# Songs you find unbearably moving **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 28, 2006, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050 "2006-11-28T10:09:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Made\_in\_Macau](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@Made\_in\_Macau](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Made_in_Macau)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/1 "2006-11-28T10:09:21Z")
Inspired by the Story songs thread - I currently skip **’Dinner at Eight’** by Rufus Wainwright and **’Keep me in your heart’** by Warren Zevon - both for the same reason. Years ago I was unable to get through the Gabriel/Bush duet on \*\*‘Dont Give Up’ \*\* - but I reckon I could give it a shot these days. I dont have a copy so it’s not an issue but I know I couldnt get through the Young at Heart Choir singing Coldplay’s \*\*‘Fix You’ \*\* again any time soon. Blimey. It was profoundly moving. (Channel 4 in the UK showed a documentary about this choir of senior citizens who sing contemporary tunes last week.) So is it just me? Do I need therapy? Or does anyone else have or have had songs they have to skip to avoid driving whilst sobbing with snot all over their face? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/2 "2006-11-28T10:12:41Z")
Don McLean’s “Vincent” ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/3 "2006-11-28T10:44:19Z")
Well speaking of Rufus Wainwright (as he is one of the folks who covered it) Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah. Most beautiful song ever. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/4 "2006-11-28T10:51:20Z")
_John Doe No. 24_ by Mary Chapin Carpenter (about the third time I’ve mentioned this) never fails to reduce me to a puddle of tears and snot. I can’t listen to it in public. The live performance of _Whiter Shade of Pale_ by King Curtis - achingly beautiful sax playing; the most gorgeous I have ever heard (I believe he died shortly afterwards). _Vincent Black Lightning_, by Richard Thompson. The words are a little trite, but the guitar is beautiful. And of course practically everything ever written by Nick Drake. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/5 "2006-11-28T11:12:51Z")
Another one I’ve remembered: _Blessed to be a witness_ by Ben Harper. This is a beautiful song in its own right, but gets me by association, since it was used as the soundtrack to a video of the tsunami we showed to visitors when I led an awareness-raising disaster tour in Thailand. It absolutely breaks me up to hear it now. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/6 "2006-11-28T11:41:13Z")
**‘Fire and rain’ by James Taylor** always moved me, even before I found the emotional back story: A friend of his committed suicide, but his other friends kept it from him while he completed a major album. > **[The Meaning of 'Fire and Rain'](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/fire-and-rain/)** > > Does the song 'Fire and Rain' chronicle the death of James Taylor's girlfriend in a plane crash? And I agree about the song **‘Hallelujah’** , but I like the **Jeff Buckley version**. This was used in ‘The West Wing’, in the scene where CJ discovers her Secret Service agent has been killed. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/7 "2006-11-28T12:22:51Z")
I’m not a great fan of Chris Rea but _It’s All Gone_ invariably brings a lump to the throat. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/8 "2006-11-28T12:24:19Z")
John Prine’s “The Great Compromise” just destroys me. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/9 "2006-11-28T13:18:29Z")
Mine are mostly cheese: Morning Girl- Neon Philharmonic Elusive Butterfly- Bob Lind Both Sides Now- Judy Collins Wishing on a Star- Rose Royce I Like Dreamin’- Kenny Nolan ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/10 "2006-11-28T13:30:44Z")
“Wanderin’” by James Taylor is so achingly beautiful and sad, it reduces me to a quivering puddle. “Jesse” by Roberta Flack. Bit of a story here - my grandfather’s name was Jesse. After he died, my grandmother was sitting alone, not recovering too well. She put on an album, which just happened to be the Roberta Flack one, and this song came on. _Jesse come home, there’s a hole in the bed where we slept… …And I’m keeping the light by the stairs No I’m not scared, I’ll wait for you Hey Jesse, it’s lonely, come home…"_ …and she lost it. I wasn’t there, but now I’m all choked up again thinking of how devastating it must have been to hear those words at that time. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/11 "2006-11-28T13:34:35Z")
“Seeds of Love” as recorded by Loreena McKennitt. The Flower Duet from Delibes’ opera _Lakme_. “Come On, Come On”, Mary Chapin Carpenter. “The Man Comes Around”, Johnny Cash. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/12 "2006-11-28T13:44:03Z")
Janice Ian’s _At Seventeen_ Ditto on _Vincent_ Clapton’s _Tears In Heaven_ ---
**Author:** ![The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_chao_goes_mu/32/3191_2.png) [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/13 "2006-11-28T14:10:14Z")
_Angel Of Montgomery_ sung by either John Prine or Bonnie Raitt Also with the Bush/Gabriel _Don’t Give Up._ I’m sure I’ll recall the others later on in the day. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/14 "2006-11-28T14:16:57Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] Both Sides Now- Judy Collins [/QUOTE] This was written by Joni Mitchell, and is on her _Clouds_ album. IMO where Collins recorded a trite ballad, the original is very beautiful (just her and a guitar; the cord structures are different and the voice and phrasing better). In fact, I once threw a record of Judy Collins’s version of this song across the room in disgust. I recommend you seek out the original! ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/15 "2006-11-28T14:28:39Z")
_Home is Where the Heart Is_ sung by Mary Travers and (I think) Holly Near on the Peter, Paul & Mary **Lifelines** CD. The line about being a string on a kite…if I’m not choked up by then, that line finishes me off. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/16 "2006-11-28T14:33:11Z")
**jjimm** - will do! For the record, I absolutely loathe “Send in the Clowns” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Archergal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Archergal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archergal)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/17 "2006-11-28T14:40:35Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] **jjimm** - will do! For the record, I absolutely loathe “Send in the Clowns” 🙂 [/QUOTE] I came in to say that **Send in the Clowns** always does me in, knowing I was opening myself to derision. 😛 I think it’s the lines > [@](#): > > Just when I stopped opening doors > Finally knowing the one that I wanted was yours > Making my entrance again with my usual flair > Sure of my lines > No one is there that get me. A little too close to home. ---
**Author:** ![Avarie537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/48db29/32.png) [@Avarie537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avarie537)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/18 "2006-11-28T14:43:04Z")
From Dave Matthews’ solo CD, “Gravedigger.” Ugh. I have to skip it. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/19 "2006-11-28T14:49:45Z")
**Warren Zevon** ’s cover of _Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door_ _Guinevere_ from the **Camelot** soundtrack. ---
**Author:** ![Tupug\_Anachi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@Tupug\_Anachi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tupug_Anachi)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/20 "2006-11-28T15:01:14Z")
_Lyin Eyes_ by the Eagles has always pulled a resonant chord with me for some reason. _What a Fool Believes_ by the Doobie Brothers because Michael McDonald has such a totally incredible voice. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050.md?page=2)