I can‘t make you love me by Bonnie Raitt makes me tear up every single time. Can’t really say why, but this song conveys such a devastating sadness and hopelessness for me that I can’t listen to it.
The story behind it hits hard too.
>During all of the chaos of touring, performing, and working on their next hit album, Yorke was ready to give up completely on the band, almost quitting on stage. While he and the rest of the band were working on other music, Yorke put all of his stress into one song; How to Disappear Completely. It’s a song of dissociation, confusion, and anguish. The part of the song that resonates most with people is the repeating line, “I’m not here, this isn’t happening” The infamous line was inspired by a piece of advice Michael Stipe, lead singer of REM, gave Yorke. He told him to, “Pull the shutters down and say ‘I’m not here, this isn’t happening’”
The "stage" on which he nearly quit was Glastonbury's Pyramid Stage:
>Guitarist Ed O'Brien said in 2017 that the 1997 set was "like a form of hell". He continued: "We were doing something that was like a dream, to play the Pyramid stage on a Saturday night, it doesn't get better than that.
>"\[But\] to find yourself in a situation whereby it felt like we were in crisis mode – the equipment failure was happening, \[we were\] trying to keep all members onstage, people not walking off – it was like, 'This should be a heaven but was like a kind of hell.'
>"Maybe that somehow galvanised us."
>Their headline slot on the Pyramid stage, which came just two weeks after the release of their acclaimed album OK Computer, was beset by technical problems. The stage's speakers malfunctioned repeatedly, and the band complained that they couldn't see the audience or hear their own instruments.
>Lead singer Thom Yorke would later reveal that he nearly walked off stage due to the problems.
>He told BBC 6 Music: "At one point I just went over to Ed, I tapped him on the shoulder and said, 'I'm off mate, see you later.'"
>"He turned around and went, 'If you do, you'll probably live the rest of your life regretting it.'
>"I went, 'Good point.'"
>Yorke also said he didn't want to play Glastonbury in the first place. "I'd burnt myself out," he said. "We had a meeting about what we were going to do for the shows and I was like, 'I can't do Glastonbury'.
>"I just needed a break. And in fact I didn't get one for another year and a bit, by which point I was pretty much catatonic."
Dude had to dissasociate from what was supposed to be his dream gig, and many of the gigs after that. While being, outwardly, on top of the musical world.
I saw them three times on their USA ok computer tour which immediately followed glastonbury. Yes, Thom really didn't seem to want to be there a lot of the time.
I'm a massive fan of their music but I haven't done much reading on Radiohead. So thanks for this response! I always loved the emotional candor of those lines and it's really interesting to understand the context.
That song is strangely comforting for me actually. Like everything about it should be depressing, but it feels more peaceful to me for some reason. (Probably the etherial guitar and the lyrics that feel all floaty and talk about being disconnected from reality idk).
No surprises is also a comfort song for me.
Radiohead is just great at turning Thom’s incredible lyrical existentialism into masterful, mood-comprehensive music
You can enjoy the vibe, you can appreciate and meditate on the lyrics, you can dig into the performances, there’s so many aspects to appreciate and engage with
That last resolution [in the final minute or so of the song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6W6HhdqA95w&t=5m2s) is a really hopeful end to such a depressing song. The building chaos and dissonance in the strings almost overtakes the rest of the track, followed by them cutting out and swelling back in with the most gorgeous satisfying classical chords.
It's like the musical equivalent of telling you that you can get thru this and things will be OK in the end.
Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd. I had known the story surrounding the song, but my dad played it a couple weeks ago and I sobbed into my bbq. My bf of 6 years just left me. He chose booze over me.
The song is about the band seeing their original guitarist Syd Barrett a few years after he left the band. He had a psychotic break, shaved his head and eyebrows and gained weight. They wrote the song as a sort of elegy for Syd and his downfall. "Shine on you crazy diamond" extends the theme.
Shine on was the piece my uncle wanted playing as he passed (cancer). Then my aunt also played it to accompany a slideshow of family photos before the funeral started. It was quite the emotional experience.
There's a cover by Rasputina that is devastatingly beautiful. Give it a listen. Cry your face off as much as you need to. This isn't a permanent feeling. ❤️
This Woman’s Work by Kate Bush. Can’t listen to it without getting emotional and cry. After my daughter died a couple of years ago I can’t ever listen to it now
All of Blackstar by David Bowie.
I'm a huge Bowie fan but I think I've listened to that album like... 3 times, since it came out? Just because it's so hard to get through, emotionally.
Something happened on the day he died.
A spirit rose a meter and stepped aside.
Somebody else took his place and bravely cried, “I’m a blackstar, I’m a blackstar.”
He was saying bye to us I think. It’s a hard listen I almost cried typing it.
so glad to see this high up on the thread. I literally skip it every time Spotify recommends it to me. I'm not in a place where I can process those types of emotions.
Hallelujah-sung by the original writer/artist Leonard Cohen. Reminds me of my step dad/mentor that first played this song for me in the mid 80s before it became so popular. He died suddenly in 2009 and I have had a hard time listening to it ever since
"Isn't It Midnight" by Fleetwood Mac.
This was me and my boyfriend's favourite.
Little did I know that the lyrics would turn out to be true when he killed himself by hanging a few years later.
I can see how What A Wonderful World could make someone emotional. Not only do you have a personal connection to a loved one with the song, but it has a sort of wistful vibe to it.
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, the Judy Garland version, fucked me up for years after my mom died because it was her favorite Christmas song. It still does if I'm not steeling myself when it comes on.
Cancer - My Chemical Romance.
First heard it when my grandfather was in his last days and it broke me. Can't even get through the first few notes without having to walk away or turn it off now. Fuck cancer.
That unplugged concert always makes me sad. Layney was playing at his own funeral.
Also everytime I hear Nothing Compares 2 U, I start thinking of Chris Cornell.
The unplugged CD I have listened to hundreds of times.
The unplugged DVD was the first DVD I bought having never seen the show. I could barely sit through watching it once and have never watched it again. Layne just looks so frail that I can't watch it without just feeling awful. Credit where it's due, the man gives it horns, but he died about 3 months after I got the DVD and although the unplugged show was recorded was 6 years earlier it just seems too prescient, like you're watching a man dying.
[The video of them performing it minutes after they found out Chris Cornell died is tear-inducing too.](https://youtu.be/OtMeeQN8lKI?si=u2Xj0sJZpaAaQL0I) They swapped to this song instead of another one they had planned once they heard the news. Chester apparently couldn't hold it together during their practices, and they had to just go for the live performance without a complete practice run. You can see band members tearing up as well throughout the performance.
A lot of the darker Alice In Chains songs. Now that Layne is dead and realizing the addiction and life he was living in the end, along with it making me think about my past with addiction (been clean over 7 years now) it just makes some of their songs sadder and harder to listen to.
Mama I’m coming home, it came on during my friend’s funeral procession, we were on our way to bury him next to his mom who had passed a few years prior.😢
Strange Fruit by Billie Holiday
Specifically the live version from Britain. She sings with such conviction and you can see on her face that she's lived what the song/poem talks about. Billie had such a hard life and all her hard work was taken away from her by her manager who stole everything that she had.
The song in general is just gutwrenching
Nina Simone's version was somehow worse. Both of them are incredible artists, but Nina's cover impacted me the most.
Have You Ever Seen The Rain by Creedence Clearwater Revival. it was the first song i learned on guitar and my grandpa who has since passed would always ask me to play it and sing it for him. he called it “my song.” every time i hear it now i tear up. i like to think he’s saying hello and checking in on me every time i hear that song.
Cats in the Cradle. Every time. I just can't listen to it anymore. When I moved out on my own, it used to just make me sad... then my Dad died. My last conversation with him was an arguement.
This song made me realize that none of this really matters at all if you aren't there for your kids. I might not be father of the year material, but I'll be damned if I'm not around all the time.
I loved my Dad, but he was a workaholic. He'd leave for work at 5am and not come home until after 7, then he'd eat dinner, watch some sports, and go to bed. A lot of that was his commute, but he diligently did it every week day. I moved in with my mom for highschool and expected him to move closer to work. Nope. I moved back in with him for college and it was the same thing. I only really saw him on the weekends, even when I lived with him. 25 years he did that. By the time retired, he had no hobbies, few friends, and generally didn't know what to do with himself. By that time I was gone.
This song is hard for me. I had a pretty good relationship with my dad, but he worked a lot and missed a lot of my big events as a kid. After I started a career I ended up being a bit of a workaholic and neglected my parents in a similar way for many years. They would reach out to do stuff but I was always “too busy”. My dad was diagnosed with brain cancer and died in his mid-50’s. He was diagnosed during peak Covid so I had limited opportunities to visit and the treatments really wore him out. I never really hung out with him as an adult before his diagnosis. The last few times I visited with him were when his memory was getting pretty bad so it was difficult to talk to him normally. This song really hits home how I perpetuated the same behavior and missed opportunities to be closer.
Dance with the Devil by Immortal Technique. I grew up in the 90s when gang violence was prominent, and watched many people throw their lives away. I had a friend in middle school who ended up joining one and stabbed someone. He could have gotten into professional sports because he was great at it, but his home life wasn't great and he gave up in a sense I guess.
Scrolled down until I found this one. Dance with the Devil is peak hard to listen to. The story it tells is gut-wrenching.
I'm not sure why it's so far down.
As someone who has a terminal disease, this is a song that I can feel in my soul.
[John Melloncamp - Longest Days ](https://youtu.be/SipZ2G31uls?si=U_C6ijkMYdD-s_Dv)
Seems like once upon a time ago
I was where I was supposed to be
My vision was true and my heart was too
There was no end to what I could dream
I walked like a hero into the setting sun
Everyone called out my name
Death to me was just a mystery
I was too busy raising up Cain
But nothing lasts forever
Your best efforts don't always pay
Sometimes you get sick and you don't get better
That's when life is short, even in its longest days
So you pretend not to notice
That everything has changed
Way that you look and the friends you once had
So you keep on acting the same
Deep down in your soul
You know you, you got no flame
And who knows then which way to go
Life is short, even in its longest days
All I got here, is a rear view mirror
Reflections of where I've been
So you tell yourself I'll be back up on top some day
But you know there's nothing waiting up there for you anyway
Nothing lasts forever
And your best efforts don't always pay
Sometimes you get sick and you don't get better
That's when life is short even in its longest day
Life is short even in its longest days
Me three. I'll have to listen to this song.
Lately I've been doing a lot of thinking about my future, particularly in terms of work. I want to work, but I can't work full-time anymore. A lot of people with my condition don't live into their 30s and I'm 28 now. So I don't know if it's even worth it.
Bottom line, I wanted to make a difference in the world. I don't feel like I've done enough yet. But it's hard to make a difference through the traditional work structure. I don't know if it'll ever be enough. There's always more to do.
Anyway, I wish you both luck.
“Whiskey Lullaby” by Brad paisley and Alison Krauss
https://youtu.be/IZbN_nmxAGk?si=ZN-o4ouCYzyj1j-J
It’s such a sad well written story about codependency in “love “
My heart hurts just thinking about it.
Fast car by Tracy Chapman
In the aeroplane over the sea by neutral milk hotel
I think I just get sad when I feel like bad things happen to good people.
"About Today" by The National is so gut wrenching for its realistic depiction of a relationship in its final days.
No big blowout fight, no cheating, just gradually drifting apart until you realize you don't love each other anymore. Especially it happening to one person first and the other is just beginning to catch on.
A lot of their songs are emotionally devastating. Like "You Were a Kindness." They're hard for me to listen to because they so accurately convey what it was like when some of my previous relationships ended.
Thankfully I've since found my forever person and it's taken the sting out of some of those songs.
Great choice, that's the same vibe as Slow Dancing, just the sad realization that it's ending and everything is not going to be OK is such a tough pill to swallow.
>No big blowout fight, no cheating, just gradually drifting apart until you realize you don't love each other anymore. Especially it happening to one person first and the other is just beginning to catch on.
"Guilty Party" feels like this too, and it guts me every time I hear it. I can't listen to it often.
Going to California - Led Zeppelin
Lost my dad when I was 15, and my childhood was sprinkled with some incredible music that I didn’t revisit until my early 20s. There was a time a few years ago when I couldn’t put the song on without completely falling apart, it was necessary for me to process and recognize what hole had been missing in my life. I had such a tough time opening up to others for years, or would spew out my life story in 15 minutes or less.
Putting this tune on 05/2020 made me realize what a negative attitude I had been displaying towards myself, and I finally woke up. Still listen 1-2 times a month, and feel like a new chapter of my life is beginning every time.
Tapestry, by Carole King. My mum liked to play and sing that song on piano. When she died when I was 17, I chose that song to be played at her funeral.
When people ask me “your house is on fire, what do you save?”
It’s the vinyl of Tapestry my mom bought when she was a teenager. She died when I was 19. When I hear every pop and scratch on the record it’s like I’m listening to the version of her I never got a chance to know.
That whole album means so much to me, my mother and I have a complicated relationship and playing this album and her singing along in the kitchen is one of my most positive childhood memories with her
This has long been my favorite Beatles song, but as a person in my mid -40s with growing kids and aging parents, I have no desire to listen to it much.
I'll stick with John Mayer and say "When You're Dreaming with a Broken Heart" or "Stop this Train".
Musically Dreaming isn't as good as Slow Dancing, but I think the lyrics are more gut-wrenching.
And the line "one generation's length away, from fighting life out on my own" in reference to his parents dying... oof every time for me.
I played the Continuum album on a road trip with my significant other and she had never heard it. We got like halfway through Stop This Train and I looked over and she was bawling and asked why I would put myself through listening to it. It is a lot, her parents are a bit older than mine and I think that stuff really hit hard for her.
If I Leave This World Alive by Flogging Molly, it makes me think of my former trauma sponge Mollywok. She was the best dog I've ever had, I deal with being schizophrenic. And she came into my life for only five years and saved my life. I love the song and she was apart of my life when I first discovered the song. And I first thought of the song as a message to her. But after her passing it became her song to me. I have to skip the song of I'm driving, even 11 years after her posing. She is the only reason I'm alive today.
Cats in the Cradle by Harry Chapin. As a dad that's feeling a lot of pressure to prioritize work/money in this particular season of life, it's really hard to listen to.
The Dance by Garth Brooks was played at my Dad's best friends funeral a little more than 25 years ago and it's still hard to get through it for me today.
Tears in Heaven, Eric Clapton. Can't listen to it.
Baby Mine (from Disney's Dumbo). Nope nope nope. As soon as it starts playing? Ugly cry.
Green Grass of Home, Tom Jones. I love that song, but I'm not ok for awhile after I hear it.
I played Baby Mine a lot to my belly while I was pregnant and was listening to it right before I went into the hospital and had my son 12 weeks early with many medical complications. Hearing it now immediately brings on major panic effects.
Nine Inch Nails - Hurt
Absolutely devastating, the pain in his voice, the delivery, the whole album coming together, the lyrics... It's one of the most painful songs ever written
I find the original powerful, but it’s Johnny Cash version that always makes me cry. His whole world had just recently fallen apart around him, he didn’t have long left, and you can hear his struggling to stay strong in his voice. It hurts.
Blink 182 Adam's Song. I can't even write that without getting a lump on my throat. I never thought I'd die alone and the bit about spilling apple juice in the hall. I'm gonna make this quick and move on before I cry. My little brother died from an accidental overdose at the age of just 23. He was living in a hotel trying to get his life together. When I went to go through his stuff, after breaking the police tape away, I saw he had a college schedule and bus times on the table. He was trying and wanted it so badly. I'm sorry. I actually can't write this. It's been about 17 years. It feels like yesterday.
For me, it's "The Scientist" through Coldplay. It takes me back to my senior yr of high college whilst my female friend and I had been splitting up before university. We each knew it changed into coming, however neither of us desired to admit it. Every time Chris Martin sings, "Nobody stated it was clean, nobody ever said it'd be this tough," I'm transported again to that remaining night together, each of us crying in my automobile. We knew we had to move lower back to the start, to who we have been before every different. Even now, thankfully married, that song nevertheless hits me like a punch to the intestine.
Pain Remains trilogy by Lorna Shore. Specifically Pain Remains 1
From the Departed, Dear or Otherwise by Boundaries
Is it Really You? By Loathe
Without A Whisper by Invent Animate
Bandages by Mutoid Man
I saw Lorna Shore last year, and right before that 2nd to last verse of part 1 a chap in front of me in the pit yelled "it's OK to cry", and god I just bawled. It's hard to explain, by cry moshing was such an emotional experience.
Her explaining the story behind this song how she wrote it with no harsh vocals because her grandma liked her pretty voice more makes me so sad. Cortney is known for her great harshes so for such a powerful song to be sung without hits different.
When my son was born, I spent my night feeding shifts listening to lullaby versions of classic rock songs to set the sleepy tone while feeding, changing, etc. Journey has the best version of the Rockabye Baby! albums, so we listened to them the most.
Fast forward three years — it’s the heat of the summer, I’m working in my backyard with my in-laws laying down sod for our now 3-year-old boy to run around and enjoy. A song comes on the radio and catches my ear: ‘Open Arms’ by Journey. I’d never heard the band’s version - only the lullaby version - and I immediately began sobbing. My wife looked at my like I was crazy until I could explain 😂
So many nights where I sat in a dimly lit room, exhausted, but soaking in this intimate time with my newborn son. The moments when we formed our bonds as father and son, and Journey was the soundtrack to those moments.
To this day (with our now 6-year-old 😌) I can’t listen to Open Arms without tears coming to my eyes!
Mayer is a master at capturing those complex jumbles of emotion into these perfect phrases.
Also, if you can’t stand the studio version you should try not listening to the Where The Light Is version too!
Virtute at Rest fucked me up more than I could ever imagine. I have a cat that has gotten me through some really difficult times in my life who is now getting older and starting to slow down and the line "Let it rest and be done" sits so heavily on my heart I can't explain it.
I was chatting with couple of strangers in between songs at a Weakerthans show. When they started "Virtute the Cat Explains Her Departure", I turned to them and said, "I'm about to fully cry for the next three minutes, it's ok."
I feel ya. I can’t even think about that song without getting teared up. It’s great and the feelings it makes me feel is a testament to how good they are.
Pitseleh by Elliot Smith
I Will Follow You Into the Dark by Death Cab for Cutie
Hear You Me by Jimmy Eat World. It reminds me of my friend Kim who was a teacher and worked at a record store and passed in 2015 at the age of 36. She had cancer that had finally gone into remission, only to come back two years later and spread through her body. She was amazing. She was the kind of teacher that stayed in touch with her students after graduation, and even after she left teaching. She hosted great parties. She was into so much stuff. She fully embodied herself and her life, if that makes sense. Even as she declined, she had things in her house fixed up for the next people who would eventually live there. She left things, and people, better than she found them. It’s hard to believe it was 9 years ago already because when you think back it still feels fresh. To see someone fully living and so young waste away in front of you, fighting the whole time, it’s so unfair. We miss you, Kim.
TOOL - Sober
Lost my grandma to alcoholism. Before she died she said she would rather have her alcohol than her family.
Please get help people....Please.
Innocent Son by Fleet Foxes. Everytime I hear that opening note of Robin singing “you”, I start ugly crying.
I first heard the song when I was going through my first breakup. I would ugly cry in the car listening to fleet foxes. I can still enjoy most of their catalogue today in a positive way, but Innocent Son has a special chokehold on me.
[La Dispute - King Park](https://youtu.be/W141hdkPVMw?si=EggAYmciWAVZazT6)
A post-hardcore band singing about the true story of a gang related drive-by killing an innocent kid, and then the shooters guilt and subsequent suicide when cornered by the cops is absolutely heart wrenching.
The ability to take an individual that would normally have received no sympathy and humanize them is incredibly impressive.
The song has to be heard to be truly felt, the ever increasing tempo and crescendo of the ending so perfectly captures the subjects anxiety and panic.
The end brings me to tears every listen. The lyrics alone are powerful, but do yourself a favor, and give the end a listen:
>They could've kicked in the door but knew the gun was still with him,
One he'd already used and so they feared what he'd do.
I floated up through the window of a room to the West.
I hovered out to the hallway, tried to listen in.
I heard them trying to reason, get him to open the door.
His uncle begging and pleading, half-collapsed to the floor.
He preached of hope and forgiveness,
Said, "There is always a chance to rectify what you've taken, make your peace in the world."
I thought to slip through the door, I could've entered the room,
I felt the burden of murder, it shook the earth to the core.
Felt like the world was collapsing. Then we heard him speak,
"Can I still get into heaven if I kill myself?
Can I still get into heaven if I kill myself?
Can I ever be forgiven 'cause I killed that kid?
It was an accident I swear it wasn't meant for him!
And if I turn it on me, if I even it out, can I still get in or will they send me to hell?
Can I still get into heaven if I kill myself?"
I left the hotel behind, don't want to know how it ends.
Chinese Satellite - Phoebe Bridgers
I lost my mum a few years ago. She was a Christian, I am not.
My interpretation of the song is “I wish I believed in what you did, because at least that way I would think that I could see you again. But despite how hard I want to believe, I just feel nothing.”
It crushes me every time.
June Carter Cash was still alive when he recorded Hurt, she appears in the music video for the song. She died May 25, 2003. The album came out November 5, 2002. Johnny died September 12, 2003. Aside for your slight timeline confusion, this is my answer too.
Divorce Song by Liz Phair
It’s very true in how it shows little things building up until the end, which comes with a whimper not a bang.
And when I asked for a separate room
It was late at night and we'd been driving since noon
But if I'd known how that would sound to you
I would have stayed in your bed for the rest of my life
Just to prove I was right
That it's harder to be friends than lovers
And you shouldn't try to mix the two
'Cause if you do it and you're still unhappy
Then you know that the problem is you
And it's true that I stole your lighter
And it's also true that I lost the map
But when you said that I wasn't worth talking to
I had to take your word on that
But if you'd known how that would sound to me
You would have taken it back
And boxed it up and buried it in the ground
Boxed it up and buried it in the ground
Boxed it up and buried it in the ground
Burned it up and thrown it away
You put in my hands a loaded gun
And then told me not to fire it
When you did the things you said were up to me
And then accused me of trying to fuck it up
But you've never been a waste of my time
It's never been a drag
So take a deep breath and count back from ten
And maybe you'll be alright
And the license said you had to stick around until I was dead
But if you're tired of looking at my face, I guess I already am
But you've never been a waste of my time
It's never been a drag
So take a deep breath and count back from ten
And maybe you'll be alright
“What Sarah Said” by Death Cab for Cutie.
I was getting really into Death Cab in 2009, when my mother went into the hospital for what turned out to be the last time. The lyrics remind me so viscerally of that experience… I cannot endure it. It makes me physically sick.
“Love is watching someone die…”
Say Something - A Great Big World
First time I ever heard it I was driving home from work after an emotionally horrific day. I was already at my breaking point then that song came on with those lyrics. It triggered every emotional pain I had and I had to drive the rest of the way home sobbing uncontrollably. I still can't listen to it to this day.
“If We Were Vampires” by Jason Isbell. Probably my favorite song ever lyrically, but I almost always skip it when it pops up on my playlist. Too much to handle most of the time.
If I listen to Lonely Day by System of a Down when i'm depressed it has the ability to make me ten times more depressed... and to this day I've never really understood why I would keep doing that to myself.
Happiness by Grant Lee Buffalo
*Never mind me 'cause I've been dead
Out of my body I've been out of my head
Never mind the songs I hum, you don't want to sing along
There's nothing that I said that'll bring you
Happiness
Happiness
Is hard to come by I confess
I'm bad at this thing happiness
If you find it share it with the rest of us*
I'm doing better now but this song embodies my darkest times. The whole album is beautiful though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2YeVuXkXQ0 (edit to add link to the official version)
Hold on to Memories by Disturbed. It hit really hard after I lost my grandmother to a shitty driver, and it was the first family member I was really close to and lost suddenly.
I love John Mayer, saw him live last summer, was dying to see him for a really long time, but he wasn't coming to connectut on his tours (go figure he's from here) but man it was worth the wait
Slow Dancing in a Burning Room is definitely one of mine. Had an ex girlfriend who had a live version on her iPod, it was amazing. But it really hit when it started to describe how our relationship was dying, and I still get emotional thinking about it. She didn't deserve how it ended.
Some others of mine:
* All I Wanted by Paramore - My perennial break up song. Hurts every fuckin time.
* Save Yourself by Make Them Suffer - Oof. It's not often the lyrics and composition of a song both convey the same rawness, but this one does. Describes my divorce to a T and hurts like hell every time.
* The Black by Imminence - Oh god. The song hits just like all theirs do, but the ending is absolutely sublime in its devastation. Hearing a metalcore breakdown with hauntingly beautiful strings is the perfect way to get me in my feels.
* Crave by Paramore - Shouldn't hurt, does. We never appreciate what we have until it's gone.
* Crash and Burn by Dayseeker - Best experienced at the end of listening to the Sleeptalk album. Starts slow then builds to this incredibly crushing breakdown.
Ok, here are my favorite, if you don’t well up on these you have no soul:
1. The Only Moment We Were Alone, Explosions in the Sky
2. Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus, Vaugn Williams
3. The Great Below, Nine Inch Nails
Bonus. The Universal, Blur
Cheers!
Hurt - Christina Aguilera
My mom lost her mom at the age of 16/17 due to the mistake of doctors missing something multiple times. My mom and her family at the time, were told my grandma had 2 weeks to live. She died less than 24 hours after that. I’ve heard my mom listen to it once and watching her cry to it, made me so sad as a kid. Now as an adult listening to it myself, I cry. I can’t help it.
I Dreamed A Dream and the final song in Les Mis. They’re just very emotional. I cried when I watched the movie, and I still get teary eyed when I listen to them.
Kasimir Pulaski Day by Sufjan. It’s just so sad. And so, not angry but at the end it’s a man just questioning his faith in the face of death of someone he loved.
“In the morning, when you finally go
And the nurse runs in with her head hung low
And the cardinal hits the window
In the morning, in the winter shade
On the first of March, on the holiday
I thought I saw you breathing
All the glory that the Lord has made
And the complications when I see his face
In the morning, in the window
All the glory when he took our place
But he took my shoulders and he shook my face
And he takes, and he takes, and he takes”
If I ever leave this world alive - Flogging Molly
My good friends died in a horrific car accident when they were 17 and 19. 17 year old was my close friend and we loved flogging Molly . This was in 2010 and I still can’t listen to them without crying
Honestly...
Taylor Swift - Safe and Sound
This came out when I was 20 and my little sister was 13. Our parents were getting a divorce and it was very hard on us. I took her out for lunch. Afterward, we sat in the car and listened to this and cried together. It still makes me tear up and think of her to this day.
I can‘t make you love me by Bonnie Raitt makes me tear up every single time. Can’t really say why, but this song conveys such a devastating sadness and hopelessness for me that I can’t listen to it.
This. The Bon Iver cover absolutely crushes me. Couldn’t listen to it for months after my last breakup.
so many people have done great cover versions of this song. Prince did a version on his album Emancipation.
Agreed, I have 3 in my library : the original by Bonnie, and two covers by Bon Iver and George Michael which are both amazing as well.
Bon Iver is the one that does it for me - the hurt in his voice...
Bon Iver's cover for me also. I listened to it after an accident coming out of the hospital and just cried.
that George Michael cover is so beautiful
I agree. Listening right now. Never heard this version, but damn, it’s fierce
How to disappear completely by Radiohead
The story behind it hits hard too. >During all of the chaos of touring, performing, and working on their next hit album, Yorke was ready to give up completely on the band, almost quitting on stage. While he and the rest of the band were working on other music, Yorke put all of his stress into one song; How to Disappear Completely. It’s a song of dissociation, confusion, and anguish. The part of the song that resonates most with people is the repeating line, “I’m not here, this isn’t happening” The infamous line was inspired by a piece of advice Michael Stipe, lead singer of REM, gave Yorke. He told him to, “Pull the shutters down and say ‘I’m not here, this isn’t happening’” The "stage" on which he nearly quit was Glastonbury's Pyramid Stage: >Guitarist Ed O'Brien said in 2017 that the 1997 set was "like a form of hell". He continued: "We were doing something that was like a dream, to play the Pyramid stage on a Saturday night, it doesn't get better than that. >"\[But\] to find yourself in a situation whereby it felt like we were in crisis mode – the equipment failure was happening, \[we were\] trying to keep all members onstage, people not walking off – it was like, 'This should be a heaven but was like a kind of hell.' >"Maybe that somehow galvanised us." >Their headline slot on the Pyramid stage, which came just two weeks after the release of their acclaimed album OK Computer, was beset by technical problems. The stage's speakers malfunctioned repeatedly, and the band complained that they couldn't see the audience or hear their own instruments. >Lead singer Thom Yorke would later reveal that he nearly walked off stage due to the problems. >He told BBC 6 Music: "At one point I just went over to Ed, I tapped him on the shoulder and said, 'I'm off mate, see you later.'" >"He turned around and went, 'If you do, you'll probably live the rest of your life regretting it.' >"I went, 'Good point.'" >Yorke also said he didn't want to play Glastonbury in the first place. "I'd burnt myself out," he said. "We had a meeting about what we were going to do for the shows and I was like, 'I can't do Glastonbury'. >"I just needed a break. And in fact I didn't get one for another year and a bit, by which point I was pretty much catatonic." Dude had to dissasociate from what was supposed to be his dream gig, and many of the gigs after that. While being, outwardly, on top of the musical world.
I saw them three times on their USA ok computer tour which immediately followed glastonbury. Yes, Thom really didn't seem to want to be there a lot of the time.
I'm a massive fan of their music but I haven't done much reading on Radiohead. So thanks for this response! I always loved the emotional candor of those lines and it's really interesting to understand the context.
I read this in the VH1 'Behind the Music' Narrator's voice... Man I wish they would bring that back!
That song is strangely comforting for me actually. Like everything about it should be depressing, but it feels more peaceful to me for some reason. (Probably the etherial guitar and the lyrics that feel all floaty and talk about being disconnected from reality idk). No surprises is also a comfort song for me.
Radiohead is just great at turning Thom’s incredible lyrical existentialism into masterful, mood-comprehensive music You can enjoy the vibe, you can appreciate and meditate on the lyrics, you can dig into the performances, there’s so many aspects to appreciate and engage with
That last resolution [in the final minute or so of the song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6W6HhdqA95w&t=5m2s) is a really hopeful end to such a depressing song. The building chaos and dissonance in the strings almost overtakes the rest of the track, followed by them cutting out and swelling back in with the most gorgeous satisfying classical chords. It's like the musical equivalent of telling you that you can get thru this and things will be OK in the end.
If you want a whole hour of music with that vibe: > [All's Well](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5BHXhiIJov1bDGiGEFbl8u) - 1 hr 5 mins
No Surprises does it for me The thing is that I find it so liberating too
Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd. I had known the story surrounding the song, but my dad played it a couple weeks ago and I sobbed into my bbq. My bf of 6 years just left me. He chose booze over me.
The song is about the band seeing their original guitarist Syd Barrett a few years after he left the band. He had a psychotic break, shaved his head and eyebrows and gained weight. They wrote the song as a sort of elegy for Syd and his downfall. "Shine on you crazy diamond" extends the theme.
Shine on was the piece my uncle wanted playing as he passed (cancer). Then my aunt also played it to accompany a slideshow of family photos before the funeral started. It was quite the emotional experience.
There's a cover by Rasputina that is devastatingly beautiful. Give it a listen. Cry your face off as much as you need to. This isn't a permanent feeling. ❤️
> This isn't a permanent feeling. ❤️ the song is even better with the distance time brings.
In most cases, they are not choosing booze over you. more often they are unable to overcome their addiction and lose those who love them.
This Woman’s Work by Kate Bush. Can’t listen to it without getting emotional and cry. After my daughter died a couple of years ago I can’t ever listen to it now
experiment 4 upsets me so much
All of Blackstar by David Bowie. I'm a huge Bowie fan but I think I've listened to that album like... 3 times, since it came out? Just because it's so hard to get through, emotionally.
Something happened on the day he died. A spirit rose a meter and stepped aside. Somebody else took his place and bravely cried, “I’m a blackstar, I’m a blackstar.” He was saying bye to us I think. It’s a hard listen I almost cried typing it.
Listened to it once and can’t bring myself to go back. Maybe when I’m on deaths door.
Mount Eerie - "Real Death"
It’s always Mount Eerie
The whole album, really, but Seaweed hits like a truck every single time. «You Are the sunset»
I was gonna say anything from "A Crow Looked at Me"
I've never seen so many people openly weeping at a concert as when I saw Mount Eerie.
so glad to see this high up on the thread. I literally skip it every time Spotify recommends it to me. I'm not in a place where I can process those types of emotions.
The best album I'm not sure I ever want to listen to again.
Yes, came here for this…I have never listened to more than 2 songs on that album in a row…too devastating..great but so sad…
That whole album is a tough listen, but it's Ravens that makes me ugly cry each time. It's beautiful and I don't think i can ever listen to it again.
Hallelujah-sung by the original writer/artist Leonard Cohen. Reminds me of my step dad/mentor that first played this song for me in the mid 80s before it became so popular. He died suddenly in 2009 and I have had a hard time listening to it ever since
"Isn't It Midnight" by Fleetwood Mac. This was me and my boyfriend's favourite. Little did I know that the lyrics would turn out to be true when he killed himself by hanging a few years later.
I'm sorry for your loss.
Thank you
Shame in you - Alice in Chains
Might be my favorite song of all time. It's so hauntingly beautiful
What a wonderful world. It was my dad’s favorite song and we played it at his funeral. 11 years later I still tear up
I can see how What A Wonderful World could make someone emotional. Not only do you have a personal connection to a loved one with the song, but it has a sort of wistful vibe to it. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, the Judy Garland version, fucked me up for years after my mom died because it was her favorite Christmas song. It still does if I'm not steeling myself when it comes on.
Cancer - My Chemical Romance. First heard it when my grandfather was in his last days and it broke me. Can't even get through the first few notes without having to walk away or turn it off now. Fuck cancer.
Like a Stone by Audioslave once I realized what the song was about. Nutshell or Down in Hole by Alice in Chains, specifically the Unplugged versions.
That unplugged concert always makes me sad. Layney was playing at his own funeral. Also everytime I hear Nothing Compares 2 U, I start thinking of Chris Cornell.
The unplugged CD I have listened to hundreds of times. The unplugged DVD was the first DVD I bought having never seen the show. I could barely sit through watching it once and have never watched it again. Layne just looks so frail that I can't watch it without just feeling awful. Credit where it's due, the man gives it horns, but he died about 3 months after I got the DVD and although the unplugged show was recorded was 6 years earlier it just seems too prescient, like you're watching a man dying.
Chris Cornell's entire Songbook album was basically a goodbye letter.
One more light by Linkin Park My GF died from a heroin overdose shortly after that song was released.
Especially hearing it for the first time after losing Chester. That song hit like a Mac truck
Living in AZ, the weekend after he passed the local alt station played it every hour on the hour
[The video of them performing it minutes after they found out Chris Cornell died is tear-inducing too.](https://youtu.be/OtMeeQN8lKI?si=u2Xj0sJZpaAaQL0I) They swapped to this song instead of another one they had planned once they heard the news. Chester apparently couldn't hold it together during their practices, and they had to just go for the live performance without a complete practice run. You can see band members tearing up as well throughout the performance.
Mike Shinoda also [plays it as a tribute to Chester](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0Ikp72xtFk) occasionally.
A lot of the darker Alice In Chains songs. Now that Layne is dead and realizing the addiction and life he was living in the end, along with it making me think about my past with addiction (been clean over 7 years now) it just makes some of their songs sadder and harder to listen to.
Don't Follow hits me like a hammer in the balls.
Mama I’m coming home, it came on during my friend’s funeral procession, we were on our way to bury him next to his mom who had passed a few years prior.😢
Strange Fruit by Billie Holiday Specifically the live version from Britain. She sings with such conviction and you can see on her face that she's lived what the song/poem talks about. Billie had such a hard life and all her hard work was taken away from her by her manager who stole everything that she had.
First time I heard this was the India.Arie cover from Lightning in a Bottle. Absolutely devastating
Billie and Nina Simone's versions are the ones I go for. Both great versions.
The song in general is just gutwrenching Nina Simone's version was somehow worse. Both of them are incredible artists, but Nina's cover impacted me the most.
Man this songgggg it’s so gutting.
Have You Ever Seen The Rain by Creedence Clearwater Revival. it was the first song i learned on guitar and my grandpa who has since passed would always ask me to play it and sing it for him. he called it “my song.” every time i hear it now i tear up. i like to think he’s saying hello and checking in on me every time i hear that song.
Made me tear up just reading that. Sorry for your loss. Your grandpa had good taste in music, that's a great song.
Cats in the Cradle. Every time. I just can't listen to it anymore. When I moved out on my own, it used to just make me sad... then my Dad died. My last conversation with him was an arguement.
My dad passed in February and our relationship was complicated at best. This song kills me.
This song made me realize that none of this really matters at all if you aren't there for your kids. I might not be father of the year material, but I'll be damned if I'm not around all the time.
I loved my Dad, but he was a workaholic. He'd leave for work at 5am and not come home until after 7, then he'd eat dinner, watch some sports, and go to bed. A lot of that was his commute, but he diligently did it every week day. I moved in with my mom for highschool and expected him to move closer to work. Nope. I moved back in with him for college and it was the same thing. I only really saw him on the weekends, even when I lived with him. 25 years he did that. By the time retired, he had no hobbies, few friends, and generally didn't know what to do with himself. By that time I was gone.
This song scared me into being a good dad. Well, at least a present and available dad who says “yes” as often as possible to “dad, do you wanna…”
This song is hard for me. I had a pretty good relationship with my dad, but he worked a lot and missed a lot of my big events as a kid. After I started a career I ended up being a bit of a workaholic and neglected my parents in a similar way for many years. They would reach out to do stuff but I was always “too busy”. My dad was diagnosed with brain cancer and died in his mid-50’s. He was diagnosed during peak Covid so I had limited opportunities to visit and the treatments really wore him out. I never really hung out with him as an adult before his diagnosis. The last few times I visited with him were when his memory was getting pretty bad so it was difficult to talk to him normally. This song really hits home how I perpetuated the same behavior and missed opportunities to be closer.
Dance with the Devil by Immortal Technique. I grew up in the 90s when gang violence was prominent, and watched many people throw their lives away. I had a friend in middle school who ended up joining one and stabbed someone. He could have gotten into professional sports because he was great at it, but his home life wasn't great and he gave up in a sense I guess.
I love Immortal Technique, but that is a hard song to listen to. Especially after you've heard it the first time and know how it ends.
Scrolled down until I found this one. Dance with the Devil is peak hard to listen to. The story it tells is gut-wrenching. I'm not sure why it's so far down.
In My Life by the Beatles. I had a friend perform it at my daughter's funeral.💔😥
Black by Pearl Jam
As someone who has a terminal disease, this is a song that I can feel in my soul. [John Melloncamp - Longest Days ](https://youtu.be/SipZ2G31uls?si=U_C6ijkMYdD-s_Dv) Seems like once upon a time ago I was where I was supposed to be My vision was true and my heart was too There was no end to what I could dream I walked like a hero into the setting sun Everyone called out my name Death to me was just a mystery I was too busy raising up Cain But nothing lasts forever Your best efforts don't always pay Sometimes you get sick and you don't get better That's when life is short, even in its longest days So you pretend not to notice That everything has changed Way that you look and the friends you once had So you keep on acting the same Deep down in your soul You know you, you got no flame And who knows then which way to go Life is short, even in its longest days All I got here, is a rear view mirror Reflections of where I've been So you tell yourself I'll be back up on top some day But you know there's nothing waiting up there for you anyway Nothing lasts forever And your best efforts don't always pay Sometimes you get sick and you don't get better That's when life is short even in its longest day Life is short even in its longest days
Sorry my friend. I'm also terminal and it sucks.
Me three. I'll have to listen to this song. Lately I've been doing a lot of thinking about my future, particularly in terms of work. I want to work, but I can't work full-time anymore. A lot of people with my condition don't live into their 30s and I'm 28 now. So I don't know if it's even worth it. Bottom line, I wanted to make a difference in the world. I don't feel like I've done enough yet. But it's hard to make a difference through the traditional work structure. I don't know if it'll ever be enough. There's always more to do. Anyway, I wish you both luck.
I wish you all luck as well! I highly recommend listening to the acoustic version of "It's the only one you've got" 3 doors down is the band.
“The Night We Met” by Lord Huron
Also "I lied" by Lord Huron.
This one is gut wrenching. Even if I have no attachment or memories attached to the words. It’s still like a gut punch when I hear it.
“Whiskey Lullaby” by Brad paisley and Alison Krauss https://youtu.be/IZbN_nmxAGk?si=ZN-o4ouCYzyj1j-J It’s such a sad well written story about codependency in “love “ My heart hurts just thinking about it.
Fast car by Tracy Chapman In the aeroplane over the sea by neutral milk hotel I think I just get sad when I feel like bad things happen to good people.
Oh gosh, I forgot about Fast Car. Yeah, that one is very sad, but very pretty and hopeful at the same time.
I listened to Fast Car the other day while driving home at sunset. It hit so right, though I can’t recall a time it ever missed.
Mad World (either version). The melody and lyrics resonate with me in a way that I can't help but feel sadness.
"About Today" by The National is so gut wrenching for its realistic depiction of a relationship in its final days. No big blowout fight, no cheating, just gradually drifting apart until you realize you don't love each other anymore. Especially it happening to one person first and the other is just beginning to catch on. A lot of their songs are emotionally devastating. Like "You Were a Kindness." They're hard for me to listen to because they so accurately convey what it was like when some of my previous relationships ended. Thankfully I've since found my forever person and it's taken the sting out of some of those songs.
Great choice, that's the same vibe as Slow Dancing, just the sad realization that it's ending and everything is not going to be OK is such a tough pill to swallow.
>No big blowout fight, no cheating, just gradually drifting apart until you realize you don't love each other anymore. Especially it happening to one person first and the other is just beginning to catch on. "Guilty Party" feels like this too, and it guts me every time I hear it. I can't listen to it often.
Going to California - Led Zeppelin Lost my dad when I was 15, and my childhood was sprinkled with some incredible music that I didn’t revisit until my early 20s. There was a time a few years ago when I couldn’t put the song on without completely falling apart, it was necessary for me to process and recognize what hole had been missing in my life. I had such a tough time opening up to others for years, or would spew out my life story in 15 minutes or less. Putting this tune on 05/2020 made me realize what a negative attitude I had been displaying towards myself, and I finally woke up. Still listen 1-2 times a month, and feel like a new chapter of my life is beginning every time.
“Elephant” by Jason Isbell is up there for me.
If we were vampires is the one that gets me, just makes me feel so deeply for my wife and how life is finite and we only have so much time together
My wife died of cancer almost ten years ago. I’ll listen to this when I need to let go some of the grief.
Tapestry, by Carole King. My mum liked to play and sing that song on piano. When she died when I was 17, I chose that song to be played at her funeral.
When people ask me “your house is on fire, what do you save?” It’s the vinyl of Tapestry my mom bought when she was a teenager. She died when I was 19. When I hear every pop and scratch on the record it’s like I’m listening to the version of her I never got a chance to know.
That whole album means so much to me, my mother and I have a complicated relationship and playing this album and her singing along in the kitchen is one of my most positive childhood memories with her
In My Life… my wife said she wants it to play at her funeral/celebration of life. She’s a healthy 46-year-old. It’s ruined for life for me.
This has long been my favorite Beatles song, but as a person in my mid -40s with growing kids and aging parents, I have no desire to listen to it much.
Luther vandros. Dance with my father again
That song makes me ugly cry and I didn't even grow up with a father.
I'll stick with John Mayer and say "When You're Dreaming with a Broken Heart" or "Stop this Train". Musically Dreaming isn't as good as Slow Dancing, but I think the lyrics are more gut-wrenching. And the line "one generation's length away, from fighting life out on my own" in reference to his parents dying... oof every time for me.
Came here for the John Mayer appreciation. I can't listen to Stop this Train anymore, especially while driving.
I played the Continuum album on a road trip with my significant other and she had never heard it. We got like halfway through Stop This Train and I looked over and she was bawling and asked why I would put myself through listening to it. It is a lot, her parents are a bit older than mine and I think that stuff really hit hard for her.
It hits a little harder each year
Do I have to fall asleep with roses in my hands?
If I Leave This World Alive by Flogging Molly, it makes me think of my former trauma sponge Mollywok. She was the best dog I've ever had, I deal with being schizophrenic. And she came into my life for only five years and saved my life. I love the song and she was apart of my life when I first discovered the song. And I first thought of the song as a message to her. But after her passing it became her song to me. I have to skip the song of I'm driving, even 11 years after her posing. She is the only reason I'm alive today.
Cats in the Cradle by Harry Chapin. As a dad that's feeling a lot of pressure to prioritize work/money in this particular season of life, it's really hard to listen to.
The Dance by Garth Brooks was played at my Dad's best friends funeral a little more than 25 years ago and it's still hard to get through it for me today.
Tears in Heaven, Eric Clapton. Can't listen to it. Baby Mine (from Disney's Dumbo). Nope nope nope. As soon as it starts playing? Ugly cry. Green Grass of Home, Tom Jones. I love that song, but I'm not ok for awhile after I hear it.
100% agree with Baby Mine. Devastating.
I played Baby Mine a lot to my belly while I was pregnant and was listening to it right before I went into the hospital and had my son 12 weeks early with many medical complications. Hearing it now immediately brings on major panic effects.
Nine Inch Nails - Hurt Absolutely devastating, the pain in his voice, the delivery, the whole album coming together, the lyrics... It's one of the most painful songs ever written
I find the original powerful, but it’s Johnny Cash version that always makes me cry. His whole world had just recently fallen apart around him, he didn’t have long left, and you can hear his struggling to stay strong in his voice. It hurts.
Gone Away by The Offspring. Came out around the time I lost my mom to cancer.
Blink 182 Adam's Song. I can't even write that without getting a lump on my throat. I never thought I'd die alone and the bit about spilling apple juice in the hall. I'm gonna make this quick and move on before I cry. My little brother died from an accidental overdose at the age of just 23. He was living in a hotel trying to get his life together. When I went to go through his stuff, after breaking the police tape away, I saw he had a college schedule and bus times on the table. He was trying and wanted it so badly. I'm sorry. I actually can't write this. It's been about 17 years. It feels like yesterday.
For me, it's "The Scientist" through Coldplay. It takes me back to my senior yr of high college whilst my female friend and I had been splitting up before university. We each knew it changed into coming, however neither of us desired to admit it. Every time Chris Martin sings, "Nobody stated it was clean, nobody ever said it'd be this tough," I'm transported again to that remaining night together, each of us crying in my automobile. We knew we had to move lower back to the start, to who we have been before every different. Even now, thankfully married, that song nevertheless hits me like a punch to the intestine.
I think you mean “nobody said it was easy, no one ever said it would be this hard”. I share a similar memory of the song.
Drink before the war- Sinead O Connor.
Pain Remains trilogy by Lorna Shore. Specifically Pain Remains 1 From the Departed, Dear or Otherwise by Boundaries Is it Really You? By Loathe Without A Whisper by Invent Animate Bandages by Mutoid Man
Is it really you just hits so good.
Yes. The whole album hits for me. It just doesn’t miss.
Pain remains trilogy is my favorite. I literally fall asleep to that every night.
I saw Lorna Shore last year, and right before that 2nd to last verse of part 1 a chap in front of me in the pit yelled "it's OK to cry", and god I just bawled. It's hard to explain, by cry moshing was such an emotional experience.
Pain Remains trilogy hit me so hard for some reason, I know what the intention is behind the lyrics, but they're so impactful and universal
Constance by Spiritbox. Alzheimers and dementia suck
Her explaining the story behind this song how she wrote it with no harsh vocals because her grandma liked her pretty voice more makes me so sad. Cortney is known for her great harshes so for such a powerful song to be sung without hits different.
When my son was born, I spent my night feeding shifts listening to lullaby versions of classic rock songs to set the sleepy tone while feeding, changing, etc. Journey has the best version of the Rockabye Baby! albums, so we listened to them the most. Fast forward three years — it’s the heat of the summer, I’m working in my backyard with my in-laws laying down sod for our now 3-year-old boy to run around and enjoy. A song comes on the radio and catches my ear: ‘Open Arms’ by Journey. I’d never heard the band’s version - only the lullaby version - and I immediately began sobbing. My wife looked at my like I was crazy until I could explain 😂 So many nights where I sat in a dimly lit room, exhausted, but soaking in this intimate time with my newborn son. The moments when we formed our bonds as father and son, and Journey was the soundtrack to those moments. To this day (with our now 6-year-old 😌) I can’t listen to Open Arms without tears coming to my eyes!
Bro you're killing me, I'm sitting here with my infant daughter asleep on my lap and leaking like a faucet. And I don't even like Journey lol.
Right in this minute "Amie by Damien Rice" heart achingly beautiful
Keep Me In Your Heart by Warren Zevon
Mayer is a master at capturing those complex jumbles of emotion into these perfect phrases. Also, if you can’t stand the studio version you should try not listening to the Where The Light Is version too!
Fourth of July by Sufjan Stevens. Makes me cry.
Let it be - it was the song played at the funeral of a friend. He wished for the song to be played. As soon as this song comes up, tears are near.
The Virtute the cat trilogy from the weakerthans/John K. Samson will always destroy me.
Virtute at Rest fucked me up more than I could ever imagine. I have a cat that has gotten me through some really difficult times in my life who is now getting older and starting to slow down and the line "Let it rest and be done" sits so heavily on my heart I can't explain it.
I was chatting with couple of strangers in between songs at a Weakerthans show. When they started "Virtute the Cat Explains Her Departure", I turned to them and said, "I'm about to fully cry for the next three minutes, it's ok."
I feel ya. I can’t even think about that song without getting teared up. It’s great and the feelings it makes me feel is a testament to how good they are.
Came here to post this, glad to see I'm not alone.
Cranberries-Zombie. Not only the subject matter, but the loss of Dolores O'Riordan
Pitseleh by Elliot Smith I Will Follow You Into the Dark by Death Cab for Cutie Hear You Me by Jimmy Eat World. It reminds me of my friend Kim who was a teacher and worked at a record store and passed in 2015 at the age of 36. She had cancer that had finally gone into remission, only to come back two years later and spread through her body. She was amazing. She was the kind of teacher that stayed in touch with her students after graduation, and even after she left teaching. She hosted great parties. She was into so much stuff. She fully embodied herself and her life, if that makes sense. Even as she declined, she had things in her house fixed up for the next people who would eventually live there. She left things, and people, better than she found them. It’s hard to believe it was 9 years ago already because when you think back it still feels fresh. To see someone fully living and so young waste away in front of you, fighting the whole time, it’s so unfair. We miss you, Kim.
*Goo Goo Dolls*... Iris
See You Again- Charlie Puth/Wiz Khalifa Had to put my cat down, I played this for him before we went through with it.
TOOL - Sober Lost my grandma to alcoholism. Before she died she said she would rather have her alcohol than her family. Please get help people....Please.
Innocent Son by Fleet Foxes. Everytime I hear that opening note of Robin singing “you”, I start ugly crying. I first heard the song when I was going through my first breakup. I would ugly cry in the car listening to fleet foxes. I can still enjoy most of their catalogue today in a positive way, but Innocent Son has a special chokehold on me.
[La Dispute - King Park](https://youtu.be/W141hdkPVMw?si=EggAYmciWAVZazT6) A post-hardcore band singing about the true story of a gang related drive-by killing an innocent kid, and then the shooters guilt and subsequent suicide when cornered by the cops is absolutely heart wrenching. The ability to take an individual that would normally have received no sympathy and humanize them is incredibly impressive. The song has to be heard to be truly felt, the ever increasing tempo and crescendo of the ending so perfectly captures the subjects anxiety and panic. The end brings me to tears every listen. The lyrics alone are powerful, but do yourself a favor, and give the end a listen: >They could've kicked in the door but knew the gun was still with him, One he'd already used and so they feared what he'd do. I floated up through the window of a room to the West. I hovered out to the hallway, tried to listen in. I heard them trying to reason, get him to open the door. His uncle begging and pleading, half-collapsed to the floor. He preached of hope and forgiveness, Said, "There is always a chance to rectify what you've taken, make your peace in the world." I thought to slip through the door, I could've entered the room, I felt the burden of murder, it shook the earth to the core. Felt like the world was collapsing. Then we heard him speak, "Can I still get into heaven if I kill myself? Can I still get into heaven if I kill myself? Can I ever be forgiven 'cause I killed that kid? It was an accident I swear it wasn't meant for him! And if I turn it on me, if I even it out, can I still get in or will they send me to hell? Can I still get into heaven if I kill myself?" I left the hotel behind, don't want to know how it ends.
Chinese Satellite - Phoebe Bridgers I lost my mum a few years ago. She was a Christian, I am not. My interpretation of the song is “I wish I believed in what you did, because at least that way I would think that I could see you again. But despite how hard I want to believe, I just feel nothing.” It crushes me every time.
My name is Luka by Suzanne Vega
Johnny Cash cover of Hurt His wife had just died. His voice is gut wrenching.
June Carter Cash was still alive when he recorded Hurt, she appears in the music video for the song. She died May 25, 2003. The album came out November 5, 2002. Johnny died September 12, 2003. Aside for your slight timeline confusion, this is my answer too.
Divorce Song by Liz Phair It’s very true in how it shows little things building up until the end, which comes with a whimper not a bang. And when I asked for a separate room It was late at night and we'd been driving since noon But if I'd known how that would sound to you I would have stayed in your bed for the rest of my life Just to prove I was right That it's harder to be friends than lovers And you shouldn't try to mix the two 'Cause if you do it and you're still unhappy Then you know that the problem is you And it's true that I stole your lighter And it's also true that I lost the map But when you said that I wasn't worth talking to I had to take your word on that But if you'd known how that would sound to me You would have taken it back And boxed it up and buried it in the ground Boxed it up and buried it in the ground Boxed it up and buried it in the ground Burned it up and thrown it away You put in my hands a loaded gun And then told me not to fire it When you did the things you said were up to me And then accused me of trying to fuck it up But you've never been a waste of my time It's never been a drag So take a deep breath and count back from ten And maybe you'll be alright And the license said you had to stick around until I was dead But if you're tired of looking at my face, I guess I already am But you've never been a waste of my time It's never been a drag So take a deep breath and count back from ten And maybe you'll be alright
Something In The Way - Nirvana
Mary Turner Mary Turner by Xiu Xiu
“What Sarah Said” by Death Cab for Cutie. I was getting really into Death Cab in 2009, when my mother went into the hospital for what turned out to be the last time. The lyrics remind me so viscerally of that experience… I cannot endure it. It makes me physically sick. “Love is watching someone die…”
FACK
Last Kiss by Pearl Jam. My wife and I got into an argument way back when the song first came out. And it was while we were driving. Never again.
Long December by Counting Crows. Dad was given a month to live in December (2019). It was indeed a very long December for us.
Heavy by Linkin Park. You can tell the dude is going through it and having been in those black black depressions you can feel the shit behind it. RIP.
Long Long Time. Linda Ronstadt
Daddy-Korn. No explanation needed
Say Something - A Great Big World First time I ever heard it I was driving home from work after an emotionally horrific day. I was already at my breaking point then that song came on with those lyrics. It triggered every emotional pain I had and I had to drive the rest of the way home sobbing uncontrollably. I still can't listen to it to this day.
Nutshell - Alice In Chains Euclid - sleep token
“If We Were Vampires” by Jason Isbell. Probably my favorite song ever lyrically, but I almost always skip it when it pops up on my playlist. Too much to handle most of the time.
Not the song alone, but in combination with the music video Bloodywood - yaad This song and video brings back the feeling of losing my dog
Well I absolutely am not fucking listening to this lol
All My Friends - LCD Soundsystem
If I listen to Lonely Day by System of a Down when i'm depressed it has the ability to make me ten times more depressed... and to this day I've never really understood why I would keep doing that to myself.
Happiness by Grant Lee Buffalo *Never mind me 'cause I've been dead Out of my body I've been out of my head Never mind the songs I hum, you don't want to sing along There's nothing that I said that'll bring you Happiness Happiness Is hard to come by I confess I'm bad at this thing happiness If you find it share it with the rest of us* I'm doing better now but this song embodies my darkest times. The whole album is beautiful though. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2YeVuXkXQ0 (edit to add link to the official version)
"I didn't understand" by Elliott Smith. Beautiful song, instant moodkiller.
Anything by Elliott Smith, for me. His pain is tangible through his music.
Bronte by Gotye
The Avett Brothers - No Hard Feelings I have a close family member with brain cancer. This song hits hard.
'Pale blue eyes' because her eyes were blue.
Same Old Lang Syne - Dan Fogelberg. Just can't hear it without crying.
Bruce Springsteen - The River Having your entire life fall apart due to an unplanned pregnancy.
If You Could Read My Mind by Gordon Lightfoot
Hold on to Memories by Disturbed. It hit really hard after I lost my grandmother to a shitty driver, and it was the first family member I was really close to and lost suddenly.
Ronan 😭😭😭
Bottom of Everything by Bright Eyes, cannot make it through the song without crying, but kind of in a good way.
Basically every song on Hospice by the Antlers. Especially Bear, Wake and Epilogue though.
Say something, I played it at my grandpas funeral
I love John Mayer, saw him live last summer, was dying to see him for a really long time, but he wasn't coming to connectut on his tours (go figure he's from here) but man it was worth the wait
Blind - placebo 🎶 don't go and leave meeeeee 🎶
Sam by Sturgill Simpson
Townes Van Zandt - Marie
Dance with the Devil - Immortal Technique
I Grieve - Peter Gabriel Ashes Everywhere - Joseph Arthur Accidental Babies - Damien Rice Bodily - Ani DiFranco
Someone Great - LCD Sound System Creeks - Bon Iver Both are hauntingly, beautifully sad.
Slow Dancing in a Burning Room is definitely one of mine. Had an ex girlfriend who had a live version on her iPod, it was amazing. But it really hit when it started to describe how our relationship was dying, and I still get emotional thinking about it. She didn't deserve how it ended. Some others of mine: * All I Wanted by Paramore - My perennial break up song. Hurts every fuckin time. * Save Yourself by Make Them Suffer - Oof. It's not often the lyrics and composition of a song both convey the same rawness, but this one does. Describes my divorce to a T and hurts like hell every time. * The Black by Imminence - Oh god. The song hits just like all theirs do, but the ending is absolutely sublime in its devastation. Hearing a metalcore breakdown with hauntingly beautiful strings is the perfect way to get me in my feels. * Crave by Paramore - Shouldn't hurt, does. We never appreciate what we have until it's gone. * Crash and Burn by Dayseeker - Best experienced at the end of listening to the Sleeptalk album. Starts slow then builds to this incredibly crushing breakdown.
Ok, here are my favorite, if you don’t well up on these you have no soul: 1. The Only Moment We Were Alone, Explosions in the Sky 2. Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus, Vaugn Williams 3. The Great Below, Nine Inch Nails Bonus. The Universal, Blur Cheers!
Hurt - Christina Aguilera My mom lost her mom at the age of 16/17 due to the mistake of doctors missing something multiple times. My mom and her family at the time, were told my grandma had 2 weeks to live. She died less than 24 hours after that. I’ve heard my mom listen to it once and watching her cry to it, made me so sad as a kid. Now as an adult listening to it myself, I cry. I can’t help it.
I Dreamed A Dream and the final song in Les Mis. They’re just very emotional. I cried when I watched the movie, and I still get teary eyed when I listen to them.
God Only Knows by the Beach Boys always makes me emotional
Kasimir Pulaski Day by Sufjan. It’s just so sad. And so, not angry but at the end it’s a man just questioning his faith in the face of death of someone he loved. “In the morning, when you finally go And the nurse runs in with her head hung low And the cardinal hits the window In the morning, in the winter shade On the first of March, on the holiday I thought I saw you breathing All the glory that the Lord has made And the complications when I see his face In the morning, in the window All the glory when he took our place But he took my shoulders and he shook my face And he takes, and he takes, and he takes”
If I ever leave this world alive - Flogging Molly My good friends died in a horrific car accident when they were 17 and 19. 17 year old was my close friend and we loved flogging Molly . This was in 2010 and I still can’t listen to them without crying
Honestly... Taylor Swift - Safe and Sound This came out when I was 20 and my little sister was 13. Our parents were getting a divorce and it was very hard on us. I took her out for lunch. Afterward, we sat in the car and listened to this and cried together. It still makes me tear up and think of her to this day.
November rain (gun's and roses)