Songs that make you cry every time you hear them

[Khephra]

Dear God - XTC

Dear God, hope you got the letter, and...
I pray you can make it better down here.
I don't mean a big reduction in the price of beer
but all the people that you made in your image,
see them starving on their feet
'cause they don't get enough to eat from God,
I can't believe in you

Dear God, sorry to disturb you, but...
I feel that I should be heard loud and clear.
We all need a big reduction in amount of tears
and all the people that you made in your image,
see them fighting in the street
'cause they can't make opinions meet about God,
I can't believe in you

Did you make disease, and the diamond blue?
Did you make mankind after we made you? And the devil too!

Dear God, don't know if you noticed, but...
your name is on a lot of quotes in this book,
and us crazy humans wrote it, you should take a look,
and all the people that you made in your image
still believing that junk is true.
Well I know it ain't, and so do you, dear God,
I can't believe in
I don't believe in

I won't believe in heaven and hell.
No saints, no sinners, no devil as well.
No pearly gates, no thorny crown.
You're always letting us humans down.
The wars you bring, the babes you drown.
Those lost at sea and never found,
and it's the same the whole world 'round.
The hurt I see helps to compound
that Father, Son and Holy Ghost
is just somebody's unholy hoax,
and if you're up there you'd perceive
that my heart's here upon my sleeve.
If there's one thing I don't believe in

it's you...

Dear God.

[phillybri]

1. Angel-Sarah MacLachlan

Gets me every damn time...:cry:

[SarahB]

4. Her stuff frequently makes me cry.

Emotional stuff.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

2. Hmm. Maybe 'Wild Horses'

Childhood living is easy to do
The things you wanted I bought them for you
Graceless lady you know who I am
You know I can’t let you slide through my hands

Wild horses couldn’t drag me away
Wild, wild horses, couldn’t drag me away

I watched you suffer a dull aching pain
Now you decided to show me the same
No sweeping exits or offstage lines
Could make me feel bitter or treat you unkind

Wild horses couldn’t drag me away
Wild, wild horses, couldn’t drag me away

I know I dreamed you a sin and a lie
I have my freedom but I don’t have much time
Faith has been broken, tears must be cried
Let’s do some living after we die

Wild horses couldn’t drag me away
Wild, wild horses, we’ll ride them some day

Looks kinda bland and platitudinal in stark print, but very effective on a late night radio station.

Wild horses couldn’t drag me away
Wild, wild horses, we’ll ride them some day

On edit - Love Dear God too.

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

3. Me too , me too ::sniff::

:cry:

[Screaming Lord Byron]

5. Yeah, Jagger actually kinda emotes on it, shock of shocks.

From the period when The Rolling Stones really were the Greatest Rock and Roll Band in the World.

[Bonhomme Richard]

6. Puff the Magic Dragon.............

When jackie grows up and leaves Puff all alone. I.....I....I can't take it....gotta go

[HEyHEY]

64. That's mine too Oz

Just the thought of pooor Puff's scales falling out of sadness makes me cry.

[Pithlet]

67. Me, too.

Especially now that I have two little boys of my own. I watch my older little boy playing with his favorite stuffed toy, and I know that all too soon it will be put aside and forgotten. :cry:

[HEyHEY]

69. If I may says so

Forget the toy, make sure he doesn't outgrow his brother :-)

[Pithlet]

77. They're both going to grow up too fast for me.

The older one is three; the younger is 6 months, and is already trying to follow big brother around. Big brother gets his baby toys for him when he can't reach.

*sniff*

[Hand]

88. Awwww shit...

Now you've got ME started with the waterworks...

:cry:

[LincolnMcGrath]

7. He Stopped Loving Her Today

He said I'll love you 'til I die
She told him you'll forget in time
As the years went slowly by
She still preyed upon his mind

He kept her picture on his wall
Went half crazy now and then
He still loved her through it all
Hoping she'd come back again

Kept some letters by his bed
Dated 1962
He had underlined in red
Every single I love you

I went to see him just today
Oh but I didn't see no tears
All dressed up to go away
First time I'd seen him smile in years

(Chorus)
He stopped loving her today
They placed a wreath upon his door
And soon they'll carry him away
He stopped loving her today

(Spoken)
You know she came to see him one last time
Oh and we all wondered if she would
And it kept running through my mind
This time he's over her for good

(Repeat Chorus)

[kmla]

8. Okay, start laughing now....

Puff the Magic Dragon by Peter, Paul, and Mary.

I guess you have to have a young boy to have this song really hit home.

But, damn, what sadness Puff must feel when little Jackie Paper doesn't come to play anymore.

*sniff*

Every frickin' time I hear it I get teary eyed...:cry:

[Fenris]

9. Two Smiths songs I find genuinely depressing

I Know It's Over

Oh Mother, I can feel the soil falling over my head
And as I climb into an empty bed
Oh well. Enough said.
I know it's over - still I cling
I don't know where else I can go
Oh ...
Oh Mother, I can feel the soil falling over my head
See, the sea wants to take me
The knife wants to slit me
Do you think you can help me ?
Sad veiled bride, please be happy
Handsome groom, give her room
Loud, loutish lover, treat her kindly
(Though she needs you
More than she loves you)
And I know it's over - still I cling
I don't know where else I can go
Over and over and over and over
Over and over, la ...
I know it's over
And it never really began
But in my heart it was so real
And you even spoke to me, and said :
"If you're so funny
Then why are you on your own tonight ?
And if you're so clever
Then why are you on your own tonight ?
If you're so very entertaining
Then why are you on your own tonight ?
If you're so very good-looking
Why do you sleep alone tonight ?
I know ...
'Cause tonight is just like any other night
That's why you're on your own tonight
With your triumphs and your charms
While they're in each other's arms..."
It's so easy to laugh
It's so easy to hate
It takes strength to be gentle and kind
Over, over, over, over
It's so easy to laugh
It's so easy to hate
It takes guts to be gentle and kind
Over, over
Love is Natural and Real
But not for you, my love
Not tonight, my love
Love is Natural and Real
But not for such as you and I, my love
Oh Mother, I can feel the soil falling over my head
Oh Mother, I can feel the soil falling over my head
Oh Mother, I can feel the soil falling over my head
Oh Mother, I can feel the soil falling over my ...
Oh Mother, I can feel the soil falling over my head
Oh Mother, I can even feel the soil falling over my head
Oh Mother, I can feel the soil falling over my head
Oh Mother, I can feel the soil falling over my ...

The other is:

Asleep

Sing me to sleep
Sing me to sleep
I'm tired and I
I want to go to bed


Sing me to sleep
Sing me to sleep
And then leave me alone
Don't try to wake me in the morning
'Cause I will be gone
Don't feel bad for me
I want you to know
Deep in the cell of my heart
I will feel so glad to go


Sing me to sleep
Sing me to sleep
I don't want to wake up
On my own anymore


Sing to me
Sing to me
I don't want to wake up
On my own anymore


Don't feel bad for me
I want you to know
Deep in the cell of my heart
I really want to go


There is another world
There is a better world
Well, there must be
Well, there must be
Well, there must be
Well, there must be
Well ...


Bye bye
Bye bye
Bye ...

I really don't find any other Smiths songs to be as soul-crushing as these two, although a lot of their first album, especially "Suffer Little Children," is quite bleak.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

12. There's always 'Gloomy Sunday'

It is autumn and the leaves are falling
All love has died on earth
The wind is weeping with sorrowful tears
My heart will never hope for a new spring again
My tears and my sorrows are all in vain
People are heartless, greedy and wicked...

Love has died!

The world has come to its end, hope has ceased to have a meaning
Cities are being wiped out, shrapnel is making music
Meadows are coloured red with human blood
There are dead people on the streets everywhere
I will say another quiet prayer:
People are sinners, Lord, they make mistakes...

The world has ended!

[Fenris]

17. The wonderful world of Hungarian suicide torch songs!

[Screaming Lord Byron]

18. When you want bleak, you gotta go to the source. The Hungarians.

[Fenris]

22. Must have had something to do with living under the yoke of the Austrians.

Living under Austrians couldn't make anyone very happy.

[blondeatlast]

48. That's the one--Billie Holliday wrapped herself up in that song.

It should come with a warning label for the clinically depressed.

There's another song she did that is even more mournful (well, Strange Fruit counts of course, but still another) that the name escapes me--mourning for her lover and wanting to join him; but it turns out it's only a dream.

I heard it the first time the day my hubby left to do contracting work in Seattle (a few weeks ago)--by the time I got to work, I looked like hell from crying so much!

NOBODY could incite a room to tears like Billie--nobody.

[bhunt70]

58. good call

[Dogmudgeon]

70. That's a rigid translation of the original

The "definitive" translation into English was done by Sam M. Lewis. Over 50 versions have been recorded at last count, most of them of the Lewis translation.

Rezsô Seress, who wrote the song, killed himself in 1968 by jumping from his apartment balcony.

Here's one of the better GS websites: http://www.phespirit.info/gloomysunday/


Gloomy Sunday (Sam M. Lewis translation)

Sunday is gloomy, my hours are slumberless
Dearest the shadows I live with are numberless
Little white flowers will never awaken you
Not where the black coach of sorrow has taken you
Angels have no thought of ever returning you
Would they be angry if I thought of joining you?

Gloomy Sunday

Gloomy is Sunday, with shadows I spend it all
My heart and I have decided to end it all
Soon there'll be candles and prayers that are sad I know
Let them not weep let them know that I'm glad to go
Death is no dream for in death I'm caressing you
With the last breath of my soul I'll be blessing you

Gloomy Sunday

Dreaming, I was only dreaming
I wake and I find you asleep in the deep of my heart, here
Darling, I hope that my dream never haunted you
My heart is telling you how much I wanted you

Gloomy Sunday


--bkl

[xultar]

20. Asleep is AWESOME and another is

:cry: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE LET ME GET WHAT I WANT :cry:

Good times for a change
see, the luck I've had
can make a good man
turn bad

So please please please
let me, let me, let me
let me get what I want
this time

Haven't had a dream in a long time
see, the life I've had
can make a good man bad

So for once in my life
let me get what I want
Lord knows it would be the first time
Lord knows it would be the first time

I love The Smiths because the lyrics always seemed to make me feel a little less lonely. I knew there was SOMEONE out there who was equally depressed as me. (even though ol' boy is a racist)

[vi5]

10. Rufus Wainwrights version of Hallelujah, and the Grateful Dead's..

"I Will Take You Home" since i have a daughter.

Also Carole King's version of "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow".

U2's "Pride In The Name Of Love".

The list could go on and on.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

14. Speaking of 'Hallelujah', how about Jeff Buckley?

'Lover, You Should've Come Over' always gets me.

[vi5]

16. I really don't like Jeff Buckley at all.....

Believe me, I tried. When I started dating my wife she told me how much she loved his music so I bought Grace and tried listening to it and getting into it. Just leaves me completely cold.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

19. That's it. You're on ignore, now!

Just kidding. To each his own, and so on.

[vi5]

25. It's actually quite bizarre that I don't like him....

I mean he's got a great voice, seems proficient at guitar, and almost everyone that I know and respect their musical opinion loves the guy.

I've literally tried hundreds of times to listen to Grace and come away feeling something. And every time when it's over I could not tell you one melody, one lyric, one emotion that came over me when listening to it. It doesn't make me cry, smile, pump my fist, or think about anything deep. It just is.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

31. That's the nature of music.

It doesn't subject well to rational analysis. You either 'get it' or you don't.

[johnnie]

28. I love the Buckley version...

But I really like the Cohens original version.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

32. Yeah.

[LincolnMcGrath]

15. Hallelujah - Rufus Wainwright !!

That song is in Shrek

[Pax Argent]

60. No doubt regarding Wainwright's "Hallelujah"

I still get misty whenever that scene comes up in Shrek.....

[Misunderestimator]

11. Nothing ALWAYS makes me cry...

not even stubbing my toe. :)

[Squeech]

13. If I Give Your Name

It's a very touching song about a peculiar consequence of 9/11, the notion that many of the victims were undocumented immigrant workers-- the janitors, the food service workers, etc.-- and now no one knows who they were, except their grieving families. The chorus goes:

I have no papers, I have no rights
All my days and sleepless nights
Missing you silently
If I give your name, will they come after me

It was written by Sandy Opatow and Pat Humphries (they now perform under the name Emma's Revolution), and appears on their latest CD, but you can hear it sooner via this link:

http://www.pathumphries.com/if_i_give_your_name.mp3

I played live last week at a coffeeshop in the (Boston) suburbs, and I sang that song, and I still got a little choked up.

[blondeatlast]

50. I've heard that one--the plight of undocumented workers in a nutshell.

How many are still left wondering?

It hurts just to think about it.

I highly recommend that DUers give it a listen--very evocative of the worker's plights.

[pagerbear]

21. Jonathan Wesley Oliver, Jr.

by Tom Brown. Also recorded by Lee Lessack.

[davsand]

23. SRV -Life Without You

To this day i can't listen to it and not cry...

Life Without You
Stevie Ray Vaughan


Ooh, ooh now baby, tell me how have you been
We all have missed you, and the way you grin
The day is necessary, every now and then
For souls to move on, givin' life back again and again
Fly on, fly on, fly on my friend
Go on, live again, love again

Day after day, night after night
Sittin' here, singin' every minute, as the years go passing by, by, by, by
Long look in the mirror, we've come face to face
Wishing all the love we took for granted, love we have today

Life without you, all the love you passed my way
The angels have waited for you so long, now they have their way
Take your place

[CPschem]

24. Wilco/Billy Bragg's "One By One"

[mopaul]

26. 96 tears.....c'mon & cry-cry cry cry---96 tears

i break down every time

[blondeatlast]

51. You must be very suggestible!

:hi:

[Nihil]

27. "Come away Melinda" (Uriah Heep)

My three favourites are "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" (Les Miserables),
"I'd Give my Life for You" (Miss Saigon) and this one ...


"Come away Melinda" (Uriah Heep)

Daddy, daddy, come and look
See what I have found
A little ways away from here
While digging in the ground

Come away Melinda
Come in and close the door
It's nothing, just a picture-book
They had before the war

Daddy, daddy, come and see
Daddy, come and look
Why, there's four or five
Little Melinda girls
Inside my picture book

Come away Melinda
Come in and close the door
There were lots of little girls like you
Before they had the war

Oh Daddy, daddy, come and see
Daddy, hurry do
Why, there's someone
In a pretty dress
She's all grown up like you
Won't you tell me why

Come away Melinda
Come in and close the door
That someone is your Mummy
You had before the war

Daddy, daddy, tell me if you can
Why can't things be
The way they were
Before the war began

Come away Melinda
Come in and close the door
The answer lies in yesterday
Before they had the war

[rockymountaindem]

29. "My Hometown"

by Springsteen. It doesn't make me cry, but it leaves me feeling kind of crushed.

[Dees]

47. I feel the same and I'll add "Caroline No"....B. Wilson

[bif]

30. "Sunrise, Sunset" from Fiddler on the Roof

You try having 2 young daughters and see if it doesn't affect you that way.

[Jim__]

33. Definitely the song I thought of ...

... and I don't have any daughters.

[Nihil]

36. Yes, that's another one ...

... that's powerful enough when listened to but *really* reaches inside
you when you sing it yourself ...

[blondeatlast]

52. Hell, yes; that song is parental torture. I've got a 7 yo son.

"Turn around and you're four, turn around, you're a young man, going out of the door."

I really am in tears now. Damn you!

:hi:

[TX-RAT]

34. One Tin Soldier

From Billy Jack
That one always puts a lump in my throat.

[MI Cherie]

40. Listen, children, to a story ...

That was written long ago,
'Bout a kingdom on a mountain
And the valley-folk below.

On the mountain was a treasure
Buried deep beneath the stone,
And the valley-people swore
They'd have it for their very own.

Go ahead and hate your neighbor,
Go ahead and cheat a friend.
Do it in the name of Heaven,
You can justify it in the end.
There won't be any trumpets blowing
Come the judgment day,
On the bloody morning after....
One tin soldier rides away.

So the people of the valley
Sent a message up the hill,
Asking for the buried treasure,
Tons of gold for which they'd kill.

Came an answer from the kingdom,
"With our brothers we will share
All the secrets of our mountain,
All the riches buried there."

Go ahead and hate your neighbor,
Go ahead and cheat a friend.
Do it in the name of Heaven,
You can justify it in the end.
There won't be any trumpets blowing
Come the judgment day,
On the bloody morning after....
One tin soldier rides away.

Now the valley cried with anger,
"Mount your horses! Draw your sword!"
And they killed the mountain-people,
So they won their just reward.

Now they stood beside the treasure,
On the mountain, dark and red.
Turned the stone and looked beneath it...
"Peace on Earth" was all it said.

Go ahead and hate your neighbor,
Go ahead and cheat a friend.
Do it in the name of Heaven,
You can justify it in the end.
There won't be any trumpets blowing
Come the judgment day,
On the bloody morning after....
One tin soldier rides away.

Go ahead and hate your neighbor,
Go ahead and cheat a friend.
Do it in the name of Heaven,
You can justify it in the end.
There won't be any trumpets blowing
Come the judgment day,
On the bloody morning after....
One tin soldier rides away.

[TX-RAT]

42. Thank You

[TX-RAT]

35. Taps

When played at a funeral.

[peabodyhere]

37. thunder road

i don't know what it is, but the first verse always gets me

[VelmaD]

38. Ain't Go No - from Hair

I have no idea why but this one gets me every time.

Ain't got no home (So)
Ain't got no shoes (Poor)
Ain't got no money (Honey)
Ain't got no class (Common)
Ain't got no scarf
Ain't got no gloves (Cold)
Ain't got no bed (Beat)
Ain't got no pot (Busted)
Ain't got no faith (Catholic)

Ain't got no mother (Orphan)
Ain't got no culture (Man)
Ain't got no friends (Lucky)
Ain't got no schoolin' (Dumb)
Ain't got no shine
Ain't got no underwear (Bad)
Ain't got no soap (Dirty)
Ain't got no A-Train (Jump)
Ain't got no mind

Ain't got no smokes (Shit)
Ain't got no job (Lazy)
Ain't got no work
Ain't got no coins
Ain't got no pennies
Ain't got no girl/man (Horny)
Ain't got no ticket
Ain't got no token (Walk)
Ain't got no God (Good)

Ain't got no grass (Can't take no trip)
Ain't got no acid (Can't blow my mind)
Ain't got no clothes (You're full of pus)
Ain't got no pad (You're full of piss)
Ain't got no apples (We got balls)
Ain't got no knife (Can't cut you up)
Ain't got no guns (We got bananas )
Ain't got no garbage (White trash)
Ain't got no draft card (Burned it burned it burned it)

Ain't got no earth
Ain't got no fun
Ain't got no bike
Ain't got no pimples
Ain't got no trees
Ain't got no air
Ain't got no water
City banjo toothpicks shoelaces
teachers football telephone records
doctor brother sister uniforms
machine guns airplanes air force
germs M-1 (bang bang bang)
M-2 (bang bang bang)
A bombs H bombs P bombs Q bombs
Chinese checks Hindus Bindus
Italianos Polacks Germans
Youse Jews Ups and downs
Vietnam, Johnson, high school,
sex, coffee, books, food, scissors,
magazines, news, cigarettes, cancer,
LSD, 007S, Supermans, Batmans,
Castros, subways, conedisons, Hollywood,
napalm, Tuesday Weld,
Burton-Taylor, pop art, pop off, popcorn,
popsicle, Andy Warpop, pop paper,
pop up, Popeye, poppers, lipstick,
dresses, combs, glasses,
leather, sandals, harmonicas, England,
outer space, astronauts, Jesus,
air, air, air, air, air, air...

Ain't got no home
Ain't got no shoes
Ain't got no money
Ain't got no class
Ain't got no scarf
Ain't got no gloves
Ain't got no bed
Ain't got no pot
Ain't got no faith
Ain't got no love!

[RandomKoolzip]

39. "Twin Falls," Ben Folds Five

(apologies to Built to Spill and Doug Martsch, but Ben OWNS this song now)


Christmas, Twin Falls Idaho's her oldest memory
She was only two
It's the first time she felt blue

Cafeteria Harrison Elementary
'neath the parachute
Saw her without shoes

Seven-up I touched her thumb
And she knew it was me though she couldn't see
Unless of course she peaked

My mom's good, she got me out of
Twin Falls, Idaho
Before I got too old
But you know how that goes]

That's where she still was the summer
She turned 17
1983; Three weeks after me

Last I heard she had twins or maybe it was three
Though I've never seen
That don't bother me....



I can't hear this song without crying, especially when Ben sings the italicized lines.

Others:

"Race for the Prize" and "Fight Test" Flaming Lips
"Change Gonna Come" Otis Redding
Plastic Ono Band, John Lennon (whole album)
"Eight Miles High," Husker Du
"This Boy is Exhausted," The Wrens
"I Just Can't Keep From Crying" Blind Willie Johnson
The Coda to "Layla", Derek and the Dominoes
"Scoliosis," Pond
"Blue," Joni Mitchell
Reinhold Messner, Ben Folds Five (whole album)
"Oooh LA LA" The Faces
"Famous Redheads" Lotion
"I Am the Cosmos," Chris Bell

[Enraged_Ape]

74. I'll second you on "Fight Test" by the Flaming Lips

And I GREW UP in Twin Falls, Idaho. And I did the parachute thing with a girl I liked at Harrison Elementary school there in the second grade! God, I had no idea that Ben Folds (or someone else in his group who would have turned 17 in 1983) did the same thing!!

Now, this is just too fucking creepy. Thanks for that!

[southpaw]

41. I Hope You Dance by Lee Ann Womack

Yeah, it's sappy and all... but I always think of my first wife when I hear it... it expresses the very sentiments I wanted to extend to Kim after our divorce...

[Burma Jones]

43. Sunday Mornin Comin Down

Because I used to be this lonely.



Well I woke up Sunday morning
With no way to hold my head, that didn't hurt
And the beer I had for breakfast wasn't bad,
So I had one more for dessert.
Then I fumbled in my closet through my clothes
And found my cleanest dirty shirt.
Then I washed my face and combed my hair
And stumbled down the stairs to meet the day.

I'd smoked my mind the night before
With cigarettes and the songs I'd been pickin'
But I lit my first and watched a small kid
Playin' with a can that he was kicking
Then I walked across the street
And caught the Sunday smell of someone's fryin' chicken
And it took me back to somethin'
That I'd lost somewhere, somehow along the way.

Chorus:
On a Sunday morning sidewalk
I'm wishing Lord that I was stoned
'Cause there's something in a Sunday
That makes a body feel alone.
And there's nothin' short of dyin'
That's half as lonesome as the sound
Of a sleepin' city sidewalk
And Sunday mornin' comin' down.

In the park I saw a daddy
With a laughin' little girl who he was swingin'
And I stopped beside a Sunday school
And listened to the songs they were singin'
Then I headed down the street
And somewhere far away a lonely bell was ringin'
And it echoed thru the canyon
Like the disappearing dreams of yesterday.

Repeat Chorus

[Pithlet]

78. Who is that by?

Those lyrics are very familiar.

[Spirochete]

85. Kris Kristofferson, I think

[arwalden]

44. Over The Rainbow

[Pithlet]

75. Yep

Gets me every time, no matter who sings it.

[cedahlia]

45. Abraham Martin and John

and also Tori Amos's heartbreaking live version of "Daniel" by Elton John.

Both of those just wreck me.

[Rowdyboy]

46. "Too Old To Die Young"

If life is like a candle bright
Then death must be the wind
You can close youur window tight
but it still comes blowing in

So I will climb the highest hill
to watch the risining sun
And pray that I don't feel that chill
'till I'm too old to die young

Let me watch my children grow
To see what they become
Oh Lord don't let that cold wind blow
'til I'm too old to die young

Moe Bandy

[terrya]

49. "The Dream's on Me" Ella Fitzgerald...featured in "Torch Song Trilogy"

Gorgeous, wistful song. I cried and still do hearing it.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

53. Somethine I Can Never Have, by Nine Inch Nails

i still recall the taste of your tears
echoing your voice just like the ringing in my ears
my favorite dreams of you still wash ashore
scraping through my head 'till i don't want to sleep anymore

you make this all go away
you make this all go away
i'm down to just one thing
and i'm starting to scare myself
you make this all go away
you make this all go away
i just want something
i just want something i can never have

you always were the one to show me how
back then i couldn't do the things that i can do now
this thing is slowly taking me apart
grey would be the color if i had a heart
come on tell me

you make this all go away
you make this all go away
i'm down to just one thing
and i'm starting to scare myself
you make this all go away
you make this all go away
i just want something
i just want something i can never have

in this place it seems like such a shame
though it all looks different now,
i know it's still the same
everywhere i look you're all i see
just a fading fucking reminder of who i used to be
come on tell me

you make this all go away
you make this all go away
i'm down to just one thing
and i'm starting to scare myself
you make this all go away
you make it all go away
i just want something
i just want something i can never have
i just want something i can never have

[cedahlia]

54. Love that song

I'm struck by its dark beauty every time I hear it. Trent Reznor is a genius.

[Angelus]

55. Garth Brooks - The Dance...

Cheap Trick - The Flame

Don't laugh now. :(

[Lars39]

56. I'll fly away.

:cry:

[nonconformist]

57. Right Here Waiting - Richard Marx

Lots of memories!

[DemoTex]

59. "Actus Tragicus" cantata.

J.S. Bach.

[opiate69]

61. "Cat's in the Cradle". by Chapin.

Go ahead....laugh....but, since I live about 3000 miles away from my father, and have only seen him 3 times in the last 15 years, it kinda hits a nerve.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

62. The Living Years - Mike and the Mechanics

Don't even like the group but I recall my father's dying days every time I hear it.

[Angelus]

65. I like that song....

It's really sad, but I like it. My grandpa, who died earlier this year, liked that song, so it reminds me of him.

[Pax Argent]

63. Cats in the Cradle by Harry Chapin gets me every time

Cat's In The Cradle
~Harry Chapin

My child arrived just the other day,
He came to the world in the usual way
But there were planes to catch and bills to pay,
He learned to walk while I was away
And he was talking 'for I knew it, and as he grew
He said "I'm gonna be like you, dad, you know I'm gonna be like you"

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon,
Little boy blue and the man in the moon
"When you comin' home dad?" "I don't know when,

But we'll get together then, You know we'll have a good time then"

My son turned ten just the other day
He said "Thanks for the ball dad, come on let's play
Can you teach me to throw"
I said "Not today I got a lot to do" He said "That's OK"
He walked away but his smile never dimmed,
It said I'm gonna be like him, yeah,
You know I'm gonna be like him

Well he came from college just the other day
So much like a man I just had to say
"Son I'm proud of you can you sit for a while?"
He shook his head and he said with a smile,
"What I'd really like dad is to borrow the car keys,
See you later can I have them please?"

I've long since retired, my son's moved away
I called him up just the other day
I said "I'd like to see you if you don't mind"
He said "I'd love to dad if I could find the time,
You see the my new job's a hassle and the kids have the flu
But it's sure nice talkin' to you dad
It's sure nice talkin' to you"
And as I hung up the phone it occurred to me,
He'd grown up just like me
My boy was just like me

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man in the moon
"When you comin' home son?" "I don't know when,
But we'll get together then, Dad,
We're gonna have a good time then"

Others include:
Its a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong
Children's Crusade by Sting (It didn't have that effect before Iraq II)

[Dogmudgeon]

66. Flying on the Ground is Wrong

FLYING ON THE GROUND IS WRONG
(Neil Young, ca. 1965)

Is my world not falling down?
I'm in pieces on the ground
And my eyes aren't open and
I'm standing on my knees

But if crying and holding on
And flying on the ground is wrong
Then I'm sorry to let you down
But you're from my side of town
And I'll miss you

Turn me up or turn me down
Turn me off or turn around
I wish I could have met you in a place
Where we both belonged

But if crying and holding on
And flying on the ground is wrong
Then I'm sorry to let you down
But you're from my side of town
And I'll miss you

Sometimes I feel like I'm just a helpless child
Sometimes I feel like a king
But baby, since I have changed,
I can't take nothing home

City lights at a country fair
Never shine but always glare
If I'm bright enough to see you
You're just too dark to care

But if crying and holding on
And flying on the ground is wrong
Then I'm sorry to let you down
But you're from my side of town
And I'll miss you

--bkl

[Dogmudgeon]

68. Everybody's Got To Learn Sometime

One of the simplest songs ever recorded.

Originally done around 1980 by an obscure New Wave group called The Corgis, on their album Dumbwaiter. It was remade by Dream Academy around 1988. It's having its third go-round with Beck, who recorded it for the movie "The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind". Or whatever it's called.


Everybody's Got To Learn Sometime
Music/Lyrics by J. Warren

Change your heart, look around you
Change your heart, it will astound you
I need your loving like the sunshine
And everybody's gotta learn sometime
Everybody's gotta learn sometime
Everybody's gotta learn sometime

Change your heart, look around you
Change your heart, it will astound you
I need your loving like the sunshine
And everybody's gotta learn sometime
Everybody's gotta learn sometime
Everybody's gotta learn sometime

(instrumental break)

Everybody's gotta learn sometime
Everybody's gotta learn sometime
Everybody's gotta learn sometime


--bkl

[Parrcrow]

71. My Old Man by Steve Goodman n/t

[Ellen Forradalom]

72. Ry Cooder, "Paris, Texas."

I associate it strongly with a dear friend who has passed on.

[Dogmudgeon]

73. Daisy a Day

Certainly not a song for hipsters.

Daisy a Day

Billboard peak: #14 in 1973
Words and Music by Jud Strunk

He remembers the first time he met her
He remembers the first thing she said
He remembers the first time he held her
And the night that she came to his bed

He remembers her sweet way of saying
Honey has something gone wrong
He remembers the fun and the teasing
And the reason he wrote her this song

(Chorus)
I’ll give you a daisy a day, dear
I’ll give you a daisy a day
I’ll love you until the rivers run still
And the four winds we know blow away

They would walk down the street in the evening
And for years I would see them go by
And their love that was more than the clothes that they wore
Could be seen in the gleam of their eye

As a kid they would take me for candy
And I loved to go tagging along
We’d hold hands while we walked to the corner
And the old man would sing her his song

(Chorus)

Now he walks down the street in the evening
And he stops by the old candy store
And I somehow believe he’s believing
He’s holding her hand like before

For he feels all her love walking with him
And he smiles at the things she might say
Then the old man walks up to the hilltop
And gives her a daisy a day

(Chorus)


Nope, not even dark sunglasses will help with that one.

I think Jud also did the original version of "I Love ..." which was re-made as a speed metal beer anthem most of the world knows as " ... and TWEE-UNS!"

--bkl

[Dogmudgeon]

76. Is It Really Love At All?

Popular when dinosaurs ruled the Earth. Recently re-released on CD.

Andersen has been a folk-rock fixture for over 30 years now. I think he wrote this song around 1968.

--bkl



Is It Really Love At All?
Eric Andersen (©1971 Wind And Sand Music.)

Sitting here forgotten like / A book upon a shelf
No one there to turn the page / You’re left to read yourself
Alone to sit and wonder just / How the story ends
Cause no-one ever told you child / You gotta be your own best friend

Sunny days, cloudy days / Always seem the same
If love were made of clouds I / Almost wish that it would rain
Even when the skies are clear / The weather’s always blue
Every day would be nice if I had / Someone I could come home to

Love, (oh love,) is it really love at all?
Or (is it) something that I heard love called?
Something that I heard love called

Now life can sometimes slip away / And love can pass you by
If only it had been / Another place, another time
Maybe there’ll be someone who / Likes to see you smile
Who will want to stay with you / And be your friend for a little while

Then wake up in the morning / Feeling so alive
Something you can hold on to / Not a shadow by your side
I guess that there’ll be time to talk / Of things that we’ve been through
That special time when all is real / To feel reborn, when love is new

Love, (oh love,) is it really love at all?
Or (is it) something that I heard love called?
Something that I heard love called

Then sundown comes around again / You find yourself alone
Wander through a sea of eyes / But always on your own
Was it really all you thought that / It was supposed to be
Or are you just another face / In someone’s fading memory

Love, (oh love,) is it really love at all?
Or (is it) something that I heard love called?
Something that I heard love called


From Eric Andersen “Blue River” LP (Columbia Records 1972)
Eric Andersen Homepages: http://www.plump.com/plump/eric.htm http://www.execpc.com/%7Ehenkle/fbindex/a/ander_eric.html

[mykpart]

79. Somewhere Out There

from "An American Tail." And "Sunrise, Sunset" from "Fiddler on the Roof."

[HEyHEY]

82. shit I thought you meant by the Moody Blues

[ForrestGump]

80. "House On Pooh Corner," by Kenny Loggins

Well, it almost does, depending on how I'm feeling. Especially the (1994?) remake.

[Missy Vixen]

81. Believe it or not, the National Anthem

It makes me cry because I realize how utterly desolate I feel about how my country has changed in the past three and a half years. Of course, I am doing whatever I can so that the people around me don't see my tears...

The other song that never fails to get me crying (and has already been mentioned,) is "Abraham, Martin and John." The last time I heard it was right around the one year anniversary of Paul and Sheila Wellstone's death.

Yes, I still love the things they stood for.

Julie

[tkmorris]

83. After You're Gone- Iris DeMent

[non sociopath skin]

87. A lot of Iris's do that to me ...

... especially "Our Town"

And you know the sun's settin' fast,
And just like they say, nothing good ever lasts.
Well, go on now and kiss it goodbye,
But hold on to your lover,
'Cause your heart's bound to die.
Go on now and say goodbye to our town, to our town.
Can't you see the sun's settin' down on our town, on our town,
Goodnight.

Up the street beside that red neon light,
That's where I met my baby on one hot summer night.
He was the tender and I ordered a beer,
It's been forty years and I'm still sitting here.

But you know the sun's settin' fast,
And just like they say, nothing good ever lasts.
Well, go on now and kiss it goodbye,
But hold on to your lover,
'Cause your heart's bound to die.
Go on now and say goodbye to our town, to our town.
Can't you see the sun's settin' down on our town, on our town,
Goodnight.

It's here I had my babies and I had my first kiss.
I've walked down Main Street in the cold morning mist.
Over there is where I bought my first car.
It turned over once but then it never went far.

And I can see the sun's settin' fast,
And just like they say, nothing good ever lasts.
Well, go on now and kiss it goodbye,
But hold on to your lover,
'Cause your heart's bound to die.
Go on now and say goodbye to our town, to our town.
Can't you see the sun's settin' down on our town, on our town,
Goodnight.

I buried my Mama and I buried my Pa.
They sleep up the street beside that pretty brick wall.
I bring them flowers about every day,
but I just gotta cry when I think what they'd say.

If they could see how the sun's settin' fast,
And just like they say, nothing good ever lasts.
Well, go on now and kiss it goodbye,
But hold on to your lover,
'Cause your heart's bound to die.
Go on now and say goodbye to our town, to our town.
Can't you see the sun's settin' down on our town, on our town,
Goodnight.

Now I sit on the porch and watch the lightning-bugs fly.
But I can't see too good, I got tears in my eyes.
I'm leaving tomorrow but I don't wanna go.
I love you, my town, you'll always live in my soul.

But I can see the sun's settin' fast,
And just like they say, nothing good ever lasts.
Well, go on, I gotta kiss you goodbye,
But I'll hold to my lover,
'Cause my heart's 'bout to die.
Go on now and say goodbye to my town, to my town.
I can see the sun has gone down on my town, on my town,
Goodnight.
Goodnight.

[Delano]

84. "That's my Job" - by Conway Twitty

This one had me bawling the first time I really listened to it. And I'm not at all into country. I love "Dear God", but it doesn't get me weepy. More of an anger or resentment feeling, really.


"That's my Job" - by Conway Twitty

I woke up crying late at night
when I was very young.
I had dreamed my father
had passed away and gone.

My world revolved around him
I couldnt lay there anymore.
So I made my way down the mirrored hall
and tapped upon his door.

And I said "Daddy, I'm so afraid
how will I go on with you gone that way?
Don't wanna cry anymore
so may I stay with you?"

And he said "That's my job,
that's what I do.
Everything I do is because of you,
To keep you safe with me.
That's my job you see."

Later we barely got along
this teenage boy and he.
Most of the fights it seems
were over different dreams,
we each held for me.

He wanted knowledge and learning.
I wanted to fly out west.
Said, "I could make it out there
if I just had the fare.
I got half, will you loan me the rest?"

And I said "Daddy, I'm so afraid,
there's no guarantee in the plans
I've made and if I should fail,
who will pay my way back home?"

And he said "That's my job
that's what I do.
Everything I do is because of you
to keep you safe with me.
That's my job you see."

Every person carves his spot
and fills the hole with light.
And I pray someday I might
light as bright as he.

Woke up early one bright fall day
to spread the tragic news.
After all my travel, I settled down
within a mile or two.

I make my living with words and rhyme
and all this tragedy
Should go into my head and out instead
as bits of poetry.

But I say "Daddy, I'm so afraid,
how will I go on with you gone this way?
How can I come up with a song to say
I love you?"

That's my job, That's what I do
Everything I do is because of you
to keep you safe with me.
That's my job you see.
Everything I do is because of you
to keep you safe with me.

[RoyGBiv]

86. Travelin' Soldier -- Dixe Chicks n/t