Elvis singing My Way...

One of my favorites too. Thanks, BK.

Dolly's verson of the Ballad of the Green Beret on Utube...

Dolly Parton - The Ballad Of The Green Beret - YouTube Link should work if interested to hear? For us veteran's Course I like Barry Sadler's version also. Dolly does real good job IMO.

That would be SSgt Barry Sadler, not Sanders

sad song
 

[QUOTE=kittygilchrist;676698]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




This tops my list.......

"The Warmth of the Sun" comes immediately to mind, penned by a melancholy Brian Wilson on the night of JFK's assassination, as I recall. Who wasn't sad on that night? I know I sure was (age 7 at the time). The chord progression on that song just slay me...they're all over the place. Minor. Major. Back to minor. Goes right to my heart.

"Back to the Island" by Leon Russell always touches me deeply, for personal reasons. Had to say goodbye to a beloved girlfriend and played that song for her as we parted ways, many years ago. The background singers almost seem to be crying, too.

"So Sad the Song (That Says Goodbye)" by Gladys Knight & The Pips. "Song for a Winter's Night" by Gordon Lightfoot. If you've never heard it, try "A Love So Beautiful" by Roy Orbison, from his final album, "Mystery Girl". It'll make the hairs on your neck stand up, when you consider it as one of his last works.

I hear such a sadness in Jo Stafford's voice, always, but it peaks for me in her amazing rendition of the WWII era's "I'll Be Seeing You". Jo and The Pied Pipers get the billing, but Jo's unique voice and the poignant lyrics just blend perfectly here.

Sorry to go on so long here! But this list would not be complete without Skeeter Davis' "The End of the World". My sense is Skeeter had kind of a tough life, married young to Ralph Emery and facing serious illness and a death WAY too young. The darned song was sad enough when it was released, but knowing her personal history makes it all the more touching now when I hear it.

Skeeter was also married to Joey Spampinato, bassist for the NRBQ.

MMMark, thanks for the post. Made me look up Skeeter Davis' bio, and now I'm on to find recordings of the other songs you mentioned on the internet.

Try Alyssa lies by Jason Michael Carroll.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pkdci55adqk
 

Song (knock-off of Ryder's in the sky) about farmer that got ate by his own chickens he set to market!

can't make the link for some reason?? Utube Leroy Troy Ghost chicken in the sky!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pkdci55adqk

It is said that one of the last songs John Lennon put on his home recorder was called "Dear John". There are few lyrics and it is only a demo but here they are:

Dear John
Don't be hard on yourself
Give yourself a break
Life wasn't meant to be run
The race is over, you've won

That one gets me.

These may not be the saddest songs of all time, but they draw a tear from me.
The Last Time I Saw Her by Gordon Lightfoot
It's Over by Roy Orbison
With Pen In Hand by Billy Vera
Long Long Time by Linda Ronstadt
Greenfields by The Brothers Four
The Famous Final Scene by Bob Seger
I Honestly Love You by Olivia Newton-John
For No One by The Beatles
Second Avenue by Tim Moore
Didn't We by Richard Harris
At 17 by Janis Ian
And for Christmas,
The Little Boy Santa Forgot by Nat King Cole

Reba's
greatest man I never knew
Makes me cry every time I try to sing that song
Reminds me of how we let money take over rather then people we love and
waste the precious time we have with each other

Every time I see a post on this thread, it's a sad reminder that Geewhiz is no longer with us.

Another one is The Dutchman by Steve Goodman. It can probably hit home for too many of us.