The 411 Music Top 5: Week 8
Posted by Brian Berry on 02.20.2007
411 staffers pick their Top 5 SADDEST SONGS EVER in the 8th edition of the Music Zone's Top 5. From Elliott Smith to R.E.M. and Radiohead, see which songs make us grab our hankeys!
Welcome to the 8th edition of 411 Music's Top 5!
In our last column 411 Mania staffers checked in with their Top 5 MOST HATED COVER SONGS. We couldn't help but expose the songs that reworked, and took massive dumps, on the originals. Click here to see all the lists from last week!
MOST HATED COVER SONGS proved to be one of our most popular Top 5's. Seems like all our readers thought we missed a bad cover song, which brings us to...
READER MAIL
411 reader Jason Sawyer shows us his masochistic side: You forgot the biggest offense to human hearing in the past 25 years - Wyclef's butchering of Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here". I will forgive you for the oversight; if I could forget about it, I would, too. When I first heard it, I was sure it was a nightmare. Alas, it was reality, so I drove roofing nails into my eardrums to prevent the tragedy of hearing again from ever happening.
Rob Spaulding takes 2 shits on the covers: As a child of the 80s, I must bring up 2 of the absolute worst covers EVER – "We Will Rock You" by Warrant and "Johnny B. Goode" by Judas Priest. Both are horrendous.
Verbal shows he's a fan of Top 5 legend James Munson: Thanks to the Munson for mentioning Korn and Sheryl Crow. Those two would have been on my list as well. Much of the Led Zeppeling (sic) tribute album Encomium was terrible, but if I had to pick two from it, I'd say Hootie and the Blowfish doing "Hey Hey What Can I Do" and more vile was obviously, Sheryl Crow for "D'yer Mak'er".
Adam Meador of Nashville, TN dropped a controversial Worst Cover Song, which I'm sure many will disagree with (Ed. Note- But I've got your back on this one Adam): I enjoyed your recents (sic) columns regarding the Best & Worst Cover Songs. However in my opinion, one song noticeably absent from the Best-Of lists has to be Van Halen's cover of the Kinks' "You Really Got Me". Just thought I'd pass that one along should you decide to do a follow-up column. Keep up the fine work. Thanks for your time.
…and finally Ali lets us know about a cover I was lucky enough to have never heard: Great lists from everybody but no-one mentioned that Limp Bizkit crime of the century "Home Sweet Home" Motley Crue cover!! Then again it was so aweful (sic) people have probably blocked it from their minds...
411 writers shove our inner smart asses in the closet this week for a somber look at the...
TOP 5 SADDEST SONGS EVER
Bust out your Kleenex and Visine because this one's gonna be a tear jerker.
Brian Berry
[Music Editor/Columnist, "The 411 Music Top 5"/ Reviewer]
Honorable Mention: Pretty much every song by Antony & The Johnsons, Sigur Ros, and Nick Drake. The following deserve special recognition though…(25) Galaxie 500 "Blue Thunder (24) Van Morrison "Beside You" (23) Lucero "The War" (22) INXS "Beautiful Girl" (21) Nilsson "Without You" (20) Gram Parsons & Emmylou Harris "Love Hurts" (19) Simon & Garfunkel "The Sound of Silence" (18) Townes Van Zandt "Waiting Around To Die" (17) Weezer "In the Garage" (16) The Beach Boys "In My Room" (15)Gilbert O'Sullivan "Alone Again (Naturally)" (14) Radiohead "Fake Plastic Trees" (13) Michael Jackson "She's Out Of My Life" (12) The Grateful Dead "Ripple" (11) Roy Orbison "Crying" (10) Procol Harum "A Whiter Shade of Pale" (9) The Velvet Underground "Pale Blue Eyes" (8) Stevie Wonder "A Place in the Sun" (7) Modest Mouse "Whenever You Breathe Out I Breathe In (Positive Negative) (6) The Wrens "13 Months in 6 Minutes"
5. The Carpenters "Superstar" - This ballad is a total heartbreaker. Karen is at her most sullen here, opening this song with the lyric Loneliness is such a sad affair and going on to plea desperately for the man she loves to visit her.
4. The Mountain Goats "Pale Green Things" - This is a tender, descriptive song about the death of John Darnielle's abusive stepfather. 2005's The Sunset Tree is a concept album about the songwriter's relationship with the man, which culminates in the closing track, "Pale Green Things", where we learn about the man's death. Despite showing such anger throughout the album, he delivers a rather sweet song here that shows that it's best to forgive and move on. Sample lyric: my sister called at three a.m./just last December/she told me how you'd died at last, at last/and that morning at the race track was one thing I remembered/I turned it over in my mind/like a living Chinese finger trap/seaweed and indiana sawgrass/pale green things/pale green things
3. The Righteous Brothers "Unchained Melody" - Another song of longing for the one you love. This is one of the greatest pop vocal performances of all-time as well as The Righteous Brothers' most popular song. The lingering of each syllable, the dense atmosphere created by Phil Spector's production, and the sheer vulnerability of the lyrics make "Unchained Melody" a tearjerking classic. Sample lyric: All my love, my darling/I've hungered for your touch, a long lonely time/and time goes by so slowly/and time can do so much/are you still mine?/I need your love
2. Bert Jansch "Needle of Death" - Jansch, the British folk singer and former member of Pentangle, wrote this song about his friend who died of a drug overdose. It's said that Neil Young's striking "Ambulance Blues" is a note for note cop of this beautiful song. Finger picked and sung with subtle emotion, "Needle of Death" puts into words the effect that self destruction habits have on friends and family. Sample lyric: Your mother stands a'cryin'/While to the earth your body's slowly cast/Your father stands in silence/Caressing every young dream of the past/Your troubled young life/Had made you turn/To a needle of death
1. Elliott Smith "Angeles" - Actually, Elliott's entire discography is #1 for me. I can't think of any other songwriter who so effectively made a career of putting their emotions on the table for the world to see. Not to mention, he's an amazing guitarist whose understated musicianship and vocals further bring any person with a beating heart to be moved. Check out any of his albums (they're all amazing), especially Either/Or (containing "Angeles") and XO. Check out the video right here ->
Michael Melchor
[Music Editor/Reviewer/Contributor To Most 411 Mania Zones]
5. David Bowie "Heroes" – Not all sad songs have to be slow and quiet, like you're at a funeral. "Heroes" is faster, louder, and more anguished than most ballads and laments out there. Hearing Bowie's impassioned plea for one more chance at personal glory in love is a heartbreaker, particularly when the impression is given that what he wanted so bad never happened.
4. Faith No More "Take This Bottle" –Just as the title would imply, Patton and the rest of the gang tell the tale of an alcoholic turning the corner into realizing his need for sobriety. While hopeful in content, it's the feeling of what lingers behind, courtesy of the music, that makes you wonder just how bad things got before this point. Sometimes our imaginations can cook up things much worse than what we could hear or see.
3. Pete Townsend "I Believe My Own Eyes" – Written as a plot-filler for the Broadway version of Tommy, Townsend painted a gut-wrenching portrait of a couple at the end of their wits and about to give up hope in everything...including their ability to weather the storms of life together. Even with the unusual circumstances surrounding their situation (you do know Tommy is deaf, dumb, and blind, right?), Townsend gives the Walkers a beaten voice easy for anyone to relate to in their worst hour.
2. Brian May "Too Much Love Will Kill You" – Yes, Queen did this song, too, but I'm not sure, to this day, if Freddie got the message even as he sang the song. If not, all he had to do was listen to May sing it himself on his solo album, Back To The Light. Recorded and released after Freddie's death, it's one man's impassioned lament to a friend that was about to pass on and why he thinks it will happen. The tragedy herein – evident in May's voice and performance – was that all he could do was stand by and watch.
1. Pink Floyd "High Hopes" – It's a moment we all dread in life. Very few can avoid it, but many others are harshly slapped with it. In our older years, we realize that we had such dreams and goals for ourselves...and they all passed us by as we lived a life that, good, bad, or indifferent, were not nearly what we had envisioned. People grieve for that moment and some have ended their own lives at the realization. The moment itself – the one where it is certain that all was lost, despite our best efforts – is captured in perfect clarity on, ironically enough, the final song on Pink Floyd's final album. Check out the video right here ->
Honorable Mention: Evan Dando "My Idea", Youth Group "Skeleton Jar", Radiohead "How Can You Be Sure", R.E.M. "Everybody Hurts", Ryan Adams "Dear Chicago" and "Now That You're Gone", Tracy Chapman "Fast Car", Nirvana "Something In The Way", Wilco "Say You Miss Me" and "Misunderstood", Mountain Goats "Woke Up New", Velvet Underground "Pale Blue Eyes"...there's just too many.
5. Beck "Lost Cause" - Off 2002's Sea Change, this is by far my favorite Beck tune, no matter how depressing. Honestly the guy kind of annoys me sometimes, but not on this album. The lyrics are simple but direct and poignant, the music is slow and melodic, Beck's vocals are haunting and exhausted. Kind of makes you want to give up on the world altogether. Isn't that great?
4. Waterboys "When Ye Go Away" - Ah, Mike Scott can write a song. He loves her, she's leaving, he's sad, so he's going to drink some whiskey, "rave" and "ramble" and "do everything but make [her] stay" and then cry, when she goes away. And I believe him.
3. Elliott Smith "Rose Parade" - There are so many Elliott Smith songs that could fill in this spot - Alameda, 2:45 am, Some (Rock) Song, The Biggest Lie...and on and on. The man was a depressing lyrical genius, and for some reason this seems to me to be the saddest of his sad songs. "When they clean the street I'll be the only shit that's left behind...." Ouch. Check out the video right here ->
2. The Honorary Title "Everything I Once Had" - I thought this was especially appropriate given the proximity to the big V-day: "February, Valentine's day, did my best to avoid the red clichés, so you dumped me on the subway, on my way to work at 9 in the morning..." - couple this imagery with singer Jarrod Gorbel's toxic sonic mix of desperation and spite…what an ominous V-day cocktail.
1. Rolling Stones "Paint It, Black" - I'll never forget the day I learned to appreciate the severity of this classic Stones tune. Like a good daughter, I stopped by my lunatic father's favorite watering hole for an adult beverage one Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately, Luney's favorite whiskey mill is the local VFW. The silence in such a place on a Sunday afternoon can be deafening, but the one redeeming quality about the place (well, besides the gambling), is the jukebox heavily stocked with classic rock and completely cheesy pop fat free. So, like a naïve daughter, I immediately tried to replace the heavy silence with some slightly less weighted rock - beginning with my aforementioned favorite tune. Big mistake. The bartender immediately dimmed the lights and heads on stools noticeably sagged, while a few hefty vets even reached for handkerchiefs to wipe betraying eyes. I wanted to hide under my stool. I wonder what will be the tragic anthem accidentally loved by the children of our generation's soldiers.
Tim O' Sullivan
[Sports Columnist, "The Round Football Column"/ Reviewer]
Honorable Mentions: That Des'ree song from Romeo and Juliet, Craig David – "Walking Away", a lot of Boyz II Men, Az Yet – "Hard To Say I'm Sorry", Beatles – "The Long and Winding Road", Beatles – "Yesterday", Musiq – "Don't Change", Sinead O'Connor – "Nothing Compares To You", a few Radiohead tracks, Oasis – "Stop Crying Your Heart Out", Will Young – "Leave Right Now", Usher – "U Got It Bad", Evansescence – "My Immortal", Elton John – "Sacrifice", U2 – "With Or Without You", Anthony Hamilton – "Lucille", Anthony Hamilton – "Pass Me Over", Ghostface Killah – "All That I Got Is You"
5. Eva Cassidy "Songbird" - Just an insanely beautiful vocal from the late star, and every time I hear it I can't help but get attached for three minutes. Probably the best female vocalist since Joni Mitchell and Aretha Franklin, and she totally owns it from start to finish. I remember seeing this for the first time, when her mother appeared on British television to speak about her daughter's life and works, and it was one of those "wow" moments. Just stunning.
4. R.E.M. "Everybody Hurts" - I kind of hate Stipe and co. for writing this song. It slays me. The melody, the emotion, the works. It's just impossibly beautiful from start to finish, and Stipe produces a truly fantastic vocal on his group's finest hour.......commercially, anyway.
3. George Michael "I Can't Make You Love Me" - The title is bad enough, let alone listening to the track. Along with his biggest solo hit, "Careless Whisper", George Michael knew exactly how to sell a ballad, and you can tell he put his personal experiences and soul into this recording. Lyrically it's beautiful, and the melody is haunting, but honestly, it's the title that gets me. Imagine that pain! Damn, I don't ever want to be saying that. I don't count Jessica Alba or Elisha Cuthbert, because I haven't had a chance to charm them yet.
2. Maxwell "This Woman's Work" AND "Whenever, Wherever, Whatever" (from MTV Unplugged) - This is cheating, I know, but allow me to explain. On the sublime MTV Unplugged album, Maxwell performs two of his biggest hits back-to-back with only a courteous round of applause from the audience breaking its stride. Lyrically they are both emotive pieces ("lead me on if you must"......damn) but it's the live arrangement that slays me every single time. The band sell it so damn well, and then there's the vocals. From the second he calls Kate Bush, "the bomb" to the climax of "Whenever, Wherever, W" its just a totally flawless seven minutes or so.
1. Michael Jackson "She's Out of My Life" - Legend has it that MJ only needed two takes to seal this track on the Off the Wall album, an album this track is soooooo out of place on by the way, and the version from the disc is apparently his first try. Listen carefully and you can hear feint sniffles at the end. It was too much for the rookie genius, and unless he had seen himself twenty-five years into the future, he was weeping at the meaning of what he had just sang. So much emotion. So much hurt. Add that to beautifully poignant lyrics and a haunting melody.......and jackpot.....we have Tim O'Sullivan's saddest song ever. Check out the video right here ->
Jesse Coy
[Music Columnist, "Notes From the Padded Cell"/ Reviewer]
That's sad... oh, so sad. Give me some puffy tissue, please.
Goddamn it! Get your weeping willow off my lawn!!!
Oops, sorry. Here goes...
5. Quiet Riot "Thunderbird" - Going back to the early
80's, this last track on Quiet Riot's breakthrough album, Metal Health, was about former band mate Randy Rhoads. While Ozzy's Tribute album is a nice live testament to the guitarist who died so young in a plane crash, this song dedicated to him can make an ox sniffle if you know that it's about the late guitarist.
4. Lääz Rockit "The Omen" - Rockers who turned
thrashers (yes, it's spelled 'Rockit' and not 'Rocket'), this track is from their most popular album, Annihilation Principle. Another last track, this song about a brother mourning the death of a brother in Vietnam. I'm not sure if it's autobiographical, but it sure is a true misty eye wonder.
3. (TIE) Overkill "Years of Decay"/ The Beatles "Eleanor Rigby" - I need to tie these two, because they're both sad for the same reason. I find one of the saddest things to be to look back near the end of one's life upon mostly waste, decay, and loneliness. Personally, I find that the thrashers Overkill captured it a bit better. But if you want a slightly less depressing option, go with the Beatles.
2. Roger Waters "Watching TV" - From the phenomenal Amused to Death album, what makes this one so sad is that it ends with a punch in the stomach. If you know the song, you know what I mean. Basically, you become so emotionally invested in the character, this 'Yellow Rose,' who is so full of life, this lovely Tiananmen Square protester... and then, guess what? The song ends in a whimper, informing the listener, "and she died...on TV."Check out the video right here ->
1. Primus "Bob" - Sorry to get personal, but I did have a friend named Bob, who did hang and kill himself. I don't know if he did it with a belt, like in this song, which is sad in a creepy Primus way (from the Pork Soda CD). I don't know the back story
on this song's Bob, but the Bob I knew, was a close friend from middle and high school with whom I'd long since lost touch. He went down the toilet like a lot of people from my hometown; his a more permanent and dead toilet. Not weepy sad song or story... but rather a pathetic, useless, wasted sadness.
Honorable Mention: Johnny Cash – "Hurt" and Beck – "Lost Cause"
Although Trent Reznor penned this anthem for The Downward Spiral, Johnny Cash's sorrowful adaptation brought the gloomy factor down to an all-time low. As Reznor said in concert a couple of years ago, "That song isn't mine anymore." As far as Beck is concerned, Sea Change is debatably his most disheartening record and this song, with the refrain, "Baby, you're a lost cause", is about as dismal as Mr. Odelay can get.
5. Eels "Elizabeth On the Bathroom Floor" - It's no easy task to pick my top 5 saddest songs because more than half the catalogue of Morrissey, The Smiths, The Cure, and Mazzy Star would make the first half. To remedy this problem, I picked the first five that came to mind that people might not expect. There are a plethora of songs that E (frontman for the eels) has written about death and depression, but this one from Electro-Shock Blues is the ultimate bleak song. "I could try/but waking up is harder when you wanna die…/My name's Elizabeth/My life is shit and piss." Horrifying.
4. Al Green "Ain't No Sunshine (When She's Gone)" - Marvin Gaye and Bill Withers also recorded versions of this song, but Al Green's, in my opinion, conveys the most tenderness. "It's not warm when she's away…/wonder if she's gonna stay…"
3. Radiohead "Fake Plastic Trees" -Thom Yorke's bleak crooning about the idea of everything being fake is depressing enough to put this song in my top 3. Really, either "Street Spirit" (which Thom Yorke once described as similar to feeling satisfaction from kicking a puppy when audiences cheer for the song live) or "Exit Music (For A Film)" would both fit perfectly on this list as well. ."Check out the video right here ->
2. Jeff Buckley "Last Goodbye" - This is one of the saddest songs from his first and only LP, Grace. "This is our last goodbye/I hate to feel the love between us die." Unfortunately, I think besides making a fantastic record, Buckley will solely be remembered in the pages of rock ‘n' roll history because he drowned at such a young age.
1. Harry Chapin "Cats in the Cradle" - The ultimate tragic tale of a father's suffering relationship with his son and how it comes back to him when his son grows up. Chapin is one of the finest storytellers/musicians who ever lived and no matter how much the Ugly Kid Joe version was overplayed on MTV, the original wasn't ruined for me in the slightest. Chapin's story is a bittersweet commentary on life and how much actions matter in the long run. Classic.
No honorable mentions this time around. EM got no time, no time.*
*Quote courtesy of the one Captain dude from the movie Armageddon.
5. Rainbow "Rainbow Eyes" - Cello = instant sadness and this is one of the lushest and most gorgeous tracks of all time. Ritchie Blackmore's insistence on inserting the word "Rainbow" into as many things as possible actually worked out extremely well here on this, the closing song to the final Rainbow album with Ronnie James Dio.
4. Abba "Knowing Me Knowing You" - Nobody knew their way around melodic musical hooks and catchy choruses better than Abba, but their lyrics were also incredibly striking and poignant at times. "In these old familiar rooms, children would play" is immediately heartbreaking and giving this song to Frida, whose soulful delivery struck home, was a perfect touch. While Agnetha may have been the best at "crying" with her vocals (see "S.O.S." or "The Winner Takes It All"), this song is all the stronger for the heartbreaking melancholy of the warmer vocal tones.Check out the video right here ->
3. Don McLean "Empty Chairs" - Almost a forgotten track on the American Pie album, this song has some of the most poetic lyrics ever, along with a very captivating guitar and vocal track. The tale of the shock of finding someone loved and taken for granted, now gone. Often, this song is very hard to bear.
2. Black Sabbath "Solitude" - Love strikes again, for the 4th time on this list. This song is what loneliness and isolation sound like in musical form. The narration is almost suicidal and it is not until the very end that the reason behind all of this is revealed, but not by me. You will have to listen to this for yourself...this is also one of my very favorite songs in the world to play.
1. Living Colour "Flying" - Once again, imagery takes hold, this time with the theme of life interrupted, only on a much grander and more tragic scale. Overtly written about the 09/11/01 mass murders yet never directly referencing it, this song defines timelessness. This is one of the few songs that brought me to tears the first several times I heard it, before I even quite pieced together what it was about, just from the sheer beauty of the music. I wish everyone could write songs this well...
* Radiohead "Fake Plastic Trees" - No, not the version that rocked their wicked second album The Bends. I'm talking about the Thom Yorke solo acoustic version that's on the Clueless soundtrack. It's an odd place to find something so down and world weary but sometimes you look in the place least likely and you'll find some true gold. Yorke stripped back all the histrionics and laid it bare and NONE of the emotion gets lost. In fact, it probably highlights just how powerful this song is. At the end, in a keening falsetto that has Yorke pleading If I could be who you wanted, all the time, it drives home just how lonely one can feel.
* Patsy Cline "Crazy" - All hail true genius. Some people shout, some people scream, some people use fake musical drama to convey the feelings of loneliness and being out of step with the world around them, but Patsy didn't need any smoke and mirrors to do that. Her voice was so clear and so pristine it came up from somewhere deep inside her and let everything she was feeling come out. On this Willie Nelson penned tune she's singing nothing more than a lover lament about falling for the wrong person, but you can tell she had LIVED that story and then some. For those who think country music is crap, I dare you to listen to this and not be moved.
* Fleetwood Mac "Dreams" - I LOVE Fleetwood Mac. I LOVE this album. This album is like the 70's album version of what reality TV is today. Five people crammed into a tiny recording studio that are all in relationships with each other and each happen to break up at the exact moment. It's true blood and guts confessional music and all the songs are answers and replies to each other. Dreams was the Stevie Nicks written centerpiece of that album and you can hear the sadness leak out of her vocals, and that only triples when the backing vocals kick in. If you can track down the a capella version and hear the people involved just bleeding emotionally over it all. Just great stuff. Check out the video right here ->
* B.B King "The Thrill Is Gone" - When you want sad you go to the blues and when you want real blues you go BB King, and if you want the essence of BB King blues you look at this song. It's a simple song about losing the love for somebody you care about but that's what makes it so powerful. You can't help but know what he's saying. The fact BB delivers it as some prophet of doom who's not only seen the world but the worst of it, you believe every work.
* The Everly Brothers – "Bye Bye Love" - People laugh when I say this but The Everly's were the first true goth/emo band in history. All their songs are about feeling sorry for yourself, feeling rejected and being rubbed raw by love. The fact they gave it to us in a sugar-coated package of pop-harmony, which sounds so happy you could vomit, is the best trick they pulled. I picked Bye Bye Love because it's probably their most well known tune. Make no mistake, it's a cracker but fuck me is it depressing. I also recommend "When Will I Be Loved" for sheer lovelorn misery.
Samuel Berman
[Wrestling Columnist, "The Independent Mid-Card"]
Honorable Mention: In no particular order, other than the order I thought of them:
-Kiss Me I'm Sick "Black Sheep Gunnin'" – An underground classic by a now-defunct Milwaukee band.
-Rick Springfield "Jessie's Girl" – I've yet to meet a guy who doesn't relate to this song.
-Dave Matthews Band "Grace is Gone" – Another classic if you've ever sat in a bar after a breakup.
-Stephen Kellogg & the Sixers "Bound for New York" – Bands like the SK6 make a living on sad songs, and this is the best of their catalogue.
-Ryan Adams "Come Pick Me Up" – Adams is the master of sadness, with this being his most well-known song.
-Matchbox Twenty "Long Day" – This song almost word-for-word described my college relationship, so forgive it making the list.
-Revolver "Maybelline" – My friend Ryan wrote this for his old band after a particularly bad breakup, but now the only way to hear it is to see him perform it live.
5. Soundgarden "Burden in My Hand" –Perhaps not the most traditional choice for a list of sad songs, this song perhaps would more accurately be in the ‘emotionally draining songs' category. This is the kind of song you could hear in the background when your life was just falling apart at the seams. Yeah, so I'm a sucker for that grunge yell. Sue me. Sad Lyric I Love: "I shot my love today / Would you cry for me? / I lost my head again / Would you lie for me?"
4. Will Hoge "Lover Tonight" – I will never forget the first time I saw Hoge perform (he was opening for Marc Broussard in Washington, DC). He has a stage presence that is so overflowing with emotion that on the saddest of his numbers, it's hard not to get swept up in the moment. This song, which strips his band's sound down to voice and piano, often ends either his first set or the encore, which is a sign that it's the kind of song that is hard to follow. Hell, it even ends the album it's on ("The Man Who Killed Love", for the record). Sad Lyric I Love: "I've got a suicide mouth / But I'm dying to kill / I tell you to do what you want / ‘Cause honey I know that you will"
3. Freshwater Collins "Power Changing Hands" – One of Milwaukee's top local bands, Freshwater Collins is one of those great acts that seem to stay under a lot of people's radar. In my opinion, this song is amongst their very best work, telling the story of a relationship that is failing for as-yet-undetermined reasons. Maybe I'm swayed because I was out drinking with lead singer Chris Vos a couple of weeks ago. Track down their album ("These Days Lately") and decide for yourself. Sad Lyric I Love: "Lord I hope / You can see it's a hard time when you're hurting / Every night I lie awake"
2. Doves "Caught By the River" – One time, after a particularly bad breakup, I drove to a music store, bought this album and listened to this song on repeat for like 4 and a half hours. I'm not joking. (Yes, I know that story makes me sound like a depressing loser.) If that doesn't make for a sad song, I don't know what does. Years later, I STILL can't listen to this one without getting a little depressed, which is unfortunate because it's an absolutely unbelievable song. Sad Lyric I Love: "Son, what have you done? / You're caught by the river, you're coming undone" Check out the video right here ->
1. Pearl Jam "Better Man" – Anyone who has ever talked music with me knows where I stand on this song. It is simultaneously the most interesting, compelling, powerful and saddest song I have ever heard. To be completely honest, I could probably do a Top Five Sad Pearl Jam Songs list without much trouble ("Better Man", "Indifference", "Drifitn'", "Nothingman", "Off He Goes". See, there you are.), but this song belongs at the top of any list of sad songs if only for Eddie's own proclamation once that "this song is for the bastard who married my mama…" Sad Lyric I Love: "Waiting, watching the clock / It's four-o-clock, it's got to stop"
One more video for good measure...The Undisputed Champion of Sad Songs!
Did we miss a song that makes you cry? Let us know!
…and don't forget to click on each writer's name to see what else they've been writing at 411 Mania!
That's it for The Top 5 this week. Check us out this time next week for our TOP 5 SOUL RECORDS Of All-Time!
