# The saddest (true) songs in the world **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 22, 2008, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-true-songs-in-the-world/453737 "2008-06-22T00:59:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2008, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-true-songs-in-the-world/453737/21 "2008-06-22T20:03:30Z")
Sufjan Stevens’ “John Wayne Gacy, Jr.” has to be in the running. ---
**Author:** ![NoOrdinaryRabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eada6e/32.png) [@NoOrdinaryRabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoOrdinaryRabbit)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2008, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-true-songs-in-the-world/453737/22 "2008-06-22T20:35:32Z")
Cold Missouri Waters, as recorded by Richard Shindell. Chokes me up every time I hear it. ---
**Author:** ![Gail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Gail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gail)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2008, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-true-songs-in-the-world/453737/23 "2008-06-22T20:47:24Z")
I vote for _Zombie_ by The Cranberries [The Cranberries - Zombie Lyrics | AZLyrics.com](http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/cranberries/zombie.html) here ---
**Author:** ![Linty\_Fresh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Linty\_Fresh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linty_Fresh)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2008, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-true-songs-in-the-world/453737/24 "2008-06-22T21:11:55Z")
Joseph Kilna MacKenzie’s _Sgt. MacKenzie_ was about his great grandfather. _The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll_ by Bob Dylan is a pretty depressing true story. Hell, quite a few songs by Bob Dylan are depressing true stories. _Ballad of Ira Hayes_ comes to mind. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2008, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-true-songs-in-the-world/453737/25 "2008-06-22T21:15:47Z")
I don’t know how ‘true’ you’d consider it but Goodnight Saigon by Billy Joel is kinda sad. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2008, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-true-songs-in-the-world/453737/26 "2008-06-22T21:53:26Z")
[QUOTE=USCDiver] I don’t know how ‘true’ you’d consider it but Goodnight Saigon by Billy Joel is kinda sad. [/QUOTE] That was the one I came in to mention. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2008, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-true-songs-in-the-world/453737/27 "2008-06-22T22:58:24Z")
In heaven there is no beer. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2008, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-true-songs-in-the-world/453737/28 "2008-06-22T23:00:52Z")
[QUOTE=Harmonious Discord] In heaven there is no beer. [/QUOTE] How do you know this is a ‘true’ song? ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2008, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-true-songs-in-the-world/453737/29 "2008-06-22T23:10:27Z")
Springhill Mining Disaster (or whatever that song is correctly called) is heartbreaking. Luke Kelly’s version is particularly touching. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2008, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-true-songs-in-the-world/453737/30 "2008-06-23T00:18:04Z")
_Keep Me In Your Heart_ by Warren Zevon. Final track, final album, final good bye… ---
**Author:** ![JustAnotherGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/58f4c7/32.png) [@JustAnotherGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustAnotherGeek)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2008, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-true-songs-in-the-world/453737/31 "2008-06-23T00:28:25Z")
Billy by Justin Hayward (on a solo album, not with the Moody Blues). [QUOTE=USCDiver] I don’t know how ‘true’ you’d consider it but Goodnight Saigon by Billy Joel is kinda sad. [/QUOTE] A friend of mine who is a professional photographer now, and was an amateur photographer when he was drafted and sent to Vietnam recently put together a slide show of his pictures set to Goodnight Saigon. The song was very true for all Vietnam vets in the room. I sincerely hope he chooses to share this show somehow, either on-line or in a museum. ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2008, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-true-songs-in-the-world/453737/32 "2008-06-23T05:28:55Z")
I find Neil Young’s “Ohio” sad. esp. the lyric - ‘what if you knew her and found her dead on the ground’. And a second for Kilkelly Ireland. beautiful, beautiful song. much sadder because true. Of course many folk songs were based on true tragedies. Interesting that some of them get jollied up over time. (like the song about the Titanic which we sang at camp with the gusto of a fight song). Songs about real people that have passed on will often make me cry - I know of two songs about Stephen Biko (South African freedom fighter) that hit me hard. Also the song about Joe Hill - “But Joe I said you’e ten years gone. ‘I never died’ said he” ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2008, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-true-songs-in-the-world/453737/33 "2008-06-23T05:37:23Z")
“AT SEVENTEEN” By Janis Ian I learned the truth at seventeen That love was meant for beauty queens And high school girls with clear skinned smiles Who married young and then retired The valentines I never knew The Friday night charades of youth Were spent on one more beautiful At seventeen I learned the truth… And those of us with ravaged faces Lacking in the social graces Desperately remained at home Inventing lovers on the phone Who called to say “come dance with me” And murmured vague obscenities It isn’t all it seems at seventeen…" ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2008, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-true-songs-in-the-world/453737/34 "2008-06-23T12:26:37Z")
Tom Paxton’s [Born on the Fourth of July](http://www.mydfz.com/Paxton/lyrics/botfoj.htm), inspired by Ron Kovac’s book Now I wheel myself down to the crossroads of town To watch the young girls and their lovers. And my mind is afire, it’s alive with desire. Christ, I’d barely begun. Now it’s over. In my wheelchair for life, my mechanic wife, I’m supposed to be cheerful and stoic. I’m your old tried and true, Yankee Doodle to you. Clean cut, _paralyzed_ and heroic. I was born on the 4th of July, no one more loyal than I. When my country said so I was ready to go, And I wish I’d been left there to die. ---
**Author:** ![phungi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phungi/32/395_2.png) [@phungi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phungi)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2008, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-true-songs-in-the-world/453737/35 "2008-06-23T17:13:17Z")
\*[Freshman](http://sheenapunya.blogspot.com/2005/08/stim-freshman.html) \* by the Verve Pipe ---
**Author:** ![Merhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Merhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merhouse)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2008, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-true-songs-in-the-world/453737/36 "2008-06-23T18:00:37Z")
[QUOTE=well he’s back] I find Neil Young’s “Ohio” sad. esp. the lyric - ‘what if you knew her and found her dead on the ground’. [/QUOTE] Yeah, this one always gets me. Jeffrey Miller’s mother was the secretary to the Principal in our high school. That was not a fun day. I am teary-eyed just thinking about it now. ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2008, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-true-songs-in-the-world/453737/37 "2008-06-23T18:41:48Z")
[QUOTE=Starving Artist] “AT SEVENTEEN” By Janis Ian I learned the truth at seventeen That love was meant for beauty queens And high school girls with clear skinned smiles Who married young and then retired The valentines I never knew The Friday night charades of youth Were spent on one more beautiful At seventeen I learned the truth… And those of us with ravaged faces Lacking in the social graces Desperately remained at home Inventing lovers on the phone Who called to say “come dance with me” And murmured vague obscenities It isn’t all it seems at seventeen…" [/QUOTE] I just saw her in concert Thursday. Most of her songs are in the sad but true vein…what a life she’s had. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2008, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-true-songs-in-the-world/453737/38 "2008-06-23T19:02:02Z")
_I don’t like Mondays_ by the Boomtown Rats. It is sad and so confusing in its tragic-ness that it always makes me reflective ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2008, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-true-songs-in-the-world/453737/39 "2008-06-23T19:07:04Z")
Great call on Tom Paxton’s “4th of July”, Annie-Xmas. Lots of folks used to say that book “Born on the Fourth of July” should be required reading in all high schools. Wrenching story in either form. (I never saw the Tom Cruise movie based on Kovic’s story - didn’t see the need to put myself through it but I heard it was pretty good.) Paxton wrote one of the songs about Stephen Biko that I find very moving, and he wrote one about his friend, singer Phil Ochs’, suicide. That’s also a very sad-but-good song. ---
**Author:** ![Jolly\_Roger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/91b2a8/32.png) [@Jolly\_Roger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jolly_Roger)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2008, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-true-songs-in-the-world/453737/40 "2008-06-23T20:43:05Z")
I don’t know the name of the song or the singer (can’t find out right now, since it is too late here to call my friend that played it for me) but it was a country song about a soldier that was being spit on and treated like crap because he was a soldier. Wish I could remember, because I recall feeling upset about it. But as corny as it sounds, I tend to feel sad about songs that I feel relate to me personally. So a song I find sad is **Only Time Will Tell** by _Asia_, because it fits a relationship I had years ago. Its not easy to forget having your heart torn out. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-true-songs-in-the-world/453737.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saddest-true-songs-in-the-world/453737.md?page=3)