What do you think is the saddest song ever?

Rocket Man by Pearls Before Swine. Always find this song sad... and beautiful.

 

"Suicide Dad" by Vinnie Peculiar isn't exactly a bundle of laughs

"The Raven ..." by Steven Wilson actually caused dust to irritate my eyes (especially when I saw him play it live).

 

Little lamb dragonfly with Paul McCartney. Poor lamb.

 

Songs about dying - Emma by Hot Chocolate, The Last Song by Elton.

I also find My Immortal by Evanescence and Need You Now by Lady Antebellum sad for different reasons

 

Bugler........The Byrds gets me every time..

 

Joy Division—Love Will Tear Us Apart.

 

John Dowland: Flow My Tears:

 

Rosanne Cash: Black Cadillac:

 

Can t name one song as the saddest. However one master of delivering bitter-sweet sadness was the late, great Willy Deville. One example is this beatiful song-Gypsy deck of heart

 

Bob - Red River Shore

Some of us turn off the lights and we live
With the moonlight shooting by
Some of us scare ourselves to death in the dark
To be where the angels fly
Pretty maids all in a row lined up
Outside my cabin door
I've never wanted any of them wanting me
Except the girl from the Red River Shore

[Verse 2]
Well, I sat by her side and for a while I tried
To make that girl my wife
She gave me her best advice and she said
Go home and lead a quiet life
Well, I been to the east and I been to the west
And I been out where the black winds roar
Somehow though I never did get that far
With the girl from the Red River Shore

[Verse 3]
Well, I knew when I first laid eyes on her
I could never be free
One look at her and I knew right away
She should always be with me
Well, the dream dried up a long time ago
Don't know where it is anymore
True to life, true to me
Was the girl from the Red River Shore

[Verse 4]
Well, I'm wearing the cloak of misery
And I've tasted jilted love
And the frozen smile upon my face
Fits me like a glove
Well, I can't escape from those memories
Of the one that I'll always adore
All those nights, when I lay in the arms
Of the girl from the Red River Shore

[Verse 5]
Well, we're living in the shadows of a fading past
Trapped in the fires of time
I'd tried not to ever hurt anybody
And to stay out of a life of crime
And when it's all been said and done
I never did know the score
One more day is another day away
From the girl from the Red River Shore

[Verse 6]
Well, I'm a stranger here in a strange land
But I know this is where I belong
I'll ramble and gamble for the one I love
And the hills will give me a song
Though nothing looks familiar to me
I know I've stayed here before
Once, a thousand nights ago
With the girl from the Red River Shore

[Verse 7]
Well, I went back to see about her once
Went back to straighten it out
Everybody that I talked to had seen us there
Said they didn't know who I was talking about
Well, the sun went down on me a long time ago
I had to go back from the door
I wish I could have spent every hour of my life
With the girl from the Red River Shore

[Verse 8]
Now I heard of a guy who lived a long time ago
A man full of sorrow and strife
That if someone around him died and was dead
He knew how to bring 'em on back to life
Well, I don't know what kind of language he used
Or if they do that kind of thing anymore
Sometimes I think nobody saw me here at all
Except the girl from the Red River Shore

 

"I Can't Live If Livin' is Without You" written by Pete Ham and Tom Evans originally recorded by Badfinger for their album No Dice 1970
I can't decide which version get more deeply the the root of the pitifulness of this song.
"Without You" became a hit single after being covered by Nilsson for his album Nilsson Schmilsson 1971

 

Mike + The Mechanics -"The Living Years"

Huge hit at the time of my father's passing.

 

I could spend forever thinking about this but two things immediately spring to mind (and I haven't read through the previous posts so apologies if these have already been done to death..):

1. Jellyfish - The Man I Used To Be. For personal reasons I just can't get through this one without an emotional trauma or two.

2. Not a 'song' as such but the concluding part of The Ballad Of Bill Hubbard by Roger Waters, particularly the version on his In The Flesh live album as it is much higher in the overall mix. It is a profoundly moving piece of work anyway but I think the bit that affects me more than anything else is the very last part: "When was it that you saw his name on the memorial?" "Ah, when I was eighty-seven, that would be the year, nineteen... eighty-four, nineteen eighty-four." It's because you are reminded immediately that the owner of the voice, Alf Razzel, must now be dead along with all those who fought and struggled in WWI (on all sides - I make no distinction). - For me, when hearing it in the context of all the music that proceeds it (either on Amused To Death or on Disc 2 of In The Flesh), this is the most powerfully moving recorded moment of the many thousands that I own...

 

the kanye west/paul McCartney collaboration, of course.

 

There are too many sad songs for me to decide, but the saddest album, by far, has to be Lou Reed's Berlin.

If you can listen to that record without wanting to open a vein, you must be wearing long floppy shoes and a big red nose.

 

The River -Bruce S.

 

"No Expectations" by the Rolling Stones

 

John Cale's Music For A New Society contains some of the bleakest and most uplifting songs I've heard on one record but 'If you Were Still Around' is almost unbearably beautiful and sad. Truly humanizing.

 

Ticking-Elton John

 

Yep, I was hesitant to touch on that, as it is sooo heartbreaking, yet truly apropos to the subject of the thread. Thanx

 

"Hit 'Em Up Style (Oops!)" by Blu Cantrell.

When I think about what a huge hit this was, I weep for all of humanity.