# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/121 "2011-05-10T18:18:41Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > There was a time when Glenn Yarbrough (once lead singer for The Limelighters) was putting Rod McKuen’s poetry into song. The man really knew how to put emotion into his voice and those were some of the saddest and most poignant songs I ever heard. Of course, I was 20 years old at the time. [An example](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1CN_jsS9RI). ---
**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 10, 2011, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/122 "2011-05-10T20:36:33Z")
More sad instrumental music: - “Stormy Monday” (Allman Brothers Fillmore Album): I can take or leave the rest of the song, but Duane’s incredible guitar solo is _the_ most emotional nonverbal music I’ve ever heard. - “Ashokan Farewell” (Fiddle Fever): I suspect it’s been made sadder by its association with “Letter To Sarah” in Ken Burns’ Civil War program. . ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/123 "2011-05-10T21:10:33Z")
[First Christmas](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chTMOuuUZi4) by Stan Rogers. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/124 "2011-05-10T21:20:47Z")
This song is cheesy as all of Wisconsin, but the first song I think of (next to ‘Puff the Magic Dragon’) is [Dick and Jane](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlC_MxdARlc)by Bobby Vinton. It’s such a poignant reminder that everything–and everyone–has an expiration date. Sometimes you know what it is, more often you don’t. Sometimes you get another chance, more often you don’t. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/125 "2011-05-10T21:35:20Z")
> [@jehan](#): > > Feed Jake > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5t2aL79\_2e4](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5t2aL79_2e4) +1. The bulk of the song is trite, 80s country crap, but that refrain…oh, man. We love the people in our lives, but most of them will be able to take care of themselves if something happens to us. Our pets, on the other hand, really, really need us, and they are always there for us. If something happens to me, I can only pray that someone will take good care of my dog. ---
**Author:** ![MrSquishy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9e5f3/32.png) [@MrSquishy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrSquishy)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/126 "2011-05-10T22:02:05Z")
For his album _The Hill_, Richard Buckner put several poems (epitaphs) from Edgar Lee Masters’ _Spoon River Anthology_ to music. How does this grab you? > [@](#): > > FATHER, thou canst never know > The anguish that smote my heart > For my disobedience, the moment I felt > The remorseless wheel of the engine > Sink into the crying flesh of my leg. > As they carried me to the home of widow Morris > I could see the school-house in the valley > To which I played truant to steal rides upon the trains. > I prayed to live until I could ask your forgiveness– > And then your tears, your broken words of comfort! > From the solace of that hour I have gained infinite happiness. > Thou wert wise to chisel for me: > “Taken from the evil to come.” Note to mods, \*Spoon River Anthology \*is in the public domain, so I don’t think there should be a problem with posting the lyrics here, right? ---
**Author:** ![ryobserver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b2d939/32.png) [@ryobserver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ryobserver)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/127 "2011-05-10T23:09:20Z")
> [@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’”! It’s also called “No Man’s Land”, which may be the original title. Eric Bogle had a positive genius for writing songs that make me cry. In addition to these two, there’s “The Gift of Years” and the atypically angry “What Kind of Man”, which always makes me think of the Oklahoma City bombing though it was written long before. ---
**Author:** ![brocks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@brocks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brocks)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/128 "2011-05-10T23:49:09Z")
> [@PapSett](#): > > For personal reasons, ‘At 17’ by Janice Ian. > > It came out about that time in my life, and I swear to God it felt like she was singing about me. A horrible, gut-wrenching time in my life where I started to figure out there were no happy-ever-afters for girls like me. After all these years, the song still brings me to tears. > > Every, single time. Good choice. The line that resonates with me in that song is, “Their small-town eyes will gape at you in dull surprise when payment due exceeds accounts received at seventeen.” I always think of my little brother. Good looking, smart, and funny, he got by on his looks and charm all through high school. Goofed off, never studied, never took a job seriously, never kept a promise, and then one day he woke up and he was 25 and had no real education, and had screwed up all the good jobs my dad had helped him get, and had no options left but minimum wage crap, and was too ashamed of himself to come to any of us for help. And he blew his brains out. ---
**Author:** ![brocks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@brocks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brocks)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/129 "2011-05-10T23:58:32Z")
> [@Niniel](#): > > Samuel Barber’s [Adagio for Strings](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KylMqxLzNGo). > > Undeniably one of the most sorrowful, heart-wrenching pieces of classical music ever composed. Good one. Let me throw in the second movement of Beethoven’s 7th symphony, if played at the proper tempo. ---
**Author:** ![GreedySmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a698b9/32.png) [@GreedySmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreedySmurf)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/130 "2011-05-11T01:02:08Z")
Some really good links here for a bit of a sad fest. Band Played Waltzing Matilda has always been a favourite song of mine. For a slightily more recent one, that gets to me every time is [Goodbye My Lover](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVyggTKDcOE) by James Blunt ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/131 "2011-05-11T02:51:38Z")
> [@PapSett](#): > > Another that chokes me up everytime is ‘Shannon’ by Henry Gross… about a childhood Irish Setter that drowned. > > _‘Shannon is gone, I hear she drifted off to sea. > She always loved to swim away. > Maybe she’ll find an island, with a shady tree, > Just like the one in our backyard.’_ This song actually makes me laugh, because it’s associated with one of the [best outbursts on radio ever](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDYK2H0ldbo). Casey Kasem was recording an episode of his Top 40 radio show. He started to read a request & dedication letter about a family’s dog’s death. The writer requested that they play “Shannon.” The song that led into this segment, the Pointer Sisters’ “Dare Me,” was a bit too uptempo for Casey. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/132 "2011-05-11T03:11:19Z")
“We’ll Meet Again”-WWII song by Vera Lynn ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/133 "2011-05-11T03:24:21Z")
> [@Niniel](#): > > Samuel Barber’s [Adagio for Strings](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KylMqxLzNGo). > > Undeniably one of the most sorrowful, heart-wrenching pieces of classical music ever composed. I thought about mentioning this one. Despite its overuse in the media - both where it’s supposed to be actually sad and where it’s supposed to be a parody of tragedy - it still gets me. ---
**Author:** ![meenie7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7993a0/32.png) [@meenie7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/meenie7)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/134 "2011-05-11T04:12:54Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > 😕 But, it’s **not** sad. That is, the **music** is sad but the lyrics are merely . . . resigned, wistful, yet hopeful. “But there never seems to be enough time to do the things you want to do once you find them / I’ve been around enough to know that you’re the one I want to go through time with.” What’s sad about that, really, apart from the failure in rhyme? It’s sad because he doesn’t have enough time to be with the person he wants to be with, and because just because he wants to “go through time with” that person, doesn’t mean he’ll get to do it, because they could die anytime. It’s sad because that reality is really heartbreaking. ---
**Author:** ![BomTek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bomtek/32/21364_2.png) [@BomTek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BomTek)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/135 "2011-05-11T04:41:21Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Game over, man: > [“I will wait for you”, - Connie Francis, from Futurama](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjNw75bJyuM&feature=related) I can’t watch YouTube videos here, but is this the one where Fry’s dog was waiting for him till its dying day? If so, I don’t remember the lyrics of the song much, but the scene itself had me bawling… never expected that from _Futurama_. Again, no YouTube links, only lyrics, but a couple songs by artists that have already been mentioned are on my list: [The Shortest Story](http://www.lyricsdepot.com/harry-chapin/the-shortest-story.html) by Harry Chapin… this one will kick you in the gut, plain and simple. [Keep Me In Your Heart](http://www.lyricsdepot.com/warren-zevon/keep-me-in-your-heart.html) by Warren Zevon… especially heartbreaking when you realize that Zevon knew he was going to die \*very \*soon when he wrote and recorded this. ---
**Author:** ![Pitter\_Patter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/90db22/32.png) [@Pitter\_Patter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pitter_Patter)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/136 "2011-05-11T07:22:27Z")
I would have to second Barber’s Adagio for Classical and would like to add The Chills, “Pink Frost” about a guy holding his girlfriend as she died. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/CAcZtIwnOXs/hqdefault.jpg "The Chills perform "Pink Frost"") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAcZtIwnOXs) ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/137 "2011-05-11T07:50:12Z")
Although its glurgy Red Sorvines Teddy Bear always gets to me… Antoher for Cat’s in the Cradle and also Gypsies Tramps and Thieves… There’s one more I haven’t heard in years, and can’t remember the title. It is a lady runny away from an abusive husband in the middle of the night - she sings about provoking him to relieve the tension, and also about packing up the kids and getting a neighbour’s help to run away in the middle of the night. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/138 "2011-05-11T10:06:16Z")
I’m not quite sure what you did there, **Pitter Patter** , but the coding didn’t work, so I just linked to the YouTube page. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/139 "2011-05-11T13:42:19Z")
Country music has no lack of sad songs. Two of my favorites: [Good Time Charlie’s Got The Blues](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YP3pIPp8P8) [For The Good Times](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1lZDDl7bSM) ---
**Author:** ![beagledave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@beagledave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beagledave)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/140 "2011-05-11T14:55:05Z")
[The River](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RR8zDTc0DE) Bruce Springsteen [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126.md?page=8)