The Saddest Song of All

Subject: RE: The Saddest Song of All
From: Pete Curry
Date: 22 Jul 99 - 07:48 PM

For Kat: "Rose Colored Glasses" was by John Conlee. It was a hit (his biggest) in 1978.

Subject: RE: The Saddest Song of All
From:
Date: 22 Jul 99 - 07:34 PM

Leonard Cohen is more than sad -- he is into the reach-for-the-Prozac territory. But I agree, Famous Blue Raincoat is a great song.

Subject: RE: The Saddest Song of All
From: Allan C.
Date: 22 Jul 99 - 03:05 PM

Or Judy Collins' "Medgar Evers Lullaby"...(I think that is the right title. I lost the record long ago.)

Subject: RE: The Saddest Song of All
From: Tiger
Date: 22 Jul 99 - 03:00 PM

I keep getting reminded of these, 'cause I have so many sad songs in my collection. But I'M not sad, really!

How about Woody Guthrie's "Deportees"?

Subject: RE: The Saddest Song of All
From: Sam
Date: 22 Jul 99 - 02:48 PM

The best thing about a sad song is that it can come at you unexpectedly. I smiled when I read (about sixty emails back) that someone else used to cry at Puff, the Magic Dragon -- I couldn't get through that song as a boy.

Songs that have back-doored me in the last eight years:

George Jones: Good Year for the Roses Jules Shear: First Freeze After the Fall (the album with this song is one sad song after another). Bob Dylan: Lay, Lady, Lay (this is what I'm talking about since most people wouldn't even consider this to BE a sad song -- one time I was listening to this song and the line "I long to see you in the morning light / I long to reach for you, in the night" just struck me as achingly melancholy. I don't think it's ever struck me quite that way again, but I haven't forgotten. Roberta Flack: If Ever I See You Again

Subject: RE: The Saddest Song of All
From: Blue Jay
Date: 22 Jul 99 - 02:39 PM

JESTER mentions Steve Goodman's "My Old Man", but I think Goodman's "Ballad of Penney Evans" is one of the saddest and most moving songs ever written, detailing the plight, (in a cappella), of a "young widow of the war that's being fought in Vietnam. And I have two infant daughters, I THANK GOD I HAVE NO SONS, now you say the war is over, but I think it's just begun". This song is a real tearjerker.

Another of my favorite "sad songs" is Ian Tyson's BARNEY, about a rancher forced to shoot his old, decrepit horse. The song ranges thru nostalgia, reality, and depression. It's on an old Ian & Sylvia record, and evokes strong emotions: whenever I play it, people either love it or HATE it, ("how could you sing a song about something like that"?) Animal rights people tend to hate it, until they realize the song's not about killing animals, but rather BONDING WITH ANIMALS.

Both of these sad songs bring out exceptionally strong emotional responses, which a REAL sad song should.

Subject: RE: The Saddest Song of All
From: Neil Lowe
Date: 22 Jul 99 - 02:26 PM

"Carmelita," by Warren Zevon (with a nod of gratitude to LEJ for nailing the title and composer for me from a misquoted line or two)

Subject: RE: The Saddest Song of All
From: katlaughing
Date: 22 Jul 99 - 01:57 PM

Lat Cheaters Waltz reminded me of another country one that come out in the 80's, Rose Colored Glasses. Thanks AllanC. for the translation. No, WW, I don't have a copy & would love to hear it. Thanks! Peter, I think you'll really enjoy that Holly Near one. I have another of hers, Sky dances, which has beautiful songs on it, including The Letter,by Ruben Blades, about people dying of AIDS, and Nicaragua Night. Both very sad songs. She also has one on there called "They Are Falling All Around Me" about the people she learned music from. When I have time, I'll try to get the lyrics posted.

kat

Subject: RE: The Saddest Song of All
From: Mark Clark
Date: 22 Jul 99 - 01:42 PM

Tiger,

Yes, that's a good one. Merle had a number of really sad songs. "If we make it through December" still gets me whenever I hear it on the raido.

It's funny how a song will get to you even when you don't want it to. The Country Geltlemen's tune (John Duffy?) "Bringing Mary Home" uses every cheap offensive trick in the book to illicit an emotional reaction from the listener and, even though I know I'm being had, it can still get to me once in a while. I guess I'm fundamentally a sap.

- Mark

Subject: RE: The Saddest Song of All
From: Lowcountry
Date: 22 Jul 99 - 09:39 AM

I forgot who sang "The Last Cheater's Waltz." In a dark way, that is a very sad song.

Subject: RE: The Saddest Song of All
From: Peter T.
Date: 22 Jul 99 - 09:12 AM

Dear WyoWoman/kat, I heard the song once, but didn't know its name. I will go and find the Holly Near album. Much appreciated (gracias a todos)
yours, Peter T.

Subject: RE: The Saddest Song of All
From: WyoWoman
Date: 22 Jul 99 - 08:01 AM

Kat--Yup to that translation. Do you have a copy of"the Last Leviathan?" If not, I'll make you a tape. You should hear it, given your commitment to the critters.

WW

Subject: RE: The Saddest Song of All
From: Mike Regenstreif
Date: 22 Jul 99 - 07:24 AM

Garnet Rogers was referred to in one of the posts above as "Stan's son." Stan was Garnet's brother.

Mike Regenstreif

Subject: RE: The Saddest Song of All
From: Allan C.
Date: 22 Jul 99 - 07:16 AM

Kat, it means "There's A Woman Missing"

Subject: RE: The Saddest Song of All
From: Banjer
Date: 22 Jul 99 - 12:05 AM

I haven't seen mentioned an old song I can only recall as "Eastbound Train", about a little girl going to get her old daddy out of prison and the conductor that finds her onthe train without her ticket....Can't even remember who did it, but the voice I associate with it would be similar to Ernest Tubb.....

Subject: RE: The Saddest Song of All
From: katlaughing
Date: 21 Jul 99 - 11:56 PM

Jeri: it's in the DT here

Subject: RE: The Saddest Song of All
From: katlaughing
Date: 21 Jul 99 - 11:54 PM

WW- I've got it, the name is "Hay Una Mujer Desaparecida" My Spanish is ltd., but doesn't it mean something about the Desperate Mothers?, I know that she sings out the names of the disappeared in it. It's on her tape called "Imagine My Suprise".

Jeri, I think There Were Roses is in the Republican songs thread. I'll look for it. If it's not in the DT, I'll post it as a LYR ADD thread.

WW- the Leviathan has to be the saddest for me. I feel such kinship with all the critters and they have so little defense. Thanks.

kat

Subject: RE: The Saddest Song of All
From: WyoWoman
Date: 21 Jul 99 - 11:41 PM

Ach, Peter T. Amazing. Holly Near did one some time back, the name of which I can't remember, but it was about the "Disapeared," and the refrain, "And the junta knows... And the junta knows..." just nailed my heart. Have you heard it?

WW

Subject: RE: The Saddest Song of All
From: Allan C.
Date: 21 Jul 99 - 09:49 PM

"Motherless Child"; "At A High Window" (sung by Garnet Rogers - Stan's son); Ewan McColl's "The Joy of Living"; Nina Simone singing just about anything.

Subject: RE: The Saddest Song of All
From: Pete Curry
Date: 21 Jul 99 - 09:32 PM

Let's hear it for the song that started this thread: "I Heard A Heart Break Last Night" was a hit for country singer Jim Reeves in 1967. Given that Jim Reeves is noted for his lack of "twang," his was probably not the version Shack heard. The song was written by the great Leon Payne who penned many of George Jones' early hits. It is fitting that someone named "Payne" should trigger such a thread, don't you think?

Subject: RE: The Saddest Song of All
From: JESTER!
Date: 21 Jul 99 - 09:25 PM

Well, I'm not sure if it's the same song the Furries sing (I'm not familiar with them) but Steve Goodman's "My Old Man" is one that several bandmates have forbid me to perform, on the grounds that it "Bums everyone out". The 2nd verse goes: "And oh, the fights we had when my brother and me got him mad. He'd get all red, and start to shout; we knew what was coming, so we tuned him out. And now the old man is gone And I'd give all I own Just to hear what he was saying when I wasn't listening To my old man".

Subject: RE: The Saddest Song of All
From: Tiger
Date: 21 Jul 99 - 09:20 PM

Mark....

I'll go along with you on "Sam Stone". I didn't think of it off the top, but it really moves.

I have a weakness for this kind of song - my poor wife wonders why I don't sing enough 'happy' songs. Still, I always gravitate to the tear-jerkers. How about:

"I Wonder if They Ever Think of Me"......Merle Haggard

Subject: RE: The Saddest Song of All
From: Pete Curry
Date: 21 Jul 99 - 09:13 PM

Dear BSeed/Charles Kratz: I fail to see what's so funny about rhyming "nursery" with "mercy"? Please explain. And kuddos to all who mentioned Stan Rogers' "First Christmas" and the fellow who pointed out the actual title of Tom Waits' "Waltzing Matilda" ("Tom Traubert's Blues"): the computer was drinking, not me. Do I dare mention Billy Holliday's classic wrist-slasher, "Gloomy Sunday"? Oops, I guess I did. Love and saddness to you all.

Subject: RE: The Saddest Song of All
From: Sourdough
Date: 21 Jul 99 - 09:00 PM

One of my favorites is "The Child of the Railroad Engineer". When I get to the part where he goes by his house and his wife lights the green lantern meaning all is well, that the child has passed safely through the crisis, I have a small catharsis of my own.

Actually, I think every song you love has a line, a phrase or maybe even a verse that contains the essence of the song for you. Sometimes listening to a singer I can tell when he or she hoits that phrase. With some people, it is as though it becomes luminescent for a moment.

Sourdough

Subject: RE: The Saddest Song of All
From: Mark Clark
Date: 21 Jul 99 - 07:04 PM

Oh, and let's not forget John Prine's tune "Sam Stone."

(chorus) There's a hole in Daddy's arm where all the money goes,
And Jesus Christ died for nothin' I suppose,
Little pitchers have big ears,
Don't stop to count the years,
Sad songs never last too long on broken radios.

That one will really bring you down.

Then there are all the old dying children songs and children trying to reach dying parents ("The Baggage Car Ahead") or save dying siblings ("The Leaves Mustn't Fall"). Pete Curry was right, this topic could fill a Web site by itself.

- Mark

Subject: RE: The Saddest Song of All
From: SueH
Date: 21 Jul 99 - 06:58 PM

I'll go along with 'Ae Fond Kiss', and 'From Clare To Here'. 'Do You think I Do Not Know', written by Henry Lawson. Also, although it isn't a folk song, Paul Simon's 'Slip Sliding Away'.

And Alan says his are 'The Water Lily', sung by Martin Wyndham Read, & 'The Moon Was A-Waning', written by James Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd.

I'm sure I'll think of some more.

Sue

Subject: Lyr Add: THE OLD HOUSE (George Jones)
From: Mark Clark
Date: 21 Jul 99 - 06:47 PM

I think George Jones wrote a song that Bill Monroe recorded caled "The Old House." Went kindly like this...

There's an old, old house that once was a mansion,
On a hill overlooking the town,
But time had made a wreckage where once there was beauty,
And soon the old house would tumble down.

(chorus)
But when the leaves start to fall in the autumn,
And the rain starts to drip from the trees,
There's an old old man who walks in the garden,
And his head it is bowed in memory.

They say he built the mansion for the love of a woman,
And they planned to be married in the fall,
But her love wilted in the last days of summer,
And the house stood empty after all.

(chorus)
But when the leaves start to fall in the autumn,
And the rain starts to drip from the trees,
There's an old old man who walks in the garden,
And his head it is bowed in memory.

Hope you like it as much as I do. It's hard to do that one with dry eyes.

- Mark

Subject: RE: The Saddest Song of All
From: Jeri
Date: 21 Jul 99 - 06:09 PM

Four people so far have mentioned "There Were Roses." The first time I heard it was in a session. This guy who I'd never met before was there and had to leave, so he asked if he could do a song. I expected a decent song from a decent singer. He stood up and started singing this song, and it wasn't long before it was so quiet, you could hear people breathe. He finished, and it was a good long while before anyone started playing again. I was trying to discretely wipe the tears away. Then I looked around and saw a few other people doing the same thing.

Kat, where did Wolfgang put the link?

Subject: RE: The Saddest Song of All
From: Harald Schmidt
Date: 21 Jul 99 - 05:28 PM

No, one of the sadest song for me is: "The wind that shake the barley"

Subject: RE: The Saddest Song of All
From: katlaughing
Date: 21 Jul 99 - 05:21 PM

Wow, you guys! Thanks, again, esp. you, Bert!

'ghing!

Subject: RE: The Saddest Song of All
From: Allan C.
Date: 21 Jul 99 - 03:56 PM

Damn! How'd I miss that?

Subject: RE: The Saddest Song of All
From: annamill
Date: 21 Jul 99 - 03:37 PM

Kat, Bert sang this at the gathering at my house this weekend.

Annap

Subject: RE: The Saddest Song of All
From: Bert
Date: 21 Jul 99 - 03:32 PM

You can't talk about sad songs without mentioning this one by 'ghing That's Not My Colorado

Subject: RE: The Saddest Song of All
From: katlaughing
Date: 21 Jul 99 - 01:52 PM

Just read this from a link by Wolfgang Hell, in another thread and it has got to be one of the saddest I've ever read: THERE WERE ROSES

Subject: RE: The Saddest Song of All
From: Tiger
Date: 21 Jul 99 - 01:36 PM

Streets of London - Ralph McTell

Subject: RE: The Saddest Song of All
From: Mike Strobel
Date: 21 Jul 99 - 01:20 PM

From Clare to Here............By Ralph McTell

Subject: RE: The Saddest Song of All
From: DougR
Date: 21 Jul 99 - 12:38 PM

An old WWI song gets my vote, "My Buddy." "Danny Boy," is a close second though.

DougR

Subject: RE: The Saddest Song of All
From: PattyG
Date: 21 Jul 99 - 11:50 AM

(Peter wrote) but what about "The Enigma" or "Gift of Years" - Eric Bogle (lyrics available on request) or "Absent Friends" as recorded by Vin Garbutt?

///I would love to have the lyrics to these songs.

My Old Man by Furies.

///I'd love to have the lyrics to this as well!

Subject: RE: The Saddest Song of All
From: Barry Finn
Date: 21 Jul 99 - 12:59 AM

I'll toss in:

Flowers of the Forest, the loss of that battle was nothing to the countryside losing most of the male popular from the young boys to the old men. No pollination, no flowers left a lonely, sad, barren countryside with no chance to recoupe.

Dave Van Ronk's "Another Time & Place" & Robert Burn's "One Fond Kiss" two of a kind

"Stor Ma Chroi" (sp?)

"The Shearing's Not For You"

"Will You Go To Flanders"

the slow slave version of "Shallow Brown"

a prison hollar sung alone at night from behind bars called "Edie" or "Go away Edie"
Go away Edie quit worrying my mind, go away Edie go away (2x)
Can't sleep for dreaming, can't dream for crying, go away Edie go away

"Another Man Done Gone"

"Take This Hammer"

a sad upbeat slave song "Through My Body Anywhere"

but Art's suggestion of "Waltzing With Bears" takes the cake. Barry

Subject: RE: The Saddest Song of All
From: annamill
Date: 20 Jul 99 - 11:30 PM

My Old Man by Furies. I heard it by our own Bill Sables. There wasn't a dry eye in the house...or on the gazebo. Even the rowdies stopped being rowdy and were hit between the eyes. Everything was quiet for Bill. He had the house. Glenn's Dad died at the tender age of 45, when Glenn was quite young. He was particularly hit hard.

Love, annap

Subject: RE: The Saddest Song of All
From: emily rain
Date: 20 Jul 99 - 10:23 PM

WyoWoman ----

i'll post a wav file of that song on my webpage... won't be a minute...

emily

Subject: RE: The Saddest Song of All
From: JSTPLNFOLK
Date: 20 Jul 99 - 09:09 PM

Of course certain songs are sadder to certain people. Life experiences,age,etc. are all important factors. One of my favorites, because it touches several aspects of my life is 'This Old House' by the Rice brothers. I swear I tear up just thinking about it. Great song.

Subject: RE: The Saddest Song of All
From: Peter T.
Date: 20 Jul 99 - 11:18 AM

I am not sure about whether this is a wallowing around thread or not (I can do that with the best of them!), but this is the saddest/hardest poem I know. I used to use it as an audition piece, but had to give it up, because I could never get all the way through it without breaking down. It is from Ariel Dorfman's poem, Missing, about the people who were taken away during Pinochet's rule in Chile.

my son has been
missing
since May 8
of last year.

They took him
just for a few hourse
they said
just for some routine
questioning.

After the car left,
the car with no licence plate,
we couldn't
find out
anything else about him.

But now things have changed.
We have heard from a companero
who just got out
that five months later
they were torturing him
in Villa Grimaldi.
He says he recognised
his voice
his screams
he says.

Somebody tell me
what times are these
what kind of world
what country?
What I am asking is
how can it be
that a father's
joy
is knowing
that they
that they are still
torturing my son?
Which means that he was alive
five months after he
disappeared
and that my greatest
hope
can only be to find out
next year
that they are still
torturing him
and so he is still
maybe
maybe
alive.


yours, Peter T.

Subject: RE: The Saddest Song of All
From: Mike Regenstreif
Date: 20 Jul 99 - 09:30 AM

I'd also add all of Eric Bogle's WWI songs: "The Band Played Waltzing Matilda," "No Man's Land (Willie McBride," etc.

Mike Regenstreif

Subject: RE: The Saddest Song of All
From: Alice
Date: 19 Jul 99 - 11:17 PM

Give My Love To Nell, Kilkelly, There Were Roses, Skibbereen, The Town I Loved So Well.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE LAST LEVIATHAN (from Rory Block)
From: WyoWoman
Date: 19 Jul 99 - 11:12 PM

Allan -- I'm learning "The Last Leviathan" from a Rory Block CD I have. It is so sad I just feel like MY soul has been torn from me. But I think it's an important song to do, so I'm learning it.

Here are the lyrics:
(It has this beautiful drone in the bass line, which on the CD is done with an organ, I think, but could be done with voices. A friend of mine did this part with his accordian...)

THE LAST LEVIATHAN

My soul has been torn from me
And I am bleeding.
My heart it has been rent,
And I am crying.

All beauty around me fades,
And I am screaming.
I am the last of the great whales.
And I am dying.

Last night I heard the cry
Of my last companion.
The roar of the harpoon gun
And I was alone.

I reflect on the days gone by
When we were thousands.
And I know that I soon shall die.
The last leviathan.

This morning the sun arose
Crimson in the sky.
The ice was the color of blood
And the wind it did sigh.

I rose up to take a breath.
It was my last one.
From the berm came the roar of death.
And now I am done.

Now that we're all gone,
And there's no more hunting.
The big fellow is no more,
And there's no use lamenting.

Which race will be next in line
For the slaughter?
The elephant or the seal?
Or your sons and daughters?

HTML line breaks added. --JoeClone, 6-Oct-02.

Subject: RE: The Saddest Song of All
From: peter bugden
Date: 19 Jul 99 - 11:05 PM

the song you are after is called the Hartleypool Monkey and was recorded by Vin Garbutt back in the seventies. I think it's on his album "Eston California".

Subject: RE: The Saddest Song of All
From:
Date: 19 Jul 99 - 11:02 PM

One of the saddest songs I know is "Poor Kitty Popcorn" by Henry Clay Work. We have tried to sing it on one or two occasions and it has'nt gone over wery well. -John Haigis P.S. Does anyone know the words to "In the Town of Adleypool" about a pet monkey being washed overboard and hung in the town square as a spy?

Subject: RE: The Saddest Song of All
From:
Date: 19 Jul 99 - 10:59 PM

Definitely "First Christmas" - Stan Rogers, but what about "The Enigma" or "Gift of Years" - Eric Bogle (lyrics available on request) or "Absent Friends" as recorded by Vin Garbutt?

Subject: RE: The Saddest Song of All
From: Mbo
Date: 19 Jul 99 - 07:41 PM

I agree that sad songs are probably my favorite kinds of songs. As a fan of many kinds of music, I draw on a large range of styles and genres. Here are some of my favorites (all work well in a folk setting, too):

- "The Wall" by The Statler Brothers (for the Vietnam Memorial.) - "I Go To Pieces" by Peter & Gordon - "Norland Wind" by Battlefield Band - "Bridget O' Malley" (Altan's version) - "What's the Use of Wings?" (John Wright Band version) - "Ae Fond Kiss" - "The Boys of Barr Na Sraide" - "The Massacre of Glencoe" - "The Rain Song" by Led Zeppelin - And the ultimate sad song "Carrickfergus"