Carrickfergus
And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda
‘My House on Mars’ by Ayreon. It’s the last human alive, who has never known another person, reliving his childhood and knowing that he will die alone. It’s so sad and lonely. It make my eyes water whenever I listen to it.
“Christmas 1915” makes me sad, even if it’s a bit sappy.
And while not technically a song - although “Ashokan Farewell” is playing in the background - Sullivan Ballou’s letter to his wife Sarah, from Ken Burns’ The Civil War http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3F5RT0_K5M tears me up every time.
‘At 17’ by Janis Ian. It came out when I was about 17 and was the story of my life, pretty much. Right down to the line that says ‘the boys that call to say come dance with me, then murmur vague obsenities’… I had a boy in my homeroom class call and ask what I was doing on Friday night, then say ‘go stick your head in the mud, bitch’.
So yeah. That’s the song.
Since And The Band Played Waltzing Mathilda has already been mentioned, I will add Alexandra Leaving by Leonard Cohen.
**Joey by Concrete Blonde **. Sung from POV of a woman who had a fight with her guy because he is a drugged-out loser, but now she is ready to make up and is afraid he’s out somewhere drunk and passed out and she wishes he’d come back…
The vocal by Johnette Napolitano is powerful and excruciating…youtube link.
ETA: oh, and thinking about the lyrics of Joey reminded me of another powerful-and-sad song about the delusion of drugs: I’m Not an Addict by K’s Choice…
Peggy Lee’s (and no other cover version) Is That All There Is?.
None of the usual self-pity, or “but I’m a good person wronged,” “I’m a Lonely Little Petunia in an Onion Patch” bullshit. Just bitterness, with sardonic contempt as life’s only consolation.