# What is the most beautiful song you have ever heard? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 25, 2008, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-beautiful-song-you-have-ever-heard/474369 "2008-11-25T02:30:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2008, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-beautiful-song-you-have-ever-heard/474369/121 "2008-11-27T09:26:31Z")
I’m going to add “Overjoyed” by Stevie Wonder. It makes me cry almost every time! ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucky_13/32/13209_2.png) [@Lucky\_13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_13)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2008, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-beautiful-song-you-have-ever-heard/474369/122 "2008-11-27T17:55:36Z")
> [@Quercus\_alba](#): > > I’m partial to Vienna Teng’s “Lullabye for a Stormy Night” lately. > Sweet melody, touching lyrics, soothing delivery… > (Sorry, only link I found was a Doctor Who mashup! 😕) Here ya go.[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19GQbdfktLI](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19GQbdfktLI) I forgot how to put the link as part of the sentence, sorry. I should mention that I really ought to put this song on the “Songs that make you cry” thread. I love many of the songs mentioned on this thread, but one I find particularly beautiful is an instrumental from _The Piano_ soundtrack, “The Heart Asks Pleasure First” by Michael Nyman.[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tu1CSw49U0](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tu1CSw49U0) ---
**Author:** ![Labtrash](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/labtrash/32/528_2.png) [@Labtrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labtrash)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-beautiful-song-you-have-ever-heard/474369/123 "2008-11-28T00:56:01Z")
[Southern Cross](http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=5NXIhaVn5po) - CSN ---
**Author:** ![Eggerhaus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@Eggerhaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eggerhaus)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-beautiful-song-you-have-ever-heard/474369/124 "2008-11-28T00:58:56Z")
Allison Crowe’s cover of Leonard Cohen’s Halleluiah: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/vIMOdVXAPJ0/maxresdefault.jpg "Allison Crowe – Hallelujah – live-in-the-studio") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIMOdVXAPJ0) …what a voice. ---
**Author:** ![Labtrash](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/labtrash/32/528_2.png) [@Labtrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labtrash)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-beautiful-song-you-have-ever-heard/474369/125 "2008-11-28T01:02:18Z")
[Everytime](http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=blt67pb4Oyw)- The Samples ---
**Author:** ![messiah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3e96dc/32.png) [@messiah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/messiah)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-beautiful-song-you-have-ever-heard/474369/126 "2008-11-28T02:09:59Z")
Just one of many beautiful songs by Kate [This Womans Work](http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Hm901CXujEg) This always gets to me, too [Belfast Child](http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=oFIMJxV2tjI) ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-beautiful-song-you-have-ever-heard/474369/127 "2008-11-28T03:10:22Z")
[Coming Back to Me](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiZ_XQ9USTs), by Jefferson Airplane and [Windy and Warm](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TILbEd-U3sM), played by Doc Watson. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-beautiful-song-you-have-ever-heard/474369/128 "2008-11-28T04:04:13Z")
> [@Arac](#): > > Barber’s “Adagio for Strings” gets to me every time, despite it being a bit overused. Particularly the Ferry Corsten remix of William Orbit’s version. [Airwave](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltaogX8vYwQ) by Rank 1. ---
**Author:** ![Plan\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Plan\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plan_B)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-beautiful-song-you-have-ever-heard/474369/129 "2008-11-28T04:38:18Z")
First of all thanks so much for the memories and the new suggestions. I’m going to try to listen to all the songs in some reasonable amount of time. I have so many to add to the list. Too many. But since Pink Floyd is mentioned, I’ll add my two favorites. Wish You Were Here: [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DXCHa9BYfE) Comfortably Numb: [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wtiNzci1Wc) OK, one more. Down to theRiver to Pray, by Allison Krause: [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3D-HmjzFy0) ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-beautiful-song-you-have-ever-heard/474369/130 "2008-11-28T06:01:54Z")
> [@Eggerhaus](#): > > Allison Crowe’s cover of Leonard Cohen’s Halleluiah: > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIMOdVXAPJ0](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIMOdVXAPJ0) > > …what a voice. Listening as I type. That’s a fantastic song and she does well. I really like Cale’s version, but maybe that’s b/c I heard it first, in Shrek. Somehow, I think it’s best sung by a man. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/IlJeS8GDTcI/hqdefault.jpg "Shrek-Halalujha") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlJeS8GDTcI) Well, it’s a complicated question the OP asks. Someone once said that writing about music is like tap dancing about architecture. But okay. What moves me, without even lyrics to support it? Londonderry Air (with lyrics, Danny Boy). And no, I’m not Irish. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/H0ccxNp6cNQ/hqdefault.jpg "Londonderry Air - Guitar solo (Easy version)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0ccxNp6cNQ) The Nimrod IX from Enigma Variations/Sir Edward Elgar [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/sUgoBb8m1eE/hqdefault.jpg "Elgar - Nimrod (from "Enigma Variations")") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUgoBb8m1eE) The Last Spring/Edvard Grieg: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/XrdDhtJH8QU/hqdefault.jpg "05 - Last Spring - 2006") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrdDhtJH8QU) So many…Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker, for instance? I could go on. But if I’m also allowed lyrics? Vincent/Don McLean…a poet’s paradise of internal rhyme, alliteration, and so on. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/dipFMJckZOM/hqdefault.jpg "Vincent (Starry Starry Night) Don McLean") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dipFMJckZOM) (Watching: dayum, I didn’t realize he’d painted “Potato Eaters.”) Let It Be/The Beatles (nope, I’m not Catholic) ![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/67J_66hdN-I/maxresdefault.jpg)https://www.youtube.com/embed/67J_66hdN-I?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque Without You/Nilsson [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/8mbaquq3txs/hqdefault.jpg "without you") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mbaquq3txs) Bridge Over Troubled Water/Simon and Garfunkel ![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/DXF5lVpN1ys/maxresdefault.jpg)https://www.youtube.com/embed/DXF5lVpN1ys?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque OK, stopping now. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Klutz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captain_klutz/32/4993_2.png) [@Captain\_Klutz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Klutz)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-beautiful-song-you-have-ever-heard/474369/131 "2008-11-28T07:43:57Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > De Libes’ [Duet of the Flowers](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Qx2lMaMsl8&feature=related) (the chorus at least) is up there for me. > > Though if it can be instrumental only (as the air on Bach’s G String was), I’m going to be trite and say Pachelbel’s Canon, which is just damned near perfect. > > In the past 100 years- [The Maple Leaf Rag](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMAtL7n_-rc), the Beatles’ _Eleanor Rigby_, and Loreena McKennitt’s version of [Tango to Evora](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iijklrtljnw) come to mind. Another beautiful Loreena McKennitt song is [Bonnie Portmore](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYkg6styqfM&feature=related) (a song about a tree). I first encountered it in the movie Highlander 3. The movie was pretty lousy, but I watched the closing credits several times. ---
**Author:** ![jaclynhyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b3f665/32.png) [@jaclynhyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaclynhyde)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-beautiful-song-you-have-ever-heard/474369/132 "2008-11-28T08:29:59Z")
[Ach, Herr, lass dein lieb Engelein](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-rBGNUAWFk), the final chorale from Bach’s St. John Passion. After all the suffering of the Crucifixion, it’s such a joyous, hopeful movement to end the piece. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-beautiful-song-you-have-ever-heard/474369/133 "2008-11-28T16:24:06Z")
A notable section from Vangelis’ [12 O’Clock.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehA_v9DWpdA) The version above was put to a video of _Der Untergang_—there used to be one that used footage from “Chronicles of Narnia,” which was only slightly less poignient (and still had German bombs going off, now that I think about it). ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-beautiful-song-you-have-ever-heard/474369/134 "2008-11-28T18:24:10Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > Vincent/Don McLean…a poet’s paradise of internal rhyme, alliteration, and so on. > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dipFMJckZOM](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dipFMJckZOM) THn you will enjoy this ![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/LxVDVggLqsA/maxresdefault.jpg)https://www.youtube.com/embed/LxVDVggLqsA?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque ---
**Author:** ![Canadiangirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Canadiangirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadiangirl)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-beautiful-song-you-have-ever-heard/474369/135 "2008-11-28T19:30:39Z")
The Dance by Garth Brooks This Christmas Day by Trans Siberian Orchestra. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-beautiful-song-you-have-ever-heard/474369/136 "2008-11-28T19:38:06Z")
My current choices (guaranteed to change tomorrow) are: [The Unplugged version of **Ilusion**](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faoW_OZ7c_4). The original version, by Mexican pop star Julieta Venegas, is Spanish-only. Here it’s a bilingual duet with Brazilian pop star Marisa Montes. **Lullaby** , the Dixie Chicks. There doesn’t seem to be a proper video on YouTube actually by the Dixie Chicks, so search and watch at your own peril. But it’s a beautiful song. ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-beautiful-song-you-have-ever-heard/474369/137 "2008-11-28T19:59:29Z")
> [@Arac](#): > > Barber’s “Adagio for Strings” gets to me every time, despite it being a bit overused. I have to second this choice. Totally beautiful. ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-beautiful-song-you-have-ever-heard/474369/138 "2008-11-28T20:08:14Z")
Also “Snowfall” by The Manhattan Transfer. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-beautiful-song-you-have-ever-heard/474369/139 "2008-11-28T22:27:49Z")
Debussy: _Nuages_, Nocturne #1 for orchestra [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9h2tAPMLMTc](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9h2tAPMLMTc) _Clair de Lune_ Ravel: “La Flute Enchantee” [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiQTqfPBU9s#t=1m20s](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiQTqfPBU9s#t=1m20s) Randall Thompson: _Alleluia_ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIEqxCW6pPY](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIEqxCW6pPY) _The Last Words of David_ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBnLIzZuNNM](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBnLIzZuNNM) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2008, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-beautiful-song-you-have-ever-heard/474369/140 "2008-11-29T05:35:14Z")
Some of my favorites (three of which, I now realize, are from movie soundtracks): The powerful, evocative “Into the West” by Annie Lennox, from _The Return of the King_: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nVVWDSFFhc](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nVVWDSFFhc) The very moving “Heavenly Day” by Patty Griffin: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWzuLAHnGBQ&NR=1](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWzuLAHnGBQ&NR=1) The slow-building Baroque triumphalism of “Zadok the Priest” by G.F. Handel: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPkzt9vklAw&feature=related](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPkzt9vklAw&feature=related) The haunting and lyrical theme from _Cast Away_ by Alan Silvestri: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hb2-0aAmyAI](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hb2-0aAmyAI) The tranquil yet powerful piano theme “Dawn” from the 2005 film _Pride and Prejudice_, by Dario Marianelli: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kww5FmhjgaI&feature=related](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kww5FmhjgaI&feature=related) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-beautiful-song-you-have-ever-heard/474369.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-beautiful-song-you-have-ever-heard/474369.md?page=8)