# 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:** 15\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/161 "2011-06-15T01:06:28Z")
> [@GreedySmurf](#): > > Some really good links here for a bit of a sad fest. > > Band Played Waltzing Matilda has always been a favourite song of mine. Yeah, that one is great. Inspired by that is “And the Band Played the Star-Spangled Banner” > **[And The Band Played The Star Spangled Banner](https://www.qsl.net/n/n6tx/poetry/walls/spangled.htm)** > > This is the personal website of Dr. H. Paul Shuch, N6TX, the author, educator, and aerospace engineer popularly known as 'Dr. SETI'. “As I watch the parade pass the river I remember the day that I marched off to war. I was one of the lucky, I shiver, Who never once stopped to ask “What’s it all for?”” ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/162 "2011-06-16T05:21:43Z")
Didn’t read all the thread, but my answer is always [Kilkelly](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pADfrQzzS74). I cannot hear this without getting something in my eye. And this is not my favorite version, but screw you - it’s tough to search under these conditions. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/163 "2011-06-16T05:38:11Z")
[This](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N76kAivCb20) is a pretty awesome version, though. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/164 "2011-06-16T16:36:15Z")
So many great answers. Aside from **The Band Played Waltzing Matilda** , which was probably my first favorite “sad” song, some tragic tunes I love are: **Keep Me In Your Heart** by Warren Zevon (this was already mentioned). **Racing In The Street** by Bruce Springsteen (also already mentioned). Springsteen has a lot of sad songs with similar themes, but I think this one is the winner for emotional whallop. It’s a little wordy, but I also love **Highway Patrolman** (I think that’s the one), and **Used Cars** off of his _Nebraska_ album. **Ne Me Quitte Pas** by Jacques Brel. There’s a popular English “translation” called **If you go away** , but it changes the tone of the song completely; the original French is painstakingly tragic. Some of it from probably shaky memory: _“They say there are deserts that will bloom years after the last rain has fallen; fields that will grow after turning to ash . . . Let me be the shadow of your shadow, the shadow of your hand, the shadow of your dog, but don’t leave me, don’t leave me, don’t leave me”_ **It Makes No Difference** by The Band doesn’t have the complexity or depth of some of the others listed, but it’s got an honesty that never fails to get me (their studio recording of it is the best version by far). ---
**Author:** ![Truman\_Burbank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@Truman\_Burbank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truman_Burbank)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/165 "2011-06-16T17:28:29Z")
“Hackensack” by Fountains of Wayne. Just as pathetic as pathetic can be… ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/166 "2011-06-16T17:37:13Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > So many great answers. Aside from **The Band Played Waltzing Matilda** , which was probably my first favorite “sad” song… I could have sworn that I had already replied to this thread, because I would have mentioned this one. I especially like Garrison Keillor’s reading of it. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/167 "2011-06-16T17:48:53Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > I could have sworn that I had already replied to this thread, because I would have mentioned this one. I especially like Garrison Keillor’s reading of it. (psst . . . it was the song that inspired the OP 🙂 ). I’ve never heard Keillor’s version; I’ll have to check it out. My favorite has always been from a Tommy Makem/Liam Clancy album I have. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/168 "2011-06-16T18:07:52Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > (psst . . . it was the song that inspired the OP 🙂 ). > > I’ve never heard Keillor’s version; I’ll have to check it out. My favorite has always been from a Tommy Makem/Liam Clancy album I have. Right you are on the OP. I don’t know if Keillor ever did a recording of it as such, but he did a version or two on APHC at one time or another. The version I have in my YouTube Favorites is [The Band Played Waltzing Matilda - John McDermott](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VktJNNKm3B0) ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/169 "2011-06-16T18:37:44Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > (psst . . . it was the song that inspired the OP 🙂 ). I just had to find out what was confusing me on this. > **[The saddest song in the world](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=133759)** > > John Doe No. 24 by Mary Chapin Carpenter fulfils this role for me. I first heard it on the radio in 1996, and it hit me like a ton of bricks. I didn’t even know who it was by, and spent years trying to hunt it down. I’m not a fan of hers, except for... The saddest song in the world 09-03-2002, 07:56 AM jjimm Today 07:20 AM by Spoke 224 6,846 Cafe Society [My post there](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=13903355&postcount=190) didn’t even mention _The Band Played Waltzing Matilda_ – but should have. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/170 "2011-06-16T20:26:26Z")
Yeah, someone zombified my 9-year-old thread. ---
**Author:** ![Kalypso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/df705f/32.png) [@Kalypso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalypso)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/171 "2011-06-16T23:21:22Z")
Because the Origami: [Because the Origami - 8in8 on Vimeo](http://vimeo.com/23418865) Right up there with The Cat’s in The Cradle, but especially hits hard because I’m the parent of an emotionally disturbed child. ---
**Author:** ![FoundWaldo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dfb087/32.png) [@FoundWaldo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoundWaldo)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/172 "2011-06-17T04:12:14Z")
Neko Case, South Tacoma Way. [- YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdKbaGYImj0) ---
**Author:** ![FoundWaldo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dfb087/32.png) [@FoundWaldo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoundWaldo)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/173 "2011-06-17T04:20:07Z")
And also two by Carrie Underwood, [Temporary Home](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LraOiHUltak) and [Just a Dream](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLntFKtR66g). And one more, [Love Lives On](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8IJXl_q79w). ---
**Author:** ![Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ed655f/32.png) [@Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crown_Prince_of_Irony)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/174 "2011-06-17T05:34:31Z")
Define sad - I get teary every time I hear Joey Ramone sing “What a Wonderful World”, if only because he knew he was dying when he recorded it, and you can hear it in his voice. Ditto for Cash’s cover of “Hurt”. As for saddest song regardless of context, i have to go with [“Holland, 1945”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCjpbjCH5L0&feature=youtube_gdata_player) from _In the Aeroplane Over the Sea"_ by Neutral Milk Hotel. It gets me every time, especially since it’s the most upbeat song on the album: “And here’s where your mother sleeps And here is the room where your brothers were born Indentions in the sheets Where their bodies once moved but don’t move any more And it’s so sad to see The world agree That they’d rather see their faces fill with flies Oh how I’d want to keep white roses In your eyes” ---
**Author:** ![FluffyBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecb155/32.png) [@FluffyBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FluffyBob)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2011, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126/175 "2011-06-19T22:32:28Z")
Wow this thread completely killed an afternoon and I have only listened to half the links in it. It is interesting to see what moves people. It is always great to read that someone else is touched by the same music you are, but it is even better to be introduced to something new. I will add Antony Hegarty singing [Candy Says](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n35yiLa18R8). My favorite is a live version from Lou Reed’s Animal Serenade without Lou croaking through the chorus but I cant find it. Antony has the voice of an angel and puts his soul into it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-songs-you-ever-heard/581126.md?page=8)