# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-unexpectedly-gut-punch-you-emotionally/809820/41 "2018-03-02T04:07:38Z")
The one that gets me every time is Dan Fogleburg’s “Leader of the Band”. Guess it depends on your relationship with your father…but it gets to me every time. > [@](#): > > The leader of the band is tired and his eyes are growing old > But his blood runs through my instrument and his song is in my soul > My life has been a poor attempt to imitate the man > I’m just a living legacy to the leader of the band And not quite a gut punch, but Harry Chapin’s “Taxi” tends to get to me for some time after listening to it. > [@](#): > > And here, she’s acting happy > Inside her handsome home > And me, I’m flying in my taxi > Taking tips, and getting stoned > I go flying so high, when I’m stoned ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-unexpectedly-gut-punch-you-emotionally/809820/42 "2018-03-02T04:36:40Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > The 70’s smash hit **We’re All Alone** , either version, **Boz Scaggs** or **Yvonne Elliman**. I have no idea why. +1 for the Boz Scaggs version. Rita Coolidge sounds like a robot to me – hits all the notes correctly, but no emotion. It’s especially evident when you compare her with Scaggs in this song. One I can’t explain is the Animals’ _House of the Rising Sun_. I just have to stop and listen whenever I hear it being played. ---
**Author:** ![I\_wasn\_t\_truly\_absent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/4da419/32.png) [@I\_wasn\_t\_truly\_absent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_wasn_t_truly_absent)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-unexpectedly-gut-punch-you-emotionally/809820/43 "2018-03-02T04:40:58Z")
any of the songs I sang when I was considered, but not truly, absent. everything stolen , even singing ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-unexpectedly-gut-punch-you-emotionally/809820/44 "2018-03-02T04:45:05Z")
Nuts, ran out of time to add this: One I _can_ explain is Janis Ian’s _At Seventeen_, because I had a close childhood friend who was a big fish in a small pond – super popular in high school, got by on his charm, didn’t study, didn’t think more than a few hours ahead, lost several jobs for goofing off while on the clock, and eventually blew his brains out. “Their small-town eyes will gape at you In dull surprise when payment due Exceeds accounts received, at seventeen.” ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-unexpectedly-gut-punch-you-emotionally/809820/45 "2018-03-02T04:48:33Z")
Songs about God never really did anything for me, since I’m an atheist and all, but the Kurt Weill song “Lost in the Stars” sort of makes me feel something deeper than I usually do. > [@](#): > > But I’ve been walking through the night, through the day > Till my eyes get weary and my head turns grey > And sometimes it seems maybe God’s gone away > Forgetting the promise that we’ve heard him say > And we’re lost out here in the stars It sort of makes me understand, on an emotional level, what believing in God probably does for some people, keeping the despair and emptiness at bay. ---
**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 2, 2018, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-unexpectedly-gut-punch-you-emotionally/809820/46 "2018-03-02T04:50:50Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > Nuts, ran out of time to add this: > > One I _can_ explain is Janis Ian’s _At Seventeen_, because I had a close childhood friend who was a big fish in a small pond – super popular in high school, got by on his charm, didn’t study, didn’t think more than a few hours ahead, lost several jobs for goofing off while on the clock, and eventually blew his brains out. > > “Their small-town eyes will gape at you > In dull surprise when payment due > Exceeds accounts received, at seventeen.” That one used to really get to me when I was younger. I felt like it was describing my teenage years, which I guess was the whole point. ---
**Author:** ![Weedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/weedy/32/301_2.png) [@Weedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weedy)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-unexpectedly-gut-punch-you-emotionally/809820/47 "2018-03-02T10:32:17Z")
My daughter cannot listen to _Lovesong_ by the The Cure. The thing is, it’s not even a sad song. > [@](#): > > However far away > I will always love you > However long I stay > I will always love you > Whatever words I say > I will always love you > I will always love you ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-unexpectedly-gut-punch-you-emotionally/809820/48 "2018-03-02T10:36:06Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > +1 for the Boz Scaggs version. Rita Coolidge sounds like a robot to me – hits all the notes correctly, but no emotion. It’s especially evident when you compare her with Scaggs in this song. Actually, I must agree at this point. I went back and checked them out because of this thread. Boz’s version still has it; Rita’s was fine, but no leakage on my part ;). Boz, man, what a weird great voice. His vibrato when he holds his notes is wonderful - he is an excellent technical singer. But the character of his voice is unique - he sounds like a caramel ;), warm rich and sweet. ---
**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:** [March 2, 2018, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-unexpectedly-gut-punch-you-emotionally/809820/49 "2018-03-02T12:01:43Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > [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 Nice. I’ll add “Who by Fire?,” by Leonard Cohen. “Ten Years Gone” by Led Zeppelin is also wistful. The transition from the major-key bridge back to the melancholy-chords at the guitar solo gives me a little gut-punch each time. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-unexpectedly-gut-punch-you-emotionally/809820/50 "2018-03-02T12:03:33Z")
> [@Anamorphic](#): > > The Sundays “Here’s Where The Story Ends”. Really, any song from that album. I listened to it a lot back in the day, and hearing it now takes me instantly back to a really great time in my life that I know is never coming back, and it makes me melancholy to hear it. That song was in heavy rotation around my senior year of high school, and my best friend was in love with it. I never really paid attention to the lyrics until years later, but it hits hard now. My own personal contribution is [Mess](https://youtu.be/KmJ9e2vR-G0) by Ben Folds Five. It’s a song where he’s lamenting his actions in a past relationship (“all the untested virtue of things I said I’d never do…least of all to you. I know he’s kind and true. I know that he is good to you…he’ll never care for you more than I do”) Then, out of nowhere, there’s this gutpunch: “I want to be for her what I could never be for you” It’s like Ben wrote that song out of the shit crawling around my brain. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-unexpectedly-gut-punch-you-emotionally/809820/51 "2018-03-02T14:38:30Z")
Rush has smart and insightful lyrics but they are probably not known for emotional songs. I was sent home from Germany when my Father died. I was in my old room at my mother’s house listening to Rush on my headphones when Time Stand Still came on. I was 21 and it may be the moment I grew up. Time moving too fast, losing people, friends drifting apart, loss, death. All became very real to me. Summer’s going fast Nights growing colder Children growing up Old friends growing older Freeze this moment A little bit longer Make each sensation A little bit stronger Experience slips away Experience slips away The innocence slips away ---
**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 2, 2018, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-unexpectedly-gut-punch-you-emotionally/809820/52 "2018-03-02T14:42:27Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > That one used to really get to me when I was younger. I felt like it was describing my teenage years, which I guess was the whole point. A one on the same theme of teenage years that gets me is Big Star’s “Thirteen.” It’s just the perfect encapsulation of early love and that transition from childhood innocence into adolescence. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-unexpectedly-gut-punch-you-emotionally/809820/53 "2018-03-02T14:54:36Z")
_Desperados Waiting For a Train_ sung by Jerry Jeff Walker. I tear up because it reminds me of my Dad, even before he passed away in October 2016. \ One day I looked up and he’s pushin’ eighty And there’s brown tobacco stains all down his chin To me he’s one of the heroes of this country So why’s he all dressed up like them old men \ ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-unexpectedly-gut-punch-you-emotionally/809820/54 "2018-03-02T14:58:41Z")
I’ve always loved the song “Wherever You Will Go” by The Calling. When I was listening to it after my son died, I happened to really pay attention to the lyrics and I just started bawling. There are certain lines that really get to me: And maybe, I’ll find out A way to make it back someday To watch you, to guide you through the darkest of your days and: I know now, just quite how My life and love might still go on In your heart, in your mind, I’ll stay with you for all of time I can barely read the screen as I type this, my eyes are so filled with tears. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-unexpectedly-gut-punch-you-emotionally/809820/55 "2018-03-02T15:14:54Z")
‘Boston’ by DC local 90s heroes Emmet Swimming. The second verse hammers me, both for my own childhood and my kids, now. “Split up when I was nine Divvied up the furniture Went back in the house one last time Just to walk around, around What could they say? “It’s not your fault It’ll be OK” All my toys were scattered around, around” ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-unexpectedly-gut-punch-you-emotionally/809820/56 "2018-03-02T15:43:39Z")
I started a thread a couple of years ago after I started sobbing when “Wildfire” came on the radio. That was unexpected. My usual ones are less surprising. “Time in a Bottle” is extremely linked to both my dad and my first husband. Steve was listening to it after my father died and I lost it. He was really apologetic and so sad that he had made me sad, so now they are both bound up in that song. And Eva Cassidy’s version of “Fields of Gold” just crushes me. ---
**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 2, 2018, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-unexpectedly-gut-punch-you-emotionally/809820/57 "2018-03-02T15:45:25Z")
Another vote for, “When She Loved Me,” from Toy Story 2. Thanks to that boat movie a few years back, every time I hear a string rendition of, “Nearer My God To Thee,” I reach for the Kleenex. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-unexpectedly-gut-punch-you-emotionally/809820/58 "2018-03-02T15:51:10Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > A one on the same theme of teenage years that gets me is Big Star’s “Thirteen.” It’s just the perfect encapsulation of early love and that transition from childhood innocence into adolescence. Oooo, yes. I would add **The Ballad of El Goodo** to that. The lyrics are about someone whose trying to do Good but feels attacked from all sides, but “There ain’t no one gon’ turn me 'round” - it’s like Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down” but with even more pathos and struggle. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-unexpectedly-gut-punch-you-emotionally/809820/59 "2018-03-02T15:55:37Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Another vote for, “When She Loved Me,” from Toy Story 2. > > Thanks to that boat movie a few years back, every time I hear a string rendition of, “Nearer My God To Thee,” I reach for the Kleenex. There are a couple of religious songs that make me tear up (“Here I Am, Lord,” is the biggie because I have a very strong association between it and an aunt’s death), but I don’t go to mass so I never hear them. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-unexpectedly-gut-punch-you-emotionally/809820/60 "2018-03-02T15:58:56Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > The 70’s smash hit **We’re All Alone** , either version, **Boz Scaggs** or **Yvonne Elliman**. I have no idea why. Yeah, what is it about that song? It was the first one I thought of when I saw the thread title. I went through a bad breakup in the early 90s. While I was sitting around wallowing in misery, I played the Scaggs version a zillion times. I’m not sure why either. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-unexpectedly-gut-punch-you-emotionally/809820.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-unexpectedly-gut-punch-you-emotionally/809820.md?page=4)