Well you better believe I took my turn at riding Teddy Bear
― Curt1s Stephens, Sunday, 20 April 2008 03:11 (sixteen years ago) link
*stifles a laff*
― gigabytepicnic, Sunday, 20 April 2008 03:24 (sixteen years ago) link
Gnossienne No. 5, Modéré
― davie, Sunday, 20 April 2008 05:09 (sixteen years ago) link
i think we need to re-do this because nobody mentioned "halah" by mazzy star, which i can't listen to without crying (esp the line "you're leaving before my time").
― Treeship, Wednesday, 19 June 2013 02:46 (ten years ago) link
I have the same experience with Hope Sandoval's "Down the Steps", a portrait of someone who's in denial after the death of a friend. there's something very convincing in the way she avoids using the word "death" or any of its synonyms, slips confusedly between past and present tense, and mixes matter-of-fact observations about the body with incoherent musings about where the soul has gone. her quavering, uncertain delivery of the last line ("wake up, make us some tea") is just devastating.
― ☉.☉☂ (unregistered), Wednesday, 19 June 2013 04:30 (ten years ago) link
that is a great one too. she is easily one of my favorite singers of all time. her voice is just so beautiful, clear and youthful yet darkened always by this palpable weight of despair, like she could just break down and start crying any second.
― Treeship, Wednesday, 19 June 2013 04:39 (ten years ago) link
Man of the World - Fleetwood Mac (Peter Green iteration)
― Iago Galdston, Thursday, 20 June 2013 00:03 (ten years ago) link
14, Fleetwood Mac - Man Of The World― eyesteel (eyesteel), Friday, June 2, 2006 7:43 AM (7 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Oops! Sorry, eyesteel
― Iago Galdston, Thursday, 20 June 2013 00:05 (ten years ago) link
Any number of versions of Adagio for Strings -- hell, it even works "for horns":https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fYNlsRHSXo
― bodacious ignoramus, Thursday, 20 June 2013 07:49 (ten years ago) link
Stephin Merritt and two of his 69LS allies did a 'saddest songs' show in 2000:
I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles [Kenbrovin/Kellette]Seasons in the Sun [Brell/McKuen] I Live off You [X-Ray Spex] He Hit Me (It Felt Like a Kiss) [Goffin/King] My Man [Yvain/Willmetz/Charles/Pollock] The Winner Takes It All [Abba] Big Red Balloon [Lee Hazelwood]Anywhere (Like the Moon) [Kid Montana] The Silver Swan [based on a 16th century madrigal by Orlando Gibbons]Oh, Danny Boy [trad. Irish] If You Go Away [Brell/McKuen] Pretty in Pink [The Psychedelic Furs] Maria, Maria [Merritt]Some Small Hope [Astley/Sakamoto] Don't Get Around Much Anymore [Duke Ellington] In My Room [Pocktiss/Vance] Measure of a Man [ld beghtol]The Slave's Lament [Robert Burns] Big Louise [Scott Walker] An Hour Too Late - 1890s parlour balladAs Soon As I Hang up the Phone [Conway Twitty]The Butcher Boy [trad. Irish] Send in the Clowns [Stephen Sondheim] 'Tis the Last Rose of Summer [trad. Irish; lyrics by Sir Thomas More] - Is That All There Is? [Leiber/Stoller; extra lyrics by Christina]
― ballin' from Maine to Mexico (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 20 June 2013 18:45 (ten years ago) link
which allies? was it LG Benghtol and Lemony Snicket? sounds awesome regardless.
― Treeship, Thursday, 20 June 2013 18:56 (ten years ago) link
Is broken hearted same as sad?
Cat Power - Still In LovePalace - New Partner
― nicky lo-fi, Thursday, 20 June 2013 19:31 (ten years ago) link
it is. for cat power, my pick would be "maybe not".
― Treeship, Thursday, 20 June 2013 19:33 (ten years ago) link
Treeship, it was LD & Dudley Klute. (w/ SM, The Three Terrors)
― ballin' from Maine to Mexico (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 20 June 2013 19:56 (ten years ago) link
― Treeship, Wednesday, June 19, 2013 12:39 AM (Yesterday)
hmm, I don't really get an "on the verge of a breakdown" feeling from her music, apart from "On the Steps" and a few of the quieter Mazzy Star songs ("Look on Down From the Bridge"?). if anything it sounds like she could fall asleep any second, and the constant, low-level moodiness is perfect for when you're feeling tired and depressed but aren't in the mood for anything properly weepy.
― ☉.☉☂ (unregistered), Thursday, 20 June 2013 20:02 (ten years ago) link
when i imagine the breakdown, it is like she is on the verge of quietly walking out of the studio and driving calmly back to her apartment and lying in bed lightly but ambivalently crying.
― Treeship, Thursday, 20 June 2013 20:18 (ten years ago) link
but i agree, there is a numbness there, which is familiar to anyone who has experienced really significant depression for a prolonged period of time. she sounds like she is suffering to me, i guess. but i still enjoy listening to the music and find it very beautiful.
― Treeship, Thursday, 20 June 2013 20:19 (ten years ago) link
well she does have a habit of quietly walking offstage in the middle of concerts, so you may have a point there (I kid). I've listened to her solo stuff so often while falling asleep that it's hard for me to hear it as anything but chill-out music — it's like I've conditioned myself to tune out the content/lyrics/emotions in favor of the vibes, maaaan. the same thing happens when I listen to certain music regularly while exercising. using music for purely functional purposes has its drawbacks.
oddly I don't like most of Mazzy Star's stuff, especially when they're in retro-psych mode, and I don't like Opal's heavier material (on Happy Nightmare Baby). Rain Parade completely bores me. sorry, Dave Roback, but I don't think I like you.
― ☉.☉☂ (unregistered), Thursday, 20 June 2013 20:43 (ten years ago) link
Man, Taking Tiger Mountain brings the tears every time. Every time! And I'm mostly unemotional? Sort of?
― an uptempo Pop/Hip Hop mentality (imago), Thursday, 6 April 2017 21:30 (seven years ago) link
No xpost
― Week of Wonders (Ross), Monday, 25 September 2017 06:46 (six years ago) link
Carol - "So Low"
― Sushi and the Banchan (Spectrist), Monday, 25 September 2017 07:08 (six years ago) link
"Flooding" by Kristin Hersh, the piano demo.
― sick, fucking funny, and well tasty (katherine), Monday, 25 September 2017 17:20 (six years ago) link
"In This Hole" - Cat Power"Holding" - Grouper"For Martha" - the Smashing Pumpkins"My New Freedom" - Elliott Smith"Something in the Way" - Nirvana"The End of the Rainbow" - Richard & Linda Thompson"Sawdust & Diamonds" - Joanna Newsom"God" - John Lennon"This Night Has Opened My Eyes" - The Smiths"Buzz Saw" - Xiu Xiu
― flappy bird, Monday, 25 September 2017 18:05 (six years ago) link
People have some odd ideas on what constitutes a sad song.
― The Doug Walters of Crime (Tom D.), Monday, 25 September 2017 18:07 (six years ago) link
A harder challenge would be coming up with some sadder than any of the songs on Mount Eerie's A Crow Looked at Me.
― flappy bird, Monday, 25 September 2017 18:09 (six years ago) link
Yeah :-(
― Le Bateau Ivre, Monday, 25 September 2017 18:12 (six years ago) link
I mean, Phil abandons/dismisses any attempt at making "art" on that record, because it's been rendered completely meaningless and useless to him. understandably. I couldn't get through 4 songs.
― flappy bird, Monday, 25 September 2017 18:13 (six years ago) link
Sufjan Stevens - Carrie and Lowell is probably a contender for saddest album.
― the last famous person you were surprised to discover was actually (man alive), Monday, 25 September 2017 18:16 (six years ago) link
otm, I could listen to that one twice all the way through, and haven't revisited it since. songs are good, I just can't sink into that mood.
― flappy bird, Monday, 25 September 2017 18:24 (six years ago) link
Little Green, Joni Mitchell – The wistful optimism is just heartbreaking
― dinnerboat, Monday, 25 September 2017 18:26 (six years ago) link
oh man, I was gonna mention that one. "A Case of You" as well, even if it's more bittersweet. "Little Green" is similar to "This Night Has Opened My Eyes" - the complicated emotions that come with having an abortion / giving up a child for adoption.
― flappy bird, Monday, 25 September 2017 18:28 (six years ago) link
River too -- subject matter is kind of run-of-the-mill as far as sad songs but the treatment is especially heartbreaking.
― the last famous person you were surprised to discover was actually (man alive), Monday, 25 September 2017 18:30 (six years ago) link
joni mitchell - other people's parties
― Week of Wonders (Ross), Monday, 25 September 2017 18:57 (six years ago) link
Inconsolable - Jonatha Brooke
― Bloody Snail, Monday, 25 September 2017 19:13 (six years ago) link
Zabelle Panosian, Groung (The Crane)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GizgyxGSrFs
― Mungolian Jerryset (bendy), Monday, 25 September 2017 19:49 (six years ago) link
The Train by Sinatra, off Watertown, a brutally sad album all told.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXP-417oiv0
― Have the Rams stopped screaming yet, Lloris? (Chinaski), Sunday, 28 October 2018 12:21 (five years ago) link
Franz Schubert - 'Der Leiermann' (from Winterreise):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIIS-UgixGE
― pomenitul, Sunday, 28 October 2018 12:33 (five years ago) link
The Band - It Makes No Difference
― fancy the Dirkishness of carrying Doré a round (fionnland), Wednesday, 22 May 2019 21:53 (five years ago) link
the winner
― i think ur a controp (voodoo chili), Wednesday, 22 May 2019 22:06 (five years ago) link
Bruce Springsteen, “Brilliant Disguise”
― these are not all of the possible side effects (Karl Malone), Wednesday, 22 May 2019 22:15 (five years ago) link
Randy Newman - “Marie”
just thinking about that song, christ..
― JoeStork, Wednesday, 22 May 2019 23:36 (five years ago) link
The Last Ride- Todd Rundgren
― X-Prince Protégé (sonnyboy), Thursday, 23 May 2019 00:38 (five years ago) link
Kathleen Edwards - "Alicia Ross"
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 23 May 2019 02:29 (five years ago) link
Josh Ritter - "The Curse"
Rickie Lee Jones - "Skeletons"
― Herman Woke (cryptosicko), Thursday, 23 May 2019 02:30 (five years ago) link
also legit surprised not to see John Prine’s “Hello in There” in this thread.
― JoeStork, Thursday, 23 May 2019 03:36 (five years ago) link
Sandy Denny - "All Our Days"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsxeL-59GbM
― Brainless Addlepated Timid Muddleheaded Awful No-Account (Pheeel), Thursday, 23 May 2019 07:29 (five years ago) link
It's here.
― kornrulez6969, Thursday, 23 May 2019 14:25 (five years ago) link
Peter Hammill, "This Side of the Looking-Glass"
― the word dog doesn't bark (anagram), Thursday, 23 May 2019 14:39 (five years ago) link
Everybody's Been Burned by the Byrdsso sad it's haunted
― Dr X O'Skeleton, Thursday, 23 May 2019 16:20 (five years ago) link