The saddest song I've ever heard?
Townes van Zandt pretty much cornered the market on unbelievably sad songs, and of them, Marie has to be the saddest: "Maybe me and Marie can find a burnt out van, do a little settling down".... He even covered sad songs, like for instance Old Shep.
Here's Hank Snow's 1959 version of Old Shep:
Or how about Dublin Blues by Guy Clark?
I wish I was in Austin
In the Chili Parlour Bar
Drinkin' Mad Dog Margaritas
And not carin' where you are
But here I sit in Dublin
Just rollin' cigarettes
Holdin' back and chokin' back
The shakes with every breath
Chorus
Forgive me all my anger
Forgive me all my faults
There's no need to forgive me
For thinkin' what I thought
I loved you from the git go
I'll love you till I die
I loved you on the Spanish steps
The day you said goodbye
I am just a poor boy
Work's my middle name
If money was a reason
I would not be the same
I'll stand up and be counted
I'll face up to the truth
I'll walk away from trouble
But I can't walk away from you
I have been to Fort Worth
I have been to Spain
I have been to proud
To come in out of the rain
I have seen the David
I've seen the Mona Lisa too
I have heard Doc Watson
Play Columbus Stockade Blues
Here's Jackie DeShannon singing the Merle Travis coal mining dirge Dark as a Dungeon. Now that's a sad, sad song.
What's the saddest song you know?
12 comments:
'Choices' by the great George Jones - a real weeper. George sings of regrets, drinkin' and missin' shows
I've had choices since the day I was born
there were voices
that told me right from wrong if I had listened
no I wouldn't be here today
living and dying
with the choices I've made
I was tempted by an early age I found I liked drinkin
oh and I never turned it down
there were loved ones
but I turned them all away now
I'm living and dying
with the choices I've made
I've had choices since the day I was born there were voices
that told me right from wrong
if I had listened no I wouldnt be here today
living and dying with the
choices I've made
What a coincidence, today I listed to an old folk song and I srted crying...by the Thompsons. I was gonna post it eventually.
But I think of sad songs... The Supremes have a couple of songs that really wipe me out.
"2000 miles" by The Pretenders.
"Last Kiss" by C.C. Riders.
"Teddy Bear" by Red Sovine
"Cats In The Cradle" by Harry Chapin
"Taxi" by Chapin
"Can't Find A Better Man" by Pearl Jam
"Superstar" by the Carpenters
"No Woman No Cry" by Bob Marley
"Cleaning Out The Closet" by Eminem
"Atlantic City" by Bruce Springsteen
"Send In The Clown" by Sinatra or Judy Collins
"Hurt" Nine Inch Nails
"Walk on By" Dionne Warwick
"With or Without You" by U2
"The Bodygaurd" Whitney Houston
"This Used To Be My Playground" by Madonna
"Vincent" Don McClean
"Two Cigarettes In An Ashtry" Patsy Cline
I have some others but can't think of them right now...
Kate, that's some sad song! George Jones lives the dream, so to speak. Like Mr. Van Zandt that way. It reminds me of that old country tune, Tonight the Bottle Let me Down by Merle Haggard.
hi Candy, I don't know all your choices...and I forgot all about Harry Chapin - his stuff is pretty gut-ripping, isn't it?
I like the Patsy Cline choice, sad indeed, but stylish at the same time.
I haven't heard Vincent in ages. It's in the same category as Old Shep in my books.
Years ago, at Wonderland, Tuffy and I were at a Van Morrison show, and he sang Send in the Clowns. Really oddball song choice for him. This is fun.
Have you seen the Maddin film "The Saddest Music In The World"?
Nope.
Eric Clapton's "Tears in Heaven" chokes me up every time I hear it.
Back in the day, we used to listen to Sneezy Waters and his Excellent Band, from Ottawa...he recorded a song called Sawdust on the Floor of your Heart, that had lyrics like:
I used to court you proudly
Without regret or shame
Now all the middle of the road bands in town
Know you by name
Your hard liquor drinkin
Is tearin us apart
Cause you got sawdust on the floor of your Heart.
Now that's sad...
"Picture" performed by Kid Rock and Cheryl Crow.
Also, there must be a hundred songs written by Dolly Parton, in fact the whitney Houston song I mentioned was written by her and Wagner.(I think it was him)H
ere is a trailer from Guy Maddin's film:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLqhJDKipKY
I think you would love this movie...
Sneezy Waters. His show 'Hank Williams: The Show he Never Gave' was amazing! Anyway, I have an autographed photo of Sneezy as 'Hank Williams'
And Merle Haggard - 'I'm a Lonesome Fugitive' - a classic.
Definitely see Guy Maddin's film 'The Saddest Music in the World'
This would seem to be a rather wide open type of question and a number of possible responses come to mind. i reckon it all depends upon which lens one chooses to consider the matter through. If it is subject matter as has thus far been the case, i would nominate a song like Nuclear War by Sun Ra. i mean, it is one thing if your baby leaves you and all the bars are shut down, but it seems another order of magnitude entirely when the whole planet is shut down for repairs.
That being said, the first song that popped into my mind was Boogie Woogie String Along For Real by Rahsaan Roland Kirk. i would happily copy out all the words to it, however, Mr. Kirk neglected to write any. It is not easy to explain how it is that an instrumental piece should first come to mind, for i do not associate it with an event from my past such as my baby leaving me and all the bars being shut. There is however, an associative element to it and that would be my familiarity with his work that came before and appreciation of his circumstances between recordings. As a horn player, Kirk had been a force of nature, able to play 3 wind instruments simultaneously. Blind from the age of 2, he suffered a stroke that would leave half his body paralyzed. Boogie Woogie String Along For Real was released about 1 year after the stroke. Kirk could no longer play more than 1 horn at a time and it would be the last recording he would make before another stroke claimed his short life. But man, what a recording. It was like he knew that there might not be another chance and he showed himself as he was, each note unfiltered. The song itself is testimony to the ability of the human spirit to prevail and that is also very much present in the playing.
Candy, thanks for the link. I'd love to see that film.
Vox, excellent choices. Along with Nuclear War, perhaps we could add the Mingus piece, Oh Lord don't let them drop that atomic bomb on me, to the mix.
I love Townes Van Zandt - especially "Waiting around to Die"
other songs that always make me cry are Nick Cave's The Ship Song and Radiohead's No Surprises. We played both those at Stephen's funeral.
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