this is the saddest song I’ve got

Posted on | 2 years, 8 months ago, mid-afternoon | 4 Comments

As my pal Caitlin mentioned over on her page, she and I got into a conversation about depressing music — and her recommendations have been posted for your reading pleasure. Or sorrow, as the case may be. I realize that creating a definitive list would be an exercise in futility that would lead to internet bickering through all the years to come; and I furthermore realize that some of the songs I’d choose aren’t necessarily regarded as Grade A tear-jerkers by all and sundry.

I shall consider it a personal challenge to avoid the obvious offenders (Smiths, Cure, Peter Murphy, Sisters of Mercy, Depeche Mode,* etc.). So here goes, my own humbly submitted suggestions for a Suicide Watch mix:


  • The Big Parade, by 10,000 Maniacs. An invalid (perhaps dying) woman sends her youngest son to the Vietnam memorial to deposit some of his dead older brother’s personal items. Sample lyric: He’ll go live his mother’s dream / join the slowest parade he’ll ever see / Her weight of sorrows carried long and carried far / “Take these, Tommy, to The Wall.”

  • Fancy, by Bobbie Gentry (originally). A poverty-stricken, terminally ill woman sells her teenage daughter into prostitution in the hopes that she’ll one day have a better life. Some people would argue that this one ends on a somewhat uplifting note, to which I say, “So what?” Sample lyric: It sounded like somebody else was talkin’ / askin’, “Momma what do I do?” / She said, “Just be nice to the gentlemen, Fancy / They’ll be nice to you.”

  • Over and Out, by Alkaline Trio. No, not my favorite band or anything, but this song is on the soundtrack to Underworld 3: Rise of the Lycans; and contextually it’s a sniffler — scenario after scenario of people dying, and leaving loved ones behind. Sample lyrics: “Over and out”, she said / From a hospital bed / “For what it’s worth / It doesn’t hurt, don’t cry…”

  • Tomorrow Wendy, by Concrete Blonde. A woman is dying (of AIDS, I believe), and a loved one struggles through the stages of grief. Sample lyrics: Underneath the chilly gray November sky / we can make believe that Kennedy is still alive and / we’re shooting for the moon and smiling Jackie’s driving by / but they say, “Good-bye. Tomorrow Wendy you’re going to die.”

  • Mad World, by Tears for Fears (originally). Mad props to the Gary Jules version of this song used in Donnie Darko; it’s got a crushing simplicity to it that is breathtaking if you’re in the right mood or if you’ve had a few drinks. Sample lyrics: And I find it kind of funny, I find it kind of sad / the dreams in which I’m dying are the best I’ve ever had / I find it hard to tell you ’cause I find it hard to take / When people run in circles it’s a very, very mad world …

  • Was It Something I Said, by OMD. A naked and strangely sweet song about someone grieving for a relationship that turned into nasty friends politicking and hard feelings. It’s not a song about death or the end of the world or anything, but there’s always been something about it that makes me a little maudlin. Sample lyrics: Don’t you come around here no more / don’t you waste my time / don’t you dare to phone me / don’t you even have me on your mind …

  • Super Heroes, from the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Because I’m a giant cheese-monkey, that’s why. If you’ve never heard this one that’s no surprise; it didn’t make it into the main release. But it’s easy to find if you’re curious. This song plays at the very end, as the castle is being beamed up into outer space. It’s a low-key, haunting, mournful little tune wherein Brad and Janet finally realize the extent of what’s been lost, and the cost that is yet to come. Sample Lyrics: I’ve done a lot / God knows I’ve tried / to find the truth / I’ve even lied / but all I know / is down inside / I’m bleeding … (see also, to a lesser extent, Once in Awhile.)

Okay, kids. That’s all I’ve got off the top of my head at the moment. Feel free to add your own suggestions or contributions in the comments, here or anyplace else. You never know. There could be somebody out there in desperate need of a downer. So have a good weekend, everyone! Or don’t. Whatever works best for you.


* What, me? Child of the 80s? Naw …

Category: misc

Comments

4 Responses to “this is the saddest song I’ve got”

  1. Patrick Rennie
    June 13th, 2009 @ 4:21 pm

    Okay, while I’ve never listened to any of those songs, I did get depressed just reading the descriptions. Good job!

  2. synde
    June 13th, 2009 @ 4:46 pm

    OMG I totally agree with you about super hero’s..but you forgot I’m going home also from RHPS.
    beware incoming cheese alert!

  3. Malcolm Tredinnick
    June 13th, 2009 @ 4:59 pm

    At the risk of providing a window into my extremely weird music collection…

    The first one that springs to mind is “Blind man in the bleachers”. Just search out the words on Google and read them, or view the first link that comes up for that on Youtube. Okay, a little unfair, since Country Music pretty much specialises in singing about tragedy, but there you have it.

    From the same genre, John Denver’s “Flying for me” is sad when you know the context: written as a memorial for Christa McAuliffe, the teacher, and the other astronauts who died in the Challenger Space Shuttle disaster. Aside from teachers, poets and singers were the other category considered for first civilian in space and Denver very much wanted to be selected. Heavens knows what he felt when it exploded early in the flight.

    Then I’d use The Corrs’ “Queen of Hollywood”. Hollywood wanna-be-star’s dream goes awry.

    Finally, not sure how you can pass through the 80′s without stopping at Spandau Ballet’s “Through the barricades”. Although maybe that isn’t strictly a sad song, but just an emotional one (when it was first released, I was living in West Berlin as an exchange student, so a song about a divided area and barricades resonated and has stuck with me over the intervening years).

    OK, thanks, that’s sucked the fun out of a nice afternoon. Off to listen to same overly happy music now.

  4. Eric
    June 13th, 2009 @ 11:03 pm

    A New York Minute – Don Henley
    Harry got up
    Dressed all in black
    Went down to the station
    And he never came back
    They found his clothing
    Scattered somewhere down the track
    And he wont be down on wall street
    In the morning
    He had a home
    The love of a girl
    But men get lost sometimes
    As years unfurl
    One day he crossed some line
    And he was too much in this world
    But I guess it doesnt matter anymore
    In a new york minute
    Everything can change
    In a new york minute
    Things can get pretty strange
    In a new york minute
    Everything can change

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