# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-maudlin-song-award-goes-to/651935/101 "2013-03-12T18:46:56Z")
Well, it’s not quite as bad as some of the rest of the songs in this thread, but “[Ruby Don’t Take Your Love To Town](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlPScxgeggU)” is pretty maudlin - > [@](#): > > It’s hard to love a man > Whose legs are bent and paralyzed, > And the wants and the needs of a woman your age, > Ruby I realize, > But it won’t be long I’ve heard them say until I not around, > Oh Ruby, > Don’t take your love to town. ---
**Author:** ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-maudlin-song-award-goes-to/651935/102 "2013-03-12T18:56:03Z")
YAY! No one beat me to this one. maud·lin /ˈmôdlin/ Adjective Self-pityingly or tearfully sentimental, often through drunkenness. Synonyms sentimental - mawkish mawk·ish /ˈmôkiSH/ Adjective ``` Sentimental in a feeble or sickly way: "a mawkish poem". Having a faint sickly flavor: "the mawkish smell of warm beer". ``` Synonyms maudlin Once upon a time there was a tavern… [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/7ulI-T0YxAw/hqdefault.jpg "Those were the days mary hopkins lyrics") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ulI-T0YxAw) ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-maudlin-song-award-goes-to/651935/103 "2013-03-14T03:20:17Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Well, it’s not quite as bad as some of the rest of the songs in this thread, but “[Ruby Don’t Take Your Love To Town](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlPScxgeggU)” is pretty maudlin - In that vein, “Fancy”. Mom and baby are starving to death so Mom turns out older daughter so at least she will be taken care of. ---
**Author:** ![tripthicket](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripthicket/32/297_2.png) [@tripthicket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tripthicket)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-maudlin-song-award-goes-to/651935/104 "2013-03-14T14:51:27Z")
Gotta throw in my candidates, which I don’t believe have been mentioned yet: The Oak Ridge Boys, [I’ll Be True To You](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n69uvdCG4WM) Debby Boone, [You Light Up My Life](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nC9sEAqEjxs) ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-maudlin-song-award-goes-to/651935/105 "2013-03-14T16:04:47Z")
Some of you folks are just chippin’. You want maudlin, you got to go for the hard stuff, like Tammy Wynette… e.g.: “[Buy Me a Daddy](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zX1RJW1Vhw)” ---
**Author:** ![osme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/df788c/32.png) [@osme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/osme)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-maudlin-song-award-goes-to/651935/106 "2013-03-14T19:12:43Z")
I’m So Lonesome I could Cry -Hank Williams ---
**Author:** ![C.Montgomery\_Burns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecd19e/32.png) [@C.Montgomery\_Burns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C.Montgomery_Burns)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2013, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-maudlin-song-award-goes-to/651935/107 "2013-03-16T00:10:02Z")
_Butterfly Kisses!_ I missed this one in my list- mainly because most of mine were from the cheesiest decade of all time, the 1970s. ---
**Author:** ![Noel\_Prosequi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b19c9b/32.png) [@Noel\_Prosequi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noel_Prosequi)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2013, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-maudlin-song-award-goes-to/651935/108 "2013-03-17T23:00:47Z")
Only discovered this one recently on the Dope, but it rings all the bells. Terry Jacks piece. Dog run over by car. I give you Put the Bone In. > **[YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/?app=desktop)** > > Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-maudlin-song-award-goes-to/651935/109 "2013-03-18T08:13:50Z")
I remember hearing “One More Year of Daddy’s Little Girl” for the first time, the chorus of which goes: One more year of lollipops Ice cream cones and soda pop One more year of daddy’s little girl One more year of crackerjacks, bubblegum And sugar smacks One more year of daddy’s little girl And thinking “With that diet, no wonder she died.” I didn’t know it was by Dr. Hook, though, so maybe it was a joke. But with all the other things little girls like, the focus on nothing but sweet foods sounds goofy. ---
**Author:** ![JimInJersey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e495f1/32.png) [@JimInJersey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimInJersey)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2015, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-maudlin-song-award-goes-to/651935/110 "2015-04-11T17:30:24Z")
You guys need to listen to Gene Autry singing “I want a Pardon for Daddy”… Little girl praying outside a prison wall where her daddy has just been…well, de-registered from the living, we’ll say. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2015, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-maudlin-song-award-goes-to/651935/111 "2015-04-12T04:04:47Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I’m a big softie. I kinda like a lot of these. > > I need to follow them up with “War Pigs,” “Sympathy for the Devil,” “Break on Through,” and the like though… _sigh_…there must be dust in the house…\*sniff" ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2015, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-maudlin-song-award-goes-to/651935/112 "2015-04-12T04:17:10Z")
Three pages and no mention of “Same old lang syne?” ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2015, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-maudlin-song-award-goes-to/651935/113 "2015-04-12T19:07:08Z")
Don’t jump off the roof dad [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/xLoXrr-JmUY/hqdefault.jpg "tommy cooper don't jump off the roof dad with lyrics") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLoXrr-JmUY) Don’t cry out loud [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/MCM7dViMX8Y/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AHaA4AC4AOKAgwIABABGHIgQChnMA8=&rs=AOn4CLCOyEoPSXGQgf-QTFEi0cAQFEv3rA "Melissa Manchester - Don't Cry Out Loud") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCM7dViMX8Y) ---
**Author:** ![SeldomSeen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@SeldomSeen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeldomSeen)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2015, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-maudlin-song-award-goes-to/651935/114 "2015-04-12T20:27:36Z")
Three pages in, and no mention of _[The](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvGvmsLQaHA) [Green](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WN3ME-rgpws) [Green](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQhKqlOccHE) [Grass](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLnhghhwSm4)[of](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQ_nudgEAQc) [Home](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3lSw91Idy0)_ [by](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngQr8KY-f5M) [damn](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MPf5gdYh88)[near](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULrcCkRZrdY) [everybody.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEpHFU7NCls) I suppose any song that’s been covered so many times must have some sentimental value, but I could never get past the glurge factor. The only version I enjoy is Roy Clark’s burlesque parody in which “grass” is treated as a synonym for cannabis. (“I got caught smokin’ the green green grass of home”) Can’t find a copy to link to… ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2015, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-maudlin-song-award-goes-to/651935/115 "2015-04-12T21:55:44Z")
_In The Baggage Car Ahead_ (1896) It’s way out of copyright, so here’s the lyrics: On a dark and stormy night, as the train rattled on All the passengers had gone to bed Except one young man with a babe in his arms Who sat there with a bowed-down head The innocent one began crying just then As though its poor heart would break One angry man said, Make that child stop its noise For it’s keeping all of us awake Put it out, said another, Don’t keep it in here We’ve paid for our berths and want rest But never a word said the man with the child As he fondled it close to his breast Where is its mother, go take it to her This a lady then softly said I wish that I could, was the man’s sad reply But she’s dead in the coach ahead While the train rolled onward A husband sat in tears Thinking of the happiness Of just a few short years For baby’s face brings pictures Of a cherished hope that’s dead But baby’s cries can’t waken her In the baggage coach ahead ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2015, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-maudlin-song-award-goes-to/651935/116 "2015-04-12T23:31:33Z")
Lyrics??? I’ll give you lyrics! No-one knows what happened that day How his car overturned in flames But as they pulled him from the twisted wreck With his dying breath they heard him say : “Tell Laura, I love her” “Tell Laura, I need her” “Tell Laura, not to cry” “My love for her will never die” ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2015, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-maudlin-song-award-goes-to/651935/117 "2015-04-13T00:15:55Z")
The Ballad of a Dog Named Staines Miss that damn dog :( ---
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2015, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-maudlin-song-award-goes-to/651935/118 "2015-04-13T09:33:13Z")
> [@cjepson](#): > > The French are very good at maudlin… Oh, yes. Yes, they are. Especially the _chanson réaliste_ genre which was popular in the first half of the 20th century. Take _Les Roses Blanches_ for instance. You’ve got: - A kid living alone with his mom. - They’re dirt poor. - Every Sunday, he buys some white roses for her, instead of toys for himself. (Chorus: _Today’s Sunday, my pretty mommy / Here are some white roses, for you who loves them so much / When I’m grown-up, I’ll go and buy / All the white roses for you, my pretty mommy_). - Mom gets sick (of course). - Kid has no money anymore so he steals some white roses. - Gets caught (of course). - The shopkeeper takes pity and lets the kid go, with the flowers. - Runs to the hospital with a big smile on his face. A nurse tells him: “You’ve got no mommy anymore.”\* - Kid sings his song one more time, with appropriate changes (_Today’s Sunday, my pretty mommy / Here are some white roses, for you who loved them so much / When you go to the big garden over there / You’ll take all these white roses with you_). Have a nice day :D. - Yes, this nurse was probably a Hun or something. ---
**Author:** ![Jonny99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Jonny99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonny99)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2015, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-maudlin-song-award-goes-to/651935/119 "2015-04-13T12:24:27Z")
> [@cjepson](#): > > Some of you folks are just chippin’. You want maudlin, you got to go for the hard stuff, like Tammy Wynette… e.g.: “[Buy Me a Daddy](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zX1RJW1Vhw)” Or maybe “Too many daddies”, D-I-V-O-R-C-E or I don’t want to play house. Wynette also made the only version of “Honey” that you can listen to as it is sung from the perspective of the depressed, suicidal wife. ---
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2015, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-maudlin-song-award-goes-to/651935/120 "2015-04-14T21:44:20Z")
How about Sonic Youth’s cover of Superstar? the tone completely changes the song. Also these: [Nine Inch Nails - Something I Can Never Have](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAGAoy5WZWY) [The Mountain Goats - The Mess Inside](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YRWzxYS_nM) [John Grant - Queen of Denmark](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0l5vyj0SXY) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-maudlin-song-award-goes-to/651935.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-maudlin-song-award-goes-to/651935.md?page=7)