SING ME ONLY SAD SONGS
Okay, enough of this celebration. Back to doom, gloom & the long dark night of the soul. Just before Rosieís birth, I posted about a MOJO magazine feature comprising lists of the saddest songs ever within various core rock & roll & popular music genres. The categories were as follows: SAD SOUL, LONESOME COUNTRY, POP AGONY, WHINGER SONGWRITERS & INDIE MISERY. Three people responded & listed in Comments their own choices. Here they are, plus my own, including some added categories. All further contributions are canvassed. Previous compulsive listers are encouraged to add to the new categories.
[1.] Sam
- 50 per cent of Lefty Frizzell's oeuvre (the sad half; beats any Hank Williams any day)
- "Shiver me timbers" as sung by Tom Waits
- "Say it isn't so" as sung by Bobby Short
- "I'll never leave you" (first half) as sung by Harry Nilsson
- "Heaven" as sung by Jimmy Scott
- "What's new?" as sung by Linda Ronstadt
- "Lonely house," as sung (so painfully) by Betty Carter
- "September Song" as sung by Lou Reed
- Martial music: "Heart with no companion," Leonard Cohen
Oh--and what do you mean, "unless you're female"?? (I was working on the entirely reasonable assumption that only guys would see any point in wasting time producing anal lists. Iím delighted to see that I was wrong).
I have another much sadder song, the saddest song, that makes me burst into tears every time I hear even a snatch of it, but I can't remember the title and my HORRIBLE EX-HOUSEMATE STOLE MY CDs. (Same as it ever was.) I think Ray Charles was among those who performed it, although I did have it on an instrumental CD. Argh. I'll find it.
Found it (online)! (I have exclusive possession of your comment slot, apparently).
My personal number one saddest song: "Goodbye/We'll be together again" by Ray Charles, or anyone if it's performed slowly enough. I weep I wail I moan.
Oh--and "Wand'rin' star" as sung by Lee Marvin
Thanks for this topic. I'm feeling great, now. Smiling even.
mscandide
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[2.] Demian
SAD SOUL
- Al Green: So Tired of Being Alone
LONESOME COUNTRY
- (Boy) Hank Williams Snr: Alone & Forsaken / (Girl) Dolly Parton: Here You Come Again
POP AGONY
- Nick Cave (cover): By the Time I Get to Phoenix
WHINGER SONGWRITERS
- Bacharach: Make It Easy On Yourself
INDIE MISERY
- Half Man Half Biscuit: Dickie Davis Eyes
Demian
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[3.] Phil
SAD SOUL/POPAGONY
- Since I Fell For You - Lenny Welch
POP AGONY/BIG BAND DIVISION
- I Can't Get Started - Bunny Berigan
INDIE MISERY
- Memory Fades - Tears for Fears
phil
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[4.] Dick
POP AGONY
- Itís Over / Roy Orbison. Majestic. The closest pop music ever got to grand opera.
- Cry / Johnny Ray. Still an extraordinary piece of music 50 years on. A pop star with a hearing aid who could actually cry at will.
LONESOME COUNTRY
- The End of the World / Skeeter Davis. A calm, almost detached threnody to lost love, sung by an artless, teenage voice devoid of the histrionics that one normally demands of mainstream country.
- A Good Year for the Roses / George Jones. An Elvis Costello masterpiece ñ intelligent, adult & wrapped around a killer melody. And sung here by the giant of the genre.
- Hurt / Johnny Cash. An authentic masterpiece. A near-perfect piece of genre crossover, given enormous resonance by having been recorded so close to the singerís death.
SAD SOUL
- Please, Please, Please / James Brown. Gospel fervour throbbing with sexual frustration.
- The Tears of a Clown / Smokey Robinson & The Miracles. The supreme offering from ëAmericaís greatest poetí.
NEW CATEGORIES
HOW BLUE CAN YOU GET?
- Mean Old World / Little Walter. Tired, jaded but philosophical - the blues defined.
- The Thrill is Gone / B.B. King. When love diesÖ Lyric & melody perfectly matched.
- Fixiní to Die / Bukka White. A spine-chilling intimation of mortality.
UNPLUGGED
- Icarus / Nic Jones. Written by Anne Lister, a piece of sustained poetic narrative about love & risk.
- Le Petit Cheval / Georges Brassens. Sung by le chansonnier anarchiste, an absurdly moving kiddy song about a little white horse struck by lightning. (Trust meÖ)
- Boots of Spanish Leather / Bob Dylan. A brilliantly sustained long farewell to a lover who promises to return. Written for Dylanís New York girlfriend Susie Rotolo.
Dick.
Right. Get compilingÖ
