Sad songs they say so much...
May. 6th, 2007 07:48 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hippie_chickHere is another list I thought I'd share with you.
The 25 Most Exquisitely Sad Songs in the Whole World
According to Spinner.
I just cut and pasted as is this time, as I like their commentary. I pretty much agree with this list, too. Now I'm depressed. LOL! Look for my own notation on a song or two as well. You can visit the link I left here to hear the songs as well.
25.'The River'
Bruce Springsteen (1980)
The Breakdown: Premature pregnancy, marriage and a weepy harmonica crush the dreams of a young couple.
The Waterworks: "We went down to the courthouse/And the judge put it all to rest/No wedding day smiles, no walk down the aisle/No flowers, no wedding dress."
Casualty Count: One couple's age of innocence.
24. 'Nothing Compares 2 U'
Sinead O'Connor (1990)
The Breakdown: In this Prince-penned purple ode to an incomparable ex, there is life after love, but life really sucks.
The Waterworks: "Nothing can stop these lonely tears from falling/Tell me baby, where did I go wrong?"
Casualty Count: One lover, seven hours, fifteen days.
Polly's note: OMG yes. Just the video... Sinead was just pure emotion there.
23.'No Surprises'
Radiohead (1997)
The Breakdown: A killer even by Thom Yorke's bleak standards, the kiddie chimes can't hide the singer's suicidal depression.
The Waterworks: "I'll take a quiet life/A handshake, some carbon monoxide."
Casualty Count: One heart that's "full up like a landfill."
22.'A Change Is Gonna Come'
Sam Cooke (1964)
The Breakdown: Recorded just before his tragic death, the soul great's response to 'Blowin' in the Wind' set the tone for the desperate Civil Rights struggle.
The Waterworks: "It's been too hard living, but I'm afraid to die."
Casualty Count: Countless proud citizens in Jim Crow America.
21.'Space Oddity'
David Bowie (1969)
The Breakdown: In the same year as our lunar landing, rock's space alien creates Major Tom, whose remains will travel the galaxy alone forever.
The Waterworks: "Tell my wife I love her very much."
Casualty Count: One astronaut.
20.'That's the Way I've Always Heard It Should Be'
Carly Simon (1971)
The Breakdown: Marriage is inevitably dismal in this evocative pop hit, which was recorded a year before Simon's ill-fated marriage to James Taylor.
The Waterworks: "Their children hate them for the things they're not/They hate themselves for what they are."
Casualty Count: All marriages, one American dream.
Polly's note: Yeah, I always thought this quite a cynical, hard view of marriage.
19.'Lost Cause'
Beck (2002)
The Breakdown: The postmodern trickster reaches back to the Romantic era for the most depressing song on his breakup album, 'Sea Change.'
The Waterworks: "I'm tired of fighting/Fighting for a lost cause."
Casualty Count: The one love of your life.
18.'I've Gotta Get a Message to You'
Bee Gees (1968)
The Breakdown: Condemned man makes final plea to loved one.
The Waterworks: "One more hour and my life will be through."
Casualty Count: One convicted murderer with a heart of gold.
Polly's note: They could have easily used "New York Mining Disaster 1941" here as well, in fact I find that much sadder... and it was a true story.
17.'Back to Black'
Amy Winehouse (2006)
The Breakdown: An ominous song of impending misery following infidelity, sung by a woman with her departing lover's name tattooed on her chest.
The Waterworks: "You go back to her/And I go back to black."
Casualty Count: A lover. Sobriety? Sanity?
16.'Shilo'
Neil Diamond (1968)
The Breakdown: Lonely kid turns to an imaginary friend.
The Waterworks: "Papa says he'd love to be with you/If he had the time."
Casualty Count: One squandered father-son relationship
Polly's Note: Along these lines, what about "Cat's In The Cradle"? Another squandered Father-Son relationship?
15.'My Mom'
Chocolate Genius (1998)
The Breakdown: Recent Springsteen sideman cut this heartbreaker about a return visit to his childhood home, and the mother he was losing to senility.
The Waterworks: "My mom, my sweet mom/She don't remember my name."
Casualty Count: One Alzheimer's victim (and one dog).
14.'Anyone Who Had a Heart'
Dionne Warwick (1963)
The Breakdown: A lover begs her man to see how he's mistreating her. Classic Bacharach/David melodrama, crushing Warwick wails.
The Waterworks: "What am I to do?"
Casualty Count: One lover's sense of pride.
13.'Naked as We Came'
Iron & Wine (2004)
The Breakdown: Indie folkie Sam Beam's brutally sweet love song acknowledging that one always has to die before the other, plus a plug for cremation.
The Waterworks: "If I leave before you, darling/Don't you waste me in the ground."
Casualty Count: Your better half.
12.'In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning'
Frank Sinatra (1954)
The Breakdown: Ol' Blue Eyes parlayed his painful divorce from movie star Ava Gardner into a career makeover: the lonely guy at the end of the bar.
The Waterworks: "You'd be hers if only she would call."
Casualty Count: One Hollywood marriage, countless nights of sleep.
Polly's note: This is among my favorite Sinatra tracks *because* of the sadness in his voice here, so real, so great.
11.'Brick'
Ben Folds Five (1997)
The Breakdown: Singer recalls taking his high-school girlfriend to get an abortion -- on the day after Christmas, no less.
The Waterworks: "Now that I have found someone/I'm feeling more alone/Than I ever have before."
Casualty Count: One pregnancy, one first love, several Christmas presents.
10.'In the Real World'
Roy Orbison (1989)
The Breakdown: The master of pop-opera misery ('Crying,' 'It's Over') outdid himself with this quavering answer to his own 'In Dreams.' Posthumously released.
The Waterworks: "I love you and you love me/But sometimes we must let it be."
Casualty Count: All dreams.
9.'Concrete Angel'
Martina McBride (2001)
The Breakdown: What's more devastating than a child's headstone?
The Waterworks: "A name is written on a polished rock/A broken heart that the world forgot."
Casualty Count: One victim of child abuse.
Polly's note: I dare you to listen to this one and NOT burst out crying.
8.'Dance With My Father'
Luther Vandross (2003)
The Breakdown: Impossibly wrenching lament for the fact that we can't take care of our kids forever.
The Waterworks: "Sometimes I'd listen outside her door/And I'd hear how my mother cried for him/I'd pray for her even more than me."
Casualty Count: One father, one boy's sense of security in his father's arms.
7.'Hallelujah'
Jeff Buckley (1994)
The Breakdown: Leonard Cohen's existential hymn addressing an old fling becomes a heavenly, if unanswered, prayer in the hands of the ill-fated Buckley.
The Waterworks: "Love is not a victory march/It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah."
Casualty Count: One crisis of faith.
Polly's note: Buckley did a fantastic cover of this, but try the original by Leonard Cohen.
6.'He Stopped Loving Her Today'
George Jones (1980)
The Breakdown: Sung by the country star with the most tears in his beer this side of Hank Sr., a jilted lover carries his old flame's memory until his dying day.
The Waterworks: "I went to see him just today/Oh, but I didn't see no tears/All dressed up to go away/First time I'd seen him smile in years."
Casualty Count: One fatally broken heart.
Polly's note: My father (biological) used to sing this one. O.M.G. :O !!
5.'I Know It's Over'
The Smiths (1986)
The Breakdown: For Morrissey, the world's loneliest singer, life isn't just over -- it never really began.
The Waterworks: "As I climb into an empty bed/Oh, well, enough said."
Casualty Count: One lonely soul ... any minute now.
4.'Hurt'
Johnny Cash (2002)
The Breakdown: In failing health, the great American singer tolls a death knell for the rest of us with this brutal Nine Inch Nails song about addiction and self-destruction.
The Waterworks: "And you could have it all/My empire of dirt/I will let you down/I will make you hurt."
Casualty Count: Everyone he knows ("goes away in the end").
Polly's note: The sheer age of Cash's voice here makes it all the more powerful. He made this song his own.
3.'Eleanor Rigby'
The Beatles (1966)
The Breakdown: The cute Beatle writes a timeless, devastating ode to the futility of life, set to a grieving string octet.
The Waterworks: "Eleanor Rigby died in the church and was buried along with her name/Nobody came."
Casualty Count: One spinster, one pair of socks.
Polly's note: It's an incredible, and yes, timeless song. So desolate.
2.'Gloomy Sunday'
Billie Holiday (1941)
The Breakdown: The Queen of Soul-Sapping is haunted about losing a loved one.
The Waterworks: "Angels have no thought of returning you/Would they be angry if I thought of joining you?"
Casualty Count: One woman's will to live.
Polly's note: This song, in it's original form, was said to have caused a string of suicides in Hungary... it's noted as "The Hungarian Suicide Song". Caused it to be banned in many places. It's complete despair and dirge like melody is quite haunting.
1.'Chicken Wire'
Pernice Brothers (1998)
The Breakdown: Breathy Massachusetts sad sacks offer a lovely ballad about a woman choking to death on exhaust fumes ... and a cloud of minor chords.
The Waterworks: "They found her car/Still running/In the garage."
Casualty Count: One woman, and the drink she was holding.
And a couple that Polly thinks belong on this list, dammit:
1. Tears In Heaven
Eric Clapton (1991)
The Breakdown: Clapton wrote this after the death of his four year old son Conor. The boy had fallen from the 53rd floor window of his mother's condo in New York City.
The Waterworks: "I'll find my way through night and day, 'cause I know I just can't stay here in heaven."
Casualty Count: Clapton's broken heart. And the song. He hasn't played it again since 2004.
2. Alone Again (Naturally)
Gilbert O'Sullivan (1972)
The Breakdown: Speaks of a man's plans to off himself after being left at the altar. Also goes on to talk about the death of his parents.
The Waterworks: "In a little while from now, if I'm not feeling any less sour I promise myself to treat myself and visit a nearby tower. And climbing to the top will throw myself off in an effort to make it clear to whoever what it's like when you're shattered."
Casualty Count: Another crushed heart.
3. Sister Morphine
Marianne Faithfull (1969)
The Breakdown: A dying man begs for morphine.
The Waterworks: "Sweet Cousin Cocaine, lay your cool cool hand on my head. Ah, come on, Sister Morphine, you better make up my bed. 'Cause you know and I know in the morning I'll be dead. Yeah, and you can sit around, yeah and you can watch all the clean white sheets stained red."
Casualty count: The protagonist of this song, no doubt. I prefer Marianne's version over the Stones' version because of her delivery. It really makes the song.
4. For No One
The Beatles (1966)
The Breakdown: A failed love affair. Namely, Paul McCartney's relationship with actress Jane Asher.
The Waterworks: "Your day breaks, your mind aches. There will be times when all the things she said will fill your head, you won't forget her. And in her eyes, you see nothing, no sign of love behind the tears. Cried for no one, a love that should have lasted years." So sad. Even the horn section cries!
Casualty count: This relationship. The song ends just as abruptly.
Agree? Disagree? Have more to add? Discuss.
The 25 Most Exquisitely Sad Songs in the Whole World
According to Spinner.
I just cut and pasted as is this time, as I like their commentary. I pretty much agree with this list, too. Now I'm depressed. LOL! Look for my own notation on a song or two as well. You can visit the link I left here to hear the songs as well.
25.'The River'
Bruce Springsteen (1980)
The Breakdown: Premature pregnancy, marriage and a weepy harmonica crush the dreams of a young couple.
The Waterworks: "We went down to the courthouse/And the judge put it all to rest/No wedding day smiles, no walk down the aisle/No flowers, no wedding dress."
Casualty Count: One couple's age of innocence.
24. 'Nothing Compares 2 U'
Sinead O'Connor (1990)
The Breakdown: In this Prince-penned purple ode to an incomparable ex, there is life after love, but life really sucks.
The Waterworks: "Nothing can stop these lonely tears from falling/Tell me baby, where did I go wrong?"
Casualty Count: One lover, seven hours, fifteen days.
Polly's note: OMG yes. Just the video... Sinead was just pure emotion there.
23.'No Surprises'
Radiohead (1997)
The Breakdown: A killer even by Thom Yorke's bleak standards, the kiddie chimes can't hide the singer's suicidal depression.
The Waterworks: "I'll take a quiet life/A handshake, some carbon monoxide."
Casualty Count: One heart that's "full up like a landfill."
22.'A Change Is Gonna Come'
Sam Cooke (1964)
The Breakdown: Recorded just before his tragic death, the soul great's response to 'Blowin' in the Wind' set the tone for the desperate Civil Rights struggle.
The Waterworks: "It's been too hard living, but I'm afraid to die."
Casualty Count: Countless proud citizens in Jim Crow America.
21.'Space Oddity'
David Bowie (1969)
The Breakdown: In the same year as our lunar landing, rock's space alien creates Major Tom, whose remains will travel the galaxy alone forever.
The Waterworks: "Tell my wife I love her very much."
Casualty Count: One astronaut.
20.'That's the Way I've Always Heard It Should Be'
Carly Simon (1971)
The Breakdown: Marriage is inevitably dismal in this evocative pop hit, which was recorded a year before Simon's ill-fated marriage to James Taylor.
The Waterworks: "Their children hate them for the things they're not/They hate themselves for what they are."
Casualty Count: All marriages, one American dream.
Polly's note: Yeah, I always thought this quite a cynical, hard view of marriage.
19.'Lost Cause'
Beck (2002)
The Breakdown: The postmodern trickster reaches back to the Romantic era for the most depressing song on his breakup album, 'Sea Change.'
The Waterworks: "I'm tired of fighting/Fighting for a lost cause."
Casualty Count: The one love of your life.
18.'I've Gotta Get a Message to You'
Bee Gees (1968)
The Breakdown: Condemned man makes final plea to loved one.
The Waterworks: "One more hour and my life will be through."
Casualty Count: One convicted murderer with a heart of gold.
Polly's note: They could have easily used "New York Mining Disaster 1941" here as well, in fact I find that much sadder... and it was a true story.
17.'Back to Black'
Amy Winehouse (2006)
The Breakdown: An ominous song of impending misery following infidelity, sung by a woman with her departing lover's name tattooed on her chest.
The Waterworks: "You go back to her/And I go back to black."
Casualty Count: A lover. Sobriety? Sanity?
16.'Shilo'
Neil Diamond (1968)
The Breakdown: Lonely kid turns to an imaginary friend.
The Waterworks: "Papa says he'd love to be with you/If he had the time."
Casualty Count: One squandered father-son relationship
Polly's Note: Along these lines, what about "Cat's In The Cradle"? Another squandered Father-Son relationship?
15.'My Mom'
Chocolate Genius (1998)
The Breakdown: Recent Springsteen sideman cut this heartbreaker about a return visit to his childhood home, and the mother he was losing to senility.
The Waterworks: "My mom, my sweet mom/She don't remember my name."
Casualty Count: One Alzheimer's victim (and one dog).
14.'Anyone Who Had a Heart'
Dionne Warwick (1963)
The Breakdown: A lover begs her man to see how he's mistreating her. Classic Bacharach/David melodrama, crushing Warwick wails.
The Waterworks: "What am I to do?"
Casualty Count: One lover's sense of pride.
13.'Naked as We Came'
Iron & Wine (2004)
The Breakdown: Indie folkie Sam Beam's brutally sweet love song acknowledging that one always has to die before the other, plus a plug for cremation.
The Waterworks: "If I leave before you, darling/Don't you waste me in the ground."
Casualty Count: Your better half.
12.'In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning'
Frank Sinatra (1954)
The Breakdown: Ol' Blue Eyes parlayed his painful divorce from movie star Ava Gardner into a career makeover: the lonely guy at the end of the bar.
The Waterworks: "You'd be hers if only she would call."
Casualty Count: One Hollywood marriage, countless nights of sleep.
Polly's note: This is among my favorite Sinatra tracks *because* of the sadness in his voice here, so real, so great.
11.'Brick'
Ben Folds Five (1997)
The Breakdown: Singer recalls taking his high-school girlfriend to get an abortion -- on the day after Christmas, no less.
The Waterworks: "Now that I have found someone/I'm feeling more alone/Than I ever have before."
Casualty Count: One pregnancy, one first love, several Christmas presents.
10.'In the Real World'
Roy Orbison (1989)
The Breakdown: The master of pop-opera misery ('Crying,' 'It's Over') outdid himself with this quavering answer to his own 'In Dreams.' Posthumously released.
The Waterworks: "I love you and you love me/But sometimes we must let it be."
Casualty Count: All dreams.
9.'Concrete Angel'
Martina McBride (2001)
The Breakdown: What's more devastating than a child's headstone?
The Waterworks: "A name is written on a polished rock/A broken heart that the world forgot."
Casualty Count: One victim of child abuse.
Polly's note: I dare you to listen to this one and NOT burst out crying.
8.'Dance With My Father'
Luther Vandross (2003)
The Breakdown: Impossibly wrenching lament for the fact that we can't take care of our kids forever.
The Waterworks: "Sometimes I'd listen outside her door/And I'd hear how my mother cried for him/I'd pray for her even more than me."
Casualty Count: One father, one boy's sense of security in his father's arms.
7.'Hallelujah'
Jeff Buckley (1994)
The Breakdown: Leonard Cohen's existential hymn addressing an old fling becomes a heavenly, if unanswered, prayer in the hands of the ill-fated Buckley.
The Waterworks: "Love is not a victory march/It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah."
Casualty Count: One crisis of faith.
Polly's note: Buckley did a fantastic cover of this, but try the original by Leonard Cohen.
6.'He Stopped Loving Her Today'
George Jones (1980)
The Breakdown: Sung by the country star with the most tears in his beer this side of Hank Sr., a jilted lover carries his old flame's memory until his dying day.
The Waterworks: "I went to see him just today/Oh, but I didn't see no tears/All dressed up to go away/First time I'd seen him smile in years."
Casualty Count: One fatally broken heart.
Polly's note: My father (biological) used to sing this one. O.M.G. :O !!
5.'I Know It's Over'
The Smiths (1986)
The Breakdown: For Morrissey, the world's loneliest singer, life isn't just over -- it never really began.
The Waterworks: "As I climb into an empty bed/Oh, well, enough said."
Casualty Count: One lonely soul ... any minute now.
4.'Hurt'
Johnny Cash (2002)
The Breakdown: In failing health, the great American singer tolls a death knell for the rest of us with this brutal Nine Inch Nails song about addiction and self-destruction.
The Waterworks: "And you could have it all/My empire of dirt/I will let you down/I will make you hurt."
Casualty Count: Everyone he knows ("goes away in the end").
Polly's note: The sheer age of Cash's voice here makes it all the more powerful. He made this song his own.
3.'Eleanor Rigby'
The Beatles (1966)
The Breakdown: The cute Beatle writes a timeless, devastating ode to the futility of life, set to a grieving string octet.
The Waterworks: "Eleanor Rigby died in the church and was buried along with her name/Nobody came."
Casualty Count: One spinster, one pair of socks.
Polly's note: It's an incredible, and yes, timeless song. So desolate.
2.'Gloomy Sunday'
Billie Holiday (1941)
The Breakdown: The Queen of Soul-Sapping is haunted about losing a loved one.
The Waterworks: "Angels have no thought of returning you/Would they be angry if I thought of joining you?"
Casualty Count: One woman's will to live.
Polly's note: This song, in it's original form, was said to have caused a string of suicides in Hungary... it's noted as "The Hungarian Suicide Song". Caused it to be banned in many places. It's complete despair and dirge like melody is quite haunting.
1.'Chicken Wire'
Pernice Brothers (1998)
The Breakdown: Breathy Massachusetts sad sacks offer a lovely ballad about a woman choking to death on exhaust fumes ... and a cloud of minor chords.
The Waterworks: "They found her car/Still running/In the garage."
Casualty Count: One woman, and the drink she was holding.
And a couple that Polly thinks belong on this list, dammit:
1. Tears In Heaven
Eric Clapton (1991)
The Breakdown: Clapton wrote this after the death of his four year old son Conor. The boy had fallen from the 53rd floor window of his mother's condo in New York City.
The Waterworks: "I'll find my way through night and day, 'cause I know I just can't stay here in heaven."
Casualty Count: Clapton's broken heart. And the song. He hasn't played it again since 2004.
2. Alone Again (Naturally)
Gilbert O'Sullivan (1972)
The Breakdown: Speaks of a man's plans to off himself after being left at the altar. Also goes on to talk about the death of his parents.
The Waterworks: "In a little while from now, if I'm not feeling any less sour I promise myself to treat myself and visit a nearby tower. And climbing to the top will throw myself off in an effort to make it clear to whoever what it's like when you're shattered."
Casualty Count: Another crushed heart.
3. Sister Morphine
Marianne Faithfull (1969)
The Breakdown: A dying man begs for morphine.
The Waterworks: "Sweet Cousin Cocaine, lay your cool cool hand on my head. Ah, come on, Sister Morphine, you better make up my bed. 'Cause you know and I know in the morning I'll be dead. Yeah, and you can sit around, yeah and you can watch all the clean white sheets stained red."
Casualty count: The protagonist of this song, no doubt. I prefer Marianne's version over the Stones' version because of her delivery. It really makes the song.
4. For No One
The Beatles (1966)
The Breakdown: A failed love affair. Namely, Paul McCartney's relationship with actress Jane Asher.
The Waterworks: "Your day breaks, your mind aches. There will be times when all the things she said will fill your head, you won't forget her. And in her eyes, you see nothing, no sign of love behind the tears. Cried for no one, a love that should have lasted years." So sad. Even the horn section cries!
Casualty count: This relationship. The song ends just as abruptly.
Agree? Disagree? Have more to add? Discuss.
