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How about really really sad songs?

#41
Just heard a really sad one this afternoon sung by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - Killing the Blues:

.
Great performance. And I have to admit Alison Krauss is extremely easy to look at. Wow.
That one hit me pretty hard.

"Leaves were falling, just like embers,
In colors red and gold, they set us on fire
Burning just like moonbeams in our eyes.

[Chorus:]
Somebody said they saw me, swinging the world by the tail
Bouncing over a white cloud, killing the blues.

Now I'm guilty of something...
I hope you never do
Because there is nothing
Any sadder than losing yourself in love.

[Chorus]

And then you've ask me... just to leave you
To set out on my own
And get what I needed.
You want me to find what I've already had.

[Chorus 2x]"
 
#42
The Pass by Rush. Lost a friend to suicide when he was 15 so it hits close to home.

Proud swagger out of the school yard
Waiting for the world's applause
Rebel without a conscience
Martyr without a cause

Static on your frequency
Electrical storm in your veins
Raging at unreachable glory
Straining at invisible chains

And now you're trembling on a rocky ledge
Staring down into a heartless sea
Can't face life on a razor's edge
Nothing's what you thought it would be

All of us get lost in the darkness
Dreamers learn to steer by the stars
All of us do time in the gutter
Dreamers turn to look at the cars
Turn around and turn around and turn around
Turn around and walk the razor's edge
Don't turn your back
And slam the door on me

It's not as if this barricade
Blocks the only road
It's not as if you're all alone
In wanting to explode

Someone set a bad example
Made surrender seem all right
The act of a noble warrior
Who lost the will to fight

And now you're trembling on a rocky ledge
Staring down into a heartless sea
Done with life on a razor's edge
Nothing's what you thought it would be

No hero in your tragedy
No daring in your escape
No salutes for your surrender
Nothing noble in your fate
Christ, what have you done?
Click to expand...
 
#44
Belle & Sebastian - The Chalet Lines

He raped me in the chalet line
The girl I shared with was away for the night
I couldn't get up for my shift today
I'll have to leave the camp now, anyway
I'll go to London, there's a mate of mine
I know she'll give me a place
Full of woe and further to go

He raped me in the chalet line
I had just said, "No" for the final time
Although it's last month it's like yesterday
I missed my time I don't think I can stand
To take the test I'm feeling sick
**** this I felt like this for a week,
I'll put a knife right into his eye
My friend can't see
She asks me why I don't tell the law
Oh, what's the ******* point of it all

He raped me in the chalet line
It was a party it was going fine
With the boys from the amusement park
a few were idiots we had a really good laugh
we had the shows on til way after dark
I hope she'll give me a place
Full of woe and further to go

---She caught the bus
Oh I'll go anywhere
---She caught the bus
Her face was just a smear on the page.
 
#45
rickwebb said:
"Shannon" by Henry Gross
"The Other End Of The Telescope" by Til Tuesday
"Don't Leave Me Now" Supertramp


I'm a miserable scut, haha
Click to expand...

This was one of the two that started all of this.

ffutterman said:
Harry Chapin - The Shortest Story

Song:

"Chapin's recording of "The Shortest Story", a song he wrote about a dying child and featured in his 1976 live/studio album Greatest Stories Live, was named by author Tom Reynolds in his book I Hate Myself And Want To Die as the second most depressing song of all time."

Lyrics:

I am born today, the sun burns its promise in my eyes;
Mama strikes me and I draw a breath and cry.
Above me a cloud softly tumbles through the sky;
I am glad to be alive.

It is me seventh day, I taste the hunger and I cry;
my brother and sister cling to Mama's side.
She squeezes her breast, but it has nothing to provide;
someone weeps, I fall asleep.

It is twenty days today, Mama does not hold me anymore;
I open my mouth but I am too weak to cry.
Above me a bird slowly crawls across the sky;
why is there nothing now to do but die?



....so did I win the contest?
Click to expand...



I was telling someone about this song just the other day. I've never heard it. But I've heard OF it. I read Reynolds book and its sequel: Touch Me, I'm Sick: The 52 Creepiest Love Songs You've Ever Heard. IHMAWTD had an article written about each song and why it was particularly depressing. This song's article was about how Mr Reynolds was convinced to accompany a friend on guitar when the friend decided to sing this song AT A CHRISTMAS EVENT.

I picture the faces of their audience and laugh VERY inappropriately.

What started the conversation when I was reminded of those two books was the Pearl Jam cover of Last Kiss. It's in the first book, I think. That article was about how there was a short fashion of teenager-dead-in-a-car-wreck songs for a year or three. I don't remember if he did the article over Last Kiss or just mentioned it and did the article over Tell Laura I love Her, or maybe Teen Angel.
 
#46
MatticusMania said:
No problem! I remember one day seeing Metallica's 'One' video after I had read the book and I was so excited to make that connection.
Its a great book. I think Im due for a re-read.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Got_His_Gun
Click to expand...

I remember seeing the world-premire for the "One" video on MTV. That vid came out during the hair-band era; the video format had not been used to it`s full potential yet; most rock videos were full of girls, most metal videos were full of silly "evil" imagery. After seeing the video for that first time, I was, no pun intended, shellshocked. I had never seen anything on MTV that visceral or intense. By the end, as it takes off on the solos, you`re almost breathless. Needless to say, that night was when I became the biggest Metallica fan in the world :) I still to this day think it`s the best metal video ever made, and possibly the best metal SONG ever. Not sure I think of it as "sad", but definitely emotionally intense. As for the saddest song, it`s "Jacob`s Dream" by Alison Krauss, hands down. Based on a true story. If it doesn`t bring tears to your eyes, you need to check your pulse.
 
#48
VerryBerry said:
Just heard a really sad one this afternoon sung by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - Killing the Blues:

.
Great performance. And I have to admit Alison Krauss is extremely easy to look at. Wow.
That one hit me pretty hard.

"Leaves were falling, just like embers,
In colors red and gold, they set us on fire
Burning just like moonbeams in our eyes.

[Chorus:]
Somebody said they saw me, swinging the world by the tail
Bouncing over a white cloud, killing the blues.

Now I'm guilty of something...
I hope you never do
Because there is nothing
Any sadder than losing yourself in love.

[Chorus]

And then you've ask me... just to leave you
To set out on my own
And get what I needed.
You want me to find what I've already had.

[Chorus 2x]"
Click to expand...


I discovered this song earlier this year too and fell in love with it.

The song was actually written by Chris Isaac's bass player. And it was also covered by John Prine.

Now, when a legendary songwriter the likes of John Prine is covering YOU. You know you've accomplished something amazing.
 
#54
"This Woman's Work" by Kate Bush makes me cry every time I hear it. She wrote this song from a man's point of view for a scene in a movie where a man is waiting for his child to be born and there are complications (I've never seen the movie). Perhaps it reminds me of when my daughter was born, but it gets me every time.

I think Kate Bush's voice is amazing. The video is corny, but I love her singing.
 
#58
"Breaking the Girl" by RHCP

"Twisting and turning
your feelings are burning
You're breaking the girl
She meant you no harm
think you're so clever
but now you must sever
your breaking the girl
He loves no one else"

I heard a cover of this song when I was driving and it hit a little to close to home for me and I had to pull over and get my self back together.
 
#59
Billie Holiday - Strange Fruit

Southern trees bear a strange fruit,
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,
Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze,
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.

Pastoral scene of the gallant south,
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,
Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh,
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh.

Here is fruit for the crows to pluck,
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,
For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop,
Here is a strange and bitter crop.
 
#60
All around me are familiar faces
Worn out places
Worn out faces
Bright and early for their daily races
Going nowhere
Going nowhere
Their tears are filling up their glasses
No expression
No expression
Hide my head, I want to drown my sorrow
No tomorrow
No tomorrow
And I find it kind of funny
I find it kind of sad
The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had
I find it hard to tell you
I find it hard to take
When people run in circles, it's a very, very...
Mad world...
Mad world...
Children waiting for the day they feel good
Happy birthday
Happy birthday
When they feel the way that every child should
Sit and listen
Sit and listen
Went to school and I was very nervous
No one knew me
No one knew me
Hello teacher, tell me what's my lesson
Look right through me
Look right through me
And I find it kind of funny
I find it kind of sad
The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had
I find it hard to tell you
I find it hard to take
When people run in circles, it's a very, very...
Mad world...
Mad world...
Enlargen your world...
Mad world...
 

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