I finally got up the nerve to read this thread, and now I’m sitting here dripping tears on the keyboard. So many, many great songs here. I’m just going to list some of my favorites to listen to when I need a good cry, in no particular order:
I Honestly Love You by Olivia Newton John
Right Here Waiting For You by Richard Marx
I Will Always Love You by Dolly Parton
Crazy by Patsy Cline
Nothing Compares 2 U sung by Sinead O’Connor
He Stopped Loving Her Today by George Jones
I Still Believe In You by vince Gill
Look At Us by Vince Gill
Simon and Garfunkel’s songs, pretty much all of them
Daddy’s Hands by Holly Dunn <I miss you, Daddy>
Leaving On A Jet Plane by John Denver
Cats In The Cradle by Harry Chapin
The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald by Gordon Lightfoot
Unbreak My Heart by Toni Braxton
When I Call Your Name by Vince Gill
Tryin’ To Get Over You by Vince Gill
Fire And Rain by James Taylor
The Dance by Garth Brooks
Just When I Needed You Most by Randy VanWarmer
Puff The Magic Dragon {{{{Roachman}}}}}
Coat Of May Colors by Dolly Parton
Are You Lonesome Tonight by Elvis
Separate Lives by Phil Collins
What She’s Doing Now by Garth Brooks
Never Knew Lonely by Vince Gill
The Heart Won’t Lie sung with Reba McEntire and Vince Gill
Almost anything sung by Michael Bolton
Amazing Grace <I miss you Mom and Daddy>
I’m going to go cry myself to sleep now, alone in our bed…I miss you, my love, so much…
I would have included “Puff the Magic Dragon” AND “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes”
Also Magnet and Steel. And Over the Rainbow.
“If music be the food of love, play on;
Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken, and so die.”
–Twelfth Night, Act 1, scene i
(For some reason, I’m in a particularly bitter mood tonight with respect to marriage and relationships. You’d think it was me, and not soulsling, that broke up with someone. But maybe it’s as bad to have given up as it is to have broken up. BTW, I’m not being misogynistic, rather I blame myself for not having anyone. I’d probably be less frustrated if I had a strawwoman to knock down)
so what is love then is it dictated or chosen
(handed down and made by hand)
does it sing like the hymns of 1000 years
or is it just pop emotion
(handed down and made by hand)
and if it ever was there and it left
does it mean it was never true
and to exist it must elude
is that why i think these things of you
i could go crazy on a night like tonight
when summer’s beginning to give up her fight
and every thought’s a possibility
and the voices are heard but nothing is seen
why do you spend this time with me
may be an equal mystery
-mystery, Indigo Girls
Apollyon/Coldfire - Prior to signing on to the MB today, I listened to not only The Wall (skipping a few tracks but NEVER skipping the fabulous “Mother”, which is outshone only by “Goodbye Blue Sky” and “Hey You”) and The Final Cut (“One of the Few” and “The Gunner’s Dream” were the highlights this time), but also several selections each from Wish You Were Here and Dark Side. After having an awful day yesterday that was exceeded only the the four-times-as-awful evening, I knew I couldn’t face the morning alone, so I tucked my Floyd cd’s into my bag last night in anticipation of some solitary depression today. I haven’t been disappointed…well…I guess I have, that’s part of the problem…but at least I’ve been predictably depressed and have had some Floyd to help drag me through the morning hours. (I did resist the urge to put on my video of “The Wall” before dawn, thinking that would jeopardize my making it out from under the covers at all.)
There are just never enough good depressing songs when you need them, but Floyd is certainly a good place to start.
I’ll second Leonard Cohen’s Suzanne, but for me the Cohen song most likely to make me get misty is Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye:
I loved you in the morning, our kisses deep and warm,
your hair upon the pillow like a sleepy golden storm,
yes, many loved before us, I know that we are not new,
in city and in forest they smiled like me and you,
but now it’s come to distances and both of us must try,
your eyes are soft with sorrow,
Hey, that’s no way to say goodbye.
I’m not looking for another as I wander in my time,
walk me to the corner, our steps will always rhyme
you know my love goes with you as your love stays with me,
it’s just the way it changes, like the shoreline and the sea,
but let’s not talk of love or chains and things we can’t untie,
your eyes are soft with sorrow,
Hey, that’s no way to say goodbye.
I loved you in the morning, our kisses deep and warm,
your hair upon the pillow like a sleepy golden storm,
yes many loved before us, I know that we are not new,
in city and in forest they smiled like me and you,
but let’s not talk of love or chains and things we can’t untie,
your eyes are soft with sorrow,
Hey, that’s no way to say goodbye.
For me, it’s Billy Joel’s Lullabye (Good Night My Angel)
Goodnight, my angel
Time to close your eyes
And save these questions for another day
I think I know what you’ve been asking me
I think you know what I’ve been trying to say
I promised I would never leave you
And you should always know
Wherever you may go
No matter where you are
I never will be far away
Goodnight, my angel
Now it’s time to sleep
And still so many things I want to say
Remember all the songs you sang for me
When we went sailing on an emerald bay
And like a boat out on the ocean
I’m rocking you to sleep
The water’s dark
And deep inside this ancient heart
You’ll always be a part of me
Goodnight, my angel
Now it’s time to dream
And dream how wonderful your life will be
Someday your child may cry
And if you sing this lullabye
Then in your heart
There will always be a part of me
Someday we’ll all be gone
But lullabyes go on and on…
They never die
That’s how you
And I
Will be
Geez, my eyes are welling up just reading it. I’m sure he wrote it for his daughter about his divorce from Christy Brinkly, but it reminds me of an ex-GF who I would’ve asked to marry me if I’d had the chance.
I don’t even know the title or the singer of this tune, the only time I’ve ever heard it is in the movie “Major League” (when Tom Berrenger takes the bullpen car to chase after his girl):
Other songs:
-Cat’s in the Cradle (Harry Chapin)
-In the Living Years (Mike + The Mechanics)
-And So It Goes (Billy Joel)
-Far Far Away From My Heart (BoDeans)
[quote]
First we lived in India
In the winter it rains there every day
We were younger then, we were children in India
And there were signs and people we’d never understand
And you said “Hold my hand,” and I held your hand
And there’s one of me, and one of you
Two of us with one hundred questions and two thousand reasons
Ten’s a perfect number
We are twenty thousand hearts full of hunger
Twenty thousand hearts…
Then we’re dancing in Geneva,
It’s New Year’s Eve and all the Americans are there
They say it’s still last year in New York City
You say “New York where?”
I said “New York City is three thousand miles away”
And you said “What’s a mile?” I said “It’s far away.”
And there’s one of me, and one of you
Two of us with one hundred questions and two thousand reasons
Ten’s a perfect number
We are twenty thousand hearts full of hunger
Twenty thousand hearts…
Now you ask me to explain myself, and I tell you I need distance
You say “To hell with distance, remember who you’re talking to.”
I say “Closeness is too much for me” and dismiss you with a smile
You say “Wish away the closeness, and imagine it’s a mile.”
And there’s one of me, and one of you
Two of us with one hundred questions and two thousand reasons
Ten’s a perfect number
We are twenty thousand hearts full of hunger
Twenty thousand hearts…[/quote}
– Twenty Thousand Hearts, by Eddie From Ohio. He singer wrote it for his sister, but I always remember a good college friend that I’ve grown apart from. And we used to be really close too. sigh
She stands twelve feet above the flood
She stares alone across the water
The loneliness grows and slowly fills
Her frozen body sliding downwards
One by one her senses die
The memories fade and leave her eyes
Still seeing worlds that never were
And one by one the bright birds leave her…
Starting at the violent sound
She tries to turn, but final, noiseless
Slips and strikes her soft dark head
The water bows, receives her
And drowns her at its ease
Drowns her at its ease…
I would have left the world all bleeding
Could I only help you love
The fleeting shapes so many years ago
So young and beautiful and brave
Everything was true
It couldn’t be a story…
I wish it was all true
I wish it couldn’t be a story
The words all left me lifeless, hoping
Breathing like the drowning man…
Oh Fucshia! You leave me
Breathing like the drowning man
Glad to see all of the other country music fans out in force. Many country songs make me cry (I’m a sensitive gal ;)), but I’m gonna call this Kathy Mattea tune the most moving:
WHERE’VE YOU BEEN
Claire had all but given up
When she and Edwin fell in love
She touched his face and shook her head
In disbelief, she sighed and said,
“In many dreams I’ve held you near
Now, at last, you’re really here.”
“Where’ve you been?
I’ve looked for you forever and a day
Where’ve you been?
I’m just not myself when you’re away.”
He asked her for her hand for life
And she became a salesman’s wife
He was home each night by eight
But one stormy evening, he was late
Her frightened tears fell to the floor
Until his key turned in the door.
“Where’ve you been?
I’ve looked for you forever and a day
Where’ve you been?
I’m just not myself when you’re away.”
They’d never spent a night apart
For sixty years she heard him snore
Now they’re in a hospital
In separate beds on different floors
Claire soon lost her memory
Forgot the names of family
She never spoke a word again
Then one day, they wheeled him in
He held her hand and stroked her hair
In a fragile voice she said,
“Where’ve you been?
I’ve looked for you forever and a day
Where’ve you been?
I’m just not myself when you’re away.
No, I’m just not myself when you’re away.”
I first heard this song years ago. Kathy Mattea (a very talented lady with a lovely voice) was on some panel show on the Nashville Network. There were several other female country singers on the show with her (K. T. Oslin for sure and maybe EmmyLou Harris and at least one other I’ve forgotten). Nice quiet show – the women were just chatting and taking it in turns to sing. Towards the end, Kathy sang this one, prefacing it by saying that it was a brand new pick for an upcoming album – she hadn’t even cut the song yet. When she finished every woman on the panel was in tears and Kathy smiled and commented that she had had to sing it dozens of times before she could get through it without crying herself. A very powerful song.
I can’t hear it without crying. I watch my daughter sleeping, and know she’s growing up faster than I’m ready for. I also think of my son, who will be leaving for college in less than 3 months.
Wow, so many great songs, but very few of them affect me deeply. Definitely “Mother”, as well as “Comfortably Numb” and Elton John’s “Daniel”. Most of the songs that make me cry are about death.
Here’re a few choice lyrics:
Daisy’s Dead, Spirit of the West
She flew home in the hull of a jet
Between the bags and the family pets.
And no one came to offer tea
And the movie that she never saw
Was one she’d wanted to see.
Home is where you lay your dead…
Resurrection, Spirit of the West
At her funeral I never felt the grave
Never kissed the dead, had a laugh instead
Made a funny girl count nine best friends
Look how they adore her, standing here before her
With words in their pockets, hearts on their sleeves
They sang her praise, I felt her breathe
And her photographs hung upon the wall
Of the little Jewish hall
And beautiful was her comet.
Spirit of the West’s lyrics aren’t all like this, really.
I’ve been going through some hard times right now, so a lot of songs mean a lot to me, but these two stand out in my mind:
Ravine, by Ace of Base
This other one is Live Wire by the Beastie Boys. This one makes me cry because I have a friend that’s on drugs right now, and I myself have been struggling with self-injury…this song sums up a lot of what my friends have been sounding like lately…
Live Wire
Great, I’m getting teary-eyed just writing it…sorry.
Well I didn’t read through -all- of the other posts, so if this one has already been posted, I apologise.
From Brooks & Dunn’s “He’s Got You”
He’ll hold you tonight, but I won’t.
What’s he got that I don’t?
One thing I thought that I’d never lose…
He’s got you…
That’s one that just really bugs me, probably because I still haven’t gotten over my last gf and this little air force dorm room gets pretty lonely at night.
blah…
