# The saddest songs you ever heard **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 8, 2011, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126 "2011-05-08T03:23:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2011, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/41 "2011-05-08T17:21:01Z")
> [@kelly5078](#): > > “Long, Long Time” - Linda Ronstadt Yes. . ---
**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:** [May 8, 2011, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/42 "2011-05-08T17:26:31Z")
Art Garfunkel-_[Bright Eyes.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MODq81_cDKI)_ ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2011, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/43 "2011-05-08T17:29:32Z")
Wharf Rat – The Grateful Deal ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2011, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/44 "2011-05-08T17:37:49Z")
[Dance With The Devil](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qggxTtnKTMo) by Immortal Technique ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2011, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/45 "2011-05-08T17:43:17Z")
[“labelled with love”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ph5ogLO-oK8) by squeeze and [“scattered black and whites”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6U4VgvTCKU4) by Elbow (perhaps wistful rather than sad, but evocative nonetheless, childhood past and all that.) ---
**Author:** ![Maiira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Maiira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maiira)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2011, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/46 "2011-05-08T18:32:24Z")
> [@vivalostwages](#): > > “Hurt,” no matter who sings it. Yes. Though Johnny Cash’s version is the one that affects me the most. ---
**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2011, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/47 "2011-05-08T18:38:21Z")
> [@kelly5078](#): > > “Long, Long Time” - Linda Ronstadt If I absolutely, positively, had to choose ONE all time favorite song it would be this one. ---
**Author:** ![lokij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5e9695/32.png) [@lokij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lokij)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2011, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/48 "2011-05-08T18:41:21Z")
Sad songs are kind of a hobby of mine, [Kilkelly, Ireland](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bek36IMNQog) [So Much Wine by The Handsome Family](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNz-EiO3BRY) [Padraic My Prince, by Bright Eyes](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KikndcmV5Fs) [Marie, by Townes Van Zandt](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lk-zKjfO2E8) ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2011, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/49 "2011-05-08T18:49:24Z")
“Sometimes When We Touch”, by Dan Hill. I was going through a bad breakup at the time, and it still kills me to hear it, 30 years later. “Time in a Bottle”, by Jim Croche. A lovely song, but oh, so sad. ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2011, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/50 "2011-05-08T18:54:30Z")
> [@lokij](#): > > [So Much Wine by The Handsome Family](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNz-EiO3BRY) At least 90% of The Handsome Family’s music is sad, but it’s kind of a faux, hipster sadness. Although, “Mr. Handsome” had a real life nervous breakdown, it’s “Mrs. Handsome” that writes the lyrics. My favorite of theirs is “Weightless Again.” ---
**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:** [May 8, 2011, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/51 "2011-05-08T18:57:10Z")
Quoth **Sam A. Robrin** : > [@](#): > > I thought of this one: > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIw7RhYZC1c](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIw7RhYZC1c) > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkiddLL-XDc](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkiddLL-XDc) > > Which, as it turns out, was written by Eric Bogle, composer of “And the Band Played ‘Waltzing Matilda’”! I’ll second “Willie McBride”. And I’ll also second “Kilkelly, Ireland”, which **lokij** just linked. Those two never fail to bring me to tears. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2011, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/52 "2011-05-08T19:01:17Z")
Also _Amazing Grace_ played on bagpipes makes me incredibly sad, likely due to its association with being played at funerals. ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2011, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/53 "2011-05-08T19:26:35Z")
Ever been kicked in the chest? Well, if you want to know what it feels like just listen to Johnny Cash singing [Danny Boy](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqbH-bOTa38&feature=related). I’m actually sitting here bawling like a baby from listening to the link. ---
**Author:** ![Purd\_Werfect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47c2d/32.png) [@Purd\_Werfect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purd_Werfect)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2011, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/54 "2011-05-08T19:36:06Z")
Toward the end, Johnny Cash’s voice was so amazingly evocative - his later stuff makes me feel like that’s what it would sound like if rocks and dust could sing. Anyway, for my pick for the thread, I’ll take his cover of [I See A Darkness](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h04I5MtuOMw). ---
**Author:** ![SeldomSeen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@SeldomSeen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeldomSeen)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2011, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/55 "2011-05-08T20:41:49Z")
_Tears in Heaven_…Eric Clapton _Boulder to Birmingham_…Emmylou Harris _Desert Motel_…Ian Tyson, “Live at Longview” _[Four Strong Winds](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvgDXkHjAHM)_…Johnny Cash, “America V., A Hundred Highways” I’ve always loved this song, no matter who is singing it (and it has been covered by a legion of artists). But Johnny Cash, who was only months or weeks away from death when He recorded it, imparts an incredible sense of meloncholy to an old standard. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2011, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/56 "2011-05-08T20:58:36Z")
Richard and Linda Thompson “Withered and Died” Man that is one depressing 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:** [May 8, 2011, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/57 "2011-05-08T21:08:41Z")
Two very different versions of “Memory” from _Cats_. [Elaine Page](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVH39yj26a0&NR=1) [Betty Buckley](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivIT0TQ4vRM&feature=related) Judy Collins-[Send In the Clowns](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIqx5_w-dnk) ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2011, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/58 "2011-05-08T21:18:14Z")
[Little Green](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBT4MYbX4io) by Joni Mitchell. About her daughter she gave up for adoption. [Solitude](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsRqgek0Gr8) and [Changes](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otSXkJWeSFo) by Black Sabbath. ---
**Author:** ![Feyrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/fbc32d/32.png) [@Feyrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Feyrat)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2011, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/59 "2011-05-08T21:21:39Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > This one was saddest because it came from a movie that was supposed to be fun. > > Toy Story 2: When Somebody Loved Me. Sarah McLachlan > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=px0j1EHF8Y0](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=px0j1EHF8Y0) > > Made more sad when one realizes that the toys in the movies are the symbols or the avatars of the parents. I came here to post this. Yeah. ---
**Author:** ![jehan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f6c823/32.png) [@jehan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jehan)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2011, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/60 "2011-05-08T21:45:42Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > [Lonely Boy](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kbgjmmr5vw), Andrew Gold Now that’s one I just don’t get. The only negative thing that happened to that kid was that he had a little sister, so he wasn’t the sole focus of his parents’ attention. Sounds like a spoiled brat to me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126.md?page=4)