# Songs that unexpectedly gut-punch you emotionally **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 1, 2018, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-unexpectedly-gut-punch-you-emotionally/809820 "2018-03-01T15:25:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2018, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-unexpectedly-gut-punch-you-emotionally/809820/1 "2018-03-01T15:25:58Z")
I was in a little cafe that was playing background music. Then the song “Your Wildest Dreams” came on and I could scarcely keep my composure. It triggered some combination of half-forgotten memories, nostalgia, and deja vu. And I don’t even like the Moody Blues! Has anyone else ever been startled by their emotional response to a song, especially by an artist they don’t like? ---
**Author:** ![Whiskey\_Dickens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9fc348/32.png) [@Whiskey\_Dickens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whiskey_Dickens)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2018, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-unexpectedly-gut-punch-you-emotionally/809820/2 "2018-03-01T15:33:50Z")
Maybe not unexpectedly, but Clarence Carter’s “Patches” always makes me tear up a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2018, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-unexpectedly-gut-punch-you-emotionally/809820/3 "2018-03-01T15:40:58Z")
My mom died in early February. A couple of weeks later I was puttering around the kitchen and had Lucinda Williams’ “Blessed” album playing. When the song “Copenhagen” came on, which is about her finding out that a close friend of hers had died, I pretty much lost it. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2018, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-unexpectedly-gut-punch-you-emotionally/809820/4 "2018-03-01T15:50:50Z")
I’m going to shift this over to Cafe Society from IMHO. Thread relocated. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2018, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-unexpectedly-gut-punch-you-emotionally/809820/5 "2018-03-01T16:09:17Z")
Carrie Underwood _Jesus Take the Wheel_ I always break down at this part. There’s a point in everyone’s life that they realize this world is far too complicated to handle on our own. We aren’t in charge and we can’t control every situation. We all need support to get through life. > [@](#): > > She cried when she saw that baby in the backseat sleeping like a rock > And for the first time in a long time > She bowed her head to pray > She said, "I’m sorry for the way > I’ve been living my life > I know I’ve got to change > So from now on tonight > > Jesus, take the wheel > Take it from my hands > 'Cause I can’t do this on my own > I’m letting go > So give me one more chance > And save me from this road I’m on." ---
**Author:** ![Egnu\_Cledge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/34f0e0/32.png) [@Egnu\_Cledge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Egnu_Cledge)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2018, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-unexpectedly-gut-punch-you-emotionally/809820/6 "2018-03-01T16:43:26Z")
Songs about impossible love. I’ve been with my wife for 26 years, and obviously these sort of situations can’t happen to me, but one listen to either of these songs and I’m all, “Oh my god, what if we’d never met!? What if we were different species!?” Tom Waits’ [Fish & Bird](https://youtu.be/s44LKiMT87Q), about a bird and a whale that fall in love, but can never be together. The last line slays me every single time. > [@](#): > > He said, ‘You cannot live in the ocean’ > And she said to him > ‘You never can live in the sky’ > But the ocean is filled with tears > And the sea turns into a mirror > There’s a whale in the moon when it’s clear > And a bird on the tide > > Please don’t cry > Let me dry your eyes > > So tell me that you will wait for me > Hold me in your arms > I promise we never will part > I’ll never sail back to the time > But I’ll always pretend you’re mine > Though I know that we both must part > You can live in my heart Andrew Bird’s [The Sifters](https://youtu.be/NJRWJ8Dz9Yk) > [@](#): > > What if we hadn’t been born at the same time > What if you were 75 and I were 9 > Would I come visit you > Bring you cookies in an old folks home > Would you be there alone > … > What if we hadn’t been each other at the same time > Would you tell me all the stories from when you’re young > And in your prime > Would I rock you to sleep > Would you tell all the secrets you don’t need to keep > Would I still miss you [_heaving sobs_] ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2018, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-unexpectedly-gut-punch-you-emotionally/809820/7 "2018-03-01T16:50:45Z")
The 70’s smash hit **We’re All Alone** , either version, **Boz Scaggs** or **Yvonne Elliman**. I have no idea why. ---
**Author:** ![MoonMoon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moonmoon/32/2959_2.png) [@MoonMoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoonMoon)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2018, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-unexpectedly-gut-punch-you-emotionally/809820/8 "2018-03-01T16:54:45Z")
Not unexpectedly, but [To Build a Home](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUFJJNQGwhk) by The Cinematic Orchestra always gets me right in the feels. For personal reasons, but also because it’s a really beautiful song. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2018, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-unexpectedly-gut-punch-you-emotionally/809820/9 "2018-03-01T16:55:27Z")
Everclear’s Wonderful. Hits a little too close to my childhood. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2018, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-unexpectedly-gut-punch-you-emotionally/809820/10 "2018-03-01T16:57:20Z")
[Naima](http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTMqes6HDqU), John Coltrane [A Change is Gonna Come](http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEBlaMOmKV4), Sam Cooke [A Song For You](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvDlzNpJV6g), Ruby Wilson ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2018, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-unexpectedly-gut-punch-you-emotionally/809820/11 "2018-03-01T16:57:52Z")
I missed _Dr. Horrible_ when it was on the web so the first time I saw it was a few months later on the big screen as an adjunct to [CSTS](http://www.cantstoptheserenity.com/) with a bunch of Browncoats. The finale, “Everything You Ever” Now the nightmare’s real Now Dr. Horrible is here To make you quake with fear To make the whole world kneel (Everything you ever…) And I won’t feel A thing ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2018, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-unexpectedly-gut-punch-you-emotionally/809820/12 "2018-03-01T17:02:14Z")
Interesting timing on this thread, as I was thinking about starting one just like it. I’m a steely-eyed kinda guy, so there’s maybe 8-10 songs in the whole world that make me feel like there’s something stuck in my eye – and in most of those cases, I can easily identify exactly why that is. Porcupine Tree’s “Even Less”, for example, gets under my skin because it reminds me of a very specific person. Recently, I started listening to a prog-metal band called **Redemption** , and for some odd reason their song [“Love Kills Us All/Life in One Day”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9KgH1Ebli4) always catches me by the throat, but I can’t figure out why. (The songwriter did have some experiences that match recent events of my own, but at the time of this song, he hadn’t experiences those events yet. Or maybe that’s exactly it?) Sometimes it’s just the way the musical chords themselves are presented; I’ve been known to get choked up sometimes by instrumentals. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2018, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-unexpectedly-gut-punch-you-emotionally/809820/13 "2018-03-01T17:04:16Z")
I rarely hear it but when I do, oh my, **Billy Vera** ’s song _At This Moment_. > [@](#): > > What did you think > I would do at this moment > When you’re standing before me > With tears in your eyes > Tryin’ to tell me that you > Found you another > And you just don’t love me no more ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2018, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-unexpectedly-gut-punch-you-emotionally/809820/14 "2018-03-01T17:06:38Z")
“Still the One” by Orleans used to hit me so hard that I had to leave the room while it played. It was “our song,” and just too painful when my marriage broke up. Now it’s no problem, because I realize it’s about my second marriage. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2018, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-unexpectedly-gut-punch-you-emotionally/809820/15 "2018-03-01T17:11:30Z")
I suppose it’s not terribly surprising–it is a sad song, after all–but I have never been able to listen to “When She Loved Me,” from _Toy Story 3_, since my mother passed away. Even thinking about the lyrics gets me all weepy. Unfortunately I first discovered this while driving on Interstate 75 on the way to Disney World. Had to pull off onto the shoulder while I composed myself. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2018, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-unexpectedly-gut-punch-you-emotionally/809820/16 "2018-03-01T17:23:26Z")
“Teardrop” by Massive Attack always makes me moody, reflective, etc. I barely understand a word of it, but there’s just something about Beth Fraser’s vocals and the song’s ambiance that makes me revert deeply inward. I don’t have it connected to a specific event in my life, so far as I can tell. “Soon” by My Bloody Valentine is another abstract one along the lines of “Teardop” where it’s all about the impression of the song, and I literally have no idea what any of the words to “Soon” are. But the song can make me cry and feel euphoric all at the same time. Then again, pretty much any song off that album makes me dive deep inside myself. “Tonight, Tonight” and “1979” by the Smashing Pumpkins, too, but that’s more for a throwback to a specific time and place mentally and emotionally. So, nostalgia, really. (ETA: Upon re-read, that sounds a bit dismissive. I don’t mean it to sound so. It’s just that Smashing Pumpkins is much more tied into a time and place than the two other artists for me. So there’s a more immediate explanation to why it affects me so, beyond just the music itself, although I find the music itself extremely evocative, too.) ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2018, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-unexpectedly-gut-punch-you-emotionally/809820/17 "2018-03-01T17:30:46Z")
Right after my Daddy died I heard Grace Potter sing ‘Stars’, just nearly kills me everytime I hear it. The lil’wrekker showed it to her Choir director. They sang it at their final concert, last spring. She had a 2 line solo part. I thought I was gonna have to leave the hall, I was sobbing uncontrollably. ---
**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 1, 2018, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-unexpectedly-gut-punch-you-emotionally/809820/18 "2018-03-01T17:38:43Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > The 70’s smash hit **We’re All Alone** , either version, **Boz Scaggs** or **Yvonne Elliman**. I have no idea why. Rita Coolidge not Yvonne. In some areas, crafty radio DJs mixed both versions together. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2018, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-unexpectedly-gut-punch-you-emotionally/809820/19 "2018-03-01T17:47:53Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Rita Coolidge not Yvonne. In some areas, crafty radio DJs mixed both versions together. :smack: argh!! Yes Rita Coolidge. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2018, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-unexpectedly-gut-punch-you-emotionally/809820/20 "2018-03-01T18:28:05Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > I was in a little cafe that was playing background music. Then the song “Your Wildest Dreams” came on and I could scarcely keep my composure. It triggered some combination of half-forgotten memories, nostalgia, and deja vu. And I don’t even like the Moody Blues! > > Has anyone else ever been startled by their emotional response to a song, especially by an artist they don’t like? This very rarely happens to me, and when it does, it’s usually because it’s an exceptionally well done performance. i.e. tears of joy from the beauty of it, not the lyrics. For example, a guy on the Voice did a cover to “In the Arms of Angel” a while back and I cried. Not because if the lyrics (I’m a Sarah McLachlan fan and have heard the song dozens of times), but because of the beauty of his performance. However, I had the recent experience of some country guy on a late night show singing about his dead dad. It made me cry, and my dad’s not dead, yet very old. I cursed the guy out under my breath as being being emotionally manipulative. I’ve cried to Stairway to Heaven before. As a young child, I found “Oh My Darling, Clementine” absolutely unbearable. I would scream for that song to be stopped. Maybe I was being overly sensitive, but the thought of a little girl drowning and lost forever is beyond effed up to be singing to young child. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-unexpectedly-gut-punch-you-emotionally/809820.md?page=2)