JPF Home Page Forums General Messages General Message Forum What is a really SAD SONG to you?

"Even Now" - Barry Manilow.
"The Living Years" - Mike & The Mechanics (with Paul Carrack on vocals - one of my favorite, underrated singers!)

Best,
russ

www.russbonagura.com

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Satchel was right...Something is gaining on me....
www.jackcouldntmakeit.com

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Sharpe Lurker:

Now another sad song that came to mind while checking this thread was Elvis singing about the kid being shot in the ghetto. Can anyone name that tune? Or the writer of that tune?

Which brings to mind 'Six O'Clock News', off of
John Prine's first Album....For that matter, also off the same album:
Sam Stone
Donald & Lydia
Hello In There
Angel From Montgomery

Midnite

"They say that that song could bring tears to a glass eye..."
- from Joe Jackson's "The Man Who Wrote Danny Boy"

"Hot Burrito #1 (I'm Your Toy)" by the Flying Burrito Brothers

"For No One" by the Beatles

"Always On My Mind" by Willie Nelson

All three choke me up.

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Hop On Pop, the band

Somebody help me out here, by either backing me up or setting me straight 'cause I can't convince my guitarist that Danny Boy is a Father singing to his Son as the son is going off to war...Isn't it? It also took me many years before I realized this so you're not alone TC,,,unless, of course, I'm wrong...

He'p me please.....Midnite

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Satchel was right...Something is gaining on me....
www.jackcouldntmakeit.com

Hey Midnight Bob,

A very fitting question for St. Paddy's Day.

There are at least two versions of the story behind this song. Here is the first:

Once, a long time ago there was an old man who had raised many sons who he loved dearly. A war raged over the land that they lived in and one by one he saw each of them go off to fight and not return. Then one day, as harvest time drew near, he knew that his youngest, and most precious, son would soon be going off to fight just as his brothers before him. The old man was sad and knew that he may never see his last boy alive. He looked intently at the young lad, and with tears in his eyes he sang this song.

And here is the second:

The song is said to be based on a happening which occurred centuries ago when Ireland was divided into small serfdoms or kingdoms which warred among themselves. In those days a king would really lead his troops into war. According to the story, an old king lay dying when a battle was about to begin. He called his son Daniel to his bedside and explained that now, for the first time, the son must lead the army to battle. This song celebrates the words of the king to his son.

Bottoms up me lad,
Joseph

Well based on the lyric, I'd say version one of the story holds more true....

Oh danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
From glen to glen and down the mountain side
The summer's gone, and all the roses falling
It's you, it's you must go and i must bide

But come ye back when summer's in the meadow
Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow
It's i'll be here in sunshine, or in shadow
Oh danny boy, oh danny boy, i love you so

But when ye come and all the flowers are dying
If i am dead, and dead i well may be
You'll come and find the place where i am lying
And kneel and say an "ave" there for me

And i shall hear tho' soft you tread above me
And all my grave will warmer, sweeter be
For you will bend and tell me that you love me
And i shall sleep in peace until you come to me

Sniff, sniff.....Here's back at'cha John & Joseph....Midnite

"In The Ghetto....Mac Davis....What do I win?"

Thanks!

Your award is... [whilst subtle drumrolling can be heard]... the title of:

"The Best!"

For knowing these great things.

But hey I could send you one of my weekly lottery tickets... truth is more than likely it would not be worth the paper it is printed on, or the postage cost to mail it.

Good job, good luck and all that other great stuff!

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"digging deep in the verbal sludge of society, for the gems of interest"

Thanks to everyone who provided info on the song/story of "Danny Boy"...

Have to admit I was not real familiar with it the first time it was mentioned... the tune/melody did make me think of "Shenandoah" for some unknown reason...

S.L.

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"digging deep in the verbal sludge of society, for the gems of interest"

Amen!

"Amazing Grace"

DavidW,
I've heard that Bagpipes version at Police/Firefighter funerals... Makes it extremely difficult to maintain composure. You are right... It is really really sad when played on those sombering ocasions.

On a lighter note my favorite version is the one where "Judy Collins" was recorded in something like a wooden room where you can hear her vocal presentation bouncing off the hard wood surfaces... makes for a subtle effect that puts it purely over-the-top in my book.

S.L.



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"digging deep in the verbal sludge of society, for the gems of interest"

"Lovin he in my dreams"
"The special place in her heart"

http://www.soundclick.com/pro/?BandID=189269

I think there are several sad songs out there..I could say:

1. Tears in Heaven - Eric Clapton
2. Love of The Common People - By Nicky Thomas but I like Paul Young's version
3. When You Cry - By T.O.K.
4. Night Shift - By The Commodores

If you think I am joking,please google these lyrics and see if tears won't flow down the river!!!!!

Sad songs to me are those that deal with mysteries and sorrow - death or people loving each other being separated by circumstances such that they do not have a chance whatsoever of making up again...

Songs that deal with you an emotional blow and you cannot take control anymore..


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frankie

[This message has been edited by frahmes (edited 03-29-2005).]

Will Jenning wrote the lyric for Tears In Heaven Frankie. Graham

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http://www.soundclick.com/bands/2/grahamhendersonmusic.htm

one that's not worth the beer you're crying in.

Saddest song I ever heard was from Gary Puckett & the Union Gap Called My Son. It was a heartbreaker then and even harder now.About a father raising a son all by himself after the wife dies in childbirth only to lose him in the war.

" Oh how I miss him here with me
reminiscing how it used to be
Here in my hand they gave to me
Medals my boy won for bravery My Son"

Then this real sad wail at the end. That song kills me. Always did. Even when I first heard it as a little girl. Now it really gets me. And I can barely listen to it.
My son Jimmy is a Marine stationed in Iraq. H&S Company
Tia

[This message has been edited by tialyn (edited 03-29-2005).]

Sorry I ain't sure of the writer but Eric Clapton sang it..and it is really touching!


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frankie

[This message has been edited by frahmes (edited 03-30-2005).]

Wow! Ya'll have hit on a lot of great ol' sad stuff here...

How about "Long, Long Time"- Linda Ronstadt (forgive me I dunno who wrote it off the top of my head). Or "I Will Always Love You" by Dolly Parton.

Anybody ever hear "Brick" by Ben Folds? That'll wrench your guts on a couple of levels...

"Uncle" Chuck Crowe

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http://www.soundclick.com/bands/athabaxtra.htm
http://www.chuckcrowe.com

Just remembered "Turn Around" that was sung by Nat King Cole, I think.

Just touching, not so sad, except when it was sung by my dad at my wedding reception, to accompany slides of me and my husband growing up. That jerked a tear out of everybody.

I'm not doing that for any of my kids.

He did a great job. We happened to watch the old video over the weekend because some relatives requested it.

I remember that my dad said he sang it over and over at home, couldn't get through it without crying the first dozen times, and kept going day after day, until the words meant absolutely nothing to him, so he could do a good job on the wedding day. He's a great guy. --Jean

The theme from "Shindler's List", featuring Itzhak Perlman.

"100 Years" -- Five for Fighting

"Adagio for Strings" -- composed by Samuel Barber

"How Could I Ask For More" -- Cindy Morgan

My own "Love Like Time" is sad for personal reasons, and is usually met with tears by listeners.

Baz / Erik
www.eriktyler.com
www.soundclick.com/eriktyler


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"The only way to get anywhere is to cross a few lines."

"Alone Again, Naturally" by Gilbert O'Sullivan

Her And Me by Me is dragging quite a few sobs out I am told and getting downloaded pretty heavily.
I see Living years mentioned Frimpy.
I was flying over to bury my dad and writing a piece toward it when i first heard that song, and quit writing seeing it had been done so well.
Good choice.
Graham


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http://www.soundclick.com/bands/2/grahamhendersonmusic.htm

Somebody might have already mentioned these, but...


"I Can't Make You Love Me" sung by Bonnie Raitt (sp?)

Not sure of the title, but maybe "Say It Was Only a Dream" sung by....oh darn, there's that senility again. I had her name when I started typing this. Blonde lady, plays the guitar. Real sweet and sad song about childhood memories and how it all changed when the parents split up. Very touching.

--Jean

Concrete Angle---Martina Mcbride

Stagger Lee


Wildflower

"I'll Be Seeing You"--the WWII era song

I agree with Todd on the Beatles "For No One". I totally forgot about this song until it was brought up here.

"That Lonesome Road"--James Taylor

'Put My Little Shoes Away'
The Everly Brothers

That um, not sure about the title, but "I will not take these things for granted" Toad The Wet Sprocket. Sad...sad..

Rundown Blues is a very sad song, original words by Gabe Choate with some changes I made, and the music on this version is mine.

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DakLander

" The Hand Song" recorded by Nickel Creek. This is one I would love to perform but I can't get through the last verse without crying.

Mab

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"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool." ~~ Richard Feynman (1918 - 1988) American phsyicst and professor

Lots of good choices here. I'd also nominate these two:
Desperadoes Waiting for a Train by Guy Clark.
Sunday Morning Coming Down by Kris Kristofferson.

What I like about them is they sound like real stories that happen to be sad, not deliberate tear-jerkers like Dance With My Father and Whiskey Lullaby. Of course, Allison Krauss could sing Louie Louie and break your heart.

johanna: Keep Me in Your Heart never really struck me as sad. It's courageous and beautiful and real. I love that song. My band got to open for The Special Consensus last year and we did a sort of more uptempo bluegrass version of it. When we introduced it, ("Keep Me in Your Heart, Warren Zevon's best bluegrass song") lots of people had heard of it and we got a really good reaction. It should have been song of the year, not Dance With My Father.

joseph: Cecilia takes on a new light when you realize Cecilia was the patron saint of music. Kind of makes you wonder about the whole "I got up to wash my face."