# The saddest music videos ever...ones that put a lump in your throat...or worse... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 24, 2003, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-music-videos-ever-ones-that-put-a-lump-in-your-throat-or-worse/197294 "2003-08-24T06:50:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2003, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-music-videos-ever-ones-that-put-a-lump-in-your-throat-or-worse/197294/41 "2003-08-25T21:05:08Z")
Welcome to the Machine - Pink Floyd. The most sublime spine-chilling effect ever. Where the skeleton slowly decays over the span of minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-music-videos-ever-ones-that-put-a-lump-in-your-throat-or-worse/197294/42 "2003-08-26T00:00:38Z")
**ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness** , you’re the uberfan, so I’m not going to argue with you on this. I will say that my post was based on what Rick Ocasek said in an interview I heard when the song was released. (Except about the part of the band breaking up, of course.) Ocasek sounded offended that people thought he was singing the song, and stated, “I would _never_ play in a band where I had to sing songs that somebody else had written.” The way he made the comment implied that he _hadn’t_ written that particular song. Of course, they could have been like Pink Floyd when Roger Waters time, when it didn’t matter _what_ you wrote, it mattered what Waters _wanted_ as to whether or not you got credit for it. And since you _are_ the uberfan, lemmie ask you, which video of theirs was it that ended with Ocasek walking on water in the swimming pool? (I think that’s the one with the hot twins in it, but I’m not sure.) ---
**Author:** ![rolandgunslinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cdc98d/32.png) [@rolandgunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rolandgunslinger)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-music-videos-ever-ones-that-put-a-lump-in-your-throat-or-worse/197294/43 "2003-08-26T00:27:46Z")
I know that! But I’m gonna let CFOHG answer.😃 ---
**Author:** ![Spooge\_Demon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Spooge\_Demon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spooge_Demon)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-music-videos-ever-ones-that-put-a-lump-in-your-throat-or-worse/197294/44 "2003-08-26T00:29:59Z")
I recently saw the video for \*Lost Cause[i\] by Beck, in which a large robot in the image of beck is floating down to earth in slow motion–whilist the ‘robot’'s parts are breaking and falling apart. It’s one of the saddest damn things I’ve ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![sanja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d2c977/32.png) [@sanja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sanja)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-music-videos-ever-ones-that-put-a-lump-in-your-throat-or-worse/197294/45 "2003-08-26T00:37:55Z")
“tainted love” by coil brilliant reinterpretation (re HIV) of the classic song ---
**Author:** ![Gadfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@Gadfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadfly)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-music-videos-ever-ones-that-put-a-lump-in-your-throat-or-worse/197294/46 "2003-08-26T02:46:38Z")
> [@](#): > > Stole by Kelly Rowlands I almost laughed at that song. IMHO, it’s incredibly manipulative. Lost Cause by Beck for me. Something about Beck Hansen’s eyes in that video turns my heart into cutlets. In a good way. It’s also a fabulous song. ---
**Author:** ![ILikeMadonna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8baadc/32.png) [@ILikeMadonna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ILikeMadonna)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-music-videos-ever-ones-that-put-a-lump-in-your-throat-or-worse/197294/47 "2003-08-26T03:13:06Z")
Hey friarted, The Scientist video isn’t shown the same way you described it. Is there a different version? The version I see in California is Chris Martin waking up on a mattress and walking bacwards through a basketball game, railroad tracks, a forest and then a car accident. His girlfriend is laying in a field after being projected out of their BMW. It then shows Chris artin being put back in the car and going backwards up a hill and nearly missing a truck. I would like to see the alternate version. Are there any webistes for the other version ---
**Author:** ![Teelo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@Teelo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teelo)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-music-videos-ever-ones-that-put-a-lump-in-your-throat-or-worse/197294/48 "2003-08-26T05:42:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lukaspriest \* > \*\*… The most recent one for me is The Scientist by Coldplay. The concept of what happens at the end just crushes me. … \*\* Whoa, when I read that I was like, 😕 but at the time I didn’t realise there were 2 versions of the video. The “canadian/american” version is not sad, nor makes any sence too me. **Ilikemadonna** summed it up. Basically, Chris crashes his car down a hill, his girlfriend flies through the windshield and falls unconcious on the grass, while he leaves and goes for a nice relaxing walk through the town, leaving his g/f to die. It is all played backwards. I never quite understood that video. Can someone please explain the alternative version in better detail? P.S. - Does anyone understand the “God Put a smile Upon your face” music video? The one where the business man disappears? It makes no sence, to a supple 17 yr old like my self. ---
**Author:** ![MrMyth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e19b73/32.png) [@MrMyth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrMyth)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-music-videos-ever-ones-that-put-a-lump-in-your-throat-or-worse/197294/49 "2003-08-26T14:00:31Z")
I can’t stand Bryan McKnight, but the concept for the video _Back At One_ gets me every time. You see people from all walks of life walking through a field, all with a kind of contented sadness/happiness on their faces. As the story progresses, you find out that people you see are the non-survivors of a plane crash. And Bryan McKnight was on the plane’s phone to his SO as it went down. His ‘spirit’ hitchhikes all the way home to give her one final good-bye. All the people he meets along the way seem to see him and know his story. They all give him such sad and hopeful looks - pretty hackneyed stuff. What usually gets me is the perfect beautific smile he gives to a young girl riding on the shoulders of her grandfather back in the beginning of the video - before you realize they’re all dead. ---
**Author:** ![ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chockfullofheadygoodness/32/511_2.png) [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-music-videos-ever-ones-that-put-a-lump-in-your-throat-or-worse/197294/50 "2003-08-26T18:09:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tuckerfan \*\*\* > And since you _are_ the uberfan, lemmie ask you, which video of theirs was it that ended with Ocasek walking on water in the swimming pool? (I think that’s the one with the hot twins in it, but I’m not sure.) \*\* **Magic.** A friend of a friend was in it. (One of the frat-boy types surrounding the pool). Never heard if he got to meet either twin. ---
**Author:** ![Mamapotomus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/94ad74/32.png) [@Mamapotomus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mamapotomus)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-music-videos-ever-ones-that-put-a-lump-in-your-throat-or-worse/197294/51 "2003-08-26T18:46:23Z")
I can’t remember the song title, but it’s the one by **Garth Brooks** with the kid in the Special Olympics. It’s a manipulative shlock-fest, but I’m getting a lump in my throat just thinking about it. Everytime that kid falls down (in slo-mo, no less!) I sob like a baby. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-music-videos-ever-ones-that-put-a-lump-in-your-throat-or-worse/197294/52 "2003-08-26T23:09:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness \* > \*\ ***Magic.** A friend of a friend was in it. (One of the frat-boy types surrounding the pool). Never heard if he got to meet either twin. \*\* Thanks. Now, if I can only find a copy of it. ---
**Author:** ![sanja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d2c977/32.png) [@sanja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sanja)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2003, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-music-videos-ever-ones-that-put-a-lump-in-your-throat-or-worse/197294/53 "2003-08-26T23:43:58Z")
not videos but songs, both covers: ‘emma’ (live) by the sisters of mercy ‘can’t find my way home’ by the swans ---
**Author:** ![CurlyD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ee7513/32.png) [@CurlyD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurlyD)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2003, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-music-videos-ever-ones-that-put-a-lump-in-your-throat-or-worse/197294/54 "2003-08-27T00:49:03Z")
Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush doing **Don’t Give Up**. I watched it only once, and after that I could never watch it again. To me the raw emotion was just too much. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2003, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-music-videos-ever-ones-that-put-a-lump-in-your-throat-or-worse/197294/55 "2003-08-27T00:55:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CurlyD \* > \*\*Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush doing **Don’t Give Up**. I watched it only once, and after that I could never watch it again. To me the raw emotion was just too much. \*\* Which version? I believe that there’s two of them. ---
**Author:** ![belladonna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc29f/32.png) [@belladonna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/belladonna)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2003, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-music-videos-ever-ones-that-put-a-lump-in-your-throat-or-worse/197294/56 "2003-08-27T00:56:58Z")
I’m not much for country but there’s one video for a song called “Angels in Waiting” that’s comprised strictly of old home movies of the singer’s two brothers. Both had cystic fibrosis (IIRC) and had died in her youth. Very, very sad ---
**Author:** ![CurlyD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ee7513/32.png) [@CurlyD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurlyD)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2003, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-music-videos-ever-ones-that-put-a-lump-in-your-throat-or-worse/197294/57 "2003-08-27T01:06:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tuckerfan \* > \*\*Which version? I believe that there’s two of them. \*\* Sorry, Tucker, I’ve only seen the one on VH1 ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2003, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-music-videos-ever-ones-that-put-a-lump-in-your-throat-or-worse/197294/58 "2003-08-27T01:17:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CurlyD \* > \*\*Sorry, Tucker, I’ve only seen the one on VH1 \*\* Well, what happened in it? I don’t know which one VH1 showed. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2003, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-music-videos-ever-ones-that-put-a-lump-in-your-throat-or-worse/197294/59 "2003-08-27T09:20:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tuckerfan \* > \*\*Well, what happened in it? I don’t know which one VH1 showed. \*\* Almost certainly the Godley and Creme video where Kate and Peter are hugging and the sun is eclipsed in the background. I too find it incredibly emotional, even though all they do is just hug. It’s not sexual in any way, it’s a support system embrace. Trivia: Peter is so much taller than Kate that she had to stand on a box hidden by the fake rocks. The other, more obscure version is stylized visuals of the depression era (which is PERFECTLY suited to the song). Whenever Kate sings her face pops up in a very out-of-place oval in one corner of the screen. As much as I love Kate, and as staggeringly beautiful as she is in this version, it really does kind of ruin the mood of the song, since you’re sitting there thinking either DAMN, she’s beautiful or I can’t wait until she comes back on screen again! That version is on Peter Gabriel’s video compilation “CV” (as is the Godley & Creme version). ---
**Author:** ![vasyachkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c5a1d2/32.png) [@vasyachkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vasyachkin)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2003, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-music-videos-ever-ones-that-put-a-lump-in-your-throat-or-worse/197294/60 "2003-08-27T09:36:33Z")
Leftfield @ Afrika Bombaata - Afrika Shox ( yes, AfriKa with a K ) powerful stuff as you can expect from director Chris Cunningham. another one of his, that could qualify as sad : Bjork - All is Full of Love [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-music-videos-ever-ones-that-put-a-lump-in-your-throat-or-worse/197294.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-music-videos-ever-ones-that-put-a-lump-in-your-throat-or-worse/197294.md?page=4)