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".