Saddest songs ever

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

I'm thinking of those songs that leave you with a bleak feeling of hopelessness, but are so good aesthetically that you just keep coming back to them. Here's some of mine:

John Prine, "Sam Stone": War, drugs and suicide all in one package.

The Kinks, "Did You See His Name?": The fast and punchy style provides an ironic contrast to the pathetic story it tells.

Tom Waits, "Whistle Down the Wind": Waits has a ton of sad songs, but this one, about realizing you've wasted your life and there's nothing you can do about it, hits hardest.

Pink Floyd, "Time": The whole of Dark Side is depressing, but this song is the darkest of all. Thematically similar to the Waits song, BTW.

Jethro Tull, "Wond'ring Again": A big topic (environmental degradation) is tackled with great poignancy ("the last pigeon" is a very sad moment).

Bert Jansch, "Needle of Death": Extremely sad song about drug-induced suicide.

What are your favorite super sad songs?

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

Karma Police: Radiohead. I always identify with this song.

I like this song too, but I find it sinister and quirky rather than sad and bleak.

[KevinP]

I came here to say 'Sam Stone' but it was the first one mentioned.

I would, however, go with Swamp Dogg's 1972 version. (There's also a live version with Prine and Dogg together.)

https://youtu.be/CWD2Re6SsUU?si=W_v5vKzk0mVuRjaF


I want to say these are some of the most powerful lyrics I've ever heard, but I don't see any point in the 'some of'.

(Swamp Dogg made his first in 1954, under a different name, and he's still going, having released a new album this year.)

A friend of mine and I have been working on a cover of Sam Stone, which we'll release freely on YouTube to support mental health of combat vets.

[hopefullytrusting]

Billie Holiday's Strange Fruit

[71 dB]

I can't think of any super sad songs.  Perhaps I just prefer upbeat music?

[Papy Oli]

Three that spring to mind and usually hit hard:

Charles Aznavour - Hier Encore

Mike Scott - Wonderful Disguise

Tim Hardin - How can we hang on to a dream

[Karl Henning]

Everything that comes to mind strikes me somehow more as cathartic than sad, though maybe that's splitting hairs. In spite of its erstwhile ubiquity, REM's "Everybody Hurts," and Zappa's "Advance Romance."

[Szykneij]

Tim Hardin - How can we hang on to a dream

Yes. Very affective song by an under-appreciated artist.

The Beatles' "She's Leaving Home" hits me with sad empathy for both parents and child.

[Mandryka]

Bob Dylan's Dream.

[AnotherSpin]

My Heart's in the Highlands - Arvo Pärt

[Spotted Horses]

Billie Holiday's Strange Fruit

A haunting performance, although Billy Holiday didn't write the song. God Bless the Child, by Holiday, strikes me as just as sad.

I was going to suggest Dock of the Bay, by Otis Redding.

[KevinP]

The funny thing is, if you wanted to write a happy song, or an angry song, you could. But if you decide you wanted to write a sad song, all you're going to get is a mawkish or maudlin song.

The songs that really are sad, like those mentioned here, started not with the decision to be sad but with a message to convey.

And when you get down to it, that's how any song should begin.

[T. D.]

Tom Waits, A Soldier's Things Youtube

David Bowie, Five Years Youtube I think this became somewhat of a theme song for Extinction Rebellion.

[71 dB]

REM's "Everybody Hurts," ...

That is a very sad song indeed, but I don't listen to that kind of music (I'm not a REM fan)

[Szykneij]

A song with a truly sad back story is Glen Campbell's "I'm Not Gonna Miss You", written and recorded as he knew his intensifying Alzheimer symptoms would soon erase what he could still remember.

https://genius.com/Glen-campbell-im-not-gonna-miss-you-lyrics

[Irons]

"The mere mention of your name turns a flicker to a flame"

Etta James: Misty Blue.

https://youtu.be/fuo2KXZPQ2E?si=WqV8ByO9GlAMMuwr

[Luke]

That is a very sad song indeed, but I don't listen to that kind of music (I'm not a REM fan)

I am an REM fan (not something I've ever mentioned here, but I am, enormously so) and to me EH is a song of consolation and comfort - you are not alone, Michael Stipe sings, putting an arm around you. Really, a purely sad song is atypical of REM, as their lyrics are usually more ambiguous and subtly shaded. There's almost always something positive or some acceptance, at least, as eg in The Wrong Child: 'I'm not supposed to be like this but it's ok.'

For truly, gloriously morose songs my own go-tos are American Music Club/the solo work of their lead singer Mark Eitzel, and the first album by Tindersticks.

[Iota]

Tindersticks.

Some of my favourite morose songsters. Agree with what you say about REM too.

[Karl Henning]

[Luke]

Some of my favourite morose songsters. Agree with what you say about REM too.

A fellow Tindersticks fan! They're one of those bands I obsess about - despite their best work being in their first three albums, i.e. up to about 97 I think, I still buy everything they put out. It's never what it once was but I don't give up hope! Saw them v.early on, October 93, in a tiny venue and have been fanatical for those early records ever since they began to come out.