# What makes you cry topic....What is the saddest song? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 23, 2003, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-you-cry-topic-what-is-the-saddest-song/163630 "2003-03-23T22:23:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2019, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-you-cry-topic-what-is-the-saddest-song/163630/121 "2019-01-28T01:26:18Z")
There are several songs that can make me cry. Just recently I was at an event that featured part of a documentary on the Vietnam War and when the song “Ohio” came on — [Ohio- Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young - YouTube](https://youtu.be/TRE9vMBBe10) — tears immediately started streaming down my face. I was only one year old and at the opposite end of Ohio when Kent State happened, but that song gets me right there. ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2019, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-you-cry-topic-what-is-the-saddest-song/163630/122 "2019-01-28T02:29:23Z")
[Delbert McClinton: You Were Never Mine](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVtKU4nmgNc) ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2019, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-you-cry-topic-what-is-the-saddest-song/163630/123 "2019-01-28T03:57:48Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > Ha! Beat you this time! l already mentioned that one! > > But if we’re doing tearjerkers associated with movies: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTZ5VpfzoW0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTZ5VpfzoW0) > > Bless the Beasts and the Children If you think I’m sharing my box of Kleenex with you… . 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2019, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-you-cry-topic-what-is-the-saddest-song/163630/124 "2019-01-28T05:20:16Z")
Having kids, this one _May your heart always be joyful May your song always be sung And may you stay May you stay forever young_ They grow up too fast ---
**Author:** ![Periwinkle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Periwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Periwinkle)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2019, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-you-cry-topic-what-is-the-saddest-song/163630/125 "2019-01-28T08:47:25Z")
Dance with My Father by Luther Vandross is a very touching song. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/wmDxJrggie8/maxresdefault.jpg "Luther Vandross - Dance With My Father") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmDxJrggie8) ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2019, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-you-cry-topic-what-is-the-saddest-song/163630/126 "2019-01-28T09:54:27Z")
One of Tom T Hall’s lesser known songs is _Pay No Attention to Alice_. It’s about an alcoholic wife. The line that gets me is “She cooked that chicken too long, but she don’t know that. Ah, what the hell. It ain’t too bad.” If you grew up with an alcoholic parent, it just brings back all the disappointment and resignation you have to live with to accomodate that parent’s weakness. At least, it does for me. On the instrumental side, there’s Scott Joplin’s _Solace_. It’s his only tango. It sounds like a song trying to find happiness from a deep sadness. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2019, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-you-cry-topic-what-is-the-saddest-song/163630/127 "2019-01-28T10:00:44Z")
You think that someday, there’ll be some sad song about a parent that stays glued to their iPhone? ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2019, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-you-cry-topic-what-is-the-saddest-song/163630/128 "2019-01-28T11:32:41Z")
[_Little Green_ by Joni Mitchell](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIzJnBWovOs). It’s a song about giving up her daughter for adoption. [_Solitude_ by Black Sabbath](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-D2bOH2qFI). It’s also one of the most beautiful songs in my collection. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2019, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-you-cry-topic-what-is-the-saddest-song/163630/129 "2019-01-28T11:40:59Z")
[the Mountain Goats - Matthew 25:21](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0q1V9GbS6so) Wherein the singer describes visiting his mother, who’s in the hospital dying of cancer. This year, it’s been 15 years since the death of my mother, and I haven’t been able to listen to that song once without breaking down into tears. _You were a presence full of light upon this Earth and I am a witness to your life and to its worth_ ---
**Author:** ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2019, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-you-cry-topic-what-is-the-saddest-song/163630/130 "2019-01-29T06:13:29Z")
In the Ghetto - Elvis [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-you-cry-topic-what-is-the-saddest-song/163630.md?page=6)