# The Most Maudlin Song Award goes to... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 3, 2013, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-maudlin-song-award-goes-to/651935 "2013-03-03T19:19:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-maudlin-song-award-goes-to/651935/41 "2013-03-04T15:42:52Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > A rather depressing short tune. The few notes at the end of the Incredible Hulk TV series. Its title cements its place in this thread: [“The Lonely Man.”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rccD1EWenio) ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-maudlin-song-award-goes-to/651935/42 "2013-03-04T15:49:57Z")
[The Blind Man in the Bleachers](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Limkwef_WMU) ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-maudlin-song-award-goes-to/651935/43 "2013-03-04T16:35:55Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > Seasons in the Sun > God I hate this song. Especially the French song by Jacques Brel is not maudlin at all. yes it is about a man’s upcoming death, but it sure as hell isn’t maudlin. Rod McKuen’s recording isn’t maudlin either. Although it sounds somewhat wistful in places, it ends up very bitter. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-maudlin-song-award-goes-to/651935/44 "2013-03-04T16:47:39Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > Mac Davis, _Whoever Finds This, I Love You_ Meh. Mac Davis also wrote (he performed it in conceret, but I don’t think he ever actually recorded it) _I’ll Be Drinkin’ Christmas Dinner Alone._ THAT’S maudlin! ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-maudlin-song-award-goes-to/651935/45 "2013-03-04T17:01:48Z")
**And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda** **Wreck on the Highway** - Springsteen ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-maudlin-song-award-goes-to/651935/46 "2013-03-04T17:07:50Z")
I Feel Like Going Home: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/FjMtxF6B630/hqdefault.jpg "Notting Hillbillies Feel Like Going Home") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjMtxF6B630) Not an upbeat line in the whole song. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-maudlin-song-award-goes-to/651935/47 "2013-03-04T17:09:07Z")
Gilbert O’Sullivan-_[Alone Again](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_P-v1BVQn8)_ ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-maudlin-song-award-goes-to/651935/48 "2013-03-04T17:13:09Z")
Natalie Merchant **The Living** ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-maudlin-song-award-goes-to/651935/49 "2013-03-04T17:14:20Z")
Maudlin doesn’t mean depressing, does it? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-maudlin-song-award-goes-to/651935/50 "2013-03-04T17:37:12Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > Seasons in the Sun > > God I hate this song. Especially the French song by Jacques Brel is not maudlin at all. yes it is about a man’s upcoming death, but it sure as hell isn’t maudlin. And Jacques Brel could do maudlin - consider the pathetic shell of a man sobbing out _Ne Me Quitte Pas_ (and here, much as I love Nina Simone, you have to go with Brel himself for full pathos). ---
**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 4, 2013, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-maudlin-song-award-goes-to/651935/51 "2013-03-04T17:48:05Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > Maudlin doesn’t mean depressing, does it? Yeah, some of the suggestions (like the Smiths songs) go a little against what I think of as “maudlin,” typically. To me, it’s an overly sentimental tear-jerker, so it may have an element of depressing to it, but it’s from theatrical over sentimentality. The Terry Jacks take on “Seasons in the Sun” is, for me, the definition of “maudlin.” ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-maudlin-song-award-goes-to/651935/52 "2013-03-04T18:02:39Z")
I think the whole subgenre of teenage death songs contains a lot of contenders… like “Patches” by Dickey Lee (not the Clarence Carter song, although that one would qualify too) and “Teen Angel”. The French are very good at maudlin… another example is “It Must Be Him”, an English-language version of which was a hit for Vikki Carr in 1967. But really, any truly comprehensive list of maudlin songs is going to be dominated by country and Western, the genre that made an art form out of crying in your beer. ---
**Author:** ![Slypork](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc29f/32.png) [@Slypork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slypork)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-maudlin-song-award-goes-to/651935/53 "2013-03-04T18:08:12Z")
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsOA-5H\_L2g](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsOA-5H_L2g) **Killkelly, Ireland**. My son listened to this song and said,“Jesus Christ! This would make goth kids kill themselves!” Do not listen to this if you haven’t talked to your folks in a while. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypn9oKaO-3E](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypn9oKaO-3E) **At Seventeen**. Nothing like teenage loneliness. ---
**Author:** ![Rollo\_Tomasi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/58956e/32.png) [@Rollo\_Tomasi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rollo_Tomasi)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-maudlin-song-award-goes-to/651935/54 "2013-03-04T19:08:26Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Yeah, some of the suggestions (like the Smiths songs) go a little against what I think of as “maudlin,” typically. To me, it’s an overly sentimental tear-jerker, so it may have an element of depressing to it, but it’s from theatrical over sentimentality. The Terry Jacks take on “Seasons in the Sun” is, for me, the definition of “maudlin.” I think “Artificial Flowers” in its original form from the musical **Tenderloin** fits that bill pretty well. Yes, it’s sad, but it’s so over the top in its sadness that it’s a little hard to take seriously. Then, [Bobby Darin](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDK_R9JVQgc) turned it into some kind of swinging hepcat anthem, and now it’s hard to take seriously for completely different reasons. ---
**Author:** ![Sweetums](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Sweetums](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sweetums)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-maudlin-song-award-goes-to/651935/55 "2013-03-04T19:17:22Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > [Honey](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59BZxgohr9g) by Bobby Goldsboro. > > \<\\> ``` I came in here specifically to mention this particular piece of weepy garbage. I couldn't hate this song more if it kicked my dog. The best thing I ever heard said about it was in Dave Barry's book of bad songs, where it he said that the song is tolerable if you assume that the "angels" who came and took her away were the Hells Angels. ``` ---
**Author:** ![Slypork](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc29f/32.png) [@Slypork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slypork)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-maudlin-song-award-goes-to/651935/56 "2013-03-04T20:14:04Z")
This song is bad enough but it was the way it was used on the show that made you bawl your eyes out. [Sorry about this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5peiLlHdvo) ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-maudlin-song-award-goes-to/651935/57 "2013-03-04T20:23:53Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > I’ve always said that people misinterpret the line “the Angels came” as meaning that Honey died. She was actually just traded to Anaheim. No, NO - it’s was the HELL’S Angels. She was kidnapped by a roving gang of bikers, locked in an abandoned garage, and forced to pull the train for three days! But, eventually she came around, wore leather, got tattooed, cruised with Sonny Barger. Oh, they went by her old place and sawed down that stupid tree! eta, Ninja’d by **Sweetums** ---
**Author:** ![dexter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dc4da7/32.png) [@dexter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dexter)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-maudlin-song-award-goes-to/651935/58 "2013-03-04T21:40:41Z")
Two for your consideration: Dolly Parton – Coat of Many Colors [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/c1zJzr-kWsI/hqdefault.jpg "Dolly Parton - Coat of many colors") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1zJzr-kWsI) Tim McGraw – Don’t Take the Girl [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/2-TXBniRz1g/hqdefault.jpg "Tim McGraw: Don't take the girl - music video (lyrics in description)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-TXBniRz1g) ---
**Author:** ![dexter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dc4da7/32.png) [@dexter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dexter)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-maudlin-song-award-goes-to/651935/59 "2013-03-04T21:51:24Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Since the OP has already crossed the line by nominating a “song” with no singing: > > [Jimmy Dean. IOU](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayUJy3fHcYM) > > Thread over. And for you, no charge. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/JYE9qpa0GT0/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AH-BIAC4AOKAgwIABABGGUgWCg_MA8=&rs=AOn4CLD59buegswvYhPRL_6ZXvmNDv_-JA "Tammy Wynette") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYE9qpa0GT0) ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-maudlin-song-award-goes-to/651935/60 "2013-03-04T21:57:21Z")
God help me but I like Seasons in the Sun. It’s a good song. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-maudlin-song-award-goes-to/651935.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-maudlin-song-award-goes-to/651935.md?page=4)