# The most haunting/sad tune **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 1, 2009, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-haunting-sad-tune/504964 "2009-08-01T07:24:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2009, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-haunting-sad-tune/504964/21 "2009-08-01T18:30:12Z")
Taps. I also think Amazing Grace if played on bagpipes. ---
**Author:** ![Gail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Gail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gail)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2009, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-haunting-sad-tune/504964/22 "2009-08-01T18:44:50Z")
[Out of Time](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRkX1Up1vnc) by Blur ---
**Author:** ![Drum\_God](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drum_god/32/44_2.png) [@Drum\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drum_God)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2009, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-haunting-sad-tune/504964/23 "2009-08-01T18:56:06Z")
[Keep Me in Your Heart](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYzwX0goN58&feature=PlayList&p=2DFCAB5538FD491A&index=16) by Warren Zevon is my go-to sad song. ETA: Sorry for the poor video quality. It was the first hit I found on YouTube so I went with it. ---
**Author:** ![Estilicon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Estilicon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Estilicon)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2009, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-haunting-sad-tune/504964/24 "2009-08-01T19:51:32Z")
[Confesiones de Invierno](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3I_fWtEYE5A&feature=related) by Sui Generis. ---
**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:** [August 1, 2009, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-haunting-sad-tune/504964/25 "2009-08-01T19:56:38Z")
Lyle Lovett’s **[Nobody Knows Me](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjdj58FnXDc)** is a terribly sad song, once you realize what’s going on. It sounds like a love song, but it’s really about a man who blows a great relationship for a one-time fling ---
**Author:** ![cgg419](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cgg419/32/2847_2.png) [@cgg419](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cgg419)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2009, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-haunting-sad-tune/504964/26 "2009-08-01T20:04:59Z")
Don’t Follow by Alice in Chains immediately comes to mind [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/3EsQXaMqcpo/hqdefault.jpg "Alice In Chains- Don't Follow") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EsQXaMqcpo) ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2009, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-haunting-sad-tune/504964/27 "2009-08-01T20:38:45Z")
_ **She Moved Through the Fair** _. I particularly like Loreena McKennitt’s version. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2009, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-haunting-sad-tune/504964/28 "2009-08-01T20:52:58Z")
The tune to this one is really simple and the arrangement is not all that haunting, and knowing the artist and his usual subject matter, something sad or mournful isn’t what you’d expect, but Jonathan Coulton’s [When You Go]([When I’m 25 or 64 - Jonathan Coulton](http://www.jonathancoulton.com/mp3/When) You Go.mp3)makes me want to sob huge gushing tears. Unsurprisingly: [Into the West](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgcoBKWTW14) actually does make me sob huge gushing tears. Oh, and I can play Ashokan Farewell pretty well on the violin. I have it memorized, I think; I’d have to pull the violin out to confirm that. ---
**Author:** ![Mines\_Mystique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mines\_Mystique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mines_Mystique)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2009, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-haunting-sad-tune/504964/29 "2009-08-01T22:08:59Z")
The main theme from Schindler’s list is always one that I’ve found haunting. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2009, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-haunting-sad-tune/504964/30 "2009-08-01T22:10:41Z")
The main theme from the Chinese film _In the Mood For Love_ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U66BEZIln8Q](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U66BEZIln8Q) Except it’s just been hijacked for a Mercedes TV commercial. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2009, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-haunting-sad-tune/504964/31 "2009-08-01T22:23:30Z")
The first one that pops into mind is probably because of the actual song name, but … [Hungry Lucy - Alfred (Haunted)](http://www.amazon.com/Before-We-Stand-Crawl/dp/B000GYI93K/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1249165285&sr=8-2) All of the other tracks on that one are good and most have a haunting quality to them, as well. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2009, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-haunting-sad-tune/504964/32 "2009-08-01T22:47:54Z")
Couple of movie themes: [Lara’s Theme (Somewhere My Love)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q12A8EYMWMo&feature=related) and [Theme from The Godfather](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRidzKJH73Q&feature=related) …but really it’s impossible to top [Ashokan Farewell](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1jaUkWw9zU), and that’s the one I came here to post. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2009, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-haunting-sad-tune/504964/33 "2009-08-01T22:52:46Z")
> [@Promethea](#): > > The classic saddest tune in all the world that tends to get cited is Albinoni so enjoy that too. Alas, for me it conjures up the finale from Blackadder the third so it’s power of gloom is blunted. So true, to me the most effective use of Albinoni was in Gallipoli and Cosmos. **Goodbye to Love** , Karen Carpenter, so sad and poignant when you think about her fate. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2009, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-haunting-sad-tune/504964/34 "2009-08-01T23:01:15Z")
A couple of bluegrass numbers: [There Is a Time](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQtXEb7C30o) by The Dillards (as performed on The Andy Griffith Show). And [Jerusalem Ridge](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpzoLAwZ-gs) by Bill Monroe, even though it’s an uptempo number, has an undercurrent of sadness. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-haunting-sad-tune/504964/35 "2009-08-02T00:04:34Z")
> [@RandMcnally](#): > > Taps. > > I also think Amazing Grace if played on bagpipes. My boss and good friend was at the Military Tattoo on the East Coast (Halifax i think?) and he said for a finale they had a single bagpiper playing Amazing Grace under a soitary spotlight. Second verse the lights went up as all of the pipers (from every other group, hundreds) joined in. I have heard a recording of something like that… Here is an example… [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/h3IutxvltBM/hqdefault.jpg "Highway of Heroes Tribute") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3IutxvltBM) Haunting visual too… ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-haunting-sad-tune/504964/36 "2009-08-02T00:14:14Z")
[Moorlough Shore as sung by Susan McKeown](http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/window/media/page/0,,1054916-2836417,00.html). It’s a different melody to the usual one attached to the lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-haunting-sad-tune/504964/37 "2009-08-02T00:30:54Z")
She’s Got You - Patsy Cline E Lucevan le Stelle - Puccini ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-haunting-sad-tune/504964/38 "2009-08-02T02:38:39Z")
The Lyrics: [Kíla - Cé Tú Féin?](http://www.celticlyricscorner.net/kila/cetu.htm) The Song: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbC5sXZhtVY](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbC5sXZhtVY) Or if it needs to be something more well known, the theme from Dr. Zhivago. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-haunting-sad-tune/504964/39 "2009-08-02T03:00:37Z")
> [@RandMcnally](#): > > Taps. > > I also think Amazing Grace if played on bagpipes. Most pipers would disagree with you on this, I think. It isn’t a pipe tune to start with, and it’s been badly over-played. (I’ve heard it called the “crematorium waltz.”) Personally, I think [Going Home](http://web.ripnet.com/~nimmos/midi_files/going_home.mid) on the pipes (also not a pipe tune originally, but what the hell) carries a great deal more sadness - but maybe that’s because it always makes me think of the funeral of Payne Stewart, where a piper playing “Going Home” walked off into the mist, leaving his footprints in the dew. That was a choker. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-haunting-sad-tune/504964/40 "2009-08-02T03:03:39Z")
I’ve always found [Lorena](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUY1dthVLPQ&feature=related) pretty poignant. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-haunting-sad-tune/504964.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-haunting-sad-tune/504964.md?page=3)