Sad Songs And Waltzes: An Open Poll
The Sis and I were chatting online when, out of nowhere, she unleashed the prompt, "Ok, so saddest songs ever." We then began to list our favorite sad songs, going back and forth until I left work for the night. I tossed out a few off the top of my head and then checked my phone for more suggestions. This is what she and I came up with on the fly:
Me
"Lost Cause," Beck
"Crying," Roy Orbison
"Are You Still in Love With Me?", Tift Merritt
"Hallelujah," Jeff Buckley
"He Stopped Loving Her Today," George Jones
"Houses on the Hill," Whiskeytown
"Martha," Tom Waits
"Winona," "Nothing Lasts," "Your Sweet Voice," "Everything Changes," "I Almost Forgot," Matthew Sweet
"Steven," Denison Witmer
"Far, Far Away," Wilco
"I Should Have Been True," The Mavericks
"Oh My Sweet Carolina," "La Cienega Just Smiled," "September," Ryan Adams
"Please Tell My Brother," Golden Smog
"Salome," Old 97's
"Travelin' Soldier," "Without You," Dixie Chicks
"The Stars Above and My Heart in Your Hands," Christopher Denny (to which I attached the caveat that it's so sad I can only listen to it every couple of months)
"Sweetest Waste of Time," Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson
"I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry," Hank Williams
"Broke, Lovesick, & Driftin'," Hank Williams III
"Always On My Mind," Willie Nelson
"Please Break My Heart," Caitlin Cary and Thad Cockrell
The Sis
"Fred Jones," Ben Folds
"Casimir Pulaski Day," Sufjan Stevens
"The Lonely 1," Wilco
"Your Long Journey," Robert Plant and Allison Krauss
"Mad World," Gary Jules
"The Blower's Daugter," "Amie," Damien Rice
"She's Got You," "Crazy," "Walkin' After Midnight," Patsy Cline
"A Ghost in This House," Allison Krauss and Union Station
And that's just the stuff we came up with while bored at our respective jobs. We didn't have iTunes libraries or stacks of CDs to check. I think we came up with some respectable titles, and I'd like to hear suggestions for more. Any genre, any era. Just hit me with the sadness and we'll come up with the best damn wrist-cutting, whisky-sipping playlist anyone's ever seen.
Fire away.
Comments: 81
Off the top of my insomniac riddled mind:
Last Goodbye--Jeff Buckley
Where Will I Be-- Emmylou Harris
Tears in Heaven--Eric Clapton
You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go; La Vie En Rose--Madelyn Peyroux
Que Sera, Sera; Aspettami--Pink Martini
Where Could My Baby Be--Pearl Jam
Walking After You--Foo Fighters
Hurt--Johnny Cash
Black--Sarah MacLachlan
i forgot to put Against All Odds by Phil Collins on my list. Saddest f'in song EVER.
Sour Times - Portishead
Last Kiss - Pearl Jam
Space Oddity - David Bowie
Music When the Lights Go Out - The Libertines
Since I've Been Loving You - Led Zeppelin
Cup od Coffee - Garbage
Disarm - The Smashing Pumpkins
Avalanche & One of Us Cannot Be Wrong - Leonard Cohen
(Most other Cohen songs too.)
Hmm.
She's out of My Life, Michael Jackson
"Brick" by Ben Folds 5
"It'll All Work Out" by Tom Petty
"Not Dark Yet" by Bob Dylan
"Desperado" by Johnny Cash (if it doesn't make you cry, you don't have a soul...)
I figure that should hold everyone for now. Good call on all of the Ryan Adams though.
Mad World - Gary Jules
Little Drummer Boy - most versions
The Bed's too Big Without You - The Police
Lady Pilot - Neko Case
Off the top of my head.
Mad World - Gary Jules
Little Drummer Boy - most versions
The Bed's too Big Without You - The Police
Lady Pilot - Neko Case
Off the top of my head.
I have to second "Casimir Pulaski Day" by Sufjan Stevens
and add "Needle in the Hay" by Elliot Smith
A quick perusal through itunes:
"You Had Time" by Ani Difranco
"Hope There's Someone" by Antony & the Johnsons
"Ain't No Way" by Aretha Franklin
"I Can't Make You Love Me" by Bonnie Raitt
"Anna Begins" by Counting Crows
"A Letter to Elise" by The Cure
"Pitseleh" by Elliott Smith
"July" by The Innocence Mission
"My Life" by Iris DeMent
"No Time to Cry" by Iris DeMent
Iris DeMent singing the phone book
"The Commander Thinks Aloud" by The Long Winters
"Twisting My Words" by Lori Carson
"Sometimes I Forget" by Loudon Wainwright
"North Dakota" by Lyle Lovett
"One Moment More" by Mindy Smith
"Sweetness Follows" by REM
"Drop" by Red House Painters
"Ships Go Out" by Ron Sexsmith
"Baby Can I Hold You" by Tracy Chapman
"Avenues" by Whiskeytown
"How You've Grown" by 10,000 Maniacs
"Funky Cold Medina" by Tone Loc
"Damage"- David Sylvian.
I found the way
By the sound of your voice
So many things to say
But these are only words
Now I've only words
Once there was a choice
Did I give you much?
Well, you gave me things
You gave me stars to hold
Songs to sing
I only want to be loved
And I hurt and I hurt
And the damage is done
good lists! y'all got most of mine already, with only 2 glaring omissions:
1. "don't let us get sick"- warren zevon
2. puff the magic dragon- by whoever sings the damn song (f*ck that little jackie paper!)
Elizabeth On The Bathroom Floor - Eels
Courage - Sarah Polley (Tragically Hip Cover)
Goodbye, Lonelier Than This - Steve Earle
Into Dust - Mazzy Star
Waltzing Matilda - Pogues
Arise Therefore - Will Oldham
Black Is The Colour Of My True Love's Hair - Nina Simone
Strange Fruit - Billie Holliday
Playboy Mommy - Tori Amos
Wake Up - Mad Season
Free Bird - Lynyrd Skynyrd (only because it's probably the last song they ever played before Ronnie died. My dad told me that when I was little, and I still choke up)
Good Woman - Cat Power
O Valencia! - The Decemberists
Star Witness - Neko Case
Where Do We Go Now But Nowhere? and People Ain't No Good -
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
PA - Ryan Adams and the Cardinals
Tecumseh Valley - Townes Van Zandt
Lucinda - Tom Waits
Lilli Schull - Uncle Tupelo
The Partisan - Leonard Cohen
Truth be told, I always thought the saddest Jeff Buckley song was "Lover, You Should've Come Over." It's also my favorite of his.
I have just one to add - "No Mother" by the Old 97s
Also, "St. John the Gambler" by Townes Van Zandt. What is UP with that crazy song?
I actually have a playlist titled "Songs for Sadness, Songs for Endings," and I'm surprised by how we all think alike.
Lost - Coldplay
White Daisy Passing - Rocky Votolato
Hurt - Johnny Cash
Brick - Ben Folds Five
Slow Dancing in a Burning Room - John Mayer
Stay or Leave - Dave Matthews
Lost Cause - Beck
Your Ex-Lover is Dead - Stars
Engine Driver - Decemberists
Bluest Light - Bloc Party
Casamir Pulaski Day - Sufjan Stevens
Songs I just thought of:
Don't Drink the Water - Dave Matthews
Motorcycle Driveby - Third Eye Blind
Almost Lover - A Fine Frenzy
9 Crimes - Damien Rice
I have to agree with TK on "Lover...", that's my favorite Jeff Buckley song as well.
I agree with a lot of the songs here, but I definitely have to throw in Warren Zevon's "Keep Me In Your Heart"...the song is sad and touching all by itself, but when you throw in the fact he was dying of cancer when he sang it? Guh. I weep every time.
Happy Everafter In Your Eyes, Morning Yearning - Ben Harper (they remind me of Heath Ledger :()
Once: Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova... and pretty much every song from that entire movie
Naked As We Came: Iron & Wine
Imagine: John Lennon
Girl In The War, The Temptation of Adam: Josh Ritter
Julia, Eleanor Rigby: The Beatles
Casimir Pulaski Day, John Wayne Gacy Jr., For the Widows in Paradise: Sufjan Stevens
The Last Day of Our Acquaintance- Sinead O'Connor
Joey (Acoustic version)- Concrete Blonde
Can't beat Townes Van Zandt.
River on Fire, Adam Again
How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?, Al Green
Sunday Morning, Ani Difranco
My Body is a Cage, Arcade Fire
Cigarrette, Ben Folds Five
Ain't No Sunshine when She's Gone, Bill Withers
Drown in My Own Tears, Ray Charles
Missing You, John Waite
Wheelchairs, David Karsten Daniels
Jedidiah, 1777, Eliza Gilkyson
The Sky Is Cryin', Elmore James
Annabelle, Gillian Welch
Cat's in the Cradle, Harry Chapin
Love Will Tear Us Apart, Joy Division
Sweet Lorraine; Tony, Patti Griffin
Hayes Carl, She Left Me for J
Try istening to Britney Spears "Everytime" followed immediately by Justin Timberlake's "Cry Me a River." That'll get you goin. And I'm tellin' you, Michael Jackson cries at the end of that thing. It is so sad. He cries, Dan.
Misguided Angel- Cowboy Junkies. That damn song always make me weepy.
Gloomy Sunday - Diamanda Galas
To Be Alone With You - Sufjan Stevens
Mad World - Gary Jules
and for some reason:
Forever Young - Alphaville
I just went through my iTunes quickly, and here's what I picked up-
Imagine- John Lennon (duh, haha)
Breathe Me- Sia
Lime Tree- Bright Eyes
Here With Me- Dido
Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want- The Smiths
Into Dust- Mazzy Star
Run- Snow Patrol
Metal Heart- Cat Power
The Blower's Daughter- Damnien Rice
The Beginner- Wheat
Samson- Regina Spektor
Comp- from the Amelie soundtrack
When You Come Back Down - Nickle Creek
Grace is Gone - Dave Matthews Band
Blower's Daughter - Damien Rice
Wild Horses - The Sundays
These Arms of Mine - Otis Redding
LLorando - Rebekah Del Rio (A Spanish version of Crying by Roy Orbison that was used in Mulholland Drive)
I Can't Make You Love Me - Bonnie Rait
These are my picks from my itunes:
Good Woman - Cat Powers
Nightblindness - David Gray
Crowd Surf Off a Cliff - Emily Haines
River - Joni Mitchell
The Weakness in Me - Joan Armatrading
Sure as Sh*t - Kathleen Edwards
Away - Kathleen Edwards
Pretty Girls - Lori Carson
Pretty Good Day so Far - Martha Wainwright
You Could Be Happy - Snow Patrol
Cooling - Tori Amos
Skin- Alexz Johnson
Delilah, Truce- Dresden Dolls
I Can't Get Started- Billie Holiday
No Seatbelt Song- Brand New
I Think It's Going to Rain Today- Claudine Longet
Almost the entire Death Cab for Cuite catalog
The Hunger- The Distillers
The Show Must Go On- Queen
Take it Back, You Really Got a Hold on Me- She & Him
Fast Car- Tracy Chapman
Sad Pony Guerilla Girl, Fabulous Muscles- Xiu Xiu
I'm terrible with song names and bands but definitely
Baby I, Amy Millan
And Lost Cause by Beck is way way up there on my list.
If I had my ipod here I could list a ton more. Sad times have been had by me.
OK By Local H
It destroyed me after a breakup a few years back and whenever I hear it I realize that I never got over it.
I come from more of a metal perspective than most of the commenters here, methinks, and Girl With Curious Hair already pulled out my trump card of 'Tears In Heaven' by Eric Clapton, but a very small selection of my picks would be:
My Dying Bride - 'The Crown of Sympathy'
Funeral - 'Breathing Through You'
Katatonia - 'Sweet Nurse'
Birds- Neil Young
I'm always on the verge of tears at the end of this song.
I can only second some of the greats I scrolled thru to get here....
"Lost Cause" by Beck
"Brick" by Ben Folds Five
"Disarm" by the Smashing Pumpkins
"Where Do We Go Now But Nowhere?" Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Interestingly, "People Ain't No Good" for me starts out very Sad Bastard, but by the time he croons, "Ah, but that's just bullshit, people they ain't no good," it becomes more angry and uplifting, in a freeing, fuck'em-all kind of way....
Oh man...
"Solitaire" by The Carpenters
"Carry Me Away" by by The Indigo Girls
"Falling Star" by Amy Ray
"Kissing You" by Des'ree
"That's How I Knew this Story Would End" by Aimee Mann
"Our House" by Crosby, Stills, and Nash
"Bird Girl" by Antony and the Johnsons
"Moon River" by Audrey Hepburn
"I Shall Not Walk Alone" by the Blind Boys of Alabama
"If I Should Fall Behind" by Bruce Springsteen
"I'll Be Seeing You" by Cass Elliot
"This House is Empty Now" by Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach
"Friends" by Joan Armatrading
"Send in the Clowns" by Judy Collins
"The Long and Winding Road" by The Langley School Music Project
"Flowers in December" by Mazzy Star
"I'm Going to Go Back There Someday" by The Muppets, specifically Gonzo
Anything at all sung by Nick Drake.
"I Never Dreamt You'd Leave in Summer" by Stevie Wonder
Oh man...
"Solitaire" by The Carpenters
"Carry Me Away" by by The Indigo Girls
"Falling Star" by Amy Ray
"Kissing You" by Des'ree
"That's How I Knew this Story Would End" by Aimee Mann
"Our House" by Crosby, Stills, and Nash
"Bird Girl" by Antony and the Johnsons
"Moon River" by Audrey Hepburn
"I Shall Not Walk Alone" by the Blind Boys of Alabama
"If I Should Fall Behind" by Bruce Springsteen
"I'll Be Seeing You" by Cass Elliot
"This House is Empty Now" by Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach
"Friends" by Joan Armatrading
"Send in the Clowns" by Judy Collins
"The Long and Winding Road" by The Langley School Music Project
"Flowers in December" by Mazzy Star
"I'm Going to Go Back There Someday" by The Muppets, specifically Gonzo
Anything at all sung by Nick Drake.
"I Never Dreamt You'd Leave in Summer" by Stevie Wonder
"Part of the wind" by Tim Hardin
so as not to repeat, i'll just add you didn't kiss me by marry me jane.
A lot of these have already been mentioned, but here are mine:
Elvis Costello -- Almost Blue; I Want You
Fiona Apple -- I'll Know
Ben Folds Five -- Cigarette; Boxing
Patty Griffin -- Sweet Lorraine
Nina Simone -- Little Girl Blue
Lisa Loeb -- She's Falling Apart
Damien Rice -- Accidental Babies
Tom Waits -- The Fall of Troy; Martha
The Mountain Goats -- No Children (sad in a cheerful way!)
The saddest song in the world is I Looked All Over Town by the Magnetic Fields.
Here is what I Got:
I Found a Reason - Cat Power
Hide and Seek - Imogen Heap
Hallelujah - Jeff Buckley
Van Helsing Boombox - Man Man
Maps - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Acrobat - Maximo Park
Right Where It Belongs - Nine Inch Nails
Wise Up - Aimee Mann
Boy From School - Hot Chip
Gravity Rides Everything - Modest Mouse
With Every Heartbeat - Robyn
Bulletproof... I Wish I Was, I'm Not Here, Motion Picture Soundtrack, Like Spinning Plates - Radiohead
I agree with lots of the choices listed, but here are a few more off the top of my head:
the Luckiest - Ben Folds
Divorce Song - Liz Phair
Beloved Wife - Natalie Merchant
Scarecrow - Melissa Etheridge
James Taylor - Fire and Rain
Alanis Morissette - Tapes
Ben Harper - Picture in a Frame
Dixie Chicks - Top of the World
Nine Inch Nails - Something I Cannot Have
Sarah McLachlan - Full of Grace
Excellent work guys!
Fix You - Coldplay (I was already bawling when I first heard it and then proceeded to not be able to stop bawling)
Colorblind - Counting Crows
No Air - Jordin Sparks & Chris Brown
And they have no lyrics but they sound so sadly beautiful:
In the House, In a Heartbeat - 28 Days Later Soundtrack
The violin theme from Requiem For a Dream
A couple to add to the list'
Philadelphia - Neil Young
My Mom - Chocolate Genius (to hear the song on youtube go to:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFd7x3J-KHQ&feature=related
I have to agree with Rachael on "Where Do We Go Now But Nowhere?"
Also:
"All The World Is Green" by Tom Waits
Marissa Nadler's version of "Famous Blue Raincoat"
"John Allyn Smith Sails" by Okkervil River
"Borrowed Tune" by Neil Young
"The Kids" by Lou Reed
"Sleep" by Godspeed You! Black Emperor
"The Night Before The Funeral" by Arab Strap
"Disco 2000," "Bar Italia," and pretty much any song off "This Is Hardcore" by Pulp
I imagine anything else I'd have to say has been said.
"Let Love Speak up Itself" - Beautiful South
"Apart" - The Cure
"Heaven" - Jimmy Scott
"I am Stretched on Your Grave" - Dead Can Dance
"Wish You Were Here" - Pink Floyd
"Tiny Tears" - Tindersticks
"Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me" - The Smiths
"Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word" - Elton John
"So Cruel" - U2
"I Want You" - Elvis Costello
Tori Amos' cover of Famous Blue Raincoat can destroy me without fail. The original version, too, but there's something about how ragged Tori's voice is at some points....
Other picks:
Old Bloody Orange and Autumn's Here by Hawksley Workman
Grey Sky Morning by Vertical Horizon
Hallelujah by Rufus Wainwright (I'm sorry, I like this one better than Jeff Buckley's! Go ahead, shun me)
A Minor Incident by Badly Drawn Boy
You Could be Happy by Snow Patrol
The Boxer by Simon and Garfunkel
Waltz #2 and Miss Misery by Elliot Smith
The Stranger Song by Leonard Cohen (or really, most stuff the man has done)
Hey Ya by Obadiah Parker
The Replacements - Answering Machine
Come Pick Me Up - Ryan Adams
I Just Don't Think I'll Ever Get Over You - Colin Hay
Waiting For My Real Life to Begin - Colin Hay
Transatlanticism - Death Cab for Cutie
Fallen For You - Sheila Nicholls
Missing the War - Ben Folds Five
Denton, TX - Damien Jurado
Everything I Do - Whiskeytown
Ne Me Quitte Pas, Nina Simone's version
Mad World, Gary Jules
El Paso, Marty Robbins
Girl in the War, Josh Ritter
Virtute the Cat Explains Her Departure - The Weakerthans
Pamphleteer - The Weakerthans
Hide and Seek - Imogen Heap
Hurt - Johnny Cash (the Nine Inch Nails original is good but Cash just nails the desperation and made the song his own)
Eskimo - Damien Rice
9 Crimes - Damien Rice
Hurt- Johnny Cash
Not Alone- Patty Griffin
One Moment More- Mindy Smith
Evaporated, Missing the War- Ben Folds Five
Love Ridden- Fiona Apple
Walk Away- Ben Harper
Lies- Glen Hansard
Clean Getaway- Maria Taylor
I think I could come up with a lot more. I guess I listen to a lot of sad music.
At My Window, Sad and Lonely-Billy Bragg
Broken Man's Lament-Emmylou Harris
Dear John-Ryan Adams and the Cardinals
Moon Song-Emmylou Harris
Stop-Ryan Adams
For a Dancer-Jackson Browne
Looking East-Jackson Browne
At My Funeral - Crash Test Dummies
Radiohead - Videotape
The Gathering - Marooned
dredg - The Canyon Behind Her
Björk - Unravel
The Smashing Pumpkins - In the Arms of Sleep
Cradle of Filth - The Death of Love (yeah, I totally went there)
The Beatles - Yesterday
Stratovarius - Keep the Flame
and another shout out for Johnny Cash - Hurt
"Here Today," Paul McCartney (I recommend the live version from Back In The U.S.
"Dreaming With A Broken Heart," John Mayer
"Future's Gone," Blacktop Mourning
"Ever After," Christopher Williams
"The Road and the Damned," Coheed & Cambria
"On Your Porch," The Format
"Pretty Buildings," People In Planes
"Losing It" and "The Pass," Rush
"Say Goodbye," Skillet
That's all I've got for now. Don't want to repeat. Plus, I'm being pretty narrow with my definition of 'sad.'
Okay, one more: "Plans," Buchanan. Young-love-sad, but sad nonetheless.
Run - Snow Patrol (forgot it yesterday)
"Hope there's someone to take care of me," Antony and the Johnsons
"Window Blues," Band of Horses
"Roman Candle," Bedhead
"This is a Low, Universal, Sweet Song" Blur
"Black Heart," Calexico
"Wonder if the Snow will Settle," Clearlake
"Fall at Your Feet," Crowded House
"Siren Song," Cyann & Ben
"Temporary Loan," Edith Frost
"Meadow," Espers
"Now at Last," Feist
"Jed the Humanoid, Under the Weeping Willow, Jed's Other Poem (Beautiful Ground)," Grandaddy
"Prison on Route 41," Iron & Wine + Calexico
"Dream Thrum," James
"Hallelujah," Jeff Buckley
"Odi et Amo," Jóhann Jóhannsson
"June July, They Won't Let Me Run, White Plains," John Vanderslice
"Isolation," Joy Division
"Medicine Magazines," Low
"This is My Truth Tell Me Yours," (whole fucking album) Manic Street Preachers
"Trailer Trash," Modest Mouse
"Cody, Don't Cry (Guns 'n Roses cover)," Mogwai
"Two-Headed Boy Pts. 1 & 2," Neutral Milk Hotel
"Fly, Things Behind the Sun, Parasite," Nick Drake
"Black," Okkervil River
"Pigeon Song, The Bluebell," Patrick Wolf
"Cream of Gold," Pavement
"Exit Music (For a Film)," Radiohead
"Have You Forgotten," Red House Painters
"Rooks," Shearwater
"[Untitled Track 5]" Sigur Rós
"Didn't it Rain," Songs: Ohia
"Homecoming Queen, The Most Beautiful Widow in Town, Heart of Darkness," Sparklehorse
"Broken Heart," Spiritualized
"The Next Life," Suede
"Flint, Romulus," Sufjan Stevens
"Pillars (live version)," Sunny Day Real Estate
"Return of the Frog Queen, Shade and the Black Hat," Jeremy Enigk
"This Side of Blue," Joanna Newsom
"I Don't Want to Walk Around Alone No More," The Lucksmiths
"Gone for Good," The Shins
"Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me," The Smiths
"Mapped By What Surrounded Them," The Twilight Sad
"She Sends Kisses," The Wrens
"Throw it All Away," Toad the Wet Sprocket
"As You Are," Travis
"The Start of Something," Voxtrot
"Fabulous Muscles," Xiu Xiu
"She's a Jar," Wilco
"You Can Have it All, Tears Are in Your Eyes," Yo La Tengo
Hey, I know malaise.
Oh, and:
"The Drugs Don't Work," The Verve
whiskey lullaby- Alison kraus and brad paisley
eli the barrowboy- the decemberists
save yourself- tarkio
"Don't Let It Bring You Down" - Annie Lennox
"Fast Car" - Tracy Chapman
"Famous Blue Raincoat" and "Hallelujah" - Leonard cohen by way of Tori Amos and k.d. lang, respectively
"Full of Grace" - Sarah McLachlan
"China Doll" - Suzanne Vega
But the saddest song of all time has GOT to be "Trapeze Swinger" by Iron & Wine
This got me thinking, has Pajiba done a "favorite album" diversion yet? I am too lazy to check.
Ane Brun - Rubber & Soul
Peter Gabriel - I Grieve
Radiohead - Street Spirit
REM - Everybody Hurts
The Weakerthans - Sun in an Empty Room
Rose Cousins - If You Were for Me
Seconding: Damien Rice, A Fine Frenzy, Iron & Wine, Hawksley Workman, Gary Jules, Leonard Cohen. (aka The Entire Contents of my mp3 player.)
And Now the Day Is Done - Ron Sexsmith
Sad Professor - R.E.M.
Fiddler's Green - The Tragically Hip (I actually don't like this song; it's a little too sad)
Porcelain-Red Hot Chili Peppers
Cocoon, Odalisque-Decemberists
The House that Guilt Built-The Wrens
Hurt a Little Every Day-Brenda Holloway
The Spine Song-Cake Bake Betty
A Rush of Blood to the Head-Coldplay
Neither One of Us-Gladys Knight
Long Black Veil-The Band
Helpless-Neil Young
Adia-Sarah LcLachlan
Cold Days from the Birdhouse-Twilight Sad
No Pussy Blues-Grinderman
And the wrong version of the saddest song ever has already been mentioned: Fix You, by Young@Heart
Seconding some great ones and tossing in a few that are new...
Oh My Sweet Carolina, September – Ryan Adams
The Battle – Caitlin Cary and Ryan Adams
Paper Aeroplane – Kasey Chambers
Desperadoes Waiting For A Train – Guy Clark
Raining in Baltimore – Counting Crows
Over Yonder, Ellis Unit One – Steve Earle
Away – Kathleen Edwards
Fred Jones Part 2 – Ben Folds
Not Alone, Mary, Top of the World, Kite Song, Rowing Song – Patty Griffin
Red Dirt Girl – Emmylou Harris
Ah Me, Tell Me A Lie – Griffin House
Better Days – The Jayhawks
Ohio – Damien Jurado
Blue Eyes Cryin’ in the Rain – Willie Nelson
Western Skyline – Richmond Fontaine
One Moment More – Mindy Smith
My City of Ruins (the one off the 9/11 tribute cd) – Bruce Springsteen
Tecumseh Valley – Townes Van Zandt
Martha – Tom Waits
Houses on the Hill – Whiskeytown
Puff the Magic Dragon
Saddest.Song.Ever.
Wow Natalie, someone else that listens to the Weakerthans? I am sort of impressed!
Elvis Costello - Poisoned Rose
The Smiths - Unhappy Birthday
The Smiths - That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore
Blur - This Is A Low
The Waterboys - Fisherman's Blues
I don't have the patience at the moment to read through all of these to make sure there are no repeats, so I'll try to stick to more obscure/arty songs -
Fuck was I? - Jenny Owens Young
Vissi d'arte - Maria Callas (also Un Bel Di, Vedremo)
Les Parapluies de Cherbourg theme- Michel Legrand
Wrecking Ball - Harvey Danger
Point of it All - Amanda Palmer
But Not for Me - Ella Fitzgerald
Softly, as I leave you - Frank Sinatra
I love the Sufjy love here!
Saddest song ever that will make you want to go jump off a bridge as soon as you hear it:
Things I Want to Tell You - No-Man
Came up with some more:
Your Heart is an Empty room-Death Cab for Cutie
Lucky-Radiohead
Crane Wife 3 - The Decembrists
She Runs Away - Duncan Sheik
Together We'll Ring in the New Year, Hold Me Down, Last Night - Motion City Soundtrack
Freshman - The Verve Pipe
Gah! I forgot:
All Kinds of Time - Fountains of Wayne
A few that haven't been mentioned yet
Lightning Dust - Listened On
Forest City Lovers - Waiting by the Fence
Christine Fellows - Vertebrae
Dan Mangan - Journal of a Narcoleptic
Immaculate Machine - No Way Out
Death Cab for Cutie - Cath
But the kicker:
Buck 65 - Tired Out
Oh, and anything by Menudo, but not because they "sang" about anything sad...
Okay I don't have time to see if any of these are duplicates, but if they are consider them a second vote:
1. "I Will Follow You into the Dark" by Death Cab for Cutie
2. "The Rainbow Connection" as a funereal procession at Jim Henson's funeral
3. "Miss Misery" by Elliott Smith
4. "Thief" by Our Lady Peace. Seriously if you haven't read those lyrics do so you'll agree.
5. "The Drugs Don't Work" by The Verve
6. "Burn" by the Cure, 'cause there needs to be a Cure song on the list and if you've read the Crow, not just seen the movie, and read these lyrics, you'll die a little inside but then that part of you will come back from the dead to avenge itself.
Oh and 7. Leslie Anne Levine by the Decemberists. I mean, it's about a stillborn girl whose ghost falls in love with a dead Chimney Sweep.
Walking on a Wire--Richard Thompson
Only You--The Flying Pickets
Elvis Costello--Indoor Fireworks and almost everything on King of America
I Can't Make You Love Me--Bonnie Raitt
This House Is Empty Now--Elvis Costello & Burt Bacharach
Between the Bars - Madeline Peyroux (Elliott Smith cover) She actually makes a more upbeat Elliott Smith song more depressing than he could.
Highway Patrolman - Bruce Springsteen If you could only own one album's worth of music, you should make it Springsteen's Nebraska.
Marie - Townes Van Zandt This is easily the saddest song ever: If it was just me/ I’d be headed south/ But marie can’t catch no train/ She’s got some pain and she thinks it’s a baby,/ Says we gotta wait and see/ In my heart I know it’s a little boy/ Hope he don’t end up like me
Guy Clark said that Townes wrote that song in about an hour. It's crushing.
Between the Bars - Madeline Peyroux (Elliott Smith cover) She actually makes a more upbeat Elliott Smith song more depressing than he could.
Highway Patrolman - Bruce Springsteen If you could only own one album's worth of music, you should make it Springsteen's Nebraska.
Marie - Townes Van Zandt This is easily the saddest song ever: If it was just me/ I’d be headed south/ But marie can’t catch no train/ She’s got some pain and she thinks it’s a baby,/ Says we gotta wait and see/ In my heart I know it’s a little boy/ Hope he don’t end up like me
Guy Clark said that Townes wrote that song in about an hour. It's crushing.
Just thought of another one.
The Seatbelts feat. Mai Yamane - Blue
It's beautiful and sad, but even more so if you've seen the last episode of Cowboy Bebop.
Dear Chicago - Ryan Adams
The Comedians - Roy Orbison
Blue Valentines, Hope I Don't Fall in Love with You, Ruby's Arms - Tom Waits
Deathly, Save Me - Aimee Mann
The entire Virgin Suicides Soundtrack
Untouchable Face, Providence - Ani DiFranco
All My Little Words, The One You Really Love - Magnetic Fields
Don't Think Twice, You're Gonna Make me Lonesome When you Go - Bob Dylan
Pictures of You - The Cure
Between the Bars, I Better Be Quiet Now - Elliot Smith
I know - Fiona Apple
She's Gone - Hall and Oates
Last Goodbye - Jeff Buckley
Pretty much anything by Lou Reed
Don't Hate Me - The Getup kids
and Harvest Moon by Neil Young always makes me sad.
Nov 10, 2008 2:30 AM