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Subject: What is the saddest song? From: GUEST,Denzel Date: 01 Aug 02 - 06:32 AM What on your opinion is the saddest song of all time (the song you listen to after being dumbed by your boy/girl friend)? My own vote goes to Brandy's "Tomorrow". On the contrary what do you think is the song with most positive attitude and optimism? In my opinion "It's my life" by Bon Jovi. Please share your opinion! |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Hecate Date: 01 Aug 02 - 07:27 AM Most miserable song? "I am stretched on your grave" is fairly grim, and "Carrick Fergus" quite thoroughly depressing. Anything by Leonard Cohen has to be in with a shot. Cheerful songs? That's even harder. No, can't think of any. |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: GUEST,GUEST not Denzil Date: 01 Aug 02 - 07:42 AM So we have to start out with Brandy and Bon Jovi? What happened to folk music? |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Deckman Date: 01 Aug 02 - 08:01 AM I will offer "Mary of the Wild Moor" for saddest song! CHEERS, Bob |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Skipjack K8 Date: 01 Aug 02 - 08:07 AM Chill Eastern Wind, by Andy Stewart Skipjack |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: GUEST,Lanfranc at the orifice Date: 01 Aug 02 - 08:52 AM It's probably classified as "Country", rather than "Folk", but I'd nominate Beth Neilsen Chapman's "Sand and Water". Leonard Cohen is much misunderstood, imho; he can't help having a graveyard voice - I doubt if any of his detractors have ever seen him live. Alan |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Rich_and_Dee Date: 01 Aug 02 - 09:29 AM Saddest: "Land of the Leal" (Andy M. Stewart's version) Stomp-your-foot-cheering-just-happy-to-be-here-happy: "Mary Ellen Carter" |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: kendall Date: 01 Aug 02 - 09:53 AM Saddest, The Band Played Waltzing Matilda, Optomistic, The Happy Wanderer. |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Little Hawk Date: 01 Aug 02 - 10:17 AM Some more good contenders... Saddest: "Most Of The Time" (Dylan) Most Optimistic: "Piney Wood Hills" "Indian Cowboy In The Rodeo" "Native North American Child" "Sweet Little Vera" "He's A Pretty Good Man If You Ask Me" "97 Men/Don't Call Me Honey" (all by Buffy Sainte-Marie) And "Oh Boy" by Buddy Holly. How about that Buffy, eh? - LH |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: GUEST,.gargole Date: 01 Aug 02 - 10:42 AM Morose Minstral Boy = the loss of youth and art to the bubble reputation of the cannon's mouth.
Elation Bethovan'sJoyful Joyful We Adore Thee in a toss up with Bach'sHallelujah Chorus
Sincerely, Gargoyle
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: GUEST,Fred Miller Date: 01 Aug 02 - 10:51 AM For me The Juniper Tree is both. It's from the point of view of a young girl sad to see her older sister grown and marrying, but putting a brave face on it. Sad/sad songs aren't as deeply sad as sad/happy, I think. But it's not really a been-dumped tune though. 10,000 Maniacs had a song called You'll Never Know, which was especially sad. The way I take it is that the death of an admired friend releases one from the pressure of having to live up a standard. The song swells with the feeling of that release, but is tragic, one is disappointed in one's self. Reminds me of J. Updike's story Deaths of Distant Friends. Ritchi Haven's cover of Here Comes The Sun is pretty darn happy. |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Hecate Date: 01 Aug 02 - 10:54 AM I'll add that I really like Leonard Cohen, and nominating him as miserable is in no way a criticism on my part. My parents played Leonard to me when I was very young, my folk club seems to think this explains a lot. Jon Harvison writes and sings some stonkingly miserable songs (getting back on subject) Mary Ellen Carter is a good candidate for most uplifting song, I'd probably vote for that if we were going to do something as alarmingly organised as voting. |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: greg stephens Date: 01 Aug 02 - 11:10 AM Has Leonard Cohen ever recorded "Your baby has gone down the plughole"? |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: beadie Date: 01 Aug 02 - 11:52 AM Saddest :: The Fields of Athon Rye Happiest :: Variable, depending on my mood |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: alanabit Date: 01 Aug 02 - 11:53 AM Not yet Greg, but somebody should pass on the idea! The image of Cohen and Dylan as miserable buggers is much overstated. There is a fair bit of wry humour in both of them. Listening to Dylan's "Mississippi" or "Most of the Time" is really down to the way you take it. If you take them at face value, they are both heartbreakers, but I like to think that he is poking fun at himself too. For me the saddest Dylan song is "If You See Her, Say Hello", because he is trying to deal with an unbearable separation and show respect for the woman at the same time. It's a tricky one, isn't it? What makes a song "sad"? A song about an unhappy love affair may be dealing with a theme which is of less importance and for fewer people than a song like "No Man's Land" or "The Flowers of the Forest". If we go along that path, we are on the way to evaluating the sadness of a song by its body count... On the happy front, Steve Knightley/Paul Downes' song "Friends" and Johnny Coppin's lovely "Never Lost for Love" always cheer me up. |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: YOR Date: 01 Aug 02 - 07:23 PM "The Famous Final Scene" Bob Seger "Goodbye My Friend" and "Daddy's Little Girl" Karla Bonoff Happiest sad song: "Lie In Our Graves" Dave Matthews Band Enjoy, Roy |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Joe_F Date: 01 Aug 02 - 07:35 PM "The Revel": Then stand to your glasses steady. This world is a world of lies. Here's a sip to the dead already, And a cup to the next that dies! |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Mooh Date: 01 Aug 02 - 07:37 PM Kilkelly Ireland. Long, dreary, and tragic. Peace, Mooh. |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Bat Goddess Date: 01 Aug 02 - 09:58 PM "No More Beer From Kendal" "The Old Pubs" And "Dancing at Whitsun" -- I still have trouble getting through that without choking up. Linn |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Bill D Date: 01 Aug 02 - 10:08 PM There aren't 'saddest', there are just heaps of 'sad'...like dead & dying kids, as in "Little Joe" and "Put My Little Shoes Away" and SO many songs of lost love, and things about lost DEAD love, like "Do You Think That I Do Not Know?"..... ....and songs of leaving one's homeland.., and songs of unrequited love..(well, the good ones, anyway).. too many to make a choice. (CERTAINLY not "Kilkelly, Ireland" ..which is "Long, & dreary" and is so overdone that I can no longer evaluate it!) |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: open mike Date: 01 Aug 02 - 10:22 PM the song by Kathy Mattea "Where've You Been" often brings tears to my eye. Kate Wolf's "Give Yourself to Love" is always up-lifting. |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Mudlark Date: 01 Aug 02 - 10:30 PM Not love-lost, but so sad it still chokes me up, tho I've been singing it for 35 years...The Great Silkie. Every time I sing it I hope it comes out differently, but it never does.
For most wistful song I nominate Close Your Eyes, by J.Taylor For happiest...hmmmm...can't think of a definitive happy song at the moment...but for contentment...You Aint Going Nowhere, by Dylan. Singing that always makes me feel good. |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Allan Dennehy Date: 01 Aug 02 - 10:39 PM Galway to Graceland. (Sean Keanes version) I fall to pieces. (Can't for the life of me remember her name right now) I can't help it if I'm still in love with you. (Hank Williams) Sob sob sob................
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Rt Revd Sir jOhn from Hull Date: 01 Aug 02 - 11:42 PM saddest-No man's Land (willie McBride0 Happiest-Spring from The Four Seasons (Vivaldi) or Storm by Vannessa Mae |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Blackcatter Date: 02 Aug 02 - 12:59 AM Anything by Yanni or John Tesh is sad. |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: John O'L Date: 02 Aug 02 - 01:37 AM Leader of the Pack...? Sad: Flight of Earls (Dublin City Ramblers) Happy: Settin' the Woods on Fire (Hank Williams) |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: GUEST,Bunger Mulkin Date: 02 Aug 02 - 02:44 AM these are SO subjective...as of today, my vote for saddest is David Bromberg's "Sammy's Song" Last week, it might have been John Prine's "Christmas in Prison" or Geoffrey Oryema's "Solitude", though it's a stretch to call it folk. happiest - the Banana Splits' theme song! |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: alanabit Date: 02 Aug 02 - 04:03 AM I like that Banana Splits theme too. Is it an old American Folk dance tune? |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: rich-joy Date: 02 Aug 02 - 04:27 AM Kate Wolf's "The Heart" ... (It's in Mudcat) Cheers! R-J |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: cetmst Date: 02 Aug 02 - 08:02 AM Several candidates in a number of categories. What Families Do to Each Other - Sonny's Dream, Harry Chapin's Cat in the Cradle; Tyrannical fathers - Anachie Gordon, Bonnie Susie Cleland, Arbutus; War - Previously mentioned No Man's Land, The Band Played Waltzing Matilda and Dancing at Whitsun, also Flowers of the Forest, Rosemary's Sister; Native American Persecution - My Country 'Tis of Thy People You're Dying, Heart of the Apaloosa. The whole genre of folk and traditional music seems tilted more toward sadness than joy. Does that reflect life in general or am I just in a bad mood this morning ? We need to accept the mix but emphasize the upbeat. |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Little Hawk Date: 02 Aug 02 - 08:15 AM Alanabit - very perceptive comments on Dylan and Cohen. Well said. - LH |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Schantieman Date: 02 Aug 02 - 11:28 AM Keith Marsden's "Morley Main" takes some beating as a tear-jerker, along with other mining disasters. "The Farmer's Toast" always cheers me up but some won't like it as it's so smug! Almost any shanty, really. There's something about a full throated sing that gets the endorphins going. Steve |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: GUEST,Hippie Chick Date: 02 Aug 02 - 11:49 AM House of the Rising Sun - Woody Guthrie, Eric Burden I Am A Rock - Simon & Garfunkle "a rock feels no pain, an island never cries" That sounds like the ultimate in loneliness. |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: dwditty Date: 02 Aug 02 - 01:55 PM Saddest: Fred Koller's "Life As We Knew It" |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: lady penelope Date: 02 Aug 02 - 03:25 PM The song guarenteed to put a lump in my throat and start the tears, even when I'm in a really good mood is "The Minstrel Boy", but I think that's mainly 'cos I associate the song with what happens in one of the books of "The Chronicles Of Prydain". I can sing the first verse ok but I'm a snivelling wreck by the end of the second. Happiest song? A song I always sing to myself to cheer myself up ( and it works every time! ) is " Accentuate the positive" but I've got to imagine Bing Crosby singing it.
Songs to run around and make you feel G.O.O.D. TTFN M'Lady P. |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Stearle Earl Date: 02 Aug 02 - 07:06 PM I dont know who wrote or sang it but I will write a couple of verses' Your daddy was a gambling man my mother said to me He left me when you were a child but he was all the world to me. The boy became a gambler and shot a man for cheating and discovered it was his dad. |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: michaelr Date: 02 Aug 02 - 07:54 PM Anachie Gordon! |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: GUEST,Just Amy Date: 02 Aug 02 - 07:57 PM The song that I can't play in the car because it makes me cry so hard I can't drive is "White Squall" where all the young men die. Too sad! |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: richlmo Date: 02 Aug 02 - 10:38 PM Where've You Been?, Kathy Mattea Techumseh Valley, Townes Van Zandt Hello In There, John Prine I Can't Make You Love Me, (Mike Reid) ,Bonnie Raitt |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: khandu Date: 02 Aug 02 - 11:58 PM alanabit and Little Hawk, good post! I am always moved by "Most of the Time". "Ring Them Bells" strikes me with much sadness and hope at the same time. "Ring them bells for the child that cries when his innocence dies..." Another sad song by Andy M. Stewart is "Bridget O'Mally" (I think that is the name of it!), and what a fine voice he puts to it. I must also credit him with one of the funniest songs I have heard, "The Errant Apprentice". Then there is a hokey sad song by khandu: "This song has got no music, This song has got no words This song has got no melody, it's the saddest song I've heard This song has got no rhythm, no poetry, no rhyme This song is a reflection of my lonely state of mind" khandu
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: GUEST,Mountain Tyme Date: 03 Aug 02 - 01:18 AM Generaly acepted for recorded songs is that "After The Ball" by Charles K. Harris was the first "tear jerker" bringing Harris $25,000.00 per week including sheet music sales. Others song writers saw the numbers, followed suit, and the "Parlour Era" of sad songs began on cylinders and then later on 78rpm discs followed at the turn of the last century. The Mechanically recorded Cylinders and 78's era ended in 1921 but the "tear jerker" had been born and continues. For those interested in these early recorded sad songs, check out Harris and what he wrought, as well as the Lester Levy sheet music collection. An early version of "Mary of the Wild Moore" from this time period indicates by sales the public's craving for sad songs in the various recordings of "The Fatal Snowstorm". Them's my two votes! :) Mountain Tyme |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Greenbeer Date: 03 Aug 02 - 03:16 AM Just Amy: I'm with you on Stan Rogers's "White Squall" - it describes loss so poignantly - but another song of Stan's does that for me too - "The Jeannie C". Also his Song of the Candle" hits a deep chord. Saw Judy Collins sing her famous song about her father and cried uncontrollably. Warren Zevon's "The Heartache" is another very sad one that i like. As far as optimism what prings to mind is Pete Seeger's "Oh Had I a Golden Thread" well worth finding if you haven't heard it. greenbeer |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Art Thieme Date: 03 Aug 02 - 06:58 AM "It's Not The Meat, It's The Motion" Art Thieme |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Art Thieme Date: 03 Aug 02 - 07:03 AM best happy one = AS ABOVE (ditto)! Art |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Jim Krause Date: 03 Aug 02 - 12:14 PM Candidates for the Saddest Song category are:
Candidates for the Happiest Song category are:
Jim |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: GUEST,PJ Curtis. Date: 03 Aug 02 - 01:32 PM Has Anybody mentioned 'Danny Boy'? Also 'The Derakest Hour Is Just before Dawn' by Emmylou. Just two that always register a high tingle-ometer rating with me. ppjc |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: alanabit Date: 03 Aug 02 - 02:29 PM "Danny Boy" has always struck me as being sad, because I have always found it sad that a singer could not have picked a better song. Each to their own though. My Dad used to love it - and he was one of the least sentimental men I ever met. |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Jim Krause Date: 03 Aug 02 - 03:34 PM A couple more: Saddest Song Category
Jim |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Catherine Jayne Date: 03 Aug 02 - 03:46 PM Jim Krause "Desperado" by the Eagles also has to be in there too along with "I am a Rock" by Simon and Garfunkle which both are favourites of mine when I feel down. cat |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: GUEST,big bam wimmie Date: 03 Aug 02 - 04:01 PM remember and do pray for me --loyd chandler - on HIGH ATMOSPHERE ballads andbanjo tunes recorded by John Cohen in 1965 at sodom north carolina-- makes your hair stand up |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Dagmar Date: 03 Aug 02 - 04:25 PM "only 19" from australian group redgum..about a soldier dying, and there is a german song from the war sung in the concentration camps "wir sind die moorsoldaten" happy... hm..have to turn to instrumental there...and its not folk+blues but "new flamenco jazz world music sort of thing" : "Barcelona nights " and "Santa Fe" from Ottmar Liebert. Dagmar |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Lynn Date: 03 Aug 02 - 04:35 PM White Squall ranks right up there (down there???), as does Bogle's Green Fields of France (No Man's Land; William McBride), and of a similar ilk, Christmas in the Trenches (John McCutheon). And Mary Black does a song...I don't know the title...of a woman who is forced to marry for station rather than love, and her love is forced to go to sea or something. She dies (The day that M--- married was the day that M--- died). He returns (her real love) just in time for the funeral. Help me with that please! I'm in agreement with Mary Ellen Carter and Give Yourself to Love as most uplifting. Some great old gospel tunes fit into that category too, like "Take your burden to the Lord" - learned from the singing of Jean Redpath on PHC nearly two decades ago. |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: kendall Date: 03 Aug 02 - 05:13 PM uplifting; Morning has broken. sad, Utah Phillips' Ashes on the sea. (He told me he cried when he heard my recording of it) |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: 12-stringer Date: 03 Aug 02 - 06:08 PM Brownie McGhee, "Sporting Life Blues." That's the one that does it for me. Gram Parsons, "Wheels," is a very close second. I think it's the progression to the tonic 7th chord in both of these. The theme music for Kevin Brownlow's tv series "Hollywood: The Pioneers", also, the passage that's playing when you see the shot of Clara Bow and the dog. Happiest? Anything by the Skillet Lickers or the Allen Brothers. |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: michaelr Date: 03 Aug 02 - 06:16 PM Lynn -- that Mary Black song is "Anachie Gordon", which I nominated in my previous post. He does not only "arrive just in time for the funeral": The day Jeannie married was the day that Jeannie died And the day that young Anachie came home on the tide ... And he's kissed her cold lips and his heart has turned to stone And he's died in the chamber that his love she lies in. Doesn't get much sadder than that. My band's lead singer really loves this song, but we've had to cease performing it because it's such a downer for the audience! Cheers, Michael |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Littleme Date: 04 Aug 02 - 03:33 AM I always cry when I hear about the fishing-boat, her name is Bluebird of Hull, which came home from the storm. All the sailors saved themselfs except one who was lashed and forgotten.The saved crew had to tell the boy´s father. Oh, I am starting to cry.
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: GUEST,Gurney Date: 04 Aug 02 - 05:04 AM For human pathos, 'Jesse, come home,' as sung by Linda (nee)Wheeler in Auckland. I think few could think of departed friends and listen to the Eng. Trad. 'What's the life of a Man' without a tear. |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: GUEST,Huggy Date: 04 Aug 02 - 10:46 AM The saddest song by far has got to be "Whaur Dae Ye Lie", by Malinky. |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Amergin Date: 04 Aug 02 - 02:33 PM West Coast of Clare by Andy Irvine pretty much does it for me.....another one I like is Meg Davis' Captain Jack and the Mermaid....and yes another vote for White Squall...and Tommy Makem's Curlew Song....
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Zany Mouse Date: 04 Aug 02 - 06:48 PM I think the saddest songs for me have to be those about the war. I studied WWI in some detail, particularly the Ypres Salient and have spent many hours in Flanders. I tried to go through No Mans Land in my mind whilst stood in Tyne Cot Cementry and couldn't get through it. I defy anyone to stand in a Flanders trench and try to get through Christmas in the Trenches or similar.
Bob Hambilton's song "Don't Let the Music Die"; Les Sullivan's "Roses of No Man's Land" all rank as WWI tear jerkers.
Happiest? LOADS. Up there amongst the top must rank the good lung-bursting songs such as Old Dun Cow. Rhiannon |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Stephen L. Rich Date: 04 Aug 02 - 07:04 PM It's a toss up between Tom Dundee's song "These Cowboys" and a song recorded by George Jones called "He Stopped Loving Her Today". |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Yorkshire Tony Date: 04 Aug 02 - 07:17 PM In the traditional, lost love category 'I once loved a lass' and 'Butcher boy' must both be in the running. |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: khandu Date: 04 Aug 02 - 10:41 PM A song that causes confusing emotions in me is "Broken Wing", sung by Martina McBride. I do not know exactly what it is that I feel whenever I hear the song, but the emotions are almost overwhelming, and are a mixture of some kind of sadness and some kind of joy. Great song. khandu |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Deda Date: 04 Aug 02 - 11:21 PM "Time to Learn" by Tim O'Brian, on the CD Tim O'Brian and the O!Boys. It really evokes the loss and grief of the death of someone you love. The first time I heard it on the radio I found myself crying, and feeling how much I missed and still longed for my mother, who had died over a decade earlier. It's one of those rare songs that creates a direct line to some buried emotional well, for me.
It takes time to learn It's a disservice to post the lyrics, though, because without the music they just don't convey what the song does. |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Boris T Date: 05 Aug 02 - 12:02 AM I think Personaly that one of the saddest songs is Something Inside Of Me by Elmore James, the heart renching vocals are sang as though he felt that way when he sang it Boris T |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: thehiker Date: 05 Aug 02 - 06:23 AM San Carlos Water by Thom Moore (Pumpkinhead,Midnight Well) about a young sailor and his girlfriend he goes off to the Falklands conflict and dosent return. |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Hrothgar Date: 05 Aug 02 - 07:57 AM If you want a sad Stan Rogers song, "First Christmas" has to be way up there. |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Counterfit Date: 05 Aug 02 - 09:49 AM "Flash Company" I find rather sad; and "Now I'm Easy" sung by Ronnie Drew, and "Wilderness Road" by Vin Garbutt. Talking of Mr Garbutt makes me think of "Philippino Maid" as something that could fall into both camps. Leonard Cohen isn't sad, just depressing.
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Little Hawk Date: 05 Aug 02 - 10:42 AM Yes, but he is also quite witty, as Alanabit pointed out. - LH |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: EBarnacle1 Date: 05 Aug 02 - 01:34 PM I recently listened to some tapes I once did with Harry Chapin. Without his aura and presence, his stuff is downright depressing. In the sets we worked, there was not a single positive song. To paraphrase Bobby Burns: "The saddest words of tongue and pen Are when we say "I might have been." |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: GUEST,Kevin Date: 05 Aug 02 - 04:20 PM There is a song John Prine wrote, can't remenber the name but it has the line "there's a hole in Daddy's arm, where all the money goes.." very sad |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Firecat Date: 05 Aug 02 - 06:27 PM I can't listen to "Will You Wait For Me?" by Kavana or "On My Own" from Les Miserables because I always end up crying. I've only just managed to desensitise (hope that's spelt right!) myself to "Bring Him Home" from Les Mis as well. AND I've never seen the last quarter of an hour or so of the film version of Evita cos I start crying at "You Must Love Me". George Michael's "You Have Been Loved" sets me off as well. I also heard a song by Keith Donnelly at Warwick called "Two Tall Trees" about September 11. I managed not to cry but it was a VERY close thing. My eyes definitely filled up then. On a brighter note, for happiest songs, I can't believe noone's mentioned "Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life" by the Monty Python lot!!!! I listen to a lot of upbeat music. George Michael's "Faith" has GOT to be up there! |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Firecat Date: 05 Aug 02 - 06:29 PM OOOOPS!! I forgot Bohemian Rhapsody! The first bit "Mama, just killed a man...." sets me off but the middle bit "So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye...." perks me up again! |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Catherine Jayne Date: 05 Aug 02 - 06:37 PM Good choice Kat!!! I like "In just 7 days......I can make you a man!" From the Rocky Horror Picture Show.....just makes me chuckle!!! cat |
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Subject: ADD: I Wish You Were Here (Malvina Reynolds) From: Joe_F Date: 05 Aug 02 - 07:02 PM I WISH YOU WERE HERE (Malvina Reynolds) I wish you were here to be underfoot, I wish you were here to get in my way, To call me from work, to call me to play -- I wish you were here again. Oh, what did I do that had to be done, And what did I read that had to be read, When I could have turned to watch you instead? I wish you were here again. The monuments rise, the monuments fall, The papers are signed and turn into chaff, But I can recall the sound of your laugh, I wish you were here again. I wish you were here, etc. -- Malvina Reynolds Not in the database, it seems. |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: RoyH (Burl) Date: 06 Aug 02 - 06:30 PM When I ran a folk show on my local radio I received the McColl/Seeger album that carried his song 'The Joy of Living'. Listening to it as it went on air I realised that Ewan, knowing how ill he was, was saying goodbye. Not just to his family, but to all of us. Nevertheless his words also urged us to taste the joy of living. When that track ended I was too choked up to announce the next one. In addition I find Ewan's 'My Old Man' very moving because the story of his father, told in the song, so closely mirrors my own father whom I still miss twenty years after his death. I love these two songs even though I can't listen to them without tears. Burl. |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Little Hawk Date: 06 Aug 02 - 07:00 PM Come to think of it, Jackson Browne wrote a lot of really melancholy stuff in the 70's...all kinds of possibilities in his catalog. - LH |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: GUEST,julia Date: 06 Aug 02 - 07:46 PM "There were Roses"by Tommy Sands is the one that really does it for me... |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: GUEST,Just Amy Date: 06 Aug 02 - 08:53 PM I am getting so misty. Someone mentioned Harry Chapin and one of the saddest songs I know is His "Mr. Tanner" which is all about lost dreams. Also, "Mail Order Annie" from the same album always makes me cry but I don't really know why. I originally saw him in concert at University of Illinois - Champaign/Urbana in 1970-71 and we paid 50 cents. Best money I ever spent! |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: GUEST,Opelia Date: 06 Aug 02 - 11:31 PM There is a song John Prine wrote, can't remenber the name but it has the line "there's a hole in Daddy's arm, where all the money goes.." Guest, Kevin - That John Prine song is called Sam Stone, and I agree, very sad. My sad vote goes to "He Fades Away" written by Alastair Hulett whilst he was in Australia from a women's p.o.v. about her husband dying from exposure to asbestos: v.There's a man in my bed, I used to love him His kisses used to take my breath away There's a man in my bed, I hardly know him I wipe his face and hold his hand And watch him as he slowly fades away. And he fades away, Not like leaves that fall in autumn turning gold against the grey, He fades away Like the bloodstains on his pillow case that I wash every day, he fades away. |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: GUEST,.gargoyle Date: 06 Aug 02 - 11:40 PM SADDEST SONG
http://www.mudcat.org/@displaysong.cfm?SongID=61
One of the earliest in the DT collection (based on the number 61) and therefore, I guess it to be one Dick and Susan's original favorites.
It is one of mine also.
However, I know it as a Hoyt Paxton signature piece.
Sincerely, |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: alanabit Date: 07 Aug 02 - 06:26 AM "For a Dancer" on Jackson Browne's "Late for the Sky" album comes to mind. I think that it's about trying to make sense of his first wife's suicide. |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: GUEST,fran Date: 07 Aug 02 - 02:15 PM "The Mary Stanford of Rye" a tale of a lifeboat disaster in which all 17 hands were lost written by allen maslen of meet on the ledge, I cannot listen to this song without crying! "It was almost noon on that terrible morn And the families and launch crew had waited since dawn When suddenly somebody pointed and cried And there in the surf and the spray The Mary Stanford she lay Her body was battered Her keel was upright No close-reefed mainsail No crewman in sight They hauled her ashore and they knelt round and prayed Then gazed out again at the main And the tears they ran like the rain Then one by one the sea gave up her dead First Willie Clark, then young Jimmy Head Then Albert and Rob, the two Cutting boys And three from the Pope family And nine more sons of the sea"
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: GUEST,Bill Kennedy Date: 07 Aug 02 - 02:32 PM a work of great sadness and joy is Tom Waits' 'Black Ryder' cd The Black Rider (1993 Studio Cast) [CAST RECORDING] Tom Waits, William Burroughs especially hearbreaking are cuts:
3. November
especially joyous is cut: I would vote for 'Luck Day' or 'November' as saddest
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: GUEST,Keital Date: 07 Aug 02 - 05:43 PM Well it doesn't surprise me that Andy M. Stewart gets mentioned so much on this topic! Off the top of my head I thought of "Bridget O'Malley". However, my overall vote goes to the song "Kilkelly, Ireland". When my group used to perform this at the Bristol Faire (albeit a slightly modified version) it was sure to catch a few wet eyes. It has the added attraction of being mostly made up of minor chords, which as Nigel Tufnel said are "the saddest chords". |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: GUEST,Glade Date: 07 Aug 02 - 08:25 PM A quiet, gentle, devastating song about a Vietnamese mother sending her beloved child off with the boat people to find a better life with his American father. It always leaves me gasping with tears. The child is not accepted in Vietnam and she believes he will be welcomed by his father. I think it's by Judy Small and I can't remember the title. Can anyone help? Even after a decade, I'm incapable of listening to Bob Franke's 'Holy Ground' and 'A Velveteen Love Song' without becoming sodden. They are beautifully constructed songs and actually are uplifting, as are most of the songs on the CD, 'In This Night.' John McCutcheon's 'The Great Storm is Over' is always a reason for gladness, as are Gordon Bok's versions of 'My Images Come' and 'All Shall Be Well Again.' |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: GUEST,Ian Darby Date: 07 Aug 02 - 10:53 PM 'We'll Meet Again Sometime' by Dave Cousins. 'From Galway To Graceland', by Richard (Laughing Boy) Thompson. 'Bellman'. Sung by the Watersons. 'Part Of The Room', Sun Also Rises. 'Donald & Lydia', 'Sabu Visits The Twin Cities Alone', 'The Torch Singer', 'The Late John Garfield Blues', 'Clocks And Spoons', from John Prine. 'Have You Ever Loved A Woman' by old 'Slowhand'.
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Genie Date: 07 Aug 02 - 11:38 PM Dunno if there's one "saddest" or one "happiest," but in addition to some that have been nominated here, I'd add: Really sad: "Un Canadien Errant" Really happy: "Oh, What A Beautiful Morning!" And one that just plain makes me feel good: "In Spite Of Ourselves" (John Prine) BTW, Barnacle, I thought that line was from "Maude Mullins." "The saddest words of tongue or pen, The saddest of these: "It might have been." (Whittier? Wordsworth? I can't remember for sure.) |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Genie Date: 08 Aug 02 - 12:35 AM Correction: The poem is "Maud Mullins" (no final "e"), and I made a typo. It's "...the saddest are these..." (not "...of these...". And my initial recollection was correct: it's by John Greenleaf Whittier. But maybe Burns used a similar phrase in one of his works. Genie |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: GUEST,Strollin' Johnny Date: 08 Aug 02 - 07:37 AM Sad - The Rose and The Briar (Allan Taylor) Happy - don't know any |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: GUEST,busker joe Date: 23 Sep 18 - 02:20 AM 1) little joe the wrangler's sister nell 2) a picture from life's other side 3) men with broken hearts, by luke the drifter (aka hank williams) 4) kilkelly ireland 5) patrick sheehan |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Ged Fox Date: 23 Sep 18 - 05:27 AM "The Flowers of the Forest," with Jeannie Elliot's words, is probably the queen of laments. But, for both categories, "Morning has Broken." |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: GUEST,Henry Piper (of Ottery) Date: 23 Sep 18 - 05:52 AM Saddest song:- Country Joe McDonalds Here I Go Again. forget the '60's Psychedelic imagery the two verses about a father not returning from a foreign war and a relationship broken by infidelity are just heart rending and must be two of the most universal themes in all song since time began,. the poignancy is all the more as the whole thing is wrapped up in a jolly country style waltz with some gorgeous rippling guitar playing by Barry Melton. Happiest song:- Fortunately far too many to name. |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Senoufou Date: 23 Sep 18 - 08:11 AM Saddest songs:- 'Na Laetha Geal M'Oige' by Enya. (I've decided on this for my funeral) The words in Gaelic are to the effect that 'when we were young we never thought our lives would end up as they have. Now I'm old, I see that those brighter days only led to sorrow' and 'Justju Jis Ki Thi' sung by Asha Bosle in the film Umrao Jahn. The words (in Hindi) mean 'I never found what I was looking for, but during the search I have learned much about the world.' Both songs mean a lot to me and bring a tear to my eye every time I hear them. |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Jim Carroll Date: 23 Sep 18 - 08:45 AM THIS HAS TO BE A CONTENDER Jim Carroll |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: gillymor Date: 23 Sep 18 - 08:56 AM Victor Jara always makes me cry. |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Elmore Date: 23 Sep 18 - 09:59 AM California Snow by Tom Russell. |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Andy7 Date: 23 Sep 18 - 12:06 PM A friend maintains that the saddest song ever is 'Puff the Magic Dragon'. Difficult to disagree with that! |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: David C. Carter Date: 23 Sep 18 - 01:10 PM Strange Fruit.Billie Holiday. Heart Like a Wheel.Kate & Anna McGarrigle. |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: robomatic Date: 23 Sep 18 - 01:41 PM Gordon Bok from the Bay of Fundy Album |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: GUEST,akenaton Date: 23 Sep 18 - 03:52 PM Mary Chapin Carpenter ......Take your pick. "Goodbye again" "John Doe number 24" |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Stewie Date: 23 Sep 18 - 07:58 PM Another entrant via Bok. Steven Sellors poignant song of an adoptee to birth mother. Mourning Dove --Stewie. |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Elmore Date: 24 Sep 18 - 01:30 PM Do You Think That I Do Not Know? sung by Priscilla Herdman. Words by Henry Lawson. Tune by Slim Dusty.{I think} |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: GUEST,Jerry Date: 24 Sep 18 - 06:31 PM My Father by Judy Collins always struck me as sad, probably because we all have the same thing to look forward to, slowly watching your dreams fade away. In the same vein, we have Phil Och’s Changes and When I’m Gone, more poignant than wrist slitters though. |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: JMB Date: 24 Sep 18 - 06:36 PM I find it ever so difficult to choose what I feel is the saddest song at this moment, given that I have either written, covered or collected a mass amount of sad songs. I listen to sad songs when I'm feeling depressed, as I see it as a comfort that someone else has created such a beautifully written song expressing their sorrow to which I can relate at the time. |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: JMB Date: 24 Sep 18 - 06:38 PM To continue: In regards to writing songs, I have written songs such as one called Red and Silver that has stuck with me ever since I wrote it fourteen years ago. I'll probably share sometime. |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Jack Campin Date: 24 Sep 18 - 06:59 PM The mediæval English "Worldes Blis" is so comprehensively black and despairing about every aspect of human existence it never fails to cheers me up. "Frenet Ha'" is a good Scottish contender - the surviving fragment breaks off in mid-verse with the hero about to kill himself in despair at the death of the love of his life. |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Mr Red Date: 25 Sep 18 - 03:36 AM Gentle Annie If you knew the inspiration for the lyric. |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: GUEST,Knockroe Date: 25 Sep 18 - 11:41 AM The Death of Queen Jane - Mícheál Domhnail https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aeNwpU19pA |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Dave Sutherland Date: 25 Sep 18 - 11:57 AM "Needle of Death" Bert Jansch |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: lefthanded guitar Date: 25 Sep 18 - 01:55 PM I like sad songs, they often tell a story, have a depth of meaning, and can serve as a catharsis for both singer and listener. Some great examples already listed here - from Clapton to Gordon Bok- , but I will add a few that I find to be the saddest heartbreakers: . I think it's going to rain today - Randy Newman Tecumseh Valley - Townes Van Zandt Streets of London - Ralph McTell Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie Who Knows Where the Time Goes -Judy Collins Charlie Darwin - Low Anthem |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: topical tom Date: 25 Sep 18 - 02:42 PM One of the saddest songs I have heard is "The Leaves They Mustn't Fall."I do not recall who sang it nor do I recall most of the lyrics.Some of the lyrics following that line are Oh no, they mustn't fall. Please tie them on so they will stay. I've lost my mom and dad,.now my sister's all I have. Don't let the falling leaves take her away. |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: GUEST,Tunesmith Date: 25 Sep 18 - 03:02 PM I don't know if "sad" is the correct word to describe Robert Cray's " Right Next Door" but it's a very moving song. Robert Cray Youtube |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Iains Date: 25 Sep 18 - 04:39 PM I would nominate the unquiet grave. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=the+unquiet+grave+luke+kelly+ |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Mr Red Date: 26 Sep 18 - 03:01 AM call me a pedant,but: "The Unquiet Grave is a sad lyric, but the tune is not that tear jerking. call me disrespectful but: I used to sing it next to one of those dancing flowers and it always got a laugh. |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Mo the caller Date: 26 Sep 18 - 07:13 AM The first post asks about the sad song you played over and over when ….. And that is what leaves a song with a 'taste', what was happening in your life at the time you first heard it. For that reason I found 'The Last of the great Whales' unbearable. The one I played over 'Don't think twice' - and as an antidote 'There ain't no sweet man worth the salt of my tears' |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Mo the caller Date: 26 Sep 18 - 07:15 AM And the song with the saddest subject and the jolliest singalong tune Threescore and ten |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Elmore Date: 26 Sep 18 - 08:40 PM Margarita by Harvey Andrews. |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Gordon Jackson Date: 27 Sep 18 - 08:26 AM In folk music, I'd go for The Trees They Do Grow High. In modern music, I'd say Steve Earle's Lonelier Than This. |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: GUEST,The Drift Cafe Date: 27 Sep 18 - 09:06 AM The saddest song of all time is "Close the Coalhouse Door" by Alex Glasgow, about the hardship and death relating to coal mining, he latter added a verse "Bairns about the Aberfan disaster, it will make you cry, there is no sadder song. |
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Subject: RE: What is the saddest song? From: Elmore Date: 27 Sep 18 - 01:02 PM She Sits On The Table by Tom Paxton. |
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