The saddest song ever
 

The great thing about music is it involves pleasure senses and deep emotion.

And deep emotion, indeed the best music, deals with sadness. Trust me - writers write best when broken hearted.

For me it's the 2nd movement of Beethoven's 7th, Walk Away Renee, and Groupie (Superstar) - the Sonic Youth version.

Tonight I am missing my family - my son, my ex-wife (Voldemort) the cats and hearing the zoo sounds in my old backyard.

I've created a new life here - but, the sad songs take me back. Tonight I listened to Beethoven. If the 2nd movement doesn't destroy you...you need to work on the heart.

Immediately "Little Jimmy Brown" came to mind!

The Browns - (Little Jimmy Brown) Stereo - YouTube http://www.armywivesforums.com/forum...ory-smiley.gif

It's so true that music creates a mood.

Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground ... Willie Nelson

You are Always On My Mind ... Willie Nelson

Sylvia's Mother ... Dr. Hook.

A great find....totally lovely...and I got the wrong movement of the 7th - it's the second....[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5V5k0Plh-jY]Beethoven, 7th Symphony, 2nd Movement (David Zinman, Tonhalle-Orchestra, Zurich) - YouTube[/ame]

I love Beethoven, Stravinsky, Miles Davis, Hendrix, The Smiths, Beatles, and Radiohead. Also Nick Drake and Joni (who I once made out with).

For me music is more than a passion...it's my lifeblood. I need some everyday. The deeper the better. Give me odd tonalities, complex time signatures, dissonance...I'm a happy guy.

And I really like the Browns.

G

BTW - this is Radiohead - they are good for your soul: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoLJJRIWCLU]Radiohead - Jigsaw Falling Into Place (thumbs down version) - YouTube[/ame]

Radiohead link didn't work...the site is funky like that...
Bring your tunes and ipod Saturday along with guitar. My ipod dock needs an adapter unless you have 5th gen.
UR an amusing muse! Sarah Brightman's voice beams me to heaven.
btw she is singing in orl at Amway ctr on oct 8. anybody wanna go?
Kitty

As to the original title of this thread, I believe the Saddest Song Ever is also one of my least favorite songs ever, "Honey" by Bobby Goldsboro. Can't listen to it, seems written for the sole purpose of creating a bummer for the listener (just IMHO) but it sure is sad!

A little trivia, the song was written by a guy named Bobby Russell who also wrote "Little Green Apples" and "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia".

I agree that Honey is a pathetically sad song but I hate one even more. There is a Christmas song about a kid who has to buy shoes for his mother to wear when she passes. Bah Humbug on that one.

Tears In Heaven - Eric Clapton.

Honey is another great find. Unlike you I can listen to it, but I do have a love/hate relationship with it especially whenever I'm feeling down and out. It reminds me that I haven't hit bottom yet! I stopped to read the lyrics before posting and I couldn't get halfway through them before getting emotional and on the verge of tears! On reading the comments on YouTube it was apparent this song can have very different meanings from one person to the next.
Bobby Goldsboro - Honey - YouTube :cryin2:

"Teen Angel" was popular in 1959, some may remember. Geewiz, you're probably too young. it was the year my teenage sister was killed in a car accident. That song still makes me shudder!

Lots of them out there. How about "torn between two lovers"

1976 sung by margaret mac gregor. Written by peter yarrow (peter,paul and mary)

inspired by doctor zhivago .

The Way We Were - Streisand

Ode to Billy Joe - Bobby Gentry

.

He Ain't Heavy He's My Brother. It's a true story about a brother who carries his crippled brother everywhere his whole life. That's what older brothers do even though they don't realize it. Thanks to my older brother who is now helping someone in heaven.

Sunrise Sunset
 

This can be a real tear jerker especially for those of us who are parents.

Perry Como - Sunrise, Sunset (with lyrics) - YouTube

I find a song by Freddy Cole called "They Say" as a really sad song that upon listening to the lyrics makes one really reflective of life and death. The song is found on a Duke Ellington album named Secret Ellington.

Almost unheard. The standout lyric “They Say” was actually thought good enough to be used at Ellington’s memorial service, where the actor Brock Peters delivered the song’s message of departure, reconciliation, and the afterlife. It is the finest of what are a series of well-crafted words, all unapologetically located in a lost and more articulate Broadway tradition. Each comes from the pen of Herb Martin, who happily is still around to witness this new interest in his work.

My Mother always got teary eyed when she heard that one. On Mothers' Day I took her to see Fiddler on the Roof and she got mushy when they performed that song.

Alone Again Naturally by Gilbert O Sullivan


GILBERT O'SULLIVAN - ALONE AGAIN (NATURALLY) LYRICS

Do you hear that lonesome whippoorwill
He sounds too blue to cry
that means he's lost the will to live,
I'm so lonesome I could die.

for someone contemporary, Anna Nalick:
you can't jump the track
we're like cars on a cable
and life's like an hourglass
glued to the table
no one can find the rewind button, boys,
so cradle your head in your hands
and breathe, just breathe..

Sunday Morning Coming Down- Johnny Cash

A really, really fine song.

OK - a kinda funny Radiohead story. A few years ago Radiohead were in LA recording and did a one off gig for those who suffered during the Haiti earthquake. I scored a ticket and flew to LA for the gig at the Fonda Theater....which is an itty bitty hall. I made friends with a bunch of fans and fellow musicians in line and they told me to relax - they would save me a seat in the balcony right above the stage.

So - being Radiohead all the cool LA folks come out. There's Danial Craig (James Bond), Maggie Gyllandhal, an old buddy - Cameron Crowe. And who am I sitting right in front of? Charlize Theron.....who is stone cold lovely. Anyway - the band is playing and Charlize is getting loaded. Really loaded. And she starts singing....in a key that hasn't been invented. Warbling is more like it. Finally, I can't take it anymore and I turn around and say, "Hey, Monster, can we dial it back a bit?" Well, I get the look of death from her. Still, she tones it down. And I spend the rest of the show thinking - I've blown it with one of the most lovely women on the planet. But, it was a great show.

Sad Songs
 

Yayyy, someone else loves Beethoven's Seventh, Second MT!! How about Bright Eyes, from Watership Down, Simon and Garfunkel??

You Can Let Go Now Daddy
 

You Can Let Go Now Daddy, Crystal Shawanda

[ame]www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ukUKsX7zng[/ame]

Not exactly in tune with this thread BUT. . .

I love Harry Chapin's "Cat's in the cradle."

When I hear it I think of my son and think of all the time I spent with him in all of his various sports and endeavors.

I really believe that he truly appreciates our time together especially now that he is older - turning 30 !

Love ya kid !

George Jones...He Stopped Loving Her Today. I got chills just typing it!

3 more
 

Handel - Sarabande [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSAd3NpDi6Q]Handel - Sarabande - YouTube[/ame]

Sinatra Cycles [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTPe8EjhGmA]Frank Sinatra - Cycles (Reprise® Recordings 1968) - YouTube[/ame]

Andy Williams My Coloring Book [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSXZrXh8lIY]Andy Williams - My Colering Book - Slow Waltz music - YouTube[/ame]

Bobby Russell wrote "The Night the Lights Went Out" for his then wife Vicky Lawrence. Russell also wrote. "The Joker Went Wild".

For The Good Times- Ray Price

Lots of good stuff here. Here's a few more:

Vincent (Starry Starry Night) Don McLean - YouTube

The Last Farewell ~ Roger Whittaker - YouTube - This song makes excellent use of French Horns, which I've loved (French Horns) since seeing Man of La Mancha at the Martin Beck Theater in NYC back in the early 70's.... Overture ... "Man Of La Mancha" - YouTube

Another vote for Tears in Heaven. Written for his late son who fell from a hotel balcony to his death. I once asked a singer/guitarist who had a smokey Eric Clapton type voice if he could sing TIH, and he said he could, but wouldn't because it was "just too heavy".

Good one! Also, Cats in the Cradle.

Bloodrock - DOA 1970 vintage

VG

"Cold, Cold Heart"

DandyGirl, I think that is the most romantic song, ever. Alan Jackson sang it at George Jones' funeral. If you haven't seen it, you can Youtube it.

"Sarita" by The Subdudes.

Love everyone's sad songs. Here is a current one, The A Team. Very sad.

Billy Joe McAllister Jumped off the Tallahatchee Bridge...you know, forbidden love and all..that and Honey were my first sad songs while an emotional teen...

The ultimate teenage death songs-"Patches" by Dickie Lee-"Tell Laura I Love Her" by Ray Peterson also "Pretty Paper" by Roy Orbison[written by Willie Nelson]

What gets to me is "Empty Garden" by Elton John. A little more obscure, but "Gasoline Alley Bred" by the Hollies is memorable for the Allan Clarke scream of pain about 2/3 through the song.
And yes, "Honey" is the worst song of the era. Get "Dave Berry's Guide to Bad Songs" for a further discussion.

Oh another one...https://www.facebook.com/video/video...69712553071951. Sarah Brightman doing Figlio Perduto, (which I just learned IS the 2nd movement of the 7th. ) who knew?