# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/81 "2006-11-28T23:11:00Z")
Luther Vandross - “Dance With My Father” Cowboy Junkies - “Blue Moon Revisited (Song for Elvis)” The Sundays - “Wild Horses” The The - “Love is Stronger Than Death” Peter Gabriel - “The Book of Love” Johnny Cash - “Hurt” The Smiths - “Never Had No One Ever” plus Live versions of The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside” and Radiohead’s “Creep”. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/82 "2006-11-28T23:15:27Z")
[QUOTE=Archergal] OMG, I forgot about this song. I heard it for the first time when I was coming to realize that the guy I’d been with for 4 years really didn’t love me. ☹ And “I Will Remember You” by Amy Grant. Same situation, same guy, after the breakup. I have the world’s corniest taste in music. [/QUOTE] I’ll see your Amy Grant and raise you Fly by Celine Dion. Especially after the story of her dedicating that song to her niece who died at a young age…that one gets me every time. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/83 "2006-11-28T23:17:48Z")
Most Patsy Cline and Nine Inch Nails songs. Hey, if Patsy Cline were still alive and closer to Trent Reznor’s age, I wonder if Trent and Patsy would be buds? ---
**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:** [November 28, 2006, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/84 "2006-11-28T23:17:50Z")
“All Good Gifts”, from the _Godspell_ (a musical) soundtrack. And I’m an atheist! ---
**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:** [November 28, 2006, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/85 "2006-11-28T23:20:12Z")
Also, “Volveras”, by Ricky Martin, of all people. And I’m heterosexual! (Sorry about the double post. Two songs in two different languages, okay?) ---
**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, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/86 "2006-11-28T23:28:15Z")
Hi everyone! I’m the OP. My question was which songs \*\*\*do you skip \*\* \* \*as they are unbearably moving, as opposed to which songs make you cry; the former category being a tearjerking league above the latter. My dad’s dying - hence the two specific songs in the OP. I’m not doubting that many have answered with skipee’s, but some have answered with cryee’s. I’ve enjoyed reading them all tho’ (and downloading not a few…) MiM ---
**Author:** ![MacSpon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@MacSpon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacSpon)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/87 "2006-11-29T00:29:05Z")
I usually have to skip **The Living Years** by _Mike and the Mechanics_. > [@](#): > > I wasn’t there that morning > When my father passed away > I didn’t get to tell him > All the things I had to say > I think I caught his spirit > Later that same year > I’m sure I heard his echo > In my baby’s new-born tears > I just wish I could have told him > In the living years And, in quite another direction, **Oh Life (There Must Be More)** on the Alan Parsons album _Try Anything Once_, about an unnamed woman committing suicide: > [@](#): > > In the dock the boats are harboured > Where the water’s cold and still > Oh, Life, she cries, I’ve lost the will. > From the bridge she sees a lifetime > Being washed upon the shore > Oh, Life, she cries, there must be more… ---
**Author:** ![whole\_bean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@whole\_bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whole_bean)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/88 "2006-11-29T00:44:30Z")
“Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want” - the Smiths “He Was a Friend of Mine” – as performed by Willie for Brokeback Mountain “Father of Mine” and “Wonderful” – Everclear “How’s It Gonna Be” – Third Eye Blind “Romeo and Juliet” – as performed by the Indigo Girls ---
**Author:** ![whole\_bean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@whole\_bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whole_bean)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/89 "2006-11-29T00:45:36Z")
[QUOTE=Made in Macau] Hi everyone! I’m the OP. My question was which songs \*\*\*do you skip \*\* \* \*as they are unbearably moving, as opposed to which songs make you cry; the former category being a tearjerking league above the latter. My dad’s dying - hence the two specific songs in the OP. I’m not doubting that many have answered with skipee’s, but some have answered with cryee’s. I’ve enjoyed reading them all tho’ (and downloading not a few…) MiM [/QUOTE] I focus on the ones that make me cry. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/90 "2006-11-29T00:47:15Z")
[QUOTE=whole bean] “Romeo and Juliet” – as performed by the Indigo Girls [/QUOTE] I forgot about this one! It’s enough to make you open a vein. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/91 "2006-11-29T00:53:25Z")
[QUOTE=Archergal] OMG, I forgot about this song. I heard it for the first time when I was coming to realize that the guy I’d been with for 4 years really didn’t love me. ☹ [/QUOTE] I forgot about this one, too. Jesus…I own all these weepy fucking songs. Sometimes I’ll just listen to them all afternoon. Playing them over and over like some kind of crazy person. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/92 "2006-11-29T00:54:41Z")
[QUOTE=Made in Macau] Hi everyone! I’m the OP. My question was which songs \*\*\*do you skip \*\* \* \*as they are unbearably moving, as opposed to which songs make you cry; the former category being a tearjerking league above the latter. My dad’s dying - hence the two specific songs in the OP. I’m not doubting that many have answered with skipee’s, but some have answered with cryee’s. I’ve enjoyed reading them all tho’ (and downloading not a few…) MiM [/QUOTE] I don’t skip sad songs. Evah. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/93 "2006-11-29T01:44:13Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] Do you mean the Aussie “anthem”, or _And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda_? The latter really gets me in the guts. [The lyrics](http://www.pogues.com/Releases/Lyrics/LPs/RumSodomy/Waltzing.html) of the last verse are unbearably sad, and when the song changes to the original it sends shivers up my spine. [/QUOTE] That one _is_ just about too sad to listen to. So is Eric Bogle’s [**No Man’s Land (The Green Fields of France)**](http://www.fortunecity.com/tinpan/parton/2/noman.html). The final _“again and again and again and again”_ really puts a serious dent in my day. Also, **Mary** by Patty Griffin: _“Jesus says “Mother, I couldn’t stay another day longer.” Flys right by and leaves a kiss upon her face. While the angels are singing his praises in a blaze of glory, Mary stays behind and starts cleaning up the place”_ ☹ ---
**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 29, 2006, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/94 "2006-11-29T02:29:20Z")
Since **JJ** pulled out The Smiths and Sundays, I will add “There is a Light That Never Goes Out” and “Here’s Where the Story Ends” (hell, just about everything on the Reading, Writing… album- must be the voice). Whatever happened to her anyway? Also “Fade Into You” Mazzy Star. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/95 "2006-11-29T06:31:42Z")
It’s not a song, per se, but there is a piece on Hans Zimmer’s soundtrack to _The Thin Red Line_ (“Light”) that I can listen to only in the right setting, because otherwise it, uhhh…kills me dead. (That’s the best way to put it. :)) It’s a very quiet piece, but it’s so grave and piercingly sad that I feel like I have to honor it by listening to it only when I’m alone and when I can focus my attention entirely on the music, and even then it’s very painful (but so beautiful, the masochism pays off). I’ll third the unbearably moving qualities of “Be Not Afraid” – when I was a kid, I used to dread looking up at the hymnal board at church for fear of seeing the number for this hymn, as it always made my mother cry, and now it makes _me_ cry. As does “How Can I Keep From Singing?” (though I love that hymn and gladly sing it even with a lump in my throat). ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/96 "2006-11-29T06:54:51Z")
There’s a version of Hank Williams’s “Weary Blues From Waitin’” on the “complete” 10-disc set that was done not long before he died that’s just heartbreaking. It’s pretty lo-fi, and it’s just him and and his guitar. He was still desperately in love with Audrey, but had married somebody else. He was a superstar who couldn’t stand to be in his own skin. He was on a backbreaking tour schedule…and he was on the very verge of his death from alcohol, painkillers, and chloral hydrate. He was [twenty nine years old](http://www.trashfiction.co.uk/babylon_hank.jpg), and looked like he was 60. He’s singing it, and you KNOW it’s about how badly he wants Audrey, but how much he wants to leave her behind, and he hits the second verse: “Through tears I watch young lovers As they go strolling by Oh, all the things that might have been God forgive me if I cry” …and there’s this little stumble in his voice right as he gets to “cry,” and it’s just devastating. It’s like he’s reached the end of his rope, and he just can’t do it anymore. The resignation and despair in his voice are tangible. ---
**Author:** ![bclouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@bclouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bclouse)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/97 "2006-11-29T07:00:00Z")
**Yesterday** by The Beatles. Beautiful song but always makes me very sad. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/98 "2006-11-29T07:26:59Z")
“Long May You Run” – Neil Young ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/99 "2006-11-29T08:16:08Z")
I’m not a country music fan, but my mother was and I listened to more than my share of it as a kid. Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty did a song called “Country Bumpkin” that makes me cry every time I hear it. ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/100 "2006-11-29T08:33:12Z")
[QUOTE=Made in Macau] 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? [/QUOTE] I am surprised no one has mentioned Teddy Bear by Red Sovine Declan [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050.md?page=6)