Song that make you weep

Subject: Song that make you weep
From: Red Eye
Date: 23 May 01 - 04:39 PM

Most songs have a story or message in them in some capacity. The first time I heard Eric Claptons song ' If I Saw You In Heave' made me shed tears as it was a song in rememberance of his son, Connor who died a tragic death aged six. What song makes you so emotional that a tear is dropped.

Red Eye

Subject: RE: Song that make you weep
From: kendall
Date: 23 May 01 - 04:43 PM

too many to name!

Subject: RE: Song that make you weep
From: Justa Picker
Date: 23 May 01 - 04:48 PM

I guess the most recent would be...
When She Loved Me
Composer - Randy Newman
Performer - Sarah McLachlan
(...gives me goosebumps just typing this...)

Subject: RE: Song that make you weep
From: Justa Picker
Date: 23 May 01 - 04:50 PM

...and anything I've ever attempted to sing, has brought others to tears very quickly... :-)

Subject: RE: Song that make you weep
From: Hollowfox
Date: 23 May 01 - 04:50 PM

More the songs that remind me of friends who have died. So lately, certain hymns, and Gilbert & Sullivan.

Subject: RE: Song that make you weep
From: kendall
Date: 23 May 01 - 04:53 PM

Ashes on the sea.
Old Gilbert
The band played Waltzing Matilda.
Where in the world have the old songs gone?
The Old Blue Ox.

Subject: RE: Song that make you weep
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 23 May 01 - 05:33 PM

Captain Torres by James Keelaghan!!!

Subject: RE: Song that make you weep
From: GUEST
Date: 23 May 01 - 05:37 PM

For some reason instumental music, makes me cry a lot more than songs:

Final movement of Dvorak's 8th Symphony Niel Gow's Lament (for the death of his second wife) Another Life - Flook

Subject: RE: Song that make you weep
From: Kim C
Date: 23 May 01 - 05:46 PM

Parting Glass, especially now that my father is gone, an old acquaintance was lost to suicide, and a special friend is moving away soon. It is hard to think you will never see someone again.

Subject: RE: Song that make you weep
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 23 May 01 - 05:55 PM

How Will I ever be Simple Again, bt Richard Thompson, is the song that brings a lump to my throat. I know the song by heart, yet I don't think I could ever sing it in public.

Most of the well known so-called tearjerkers are so corny they have the opposite effect on me to that intended by the composer. "Old Shep" ? LOL. "Nobody's Child"? ROTFL. Maybe I'm twisted, maybe not .....

Murray

Subject: RE: Song that make you weep
From: GUEST
Date: 23 May 01 - 06:04 PM

Correction:

When I said the final movement of Dvorak's 8th Symphony, I really meant the 3rd movement.

It has the ability to make me wonderfully happy, and desperately sad.

Sometimes it does both at the same time...

Subject: RE: Song that make you weep
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 23 May 01 - 07:40 PM

"The Joy of Living" by Ewan McColl - his own farewell to life in his latter days. "One Small Star" - Eric Bogle, written for the survivors of Dunblane Vaughan Williams - Pilgrim's Progress and lots more.........

Subject: RE: Song that make you weep
From: kendall
Date: 23 May 01 - 08:38 PM

Murray MacCleod, Did you ever have a dog save your life? I did. If not for "Old Shep" I wouldn't be here right now.

Subject: RE: Song that make you weep
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 23 May 01 - 08:43 PM

kendall, last week I had to take two nine week old puppies to the North Miami Humane Center because circumstances are such that I can't look after them any longer. I cried at the time but I sure as hell am not going to write a song about it.

Murray

Subject: RE: Song that make you weep
From: John Nolan
Date: 23 May 01 - 09:18 PM

The Incredible String Band's second album was a real weeper - The Layers of the Onion.

Subject: RE: Song that make you weep
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 23 May 01 - 09:33 PM

5000 Spirits or The Layers of an Onion, to give it its full title, John. (Yes, very funny, but not as funny as "Old Shep")

Murray

Subject: Lyr Add: WHEN THE CHILDREN COME HOME (Henry Lawson
From: Mudlark
Date: 23 May 01 - 09:53 PM

I admit to a fondness for emotional songs....am rarely able to sing them for anyone else, however, as singing and crying is not often terribly attractive.... An old favorite, The Great Silkie, often gets me. Also, a great Australian (I think) song about a widow in the outback.....


On a lonely selection, a way in the west,
There lived an old woman who worked without rest,
And she crooned as she toiled 'neath the sky's glassy dome,
"I'll keep the old place till the children come home."
For she mends all the fences, she lambs and she plows,
She drives the old horse and she milks the old cow,
And she says to herself, as she patches the stack,
"I'll keep the old place 'til the children come back."

Whenever the scowling old sundowners come,
And cunningly ask if the master's at home,
"Be off!" she replies, "with yer blarney and cant,
Or I'll call my son Andy who's working behant.
Be off!" she replies, though she trembles with fear,
For she lives all alone and no neighbors are near,
And she says to herself when she's like to despond,
That her boys are at work in the paddock beyond.

Well, it's 5 lonely years since her old husband died,
And oft as he lay on his deathbed he sighed,
"A man can bring up 10 children, he can,
But it's strange that 10 sons cannot keep one old man."
For none of her children need follow the plow,
And some have grown rich in the city ere now,
But she thinks they might come when the shearing is done,
And she'll keep the old place if it's only for one.


I would love to know who wrote this song, the melody is lovely with a shift from major to minor...

Mudlark

Subject: RE: Song that make you weep
From: kendall
Date: 23 May 01 - 10:58 PM

Old Shep is NOT FUNNY!! a bit maudlin but not funny.

Subject: RE: Song that make you weep
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 23 May 01 - 11:34 PM

It is worth mentioning that this subject has been dealt with before, somebody brighter than me can give a link to the thread, "The Saddest Song of All". Only one vote on that thread for my choice ( mcpiper ). Most of the songs mentioned are what I would call sentimental, but not heart rending. I mean, if you can't get through "Tecumseh Valley" or "Louise" without breaking down, then you got problems as a performer. And these are good songs. There are some really crappy songs on the thread too, which would no more make me shed a tear than would "Old Shep".

Murray

Subject: RE: Song that make you weep
From: Ebbie
Date: 24 May 01 - 01:06 AM

Murray Mac, the point may be what you relate to. You may find Old Shep "funny" because you have never related to a dog on that level. It may never have occurred to you that a dog you loved could save your life or even want to. However, if your child had drowned in a swimmng pool or had been abducted and murdered, I doubt you would find a song about something like that "funny". Yowl, spit, scratch!

I will now lighten up.

Ebbie

Subject: RE: Song that make you weep
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 24 May 01 - 01:18 AM

Ebbie, it is not the situation behind the song that I find funny, it is the way Red Foley wrote it. If memory serves me right, the "doctor" tells the kid there is nothing more he can do for the dog. "Doctor"? In Britain it would have been a "vet" (abbreviation for "veterinary surgeon") Then, he requires the CLIENT to put the dog down with his gun!!!!!!!! I mean come on. Do you ever think about what you are singing? "Old Shep" is C&W crassness at its very worst.

For me, if only one line doesn't measure up the whole song gets trashed.

Murray

Subject: RE: Song that make you weep
From: Seamus Kennedy
Date: 24 May 01 - 01:26 AM

The Water Lily by Henry Lawson, as sung by Priscilla Herdman.

Seamus

Subject: RE: Song that make you weep
From: GUEST,Strollin'Johnny
Date: 24 May 01 - 02:33 AM

Try 'Old Brown Dog' - it's on a Ralph McTell album called (I think) 'Songs for Six Strings Volume 2'. It's the thinking man's 'Old Shep'

Subject: RE: Song that make you weep
From: gnu
Date: 24 May 01 - 04:55 AM

And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda. Tears me up every time my buddy Chris does his slow, "soft spoken", rendition.

Subject: RE: Song that make you weep
From: GUEST,Adolfo
Date: 24 May 01 - 04:58 AM

"You´ll never walk alone" by Mahalia Jackson. What a voice...

Subject: RE: Song that make you weep
From: kendall
Date: 24 May 01 - 08:20 AM

Murray, not to put too fine a point on it, but, Vets are often called "doctor", " horse doctor" "animal doctor" etc. Then, no where does it say that the "Doctor" tells him to shoot the dog. When I was a boy, that was how you handled a sick animal. A bullet is quick and cheap. I must agree Red Foley was a bit of a sap, but, it was recorded by others, Elvis Presley, and me! In all honesty, I must admit that I have outgrown the song, although, the memory of that old dog saving my life is as clear as it was 63 years ago.

Subject: RE: Song that make you weep
From: GUEST,djh
Date: 24 May 01 - 10:45 AM

I see someone being close with a pet like "old shep" as proof of a good heart. "he was a friend of mine" always brings a lump to my throat and the friend I associate with it was a dog.

Subject: RE: Song that make you weep
From: kendall
Date: 24 May 01 - 11:55 AM

...his old dog died, just up and died, that was 20 years ago and he still grieves. (Mr. Bojangles)

Subject: RE: Song that make you weep
From: ScottyG
Date: 24 May 01 - 12:58 PM

Murray,

Aye, that song moves me to a tear or two. I heard it first on stage by the Battlefield Band a few years back. They did another when Davy Steel was with them called, Norlan' Wind. (Davy sang it.) I can't listen to it without breaking up. That's probably because I feel such a loss at Davy's passing.

Regards

ScottyG

Subject: RE: Song that make you weep
From: ScottyG
Date: 24 May 01 - 01:04 PM

Murray,

To clarify, I was referring to How Will I Ever Be Simple Again. I got my reply way out of order in the string.

SG

Subject: RE: Song that make you weep
From: Grab
Date: 24 May 01 - 01:09 PM

Almaz always gets me - such a lovely song.

For sheer beauty though, it's Mark Knopfler's guitar playing. Sit in the dark, so there's no other sensory distractions, and experience Telegraph Road or the Alchemy version of Sultans of Swing. It's not just the guitar, although that's awesome, it's the way that the rest of the group push that lead guitar on that beats it into your emotions.

Graham.

Subject: RE: Song that make you weep
From: Ma-K
Date: 24 May 01 - 01:10 PM

The Dutchman, always brings the tears...Mary

Subject: RE: Song that make you weep
From: mousethief
Date: 24 May 01 - 01:28 PM

"Hail to the Chief" when played for Dubya.

Subject: RE: Song that make you weep
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 24 May 01 - 01:55 PM

Grab, you are right about Knopfler's guitar. For me, the most evocative piece he ever did was the guitar at the end of Tunnel of Love. Starting quiet and low, he makes that thing sob, then cry, then sing, every phrase pushing the emotion farther. Possibly the best piece of guitar work ever in rock and roll.

Subject: RE: Song that make you weep
From: ScottyG
Date: 24 May 01 - 03:25 PM

To Mousethief: Uh - would yours be tears of joy or tears of despair? (the latter, I would hope.)

Subject: RE: Song that make you weep
From: Walking Eagle
Date: 24 May 01 - 03:56 PM

Samuel Barber's Adagio (sp?) for Strings. Amazing Grace. Some of Stan Rodger's stuff because he is no longer with us.

Subject: RE: Song that make you weep
From: Kim C
Date: 24 May 01 - 04:11 PM

Y'know, I was gonna say Old Shep, but I figured that was a given! Hey, Old Yeller had to be shot. (that makes me cry too)

I heard a story on the radio one day... someone was interviewing members of the old Opry staff band, and this particular gentleman was talking about playing with Red Foley on the Opry, and of course he sang Old Shep. The story goes that by the end of the song, the whole band was in tears.

Angel Band sometimes does it to me.

Lately that Faith Hill song on the Pearl Harbor soundtrack has done it to me too... friend moving away and all that...

Subject: RE: Song that make you weep
From: Stevangelist
Date: 24 May 01 - 04:47 PM

These may sound cheesy... but I am an extremely large man and if you pick on me, I'll get really mad... I really do cry at these songs...

The aria from "Il Pagliaccio"

"Blowin' In The Wind"

May The Road Rise To Meet You,

Stevangelist

Subject: RE: Song that make you weep
From: Max Tone
Date: 24 May 01 - 05:18 PM

Scotty G,

Yeh- long live Davy Steele an' his sangs. I learnt his "Collier's Way" to sing at a Dalkeith miner's wake, little knowing he was soon to go, too........A lament for struggling miners----must remember to post it.....

At Davy's funeral, the sound system died during all the eulogies, but came back on for Davy's sangs with the boys (recorded, of course). He'll be sadly missed.

For sheer power of feeling, I always remember

"The Cold Days of February" -- Robin Williamson/Incredible String Band.

"The Island" -- Paul Brady.

"Wild Hurricane" -- Sandy Wright/Russell's House

"Land of the Leal" -- Lady Nairne

"Waterloo" -- Jim Malcolm

"Ballad of the sad Young Men" -- Landesman/Wolf, as sung by Corrina Hewat/Bachue. + innumerable Peter Hammill wrist-slashers!!!

Subject: RE: Song that make you weep
From: mcpiper
Date: 25 May 01 - 04:52 AM

Thanks Murray, I had forgotten about that song. Might have a go at it out the back later on, for an old mate.

Subject: RE: Song that make you weep
From: kendall
Date: 25 May 01 - 07:11 AM

The national anthem when that pig, Rosie butchers it.

Subject: RE: Song that make you weep
From: GUEST,Martoons
Date: 25 May 01 - 08:33 AM

My Old Man Penny Evans

Both performed by Steve Goodman

Subject: RE: Song that make you weep
From: LR Mole
Date: 25 May 01 - 09:04 AM

"You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go"--I readied this to sing at a funeral and then it got very churchy and non-guitar and I wasn't asked. Good thing, too, because I don't think I could have gotten through it.

Subject: RE: Song that make you weep
From: wdyat12
Date: 25 May 01 - 09:38 AM

Si Bheag Si Mhor by Thurlough O'Carolan does it to me every time I hear it.

wdyat12

Subject: RE: Song that make you weep
From: GUEST,jaze
Date: 25 May 01 - 12:56 PM

Brass buttons by Gram Parsons reminds me of my lost daughter--"But the sun comes up without her, it doesn't know she gone. And it remembers nothing that she said"

Subject: RE: Song that make you weep
From: Red Eye
Date: 25 May 01 - 01:00 PM

Fantastic response fellow Mudcatter's, and some brilliant tunes, now is it the song or what it reminds you of emotionally that brings the tears. eg: Who you were with at the time, what you were doing?????

Subject: RE: Song that make you weep
From: BobP
Date: 25 May 01 - 01:57 PM

Number one is Streets of London - not the song itself but the audience singing the last chorus back to McTell at Cambridge, recorded off BBC many years ago. It was the connection between Ralph & Crowd; they just took over, he didn't ask, he just listened. For one brief moment they were the performer, he was audience. A perfect moment of communication, an explanation for the effort, a glimmer into the mystery of what we humans are about.

Belonging, as I do, to the society for the religiously challenged, that's as close to spiritual as I can get.

Here, There & Everwhere, McCartney (no longer, but for years I could not make it through without choking up - it's still the first tune I always play when picking up my guitar.

Lately, Still's "Southern Cross", after hearing a new interpretation last year by male/fem duo in Key West at Captain Jack or something - the original Sloppy Joes before that place moved to bigger quarters). They are still there, last I heard. Call themselves Black & Scabuth or something. If your passing that way , go and see. The last few notes of "Somewhere Out There" by Ronstadt and, goodness I forgot - black guy with beard, lost track of (sorry, memory fades).

Subject: RE: Song that make you weep
From: lady penelope
Date: 25 May 01 - 03:01 PM

For some strange reason " The minstral boy " I just can't get past " For he's torn it's chords assunder" Total blub time.Sheesh!

And since a dear friend died the other year, "Crazy Man Michael "

TTFN M'Lady P.

Subject: RE: Song that make you weep
From: vindelis
Date: 25 May 01 - 06:44 PM

For me, it is Song for Ireland. The first two verses are OK, after that I start to struggle. The only way round the 'problem' is to learn to sing the song. It may take a while, but it worked with Streets of London.

Subject: RE: Song that make you weep
From: wdyat12
Date: 25 May 01 - 07:02 PM

Red Eye,

It was Ray that I was with when we both heard this tune, Si Bheag Si Mhor over and over til we got passed Seguin. Then it was Iggy Pop, Ray's favorite.

wdyat12