# Songs that always make you cry **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 31, 2006, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-always-make-you-cry/342419 "2006-01-31T22:32:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-always-make-you-cry/342419/61 "2006-02-01T15:14:49Z")
**To Sir With Love** - Lulu **Because you loved me** - Celine Dion ---
**Author:** ![sunfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@sunfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunfish)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-always-make-you-cry/342419/62 "2006-02-01T15:38:37Z")
_The Living Years_ by Mike and the Mechanics. _Pie Jésu_ from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s _Requiem_ (don’t laugh). ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-always-make-you-cry/342419/63 "2006-02-01T15:39:33Z")
Aw, damn. Y’all had to bring up country. “Tell Me I Was Dreaming” is about enough to put me in a sobbing fit. Yes, I’m a sap, I know. And of course “Ghost In This House”. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-always-make-you-cry/342419/64 "2006-02-01T15:43:29Z")
_Everybody Hurts_ by REM. The song is sad enough, but it was playing when my friends and I were all heading out to the cemetery to bury my mom. I had finally gotten control of myself but as soon as the song came on I lost it again. I’m getting teary eyed again just thinking about it, and it’s been a good eleven years now. Amazing Grace, especially the bagpipes version, does the same thing to me. It’s a tradition to play it at our family funerals (unfortunately I’ve heard it too many times). ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-always-make-you-cry/342419/65 "2006-02-01T15:54:01Z")
> [@Little Plastic Ninja](#): > > Aw, damn. Y’all had to bring up country. “Tell Me I Was Dreaming” is about enough to put me in a sobbing fit. Yes, I’m a sap, I know. > > And of course “Ghost In This House”. The VIDEO for Tell Me I’m Not Dreaming slays me every time. The song never got to me until I saw the video. Now, one verse and I’m biting my lip. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-always-make-you-cry/342419/66 "2006-02-01T16:13:13Z")
“By My Side” from GODSPELL (Jesus’s girl-disciples asking to go wherever He’s destined for, while Judas plots the betrayal) and heard Monday night on 7th HEAVEN when everyone was visiting Sandy (the older Duff sister) & her new baby, Kate Bush’s “This Woman’s Work” - I was sobbing like a whiny b\*tch with a skinned knee. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-always-make-you-cry/342419/67 "2006-02-01T16:27:46Z")
> [@TellMeI'mNotCrazy](#): > > The VIDEO for Tell Me I’m Not Dreaming slays me every time. The song never got to me until I saw the video. Now, one verse and I’m biting my lip. Yeah, I should have clarified that. I remember the first time I saw it and being absolutely gobsmacked, staring at the TV. Bastard Travis Tritt manipulatin’ my emotions like that… ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-always-make-you-cry/342419/68 "2006-02-01T16:30:24Z")
There are two songs that always choke me up. The first is Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide”, and the second is Luther Vandross’s “Dance with my Father”. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-always-make-you-cry/342419/69 "2006-02-01T16:31:42Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > “By My Side” from GODSPELL (Jesus’s girl-disciples asking to go wherever He’s destined for, while Judas plots the betrayal) “All Good Gifts”, also from Godspell, makes me cry. And I’m not even a Christian! ---
**Author:** ![ddgryphon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8c91f0/32.png) [@ddgryphon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ddgryphon)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-always-make-you-cry/342419/70 "2006-02-01T16:44:37Z")
The usual Suspects get me: Vincent Alone Again, Naturally [Same Auld Lang Syne](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/d/dan-fogelberg/35792.html) by Dan Fogleberg (especially when the snow turns into rain) [My Father](http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=88251&messages=8) by Judy Collins (scroll down) and the last two verses always put a tear to my eye when I hear [Die Erlkönig](http://ingeb.org/Lieder/werreite.html) ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-always-make-you-cry/342419/71 "2006-02-01T16:52:09Z")
The first one that came to mind is _Ashokan Farewell_ from the PBS _Civil War_ series. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-always-make-you-cry/342419/72 "2006-02-01T16:59:29Z")
> [@Speaker for the Dead](#): > > The first one that came to mind is _Ashokan Farewell_ from the PBS _Civil War_ series. How true. There’s one that I’ve heard Garrison Keillor do and I’m not sure of the real title, but it’s something like _The Band Played Waltzing Matilda_. And I’d say that two out of three times I’ll tear up with Lightfoot’s Edmund Fitzgerald ballad. Whoever pointed to _Over the Rainbow_ reminded me of an event (wedding reception) where I heard that done with just a guitar and a sax. I cried like a child it was so haunting. No words, but the way they played made me think of every word in my own mind. That’s some heavy shit! ---
**Author:** ![hamwater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/0ea827/32.png) [@hamwater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hamwater)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-always-make-you-cry/342419/73 "2006-02-01T17:55:44Z")
I Hope You Dance always makes my throat close up a little. ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-always-make-you-cry/342419/74 "2006-02-01T18:04:35Z")
so many great songs already mentioned (“The Dutchman”, “And the Band played Waltzing Matilda”). so many reasons songs can make you cry - topic, personal associations, power of the music and/or words themselves, pathos or corniness… These will make my eyes well up - “Hey That’s No Way to Say Goodbye” - by Leonard Cohen 3 from Dylan’s “Blood on the Tracks” - “You’re gonna make me lonesome when you go”, “You’re a Big Girl Now” and “If You see Her Say Hello” and “In Dreams” , from the Fellowship of the Ring soundtrack. ---
**Author:** ![Plynck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Plynck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plynck)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-always-make-you-cry/342419/75 "2006-02-01T18:32:23Z")
Not really teary, but choked up. No really, just something in my eye, that’s all… > [@piggy](#): > > Steve Goodman’s rendition of **The Dutchman**. Written by Michael Smith. His _Sister Clarissa_ always gets me, and I’m not Catholic. > [@PookahMacPhellimey](#): > > I’ve been known to get weepy over _Jolene_ by Dolly Parton. You may want to listen to Mindy Smith’s version (I think it may be a hidden song). Also, _One Moment More_ (also by Mindy Smith), about losing her mother. > [@PookahMacPhellimey](#): > > A lot of Townes van Zandt songs will make me cry, especially (\*Quicksilver Daydreams of) Maria \* which is not sad but very touching. Yep. With you on these. Townes is terrific. > [@PookahMacPhellimey](#): > > I hardly ever get through any Patty Griffin album without crying my eyes out. It’s something in her voice that really gets to me. The worst are _Making Pies_, _The Long Ride Home_, _Tony_ and especially _Useless Desires_. Actually, I was surprised that **stpauler** hadn’t mentioned Patty first 😉 . I vote for _Rain_ as the one that always gets me, with _My Dear Old Friend_ and _Top of the World_ tied for second. Additional votes for _Fire and Rain_, and for _Don’t Give Up_. Emmy Lou Harris - _Red Dirt Girl_ James Kealaghan - _Cold Missouri Waters_ Pete Morton/Sally Barker/The Poozies - _Another Train_ Victoria Williams/Pearl Jam - _Crazy Mary_ Dougie MacLean - _Feel So Near_ (and a whole bunch more) John Prine - _Hello in There_ Beth Nielsen Chapman - _Sand and Water_ Sandy Denny - _Who Knows Where the Time Goes?_ and _Stardust_ by just about anyone ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-always-make-you-cry/342419/76 "2006-02-01T20:51:11Z")
> [@Speaker for the Dead](#): > > The first one that came to mind is _Ashokan Farewell_ from the PBS _Civil War_ series. I liked that one so much I got the sheet music for the violin. I’ve memorized it now, at least the violin part, and I can still play it pretty well. Makes me want to pull it out from under my bed when I get home… ---
**Author:** ![Chanteuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de053/32.png) [@Chanteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chanteuse)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-always-make-you-cry/342419/77 "2006-02-01T22:29:43Z")
> [@Little Plastic Ninja](#): > > Yeah, I should have clarified that. I remember the first time I saw it and being absolutely gobsmacked, staring at the TV. > > Bastard Travis Tritt manipulatin’ my emotions like that… ☹ Yeah, I know what you mean. I just _hated_ to see Annie die like that, after the way she and Travis were reconciled in the first half of the story (the video to _Anymore_)–now the song itself is enough to make me melancholy! ---
**Author:** ![Ronald\_C.Semone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cc9497/32.png) [@Ronald\_C.Semone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ronald_C.Semone)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-always-make-you-cry/342419/78 "2006-02-01T22:44:58Z")
Any version of “I’ll Take You Home Again. Kathleen.” Especially when you think about the context: an Irish immigrant to America speaking to his dying wife 40 or 50 years after they fled as newly-weds the potato famine to settle in the New World, never again to see the Emerald Isle. ---
**Author:** ![Khan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3ab097/32.png) [@Khan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khan)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-always-make-you-cry/342419/79 "2006-02-01T23:00:10Z")
**Fields of Gold** by Sting. It’s a _wistful_, haunting song in itself, but the fact that someone I was with for a long time liked it so much doesn’t help me much when it plays. I suppose you could call it “our song.” Steve Wariner’s **Two Tears** made my throat close up the first time I heard it at work when I was 17, but I haven’t thought of it much until more recently. The parallel stories of the blue-eyed bride and her brown-eyed ex who she left with “questions but not any answers” really strikes close to home. And even though I don’t particularly like country music, the girl who it reminds me of really did. **Dream on** by Aerosmith. I watched our dog die in my mom’s arms in January of 2000. He had been sick and wasn’t very interested in his normal dry food, so my mom sent me to the grocery store to get him something from a can. The song was on the radio as I drove home, and it ended just as I pulled up to our house. More generally, though, **Bridge over Troubled Waters** and **The Boxer** by Simon and Garfunkle tend to get me a little misty. I do have memories that go with these songs, but they’re both very moving to begin with. The Beatles’ **Let it Be** provides a quick emotional release too. Lastly, **Way to Fall** by Starsailor. It’s great to listen to while depressed. ---
**Author:** ![Bomzaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e480ec/32.png) [@Bomzaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bomzaway)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-always-make-you-cry/342419/80 "2006-02-02T00:16:44Z")
> [@hamwater](#): > > I Hope You Dance always makes my throat close up a little. There it is. I don’t listen to that style of music generally, but that song chokes me up. Perhaps because I have daughters of my own, and I suppose that’s why Paul Simon’s \*Father and Daughter \* gets to me a bit as well. Also, The Waterboys - _Spirit_ and _Fisherman’s Blues_ Rush - _The Pass_ Joni Mitchell - _Both Sides Now_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-always-make-you-cry/342419.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-always-make-you-cry/342419.md?page=5)