Today’s category is…
A Song That Makes You Sad.
Here are the staff picks:
Kevin Coyne: “No Time to Cry” – Iris Dement
Most songs that I find sad don’t have a lingering impact after the last note fades. “No Time to Cry” cuts so close to the bone that it brings on waves of melancholy. It captures my reality closer than any other song. It’s ironic that a song that talks about suppressing grief so it doesn’t surface is the one that makes the suppressed grief surface.
Leeann Ward: “Goodbye” – Patty Griffin
Suddenly losing my mother-in-law less than a month ago makes this song cut close to the bone right now. I suspect it will for a long time.
Tara Seetharam: “We Belong Together” – Gavin DeGraw
Something about the combination of melody, urgency and DeGraw’s nuanced delivery hits my gut every time I hear this song.
George Jones – “He Stopped Loving Her Today”
“When She Loved Me” -Sarah McLachlan
I’ll say “Whiskey Lullaby” by Brad and Alison. It’s a beautiful song, but it is really sad. I think that if anyone other than Alison had been the duet partner, the song wouldn’t have been as effective. Her soft tone brings the sadness out. Brad’s voice is as good as its ever been, bringing the pain out of the lyrics.
For some non-country, I’ll say “My Immortal” by Evanescence. Amy Lee has a great voice, especially on a piano ballad like this one. Her song of realizing that her almost lover has left her hits me like a ton of bricks. For most of the song, Amy’s voice and a piano is just about all there is to hear. That’s all she really needed anyway.
“Monday Morning Church” – Alan Jackson
On the country side, I have to agree with “Whiskey Lullaby”. On the pop side, “Desperate” by David Archuleta.
Emmylou Harris “All My Tears” and “Not Enough”.
Brantley Gilbert – “Saving Amy”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEuS0gm6TGU
Closest I come to actually getting emotional when listening to a song…
Country: Faith Hill “There You’ll Be” & ‘Temporary Home.”
Pop: Katharine McPhee, “Say Goodbye.”
“Flowers” by Chris Young
Oh lord, there are so many but “I Miss You A Little” by John Michael Montgomery and “She’s Gonna Fly” Collin Raye are pretty tear-invoking but “How Can I Help You Say Goodbye” is hands-down the one that brings me a tear every time.
“The Last Letter” – Jack Greene
“The Little Girl” by John Michael Montgomery
Wow…I kind of expected to see the Queen of Heartbreak (aka Reba) on here somewhere. For My Broken Heart, If I Had Only Known, or She Thinks His Name Was John both came to mind right away.
Faith Hill – Wild Frontier
Shania Twain- Home ain’t where his heart is
Steve Azar- Waiting on Joe
Lee Ann Womack- Last Call
Roger Miller- You don’t want my love
Bonnie Riatt- I can’t make you love me
Lori McKenna- Your next lover
Missy Higgins- Where I stood
Commodores – Still
Don Mclean- Vincent
Fischer Z- So long
Gilbert o’Sullivan – Nothing Rhymed
Eric Carmen- Boats against the current
Neil Diamond- Solitary man
Michael McDonald – I can let go
Sam Cooke- A change is gonna come
Doug Ashdown – Winter in America
And many more
Brad Paisley’s “Whiskey Lullaby”, Alan Jackson’s “Monday Morning Church and “Here in the Real World”, and Troy Cassar-Daley’s “River Boy”.
Sweet Emmylou by Joey + Rory
On A Bus to St. Cloud – Trisha Yearwood
Whiskey Lullaby – Brad Paisley
“My Heart Will Never Break This Way Again” by Patty Loveless
Top two at the moment:
Bury Me Far (From My Uniform), by Joe Pug
You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive, the Patty Loveless version
Tammy Cochran’s song about her brothers, “Angels in Waiting”, always gets me, especially the first line of the 3rd verse: “They always knew they’d never grow old”.
I think the saddest song I’ve ever heard is “God Bless the Child” by Shania twain. Esp the part about “when a child spirit’s Broken, he feels all hope is gone…”
Carrie Underwood – Just A Dream
This is very hard, since there are so many that do it, but here are ten of them:
THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD–The Beatles
I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU–Linda Ronstadt
ALL I KNOW–Art Garfunkel
DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?–Elvis Presley
WASTED TIME–The Eagles
LONG LONG TIME–Linda Ronstadt
ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST–Ennio Morricone
COLORADO–Linda Ronstadt
WITHOUT LOVE (THERE IS NOTHING)–Tom Jones
IT’S MIDNIGHT–Elvis Presley
…”godspeed”, the dixie chicks
Mine was “Feed Jake.” It gets me every time.
@Greg,
I almost put “For My Broken Heart” by McEntire but the hopefulness at the end of the song makes it a kind of song that gives me hope, but here are some McEntire songs that make me sad:
“Somebody Should Leave”
“Bobby”
“All Dressed Up”
“The Greatest Man I Never Knew”
“If I Had Only Known”
“She Thinks His Name Was John”
“He Gets That From Me”
“She Can’t Save Him” (with Trisha Yearwood)
For the Good Times-Ray Price
Reba’s “The Greatest Man I Never Knew” is definitely on top and also her “She Thinks His Name Was John”
George Jones, “A Good Year For the Roses.”
And I second Alan Jackson’s “Monday Morning Church.” That song just gets me…and the video takes it to another level, too.
Dierks Bentley:”Down in the Mine”
and
Kathy Matea: “Where’ve You Been”
can’t decide which one makes me cry first, but I always cry hearing either of these
“Back When We Were Bewautiful” by Matraca Berg!! Also the most beautiful :)
The Dixie Chicks “Home” and “Top of the World” are probably one of the most depressing songs I have heard.
And I know it’s not Reba’s song but I remember she sang a song with the lyrics “so far away doesn’t anyone stay in one place anymore” on her sitcom honoring a friend that had past.
On the rock side probably “Wish You Were Here” by Pink Floyd.
“Runaway” by Kanye West. It’s such a startingly honest and beautiful song by arguably the most wobderfully complex artist of our time.
While Gary Allan’s Tough All Over seems the obvious choice for the most sad songs given it was recorded after his wife committed suicide, I find two other classics of his from the Smoke Rings in the Dark album to be the quintessential sad songs– the title track and “Don’t Tell Momma I Was Drinking.”
On the pop side, I found the 1996 George Michael cover of Bonnie Ryatt’s “I Can’t Make You Love Me” even more beautifully aching than her original, and her version was entry sad as it was.
“Wind beneath my wings” Bette Midler — sung by my Aunt at my other Aunt’s funeral.
“Imagine” by John Lennon — played at my father’s funeral.
“One Sweet Day” by Mariah/Boys II Men — reminds me that one day I’ll be with them.
Can’t listen to any of these songs without crying…
Patty Loveless’ plaintive East Kentucky twang is the best musical device to make me feel the sadness in a song, as she does so well with songs like “How Can I Help You To Say Goodbye”, “You Don’t Even Know Who I Am”, and my personal favorites “Here I Am” and “To Have You Back Again”.
Also, great as she is, Reba cannot be the “heartbreak queen” as long as there’s a Tammy Wynette album somewhere. IMHO.
“Ships of Heaven” by Blackhawk. Made me feel mildly sad the first time I listened to it, and then I made the mistake of listening to it a couple days after my grandmother died and I can’t bring myself to listen to it again. I also cannot bear to hear Patty Loveless’ “How Can I Help You To Say Goodbye.”
Hurt, by Johnny Cash. It just sounds like…..death in music form.