Emotional / sad tracks

[drSM]

Was watching Manchester by the Sea few weeks ago and without giving anything a way there is a tragic moment and the accompanying music is an emotional classical track.
Of course i have Sound Hound on me phone and that tells me not just what music it is but exactly what track it is - Adagio in G minor for Strings and Organ (after T Albioni), David Parry conducting the LPO - 50 Greatest Pieces of Classical Music.

So i get the album and i come across another very sad moving piece - Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings
Wikipaedia tells me: Alexander J. Morin, author of Classical Music: The Listener's Companion, said that the piece was "full of pathos and cathartic passion" and that it "rarely leaves a dry eye."
while Thomas Larson remarked that the piece "evokes a deep sadness in those who hear it"

Finally Johnny Cash s rendition of Hurt - originally by 9 inch Nails - from one of his American albums, 4 i think,does pull hard at the heartstrings.
Only he could have done it like this. There is an especially moving video made by a famous music vid director that had to be rushed cause Mr Cash was not well. June Carter made an appearance in it.
She was dead 3 months after the video was made and the man himself was gone at 7 months.

So my 3 emotional tracks are :
Adagio in G minor for Strings and Organ (after T Albioni)
Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings
Johnny Cash's cover of Hurt

weep:violin:

[walpurgis]

Art Garfunkel's rendering of the traditional song 'Barbara Allen', from his album Angel Clare, is a tour de force in melancholy. Sumptuously done and dripping with sorrow. Rather corny really, but it certainly qualifies as very sad. Like many old traditional songs, it has some beauty to it regardless of who may be singing it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxQdl9cP3e0&index=9&list=PLCC1831D6EAA4EB27

[struth]

Its a great old song Barbra Allen. Yes its a decent album all in actually. How he gets those highs tho I dont know;)

[walpurgis]

Its a great old song Barbra Allen. Yes its a decent album all in actually. How he gets those highs tho I dont know;)

I agree. Angel Clare is very good. Still have it on vinyl.

[walpurgis]

Another candidate. 'When I am Laid in Earth' (Dido's Lament), from Dido and Aeneas by Purcell.

Sung by Elin Manahan Thomas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGQq3HcOB0Y

And the orchestral interpretation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUQu9gyt5XQ


This is a wonderful piece of music.

[HackneyRF]

In classical terms Mahler's 5th Symphony. Part III Adagietto. That'll get you everytime!

There are many for me that can turn on the waterworks but at the moment Rufus Wainwright's 'Dinner At Eight' is the one!

[rigger67]

I don't know about anyone else, but this used to get me every morning at about 11am back in the day :


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6ZDsUGiGqM

[rigger67]

On a serious note, I'm surprised nobody's mentioned songs either played at the funeral of a loved one or the dreaded "our song" of an ex-gf/bf/wife/hubby/partner.

For me, I find it hard to listen to Edith Piaf's .. Rien as it was the last song played at the funeral of a friend's daughter who committed suicide following a severe bout of schizophrenia a few years ago.
I'd known her all her life and she was only 20, fluent in French, studying it at the university where I was working at the time.

I thought I'd cried myself out at the actual funeral and was composing myself to leave when the ceremony came to a close, the curtains closing around her coffin .. then Piaf's voice started up and I began bawling again .. sheesh, I'm not far off it now either :(



But that's personal.
On purely musical terms, I've not really experienced anything like that level of sadness despite loving both Adagio and that Mahler symphony - both great shouts, btw.

Some boffin on here will no doubt explain how the descending cadences of a recidivist chord regression triggers a certain part of the brain before long though ..

[struth]

On a serious note, I'm surprised nobody's mentioned songs either played at the funeral of a loved one or the dreaded "our song" of an ex-gf/bf/wife/hubby/partner.

For me, I find it hard to listen to Edith Piaf's .. Rien as it was the last song played at the funeral of a friend's daughter who committed suicide following a severe bout of schizophrenia a few years ago.
I'd known her all her life and she was only 20, fluent in French, studying it at the university where I was working at the time.

I thought I'd cried myself out at the actual funeral and was composing myself to leave when the ceremony came to a close, the curtains closing around her coffin .. then Piaf's voice started up and I began bawling again .. sheesh, I'm not far off it now either :(



But that's personal.
On purely musical terms, I've not really experienced anything like that level of sadness despite loving both Adagio and that Mahler symphony - both great shouts, btw.

Some boffin on here will no doubt explain how the descending cadences of a recidivist chord regression triggers a certain part of the brain before long though ..

Yes i could. But wont go there. the worst one(played at my sons funeral still comes on radio and I have to turn off) is a robbie williams one I think. think its called Angels or sommat. takes me back to those dark days

[Sherwood]

A quick Baker's Dozen of saddish songs on my current "walkman" playlist.


1. "Let Them In" by John Gorka. Anti-war song lamenting loss of young lives.

2.Along the same anti-war lines: Elvis Costello's "Shipbuilding" by Robert Wyatt.

3. "Millworker" by Emmylou Harris. A song written by James Taylor that captures the misery of a life of drudgery.

4. "The River" by Bruce Springsteen. The death of blue collar aspirations.

5. "The Grave" by Don McLean. Still remember hearing it for the first time at my cousin's place back in 1971 when it first came out.

6. Must include a Randy Newman song so "Marie" performed by Rumer

7. "Galveston" as performed by Jimmy Webb on "10 Easy Pieces". Another anti-war song from the perspective of unwilling protagonist.

8. One from Otis Redding, "Pain in My Heart".

9. "If I Had a Gun" by Diana Jones. Difficult choosing one song from DJ as her voice has a melancholy quality that permeates all her songs.

10. Something by Scott Walker too, so it's "No Regrets"

11. No elaboration necessary: "Strange Fruit" by Billie Holiday.

12. No sad list would be complete without something from Laughing Len. "Famous Blue Raincoat" by Leonard Cohen

13. Finally a nod to the Beatles as songwriters. "In My Life" sung by Johnny Cash.


Geoff

[drSM]

Whoa Lotsa sad tunes to check out.
Lovely emotional bunch here . Thanks .
Will search these out.
Better get the tissue box handy

[Dynamics]

I was listening to Suo Gan (Welsh cradle song) from empire of the sun yesterday. That's a great sad song.

I remember watching the film as a 13 year old. This song is sad but reflective for me because it represents a time I will never get back to live again. Also more profoundly, a time of being younger where life was simple and easy and innocent, without complex thoughts of being an adult. This simplicity and innocence is reflected in the boy soprano voice. Also going to boarding school and the thoughts of leaving home and the seeing my mother and the trauma of repatriation, which is a theme in empire of the sun at the end when this song comes in again.

Maybe you shouldn't listen to it but in a funny sort of way it provides nourishment if that makes sense. Sorry if this is too deep.


https://youtu.be/6lapculOfR0

[Haselsh1]

The most melancholy music I have is the album 'Dust and Dreams' by Camel. In true Prog Rock format it is a concept album based on the book 'The Grapes of Wrath'. This album has some incredibly haunting refrains that run through the whole piece constantly winding in and out of the main piece. Love it.

[rigger67]

The most melancholy music I have is the album 'Dust and Dreams' by Camel. In true Prog Rock format it is a concept album based on the book 'The Grapes of Wrath'. This album has some incredibly haunting refrains that run through the whole piece constantly winding in and out of the main piece. Love it.

Sounds great !
I only know Nude from them, which I love.
I'll give that a go :)

[walpurgis]

I'm sure there must be something from Leonard Cohen or June Tabor that would fit the bill.

[Ian7633]

I know this a bit obvious but I've always thought " She's Leaving Home " by The Beatles immensely sad, all those strings I guess

[RobbieGong]

Rickie Lee Jones - Company.

Beautiful expression of one of those not so comfortable paths we take along lifes journey.

The aching, yearning, melancholy, definitely stirs the emotion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nG0zxxzvyYE

[walpurgis]

Rickie Lee Jones - Company.

Yeah. Agree with that. Very poignant.



There's great emotional content in June Tabor's 'The Gardener'. By the end of the song, she's practically spitting the words out in bitterness. Beautifully done!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGrD80f5Q7Q

[shane]

https://youtu.be/No5FkAmTaJY


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLhtJvl_5sA


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INYL4T1LoPo

[Intenso]

Liz Frazer's cover of Song to Siren is about as melancholic as it gets.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXHw-LyeiVc

[Anthony K]

https://youtu.be/Ej6NGrZ0iUM

[Anthony K]

https://youtu.be/iY1IM0Hsf5Q



I do not know what is said but I still weep

[Anthony K]

https://youtu.be/YfwysqWbK9Y



For anyone who has suffered heartache in love
and I am sure thats most of you.

Thats my 3

[Sherwood]

Definitely a vote for Kate Rusby but I would have gone for "Underneath the Stars". How can you argue against a colliery brass band?

Geoff

[walpurgis]

How can you argue against a colliery brass band?

Geoff

Quite easily actually. :D

[Sherwood]

https://youtu.be/Ej6NGrZ0iUM

I agree it's a great song but I would choose Biko as his saddest song!

[Sherwood]

https://youtu.be/iY1IM0Hsf5Q



I do not know what is said but I still weep

I agree that one does not have to understand the lyrics of a song to be moved by it. I bought this album when it first came out and still get the shivers when I play it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIfOerBX50w

Geoff

[Sherwood]

Quite easily actually. :D

Obviously no pits near you! Have you listened to the song?

:eyebrows:

[walpurgis]

Obviously no pits near you! Have you listened to the song?

:eyebrows:

Yes. It's decent enough. ;)

[shane]

I agree it's a great song but I would choose Biko as his saddest song!

i'd have gone for this if the video didn't make me laugh:


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VjEq-r2agqc

[Anthony K]

The story behind Steve Biko is sad indeed , the song itself is rather unmoving in my opinion.
Mercy Street sounds dark , mourning, regret and nostalgia. Sometimes I kind bring myself to listen to it.
Herbie Hancock also done a great cover version.

[drSM]

I am remined how good an album 'So' is - must give it a spin.
Kate Rusby and Sandy Denny tracks excellent - thanks for the education.

Hey i just noticed i ve become a 'senior member' - senility?

[GJO]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEHqPCA_lzQ

This always crack's me up.

[Sherwood]

The story behind Steve Biko is sad indeed , the song itself is rather unmoving in my opinion.
Mercy Street sounds dark , mourning, regret and nostalgia. Sometimes I kind bring myself to listen to it.
Herbie Hancock also done a great cover version.

What moves us is all highly personal and to do with time and place. There are certain songs, many in fact, which transport me back to an instant in time and space and trigger strong memories of the moment.

In the case of Biko I was living and working in Gaborone in Botswana (1987-88) when the film Cry Freedom portraying his life came out. Though an independent country, the Apartheid regime had launched a vicious helicopter gunship attack on Botswana only two years earlier using former Rhodesian special forces. The pretext was that they were targeting ANC activists, but their "intelligence" was flawed/outdated and they actually killed 12 civilians including a South African student. Undoubtedly, Botswana was sympathetic to the ANC but there was no possible justification for an attack on a democratic and peaceful sovereign state. The atmosphere was therefore highly charged, not least because the capital Gaborone was at that time crawling with South African "spies" and other vile Boer types. I went to see Cry Freedom at the local cinema in Gaborone and still recall the explosion of emotion amongst the predominantly Batswana audience in the scene where Donald Woods finally makes it over the border into Lesotho, before then continuing his journey to Botswana. The cheering and clapping was deafening and continued until the final credits when the names of those who died in police custody and claimed causes of death scrolled down the screen. The atmosphere changed radically to a sombre mood and to a rousing rendition of Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika. The hairs still stand up on my neck when I recall that incident and hear that song.

I stand by my view that "Biko" is a great song, though as with some of Peter Gabriel's compositions, I prefer other cover versions.

Geoff

[Haselsh1]

Just been thinking again about emotional music and I guess it all depends on where you are heading emotionally. 'After The Ordeal' by Genesis is a truly haunting melancholy which brings on feelings of World War I and II and which I would love to be played at my funeral, however, in keeping with a lot of Steve Hackett's music I find there is an overwhelming feeling of 'saudade' about his compositions. It makes one feel overwhelmingly sad for memories of places or people, even ones you have never known or experienced. This is emotionally moving in a very deep way.

[rmcin626]

Virtually any song by James Carr

[mightymonoped]

Just too many to choose from but this one from Joni is always near the top of my list as a perfect capture of the melancholy of unrequited love...

https://youtu.be/DjDi_plwi5A

[AlexM]

How about this one? Eddi Front - Gigantic. Another great breakup song with a haunting piano lead (and an appropriately bleak and depressing music video!)

https://www.youtube.com/embed/VRYCa7KGxg4

[drSM]

How about this one? Eddi Front - Gigantic. Another great breakup song with a haunting piano lead (and an appropriately bleak and depressing music video!)

https://www.youtube.com/embed/VRYCa7KGxg4

cool vid haunting indeed nice