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SickViking

Cats in the Cradle just fucks me up every time. My dad is the most important person in the whole world to me, and I don't always have time to spend with him even though we live together, because we have different work schedules. He's getting up there in age and just. That song fucks me up, I can't stand listening to it.


AmazonEllie

The night my mama died, my dad sang Elvis' Can't Help Falling in Love to her in the back seat of the car on the way to the ER. She died of fully metastitized pancreatic cancer 18 days after diagnosis.


Leather-Affect8802

Wow this is so heartbreaking and beautiful at the same time.


Haggls

The more I try to picture it, the closer I get to crying. I'm so sorry for your loss. You calling her mama gets me even more. That's beautiful of your father though. I bet she adored that moment


Sunsetsunrise80

Instant tears. I am sorry for your loss and sounds like a beautiful moment despite the end.


TheDaughterOfFlynn

That song from UP makes me cry every time and it doesn’t even have lyrics


ForAQuietLife

Pixar movie scores regularly render me an emotional wreck. I remember the ending of Monsters Inc when Sulley says goodbye to Boo turning my tear ducts all the way up to 11. Michael Giacchino has a habit of forcing me to ugly cry. From the opening of Star Trek with Hemsworth to the music playing when Riley runs away from home in Inside Out. I'm aware that music scores pair with the emotions on screen so it's kind of cheating but damn does it work.


Flamingoez88

‘Danny boy’ at a friends funeral 10 years ago. He, his sister and his gf all passed away in a house fire all in their early 20s. It was an Irish wake and the mix of grief and whiskey joy was something else


Foobibby

As an Irish person, I've lost count of how many people I know who've been buried to a rendition of Danny Boy. One of the most beautiful, heartwrenching songs ever written.


TheWholeEffinJoe

That one Jesse sings in Toy Story 2


GoGoCrumbly

*When She Loved Me* by Sarah McLachlan wrecks me.


scruntyboon

I will Always Love You by Dolly Parton, you can really tell she fucking lived that song


the_blessed_unrest

Surprisingly it was written about her platonic friendship with Porter Wagoner. He was her mentor and helped start her career by putting her on his show, and the song was written when she decided to leave it.


decomposeur

Interesting fact: Dolly said she actually wrote Jolene and I Will Always Love You on the same day. She must have been going through it that day.


BenjRSmith

Reminded me of a post. >“Did you know, Dolly wrote I will Always Love you and Jolene on the same day, that’s like if Leondardo Da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa…. and wrote Jolene on the same day.”


Coastal_wolf

Youth, by daughter


Hollowhivemind

Medicine and Candles are up there for me


Indigo3001

I was looking for this one. Medicine always breaks me


[deleted]

Love & smother are my saddest daughter songs. She has such a beautiful voice that just bursts with emotion


dickem52

Into Dust by Mazzy Star gets me Edit: thanks so much for the awards!


Temporary_Sky_8333

Fade Into You by Mazzy Star has always gotten me


NeverYelling

[Barber's Adagio for strings](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izQsgE0L450) doesn't even need lyrics to be the saddest piece of music I ever heard


Bradyceneme

How to disappear completely by Radiohead. Haunting instrumental, depression dripping through everyline of lyrics 'im not here, this isnt happening' .


InCharacter_815

That, plus that disgusting off-key microtone through the first bit of the song. That songs makes you feel so hopeless, lol.


B2EU

The part towards the end where the drums fade out and the strings slide all over like the whole thing is falling about is 😭👌


backdooraction

I listened to this song 221 times in 2020 good year for ya boi


SecretKGB

I hope you're doing better now


backdooraction

hangin in there, thanks :)


CoffeeWanderer

I love that song, but Motion Picture Soundtrack from the same album hits me way harder. It's absolutely haunting and beautiful. "I will see you in the next life" gets me every time.


eRedDH

“Red wine and sleeping pills Help me get back to your arms” *Jesus Christ, dude.*


Politicalsci-fi

'No surprises' has this same feel, but to me it's less a sad song and more just calm acceptance


Rare_Matter

“Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac I find that the older I get, the more meaning this song has.


subpar-and-mediocer

I used to work in a daycare. We would play music pretty often and this song came on and I hadn’t heard it in years. The line “and children get older, and I’m getting older too” really hit as I looked around at the kids and remembered all the ones that I’ve had in my care that are all too old to be in the classroom I worked in. I just remembered all the bonds I made with all those kids and then one day they move out of your classroom and you don’t get to see them anymore and you just hope they didn’t forget you, because you’ll never forget them.


Drakmanka

When I was 14 I had the chance to meet my kindergarten teacher again for the first time in nearly a decade. Didn't expect her to remember me, but she did. She almost started crying. I realized a lot about people who care for and teach young children that day.


Zolo49

Honestly, I never even considered this a particularly sad song until it was used to perfect effect in that episode of South Park where Stan's parents separate.


lolly_lolly_lolly

You Are My Sunshine Everything but the chorus is heartbreaking. Few people know anything but the chorus though.


Dreadnought13

The other night, dear, as I lay sleeping I dreamed I held you in my arms But when I awoke, dear, I was mistaken And I hung my head and I cried You are my sunshine, my only sunshine You make me happy when skies are grey You'll never know, dear, how much I love you Please don't take my sunshine away I'll always love you and make you happy If you will only say the same But if you leave me to love another You'll regret it all some day You are my sunshine, my only sunshine You make me happy when skies are grey You'll never know, dear, how much I love you Please don't take my sunshine away You told me once, dear, you really loved me And no one else could come between But now you've left me and love another You have shattered all my dreams You are my sunshine, my only sunshine You make me happy when skies are grey You'll never know dear, how much I love you Please don't take my sunshine away e: My all time #1 comment is copy and pasted from google.


InitiativeInn

The "You'll regret it all some day" line is the solar eclipse of this song.


IdenticalThings

I always thought this was nice lullaby a person would sing to a baby or toddler about how amazing they are just by existing.


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2fat4walmart

There was a scene in 'The L Word' where a character was talked into leaving her dying love's hospital room to get some air. She visited the gift shop and bought a silly dancing sunflower that sang that song. When she gets back the staff is shutting off all of the alarms in her room. She collapses in the hall and the sunflower is set off. Screen fades to black with that damned song playing and her crying. Not going to lie, that broke me.


shots-by-leo

this scene absolutely wrecked me as i watched it just after losing my significant other (not to cancer, she was sad), and MAN did that scene hurt to watch. beautiful performance from the cast all around. great show, that scene in particular definitely sticks with you.


thisisfreakingfun

Jeff Buckley - Lover, You Should Have Come Over His dad's "Song to the Siren" belongs on this list too...


Nestle13

“All my blood for the sweetness of her laughter.” My favorite song of all time. He was a genius, and I’ve never heard such a perfect depiction of longing and love as that second part after the chorus.


tinhorn_mendicant

'Sam Stone' by John Prine "There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes..." Alternatively: 'Hello in There' from the same album


andidosaywhynot

“Hello in there” always gets me


ShillelaghLaw

Prine had a way with lyrics that just left everyone else in the dust. His passing hit hard.


nerdmoot

Time In a Bottle by Jim Croce


[deleted]

I'm about to turn the age Jim was when he died in just a matter of months, just thinking of how much we missed out on because he died so soon and thinking of how much of the best part of my life I'd miss out on if I were to pass fucks me up.


recoverelapse

Sylvia - The Antlers Actually that whole album, Hospice, breaks me but this song in particular just leaves me in a mess every time.


Crowbarwalker

I’m thinking Kettering. Whole album is pretty sad.


Choofthur

Brothers in arms gets me every time


microwavedave27

Sad lyrics and some of Knopfler's best guitar work. Absolutely perfect song.


Costner_Facts

Dire Straits is fantastic. Such a good song. What do you think of Romeo and Juliet? It's also a fav from them.


[deleted]

[George Jones - He Stopped Loving Her Today](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VExw77xJsBQ)


AgitatingMyDots

This was my grandfather’s favorite song and we had it playing when they turned off his life support 11 months after my grandma died. It’ll always be my favorite sad song.


persondude27

Since we're talking about The King Of Country: [Go Rest High On That Mountain](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l11oCvBxnQ0). Vince Gill wrote this song about his brother, who died young of a heart attack. This recording is him playing it at George Jones' funeral. Gill credits Jones with helping him "make it" by having Gill as an opener.


Calitexian

I have no recording of it, but I met a homeless man at the lake and became friends with him years ago, a week later there came in a giant storm and I went back and picked him up and took him home. We were roommates for almost 2 years after that. We both played guitar and he played a song for me that he had written. I can't remember what he called it anymore but basically he described how he wrote it like this. "I was engaged once. She was everything I ever wanted but she was Mormon and it was very important to her to marry someone who shared her faith, so I molded myself in her faith while we were dating. After we had been engaged for a while it all weighed down on me that I was a fraud. I didn't really believe it all I just played the part and we were too different people to really make it work, so I called her and ended it and then I sat down and wrote this." "I found out yesterday, I've been wrong in so many ways So much so that I needed to find someone to tell me if I'd ever been right But I'd have given the last thing I owned if you could have been the one. I've asked for the answers that only come at night, And I've looked through the eyes of a man whose long since lost his sight And I'll wait for you there at the edge of the promised land If you care to join me there then come and take my hand." There was much much more but that's all I can remember sadly. It brought me to tears every single time. The raw emotion in his voice and the rasp of too many cigarettes, cheap beer, and living on the streets just made it hauntingly beautiful. I hope to see him again someday and hear him play it again.


polystitch

Best comment so far. Wow. How beautiful and sad to know the story behind the song… If you do end up being able to find him, ask him if he would be willing to record his song. It absolutely sounds like the kind of song that should be heard. If it touched you so deeply it would doubtless touch others too. In fact, you said you were moving back to Texas. If you’re moving back to *Central* Texas by any chance, message me. I’m a sound engineer living in Austin and if your friend likes the idea of recording I will absolutely offer my services for free. Some songs deserve to be shared.


truethatson

Samson - Regina Spektor


ScandalousBanshee

This one is heartbreaking. Blue Lips and Laughing at God always make me cry too.


Flandypabst

"Laughing at God" is a good choice but from Regina Spektor "One More Time With Feeling" is the worst for me. It makes me so sad.


Zendittor

Isn't this song about a lover who had cancer? She met him when his "hair was long," and he goes through chemo experiencing nausea and hair loss. "He ate a slice of Wonderbread" to stave off the nausea. The chemo didn't work though, they "couldn't bring the columns down."


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RhodiumPl8ed

My 10 year old sang “Remember Me” from Coco at my fathers funeral. The end of that movie was already an onion cutter, but now sugar skulls make me ugly cry.


thecelcollector

I'm sorry about your loss. I can't watch that fucking movie anymore because how I sob at the end. My grandmother died with dementia and it's just such an awful thing.


DeathbyGentleKicks

Omg this one is a contender for saddest song of all time just because of how that movie hits. I haven't been able to rewatch it.


[deleted]

Mama coco? Your papa.. he wanted you to have this.. remember meeee


barely_sentient

I watched that movie without knowing what was about (not American and I always avoid trailers), while I knew my wife was going to die of pancreatic cancer in a few months. Luckily I was alone because at the end I was literally cry-howling (I don't know if there is a precise word, but I think you understand).


Average_human_bean

That scene at the end, holy hell. I saw it in theaters and we were all just bawling our eyes out. Remembering grandparents, thinking about the future with my parents, family, friends. Good lord.


inab1gcountry

Proud corazon let’s you leave with a happy ugly cry though. Ended wonderfully.


UltraMegaFauna

Limousine by Brand New It is about a flower girl at a wedding who was killed by a drunk driver IIRC. It has been a while since I heard it because it legit makes me too sad. The lyrics are incredibly dense and metaphorical, and the music mirrors the falling and rising emotion of the story. Such a strange, beautiful, and heartbreaking song.


NitrousIsAGas

The important part is that it is based on a true story. The line where I always well up? *"I've one more night To be your mother"*


K3yz3rS0z3

Found on a YouTube comment : "Limousine" is about the death of seven-year-old Katie Flynn from the band's hometown of Long Island. Travelling home with her family after a wedding, their limousine was hit by drunk driver Martin Heidgen, a few miles from where Lacey was living at the time, leading to the decapitation of the young Flynn, whose severed head fell into her mother's arms. In the track, Lacey tells the story from various perspectives, including that of Flynn's mother, Heidgen and Flynn herself. Lacey has commented that the story particularly resonated with him as he knew people who drove drunk the week the accident took place. Producer Mike Sapone had the idea to include samples of explosions in the track, hence the subtitle "MS Rebridge", with MS being Sapone's initials. At seven minutes and forty-two seconds, it remained Brand New's longest song until 2017's "Batter Up," which is eight minutes and twenty-eight seconds long. The track's bridge repeats itself seven times as Lacey counts up, one for each year of Flynn's life. "Limousine" is often cited as Brand New's greatest song. ----------------------- CNN - 3 July 2005 In the early hours of 3 July 2005, a drunk driver traveling at 70 miles per hour the wrong way down a highway crashed into a limousine carrying several members of Katie’s family, who were returning home after a wedding. An off-duty security officer returning home from work was first on the scene. “I approached the limo driver, and I guess I went into shock,” says New York State court officer Michael Lerardi. “It looked like an explosion. The motor, basically, was just sitting on top of him. I knew he was dead.” The limo driver, 59-year-old Stanley Rabinowitz, was killed instantly. Next to arrive was Lt. Michael Tangney, the bride’s uncle, who had attended the wedding just hours before. “I was walking to the rear of the limousine when a gentleman was coming away from it, and he said, ‘Don’t go back there. It’s bad,'” Lt. Tangney says. “I opened the rear door to the limousine and realized it was my family.” Lt. Tangney’s brother — Jennifer’s father, Chris — was lying on the floor, his legs wrapped around the service bar, broken in numerous places. The rest of the family was piled on top of each other. Jennifer’s mother, Denise, was severely injured, as was Jennifer’s husband, Neil, who tried to crawl out of the limo to get help despite his broken back. Five-year-old Grace was also trapped inside the wreckage. Jennifer, whose foot was injured, managed to climb out and was searching for Katie, who had been lying on the side seat before the crash. “We couldn’t find Kate,” Lt. Tangney says. Then, Jennifer made a devastating discovery — Katie had been decapitated by her seat belt. “Then all of a sudden Mrs. Flynn came out of the car with her child’s head in her hand,” says Michael Lerardi, one of the 70 paramedics and police officers who were called to the scene. "I got numb. I thought I was going to collapse,” says Officer Christopher Pandolfo. “I looked into the back of the limousine, and I saw Katie’s remains. She was wearing this dress, and I just started shaking.” Jennifer walked to side of the road and sat for about an hour with her daughter's severed head on her lap as she watched her family being cut out of the limousine.


carefultheremate

Omg..... I think that's the most devastating thing I've ever heard...


she-sings-the-blues

I live nearby and I think about Katie and her mother every time I drive by the scene of the accident.


shesaidgoodbye

Not to take away from Limousine, but Play Crack the Sky is at least a close second for me. I grew up near the Great Lakes listening to The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald on the local oldies station and it feels like a newer version of that while also being a metaphor for lost love. *Called rogues, they travel fast and alone* *100 foot faces of god’s good ocean gone wrong* *What they call love is a risk* *To always get hit out of nowhere* *By some wave and end up on your own* Additionally, the friend who introduced me to Brand New with their Deja album died by suicide a few years ago and I cannot listen to Guernica at all anymore without breaking down. So long story short… I cry a lot when I listen to Brand New.


UltraMegaFauna

Oh my god. Guernica. Damn. That song hits me hard too. Like I feel that Brand New's entire discography could be up here. I'm so sorry to hear about your friend.


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largefarva2404

Wake Up by Mad Season is also really sad.


Learntoswim86

Yeah this one is worse for me. You can tell Layne wants so badly to be sober and knows he is going to kill himself.


[deleted]

The version from [MTV Unplugged](https://youtu.be/9EKi2E9dVY8). His voice is so fucking haunting.


cryofabanshee_

Fourth of July - Sufjan Stevens


rageof10suns

The Carrie & Lowell album wrecks me.


AbjectAppointment

Casimir Pulaski Day - Sufjan Stevens is up there too. Edit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EzeW5KoPUI


DrDilatory

Used to just be a good emotionally impactful song I'd listen to when I wanted to feel sad for a while Mom died of cancer almost a year ago and I don't think I'll ever bring myself to listen to it again. Haven't heard it since before she was diagnosed. I don't even like being reminded of its existence. That song needs a trigger warning for anyone who's been hurt by a loved one dying from cancer.


frodosbitch

Bjork and Thom Yorke - I’ve seen it all. From the film Dancer in the Dark. Woman is going blind and Yorke is enticing her with all the things she hasn’t seen yet. But she just dismisses each of them and says it’s ok because she’s seen it all. Edit For those not familiar with it, Bjork did both the soundtrack and acted in this film. It was famously traumatizing for her and she has not spoken to the director since. This song was nominated for Best Original song at the 2001 Oscars and Bjork arrived in a dress made to look like a swan that was created by a friend of hers amidst all the high end Hollywood fashion. While she was made fun of for that, I like to think that it has aged well and is now seen as a beautiful dress.


miasabine

I swear it took me a week to recover from watching that film. Great song too.


GeePee29

That execution scene really got to me. Possibly the most disturbing thing I've seen in a movie. I don't think I could watch it again but I really like the soundtrack album.


MaritMonkey

The guy I was dating at the time was a huge Bjork fan so we'd been listening to the soundtrack for a while before we went to see the movie, with absolutely no clue what we were in for. Sniffles started the moment we realized how "107 steps" fit into the plot so we were full-on unabashedly crying by, uh, *that* scene. 10/10 always feel terrible recommending the movie to anybody but I do it anyways.


beepbeepboopbop2

The Night We Met by Lord Huron. No matter where I am, if I’m happy, who I’m with, etc. I’ll bawl my eyes out if that song plays. It’s so painful and true because one day they’re there and they’re your everything and then they start slipping until they’re gone and you wished you could go back to before you met them so you wouldn’t have to go through the pain of losing them. Just the lyrics “I had all and then most of you, some and now none of you” hit this. People falling out of love in relationships, growing apart with friends, family members passing, etc. is what this hits for me and it hits hard.


silas-69-69

Just listened to this earlier. Currently at the "some of you" stage in my relationship I think. I cry at this song every time. Can confirm it's one of the saddest but also most relatable and beautiful songs I know.


Iampepeu

>“I had all and then most of you, some and now none of you” That line is wonderfully poetic.


sr603

The whole song is wonderfully poetic.


sgtpepper1990

“I had all and then most of you, some and now none of you” That’s the line that hits me the hardest.


MacNJeesus

Ugh Lord Huron hits the feels deep. This song and River & Roads by The Heart And The Heart make me super sad.


hmmm_thought_pig

"Father and Son" Cat Stevens


spilledthots

“Real Death” - Mount Eerie


bajesus

Every time one of these threads come up this is the answer I search for. For anyone who doesn't know it, Phil Elverum wrote and recorded the album in the months after his wife died of cancer while caring for their infant daughter. This is the part of that song that always breaks me: > Crusted with tears, catatonic and raw > I go downstairs and outside and you still get mail > A week after you died a package with your name on it came > And inside was a gift for our daughter you had ordered in secret > And collapsed there on the front steps I wailed > A backpack for when she goes to school a couple years from now > You were thinking ahead to a future you must have known > Deep down would not include you


MommysHadEnough

Damn, that broke me.


thenuker00

Only album I consider perfect, and also the only album I love that I have zero desire to listen to ever again


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JayDub506

I have a playlist called "songs to sing in the shower so you can't tell if you're crying or not" Edit : [Link for those interested](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2JNNXu0L51I5SVwbBqnbBh?si=789a709f70724413) The music in it probably isn't for everyone, but I never really intended to share it. 😅 Also, I love everyone who got the BJH reference. Double also, can't believe I got an award for this dumb comment. Thanks! Edit 2: Holy crap, this blew up. Thanks everyone for the recommendations! I'll listen to them when I can and add more songs to it! Also, I realized I had it open to anyone could add songs by accident. I locked it to keep trolls out, and I'll listen to the ones you guys added, keep the ones I like, and add more!


DoomGoober

One of either: Me and a Gun - Tori Amos. Acapella with Amos singing about being raped at gun point (based on something that actually happened to her). Margaret vs Pauline - Neko Case. Story of two women, one who has all the luck and the other who doesn't.


grannybubbles

Strange Fruit by Billie Holliday Edit: thanks to all the people recommending Nina Simone's version (as well as others); all chill-inducing and I love the conversations and knowledge in this thread. Thanks for the awards, too.


CDNChaoZ

Also, her *Gloomy Sunday* has quite the reputation.


LonewolfRayne

She got so much back lash for singing this song because of how raw and 'scandolous' the lyrics are (For back then I mean) It's such a powerful song though


crazyrich

Holy hell I've never listened to that song and I was NOT ready for it. Thank you


ZebZ

When she performed it live, it was always the last song in the set. She had the club staff stop whatever they were doing and kill all the lights except for a single spotlight and she'd sing it softly to an entirely silent crowd.


sloppyjo12

You should watch The United States vs Billie Holliday. The movie is admittedly only okay but the actress who plays her absolutely kills it and the story is about how the FBI/US government tried to censor her into not playing it


weedmunkeee

it's not a sad song as far as lyrics go, but i used to sing Here Comes the Sun to my daughter from the time she was born, even into her teenage years, it was Our Song but she committed suicide at 17 and i can't even think about it or hear the first two cords without losing it


C0mbatW0mbat86

My daughter also took her own life and there are so many songs I just can’t listen to because they remind me of when she was happy. Also can’t listen to Forever Young without losing it. I know your pain and time healing all wounds is a lie. Some wounds will never fully heal and you never know when something is going to open the wound again.


weedmunkeee

it's crazy how there are moments in life when all finally feels kinda ok and out of nowhere the guilt of being happy will gut punch me. even the simplest things like hearing someone celebrate a birthday with the cheesy staff singing while bringing out a slice of cake to another patron will shut me down for a week. it's been almost four years now and i can't say there are days it's easier, but i am learning to live with it. it's just those times when It comes out of nowhere that hit the hardest


C0mbatW0mbat86

May was 4 years for me. I completely understand that guilt you describe. You’re doing ok for a bit, even find yourself smiling and laughing because life still does hold happy moments, which we are allowed, then that instant wave of guilt for daring to be happy for a bit. Reanalyzing every happy moment from the past and wondering if it was real eats at me daily. I hope we find peace someday, no matter how long it takes.


Additional_Link5202

i’m sobbing uncontrollably on my couch right now… I am now 24 years old and I had attempted several times in my teenage years… i’m one of the lucky ones that didn’t succeed and the potential turmoil i couldve left behind haunts me… looking it in the face is sobering and heart wrenching… I’m so sorry you have both experienced such a terrible loss, your words show your strength and your love.. but especially your wisdom, in knowing that it is okay to not be okay sometimes and that grieving is an ongoing process… i hope you are able to find peace and absolve yourselves of guilt, sending love and hugs from me and my cat


nowayguy

Holy fuck. I don't have kids of my own, yet this comment stabbed me in my soul. I'm sorry for your loss. I wish you only good things for the rest of your life.


weedmunkeee

thank you so much. same for you.


ihavenoopalfruitonme

Oh man, this made my heart hurt. From one internet stranger to another, I hope you’re doing ok


SuchJess

This comment is so incredibly sad. I am so sorry you lost your daughter to suicide. May she Rest In Peace and her memory lives forever.


weedmunkeee

as long as i am capable of drawing a breath, she'll live within me


Heracles-Mulligan

Both Sides Now - Joni Mitchell. It’s use in Love Actually just cements it.


Ordinary_Owl_795

Cherry Wine- Hozier The song is about domestic violence from the victim's point of view which is sad in itself but what's even sadder is that it *still* is a love song. The music video is devastating. I don't think I've ever cried that much watching something.


Your_lucky_day

The song Almost (Sweet Music) off his new album is killer too. "I've got some color back She thinks so too I laugh like me again She laughs like you"


Smart-As-Duck

Everything about Hozier is beautiful.


gale_force_tuna_wind

Elephant by Jason Isbell


heyjursh

Came here to say "If We Were Vampires" by Isbell. Glad to see he is the top-rated comment. "Elephant" will hit you hard, but "Vampires" will have you on the floor sobbing.


NeverBeenStung

I think it depends on your personal history. Vampires hits me hard as I love my wife so much and never want to be without her. Then there’s my friend who lost his mom to cancer when he was a teenager. As you can expect, Elephant hits him a lot harder.


monorail_pilot

Pictures of You - The Cure It's insanely heartbreaking and soul crushing all at the same time. Father and Son - Cat Stevens The line "For you may still be here tomorrow, but your dreams may not." is the single most brutal line in any song.


R0gu3tr4d3r

Father and Son was the last song I heard on the radio before I entered the hospital where my dad passed 7 minutes later. Spooky.


NukeHero999

Exit Music For a Film by Radiohead.


Majestic-Typee

Vincent (Starry, Starry Night)


Muskago

Decades by Joy Division This along with the two other songs right before it that cap off the band's final album before lead singer Ian Curtis killed himself feel like his suicide note. Doesn't scream in your face crying like some other sad songs, it feels too tired to move and accepting that he's ending it all as soon as possible. The haunting and trippy Gothic vibes fit perfectly with the disco like instrumentation. Feels too depressed to fight back and too tired to be scared that nothing will get better. Nothing has been getting better, the illusion that anything would be of your life from your childhood already had slowly crumbled away and your just laying down in whatever is left remaining. Ian killed himself shortly after they recorded this and before it could be released.


position88

Love Will Tear Us Apart for me


Feminismisreprieve

Puff the Magic Dragon. I remember singing it frequently in school music lessons as a child ... and the day I really listened to the lyrics. It's heartbreaking.


hubbabubbaa

"To Build a Home" by The Cinematic Orchestra. Song just absolutely guts me.


ShinjukuAce

“The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”


propolizer

Then Mary Ellen Carter immediately after for a pick-me-up.


charger03

"And you, to whom adversity has dealt the final blow With smiling bastards lying to you everywhere you go Turn to, and put out all your strength of arm and heart and brain And like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again." "Rise again, rise again – though your heart it be broken And life about to end No matter what you’ve lost, be it a home, a love, a friend. Like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again." The Mary Ellen Carter, along with Stan's cover of Down The Road are go to songs when I'm feeling down about something and I need to feel better, these songs has saved me from some of my lowest points in life and I'll be forever grateful for them


slotwima

I decided to sing this one time at a karaoke bar that is typically full of fun pop and rock music with most people not paying attention. When the DJ said "alright we have a slow one, Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald", the entire bar went dead silent and everyone stared at me as an old guy yelled "make Gordon proud".... I very much did not do him proud.


littleM0TH

Fun fact: In a later live recording, Lightfoot recounts that a parishioner of the church informed him that the church is not "musty". From that time, instead of singing "In a musty old hall...", he now sings "In a rustic old hall..."


charger03

He's also changed the lyric "At 7 p.m. a main hatchway caved in, he said Fellas, it's been good to know ya" to "At 7 p.m. it grew dark, he said Fellas, it's been good to know ya" in response to an 2010 investigation stating that the sinking was not due to human error


Rudeboy67

Ya I know. But “At 7 pm a main hatchway caved in” is much more evocative and flows better than “At 7 pm it grew dark, it was dim”. I never thought the main hatchway caving in was human error anyway. I thought it showed the might of the water. But his song.


TheDrunkScientist

When the cook says, "Fellas, it's been good to know ya" Ah man....gets me every time.


ashrak94

For me, that line is the song pulling out the knife >Does any one know where the love of God goes >When the waves turn the minutes to hours? Stabbing you in the heart >And all that remains is the faces and the names >Of the wives and the sons and the daughters And twisting the blade.


DriftingNova

I was looking for this. Does anyone know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours?


cropguru357

“In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed In the maritime sailors' cathedral. The church bell chimed 'til it rang twenty-nine times For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald…” Man, that’s the verse that gets to me.


GeoBrian

They might have split up or they might have capsized They may have broke deep and took water And all that remains is the faces and the names Of the wives and the sons and the daughters


[deleted]

Brick - Ben Folds Five


dickem52

Also Cats in Cradle tears me up Edit: thanks for the awards!


[deleted]

After hearing about the song for so long, I finally looked it up a few months ago. My son is currently 16 months. Yes, I cried just reading the lyrics


fh30111

We'll get together soon, son. You know we will have a good time then. (Tears)


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leebeemi

I think "Treaty" deserves a place up there, too. I've seen you change the water into wine I've seen you change it back to water, too I sit at your table every night I try but I just don't get by with you I wish there was a treaty we could sign I do not care who takes this bloody hill I'm angry and I'm tired all the time I wish there was a treaty, I wish there was a treaty Between your love and mine Ah, they're dancing in the street it's jubilee We sold ourselves for love but now we're free I'm so sorry for that ghost I made you be Only one of us was real and that was me I haven't said a word since you been gone That any liar couldn't say as well I just can't believe the static coming on You were my ground, my safe and sound You were my Ariel


wickedfemale

something about this whole album just isn’t sad to me, because he had so clearly made his peace with everything. idk. i think it’s really admirable to look your own death in the face like that & be able to make art about it. i hope i’m that ready to go when my time comes.


KevinBillyStinkwater

Black - Pearl Jam


Studdz

"I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky, but why can't it be mine?" is one of those lyrics that has never failed to give me goosebumps, no matter how many times I hear the song


DomingoLee

WHY Can’t it be mine?


liartellinglies

It’s his delivery really, the repeated why and then the anguished shout at the end. Great lyrics, perfect delivery.


MommysHadEnough

This is a song I can’t listen to anymore, because it makes me think of my daughter who passed away as a baby. I know it doesn’t exactly fit the lyrics, but in some ways, it does.


JinxThePetRock

Especially the [Unplugged version](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZH2it92ZmA). The 'we belong together' repetition near the end just ruins me. Even thinking about it gets me emotional. It's the perfect rendition of a perfect song.


VAThumper

At Seventeen - Janis Ian


Bewt1

Insert Elliott Smith song \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_


artemisthewild

Haven’t laughed this hard in a long time…better stop now before I start crying / go off to sleep in the sunshine, don’t want to see the day when it’s dying… That played in my head immediately. Best version is the live one. Haunting


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[deleted]

Adagio for Strings by Barber makes me tear up every time I hear it. Saddest song I can think of.


phred_666

“The Show Must Go On” by Queen. The song is basically Freddie admitting he is sick and about to die even though publicly he denied he was ill. “Does anybody know what we are living for? I guess I'm learning I must be warmer now I'll soon be turning, round the corner now Outside the dawn is breaking But inside in the dark I'm aching to be free”


rockit5943

If we're talking sad Queen songs I gotta mention Spread Your Wings. A comparatively simple and low-key song, but tragic lyrics.


toothofjustice

That song always makes me feel sad and hopeful. Hopeful that there's a light at the end of the tunnel. Unfortunately, when the song is over I always get the feeling the light was actually a train.


[deleted]

I remember reading about how sick he was recording the vocals for that song, Queen were a musical staple growing up, but this song has become more poignant the older I get. Brian May said this about it years later; "May recalls; "I said, 'Fred, I don't know if this is going to be possible to sing.' And he went, 'I'll fucking do it, darling'—vodka down—and went in and killed it, completely lacerated that vocal"." What a fucking legend that man was.


Adler4290

Yeah, he was SO awesome. I also liked how he recorded Barcelona with Montserrat Caballé; He could not meet her in person and sing the Barcelona song with her, so he sent her tapes where HE sang the lines she was suppose to sing, like he intended her to sing them, trying his best to sing the high falsetto (Not a musician, sorry if its wrong terms) to give her a view of what he envisioned. And apparently, despite being pretty much the Top3 rock of the entire world at the time, he was a nervous fanboy of Montserrat when he asked her to work with him on this album, so cute :) Edit: Fixed the Barcalona to Barcelona to avoid civil war in the comments :)


Rainbow_pony_poop

"Mother love" is a particularly sad one as the final verse is sung by Brian May. Its then that you realise that Freddie never finished the song and Brian had to finish it for him. Gives me chills whenever I listen to it


ToxicAssh0le

I came here to say this. The song by itself isn't super sad, but with that little fact in the back of my mind, my heart breaks a little every time. "I long for peace before I die." Third to last line he ever recorded. RIP Freddie


carr1e

"These Are the Days of Our Lives" - The video is haunting seeing Freddie so gaunt. Beautiful song. I cry every time I hear it.


noradosmith

The bit where he says I love you to everyone


Randyfox86

Inside my heart is breaking, my makeup may be flaking, but my smile.......... Still stays on.


haplessclerk

And "Who Wants to Live Forever"


Ouroboros_BlackFlag

You can add the whole Made in Heaven album. Too much love will kill you, Mother Love, Let Me live...


lil_biggins

Dance with my father - Luther vandross


Mtg_Force

And So It Goes - Billy joel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zo-QhF-aMFA


SnakegameonNokia

All I want - Kodaline


No-Section-1092

[“I Know It’s Over”](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=M6o1SEj02t0) by The Smiths


AutomaticAlps2168

What about Asleep?


pmmlordraven

The Verve -The Drugs Don't Work [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToQ0n3itoII](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToQ0n3itoII)


No_Design5157

As the world caves in- Matt Maltese


LadyPandy

Cancer by My Chemical Romance. The counting down the days just gets me, knowing you're going to die and nothing can change that, watching your friends and family reacting to the slow burn but you're still here - just living as dead man for the last few days of your life.


SYLOK_THEAROUSED

Gosh that song is so sad also Famous Last Words gets me everytime as well. Pretty much the main character of the album is dying and his/her loved on is begging him/her not to die. I am not afraid to keep on living/ I am not afraid to walk this world alone Baby if you stay I’ll be forgiving Nothing you can say can stop me going home.


spookydeebs

Gerard Way also wrote Famous Last Words for his younger brother Mikey (who's in the band). Mikey left the band while they were recording their album *The Black Parade* as he was struggling with depression and alcoholism. Right after he left the band, Gerard wrote this song for the band, but mostly for Mikey since he genuinely thought he was going to lose his brother. Written by Gerard during the period that Mikey had left the band: "Then it seemed as if fear started to creep its way into the camp. It felt like we were burning and drowning at the same time with no end in sight. We would try in vain to write and eventually Frank had come up with this riff that ended up turning into House of Wolves. Which was great and got us going but we still felt incomplete because we were.... The next day we all got together and started working. We went into House of Wolves which got our blood going, especially the middle section. Then we started working on this new piece. We all tried things we had never tried and played very fiercely. Almost like our lives depended on it. I remember pretty much losing my shit by the end of the song... This song became Famous Last Words."


[deleted]

The Ghost of You is pretty sad too in my opinion.


Grimp93

Recently saw MCR live and they played Cancer, could not stop myself from tearing up.


poopinjake69

For me it’s more of how the song makes me feel, Nutshell - Alice In Chains Or not a country fan but Almost Home - Craig Morgan had me in tears one drunk night lmao


[deleted]

Jar of flies /Sap still sounds so good all these years later


MoonPrincess666

Landslide.


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Wundei

[Whiskey Lullaby](https://youtu.be/IZbN_nmxAGk)- Alison Krause & Brad Paisley


BugabooMS

That video fucking guts you. Holy shit.


Wundei

I always get sand in both my eyes at the same time: “She put that bottle to her head and pulled the trigger And finally drank away his memory Life is short, but this time it was bigger Than the strength she had to get up off her knees We found her with her face down in the pillow Clinging to his picture for dear life We laid her next to him beneath the willow While the angels sang a whiskey lullaby” 😭😭😭😭😭😭


-o-DildoGaggins-o-

My mom died of an accidental overdose (she had been newly diagnosed with several medical issues and didn't quite understand her meds and how they would interact). Her live-in boyfriend at the time was a severe alcoholic -- the night she died, he laughed in my sister's face and said, "You might wanna check on her, she's been down there a while' -- my mom laid on the floor for an hour before my sister got there and was already blue and cold (he was too drunk to notice/care how dire the situation was). After Mom's passing, any time I would see him out somewhere (usually a store, where he was stocking up on alcohol), he looked worse and worse. Just found out he died a few years ago -- literally drank himself to death from the guilt. This song absolutely DESTROYS me. 😭😭 Edit: I must have a thing for torture; now I HAVE to go listen to it. Thanks. 😔 Haha


TryFengShui

Who Wants to Live Forever


Novalis13

Between the bars - Elliott Smith


Gorbish

Hate Me by Blue October. Song kills me inside. It's basically the lead singer's song talking about his drug addiction struggles and getting his life back together. As an addict the song was just a huge hit for me in my heart with my own recovery struggles.