# Your most painfully beautiful song **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 31, 2008, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-most-painfully-beautiful-song/435698 "2008-01-31T09:11:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Made\_in\_Macau](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@Made\_in\_Macau](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Made_in_Macau)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-most-painfully-beautiful-song/435698/81 "2008-02-01T16:17:58Z")
Dinner at Eight by Rufus Wainwright - from Want One. About his relationship with his father. Wow. MiM ---
**Author:** ![Barry\_From\_Eastenders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c57346/32.png) [@Barry\_From\_Eastenders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barry_From_Eastenders)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-most-painfully-beautiful-song/435698/82 "2008-02-01T16:44:48Z")
Kate Bush - Never be mine I look at you and see My life that might have been: Your face just ghostly in the smoke. They’re setting fire to the cornfields As you’re taking me home. The smell of burning fields Will now mean you and here. ---
**Author:** ![ForumBot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ee59a6/32.png) [@ForumBot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ForumBot)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-most-painfully-beautiful-song/435698/83 "2008-02-01T17:40:49Z")
[QUOTE=Wendell Wagner] ForumBot writes: \> The Pogues - And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda Interesting. Do you consider the Pogues’ version of the song to be the best one? [/QUOTE] Absolutely. His rough voice matches the perspective of a depressed, beaten soldier _perfectly._ ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-most-painfully-beautiful-song/435698/84 "2008-02-01T18:16:24Z")
Try to Remember from The Fantasticks: Try to remember that kind of September When dreams were kept beside your pillow. Try to remember that kind of September When no one wept besides the willow. ---
**Author:** ![Sateryn76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Sateryn76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sateryn76)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-most-painfully-beautiful-song/435698/85 "2008-02-01T18:21:19Z")
The song that makes me tear up about my impending death, but in a healthy way: _End of the Line_ - The Traveling Willburys The song that makes me tear up about my impending death, but in a not-so-healthy way: _Nick of Time_ - Bonnie Raitt ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-most-painfully-beautiful-song/435698/86 "2008-02-01T19:05:53Z")
[QUOTE=featherlou] “Hurt” by Christina Aguilera. [/QUOTE] Johnny Cash’s interpretation of this song as seen by an old man looking back at his regrets . . . it gets me every time, and the video is just powerful. ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-most-painfully-beautiful-song/435698/87 "2008-02-01T19:10:09Z")
Welcome to the SDMB, **Barry From Eastenders**! Just to let you know, I’ve edited your post to remove the excess lyrics. When you get a chance, please take a peek at the [Forum Rules](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=343601); this will help explain the copyright restirctions we try to follow on the SDMB. Typically, it’s best to post just a few lines of a song or other work of art, and then link to the rest. But, no worries; it happens a lot. You’ll know for the next time. ---
**Author:** ![SylverOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@SylverOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SylverOne)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-most-painfully-beautiful-song/435698/88 "2008-02-01T19:17:19Z")
[QUOTE=Jodi] I think I can help you with that. Mattea tells a really funny story about that song. She was singing it at a state fair and got to the crucial last verse and those touching words: "He held her hand and stroked her head, and in a fragile voice, she said . . . " . . . and as if on cue, the loudspeaker squawked out: _Edna Murphy, come to the swine barn!_ [/QUOTE] _snerk_ I’ll remember that… Maybe I’ll finally get through the last verse without the waterworks. Unless I’m laughing so hard I’m crying that is. 😃 ---
**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:** [February 1, 2008, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-most-painfully-beautiful-song/435698/89 "2008-02-01T19:31:29Z")
_[I Can Only Imagine](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cS596VsNEOE&feature=related)_ by **Mercy Me** Used as a backdrop for the story of Dick & Rick Hoyt. I’m not sure if it’s the song or the video, but I’m still crying. ---
**Author:** ![oldboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/aca169/32.png) [@oldboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oldboy)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-most-painfully-beautiful-song/435698/90 "2008-02-01T19:34:59Z")
for me its the living years by mike and the mechanics ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-most-painfully-beautiful-song/435698/91 "2008-02-01T20:31:18Z")
If I’m understanding the criteria in the thread - sentimental/sad not depressing-downer/sad, then these are the ones that come to mind for me: “What A Wonderful World” “My Old Man” by Steve Goodman and because time just seems to go so fast these days - “Sunrise, Sunset” [there are probably a lot I’m overlooking from musical theatre] “Turn Around” There are so many… PS - My favorite version of “And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda” is Priscilla Herdman’s. but I’ve never heard a bad version. ---
**Author:** ![pantheon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6bbea6/32.png) [@pantheon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pantheon)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-most-painfully-beautiful-song/435698/92 "2008-02-01T20:42:37Z")
[QUOTE=featherlou] “The Dance” by Prince. I could probably list about 50 Prince songs that are painfully beautiful just based on his voice - a technically gorgeous voice, and damn he knows how to use it. “Worlds Apart” by Vince Gill. “Hurt” by Christina Aguilera. I like k.d. lang’s version of “Hallelujah” better than anyone else’s. [/QUOTE] I didn’t want to be the first one to mention Prince (so, thanks!), but… Sometimes It Snows in April really gets me, along with a coupla dozen others (like you said.) Was a favorite of a friend of mine (who committed suicide) who also who was a huge Prince fan. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-most-painfully-beautiful-song/435698/93 "2008-02-01T21:56:20Z")
[Boku no Tegami](http://youtube.com/watch?v=wJ1vhAc240Q) by Japanese band ZONE. "If I had just a little more courage, I would have changed And if I could have been just a little cooler Things would have turned out better But you always smiled gently at that sort of me You were the only one who truly believed in me" The video really enhances the song, and it brings a tear to my eye every time I watch and listen. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-most-painfully-beautiful-song/435698/94 "2008-02-01T23:02:10Z")
- _She Goes On_ by Crowded House - _The Green Leaves of Summer_ by Dmitri Tomkin, as performed by The Brothers Four - _The Drinking Song_ by Moxy Früvous - _There Was A Time, A Time Forever Gone_, from _The Gondoliers_, an operetta by Gilbert & Sullivan - _Un bel di_ from _Madama Butterfly_ (Puccini) And my all-time favorite slow tempo piece, the praises of which I shall sing with my dying breath: Symphony No 3 (The Symphony of Sorrowful Songs) by Gorecki. ---
**Author:** ![hawksgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ed655f/32.png) [@hawksgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawksgirl)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-most-painfully-beautiful-song/435698/95 "2008-02-01T23:28:38Z")
[The Origin of Love](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzX7SP1NkAg) from the movie **Hedwig and the Angry Inch** I have the soundtrack and always have to skip that song if I want to keep my “tough girl” street cred. ---
**Author:** ![Mint\_Julep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bc79bd/32.png) [@Mint\_Julep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mint_Julep)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2008, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-most-painfully-beautiful-song/435698/96 "2008-02-02T00:02:50Z")
[QUOTE=FriarTed] This Woman’s Work- Kate Bush [/QUOTE] Good choice. Also, Evanessance-Hello ---
**Author:** ![Charger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df788c/32.png) [@Charger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charger)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2008, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-most-painfully-beautiful-song/435698/97 "2008-02-02T02:24:21Z")
[Streets of Heaven](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIyTzhgHhws) by Sherrie Austin. About the mother of a dying 7-year-old pleading with God not to take the child. An absolute sock-you-in-the-gut tearjerker. “Lord, don’t you know? She’s my angel. You’ve got plenty of your own,” gets me every time. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2008, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-most-painfully-beautiful-song/435698/98 "2008-02-02T02:30:38Z")
Ash - Girl from Mars It rocks. I still love ya… the Girl From Mars. I don’t know if you knew that. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2008, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-most-painfully-beautiful-song/435698/99 "2008-02-02T06:41:05Z")
[QUOTE=pantheon] I didn’t want to be the first one to mention Prince (so, thanks!), but… Sometimes It Snows in April really gets me, along with a coupla dozen others (like you said.) Was a favorite of a friend of mine (who committed suicide) who also who was a huge Prince fan. [/QUOTE] Thanks for the reminder - I’m missing a couple of Prince albums in my iTunes (you have to collect them over a lifetime, since he puts out what, two a year?). We have “Parade” on LP - we have to upload it now that we have the iMic. ---
**Author:** ![katie1341](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/91b2a8/32.png) [@katie1341](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/katie1341)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2008, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-most-painfully-beautiful-song/435698/100 "2008-02-02T18:07:35Z")
Warren Zevon’s \*\*Keep Me in Your Heart for a While \*\* came out when my 79-yr-old father was dying of cancer. The last time I saw him was a week or so before he died, and I asked him how he was feeling- he looked at me, smiled, and said, “I’m not buying any green bananas”. That song, to me, expresses the bittersweet, philisophical acceptance of one’s own death that my Dad had. Aw, crap, now I’m crying… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-most-painfully-beautiful-song/435698.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-most-painfully-beautiful-song/435698.md?page=6)