Saddest Song(s)

[faith]

Can't believe no one listed Pearl Jam - Last Kiss

Also

NOFX doornails and my orphan years

+1 on Konstantine

Matchbook romance, from way back when they were The Getaway, track 7 on the Nada Studio Demos. It's instrumental but the song I listen to when I'm really sad.

[000000]

Can't believe no one listed Pearl Jam - Last Kiss

 

 

That's a cover.  The original is much more sad.

[Guest]

Sometimes I feel like there is a fine line between writing something devastatingly sad and doing something just middle-school melodramatic. I may have mentioned it In this thread, but there's a line in the William Elliott Whitmore song "Porchlight" - "if I didn't have these IVs in my wrists, I would hold you in my arms" - that comes a lot closer to making me choke up than all the sappy, crying in my Cheerios purple prose that most people write these days. Cut my wrists and black my eyes so I can fall asleep tonight.

 

3 of the 4 songs i mentioned, i find them devastating because of the way i was able to relate to them at a particular time.

but the antlers - bear, jesus. in the middle of an album about loving someone who's dying, they decide to toss in a song about, well..

 

 

There's a bear inside your stomach

The cub's been kicking from within

He's loud, though without vocal chords

We'll put an end to him

We'll make all the right appointments

No one ever has to know

And then tomorrow I'll turn 21

We'll script another show

We'll play charades up in the Chelsea

Drink champagne although you shouldn't be

We'll be blind and dumb until we fall asleep

None of our friends will come

They dodge our calls

And they have for quite a while now

It's not a shock

You don't seem to mind and I just can't see how

We're too old

We're not old, old at all

Just too old

We're not old, old at all

There's a bear inside your stomach

The cub's been kicking you for weeks

And if this isn't all a dream

Well then we'll cut him from beneath

Well we're not scared of making caves

Or finding food for him to eat

We're terrified of one another

And terrified of what that means

But we'll make only quick decisions

And you'll just keep my in the waiting room

And all the while I'll know we're fucked

And not getting unfucked soon                                                                        (those two lines, in context, good lord..)

When we get home we're bigger strangers than we've ever been before

You sit in front of snowy television, suitcase on the floor

We're too old

We're not old, old at all

Just too old

We're not old, old at all

 

[faith]

That's a cover. The original is much more sad.

I didn't know that. Who sings the original? I'd love to hear it.

I think the pearl jam version is very effective because of the emotion in the singer's voice.

[000000]

I didn't know that. Who sings the original? I'd love to hear it.

I think the pearl jam version is very effective because of the emotion in the singer's voice.

 

 

EDIT: This is not the original original, but the version that had the most success in the 60's.

[suchashorttime]

3 of the 4 songs i mentioned, i find them devastating because of the way i was able to relate to them at a particular time.

but the antlers - bear, jesus. in the middle of an album about loving someone who's dying, they decide to toss in a song about, well..

 

 

There's a bear inside your stomach

The cub's been kicking from within

He's loud, though without vocal chords

We'll put an end to him

We'll make all the right appointments

No one ever has to know

And then tomorrow I'll turn 21

We'll script another show

We'll play charades up in the Chelsea

Drink champagne although you shouldn't be

We'll be blind and dumb until we fall asleep

None of our friends will come

They dodge our calls

And they have for quite a while now

It's not a shock

You don't seem to mind and I just can't see how

We're too old

We're not old, old at all

Just too old

We're not old, old at all

There's a bear inside your stomach

The cub's been kicking you for weeks

And if this isn't all a dream

Well then we'll cut him from beneath

Well we're not scared of making caves

Or finding food for him to eat

We're terrified of one another

And terrified of what that means

But we'll make only quick decisions

And you'll just keep my in the waiting room

And all the while I'll know we're fucked

And not getting unfucked soon                                                                        (those two lines, in context, good lord..)

When we get home we're bigger strangers than we've ever been before

You sit in front of snowy television, suitcase on the floor

We're too old

We're not old, old at all

Just too old

We're not old, old at all

 

this just sent me on a kick.  what an appropriately sad sunday night.

[steventangent]

patti smith - redondo beach

 

i mean, it's such a poppy reggae song, then you figure out what she's singing. holy shit.

[controlthebleeding]

 

immortal technique - dance with the devil

 

 

I once knew a nigga whose real name was William
His primary concern, was making a million
Being the illest hustler, that the world ever seen
He used to fuck movie stars and sniff coke in his dreams
A corrupted young mind, at the age of thirteen
Nigga never had a father and his mom was a fiend
She put the pipe down, but every year she was sober
Her son's heart simultaneously grew colder
He started hanging out selling bags in the projects
Checking the young chicks, looking for hit and run prospects
He was fascinated by material objects
But he understood money never bought respect
He built a reputation 'cause he could hustle and steal
But got locked once and didn't hesitate to squeal
So criminals he chilled with didn't think he was real
You see me and niggas like this have never been equal
I don't project my insecurities on other people
He fiended for props like addicts with pipes and needles
So he felt he had to prove to everyone he was evil
A feeble-minded young man with infinite potential
The product of a ghetto breed capitalistic mental
Coincidentally dropped out of school to sell weed
Dancing with the devil, smoked until his eyes would bleed
But he was sick of selling trees and gave in to his greed

[Hook]
Everyone trying to be trife never face the consequences
You probably only did a month for minor offences
Ask a nigga doing life if he had another chance
But then again there's always the wicked that knew in advance
Dance forever with the devil on a cold cell block
But that's what happens when you rape, murder and sell rock
Devils used to be gods, angels that fell from the top
There's no diversity because we're burning in the melting pot

[Verse 2]
So Billy started robbing niggas, anything he could do
To get his respect back, in the eyes of his crew
Starting fights over little shit, up on the block
Stepped up to selling mothers and brothers the crack rock
Working overtime for making money for the crack spot
Hit the jackpot and wanted to move up to cocaine
fulfilling the scarface fantasy stuck in his brain
Tired of the block niggas treating him the same
He wanted to be major like the cut throats and the thugs
But when he tried to step to 'em, niggas showed him no love
They told him any motherfucking coward can sell drugs
Any bitch nigga with a gun, can bust slugs
Any nigga with a red shirt can front like a blood
Even Puffy smoked a motherfucker up in a club
But only a real thug can stab someone till they die
Standing in front of them, staring straight into their eyes
Billy realized that these men were well guarded
And they wanted to test him, before business started
Suggested raping a bitch to prove he was cold hearted
So now he had a choice between going back to his life
Or making money with made men, up in the cife
His dreams about cars and ice, made him agree
A hardcore nigga is all he ever wanted to be
And so he met them Friday night at a quarter to three

[Hook]

[Verse 3]
They drove around the projects slow while it was raining
Smoking blunts, drinking and joking for entertainment
Until they saw a woman on the street walking alone
Three in the morning, coming back from work, on her way home
And so they quietly got out the car and followed her
Walking through the projects, the darkness swallowed her
They wrapped her shirt around her head and knocked her onto the floor
This is it kid now you got your chance to be raw
So Billy yoked her up and grabbed the chick by the hair
And dragged her into a lobby that had nobody there
She struggled hard but they forced her to go up the stairs
They got to the roof and then held her down on the ground
Screaming, "Shut the fuck up and stop moving around!"
The shirt covered her face, but she screamed and clawed
So Billy stomped on the bitch, until he had broken her jaw
The dirty bastards knew exactly what they were doing
They kicked her until they cracked her ribs and she stopped moving
Blood leaking through the cloth, she cried silently
And then they all proceeded to rape her violently
Billy was made to go first, but each of them took a turn
Ripping her up, and choking her until her throat burned
A broken jaw mumbled for guards but they weren't concerned
When they were done and she was lying bloody, broken and bruised
One of them niggas pulled out a brand new twenty-two
They told him that she was a witness of what she'd gone through
And if he killed her he was guaranteed a spot in the crew
He thought about it for a minute, she was practically dead
And so he leaned over and put the gun right to her head

[sample from "Survival of the Fittest" by Mobb Deep]
I'm falling and I can't turn back
I'm falling and I can't turn back

[Verse 4]
Right before he pulled the trigger, and ended her life
He thought about the cocaine with the platinum and ice
And he felt strong standing along with his new brothers
Cocked the gat to her head, and pulled back the shirt cover
But what he saw made him start to cringe and stutter
Cause he was staring into the eyes of his own mother
She looked back at him and cried, cause he had forsaken her
She cried more painfully, than when they were raping her
His whole world stopped, he couldn't even contemplate
His corruption had successfully changed his fate
And he remembered how his mom used to come home late
Working hard for nothing, cause now what was he worth
He turned away from the woman that had once given him birth
And crying out to the sky cause he was lonely and scared
But only the devil responded, cause god wasn't there
And right then he knew what it was to be empty and cold
And so he jumped off the roof and died with no soul
They say death takes you to a better place but I doubt it
After that they killed his mother, and never spoke about it
And listen cause the story that I'm telling is true
Cause I was there with Billy Jacobs and I raped his mom too
And now the devil follows me everywhere that I go
In fact I'm sure he's standing among one of you at my shows
And every street cypher listening to little thugs flow
He could be standing right next to you, and you wouldn't know
The devil grows inside the hearts of the selfish and wicked
White, brown, yellow and black color is not restricted
You have a self destructive destiny when you're inflicted
And you'll be one of god's children that fell from the top
There's no diversity because we're burning in the melting pot
So when the devil wants to dance with you, you better say never
Because the dance with the devil might last you forever

[homework]

 

...and I miss home, and I miss the closets, the windows, the hallways

And when we are gone, who will keep up the garden?
Like a mother calling her boy, I am, I am so unsafe
But she can't do it alone
but there's nothing stronger than her prayers.
Nothing stronger than the smell of reds.
My fathers reds

 

 

Under bridges waiting to look forward, waiting for rushes ends
Living in the moment is the homeless mantra, they know the busiest streets
All we have, all we have, all we have is letting a sleeping dog lay
All we have, all we have, all we have is letting a sleeping dog lay
Your face lit up and for once, i enjoyed where i was
The truth is jade plants die, the truth is muscles atrophy
Softening your skin and hardening mine

 

"I don't know where to begin
I've thought about this day so much and thought of so many things I've wanted to say
but now, now I can only look at you like the pictures I spend hours staring at
I don't think I've ever smiled so wide as when you were holding me up
I was given a picture the other day of a past birthday
We were together on our back deck

I remember.

You were covered in powdered sugar from the donuts you were eating
I've always loved watching you smile

Do you remember the mornings when we woke up early to ride bicycles to on the board walk or the night before my first homecoming when you taught me how to dance?

Yes I remember. I hope she appreciated all my hard work

I wish I had a different story to tell
I seem I have drifted fairly far away from what you taught me

You were always the (indecipherable)

I'll admit there hasn't been much to smile about since, since you left

I didn't leave, I fought for five years to stay at your side

What do you remember about that night?

I remember a family that loved their wife and mother very much.

How can you say that?
We were liars
We clung to those songs like we so desperately wanted to Cling to you.

Then I don't think you heard the same song I did

You had to know I was lying
You had to know how much I hated myself for smiling like a fool
For spending our last few minutes together deceiving you

Matthew, your smile in the face of your greatest fear was the greatest gift a mother has ever received from her child

I miss you

I know."

 

Everyone cares, every eye carelessly tiptoes around you, watching you,
They'll wear black ties, and as they applaud, i'll count claps

[hobohunter48]

Really pretty much any Pianos Become The Teeth song.

 

"Highly overlooked form of self-torture:

Listening to Pianos Become the teeth"

[silentgods]

Tim Buckley - Song to the Siren

 

 

 

Cover by This Mortal Coil

 

 

 

and fucking Leonard Cohen

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aRKZFR5imM