The Saddest Song Ever written

Subject: RE: BS: The Saddest Song Ever written
From: Big Show
Date: 16 Jul 00 - 12:47 PM

I agree with "Teddy Bear" too (Red Sovine I think)...

Subject: RE: BS: The Saddest Song Ever written
From: GUEST,Deadlyfiddler
Date: 15 Jul 00 - 09:52 PM

Geez ! It's gotta be Teddybear ( Breaker 10 4 Good buddy an all that stuff )

Subject: RE: BS: The Saddest Song Ever written
From: Ship'scat
Date: 15 Jul 00 - 03:12 PM

How about "Last Cigar"?

Real pathos should come from the pen and voice of one who's been there and done it. This ancient (and anonymous) midshipmen, perhaps a year into a two year cruise in 1860, is out of cigars. How bad can it get?

Maybe he went on to force those damn torpedoes at Mobile Bay or face down the iron-cladded Merrimac on Hampton Roads behind nothing but wooden walls. But what pained him the most? No cigars while patroling the Bight of Benin, that's (probably) what!

"I watched the ashes as they came fast drawing to an end. I watched them as a friend would watch beside a dying friend." Now that's sad.

KC

Subject: RE: BS: The Saddest Song Ever written
From: GUEST
Date: 15 Jul 00 - 10:57 AM

The saddest song ever written was "Gloomy Sunday", originating in Hungary in the 1920's or 30's. It was responsible for several suicides during that time. The song was later recorded by Billie Holliday.

Subject: RE: BS: The Saddest Song Ever written
From: pastorpest
Date: 15 Jul 00 - 10:12 AM

Here is another old fart song which is sad when you know the context: Loch Lomand. None of our songs compare with the horrendous sad disasters in three of every four operas.

Subject: Lyr Add: "I SHOULD LIKE TO DIE," SAID WILLIE
From: little john cameron
Date: 15 Jul 00 - 01:20 AM

This is a poem, no’ a song. It took me three goes tae type it.

“I SHOULD LIKE TO DIE,” SAID WILLIE

“I should like to die,” said Willie, “if my papa could die too:
But he says he isn’t ready—‘cause he’s got so much to do:
But my little sister Nellie says that I must surely die,
And she and Mamma—then she stopped because it made me cry.

“I remember that she told me once, while sitting on her knee,
That the angels never weary while watching over her and me:
And if I was only good—Nellie told me so before—
That they let us into Heaven when they see us at the door.

“I shall know no more of sorrow. I shall know no more of sin.
I shall see Mamma and Nellie, for I know they’ll let me in:
But I’ll have to tell the angel when I meet him at the door,
That he must excuse my Papa, because he couldn’t leave the store.

“I know I shall be happy, and shall always want to stay—
I should like to hear the singing—I should love the endless day:
I would like to look at Jesus—I d love him more and more,
And I’d gather water-lilies for the angel at the door.

“Nellie says that it may be I shall soon be called away—
If Papa was only ready I should like to go today;
But if I go before him to that world of light and joy,
I guess he’ll want to come to Heaven to see his little boy.”

Anon.

Capitals and punctuation added. --JoeClone, 1-Mar-02.

Subject: RE: BS: The Saddest Song Ever written
From: mike putt
Date: 14 Jul 00 - 06:28 PM

I have to agree with Hotspur. "There were roses". It took me months before I could finish this song without crying.

Subject: RE: BS: The Saddest Song Ever written
From: GUEST,guitarist
Date: 13 Jul 00 - 11:54 PM

well, Lord Franklin -- stranded in Arctic ice for two years before finally starving to death, while your wife waits and wonders -- now that's sad!

Greenfields of Canada, the Planxty version -- "the sheep run unshorn, and the land's gone to rushes -- the handyman's gone, and the winders of creels" -- such a picture of desolation, in so few words.

For reasons I can't explain, "Arthur MacBride" always makes me tear up. I mean, it's a happy story right? Arthur and his cousin beat the shit out of the recruiter and go on their merry way. I think maybe it's the sense that it's only a story, in real life Arthur and his cousin actually do end up in France, and get shot in the morning. Meanwhile, the recruiter is out looking for fresh meat...

Subject: RE: BS: The Saddest Song Ever written
From: WyoWoman
Date: 13 Jul 00 - 11:38 PM

Did Townes V.Z. write "Tecumseh Valley?" I can't remember... but that's one of the saddest I know...

(Did we talk about this in another thread? It seems that I've believed forever that he wrote it and someone straightened me out about that ...)

ww

Subject: RE: BS: The Saddest Song Ever written
From: Bullmoose
Date: 13 Jul 00 - 10:52 PM

Saddest one I ever heard was "Maria" by Townes Van Zant, live at Kerrville in June '95 ---- about a starving, broke Mecican couple (wife 9 months pregnant) walking across Texas looking for a burned0out van to live in.... Sad, sad, sad.

Subject: RE: BS: The Saddest Song Ever written
From: winniemih
Date: 13 Jul 00 - 11:55 AM

I vote for a song that Connie Dover does on her Somebody cd, "Rosemary's Sister" written by Huw Williams. It's the tale of a woman killed by a bomb that fell during the Blitz of London,WW2. The combination of Connie's exquisite voice and the death of this nameless woman does it to me every time.

Subject: RE: BS: The Saddest Song Ever written
From: L R Mole
Date: 13 Jul 00 - 10:33 AM

Hmm...thinking about songs I wouldn't be able to get through singing myself, and the one I know I'm incapable of is "No One Is Alone" from "Into the Woods".The show itself is all terror and loss and hilarity of childhood, but that one...oh, boy. Clouding up now, just thinking about it.

Subject: RE: BS: The Saddest Song Ever written
From: GUEST,Gervase
Date: 12 Jul 00 - 07:45 PM

Bugger! We're all dropping cookies all over the shop tonight.

Subject: RE: BS: The Saddest Song Ever written
From: GUEST
Date: 12 Jul 00 - 07:01 PM

It's interesting to consider what it is that makes a sad song, though.
There are plenty of ballads and broadsides with the most tear-jerking maerial, yet there's a 'factor X' that a real hair-tingler needs.
Shoot me down if I'm being over-imaginative, but I've ofen found that the most arresting songs, in terms of that lump-in-the-throat, dewy-eyed reaction, are those that are like the old church hymns.
I don't know whether it's an atavistic thing harking back to the days when religion was hammered into us to instill a mixture of terror and bewilderment, or whether it's that the Almighty managed to get some tunes back from the Devil, but I still find a classic Anglican evensong uplifting, even though my original faith is long gone. Perhaps that's why I always get very emotional with that wonderful song that Coope Boyes and Simpson do so well, 'Only Remembered'.

Yrs, an incorrigibly sentimental old fart.

Subject: RE: BS: The Saddest Song Ever written
From: GUEST,ruby
Date: 12 Jul 00 - 06:45 PM

id say give my love to rose, johnny cash no mans land, eric bogle and the band played waltzing matilda ,eric bogle

Subject: RE: BS: The Saddest Song Ever written
From: GUEST,Ezdel
Date: 12 Jul 00 - 05:43 PM

How about "The Streets of London" or "Before They Close the Minstrel Show."

(help i can't find my cookie)

Subject: RE: BS: The Saddest Song Ever written
From: bobby's girl
Date: 12 Jul 00 - 05:30 PM

The song that never fails to make me cry - which is a bit awkward as its on a tape I play in the car- is Margarita by Harvey Andrews, which is about his Great Aunt who's fiance was killed in the 14-18 war. She keeps his photo on the wall, and asks her nephew how the photo looks. Sadly, because she has gone blind, she doesn't realise that the sun has faded the photo, and he now exists only in her mind's eye - I sob every time!

Subject: RE: BS: The Saddest Song Ever written
From: Branwen23
Date: 12 Jul 00 - 05:08 PM

my vote goes to Kilkelly....

-Branwen-

Subject: RE: BS: The Saddest Song Ever written
From:
Date: 12 Jul 00 - 04:49 PM

"Queen of the Rails" by Utah Phillips

Subject: RE: BS: The Saddest Song Ever written
From: Herma
Date: 12 Jul 00 - 04:16 PM

Songs that always make me sad are: Aye waukin' O, beautifully sung by Derek Moffat of the McCalmans, as well as the Flowers O'The Forest sung by them. "Only a woman's heart" by Mary Black and "Give yourself to love" by Kate Wolff In short, there seem to be a fair number of songs that still can really move you when you are open to the emotion; from my point of view, good that we are still able to be moved by them.

Subject: Lyr Add: ANGELS IN THE BACKSEAT (Robert Ateyo)
From: GUEST,flattop
Date: 21 Apr 00 - 08:07 PM

A month or so back, while driving into Toronto I thought, what a stupid species I belong to. Any intelligent animal, like a skunk or raccoon, that found itself on highway 400 near the junction with the 401 in rush hour, would have the intelligence to stand in front of a vehicle and get it over with. Instead we edge through traffic shifting gears and straining our ears to hear traffic reports. Commuting, rather than following the advice in the book Your Money or Your Life, is a modern human tragedy that we share with people in cities all over the world. What a way to spend our lives.

I don't know about saddest song, but a sad song that deals with the stress and pain of commuting is Robert Ateyo's 'Angels in the Backseat.' Robert Ateyo said that he wrote it after driving early in the morning to a gig in a pub, playing and drinking, then driving home late at night. At one point he started wondering how he managed to not kill himself driving. He decided that he must have angels in the backseat looking after him....
__________________

Angels in the Backseat
By Robert Ateyo

My eyes are getting heavy
I've been on the road since seven
Crying tears of lead
And I'm on my way to heaven
I've got a couple of angels in the backseat
They're showing me the light and the way

I can't wait to get to heaven
It's a place I never been to
Spent some time in hell
It's something I am no longer into
There's some dead people I'd like to talk to
I've been missing them way too long

Well I'm always in a hurry
Just to get to where I'm going
The big hand moves a little faster
And the little hand moves slower
And if I don't lose this bottle
This might just be last call

The clock upon the wall
It has a funny way of showing
When your time is all used up
And you know you must be going
All the money that you saved up
Can't buy you a nickel of time
All the money in the world
Can't buy you any more time

My eyes are getting heavy
I've been on the road since seven
Crying tears of lead
And I'm on my way to heaven
I've got a couple of angels in the backseat
They're showing me the light and the way

Subject: ADD: Please Mr. Conductor ^^^
From: SINSULL
Date: 21 Apr 00 - 06:22 PM

Otis, as I remember them: The Lightening Express from the depot in town
Had started out on its way
All of the passengers that were on board
seemed to be happy and gay.
But one little boy who sat by himself
Was reading a letter he had.
You could plainly see by the look in his eyes
The contents of it made him sad.

The stern old conductor was making his rounds
Taking tickets from everyone there
Finally reaching the side of the boy
Gruffly demanded his fare.
"I have no ticket to give you, sir, but I'll pay you back some day."
"Then I'll put you off at the next stop we make."
But he stopped when he heard the boy say

"Please, Mr. Conductor, don't put me off of this train.
The best friend I have in this world ,sir
Is waiting for me in pain.
Expecting to die any moment, sir
And may not live through the day.
I've got to reach home and kiss mother goodbye
Before God takes her away."

A girl sitting near was heard to exclaim
"To put him off is a shame."
Taking his hand, a collection she made
Til the boy's fare was paid on the train
"I'm obliged to you miss" the boy said to her.
"You're welcome, I'm sure. Never fear."
But each time the conductor would pass through that car
The boy's words would ring in his ears.

"Please, Mr.etc. ^^^

Subject: RE: BS: The Saddest Song Ever written
From: Kara
Date: 21 Apr 00 - 06:21 PM

In the Getto, sent chills down my spine the first time I heard it and still does; Now it makes my boy Jack cry too.

Subject: RE: BS: The Saddest Song Ever written
From: thosp
Date: 21 Apr 00 - 04:53 PM

:)

SteveO i guess your just a softee

peace (Y) thosp

Subject: RE: BS: The Saddest Song Ever written
From: GUEST,steveo
Date: 21 Apr 00 - 04:38 PM

I hate to say it, but "Danny Boy". SteveO

Subject: RE: BS: The Saddest Song Ever written
From: thosp
Date: 21 Apr 00 - 04:15 PM

doesterr!!
i would agree that sad doesn't fit --when i posted i thought that TRAGIC would be more appropriate --but i went with the post anyway-- as far as Josh Whites' version -- i've never heard it ---- but of all the songs i've ever heard in the sad/tragic vein -- Strange Fruit overshadowed all of them in my mind when i was considering the post

peace (Y) thosp

Subject: RE: BS: The Saddest Song Ever written
From: GUEST,Otis
Date: 21 Apr 00 - 03:34 PM

Sinsull: You mentioned "The Lightening Express" in your post. Great song. Do you know where I can find the words? Thanks

Subject: RE: BS: The Saddest Song Ever written
From: GUEST,Otis
Date: 21 Apr 00 - 03:04 PM

Thank you Chris for the link. Just what I was looking for. Happy Easter!

Subject: RE: BS: The Saddest Song Ever written
From: GUEST,Jonathan Ramsey
Date: 21 Apr 00 - 11:41 AM

"A Daisy a Day" by Strunk

"No Man's Land", Eric Bogle, is very sad. I'm amazed how many titles this song goes by since it's a recent song and copyrighted. How many songs get retitled by people who sing them when the writer is still alive and very well known internationally.

Any of Bogle's anti-war songs:

"And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda" "My Youngest Son Comes Home Today"

"The Waterlily" is very sad. I've been asked to sing it in several places. No one ever remembers the name - "Sing the 'Dead Baby' song."

Jonathan

Subject: RE: BS: The Saddest Song Ever written
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 21 Apr 00 - 10:47 AM

I have to say that in my opinion Josh White did a MUCH, MUCH better job with "Strange Fruit" than Billy Holliday. Although I'm not sure "sad" is exactly the word for either of their versions.

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: BS: The Saddest Song Ever written
From: thosp
Date: 21 Apr 00 - 12:23 AM

i guess for me it's
Strange Fruit sung by Billie Holiday

peace (Y) thosp

Subject: RE: BS: The Saddest Song Ever written
From: Lonesome Cowboy
Date: 21 Apr 00 - 12:22 AM

The saddest song may have as much do to with our experience of the piece as it has with the tune and lyrics. When I heard Iris Dement sing her "Easy's Gettin' Harder Every Day", I began to weep. When Iris Dement sings a song you can hear that it comes first from her heart then through her vocal chords. I found myself wiping away the tears at the end of the show when the lights came on. I'll never forget the pure joy of feeling that sorrow.

Subject: RE: BS: The Saddest Song Ever written
From:
Date: 21 Apr 00 - 12:01 AM

Possibly the saddest song I've ever heard is "Gone to Pablo", by Luka Bloom. Of the ones listed, I really have to agree with Kilkelly Ireland, which I think could kill off any room in the world, as well as The Needle and the Damage Done. I can't think of anything else right now...

Mike

Subject: RE: BS: The Saddest Song Ever written
From: GUEST,SingsSadSongs
Date: 20 Apr 00 - 11:12 PM

How very close to your bladders your eyes are

Subject: RE: BS: The Saddest Song Ever written
From: Mrrzy
Date: 20 Apr 00 - 11:04 PM

Srebrnica is the closest I come sans html for accents. I love the Slavic use of "r" as a vowel...

Subject: RE: BS: The Saddest Song Ever written
From: Amergin
Date: 20 Apr 00 - 07:54 PM

How about On the Road From Srebinica (SP?) by Tom Paxton sad song with a message of hope at the end but still brings me down.

Cats in the Cradle by Harry Chapin Even though it's not a sad song, I find Circles by Harry Chapin so beautiful it makes me slightly teary eyed. (not that it takes much).

Subject: RE: BS: The Saddest Song Ever written
From: GUEST,Brit
Date: 20 Apr 00 - 07:06 PM

Yes, you yanks (and confederates) are way out in front when it comes to maudlin sentiment, Mrzzy and Mbo. But we're learning, as shown by our response to the demise of Princess Di. Losing a Dad ain't that bad. Millions (sadly, yes, millions) lose daughters and sons who will never rate a footnote in history. Which reminds me of a song that should make this list: My son John, by Tom Paxton, who also wrote quite a moving song about Phil Ochs's suicide. I'm surprised no-one's mentioned Leonard Cohen yet, nor Dory Previn. The latter incidentally wrote a good song about Veteran's Day, or at least I assume it was ("On the veterans' big parade, marched the businessmen's brigade/Whilst behind the high school band the ladies' fife and drum corps played..." or similar). But when it comes to putting them in order, something by ERic Bogle's got to be the winner.

Subject: RE: BS: The Saddest Song Ever written
From: Irish Rover
Date: 20 Apr 00 - 04:54 PM

aaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrgggggghhhhhhh someone stole my cookie! I am NOT a guest!

Subject: RE: BS: The Saddest Song Ever written
From: GUEST,Irish Rover
Date: 20 Apr 00 - 04:48 PM

I think the Butcher Boy and Step It Out Mary are real tear jerkers. I have seen many weep.( and most of it was NOT from my playing). also to us heathen Irish, four green fields and Streets Of London

Subject: RE: BS: The Saddest Song Ever written
From: Marion
Date: 20 Apr 00 - 03:59 PM

The Jeannie C. by Stan Rogers.

Also, does anyone know "War Bride's Waltz" by Aengus Finnan?

Marion

Subject: RE: BS: The Saddest Song Ever written
From: SDShad
Date: 20 Apr 00 - 03:38 PM

Otis--

Here: on this here blue clicky thing. It's really easy to go up to the top of any thread page, and at DigiTrad Lyrics Search type in a snippet or title that you're looking for. You'll find there's a parody or two of this song in there, too.

Chris

Subject: RE: BS: The Saddest Song Ever written
From: GUEST,Otis
Date: 20 Apr 00 - 03:27 PM

Kendall - you mentioned in your post of 4/18 the song "The Band Played Waltzing Matilda". I love this song and have only heard it sung in an Irish bar in Ft. Lauderdale, Fl. I almost know it by heart, but do you have any idea where I can get the words? Thanks!

Subject: RE: BS: The Saddest Song Ever written
From: GUEST,Otis
Date: 20 Apr 00 - 03:24 PM

Subject: RE: BS: The Saddest Song Ever written
From: GUEST,Mbo_ay_ECU
Date: 20 Apr 00 - 01:28 PM

Trhj, YES!!! "The Chorus of The Hebrew Slaves" from Verdi's opera Nabucco is EXCELLENT! "Va pensiero sull' alli dorato..." ("Go thought on golden wings...") The song was sung by 100,000 people at Verdi's funeral. I would have love to have heard that...must have been heart-breaking and up-lifting all at once...

--Mbo

Subject: RE: BS: The Saddest Song Ever written
From: Kim C
Date: 20 Apr 00 - 12:56 PM

Okay, admittedly, I love sad songs. Don't know why, 'cause I'm happy.

The Band Played Waltzing Matilda Tecumseh Valley (and just about anything by Townes Van Zant) He Stopped Loving Her Today Raggedy Ann (I turn it off if our country oldies DJ turns it on) The Blizzard Christmas in the Trenches what's that other Eric Bogle song? The Green Fields of France? The Vacant Chair They'll Bury Me Tonight Annie Laurie (I think it's just the melody and what this song makes me think of) The River (just downright dismal)

I'm sure I could think of more if I had the time. I like drama, which is probably why I like sad songs, but one of the greatest compliments I can get after a performance is, "you made me cry when you sang (insert title here)..."

Subject: RE: BS: The Saddest Song Ever written
From: GUEST,rhj
Date: 20 Apr 00 - 12:37 PM

I am Stretched on Your Grave and the Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves from Rabucco (sp?)

Subject: RE: BS: The Saddest Song Ever written
From: SDShad
Date: 20 Apr 00 - 08:54 AM

I was 19 when I bought Quadrophenia, in nineteen eighty-mumble-mumble...some years later than its release. Me second year away from home at college, and a difficult one. I'd been a Who fan from about 15 or 16 though.

And "soundtrack to my tumultuous existence" is about right. That album was one of several that kind of saw me through to a much better place a year or two later ("Darkness on the Edge of Town" was another, BTW). It's my favorite of the Who, by a considerable margin, and has a special place in my heart.

And yes, Springsteen is one of the greats. I think many of his best will still be listened to, and sung, 100 years from now. There's a few that could easily enter "the folk process."

Mister "Thread Drift,"

Chris

Subject: RE: BS: The Saddest Song Ever written
From: Whistle Stop
Date: 20 Apr 00 - 08:37 AM

Chris, it would be interesting to compare notes. I was a die-hard 15-year-old Who fan when Quadrophenia came out, and it became the principal soundtrack to my tumultuous existence for the next two years. I know I'm not the only one.

Glad you agree on Springsteen's worth. There's a persistent impression out there among a lot of people that Springsteen is a sort of rock'n'roll Sylvester Stallone, so I wasn't sure I'd get much support for my nomination.

Subject: RE: BS: The Saddest Song Ever written
From: SDShad
Date: 20 Apr 00 - 08:28 AM

Whistle--

You make a persuasive case re: "Love." I guess I was just in a very Jimmy-like place, identity-wise, when I discovered Quadrophenia, so the whole album is tinged with a lot of sadness for me, with a coda of hope.

I agree re: "Independence Day." I'd add "The River" and "Racing in the Streets" as Bruce songs that should be on this list.

Chris

Subject: RE: BS: The Saddest Song Ever written
From: Whistle Stop
Date: 20 Apr 00 - 08:18 AM

SDShad (Chris) -- There is room for more than one opinion about the meaning of a work that is as complex and ambiguous as Quadrophenia. I have always heard "Love, Reign O'er Me" as the song Jimmy sang after his aborted suicide/baptism, when he awakened to his own identity and worth as an individual rather than as a member of a group that he had previously identified with but ultimately found wanting. I hear sadness and regret in the song, but also self-awareness and a knowledge of something greater. So it's not sad to me, but I respect your own perspective on it as being just as valid as mine. Like a lot of art (I have a lot of respect and admiration for Townshend), it doesn't just deal with one theme or emotion at a time -- it jumbles a lot of them together, just like "real life" does, allowing each listener to relate to the elements that mean the most to him or her individually.

In the "sad song" sweepstakes, I would also mention "Independence Day" by Bruce Springsteen -- he wrote it about his father's death, and it's a very moving song. I realize that expressing admiration for Springsteen probably comes pretty close to heresy in the opinions of some, but I offer no apologies for it -- he's another of the great ones, in my opinion.