When I Had You” by Jerry Jeff Walker ---
**Author:** ![dada2fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ccd318/32.png) [@dada2fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dada2fish)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-song-you-know/683461/68 "2014-03-12T05:53:55Z")
Carly Simon’s - That’s the Way I Always Heard It Should Be. The last verse never fails to make me tear up. I guess that says a lot about me. ---
**Author:** ![Silvorange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Silvorange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silvorange)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-song-you-know/683461/69 "2014-03-12T06:17:15Z")
[“When I am Laid in Earth”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGQq3HcOB0Y) by Henry Purcell (from "Dido and Aeneas) [“Not All My Torments”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tBx4d7OE3U), also by Henry Purcell [“Flow my Tears”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkRrzAo9Wl4) by John Dowland And, of course, Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s [“Over the Rainbow/ Wonderful World”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z26BvHOD_sg) medley, which we played at my mom’s funeral. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-song-you-know/683461/70 "2014-03-12T06:29:39Z")
> [@Deeg](#): > > Nobody’s mentioned Elanor Rigby by The Beatles. Also Queen’s Save Me and U2’s Love Is Blindness. I was going to mention “She’s Leaving Home” and forgot to. As for Carly Simon, I recommend [Better Not Tell Her](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5t5KMI8-1vs) ---
**Author:** ![movingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-song-you-know/683461/71 "2014-03-12T06:55:48Z")
“My Father” by Judy Collins. I understand she wrote it as a tribute to her own blind father. When I first heard it I thought of my own father, who was _not_ blind and actually doing quite well at the time. I don’t know; it’s just one of those songs… ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-song-you-know/683461/72 "2014-03-12T07:01:27Z")
_[God Damn The Sun](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jpVtYQIols)_ by **Swans** Or _[Failure](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWStaRmuXzY)_, by same. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-song-you-know/683461/73 "2014-03-12T07:06:13Z")
[Sam Stone](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sl9ZkYViEIs) by John Prine [First Christmas](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chTMOuuUZi4) by Stan Rogers ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-song-you-know/683461/74 "2014-03-12T08:11:32Z")
> [@bup](#): > > [**Christmas Shoes.**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ) I guess there’s a fine line between “sad” and “repulsive.” ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-song-you-know/683461/75 "2014-03-12T08:34:18Z")
I’ve always had a soft spot for “My Sister” by Tindersticks: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/IbSok13hbSs/hqdefault.jpg "Tindersticks - My Sister") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbSok13hbSs) ---
**Author:** ![madrabbitwoman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c37758/32.png) [@madrabbitwoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madrabbitwoman)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-song-you-know/683461/76 "2014-03-12T09:08:52Z")
I will follow you into the dark by Death cab for cutie. Mainly because of the video [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEGXU773tTM](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEGXU773tTM) my other is hello by evanescence [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9x4wmsPTlk](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9x4wmsPTlk) > [@](#): > > This song is about death coming from a child’s point of view. When Amy Lee was 6 years old, her sister Bonnie, who was 3 years old, died. Amy was at school when she found out, hence the line “Playground school bell rings again, rain clouds come to play again.” What she’s saying in the song is what she felt when she found out, and since she was so young, she didn’t fully understand the concept of death. [http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=3207](http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=3207) ---
**Author:** ![NineToTheSky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@NineToTheSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NineToTheSky)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-song-you-know/683461/77 "2014-03-12T09:43:23Z")
[Expecting To Fly](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzMl0-bhNcM) by Neil Young when he was in Buffalo Springfield. Although it’s not about death or other nasties, it’s a heartbreakingly sad song about broken love. The orchestration by Jack Nitzsche is very effective. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-song-you-know/683461/78 "2014-03-12T11:37:00Z")
Maybe not the saddest song per se, but I’ve seen it described as the saddest of all love songs, and I concur: [Bob Dylan - If you see her, say hello](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXtj51pAxkA) ---
**Author:** ![williamweigand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b3f665/32.png) [@williamweigand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/williamweigand)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-song-you-know/683461/80 "2014-03-12T12:09:03Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > “The Kids” by Lou Reed ( from the album _Berlin_ ). Should depress even the most psychotically cheerful person ;). Not familiar with that one, but another that fits the thread’s title - and your description of “The Kids” - is Lou Reed’s “Street Hassle”. Just _thinking_ of the strings music opening the song is enough to raise the pollen count in the room … if you catch my drift. The whole song kills. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-song-you-know/683461/81 "2014-03-12T12:27:55Z")
> [@dataguy](#): > > Michael McDonald, [I Can Let Go Now](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRsu7h7fzms). > > Heartbreak, plain and simple. Everytime I play this I have to immediately play something upbeat to clear the sadness from the room. If you haven’t heard the Alison Krauss version, it really deserves a listen. The whole album is a melancholy treat. > [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > [Where’ve You Been?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nl5Uog-MDGo) by Kathy Mattea. I dare you to listen to the whole song without tearing up. > > ETA: Dammit, **Blob!** Her song “Standing Knee Deep in a River” is another really sad song about friends and love lost. In a close second place for me, Ferron’s “Ain’t Life a Brook”.A song about reconciling your life with your ex after a breakup and watching the facade of “let’s still be friends” slow fade away with that person. [QUOTE=Ain’t Life a Brook] And just the other day I got your letter in the mail I’m happy for you, it’s been so long You’ve been wanting a cabin and a backwoods trail And I think that’s great…me… I seem to find myself in school It’s all Ok, I just want to say I’m so relieved we didn’t do it cruel But ain’t life a brook Just when I get to feeling like a polished stone I give me along drawn look It’s kind of a drag to find yourself alone And sometimes I mind Especially when I’m waiting on your heart But life don’t clickety clack down a straight line track It comes together and it comes apart. [/QUOTE] But first place is a song that gets me every goddamn time. Melissa Etheridge’s "Tuesday Morning". The lyrics are about [Mark Bingham](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Bingham), the gay man who with 3 others helped take down Flight 93 on 9/11. But crossed with those lyrics are the story of a country that marginalized people based on their sexuality. It’s probably because that’s very personal for me that it gets me even now as I’m typing this. > [@](#): > > Even though he could not marry > Or teach your children in our schools > Because who he wants to love > Is breaking your Gods’ rules > He stood up on a Tuesday morning > In the terror he was brave > And he made his choice > And without a doubt > A hundred lives he must have saved > > And the things you might take for granted > Your inalienable rights > Some might chose to deny him > Even though he gave his life > Can you live with yourself in the land of the free > And make him less of a hero than the other three [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-song-you-know/683461.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saddest-song-you-know/683461.md?page=5)