# What Songs Make You "Tear Up"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 29, 2004, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-make-you-tear-up/247676 "2004-05-29T13:46:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2008, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-make-you-tear-up/247676/61 "2008-04-21T05:35:22Z")
“Amazing Grace.” Because I’ve played it at so many damn funerals and way too many times for people I cared for. (Though I did do one service where the dearly departed had asked that we put the lyrics to “Gilligan’s Island” to “Amazing Grace.” I did not cry that time but was quite irritated because that combination is extra ear-wormy. That was many years ago and I STILL can’t get it out of my head.) And, of late, Oscar Levant’s hymn to love and misadventure, “Blame It On My Youth.” I cry like a fool every time I hear it, my dumbass. Especially this part: _If you were on my mind both night and day Blame it on my youth, If I forgot to eat and sleep and pray Blame it on my youth, If I cried a little bit when first I learned the truth, Don’t blame it on my heart, Blame it on my youth._ Maybe I should try it with the lyrics from “Gilligan’s Island.” ---
**Author:** ![GameHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@GameHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GameHat)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2008, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-make-you-tear-up/247676/62 "2008-04-21T05:39:21Z")
Radiohead - No Surprises > [@](#): > > A heart that’s full up like a landfill, > a job that slowly kills you, > bruises that won’t heal. > You look so tired-unhappy, > bring down the government, > they don’t, they don’t speak for us. > I’ll take a quiet life, > a handshake of carbon monoxide, > > with no alarms and no surprises, > no alarms and no surprises, > no alarms and no surprises, > no alarms and no surprises, > Silent silent. > > This is my final fit, > my final bellyache, > > with no alarms and no surprises, > no alarms and no surprises, > no alarms and no surprises please. > > Such a pretty house > and such a pretty garden. > > No alarms and no surprises (get me outta here), > no alarms and no surprises (get me outta here), > no alarms and no surprises, please. I really can’t listen to this song without tearing up. ---
**Author:** ![nocturnal\_tick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3d9bf3/32.png) [@nocturnal\_tick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nocturnal_tick)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2008, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-make-you-tear-up/247676/63 "2008-04-21T09:04:06Z")
Since the first time I heard it [Crash and Burn](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uB4lT5CblA) by Savage Garden will make me well up as soon as the bridge hits. And recently I heard [The Streets of Derry](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrxD9mxd6ug) for the first time. Hit me within the first two lines. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2008, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-make-you-tear-up/247676/64 "2008-04-21T09:12:57Z")
There’s this song by Sufjan Stevens about a childhood female friend of (the narrator? Sufjan himself? I don’t know) who died of cancer. Gets me every time. ---
**Author:** ![NineToTheSky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@NineToTheSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NineToTheSky)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2008, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-make-you-tear-up/247676/65 "2008-04-21T10:13:00Z")
The most beautifully sad song I know is Buffalo Springfield’s (well, Neil Young’s) Expecting To Fly: \*There you stood on the edge of your feather, Expecting to fly. While I laughed, I wondered whether I could wave goodbye, Knowin’ that you’d gone. By the summer it was healing, We had said goodbye. All the years we’d spent with feeling Ended with a cry, Babe, ended with a cry, Babe, ended with a cry. I tried so hard to stand As I stumbled and fell to the ground. So hard to laugh as I fumbled And reached for the love I found, Knowin’ it was gone. If I never lived without you, Now you know I’d die. If I never said I loved you, Now you know I’d try, Babe, now you know I’d try. Babe, now you know I’d try, Babe.\* Both lyrically and musically, it tears me apart. ---
**Author:** ![Coil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Coil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coil)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2008, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-make-you-tear-up/247676/66 "2008-04-21T12:26:15Z")
I listen to quite a few bands who have some really sad songs but it really depends on the mood I am in if they affect me in that way. Currently Precious by Depeche Mode is hard for me to listen to, even though I really like the song, because of the text and knowing what Martin Gore wrote the song about. ---
**Author:** ![fervour](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@fervour](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fervour)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2008, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-make-you-tear-up/247676/67 "2008-04-21T13:21:21Z")
Stay Gold by Stevie Wonder. I don’t know why I never heard this when I was younger because it was in the movie _The Outsiders_. It couldn’t have been more than 5 years ago when I first heard the song on a “best of” collection. I later watched the movie on one of those classic TV channels. I was in eleventh grade when the movie came out—guess I lived a sheltered life. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2008, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-make-you-tear-up/247676/68 "2008-04-21T13:48:36Z")
[QUOTE=Quasimodem] That’s the long “_ea_” up there, my fellow little heathens. 😃 For me it’s _Happy Trails_ by Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. When my Dad brought me and Mom and little bro to the States in 60, that was one of the first shows I watched. Hence my emotional attachment. I also like the “Mr. Rogers Neighborhood” theme. He was my first American friend. Sorry! Guess y’all thought I was “cool” huh? Q [/QUOTE] I sometimes get a little something in my eye for Mr. Rogers, too, because _Mr. Rogers really loves you_. I also have a hard time with “Cats in the Cradle”. And I can’t listen to “Breathe Me”, which is the song they played in the last episode of _Six Feet Under_, because it’s just too emotional. Then there’s a whole other genre of songs that are just miserable and depressing - I cry at “And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda”, but that’s because it’s an incredibly sad song! ---
**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:** [April 21, 2008, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-make-you-tear-up/247676/69 "2008-04-21T14:15:25Z")
“Into the West” by Annie Lennox - The emotional evocation of Frodo leaving his friends is very powerful. Just a perfectly beautiful, winsomely lyrical song. “In My Daughter’s Eyes” by Martina McBride - The understated explanation of a mom’s love, hopes and dreams for her daughter make for a very powerful tune. “Day is Done” by Peter, Paul and Mary - Just as good, just as powerful, as told from a father’s perspective. “Heavenly Day” by Patty Griffin - A spare, heartbreakingly beautiful song about spending a perfect day with someone you love. It starts quiet and slow, but when the orchestra comes in my heart almost always leaps. “The Star-Spangled Banner,” lyrics by Francis Scott Key - Singing it in a crowd, looking at an American flag rippling high in the wind, thinking of the challenges of the American Revolution, the Civil War and so many other times of trouble, almost invariably makes me tear up a bit. ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2008, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-make-you-tear-up/247676/70 "2008-04-21T15:18:26Z")
Dozens. Let’s see… When **Steven Stills** sings in _Southern Cross_: > [@](#): > > So I’m sailing for tomorrow, my dreams are a dyin’ > And my love is an anchor tied to you, tied with a silver chain > I have my ship and all her flags are a flyin’ > She is all that I have left and music is her name… That gets me because, altho’ his talent is immense, that it’s the only thing he has is sad beyond words. There are a dozen **Billy Joel** songs that grab me, not the least because he “was born in '49” (I was born in ‘51)–he and I share a large part of our childhood times. So _Russians_ (“how can I save my little boy from Oppenheimer’s deadly toy”), and _Downeaster Alexa_ (“I’ve got bills to pay and children who need clothes”) and _Leningrad_ (“He made my daughter laugh, then we embraced”) and _And So It Goes_ (If I lost VeryCoolSpouse I’d be lost as well. That Billy lost his love makes the song even more poignant.) and _The Entertainer_ (because I’m also a musician, altho’ not of THAT caliber). The biggest (I won’t repeat the reasons here–find those other, similar threads) is _Solsbury Hill_ by **Peter Gabriel** –whom I can’t help but notice is mentioned several previous times in this thread. A towering musical talent. ---
**Author:** ![schnuckiputzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecb155/32.png) [@schnuckiputzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/schnuckiputzi)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2008, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-make-you-tear-up/247676/71 "2008-04-21T17:08:00Z")
“The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” And that weepy old '70’s tune “Honey” ---
**Author:** ![tallcoldone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9a140/32.png) [@tallcoldone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tallcoldone)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2008, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-make-you-tear-up/247676/72 "2008-04-21T17:47:13Z")
“Adagio for Strings” - I first became aware of it watching the movie “Platoon” and have never heard it without feeling profound sadness. “Eagle’s Wings” - I always enjoyed singing this hymn. Then Mom selected it for Dad’s funeral, and ever since I can’t get through the refrain. And I’m not even religious anymore. ---
**Author:** ![tallcoldone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9a140/32.png) [@tallcoldone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tallcoldone)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2008, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-make-you-tear-up/247676/73 "2008-04-21T18:14:47Z")
“Adagio for Strings” - I first became aware of it watching the movie “Platoon” and have never heard it without feeling profound sadness. “Eagle’s Wings” - I always enjoyed singing this hymn. Then Mom selected it for Dad’s funeral, and ever since I can’t get through the refrain. And I’m not even religious anymore. ---
**Author:** ![rayh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@rayh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rayh)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2008, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-make-you-tear-up/247676/74 "2008-04-21T18:21:58Z")
[QUOTE=Cartooniverse] A couple. One just did today. 1. Simon and Garfunkel. The end of " Old Friends", which is I believe a separate song. It is about old photographs. [/QUOTE] [Bookends](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoOJsrw5Fkc) ---
**Author:** ![TeddyLee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@TeddyLee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeddyLee)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2008, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-make-you-tear-up/247676/75 "2008-04-21T18:24:29Z")
Nas - Dance ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2008, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-make-you-tear-up/247676/76 "2008-04-21T18:45:12Z")
“30K FT” by Assemblage 23 “Run for the Roses” by Dan Fogelberg “And So It Goes” by Billy Joel “Roses for Mama” by C. W. McCall (absolute and total schmaltz, but I’m incapable of listening to it without tearing up) And yes, “Bookends”…(“How terribly strange to be seventy…”) ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2008, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-make-you-tear-up/247676/77 "2008-04-21T18:49:29Z")
[QUOTE=NoCoolUserName] There are a dozen **Billy Joel** songs that grab me, not the least because he “was born in '49” (I was born in '51)–he and I share a large part of our childhood times. So _Russians_ (“how can I save my little boy from Oppenheimer’s deadly toy”)…\ [/quote] That one is actually Sting, from “Dream of the Blue Turtles”. > [@](#): > > The biggest (I won’t repeat the reasons here–find those other, similar threads) is _Solsbury Hill_ by **Peter Gabriel** –whom I can’t help but notice is mentioned several previous times in this thread. A towering musical talent. Oh, yes, agreed. Peter Gabriel is fantastic. While it doesn’t make me tear up, exactly, his “Signal To Noise” is one of the most intense songs I’ve ever heard. The end of it is, for lack of a better word, orgasmic. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2008, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-make-you-tear-up/247676/78 "2008-04-21T19:50:53Z")
[QUOTE=Cartooniverse] ( Total aside: **Eve** ’s back !! 😃 ) [/QUOTE] Er, not so much. That post was from 2004. Her profile does show activity today, but her last post was in January 2007. So it appears that she’s lurking for now. Sorry to be a party pooper . . . ---
**Author:** ![JHE1967](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3bc359/32.png) [@JHE1967](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JHE1967)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2008, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-make-you-tear-up/247676/79 "2008-04-21T20:13:33Z")
[QUOTE=NineToTheSky] The most beautifully sad song I know is Buffalo Springfield’s (well, Neil Young’s) Expecting To Fly: [/QUOTE] It is otherworldly beautiful isn’t it? Neil did this with the late great Jack Nitschze. ---
**Author:** ![AlmondJoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@AlmondJoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlmondJoy)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2008, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-make-you-tear-up/247676/80 "2008-04-21T20:17:35Z")
anything by Aaron Neville… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-make-you-tear-up/247676.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-make-you-tear-up/247676.md?page=5)