# Songs that bring you down... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 17, 2012, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-bring-you-down/637952 "2012-10-17T01:21:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cold\_Dish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce7236/32.png) [@Cold\_Dish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cold_Dish)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-bring-you-down/637952/1 "2012-10-17T01:21:27Z")
Any particular song you find depressing when comes on the radio? Mine has to be Harry Chapin’s ‘Cat’s in the Cradle’. So,so sad. ---
**Author:** ![Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8c91f0/32.png) [@Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bam_Boo_Gut)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-bring-you-down/637952/2 "2012-10-17T01:27:02Z")
Red Red Wine. It sounds like a hangover. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-bring-you-down/637952/3 "2012-10-17T01:30:40Z")
Roy Clark-_[Yesterday, When I Was Young](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEY4LxORCeo)_ ---
**Author:** ![Gukumatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/74df32/32.png) [@Gukumatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gukumatz)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-bring-you-down/637952/4 "2012-10-17T03:04:56Z")
Moved from IMHO to Café Society, home of the arts. Gukumatz, IMHO Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-bring-you-down/637952/5 "2012-10-17T03:17:49Z")
\*Are You Alright[/I - Lucinda Williams ---
**Author:** ![NotBob13](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e19b73/32.png) [@NotBob13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NotBob13)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-bring-you-down/637952/6 "2012-10-17T03:40:49Z")
“Please come to Boston” always makes me sad. It is a sad song, and I have some personal history with it and my ex-wife. “Wonderful” and “Father of Mine” both feel like a slight punch in the gut, when I hear them. Not like a mugger’s punch, but like a friend who doesn’t know his own strength. These three songs cut right through my bitter, jaded exterior. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-bring-you-down/637952/7 "2012-10-17T04:41:04Z")
[“Alone Again, Naturally”](http://youtu.be/jzh9TieKS1o) by Gilbert O’Sullivan, the first song I ever heard about suicide. The lyrics that really tear me up though are these: > [@](#): > > I remember I cried when my father died > Never wishing to hide the tears > And at sixty-five years old, > My mother, God rest her soul, > Couldn’t understand why the only man > She had ever loved had been taken > Leaving her to start with her heart > So badly broken > Despite encouragement from me > No words were ever spoken > And when she passed away > I cried and cried all day _sob_ ---
**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:** [October 17, 2012, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-bring-you-down/637952/8 "2012-10-17T05:13:43Z")
Shirley Bassey’s version of [The Ballad of the Sad Young Men](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Mq1WEqFrI4). ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-bring-you-down/637952/9 "2012-10-17T06:32:08Z")
“It Was a Very Good Year” by Frank Sinatra, and “When October Goes” by Barry Manilow. Both remind me of mortality in a bittersweet way. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-bring-you-down/637952/10 "2012-10-17T07:36:58Z")
Wonderful, Wonderful by Johnny Mathis always made me a bit melancholy. When they used it in the finale of Desperate Housewives, it made me sob uncontrollably and I still tear up when I hear it. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-bring-you-down/637952/11 "2012-10-17T08:13:54Z")
[“Dress Rehearsal Rag”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDc2uURjW10&feature=related) by Leonard Cohen. It affects me more as I grow older. ---
**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:** [October 17, 2012, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-bring-you-down/637952/12 "2012-10-17T10:54:25Z")
“Kilkelly,” a modern Irish ballad based on letters exchanged from about 1845 to 1895 between family members who moved to America and others who stayed home in Ireland. Chokes me up every time. The (mostly minor) chords work very well with the lyrics. ---
**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:** [October 17, 2012, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-bring-you-down/637952/13 "2012-10-17T11:56:15Z")
“No Man’s Land,” by Eric Bogle (the version I know was sung by Ed Trickett). Sung to a gravestone of a young WW1 soldier. “Beloved Wife,” by Natalie Merchant. Sung from the perspective of a widower. Beautiful, sad songs. ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-bring-you-down/637952/14 "2012-10-17T13:06:22Z")
I don’t know if it brings me down or just makes me sad, but [Where Have You Been?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nl5Uog-MDGo) by Kathy Mattea always puts a lump in my throat. ---
**Author:** ![Ana\_Byrd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Ana\_Byrd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ana_Byrd)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-bring-you-down/637952/15 "2012-10-17T13:23:29Z")
“Fast Car” by Tracy Chapman comes to mind. > [@](#): > > You see my old man’s got a problem > He lives with the bottle that’s the way it is > He says his body’s too old for working > I say his body’s too young to look like his > My mama went off and left him > She wanted more from life than he could give > I said somebody’s got to take care of him > So I quit school and that’s what I did And then the rest of it about waiting for things to get better, and it never does. ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-bring-you-down/637952/16 "2012-10-17T13:23:50Z")
“While You Were Sleeping” by Elvis Perkins\*. Dunno why. I think I heard it a few times when I was alone and away from the family and I associate it with that. I am once again away from the family and recently heard the song (probably as an NPR bumper) and was depressed. Great song though. I was once at Jazzfest and had no idea Elvis Perkings was there. I’m walking through the crowd and I hear the song…bam, depressed. \*Trivia-Elvis Perkins is the son of Anthony Perkins, who was an Elvis afficionado. His mother was Berry Berenson, who was killed during the 9/11 attacks. ---
**Author:** ![tomcar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tomcar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomcar)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-bring-you-down/637952/17 "2012-10-17T13:23:56Z")
> [@sahirrnee](#): > > \*Are You Alright[/I - Lucinda Williams God, I love this song. Its one of Lucinda’s best… And a totally sweet downer. ---
**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:** [October 17, 2012, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-bring-you-down/637952/18 "2012-10-17T13:35:50Z")
Back in the 1990s, Tim Robbins got a bunch of terrific musicians to contribute new songs “inspired” by his soon-to-be-released film “Dead Man Walking”. The resulting album is great, and most of the songs are definitely downers. Steve Earle’s and Mary Chapin Carpenter’s songs come to mind. Also, “The Long Road,” the second of the two collaborations between Eddy Vedder and that Pakistani qawwali singer (their two songs were also in the movie itself). ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-bring-you-down/637952/19 "2012-10-17T13:47:53Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Back in the 1990s, Tim Robbins got a bunch of terrific musicians to contribute new songs “inspired” by his soon-to-be-released film “Dead Man Walking”. The resulting album is great, and most of the songs are definitely downers. Steve Earle’s and Mary Chapin Carpenter’s songs come to mind. Also, “The Long Road,” the second of the two collaborations between Eddy Vedder and that Pakistani qawwali singer (their two songs were also in the movie itself). \*\*Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan \*\*(now why doesn’t stuff like this come up when I play trivia). ---
**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:** [October 18, 2012, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-bring-you-down/637952/20 "2012-10-18T18:30:24Z")
> [@lost4life](#): > > \*\*Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan \*\*(now why doesn’t stuff like this come up when I play trivia). Thanks. Continuing with the songs-associated-with-films theme, I’ll submit one more sad song: “ **I’ll Fly Away** ”, the version sung by Allison Krause and Gillian Welch, from _O Brother Where Art Thou?_ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-bring-you-down/637952.md?page=2)