what is the saddest song you know?

[cryptique]

Richard and Linda Thompson--"Down Where the Drunkards Roll"

Yes. But an even sadder one from them (same album) is "The End of the Rainbow."

 

 

I feel for you, you little horror

Safe at your mother's breast

No lucky break for you around the corner

'Cos your father is a bully

And he thinks that you're a pest

And your sister, she's no better than a whore

 

Life seems so rosy in the cradle

But I'll be a friend, I'll tell you what's in store

There's nothing at the end of the rainbow

There's nothing to grow up for anymore

 

Tycoons and barrow boys will rob you

And throw you on the side

And all because they love themselves sincerely

And the man holds a bread-knife

Up to your throat, is four feet wide

And he's anxious just to show you what it's for

 

Your mother works so hard to make you happy

But take a look outside the nursery door

There's nothing at the end of the rainbow

There's nothing to grow up for anymore

 

All the sad and empty faces

That pass you on the street

All running in their sleep, all in a dream

Every loving handshake

Is just another man to beat

How your heart aches just to cut him to the core

 

Life seems so rosy in the cradle

But I'll be a friend, I'll tell you what's in store

There's nothing at the end of the rainbow

There's nothing to grow up for anymore

[tongue-tied lightning]

Bee Gees~ I started A Joke

[Artifice]

Modest Mouse - Bankrupt on Selling

[tongue-tied lightning]

Beatles~Long and Winding Road

[lizish]

Damien Jurado - Fuel

 

'So mother burn my body for fuel'

[wireland]

tom waits has a bunch of great sad songs...but my favorite is probably "Train Song"

 

 

Well I broke down in E. St. Louis

On the Kansas City line

and I drunk up all my money

that I borrowed every time

and I fell down at the derby

and now the night's black as a crow

It was a train that took me away from here

but a train can't bring me home

What made my dreams so hollow

was standing at the depot

with a steeple full of swallows

that could never ring the bell

and I come ten thousand miles away

with not one thing to show

well it was a train that took me away from here

but a train can't bring me home

I remember when I left

without bothering to pack

you know I up and left with

just the clothes I had on my back

now I'm sorry for what I've done

and I'm out here on my own

well it was a train that took me away from

here but a train can't bring me home

[Blue and Green]

I'm Not In Love -10cc

[Blue and Green]

Yesterday, Let It Be, I'm So Tired and In My Life - The Beatles

[Oil Can Boyd]

Leaving on a Jet Plane

[aver]

Dude?! Dude?! :-)

 

Famous Blue Raincoat - Leonard Cohen?

 

also

Sideshow by The Seashore - Luna

If You See Her Say Hello - Jeff Buckley (from the Sin-e Reissue)

Autumn Sweater - Yo La Tengo (typical "sad mixtape" song)

 

Pot Kettle Black really gets to me too

[sidewalkserfergirl]

I Am The Cosmos - Chris Bell

 

1000 Miles From Nowhere - Dwight Yoakam

 

Jonathan David - Belle & Sebastian

 

Settled Down Like Rain - The Jayhawks...

 

...You packed up your bags and belongings

And crept out through the back

The sound of footprints on the ground

 

Your words hung high in the rafters

And settled down like rain

Remain happy ever after

Happy ever after

 

*sob*

[Artifice]

I Am The Cosmos - Chris Bell

 

1000 Miles From Nowhere - Dwight Yoakam

 

Jonathan David - Belle & Sebastian

 

Settled Down Like Rain - The Jayhawks...

 

...You packed up your bags and belongings

And crept out through the back

The sound of footprints on the ground

 

Your words hung high in the rafters

And settled down like rain

Remain happy ever after

Happy ever after

 

*sob*

 

Great list.

[Hodie]

"I'm so Lonesome I Could Cry," written by Hank Williams, sung by about a zillion sad people

[ms. yvon]

tennessee waltz done by just about anyone

 

--star witness by neko case

--transatlanticism by death cab for cutie

--crane wife 1 & 2 on the new decemberists album

--long black veil by johnny cash

--one more dollar by gillian welch

--annabelle lee by gillian welch.--this is a crusher to be sure.

[MrRain422]

I Am The Cosmos - Chris Bell

 

[skepticsightsten]

Pale Green Things-The Mountain Goats

Grapefruit Moon-Tom Waits

Sylvia Plath-Ryan Adams

Insomnia-Simon Joyner (if you don't know him, at least try to find this song)

Place to Be-Nick Drake

Song of 27-Richard Buckner

Homecoming Queen-Sparklehorse

Old Fashioned Way of Speaking-T.W. Walsh 'If it was permanent, the world would mean a whole lot less.'

 

EDIT: I forgot 'Hope There's Someone'-Antony and the Jonstons

[Lammycat]

--annabelle lee by gillian welch.--this is a crusher to be sure.

I'm not familiar with the song, but it's one of my favorite Poe poems. A very sad poem involving a sailor and his maiden. Is it a take on the poem?

[joefry111]

Jeff Buckley ~ Lover You should Have Come Over

Its never over, my kingdom for a kiss upon her shoulder

Its never over, all my riches for her smiles when I slept so soft against her

Its never over, all my blood for the sweetness of her laughter

Its never over, shes the tear that hangs inside my soul forever

 

 

Yes...I was going to put this one down. If you are making a mix, this is #1 for song of regret/sadness.

 

A beautiful tune that is eloquent in its message of a guy who fucked up big time. Whenever I am on the verge of screwing up big time (male pride issues, etc.) I think of this lament and change my attitude.

 

This is truly one of the greatest and saddest songs ever written.

[Aeglos]

if you want to go super eclectic... select something from Mahler's Kindertotenlieder, or Schubert's Winterreise song cycle. Also Percy Grainger's a cappella arrangement of Danny Boy is awesome, but the most intensely sad song you may ever hear is Doom. A Sigh - there's a good performance by the Kronos Quartet

[SunkenKamera]

Country Feedback- R.E.M.

Try Not To Breathe-R.E.M.

She's A Jar-Wilco

Not Dark Yet-Bob Dylan

[Gobias Industries]

Mendelssohn - Hebrides Overture

[Calexico]

Lydia by Slaid Cleaves.

Time Jesum Transeuntum Et Non Riverentum by Nick Cave and The Dirty 3

[froggie]

At seventeen - janis ian

[Willkoman]

In case it hasn't been mentioned:

 

Lucinda Williams ~ Sweet Old World ~ Both the song and the album.

[dontknownuthin]

Lots of good ones mentioned...here's my top ten (mentioned and not)

 

A Change is Gonna Come - Sam Cooke

In My Life - Beatles

Alone Again - Gilbert O'Sullivan

These Days - Nico

Suicide is Painless aka The M*A*S*H theme - Johnny Mandel

Country Boy - Richard Manuel

Tears of Rage - The Band

It Makes No Difference - The band

Nightswimming - R.E.M.

Tomorrow is a Long Time - Bob Dylan