# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![longjohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@longjohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/longjohn)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-song-in-the-world/126793/41 "2002-09-04T08:28:38Z")
Tori Amos’ version of “I don’t like Mondays” on the strange little girls album is pretty chilling and sad. I always listen to later Queen albums wondering, did Freddie know he was dying when he wrote songs like “who wants to live forever” and “the show must go on”. Quite a few Hank Williams songs are heart breaking too. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-song-in-the-world/126793/42 "2002-09-04T09:51:46Z")
I’ll third Gorecki’s No. 3 and add _I Am Stretched On Your Grave_ by Dead Can Dance. ---
**Author:** ![freckles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47c2d/32.png) [@freckles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckles)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-song-in-the-world/126793/43 "2002-09-04T10:29:27Z")
A few have already been mentioned like Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen. Simon and Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water Radiohead - Paranoid Android Placebo - Without you I’m Nothing and for Irish songs it’s: Grace Blarney Pilgrims - Willie and Danny (I think that is the name of the song!) ---
**Author:** ![Jerrybear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8c91f0/32.png) [@Jerrybear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jerrybear)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-song-in-the-world/126793/44 "2002-09-04T13:07:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SolGrundy \* > > * * * > > And though it may be corny, I can’t even think about **The Cat’s In the Cradle** by Tom Croce without getting sad. \*\* Cats in the Cradle was originally by Harry Chapin, then some 90s grunge band did a cover of it. I am not sure who Tom Croce is. There was a Jim Croce who was in the same general genre (1970s folk/rock) as Harry Chapin, and I think Harry has a brother named Tom. ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-song-in-the-world/126793/45 "2002-09-04T13:16:50Z")
Somebody already mentioned **For No One** , which would be my top vote-getter. In second place is the outrageously maudlin, yet genuinely touching, _The End Of The World_, by Skeeter Davis. ---
**Author:** ![ratty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ccd318/32.png) [@ratty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratty)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-song-in-the-world/126793/46 "2002-09-04T13:18:25Z")
Great selections here. Think I’ll be adding to my CD collection after reading this thread. Here’s a few of my favorites: _Putting the Damage On_, _Playboy Mommy_, _Me & A Gun_, and _1,000 Oceans_ - **Tori Amos** _Sing_\* - **Blur** _NightSwimming_ **REM** _Time of Your Life_ - **Green Day** _Independence Day_ - **The Wallflowers** _Long December_, _Round Here_, _Amy Hit the Atmosphere_, and _Omaha_ - **Counting Crows** _How To Fight Loneliness_ - **Wilco** _Brick_ - **Ben Folds Five** _Fourth of July_ - **Ani DiFranco** ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-song-in-the-world/126793/47 "2002-09-04T13:29:27Z")
_Lover You Should Have Come Over_ - Jeff Buckley (the tortured wail gets me every time) _Lady Ice_ - Arcadia _Spies_ - Coldplay _If I Wrote You_ - Dar Williams _This Woman’s Work_ - Kate Bush ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-song-in-the-world/126793/48 "2002-09-04T14:01:29Z")
The saddest song I can think of is " Santa I’m right here" by Toby Keith. I don’t listen to country music much, but I have to admit it’s a powerful song: my eyes fill with tears every time I hear it. Other sad songs: \*\* Make it Last\*\* by Stroke 9 **Lovesong** by The Cure (Tori Amos’ version is good too) \*\*Now What?[/by] by Possum Dixon ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-song-in-the-world/126793/49 "2002-09-04T17:36:28Z")
The two that never fail to bring a tear to my eye are both Irish songs. “No Man’s Land (Willy McBride)” was already mentioned, and another one called “Kilkelly, Ireland”. The lyrics are from a bunch of old letters the writer found in his grandparents’ attic, from the relatives back home in Kilkelly to the son who came to America, always asking when he’ll be coming home. ---
**Author:** ![Slacker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@Slacker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slacker)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-song-in-the-world/126793/50 "2002-09-04T18:51:30Z")
I think **Gene** takes my personal award for “saddest song” with **Drawn to the Deep End**. “The Living Dead” by **Suede** (the London Suede at the time) is up there too. And of course let’s not forget “Asleep” by **The Smiths**. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-song-in-the-world/126793/51 "2002-09-04T19:29:25Z")
My vote would go to the Pogues version of _The Band Played Waltzing Matilda_, but since that’s already been mentioned, I’ll nominate my runner-up, _The Fields of Athenry_. I don’t really have a favorite version. That song sounds great when anyone sings it. Others: Tori Amos - _Me and a Gun_ Jimi Hendrix - _Castles Made of Sand_ Dubliners - _Town I Love so Well_ and _The Last of the Great Whales_ Spirit of the West - _Far too Canadian_ ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-song-in-the-world/126793/52 "2002-09-04T19:57:21Z")
“Blue Moon Revisited (A Song for Elvis)” - Cowboy Junkies ---
**Author:** ![tritone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8e7dd6/32.png) [@tritone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tritone)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-song-in-the-world/126793/53 "2002-09-04T20:10:59Z")
Henry Purcell - _Dido’s Lament_ (otherwise known as “When I am laid in earth”, from the opera _Dido and Aeneas_). IMO, the saddest song in the world, and one of the most beautiful ones, too. **ndorward** , have you heard Andreas Scholl sing _In Darkness Let me Dwell_? Yikes! It’s just _toooo_ yummy! ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-song-in-the-world/126793/54 "2002-09-04T20:30:40Z")
[**Marie**](http://home.swipnet.se/~w-36794/tvz/tvz_035.html) by Townes Van Zandt. If this doesn’t make you blubber, your heart can chill a can of beer! ---
**Author:** ![Intaglio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/71e660/32.png) [@Intaglio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intaglio)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-song-in-the-world/126793/55 "2002-09-05T00:15:34Z")
I recall two other songs that are sad that I knew when younger. 1 - “Roses For Momma” - C.W. McCall 2 - “Honey” - I’m not sure who sings it. But Ugly Kid Joe did the “Cat’s in the Cradle” remake, I like both Harry Chapins’ and Ugly Kid Joe. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-song-in-the-world/126793/56 "2002-09-05T01:31:06Z")
Here are some that have gone unmentioned thus far: [Manhattan Kansas](http://www.letssingit.com/glenn-campbell-manhattan-kansas-s2lpgvb.html) as sung by Glen Campbell\* [Sand and Water](http://www.bethnielsenchapman.net/songs/sandandwater.html) Beth Nielsen Chapman on album of same name Meat Loaf, believe it or not: Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad. No link cuz you all know the song. and one instrumental: Blood Sweat and Tears’ version of the Eric Satie “Trois Gymnopedies”, as it appears on the otherwise untitled album _Blood Sweat and Tears_. - warning – truly nasty batch of popup windows. Sorry, but it’s the online version I can find of the lyrics to this one. ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-song-in-the-world/126793/57 "2002-09-05T02:04:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jerrybear \* > \*\*I am not sure who Tom Croce is. There was a Jim Croce who was in the same general genre (1970s folk/rock) as Harry Chapin, and I think Harry has a brother named Tom. \*\* See, that shows just how sad that song makes me. I get so upset that I make up names for 70’s folk singers. I meant Harry Chapin. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-song-in-the-world/126793/58 "2002-09-05T03:58:27Z")
Oh it’s corny and I’m ashamed to admit it, but **“A Daisy A Day”** always gets me ☹ ---
**Author:** ![zen101](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c68b51/32.png) [@zen101](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zen101)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-song-in-the-world/126793/59 "2002-09-05T06:48:41Z")
The Train Song by Tom Waits or Song To The Siren by This Mortal Coil ---
**Author:** ![Savaka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/858c86/32.png) [@Savaka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savaka)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2002, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-song-in-the-world/126793/60 "2002-09-05T07:10:50Z")
**Chronos** , I have to agree with you on “Kilkelly.” That song starts out sad and just gets worse with each verse. For, like, 35 minutes. Somebody pass the Prozac. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-song-in-the-world/126793.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-song-in-the-world/126793.md?page=4)