What do you think is the saddest song ever?

Song for Lennon's then five-year-old son - very sad to listen to, especially right after he was killed but still sad to this day.

 

One of my most sad to listen to-and beautiful:

"Goodbye" from Steve Earl as covered by Emmylou Harris.

Now that I'm at it since she's on my mind:

"Red Dirt Girl", "Michelangelo", and "Bang the Drum Slowly"-all from Emmylou's Red Dirt Girl LP. Yes, she excels at sad but beautiful songs.

I also concur with
Beautiful Boy by Lennon
Empty Garden by Elton John

And I'm must plain scared to listen to Van Zandts "Marie" after all the comments I've seen!

 

The album 21 by Adele hit me pretty hard. Listened to it while going through separation and divorce. The entire album centered on fighting and separation and it really floored me with each listen.

The other two that immediately came to mind were Better Man and also Love the One You're With.

 

Hank Williams - "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry"

Hank's plaintive voice and the sparse instrumentation bring the song's title to life.

 

"A Little Bit of Abuse" by The Kinks

 

Someone just reposted this "long lost" bit:

 

I hate myself for tearing up every time at Red Sovine's "Roses for Mama." Such a cheesy, ridiculous song...that hits me right in the feels...

 

When I was a young lad Terry Jacks, Seasons in the Sun made me pretty sad.
Tanya Tucker's What's Your Mommas Name
Bobbi Gentry, Tallahassee Bridge

 

Pearl Jam - Black
Pearl Jam - I Got Id
Ozzy - See You On The Other Side
Coldplay - The Scientist
The Rolling Stones - Almost Hear You Sigh

 

Two with a similar theme:

Casimir Pulaski Day - Sufjan Stevens
Elephant - Jason Isbell

the album Hospice by The Antlers is pretty heartbreaking as well.

 

And here's another decimating one. This guy's so lost and empty it just crushes me and brings back that horrible day:



I don't know how singers can detach themselves enough to get through something like that without losing it.

 

"The Hungry Years" Neil Sedaka.

"Just wearyin for you" Paul Robeson.

 

"Alabama" by John Coltrane. It's about the KKK bombing of a black church in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963 that killed four young girls.

 

Nina Simone's cover of "I Think It's Going To Rain Today" is my choice. But it's one damn sad song no matter who sings it.

 

Man, whenever I hear that first verse, I immediately imagine Sean hearing that first verse, which I'm sure he has at some point, and ye gods, talk about painful.

 

'Forever Autumn' Justin Haywood
Still one of my favorite voices in rock.

 

"Tean Angel" - Mark Dinning

Teen angel, teen angel, teen angel, ooh, ooh
That fateful night the car was stalled
upon the railroad track
I pulled you out and we were safe
but you went running back
Teen angel, can you hear me
Teen angel, can you see me
Are you somewhere up above
And I am still your own true love
What was it you were looking for
that took your life that night
They said they found my high school ring
clutched in your fingers tight
Teen angel, can you hear me
Teen angel, can you see me
Are you somewhere up above
And I am still your own true love
Just sweet sixteen, and now you're gone
They've taken you away.
I'll never kiss your lips again
They buried you today
Teen angel, can you hear me
Teen angel, can you see me
Are you somewhere up above
And I am still your own true love
Teen angel, teen angel, answer me, please

 

Martha

 

Back when I got my first am radio my local station played "Patches" by Clarence Carter a whole bunch. The angst was unbearable for my five year old mind.

I was born and raised down in Alabama
On a farm way back up in the woods
I was so ragged that folks used to call me Patches
Papa used to tease me about it
'Cause deep down inside he was hurt
'Cause he'd done all he could

My papa was a great old man
I can see him with a shovel in his hands, see
Education he never had
He did wonders when the times got bad
The little money from the crops he raised
Barely paid the bills we made

For, life had kick him down to the ground
When he tried to get up
Life would kick him back down
One day Papa called me to his dyin' bed
Put his hands on my shoulders
And in his tears he said

He said, Patches
I'm dependin' on you, son
To pull the family through
My son, it's all left up to you

Two days later Papa passed away, and
I became a man that day
So I told Mama I was gonna quit school, but
She said that was Daddy's strictest rule

So ev'ry mornin' 'fore I went to school
I fed the chickens and I chopped wood too
Sometimes I felt that I couldn't go on
I wanted to leave, just run away from home
But I would remember what my daddy said
With tears in his eyes on his dyin' bed

He said, Patches
I'm dependin' on you, son
I tried to do my best
It's up to you to do the rest

Then one day a strong rain came
And washed all the crops away
And at the age of 13 I thought
I was carryin' the weight of the
Whole world on my shoulders
And you know, Mama knew
What I was goin' through, 'cause

Ev'ry day I had to work the fields
'Cause that's the only way we got our meals
You see, I was the oldest of the family
And ev'rybody else depended on me
Ev'ry night I heard my Mama pray
Lord, give him the strength to face another day

So years have passed and all the kids are grown
The angels took Mama to a brand new home
Lord knows, people, I shedded tears
But my daddy's voice kept me through the years

Sing
Patches, I'm dependin' on you, son
To pull the family through
My son, it's all left up to you

Oh, I can still hear Papa's voice sayin'
Patches, I'm dependin' on you, son
I've tried to do my best
It's up to you to do the rest

I can still hear Papa, what he said
Patches...

 

"Well here I sit, all alone with a broken heart,
I took three bennies, and my semi-truck won;'t start"

 

You may think this is typical '60s British melodic pop, but it packs a wallop:

 

Check out this dude crooooonin'... he's practically cryin' and so will you:

 

"Last Kiss" - J. Frank Wilson



Oh, where oh, where could my baby be?
The Lord took her away from me
She's gone to heaven, so I got to be good
So I can see my baby when I leave this world

We were out on a date in my daddy's car
We hadn't driven very far
There in the road straight up ahead
A car was stalled the engine was dead
I couldn't stop, so I swerved to the right
I'll never forget the sound that night
The cryin' tires the busting glass
The painful scream that I heard last

Oh, where oh, where could my baby be?
The Lord took her away from me
She's gone to heaven, so I got to be good
So I can see my baby when I leave this world

When I woke up the rain was pouring down
There were people standing all around
Something warm running in my eyes
But I found my baby somehow that night.

I raised her head she smiled and said
"Hold me darling for a little while"

I held her close, I kissed her our last kiss
I found the love that I knew I have missed
Well, now she's gone even though I hold her tight
I lost the love of my life that night

Oh, where oh where could my baby be?
The Lord took her away from me
She's gone to heaven, so I got to be good
So I can see my baby when I leave this world