For me, I'd say the saddest song I've ever heard was Bruce Springstein's 1993 hit, "Streets Of Philadelphia." To make matters worse, this song was big during the worst year of my life. So when I occasionally hear this song on the radio, it's doubly-depressing for me.
I love most all melancholy songs, but the saddest song I know is 'Center Aisle' by Caedmons Call, a song about suicide. Either that or Johnny Cash's version of "Hurt", only because I think of it as his swan song. ~ J.J.
My relationship with my father was kind of distant. I can't listen to Harry Chapin's "Cat's in the Cradle" without crying.
I guess the sadness factor also depends on memory association as well. For instance, I have a hard time with 'God Bless the USA' by Lee Greenwood because it's in one of the few momories I have with my father.
It's hard to pick out the saddest - there are quite a number of tear jerkers out there. Outside Of Heaven - Eddie Fisher The Little Boy That Santa Claus Forgot - originally Vera Lynn Are You Lonesome Tonight - Elvis Presley Smile by Charlie Chaplin said to have been Michael Jackson's favourite song Don't Laugh At Me 'cos I'm a Fool - Norman Wisdom Edit, Just thought - Danny Boy is really sad - it is about a father that has lost one son in the war and these are the words he says to his younger son as he see him off to war - 'Oh Danny boy the pipes are calling...'
Time To Say Goodbye, Andrea Boccelli and Sarah Brightman (don't think I've spelled Boccelli right!) Dance With My Father Again, Luther Vandross Bring Him Home from Les Mis
I've only cried for one song. "Sara Beth" by Rascal Flatts. "Three Wooden Crosses" by Randy Travis came close.
Now look what you've done! U-tubed that and I don't think I'll get any more work done today. Best tear-your-heart-out song I've heard for ages.
Zzyzx Rd. by Stone Sour would have to be top choice. Hurt by Johnny Cash. Then Mad World by Tears for Fears. As far as lyrics go, however, Little Talks by Of Monsters and Men is probably the saddest song I've ever heard. It's about a woman haunted and slowly driven mad by the ghost of her dead husband. EDIT: Wrapped in Piano Strings by Radical Face. Just remembered that entire album is centered around a suicide of a dead husband/father.
I'd have to say Cash's cover of "Hurt". I remember the first time I saw the video - all I could say was, "Oh, my". It probably hit me even harder because my father was an alcoholic. In opera, I would also have to mention "Un Bel Di", the famous aria from "Madame Butterfly", her idealized vision of the return of her husband, rendered all the more painful because when he does return, it is with another woman.
You'll think I'm nuts, but Anne Hathaway's rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream". Too many of the versions do of it don't do justice to the raw emotions of the song's story, its real meaning. It is a final farewell to dreams shattered by callousness and the fickleness of fate. It is a song not only of a broken heart, but a fractured spirit, as well. Unfortunately it is a story that repeats itself far, far too often...
Cash's 'Hurt' is the best cover I've ever heard. Especially considering I quite like the original. I would have named one of the arias from act three of Tosca, but really, who would I be kidding? The entire third act of Tosca is just perfect.
I Know You By Heart - Eva Cassidy. I've no doubt there's many more, but that's the one that sprang to mind. I daren't listen to it with make-up on!
Sorry 'bout that. What I did not tell you was that I first heard it at a very low point in my life. You should have seen how it hit me...
The Boss has a lot of amazing sad songs. The River, the Promise, and the Highway patrolman are just a few.
There is a recording of him doing a monologue of when he was living at home and fighting with his father a lot, then he got called for his army physical, went, failed, and when he came home, his father asked what happened. When he says that they didn't take him, his father replied, "Well, that's good." Then he goes into "The River". Very powerful. On the flip side, I remember Pete Seeger doing a concert in which he sang "The Garbage Song", and when he finished, just as the audience was beginning to applaud, he swung into "The Hammer Song". The change in mood was incredible and the audience gave him a huge ovation when he finished.
I think I've heard that, and he says he failed his physical exam to join the army. Yeah, that was really powerful. I'm a big fan of Springsteen, I must admit.
wow so many Cash fans (or at least of Hurt) think i like this forum a little bit more now would add also "Lady D'Arbanville" but not the original but the cover done by Gregorian... that song makes me so sad, its like a magical chant
Also on my list would be: 'Cold' by Crossfade 'Tell Me I Was Dreaming' by Travis Tritt 'Uninvited' by Alanis Morrisette ...and if I want a very melancholy song to just be all grey about I listen to 'Dark Waltz' by Hayley Westenra. ~ J. J.
Elton John's "Candle In The Wind." While the original one, written about Marilyn Monroe by the way, and the version song for the Lady Di funeral both make me want to cry.
"Drugs Don't Work" by The Verve. But when my dog was dying, and I sat next to her for two days, I was playing her Bob Marley and Emeli Sande to help her relax and sleep, and now I can't even think of their music without bawling my eyes out. Especially "Three Little Birds" and "Heaven".
