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Thread: The saddest song ever

  1. #1
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    Hi everybody!

    The Chicago Tribune has run a few stories listing what various people have described as the saddest songs. #Here are links to some of the discussions:

    http://blogs.chicagotribune.com/news_co....s_.html

    http://www.chicagotribune.com/news....ont-hed

    Since I dug the murder song list, I thought I would throw this out to the rest of the mando community. #Here are my sad songs:

    500 miles (the campfire one, not The Proclaimers)
    Walk Away Renee (Left Banke, but Rickie Lee JOnes also does a pretty sad version)

    The saddest genre? #For me it has to be the mournful gypsy minor key dirge with extensive dolorous violin bringing everybody down.

    "Seasons In The Sun" which is listed in the Trib articles isn't even close...
    mikeo
    Forget with the cowbell, already...

  2. #2
    Unrepentant Dilettante Lee Callicutt's Avatar
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    "Cortez the Killer," by Neil Young.

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  4. #3

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    He's Coming to Us Dead...particularly given the times we live in and with Ron Thomason singing it.



    It's not that life is short, but that we waste so much of it.

    --Seneca (paraphrased)

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    I thought of another one: "Cry Me a River" (sung by Julie London)

    The link to the song "Chicken Wire" in the Trib article gets you to a website that plays the song. I hadn't heard it before, and it is pretty sad, but I can't believe it made number one.
    Forget with the cowbell, already...

  6. #5
    String-Bending Heretic mandocrucian's Avatar
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    "Lick My Love Pump" ....in D minor, the saddest of all keys

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    Registered User f5loar's Avatar
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    I turn to Monroe for sad songs and his 1952 "The Little Girl and the Dreadful Snake" ranks up there among the sadess he ever wrote. It was so sad even Monroe had to use a fake name when he wrote it. Sad,sad,sad what happened to that little girl after she got bit by that snake in the woods.

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  10. #7
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    "Down to Seeds and Stems Again Blues" by Commander Cody.

    Mike, for a great version of "Walk Away Rene," check out Jimmy LaFave on "Austin Skyline."

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  12. #8
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    Hey, "Lick my Love Pump" (The Spinal Tap version, I presume) IS pretty sad when Niles sings it. The stage lights go down way low, and he puts down that tiny guitar, and picks some grandmother in the front row to sing it to. He's crying by the end. To quote Levon Helm: "It would bring a tear to a glass eye"...
    Forget with the cowbell, already...

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    "I've Had Enough" by Kate McGarrigle


    Dena




  14. #10
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    f5loar: Is that snake one of those Freudian metaphors?
    Forget with the cowbell, already...

  15. #11
    Registered User John Flynn's Avatar
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    Well, I think I heard it tonight. I saw The Gordons in concert and they sang an original tune called "Follow Mother Home," about a person's inner thoughts after leaving thier mother's funeral. Maybe it was because I lost my Mom recently, but I got tore up hearing that tune tonight. I do think it was the saddest song I have ever heard. Here is a link to a clip of the tune on CDBaby, but I have to say it does not do the Gordons justice compared to hearing them live.
    http://cdbaby.com/mp3lofi/gordons6-09.m3u




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    "One Morning," Gillian Welch.

    Powerful sad.

  17. #13
    Ursus Mandolinus Fretbear's Avatar
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    "The Dreadful Girl and the Little Snake"
    (Frank Wakefield)
    But Amsterdam was always good for grieving
    And London never fails to leave me blue
    And Paris never was my kinda town
    So I walked around with the Ft. Worth Blues

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    "When the Last Leaves Fall" by Mackie Redd. Literally makes you cry to sing it.

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    Doesn't it involve Mama, prison, a train and a pickup truck?

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  21. #16
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    "Broken Butterflies," by Lucinda Williams, or "Over Yonder (Jonathan's Song)," by Steve Earle.

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  23. #17

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    Fred Eaglesmith's The Rocket always gets me, I always choke up a little on the last line. Powerful sad.
    Clyde Clevenger
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  25. #18
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    Monroe's "I'm Blue, I'm Lonesome" and the Stanley's (with Pee Wee Lambert) classic "The Lonesome River" are tied in my book. they pull the heart strings every time
    Wes
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  26. #19
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    "Here Comes the Bride"

  27. #20
    Iberian mandolin roberto's Avatar
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    -SWEETER THAN THE FLOWERS. The Stanley Brothers version, but any other is just as saddest.

    -BODY AND SOUL. Bill Monroe.

    -ALONE AND FORSAKEN. Hank Williams.
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    The saddest and most beautiful song I've ever heard is by a friend of mine called Dick Tracey. ( Yes, it is his real name). Its a song he wrote for his mother who died of Alzheimers. Its called The love you need. You can here it at his myspace site; it plays when you load the page.

    Its one of those songs that deserves to have been heard everywhere.

    Dick Tracey music

  29. #22
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    For me it's "In Tall Buildings" by John Hartford with a special mention for "The Moon Struck One" by The Band.

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  31. #23
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    Martyn Joseph, 'Carried in Sunlight'

    Kate Rusby, 'Who Will Sing Me Lullabies?'
    Simon.

    "Trust me, I speak with the utter confidence of someone who knows absolutely nothing about the subject."

    David Oddy Cello-Mandolin
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  32. #24
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    The saddest song I've heard on record is Dolly Parton's Mountain
    Angel. Unfortunately, it's so sad, and real, that I can't bear listening to it.

    Someday I will post a tune of mine, "Was that Life?", here. It has no lyrics,
    but it's really sad. For now the title will do.

  33. #25
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    For me, the saddest, most poignant songs would have to be:

    Eric Bogle: "And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda" from Scraps Of Paper
    Eric Bogle: "No Man's Land (Green Fields Of France)" sung by June Tabor
    Guy Clark: "Let Him Roll" - from Keepers
    Kate & Anna McGarrigle: "Jacques Et Gilles" from Matapedia

    Of course there are many more songs that move me this way!

    I first heard "And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda" in the early 80's and started to appreciate the skill of a good songsmith - before that I preferred listening to instrumental tunes - Irish, Scottish, Jazz, Classical, Folk etc.

    I'm still amazed at how profoundly, a good songwriter can affect emotions; wish I could do that!




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