Someone I know occasionally complains about my obsessive love for sad songs (as if that’s a bad thing?). ha! So what if I love what some refer to as depressing music? Sad songs allow us to express all kinds of human emotions: love, fear, grief, hope, desire, dreams, heartache, etc. What other type of songs can depict so much? In a way sad songs make me feel good. I know that probably sounds strange but maybe sometimes I need to feel a little down to feel up. Maybe there should be a little sadness now and then to make us notice and appreciate the happy times. Whatever the case, the list below includes some of my favorite "cheerless" songs. And, sorry Emily. No shake your booty music here. ;-)
Number 1 sad song
I Can’t Make You Love Me by Bonnie Raitt
Anyone who has ever loved and not been loved in return can painfully relate to this song.
Number 1 sad instrumental song
Midnight Cowboy Theme by John Barry
Maybe it's just the movie that makes this song seem so sad but whenever I hear it, it takes me back to Midnight Cowboy and the tragic characters of Joe Buck (Jon Voight) and his dying friend "Ratso" (Dustin Hoffman). They're finally escaping their dismal life in New York City by taking a long bus journey together to Florida. Ratso never makes it and when Joe notices his dear friend has died in his seat next to him he places his arm protectively around him and numbly stares out the window as row after row of palm trees go by. Haunting and heartbreaking.
To listen to some of the songs below, click here: http://whippoorwillsinging.blogspot.com/p/nancys-music-room.html)
These Eyes, Guess Who
Easy to Be Hard, Three Dog Night
Pieces of April, Three Dog Night
Hallelujah, Jeff Buckley
Lover You Should Have Come Over, Jeff Buckley
Mother, John Lennon
Hurt, Johnny Cash (Nine Inch Nails cover)
Mad World, Gary Jules
Drive, The Cars
Fast Car, Tracy Chapman
I Taught Myself How to Grow Old, Ryan Adams
Unplayed Piano, Damien Rice and Lisa Hannigan
At Seventeen, Janice Ian
Birds, Neil Young (short, sad and sweet)
Colorblind, Counting Crows
Hard to Be, David Bazan
If It's The Beaches, The Avett Brothers
Whimper and Wail, The Wheel
I Feel Too Young To Die, South San Gabriel
Late for the Sky, Jackson Browne
Same Old Lang Syne, Dan Fogelberg
Black, Pearl Jam
Wild Horses, Rolling Stones
Fade Into You, Mazzy Star
Streets of Philadelphia, Bruce Springsteen
Philadelphia, Neil Young
Wise Up, Aimee Mann
Five Days in May, Blue Rodeo
I Can’t Tell You Why, Eagles
I See A Darkness, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy
Beware of Darkness, George Harrison
Song for the Magpie, Sea Wolf
Flirted With You All My Life, Vic Chestnut
Crack A Smile, Jeff Tweedy
Who Will, Will Stratton
Headlong, The Frames
Take Me As I Am, Miles of Wire
A Slow Parade, AA Bondy
Famous Flower of Manhattan, The Avett Brothers
Everything Is Okay, The Everybodyfields
Impossible Germany, Wilco
How to Fight Loneliness, Wilco
The Lonely One, Wilco (Jeff Tweedy with Jay Bennett)
The Funeral, Serena Ryder & The Beauties (Band of Horses Cover)
Get Out Get Out Get Out, Jason Molina
[insert any song], Elliott Smith
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