# Songs that make you cry **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 5, 2005, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-you-cry/320208 "2005-09-05T15:47:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DirkGntly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DirkGntly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DirkGntly)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-you-cry/320208/41 "2005-09-06T00:06:20Z")
If You Get There Before I Do Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground When the Thought of You (Catches up with Me) Holes in the Floor of Heaven Please Remember Me ---
**Author:** ![Emily\_Litella](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emily_litella/32/3370_2.png) [@Emily\_Litella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emily_Litella)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-you-cry/320208/42 "2005-09-06T00:19:03Z")
Danny Boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling… and Greensleeves ---
**Author:** ![parthenokinesis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/cc9497/32.png) [@parthenokinesis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/parthenokinesis)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-you-cry/320208/43 "2005-09-06T00:27:13Z")
“Drops of Jupiter” by Train on the other hand I could usually make others cry when I sang “The Weight” by The Band. Once I got to the verse about Jack the dog, it’s all over. ---
**Author:** ![Mississippienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-you-cry/320208/44 "2005-09-06T03:03:37Z")
Snow Patrol’s “Run”, because it was our Americorps graduation song. > [@](#): > > Light up, light up > As if you have a choice > Even if you cannot hear my voice > I’ll be right beside you dear > > Louder, louder > And we’ll run for our lives > I can hardly speak I understand > Why you can’t raise your voice to say > > To think I might not see those eyes > Makes it so hard not to cry > And as we said our long goodbyes > I nearly did Pam Tillis’ “River and the Highway”, because of her pure voice and heartbreakingly confessional phrasing. The video is just perfect, too. > [@](#): > > And she rolls, she’s a river > Where she goes, time will tell > Heaven knows, he can’t go with her > And she rolls, all by herself > All by herself > … > > And he rolls, he’s a highway > Where he goes, time will tell > Heaven knows, she can’t go with him > And he rolls, all by himself > All by himself KoRn’s “Daddy”, a song I have only been able to listen to three times… for deeply personal reasons. > [@](#): > > No-one hears me. It hurt. I’m not a liar. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-you-cry/320208/45 "2005-09-06T03:08:21Z")
> [@PapSett](#): > > “Sittin’ On The Dock Of The Bay” by Otis Redding **(Michael Bolton will do , too)**…(bolding mine- **Askia.** ) Say, _what?_ I’m sorry, I’m going to have to dock you “cool points.” ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-you-cry/320208/46 "2005-09-06T03:28:32Z")
“Goodbye Old Friend” from _Here Comes Garfield_. I didn’t mind it when they reused it in _Garfield in the Rough_ because in that context it was funny. Sometimes when I’m singing Pearl Jam’s “Jeremy” I get a little choked up. ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-you-cry/320208/47 "2005-09-06T03:29:13Z")
Quote: Originally Posted by PapSett “Sittin’ On The Dock Of The Bay” by Otis Redding (Michael Bolton will do , too)…(bolding mine- Askia.) Quote: Askia Say, what? I’m sorry, I’m going to have to dock you “cool points.” 😃 Sorry… I just love the song , and pretty much anyone could sing it , so long as it was sang (sung ? 😕 ) with feeling . ---
**Author:** ![Mac\_Guffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2bfe46/32.png) [@Mac\_Guffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mac_Guffin)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-you-cry/320208/48 "2005-09-06T03:40:49Z")
“This Womans Work” Kate Bush. From the film “She’s Having a Baby”. Made the mistake of listening to it while my then fiance-now-wife- was undergoing major surgery. _sniff_ ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-you-cry/320208/49 "2005-09-06T03:53:25Z")
Deja vu: I started this thread: [What songs make you cry?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=306776) about six months ago. ---
**Author:** ![Fionn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fionn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fionn)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-you-cry/320208/50 "2005-09-06T04:03:10Z")
“If It Be Your Will” and “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen “Head Over Feet” by Alanis Morisette “I Do” by Jude “The One You Really Love” by Magnetic Fields ---
**Author:** ![Linus\_Van\_Pelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@Linus\_Van\_Pelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linus_Van_Pelt)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-you-cry/320208/51 "2005-09-06T04:05:51Z")
> [@Giant\_Spongess](#): > > Like “Edelweiss” which inevitably makes me break up like a depressed housewife watching her favorite soap opera. > > How about you? I’m curious how many of the songs mentioned make people cry because of the song itself (the music or lyrics move them) or because the song triggers an emotional memory. Like it does for **Giant\_Spongess** , _Edelweiss_ tends to choke me up. However, in my case it does so because of an extrordiarily sad event that I associate with it. Some people have mentioned why the songs make them cry, but most people have just listed the songs. And I understand that people might not _want_ to share the reasons why and that’s perfectly reasonable. But I remain curious. ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-you-cry/320208/52 "2005-09-06T04:29:25Z")
Check out [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=298640). Over there I said: > [@](#): > > The one that rips me up every time is the last chorus of Solsbury Hill (Peter Gabriel). That’s 'cause when we adopted our youngest, the day we met she was wearing only the little outfit we had sent ahead for her. She had NOTHING of her own. When P. G. sings “You can keep my things, they’ve come to take me home.” I just lose it. Every time. Like right now there are tears leaking from my eyes. ---
**Author:** ![Albert\_Rose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Albert\_Rose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Albert_Rose)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-you-cry/320208/53 "2005-09-06T04:44:43Z")
New Order’s _Temptation_ is a spiritually cleansing, redemptive song, which can make me tear up if it gets me at the right time. [url = “[http://www.lyricsdepot.com/new-order/temptation.html](http://www.lyricsdepot.com/new-order/temptation.html)”]Here are the lyrics (sorry about the pop-ups). The sound does it more than the lyrics, but there you are. Lots of emotional ties to this song. Aaron Copland’s _Appalachian Spring_, especially the second section (“Fast”), affects me more deeply than any piece of music I’ve ever heard. This was even before the subject matter (Newlywed Puritans forging a life together with a backdrop of Early American social change, etc. etc.) became relevant to me. Then again, I’m a sucker for transcendent simplicity “encased in a groundswell of spirituality, optimism, idealism, self-belief and independence.” (Adobe Acrobat text found [here.](http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/content/3781/3781_mgAppSpring_assignB.pdf)) ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-you-cry/320208/54 "2005-09-06T05:32:09Z")
_Almost_ made me cry: “Nora” by Blessid Union of Souls Songs that gives me a chill straight to the bone whenever I hear it: “Amazing Grace” and “Taps” when played on bagpipes. Just so hauntingly beautiful. A video that almost made me cry: “Goodbye” by Jagged Edge. I first saw that video a couple of years ago. My older brother’s national gaurd unit just got activated (just after Sept 11) and he, luckily, was deployed to Washington State to gaurd a chemical weapons depot. Because it was considered a dangerous assignment, there was no fear of him getting deployed overseas. Anywho, although it was only 2 states away, it was still hell on my brother’s fiance, now wife. It was coming up on Thanksgiving, and he was going to come home for the weekend, but we weren’t supposed to tell her, it was going to be a huge surprise. We were all at my grandparents house one day, and something happened, but she found out that he’d be coming home, if but for a few days, and she just started bawling her eyes out. I’m not sure if it was for grief because she missed him so, or because she was happy he’d come home for her. I still think it was a mixture of both. ---
**Author:** ![TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/51bf81/32.png) [@TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-you-cry/320208/55 "2005-09-06T07:25:07Z")
Scott Walker - “It’s raining today” the Magnetic Fields - “railroad boy” the Carpenters - “yesterday once more” Red House Painters - “Grace Cathedral Park” and “Katy Song” the Mountain Goats - “broom people” ---
**Author:** ![JpnDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@JpnDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JpnDude)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-you-cry/320208/56 "2005-09-06T07:27:41Z")
Don’t bash me but mine is Whitney Houston’s “One Moment in Time”. Reminds me of my junior high prom and it was used for NBC’s highlight video of the Los Angeles Dodgers World Series Championship in 1998. The song used by CBS for the LA Lakers 1995 NBA Finals Championship highlight video. I think it was called “The Last and Final Scene” but don’t know who sang it. Finally, “Reach Out and Touch (Somebody’s Hand)” sung at the 1984 LA Olympics. I prefer that version over the Ashford and Simpson one. OK OK, so I have a soft spot for childhood moments. LOL! ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-you-cry/320208/57 "2005-09-06T12:09:17Z")
Til Tuesday - Rip in Heaven Til Tuesday - David Denies ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_Holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a5b964/32.png) [@Mycroft\_Holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_Holmes)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-you-cry/320208/58 "2005-09-06T12:33:20Z")
> [@Orual](#): > > “Un bel di” - _Madama Butterfly_, Puccini [nitpick]Actually it’s “Un bel di, vedremo”[/nitpick] Two other Puccini arias that will get my tear ducts working every time are “O mio babbino caro” from Gianni Schicchi and “Signore, ascolta” from Turandot. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-you-cry/320208/59 "2005-09-06T13:30:18Z")
For some reason, the song the Outback Steakhouse radio commercials played for Father’s Day hit a soft spot, though it didn’t quite make me cry. ---
**Author:** ![Shutterbug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3e96dc/32.png) [@Shutterbug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shutterbug)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-you-cry/320208/60 "2005-09-06T14:20:27Z")
Iz’s “Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World” (which is mentioned above in post 31) Dolly Parton’s “Mountain Angel” from _Little Sparrow_ That opera song “Last Goodbye” (at least I think that is it’s name). “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” (the slow tempo one, not if it is played upbeat) Johnny Cash’s “Hurt” “Simple Gifts” (an old folk song that is part of _Appalachian Spring_) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-you-cry/320208.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-make-you-cry/320208.md?page=4)