Songs that make you cry

dolores haze

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We might have to start a separate poll about which version of the song people like best. I'd have to say John Cale, but probably because it's the first version I heard.

I've got footage of my older son singing it to his baby brother. So cute. After that it's the Leonard original, though I don't think I've ever heard a bad version of this wonderful song.
 

III

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Why? First, I don't listen to sad songs, they aren't my style. Just as I don't watch chick flicks.

Second, I don't understand the lyrics anyway. No one enunciates the way Frank Sinatra or Bing Crosby did.

Third, I listen to the music for the music.

But don't you have any songs that you associate with memories or feelings that are strong enough to choke you up? Like lots of folks have shared, it's often just a song that reminds them of a specific time of their lives or event; not so much the lyrical or musical content of the song itself.
 

maestrowork

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Ditto on Hallelujah.

Who Wants to Live Forever by Queens, especially in Highlander where Connor lived through the death of his wife. Arg, the pain!

Ave Maria and O Holy Night sung by Pavarotti -- it tied to a special moment of my life.
 
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RLB

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I might like Buckley's arrangement a wee bit better, but I just love Leonard's lyrics, especially the last verse, which Buckley did away with:

I did my best, it wasn't much
I couldn't feel, so I tried to touch
I've told the truth, I didn't come to fool you
And even though
It all went wrong
I'll stand before the Lord of Song
With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah
 

MelodyO

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The Living Years by Mike and the Mechanics.

I wasn't there that morning
When my father passed away
I didn't get to tell him
All the things I had to say

I think I caught his spirit
Later that same year
Im sure I heard his echo
In my baby's new born tears
I just wish I could have told him in the living years

After my dad died, when this song came on the radio I'd cry so hard I'd have to pull the car over until I could compose myself.
 

Shadow_Ferret

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But don't you have any songs that you associate with memories or feelings that are strong enough to choke you up? Like lots of folks have shared, it's often just a song that reminds them of a specific time of their lives or event; not so much the lyrical or musical content of the song itself.
I don't have any songs that bring back sad memories, no. They all remind me of happier, more carefree times and make me happy.

I think I'd actually hate to have a song I like associated with a sad memory.
 

maestrowork

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I might like Buckley's arrangement a wee bit better, but I just love Leonard's lyrics, especially the last verse, which Buckley did away with:

I did my best, it wasn't much
I couldn't feel, so I tried to touch
I've told the truth, I didn't come to fool you
And even though
It all went wrong
I'll stand before the Lord of Song
With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah

Great lyrics. But I guess to me it was the arrangement, the guitar, and Buckley's soulful voice that made it almost spiritual to me.
 

joetrain

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Great lyrics. But I guess to me it was the arrangement, the guitar, and Buckley's soulful voice that made it almost spiritual to me.

yeah, but cohen's last verse that buckley leaves out gets to me deeply. and i'm a sucker for songwriters who can barely sing. in this case, cohen's broken vocals add a lot to the desperation of the song, imo.
 

maestrowork

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Angel by Sarah McLachlan. She has a wonderful voice. It encapsulates the themes of my novel perfectly, and once I heard it on my drive home and it just hit me -- it also describes my feelings about my losses perfectly...
 

Inky

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Martina McBride: Concrete Angel.

Heard it once.
Can never listen to it again.
I cried for hours.
Her lyrics were my childhood.
 

maestrowork

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oohh... Sarah McLachlan's Angel gets me - especially since the ASPCA adopted it for one of their promos. All those sad-eyed doggies....

Yeah... I didn't include the lyrics in the novel because of copyright. Still, listen to it and read the book -- it said exactly what I wanted to say:

Spend all your time waiting
For that second chance
For a break that would make it okay
There's always one reason
To feel not good enough
And it's hard at the end of the day
I need some distraction
Oh beautiful release
Memory seeps from my veins
Let me be empty
And weightless and maybe
I'll find some peace tonight

So tired of the straight line
And everywhere you turn
There's vultures and thieves at your back
And the storm keeps on twisting
You keep on building the lie
That you make up for all that you lack
It don't make no difference
Escaping one last time
It's easier to believe in this sweet madness oh
This glorious sadness that brings me to my knees

-- that's pure poetry
 

sunna

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Colin James Hay's Waiting For My Real Life to Begin and My Brilliant Feat.

He was great with Men at Work, but he's so very, very much better on his own.

I might like Buckley's arrangement a wee bit better, but I just love Leonard's lyrics, especially the last verse, which Buckley did away with

You're right, I loved that verse, and I often forget about it. But I think Cale's is my favorite because he's got such a quiet, understated way of singing it, and it really brings out the meaning for me.
 

III

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Colin James Hay's Waiting For My Real Life to Begin and My Brilliant Feat.

He was great with Men at Work, but he's so very, very much better on his own.

Oh man, Colin Hay's acoustic version of Overkill was my theme song for one of the most stressful years of my life...

Especially at night
I worry over situations that
I know will be alright
It's just overkill

I'll have to look for those other songs you mentioned.

ETA: Found 'em on YouTube. I know what I'll be listening to repetitively all after noon ;). Thanks S.
 
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sunna

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Oh man, Colin Hay's acoustic version of Overkill was my theme song for one of the most stressful years of my life...

Also a great one. I think I heard it first on Scrubs. :) He's got such amazing lyrics, and he's a great guitarist. Waiting For My Real Life just kills me every time.

Any minute now
my ship is coming in
I'll keep checking the horizon
and I'll stand on the bow
feel the waves come crashing
come crashing down, down, down
on me
And you say
be still, my love
open up your heart
let the light shine in
don't you understand-
I already have a plan
I'm waiting for my real life to begin
 

oscuridad

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follow strange fruit - very tough.

maybe - Thom Pace (yeah I know, big softie)
and, since the untimely funeral of a colleague, where a friend of his who had flown out from Trinidad sang 'I can see clearly now' - I always liked that song, but now it means a lot more.

At the moment, as and when my own funeral comes, I 'm thinking of 'Highway to Hell'...
 
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The only song that's ever made me cry (as I recall) was Evanescence's My Immortal when I heard it for the first time...and also the first time after I split up from my ex; he used to have it as his alarm on his clock radio CD player thing.
 

WVWriterGirl

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The only song that's ever made me cry (as I recall) was Evanescence's My Immortal when I heard it for the first time...and also the first time after I split up from my ex; he used to have it as his alarm on his clock radio CD player thing.

I have to agree with this one, too - left it off my own list. For different-type reasons, though.
 

jst5150

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Just finished listening to Buckley's version and it pwns.

New addition:

Bad (live) by U2
 

oneblindmouse

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"So this is Christmas" by John Lennon chokes me up every time. And many many more. Too many memories. Too many bygones. Too much pain.
 

ChunkyC

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Undertow, by Genesis. The chorus:
Stand up to the blow that fate has struck upon you
Make the most of all you still have coming to you
Lay down on the ground and let the tears run from you
Crying to the grass and trees and
heaven finally on your knees

Let me live again, let life come find me wanting
Spring must strike again against the shield of winter
Let me feel once more the arms of love surround me
Telling me the danger's past, I need
not fear the icy blast again
Youtube vid of a guy playing it on classical guitar. He does a wonderful job, but you have to hear Genesis play it to truly feel its power. When I'm on my deathbed, this is one of the songs I will want to hear one last time.