Although it has been mentioned once at least I think the saddest is “Cat’s in the Cradle”
However, on the other side, has anyone ever heard the parody of the above called “Cat’s in the Kettle”?
Thanks Davis, it’s always good to hear another fan. I’m sure you’ve listened to it by now, but anyway…
“The longest train I’d ever seen was the train you were on. I walked you to the station, we kissed and you were gone. I dream at night about you coming home: the train in the station, your uniform on fire. As you step onto the platform, the band plays a little louder. And as we embrace, your cap falls off. Oh, I guess these foolish dreams must stop.”
Just my guess, but I assumed that her husband had left for war and was killed, or at least is missing. The train running was her last dream that one day he’d return and with the closing of the rail line, her hopes are crushed along with her life in the town.
More depression by Margo Timmins:
This Street, That Man, This Life: Just a general lament about the pain of life. The third verse hits me the hardest though.
“Lord, you play a hard game; you know we follow every rule. Then you take the one thing that we thought we’d never lose. All I ask is if she’s with you, please keep her warm and safe. And if it’s in your power, please purge her memories of this place.”
First Recollection: Margo sings a lot of songs about picking up roots and abandoning your family. For whatever reason, those always make an impression on me.
“I’ve sat and watched the woodpiles grow through the summer. Now I’m sitting smelling summer burn through the fall. Winter’s coming on, day’s getting dreary. And I’m thinking this is the season that I leave you all.
I’ve heard ‘a man in a crisis falls back on what he knows best. A murderer to murder; a thief to theft’. And I don’t want you to think this is some kind of deathbed confession, but run is what I did when put to the test.”
It’s also the only song I’ve ever heard that managed to rhyme “Chiang Kai-shek”. Well, okay… so it’s a pretty forced rhyme.
Harry Chapin’s ‘Cat’s in the Cradle’ is certainly up there, and ** Baker ** I saw Shirley Ujest’s post and followed the link to ‘Cat’s in the Kettle’ and just cracked up, it was really hilarious.
There was a song my mother used to play, I think it had a bit of a country ring to it. I believe the song was ‘The Three Bells’ having to do with when the church bells ring. Once for this guy’s birth, once when he got married, and then at his funeral. My mom used to listen to it when she felt like crying.
For me: “In the Ghetto” by Elvis and “Daddy Don’t Walk So Fast” by Mac Davis.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Jophiel *
**
Crazy! We’re lyric twins! I just logged on when I got home - I checked the lyrics on this album re: The Last Spike and was going to post this verse in addition. What could be more depressing than a mother mourning the death of her child by a psycho-killer? “All I ask is if she’s with you, please keep her warm. And if it’s in your power, please purge the memories of this place.” Which of course means purging her child’s memory of her as well. Absolutely mortifyingly depressing.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Anti Pro *
**
Ah yes, the “Three Bells” song. Can’t remember who sang the country version (Roommate took the tape, thank gawd), but it’s pretty and seems less depressing sung in French by Edith Piaf. [Of course, I’ll probably retract that statement once I can get the French lyrics translated.]
:shudder: “Daddy Don’t You Walk So Fast” - forgot that one. Thanks for reminding me. 
Add to my depressing song list:
“Teddy Bear” - the CB/trucker ballad (by CW McCall?) IIRC about an ill little boy (cancer?) talking to truckers on the CB radio
“Honey” by Bobby Goldsboro - as corny as that song is, it always used to make me cry.
Indeed, Desperado (Alansmithee called this out first). “And freedom, oh, freedom, well that’s just some people talkin’, you’re prison is walkin’ through this world all alone”. Try listening to that when you have just been dumped by the woman you love. Been there, done that.
On a more classical note, Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder (songs of dead children) always does it to me.
And one of my all-time favourite songs: Jesse by Janis Ian. Her lover has left her (is dead?), and she cannot accept it.
Jesse come home, there’s a hole in the bed
Where we slept; now it’s growing cold
Jesse your face, in the place where we lay
By the hearth, all apart, it hangs on my heart
And I’m leaving the light on the stairs
No I’m not scared; I wait for you
Hey Jesse, it’s lonely, come home
Jesse the stairs in the halls, recalling
Your step; and I remember too
All the pictures are shaded and fading in grey
And I still set a place on the table at noon
And I’m leaving the light on the stairs
No I’m not scared; I wait for you
Hey Jesse, it’s lonely, come home
Jesse the spread on the bed,
It’s like when you left, I kept it for you
All the blues and the greens have been recently cleaned
And are seemingly new; hey Jess, me and you
We’ll swallow the light on the stairs
I’ll fix up my hair, we’ll sleep unawares
Hey Jesse, it’s lonely, come home.
Goosebumps…
Anti Pro, WHERE did you get “Cat’s in the Kettle”? You said it was in a post by a Shirley Ujest(I get the pun) but I can’t find it. I really want it because the CD that I heard it on belonged to someone else and they have lost it. Or if anyone else knows, can you let me know???
http://members.aol.com/BubbasWebstop/
for “Cat’s in the Kettle”.
It’s on about a dozen other sites as well…just do a yahoo search 
Cyn
Morphine - In Spite Of Me
Last night I told a stranger all about you
They smiled patiently with disbelief
I always knew you would succeed no matter what you tried
And I know you did it all in spite of me
Still I’m proud to have know you for the short time that I did
Glad to have been a step up on your way
Proud to be part of your illustrious career
And I know you did it all in spite of me
In spite of me
Late last night I saw you in my living room
You seemed so close but yet so cold
For a long time I thought that you’d be coming back to me
Those kind of thoughts can be so cruel
So cruel And I know you did it all in spite of me
In spite of me
Morphine - The Night
You’re the night, Lilah. A little girl lost in the woods.
You’re a folk tale, the unexplainable
You’re a bedtime story. The one that keeps the curtains closed.
I hope you’re waiting for me cause I can’t make it on my own.
I can’t make it on my own.
It’s too dark to see the landmarks. I don’t want your good luck charms.
I hope you’re waiting for me across your carpet of stars.
You’re the night, Lilah. You’re everything that we can’t see.
Lilah, you’re the possibility.
You’re a bedtime story. The one that keeps the curtains closed.
And I hope you’re waiting for me cause I can’t make it on my own.
I can’t make it on my own.
Unknown the unlit world of old. You’re the sounds I never heard before.
Off the map where the wild things grow. Another world outside my door.
Here I stand I’m all alone. Drive me down the pitch black road.
Lilah you’re my only home and I can’t make it on my own.
You’re a bedtime story. The one that keeps the curtains closed.
And I hope you’re waiting for me cause I can’t make it on my own.
I can’t make it on my own.
I’m not so sure I agree with this anymore, but back in college my friends and I had a joke that whenever that “Major Tom” song by David Bowie started playing, we would all say, on cue, “Ladies and Gentlemen, The Most Depressing Song in The World!!”
Neil Young. The Needle and the Damage Done
Stan by Eminem. Despite itself, the music has an almost haunting quality. It probably has to do with the Dido song that is sampled. The words also strike a chord with me. This guy is killing himself because Eminem won’t write back to him. He says. “I loved you Slim, we could have been together. Think about it, you ruined it now. I hope you cant sleep and you dream about it. And when you dream I hope you can’t sleep and you scream about it. i hope your conscience eats at you and you can’t breathe without me.”
This song made some of my guy friends cry. And these are people that almost never cry.
Judy I feel weary now–
Older than a man of 33.
The gates of Hell just opened.
After 20 years the warden saya I’m free.
Revenge was all I wanted
When I killed the man that took your life that day.
Now I’ve had my satisfaction
But the price was more than love should have to pay
Lord knows you were no lady
And the witnesses all swore you were to blame.
And the way you teased the men-folk,
The jury all agreed--you knew no shame.
I’m glad that you can’t see me now–
Prob’ly say I do not look my best.
Those lawyers took my money
And that Lousiana road gang took the rest.
And Judy I can’t even conjure
Up your picture in my mind today.
Lately I’ve been thinkin’
What a fool I was to love you anyway.
Well it all seems kind of useless
As I place these flowers on your grave today
I don’t know what I’m doing here–
I’ve forgotten all the things I came to say.
Actually, I always found Tracy Chapman’s
Behind the Wall to be pretty depressing.
FYI:
Puff The Magic Dragon
I think he dies too.
Teddy Bear
The kid is a cripple not with cancer and his Dad was a trucker who died “Trying to get home in a blinding snow” (I’ve heard that song lots its one of my favs)
On to my choices!
Daddy’s Girl
A fathers memories of his daughter growing up… taking her to a football game, fishing etc
Borderline Angel
About a woman who is a prostitute trying to support her kids and “Begging sweet Jesus to let her cross over the borderline”
Don’t Cry Daddy
A guy with his two sons their Mom walked out on him and his sons comfort him.
Believe
(by Savatage on Streets: A Rock Opera)
A guy witnesses a death and he follows the ghost of the guy. The ghost sings about atuff its kinda sad. (Can’t remember it exactly I haven’t listened to it in awhile)
The Rose by Bette Midler
At least this one is for me cuz in grade 9 for Remembrance Day we did this ceremony… there was a skit done about a guy who was lost in the war and he had a daughter and a wife. His ‘wife’ read a letter to her ‘daughter’ and handed her a false rose. In the background ‘The Rose’ was being played on the piano (I think a clarinet also) It was really sad and touching. Most everyone was crying there after that one (even me)
Thanks for the clarification. This is one where I change the station because the song makes me upset, not because it annoys me. [Song Intro…click] Roommate’s fav, not mine - :sniff: Waaaaah!
Eminem slightly full of himself?
What a dick. ‘Let’s take a fan’s suicide note, and make it into a song and make money off of it.’ Obviously he has no conscience.
Okay folks, I have read a couple posts about “Puff the Magic Dragon” with the conclusion that the kid died. There seems to be a vital line of the song that has been overlooked.
The verse, with a minor brainburp (can’t remember the original word - X/X):
“Dragons live forever,
Not so little boys;
Painted wings and flying things
make/give way for other toys”
Conclusion: the child grew up, put away childish things and abandoned the friend who kept him company for most of his young life. Of course Puff is going to be upset and hide from the world. Would you not be crushed if you were thrown over by someone you had considered to be your best friend for a new toy/friend/playmate with no warning at all? [OTOH, this song was a great teaching tool about considering other people’s feelings.]
When I was a music teacher, and also did children’s concerts, I dreaded this song, knowing that somewhere in class or in the audience, some child (or parent) was going to burst into tears thinking that little Jackie had shuffled off this mortal coil. At the critical line noted above, we would all sing it with a little more emphasis. Explaining the song to a sobbing kindergartener was not one of the joys of my life or career.
[On a more positive note, a locally-produced children’s show (“Happy Romping Children’s Magic Neighborhood ToyshopLand Room” or something like that) had a host that would draw pictures to the songs as the other host/ess was singing. The first picture started with little Jackie knocking at the door to Puff’s cave. Puff emerging, looking happy, the two of them playing together, gray night scene, Puff crying and depressed, Puff slipping back into his cave. On the last repeat of the chorus, a new child (different shirt, different hair, still a boy [evidently girls didn’t play with dragons]) knocks on the door to Puff’s cave, implying the cycle starts again. Brilliant idea: I premade some pictures, had the kids hold them up during the specific verse of the song, and voila! no more traumatized children in class or the audience, happy reassured parents in audience, and audience/class participation to boot.]
End of rant, Jackie’s alive and I feel much better for saying this.
Now only I could have found a way to explain “John Henry” (another depressing folk song). Add that and most of the Woody Guthrie repertoire to my list.
should have read:
Read this if you are convinced Jackie is dead…
:Pounds head on keyboard. No effect on sinuses:
Credibility. That’s all I ask.
:heads back to bed: