# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![Scupper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Scupper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scupper)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/121 "2006-11-29T17:48:43Z")
**When it’s Cold, I’d like to Die** by Moby and **Marian** by The Sisters of Mercy I used to like both songs. Both are about cold and drowning. I can’t seem to delete them from my iPod yet, but I have to skip them. ---
**Author:** ![Hogwash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e57/32.png) [@Hogwash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hogwash)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/122 "2006-11-29T18:14:05Z")
Practically all of Pink Floyd’s _The Final Cut_. In particular: [ul][li]_The Gunner’s Dream_. When Waters’ voice melds seamlessly with the saxophone - “you take her frail old hand…and hold on to the DREEEAAAAM” - it’s just pure brilliance.[/li][li]_The Fletcher Memorial Home_. The guitar solo, after “Boom boom, bang bang, lie down, you’re dead”. Gilmour makes that thing **cry**.[/li][li]_The Final Cut_. [/li][li]_When The Tigers Broke Free_ (on remastered album, from _The Wall_ film). “And that’s how the High Command TOOK MY DADDY FROM ME!” Argh, the anger that bleeds through gets me every time. [/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c4cdca/32.png) [@Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quiddity_Glomfuster)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/123 "2006-11-29T20:26:03Z")
Ohhhhhhh I’ll play! These are eye-stinging throat-grabbers. I have listened to most, cried through all at one time or another, but to satisfy the OP, yes, I have had to avoid them on occasion when I wasn’t up to handling exquisitely sad/beautiful: First off; songs about ‘you were the best’: In My Life - Beatles A Song For You - Leon Russell Love songs: Nothing Compares 2 U - Sinead O’Connor I Would Die For You - Jann Arden [Landslide](http://www.risa.co.uk/sla/song.php?songid=16476) - Stevie Nicks. Don’t know why but the lines _Well, I’ve been afraid of changing 'Cause I’ve built my life around you_ get me every time. ‘Friend’ songs about people who aren’t just friends: [Ode To A Friend](http://www.singulartists.com/artist_j/jann_arden_lyrics/ode_to_a_friend_lyrics.html) - Jann Arden [Hello Again](http://www.seeklyrics.com/lyrics/Neil-Diamond/Hello-Again.html) - Neil Diamond Just plain lovely songs: many of Bruce Cockburn, but one of the firstest and bestest (tears pouring down my face at his recent concert here) [All The Diamonds](http://cockburnproject.net/songs&music/atd.html) - truly one of the best lyricists ever - Like a pearl in sea of liquid jade His ship comes shining Like a crystal swan in a sky of suns His ship comes shining. - Amazing Grace when the bagpipes join the orchestra - sniffffff There’s a whole raft of classical pieces that will dampen the lashes (yes, I AM a mushball), including Eric Satie’s Swan but I’ll go with The Flower Song from Lakme as well and add Webber’s Pie Jesu Ouch. Just found a couple versions of the latter on YouTube - I still like Sara Brightman and Paul Miles-Kingston best but Emily Gray does a fine job. Four (generic tissue name)s later, I’m not able to preview any more. (There, OP, hope that meets your specs) Got to go find some comedy to watch now. And buy more (generic tissue name)s. BTW Hi. Newbie here. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/124 "2006-11-29T22:24:21Z")
[QUOTE=Lissla Lissar] _Vimy_, by Tanglefoot [/QUOTE] Excellent choice! “You’ll die in Kenora, Billy; you, Jim, in Winnipeg…” takes on a whole new meaning by the end of the song. Chillingly moving, I think. Another Tanglefoot fan though…good to know! Anyway, I’ll nominate: – Collin Raye’s “Love, Me” (“If you get there before I do, don’t give up on me…”) – Mary Chapin Carpenter’s “This Shirt” (“Had it now for more damn years than I can count anyway.”) – Michelle Wright’s “He Would Be Sixteen” (“Does he drive a car by now? Has he been in love?”) ---
**Author:** ![Archeonomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@Archeonomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archeonomist)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/125 "2006-11-29T23:19:05Z")
I second **Hogwash** on the Final Cut songs. Except, the lines that really get me is in ‘When the tigers broke free’: ‘and the Anzio bridgehead was held for the prize, of a few hundred ordinary lives’ … I think the evil of war is perfectly captured in those words. We made it, and just a few hundred ordinary people died… It gets me every time. Anyways. I’d like to add the theme from ‘Paris, Texas’ by Ry Cooder - the ultimate Alone In All The World tune. [highbrow] Piano Sonata No 2 in B Flat Minor, by Chopin [/highbrow] - used in state funerals all over the world, it’s still the saddest piece of music I’ve ever encountered. ---
**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 29, 2006, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/126 "2006-11-29T23:36:54Z")
If all these songs are being skipped - there’s an awful lot of music not being played! Maybe some smart record exec should write them down - put out a blank cd with these titles on the sleeve and make a mint! MiM ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2006, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/127 "2006-11-30T03:18:36Z")
[QUOTE=glee] **‘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. [/QUOTE] OMG. I already couldn’t think about ‘Fire and Rain,’ by itself or with its connection to the movie, Running on Empty, without tearing up, EVERY TIME! And now, after learning about this previously unknown to me aspect of it, a new level of meaning and poignancy is added to how much it the song moves me. Another song that always pierces some shivery, melancholy place inside me is Lisa Stansfield’s ‘All Woman.’ The lyrics are so-so (and the video is good, but in another, simply well-made way); it’s the pace of the song and the way the violins pull my emotions all over the place EVERY TIME I hear them! ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2006, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/128 "2006-11-30T03:32:00Z")
[QUOTE=Quiddity Glomfuster] A Song For You - Leon Russell [/QUOTE] Oh, speaking of **Leon Russell** , I must also add [“This Masquerade”](http://www.vex.net/~paulmac/carpenter/lyrics/this_masquerade.html) (also performed by **George Benson** ). ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2006, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/129 "2006-11-30T03:35:45Z")
Sort of embarrassing, since the song is clearly meant to evoke tears: Sherrie Austin - _Streets of Heaven_. About a woman talking to God while waiting for her child to die. ---
**Author:** ![Stinkum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Stinkum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stinkum)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2006, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/130 "2006-11-30T05:44:04Z")
These songs just kill me: Amazing Grace (context: My mother’s name was Grace and it was played at her funeral.) Love Me Tender (also played at Mom’s funeral) Danny Boy (it made my grandpa cry, too) Puff the Magic Dragon (there’s something just incredibly sad about the line: “Dragons live forever, but not so little boys . . .”) When She Loved Me from Toy Story 2. I’m sorry, I have something in my eye . . . ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2006, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/131 "2006-11-30T13:25:35Z")
Kinky Friedman’s [Ride Em Jewboy](http://www.asklyrics.com/display/Kinky_Friedman/Ride_%60em_Jewboy_Lyrics/157240.htm) is deply moving. A cowboy’s song about the Holocaust. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2006, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/132 "2006-11-30T15:35:59Z")
I’m a middle class English chap and don’t do that crying thing, if I did: **In My Life** Beatles/Lennon (yet again) **A Minutes Noise for John** by Mitch Benn, written for the topical Radio 4 comedy program _The Now Show_ the week John Peel died. (I can’t find the lyrics on line can anyone do better) For those of you who don’t know who he was and why he is missed by so many of us have a look [at this old thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=282972) (I wonder if Mitch nicked his idea off **owlstretchingtime** ). _A minute’s contemplative silence would be wrong Let’s have a minute’s noise for John._ ---
**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 30, 2006, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/133 "2006-11-30T16:43:20Z")
[QUOTE=Small Clanger] **A Minutes Noise for John** by Mitch Benn, written for the topical Radio 4 comedy program _The Now Show_ the week John Peel died. (I can’t find the lyrics on line can anyone do better) For those of you who don’t know who he was and why he is missed by so many of us have a look [at this old thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=282972) (I wonder if Mitch nicked his idea off **owlstretchingtime** ). _A minute’s contemplative silence would be wrong Let’s have a minute’s noise for John._ [/QUOTE] [Here you go.](http://www.mitchbenn.org/aminutesnoiseforjohn.htm) Wish I could find the audio. It’s a regular cacophony of heartbreak. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2006, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/134 "2006-11-30T16:47:04Z")
[QUOTE=Khangol] _All Things Must Pass_, as performed by Eric Clapton and many of George’s other friends at the [_Concert For George_](http://www.concertforgeorge.com/). Hearing Mr. Harrison’s words sung as if written to give comfort to those very friends (and we fans) after his death, it just tears me up. [/QUOTE] I haven’t heard that recording. But it reminds me; I used to play guitar and sing at an open mic in town every Wednesday, and the Wednesday after George died I sang that song (fairly poorly) in tribute. At any rate, I agree with many of the suggestions listed so far, but I’m not going to waste bandwidth with "me too"s. I’m going to add a few here that haven’t been mentioned. **Bruce Springsteen** has written, IMHO, some of the saddest and most moving lyrics of anyone. A few examples that always get to me: **Racing in the Streets** _Some guys they just give up living And start dying little by little, piece by piece Some guys come home from work and wash up And go racin’ in the street… \ …But now there’s wrinkles around my baby’s eyes And she cries herself to sleep at night When I come home the house is dark She sighs “Baby did you make it all right” She sits on the porch of her daddy’s house But all her pretty dreams are torn She stares off alone into the night With the eyes of one who hates for just being born For all the shut down strangers and hot rod angels Rumbling through this promised land Tonight my baby and me we’re gonna ride to the sea And wash these sins off our hands_ **Used Cars** \*Now, my ma, she fingers her wedding band And watches the salesman stare at my old man’s hands He’s tellin’ us all 'bout the break he’d give us if he could, but he just can’t Well if I could, I swear I know just what I’d do Now, mister, the day the lottery I win I ain’t ever gonna ride in no used car again\* Other songs of his that always get me include **Highway Patrolman** , **Reason to Believe** , **Atlantic City** , **Downbound Train** , **One Step Up** … there are probably others, but that’s what comes to mind. Also, **Cyndi Lauper** ’s _True Colors_ is a terriblly moving song. Her voice is so powerful and expressive. _The Kid_, recorded by **Peter, Paul, and Mary** touches a nerve with me. And, although I don’t know why, _Heroes_ by **David Bowie** just puts me in some sort of mood. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2006, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/135 "2006-11-30T17:16:29Z")
I like songs that make me cry, so I’ve got several: **Seconded** **30KFT** , Assemblage 23 - This one never fails. **Oh Life (There Must Be More)** - Alan Parsons \*\*Vincent \*\* - Don McLean **Others** \*\*Might As Well Be On Mars \*\* - Alice Cooper (particularly the line: _“Wish that I could fly/If I could I’d come down to you/Maybe I should try…”_) \*\*Hello \*\* - Evanescence (I originally thought it was about insanity, but seems it’s about the singer’s younger sister, who died in the singer’s presence as a child–I think she drowned) \*\*High Hopes \*\* - Pink Floyd (I love this song. It makes me feel all sad and melancholy every time I listen to it, and I just love it) \*\*Unchained Melody \*\* - Roy Orbison \*\*Skellig \*\* - Loreena McKennitt \*\*Run For the Roses \*\* - Dan Fogelberg (I won’t listen to this one anymore, at least not when anybody’s around. I have no idea why it makes me blubber so, since I’m not particularly a horse fan, but hey, what can I do?) \*\*And So It Goes \*\* - Billy Joel **The Cheese Factor** \*\*Roses for Mama \*\* - C. W. McCall (another one I won’t listen to with anybody else around) \*\*When October Goes \*\* - Barry Manilow (Yeah, I know. But it’s a lovely song, extremely melancholy) \*\*It Was a Very Good Year \*\* - ? (Frank Sinatra?) (I always associate this one and When October Goes. Another melancholy song.) ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2006, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/136 "2006-11-30T17:29:06Z")
[QUOTE=Eonwe] **Bruce Springsteen** has written, IMHO, some of the saddest and most moving lyrics of anyone. A few examples that always get to me: **Racing in the Streets** [/quote] And **Stolen Car** : She asked if I remembered the letters I wrote When our love was young and we were bold She said last night she read those letters And they made her feel a hundred years old ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2006, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/137 "2006-11-30T17:29:15Z")
[QUOTE=koeeoaddi] [Here you go.](http://www.mitchbenn.org/aminutesnoiseforjohn.htm) [/QUOTE] Thanks, I’ve got something in my eye now ☹ _Let’s have a minute’s racket though he isn’t coming coming back it Seems we understand the need to play something loud and at the wrong speed. Cos a minute’s silence wouldn’t show him how we feel, Let’s have a minute’s noise for Peel_ ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2006, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/138 "2006-11-30T17:30:53Z")
Hmm, that was silly. I pasted those without reviewing and I believe the original was “when our love was young and bold”. Apparently the quoted part was from a newer version on “Tracks”. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2006, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/139 "2006-11-30T18:32:50Z")
[QUOTE=Eonwe] **Bruce Springsteen** has written, IMHO, some of the saddest and most moving lyrics of anyone. [/QUOTE] From **The River** : “Is a dream a lie when it don’t come true, or is is something worse?” It was my .sig file for a while, after we got my son **Dweezil** ’s autism diagnosis. [QUOTE=Eonwe] Also, **Cyndi Lauper** ’s _True Colors_ is a terriblly moving song. [/QUOTE] Seconded! This song reminds me that my son is a really great person at heart. His issues make it hard for him to show it sometimes, is all. As a Dad, I am incapable of listening to **Tears in Heaven** without crying myself. Makes is dangerous to listen to while driving. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2006, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050/140 "2006-11-30T20:29:55Z")
[QUOTE=gigi] And **Stolen Car** : [/QUOTE] And **Thunder Road** : \*The screen door slams Mary’s dress waves Like a vision she dances across the porch As the radio plays Roy Orbison singing for the lonely Hey that’s me and I want you only\* And speaking of **Roy Orbison** , his original version of **Blue Bayou** belongs on this list. Chills. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-find-unbearably-moving/382050.md?page=8)