# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![El\_DeLuxo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_deluxo/32/9043_2.png) [@El\_DeLuxo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_DeLuxo)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2008, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-make-you-tear-up/247676/81 "2008-04-21T20:53:18Z")
“When I come around”-Green Day “Goddamn the Sun” -Swans “Ride the lightning” -Metallica “The Interpreter”-Roky Erickson “Baby Gotterdammerung”-Monster Magnet and any number of Janis Joplin’s songs, if they catch me righr… ---
**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:** [April 21, 2008, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-make-you-tear-up/247676/82 "2008-04-21T21:26:12Z")
[QUOTE=GameHat] Radiohead - No Surprises [/QUOTE] When I was stuck in a hated job a few years ago, that song would make me bawl. That and the line from “True Love Waits” : “I’m not living, I’m just killing time.” Other Radiohead tearjerkers: [ul] [li]Bulletproof[/li][li]Sail to the Moon[/li][li]Pyramid Song[/li][li]Scatterbrain[/li][/ul] I cry pretty easily, actually. Lessee, off the top of my head, other songs that make me cry are: [ul] [li]Bjork and Thom Yorke – “I’ve Seen It All”[/li][li]Elliott Smith – “No Name no. 5”[/li][li]Lou Reed – “Magician”[/li][li]Tom Waits – “Georgia Lee” and “Shiny Things”[/li][li]Morphine – “Candy” [particularly after Mark Sandman died] and “The Night”[/li][li]Neutral Milk Hotel – “Two-Headed Boy, pt. 2” and “Three Peaches”[/li][li]REM – “Texarkana”[/li][li]Sufjan Stevens – “In the Devil’s Territory”[/li][li]The Yeah Yeah Yeahs – [“Maps”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYJjHCZN46U) (hey, Karen O cries in the video, too)[/li][/ul] Probably others. :o When I was little, I used to cry at Bread’s “If” and Jim Croce’s “Time in a Bottle.” ---
**Author:** ![atlantic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/46a35a/32.png) [@atlantic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/atlantic)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2008, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-make-you-tear-up/247676/83 "2008-04-21T22:54:16Z")
> [@](#): > > 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. I agree. Great song, but painful to listen to. I’ll add **Coldplay’s ‘The Scientist’**. Always guaranteed to give me a good cry. ---
**Author:** ![meenie7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7993a0/32.png) [@meenie7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/meenie7)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2008, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-make-you-tear-up/247676/84 "2008-04-21T23:53:14Z")
There are a lot of songs that make me feel teary for a lot of reasons. What comes to mind at the moment is “Make Me Smile” by Chicago. I always liked it (my mom is a big Chicago fan and I grew up with that music, though their popularity fizzled out when I was a little kid) but then, last year when my dad was seriously hurt and in the hospital, and we didn’t know if he would make it or not, it came on and made me cry at: _I’m so happy that you love me Life is lovely when you’re near me Tell me you will stay Make me smile…_ My dad did make it, in the end. But, now, I’m crying at work, just remembering. Another one is “Silver, Blue and Gold” by Bad Company, another one my mom likes. I recently had a very sudden and disappointing breakup and now it makes me very sad. _Don’t forsake me, cause I love you… Give me silver, blue and gold the color of the sky, I’m told My rainbow is overdue…_ ---
**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 22, 2008, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-make-you-tear-up/247676/85 "2008-04-22T00:25:26Z")
Forgot one: Tori Amos’s “Winter” (the lyrics are a father to his daughter): _He says when you gonna make up your mind? When you gonna love you as much as I do? When you gonna make up your mind? Cause things are gonna change so fast All the white horses are still in bed I tell you that I’ll always want you near You say that things change, my dear_ ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2008, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-make-you-tear-up/247676/86 "2008-04-26T17:03:02Z")
[QUOTE=rayh] [Bookends](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoOJsrw5Fkc) [/QUOTE] Thank you. Boy that song gets me. Appreciate the straight dope on **Eve**. Hope, like many things, springs eternal. As for more songs? **Paradise City** , by Guns 'N Roses… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2008, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-make-you-tear-up/247676/87 "2008-04-26T19:03:21Z")
I did [this one](http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/misssaigon/bui-doi.htm) at a concert a few years back, and had real problems at one or two of the rehearsals. Also last November after blowing the trumpet calls at a local Remembrance Day service, I seriously struggled with [this](http://www.hymns.me.uk/o-valiant-hearts-funeral-hymn.htm) grand old British Legion stalwart - on two levels, I guess, both for the words of the hymn itself and because it must have been nearly thirty years since I’d sung it last (it’s quite unfashionable these days). The tune’s a right old dirge, no error, but in the time and place where a dirge is entirely in keeping, it’s quite a powerful piece of writing. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2008, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-make-you-tear-up/247676/88 "2008-04-26T20:11:49Z")
[God’s Trying To Tell You Something](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxS9qSU-25E) from _The Color Purple_. ---
**Author:** ![Archergal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Archergal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archergal)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2008, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-make-you-tear-up/247676/89 "2008-04-26T23:40:39Z")
[QUOTE=Carm6773] [Holes in the Floor of Heaven](http://youtube.com/watch?v=6gGoKxa8zyA) [How Can I Help You Say Goodbye](http://youtube.com/watch?v=z4F_cXGQN9k) [Alyssa Lies](http://youtube.com/watch?v=vvBbBQOifx4) [The Little Girl](http://youtube.com/watch?v=uRriDcrU7-Q) [Go Rest High on That Mountain](http://youtube.com/watch?v=CRyKg5xMaXA) [/QUOTE] Drat you **Carm6773**. I’m bawlin’ my eyes out now and the dogs are all worried about me. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2008, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-make-you-tear-up/247676/90 "2008-04-26T23:51:22Z")
[QUOTE=winterhawk11] That one is actually Sting, from “Dream of the Blue Turtles”. [/QUOTE] Thanks for the correction. Not only am I more emotional than I used to be, but my memory ain’t what it was either. At least “Russians” is the correct title. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2008, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-make-you-tear-up/247676/91 "2008-04-26T23:52:40Z")
_10,000 Days_ (both parts I and II) by Tool. Especially live. Never in my life have I burst into tears during a metal/prog/rock show. It’s a song about loss, and Maynard James Keenan sings it with such heartfelt grief… I was sobbing by the crescendo. Very powerful performance. Worth every penny and the three-hour drive to see that concert. I still tear up every time I hear it. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-make-you-tear-up/247676/92 "2008-04-27T00:39:43Z")
“Breathe me,” by Sia—the song used for the last several minutes of the **Six Feet Under** series finale montage. ---
**Author:** ![Pixilated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/aeb1de/32.png) [@Pixilated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixilated)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-make-you-tear-up/247676/93 "2008-04-27T06:29:15Z")
The Bonnylight Horseman. gets me every frakin time ---
**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:** [April 27, 2008, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-make-you-tear-up/247676/94 "2008-04-27T09:26:55Z")
Songs rarely make me cry. One that did was “Circles in the Air” by George Papavgeris. I can’t find it on YouTube, so I’ve put a temporary copy at [http://pfoster.pcug.org.au/misc/CirclesInTheAir.wma](http://pfoster.pcug.org.au/misc/CirclesInTheAir.wma) (4.6 M) ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-make-you-tear-up/247676/95 "2008-04-27T09:44:15Z")
The Night shift by Marvin Gaye which kept getting played on the radio when my old mum was dying,I think its actually about M.G.s father dying but I’m not sure. Everybodys got to learn some time by the Korgis. ---
**Author:** ![Carm6773](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/2bfe46/32.png) [@Carm6773](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carm6773)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-make-you-tear-up/247676/96 "2008-04-27T13:34:14Z")
[QUOTE=Archergal] Drat you **Carm6773**. I’m bawlin’ my eyes out now and the dogs are all worried about me. ☹ [/QUOTE] Always glad to help 😉 :d&r: ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-make-you-tear-up/247676/97 "2008-04-27T17:47:23Z")
[QUOTE=Iacob\_Matthew] _Puff the Magic Dragon_ always got to me back in my youth. [/QUOTE] I know it’s weird, but that song still gets me, especially if I’m actually investing myself in listening to it (rather than having it on as background). The abandonment of Puff by Jackie (because he’s growing up and Puff is just a kid’s toy) just turns me inside out if I’m paying attention to the lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-make-you-tear-up/247676/98 "2008-04-27T17:53:41Z")
There are several songs which make **supervenusfreak** tear up, but most of them he tears up mostly because he’s listening to the original singer sing them live (he saw Annie Lennox live in Philly last year, and we just saw Dolly Parton last week live in Hershey). One song that makes him tear up because of the song itself is Sarah McLachlan’s “When She Loved Me” from Toy Story 2. ---
**Author:** ![sinjin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@sinjin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sinjin)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-make-you-tear-up/247676/99 "2008-04-28T01:12:11Z")
[QUOTE=TubaDiva] “Amazing Grace.” (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.) [/QUOTE] You CANNOT just drop this in here and let it go without posting a recording here. ---
**Author:** ![Tamryne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3e96dc/32.png) [@Tamryne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamryne)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2008, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-make-you-tear-up/247676/100 "2008-05-17T03:16:47Z")
[“My Mom”, by Chocolate Genius](http://www.spinner.com/2007/05/04/the-25-most-exquisitely-sad-songs-in-the-whole-world-no-15/). I found this song a few months ago, and it really resonated with me. My grandfather’s losing his mind to dementia, and one of my greatest fears is that my parents will have the same thing happen to them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-make-you-tear-up/247676.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-make-you-tear-up/247676.md?page=6)