# The saddest song in the world **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 3, 2002, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-song-in-the-world/126793 "2002-09-03T12:56:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-song-in-the-world/126793/21 "2002-09-04T03:29:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Roadwalker \* > \*\*Blind Man in the Bleachers. I think it’s pretty obscure, anyone know it? What a freeking tearjerker. \*\* Oh dear gawd - I know it. For some reason, I think it was recorded by David Geddes, who also gave us the classic “Run Joey Run.” _\_ I could be wrong about the “artist,” but I’ll find out. I have been observed crying at a McDonald’s commercial, so I’ll just say here that there’s not too many songs that DON’T make me cry. ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-song-in-the-world/126793/22 "2002-09-04T03:39:33Z")
How’z about “And So It Goes” by Billy Joel? Also a more obscure one: “The Coral Castle” by Andrew Peterson ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-song-in-the-world/126793/23 "2002-09-04T03:43:12Z")
Well as Eleanor Rigby and Leonard Cohen got props, it’ll make this easier for me. A lot of good ones mentioned, I’ll have to give a shoutout to How Soon is Now. here are my picks however. Radiohead - Street Song or Talk Show Host (I would say Knives out but that’s more cuz of personal experience) Placebo - My Sweet Prince Portishead - Sour Times and as cheesy as it has become Candle in the Wind actually gets me. and last but not least Where the Wild Roses Grow by Nick Cave and Kylie Minogue. (the song that shocked a whole message board) Erek ---
**Author:** ![Jessity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c67d28/32.png) [@Jessity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jessity)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-song-in-the-world/126793/24 "2002-09-04T03:59:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mswas \* > \*\*\Where the Wild Roses Grow by Nick Cave and Kylie Minogue. (the song that shocked a whole message board) > > Erek \*\* That’s a good one. For me, it’s Mazzy Star - Fade Into You ---
**Author:** ![Osho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a88e57/32.png) [@Osho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Osho)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-song-in-the-world/126793/25 "2002-09-04T04:01:46Z")
Well, an English song that just spontaneously brought tears to my eyes the first time I heard it was “Kisses sweeter than wine” (lyrics by Paul Campbell) Another song/ghazal (in Urdu) that is terribly moving is “Chupke Chupke” sung by Ghulam Ali. ---
**Author:** ![DarkWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee59a6/32.png) [@DarkWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarkWriter)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-song-in-the-world/126793/26 "2002-09-04T04:11:01Z")
I’m not sure it qualifies as a sad song, but this from **The Cardigan’s** _LoveFool_ really gets to me: “I don’t care if you really care, as long as you don’t go.” Sheri ---
**Author:** ![Trancey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Trancey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trancey)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-song-in-the-world/126793/27 "2002-09-04T04:20:35Z")
hmm lets see… Yuki Kaiura - Wake Wings Martina Sorbara - Bonnie & Clyde II Lynard Skynard - Freebird Coldplay - Yellow Sasha & John Digweed - Rabbit in the Moon - Out Of Body Experience Fiona Apple - Across the Universe Power Symphony - Never Dream of Goodness thats all i can think of off the top of my head ---
**Author:** ![Savaka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/858c86/32.png) [@Savaka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savaka)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-song-in-the-world/126793/28 "2002-09-04T04:36:33Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by da\_pope_ > \*\*since Dm is the saddest of all keys, the obvious choice would be Nigel Tufnels “Lick my Love Pump”. \*\* Especially when it’s performed on an amplifier that goes up to 11. ---
**Author:** ![Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ebca7d/32.png) [@Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Violet)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-song-in-the-world/126793/29 "2002-09-04T04:37:31Z")
Wow, **jjimm** , \*John Doe No. 24 \* is pretty powerful, especially if one knows New Orleans very well: St. Charles Ave., street cars, shot gun houses… It’s sad that no one said a word at the grave side (re: article). For this category I always think of Madonna’s version of _Love Don’t Live Here Any More_. She puts a lot of passion into the song, IMHO. And it’s very sad. ---
**Author:** ![hazel-rah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/73ab20/32.png) [@hazel-rah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hazel-rah)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-song-in-the-world/126793/30 "2002-09-04T04:46:19Z")
Let’s see… Leonard Cohen’s been mentioned (although I think he’s really funny as well as sad), “Holocaust” by Big Star “My Father” by This Mortal Coil “Northern Country” by Heidi Berry “Sanvean” by Dead Can Dance “In a Lonely Place” by New Order (“Ceremony” as well… but you have to know what happened for the real impact) -fh Have we had this thread before? ---
**Author:** ![lokij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5e9695/32.png) [@lokij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lokij)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-song-in-the-world/126793/31 "2002-09-04T05:12:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Trancey \* > \*\*hmm lets see… > > Yuki Kaiura - Wake Wings > Martina Sorbara - Bonnie & Clyde II > Lynard Skynard - Freebird > Coldplay - Yellow > Sasha & John Digweed - Rabbit in the Moon - Out Of Body Experience > Fiona Apple - Across the Universe > Power Symphony - Never Dream of Goodness > > thats all i can think of off the top of my head \*\* Hmmm… as far as Lynard Skynard goes I would have to say “Mr. Banker” or “Four walls of Raiford” are MUCH sadder. Lyle Lovett has some sad ones… “Baltimore” and “Family Reserve” come to mind. Gordon Lightfoot “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” is pretty sad. Type “O” Negative’s “Red Water” is a sad christmas time song. ---
**Author:** ![Avalonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@Avalonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avalonian)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-song-in-the-world/126793/32 "2002-09-04T05:23:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Trancey \* > **Fiona Apple - Across the Universe** I’m not a huge Fiona Apple fan, but I have to admit I was entranced by her version of this song. Very soulful. The video is amazing as well. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by grendel72_ > **_Gloomy Sunday_, Billie Holliday. A really sad song, so sad there was an urban legend about it.** A lot of modern singers have done versions of “Gloomy Sunday,” but none so well as **Heather Nova**. On her new album _South_, she has a deeply-moving rendition of it. Not as good as the original, though. All this discussion has made me think of another song that has made me cry… sweet and sad. “16 Days” by **Lori Carson** ---
**Author:** ![ndorward](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c2a13f/32.png) [@ndorward](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ndorward)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-song-in-the-world/126793/33 "2002-09-04T05:52:53Z")
There are lots of sad songs in my collection, but it’s possible to beat just about anything from 20th-c. pop by digging into the Renaissance composer John Dowland, whose oeuvre is full of ditties like “Flow My Tears” and “The Cypress Curtains of the Night” and “In Darkness Let Me Dwell” and “From Silent Night, True Register of Moans”. A little of this stuff goes a long, long way. Another vote for Iris DeMent’s _My Life_, which my mother also hates with a passion as it happens. Sucks to her. Johnny Hodges’ recording of “Blood Count” on Ellington’s _And His Mother Called Him Bill_ was recorded shortly after Billy Strayhorn died, and is pretty devastating. Bill Frisell’s “Strange Meeting” in the recording on _Live_. He’s recorded it many times but never to such desolating effect. Gavin Bryars’ “After the Requiem”, which also coincidentally (or not) features Frisell. There’s an aborted solo session by Bill Evans recorded shortly after the death of Scott La Faro in a car crash (only released in the 1980s on the Riverside boxed set); after cutting four tunes, including what must be the most downcast version of “Danny Boy” on record, he couldn’t go on & aborted the session. The producer Orrin Keepnews rightly remarked that it was a de facto memorial for La Faro. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-song-in-the-world/126793/34 "2002-09-04T06:22:40Z")
Portishead “Roads”- Oh Christ, definitely in the running. How can something so gorgeous be so incredibly depressing? I don’t care for Fiona Apple, either, but “Never is a Promise” is a tearjerker, especially if you know the story behind it. ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-song-in-the-world/126793/35 "2002-09-04T06:26:15Z")
**For No One** by the Beatles is one of the most relentlessly depressing songs I’ve ever heard. **Leeds** by the Indigo Girls is powerfully sad. “Hold my head love, I’m sick tonight/Find the open hole and press your fingers there with all your might/Before the last ounce of my spirit bleeds/Onto the pristine sheets of the hotel bed in Leeds.” And though it may be corny, I can’t even think about **The Cat’s In the Cradle** by Tom Croce without getting sad. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-song-in-the-world/126793/36 "2002-09-04T06:48:38Z")
Heh, Ramasutra - Low always goes on my wrist slitting playlists, so I’ll have to add that one in there. Nirvana - Heart Shaped Box as well. ---
**Author:** ![Junior\_Spaceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Junior\_Spaceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Junior_Spaceman)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-song-in-the-world/126793/37 "2002-09-04T07:06:01Z")
**The Dirty 3’s** _Everything’s Fucked_ always gets me going, as does any song ever by **The Paradise Motel** , particularly their **Left Over Life To Kill** EP. _When The Tigers Broke Free_ and most of the **Final Cut** album by **Pink Floyd** come under the “most depressing” tag for me. However, the song that always gets me crying, every time, is _The Color and the Kids_ by **Cat Power** , which isn’t so much sad as it is touching and nostalgic - a heartstring-tugging-tearjerker supreme. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-song-in-the-world/126793/38 "2002-09-04T07:39:58Z")
Nothing makes me sadder than _Drops of Jupiter_ by **Train**. The line "And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there " gets me every time. Of course, there’s “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” by **Gordan Lightfoot** [Richard Jenni] "and the wave hit the boat and they died like rats… [/Richard Jenni] Shit, _Drops of Jupiter_ just came on the radio. ---
**Author:** ![Jervoise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jervoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jervoise)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-song-in-the-world/126793/39 "2002-09-04T07:43:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mswas \* > **Where the Wild Roses Grow by Nick Cave and Kylie Minogue. (the song that shocked a whole message board)** Could someone please explain this reference? For sheer weepiness, I prefer Jeff Buckley’s version of “Hallelejah” to Cohen’s. Buckley’s “Lover, You Should Have Come Over” is pretty damn sad too. Ben Folds Five have a number of songs that manage to break me up. “Don’t Change Your Plans” and “Evaporated” in particular. Hunters and Collectors “Throw Your Arms Around Me” does the trick too. Speaking of Hunters, Mark Seymour’s version of “Home Again” always threatens to make me cry if I’ve been travelling away from home for a while. Smashing Pumpkins “For Martha” is about losing your mother, so that’s always pretty difficult to listen to. I still play it though when I’m feeling especially down. 🙂 The Rolling Stones “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”. In the painfully embarrassing category: Mary Hopkins “Those Were the Days” and Don McLean “Vincent”. Oh, the shame. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-song-in-the-world/126793/40 "2002-09-04T07:53:42Z")
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