# Songs that choke you up (or make you cry) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 13, 2015, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-choke-you-up-or-make-you-cry/714929 "2015-03-13T18:42:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-choke-you-up-or-make-you-cry/714929/21 "2015-03-13T22:39:46Z")
Oh, and With or Without You by U2. Mad World, by anyone. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-choke-you-up-or-make-you-cry/714929/22 "2015-03-13T22:59:16Z")
Johnny Cash’s cover of Nine Inch Nail’s [“Hurt”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmVAWKfJ4Go). ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-choke-you-up-or-make-you-cry/714929/23 "2015-03-13T23:09:02Z")
_ **Back Home Again** _ by John Denver. Takes me back to the summer of '75, sitting on a couch next to the love of my life. Enya’s _ **Flora’s Secret** _ also takes me back to the summer of '75, laying with my love in a field of tall grass, watching the sun go down and waiting for the stars to come out. Enya’s _ **Wild Child** _. Takes me back to the summer of 2001, buying comic books for my six-year-old daughter. ---
**Author:** ![tripthicket](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripthicket/32/297_2.png) [@tripthicket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tripthicket)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-choke-you-up-or-make-you-cry/714929/24 "2015-03-13T23:19:36Z")
Dan Fogelberg’s [_Same Old Lang Syne_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmVXYOJzAJM). ---
**Author:** ![BaldDudePeekskill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5e925/32.png) [@BaldDudePeekskill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BaldDudePeekskill)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2015, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-choke-you-up-or-make-you-cry/714929/25 "2015-03-14T00:16:27Z")
> [@Helena330](#): > > Another one: **Where’ve You Been?** Kathy Mattea > > [Where’ve You Been?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nl5Uog-MDGo) It was on a mix tape I titled, “songs to slit my wrists to” ---
**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 14, 2015, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-choke-you-up-or-make-you-cry/714929/26 "2015-03-14T00:17:01Z")
Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet in A. This is the music Charles was teaching the Koreans in the last episode of MASH, before they were taken away. ---
**Author:** ![CheshireKat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheshirekat/32/1207_2.png) [@CheshireKat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheshireKat)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2015, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-choke-you-up-or-make-you-cry/714929/27 "2015-03-14T00:39:16Z")
Two for me - _Amazing Grace_, and \*Sunrise, Sunset \*from Fiddler on the Roof. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2015, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-choke-you-up-or-make-you-cry/714929/28 "2015-03-14T00:41:30Z")
the theme from _Schindler’s List._ especially if it has a lead violin a la Itzhak Perlman. ---
**Author:** ![Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba8739/32.png) [@Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Backwater_Under_Duck)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2015, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-choke-you-up-or-make-you-cry/714929/29 "2015-03-14T00:42:17Z")
[Desperados Waiting For The Train](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbB5TRLF9mo). Guy Clark’s song, but take your pick of versions. I was singing it when my buddy JD was checking out with cancer…_Come on Jack, the sonofabitch is coming_… Busts me up every time. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2015, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-choke-you-up-or-make-you-cry/714929/30 "2015-03-14T00:51:43Z")
Mine are awfully cliche: [Cat’s in the Cradle](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etundhQa724) [100 Years](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tR-qQcNT_fY) [Calling All Angels](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tatx5-Eskc4) [Hallelujah](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrLk4vdY28Q) (The old man rendition much moreso than the younger one.) And the weird one, the one that’s not lyrically based (because I never really listen to them), but the music itself makes me catch my breath with tears: [Clocks](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d020hcWA_Wg) ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2015, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-choke-you-up-or-make-you-cry/714929/31 "2015-03-14T01:45:07Z")
“Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)” because we lost an entire branch of the family in that mess. “One Tin Soldier” because it was a favorite of the greatest friend I ever had and the best human being I ever knew. And we played it at his funeral. Either one and I cry. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2015, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-choke-you-up-or-make-you-cry/714929/32 "2015-03-14T02:08:40Z")
_ **Puff, The Magic Dragon** _ - Peter, Paul & Mary. The first record (A 45–remember those?) someone ever bought me. At the age of two. > [@terentii](#): > > _ **Back Home Again** _ by John Denver. Takes me back to the summer of '75, sitting on a couch next to the love of my life. _ **Matthew** _ - John Denver. The best story song ever. _Ridin’ on his Daddy’s shoulders behind a mule beneath the sun_. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2015, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-choke-you-up-or-make-you-cry/714929/33 "2015-03-14T02:23:19Z")
I’m a sucker for sentimentality. Heck, I tear up for _The Flying Purple People Eater Meets Santa Claus_, just 'cause he saves Christmas. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2015, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-choke-you-up-or-make-you-cry/714929/34 "2015-03-14T02:33:52Z")
Trooper’s [We’re Here for a Good Time (Not a Long Time)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qFIaI1M5kU). It was the opening song at the funeral for a good friend, who died at 30 of muscular dystrophy. He’d known since he was about eight that he was unlikely to make it past 20, but he beat the odds. I gave the eulogy. I do public speaking for a living, and that was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Miss you, Scott. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2015, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-choke-you-up-or-make-you-cry/714929/35 "2015-03-14T02:37:58Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > * * * > > _ **Matthew** _ - John Denver. The best story song ever. _Ridin’ on his Daddy’s shoulders behind a mule beneath the sun_. Ooh, yeah, great song. Also, another vote for Dan Fogelberg’s _Same Old Lange Syne_. I can’t stand musicals, as a whole, but Yvonne Ellison’s _I Don’t Know How To Love Him_, from _Jesus Christ, Superstar_ - the version from the album or from the film, either one - always gets me. As does _Gethsemane_: “Tie me to your cross and break me/bleed me, beat me, kill me, take me now./Before I change my mind”. Last one, and this is really gonna earn me some scorn: _You Light Up My Life_ by Debby Boone. Yes, I know, I know, pure schmaltz; but her hesitant, awkwardly sincere voice gets me every time. Is it obvious that I grew up in the late '70’s/early '80’s? ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2015, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-choke-you-up-or-make-you-cry/714929/36 "2015-03-14T02:44:14Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > I’m a sucker for sentimentality. Same here. “Patches”, “One Tin Soldier”, “Cat’s in the Cradle”, “Teddy Bear”, you name it. > [@](#): > > Heck, I tear up for _The Flying Purple People Eater Meets Santa Claus_, just 'cause he saves Christmas. Okay, maybe not that one. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2015, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-choke-you-up-or-make-you-cry/714929/37 "2015-03-14T03:01:11Z")
Yvonne Elliman’s “If I Can’t Have You” from _ **Saturday Night Fever** _. “Biba Nova” from the British TV series _ **Rock Follies** _. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2015, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-choke-you-up-or-make-you-cry/714929/38 "2015-03-14T03:04:39Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > I’m a sucker for sentimentality. Heck, I tear up for _The Flying Purple People Eater Meets Santa Claus_, just 'cause he saves Christmas. > [@hogarth](#): > > Okay, maybe not that one. Last time I heard “Snoopy’s Christmas” by The Royal Guardsmen, I choked up because I just couldn’t resist telling my daughter about the Christmas Truce of 1914, and the asshats who called a halt to it. ---
**Author:** ![Trancephalic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trancephalic/32/380_2.png) [@Trancephalic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trancephalic)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2015, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-choke-you-up-or-make-you-cry/714929/39 "2015-03-14T03:05:30Z")
[Ai no Uta](http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=esYm9q-bi4w) from Pikmin. Those little buggers give so much and ask for nothing.😟 ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2015, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-choke-you-up-or-make-you-cry/714929/40 "2015-03-14T03:21:28Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > _ **Matthew** _ - John Denver. The best story song ever. _Ridin’ on his Daddy’s shoulders behind a mule beneath the sun_. **For Baby (For Bobby)** does the same to me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-choke-you-up-or-make-you-cry/714929.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-choke-you-up-or-make-you-cry/714929.md?page=3)