Jun 7, 2009
What’s your favorite song for sadness?
Like this post?
Molly writes about her favorite “grief song.”
For me it’s “Fisherman’s Blues” or, more recently, “Life Is Hard.”
What about for you?
* * *
Related:
• The last 22 songs that have been stuck in my head
• My 5 favorite songs right now
• Recommend some music we’ve probably never heard.
* * * * *
“Warning Sign” by Coldplay is pretty high up there. So is a whole lot of Damien Rice music…he’s pretty emo.
It used to be “Evaporated” by Ben Folds, but I think I’m finally past the age where I can enjoy music with that much angst.
Nowadays, it’s probably something like “Ain’t No More Cane” by Lyle Lovett or “Not Sure” by Fiction Family. Both great tunes.
Jill Phillips “Resurrection”
http://www.jillphillips.com/albums/good-things-2008/7/resurrection
Patty Griffin’s “Rain.”
And yeah, a lot of Damien Rice falls in this category :)
One small note to add: As I laid down in bed it hit me that God has graciously spared me from any major grief in my adult life. I wonder how my list will change when I actually need some music to get me through real sadness…
“World’s Apart”, Jars of Clay, or “Mountains High”, Delirious.
Silence
So you like John Cage’s 4’33", I suppose.
Gabriel’s Oboe by Ennio Morricone.
Other good ones: Breathe (2 AM) by Anna Nalick; Fix You by Coldplay; Broken by Lifehouse; You Have Always Been Faithful by Sovereign Grace; Borrow Mine by Bebo Norman.
I have a lot of music for sadness; I agree heartily with Jon Foreman: “I’ve come to the realization that most of my music is an attempt to come to terms with pain.”
Oh! and I think Jeff is talking about Silence by Joy Williams perhaps? I love that one as well as God Only Knows by Joy Williams and Going Through The Motions by Matthew West.
Somebody already said “Warning Sign” by Coldplay.
Recently, “Stalling Out” by Mutemath has been mine.
“Etcetera, Whatever” by Over the Rhine
“O My God” Jars of Clay
“I Am” by Jill Phillips
“Blessed Be the Name” by Matt Redman
“Just Like the Movies” by Regina Spektor, I like to belt along with her and just let it out..
“Love Hurts” by Incubus
“Ive Always Loved You” by Third Day
“If You want me too” Ginny Owens
My wife and I have endured some suffering in ministry. Some strength has come through music.
Oh, the deep love of Jesus- Sovereign Grace (kauflin) version
And
My heart is filled with thankfulness- Keith Getty/Stuart Townend
Wonderful, Gospel-centered music.
Another:
“Rock of Ages” – Sandra McCracken
It depends on the momentary sadness:
Jeff Buckley’s “Hallelujah”
Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide”
Annie Lennox’ “Into the West”
Natalie Grant’s “Held”
to name a few…
a great song for wallowing in self-pity:
“Goodbye to love” – Carpenters
“Day by Day Thy Mercy, Lord, Attends Me”
“Thanks to God For My Redeemer”
“When You Miss the One You Love” by Neil Diamond.
Don’t laugh – you might make me cry.
Sample lyrics:
Heartache’s gonna find you no matter where you go
When you miss the one you love
Sad songs are all you’re gonna hear on the radio
When you miss the one you love
Grey skies are there to remind you
The blues are never behind you
When you miss your love
No shame in liking a little Neil Diamond. Everyone needs a band or two to feel embarrassed that they like.
Of course, most of us don’t know we should be embarrassed.
A lack of shame about something that isn’t shamefull is a blessing.
If you’re ashamed of liking Neil Diamond, you should check out his two latest albums, both produced by Rick Rubin. They are both great.
Home Before Dark
12 Songs
Thanks for the feedback and support, folks. I really didn’t expect it.
For the record (no pun intended), I have no shame in liking Neil Diamond. At age 30, I own most of his albums and have seen him in concert once.
I also enjoy Michael McDonald, Peter Cetera, Roger Whittaker, Gordon Lightfoot, Kenny Rogers…I’ll stop there.
it depends, but often it’s Relient K’s Mmhmm album. there’s some really good stuff about relationships and forgiveness and the pain of sin and regret, like “Let It All Out” and “When I Go Down.”
Alone Again (Naturally)
by Gilbert O’Sullivan
I guess everyone is too young to remember this one!
I like Alone Again…. I’m 30 and I used to sing along to that song when I was a kid. I knew all the “cool” songs by heart because my dad and I would sing together in the car.
Love the new site. In no specific order:
Thief – Our Lady Peace
Grieve – Peter Gabriel
Amazing Grace (I should know who wrote this…)
Not Dark Yet
I was born here and I’ll die here against my will
I know it looks like I’m moving, but I’m standing still
Every nerve in my body is so vacant and numb
I can’t even remember what it was I came here to get away from
Don’t even hear a murmur of a prayer
It’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there.
That’s a fantastic choice, Myrddin. “Meet Me in the Morning” off of 74′s “Blood on the Tracks” is also a nice, mournful tune, or “Sugar Baby,” off 2001′s “Love & Theft.
“Long December,” Counting Crows
Yes… that or “Miami”
Ooooooh. Good one.
“Come Lift Up Your Sorrows” by Michael Card.
His whole album, The Hidden Face of God, is one I’ve listened to and lamented through, day after day, when I was walking through deep sorrow or praying for a friend who was. My 4 year old heard it so much she would ask for it when I wasn’t playing it, “Mommy, can I hear the falling tears song?”. Her favorite on the CD was a powerful rendition of “Walk with Me, Lord”. Sometimes I wondered if I was messing up my kid’s brain by listening to lamenting music all the time.
If I couldn’t cry out to the Lord in laments like that, I’m not sure how I could have endured continuing to trust in Him during those dark days.
‘It Might be Hope’ by Sara Groves. Maybe more for emerging from grief’s cocoon…
Never really thought about a favorite grief song… I tend to journal furiously when I’m very emotionally agitated..
P.S. This 22 words thing is totally brilliant.. Currently trying to implement it occasionally on my own blog.. Nice!
Lost in the Harbour, Tom Waits.
September When It Comes
Especially as done by Johnny and Rosanne — as in the video above.
I plan to crawl outside these walls,
Close my eyes and see.
And fall into the heart and arms,
Of those who wait for me.
I cannot move a mountain now;
I can no longer run.
I cannot be who I was then:
In a way, I never was.
“Somebody’s Baby” & “Revenge” by Jon Foreman
“The Blues” & “Yesterdays” by Switchfoot (one could say: also Jon Foreman)
To break out of my Jon Foreman griefcapade, I also include “Helpless” by Ryan Horne.
I suppose it depends on the reason for my sadness. I grew up on Country music, so I love sad, mournful songs with a healthy dose of the steel guitar: there’s plenty of them.
Hurt
Speaking of Johnny Cash …
If I could start again
A million miles away
I would keep myself
I would find a way
Wow. I love sad songs. Narrowing it down to one is hard. I could list some of the songs already mentioned, but I’ll try to make a unique contribution.
A long time ago it would have been either:
“Piano Man” by Billy Joel, or
“Cat’s in the Cradle” by Harry Chapin
More recently it would have been either:
“Deathbed” by Relient K, or
“Center Aisle” by Caedmon’s Call
There are also a few songs on Jon Foreman’s Winter and Fall discs that could get honorable mention.
Saro, Sam Amidon (this video kills me)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rw7pZvQPvcg
Sixpence None The Richer, Million Parachutes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMHs1JB-n9w&feature=related
I would second Come Lift Up Your Sorrows and the whole The Hidden Face of God album. I wrote a little bit about it here.
When I was in junior high and high school it was Everybody Hurts by REM. I had the cassette single.
Oh man…that would make for a good follow-up post: “What was your favorite song for sadness in high school?”
I’m ashamed to say that I was far too into “August and Everything After.”
There would be a long list. Another great post would be your favorite break-up song–a different kind of grief. I can remember crying over Ashley as I listened to Chicago’s Look Away –another cassette single.
Fred Jones Part II – Ben Folds
Ten Million Years – Black Lab
Mrs. McGrath as performed by Bruce Springsteen
Bethel – Northern Diving Co.
“Inside of Love” – Nada Surf
“Bad” – U2
Long Ride Home – Patty Griffin
Someone dug a hole six long feet in the ground
I said goodbye to you and I threw my roses down
Ain’t nothing left at all in the end of being proud
With me riding in this car, and you flying through the clouds
That’s a good one… wish I’d thought of that.
“Reservations” – Wilco
“Trapeze” – Patty Griffin
“Are You Alright?” – Lucinda Williams
Kindness by Chris Tomlin.
It’s Ellie’s song…
“Your love is better than life”
Probably “Passing Afternoon” or “On Your Porch”. I don’t know if they qualify as “my sad songs” in that I’m a little hazy on what one could mean by that–but both were written for sad reasons, as it were.
Sandra Macracken is an awesome writer, I really like I can’t rememember the name I think it is called, In the Secret
Secular sad songs abound though, two that come to mind are My Immortal (Evanessence) and Mad World (Tears for Fears, but the slower version and I am unaware of the artist)
Those two are sure to make me think…
sorry about all the typos, I meant to say the one song that I really like is in the Secret. Sorry…
August 30th – Delirious
“Beauty from Pain” by Superchik
Favorite: “Hello” by Evanescence
“Oh the Glory of it All” – David Crowder Band
“Last of Days” – A Fine Frenzy
“Keep Breathing” – Ingrid Michaelson
“Shelter” – Sandra McCracken
“God Moves in a Mysterious Way” – the version by Jeremy Riddle
“Twenty-four” – Switchfoot
“How He Loves”
…and some others that have already been mentioned. :)
Oh, gosh, how could I forget?
“Breathless” – Better Than Ezra
“Now Comes the Night” – Rob Thomas
Here I am for You (Can I sit with you awhile) – Steve Fee.
“You Move Me” by Susan Ashton. Used to listen to it a lot with our dear friend who was abducted and, most likely, murdered last year. Cathartic.
“Small Enough” by Nichole Nordeman. I prefer the way it was sung by a close friend at our college.
Various others. Those are most prominent today.
I don’t know that I have suffered enough in my life to have a song that qualifies as a “grief” song. But during times of sadness, I find myself retreating to this odd quartet of songs:
Steve Green – “In Brokeness You Shine”
Fernando Ortega – “Sing to Jesus”
John Boswell – “I’ll Carry You Through” (instrumental)
Gary Allan – “Life Ain’t Always Beautiful”
‘Stir My Heart’ Sarah Groves
‘You Are on Our Side’ Bethany Dillon
“Now is the Time for Tears” by Charlie Peacock is mine.
“Now is the time for tears,
don’t speak, save your words.
There’s nothing you can say,
to take this pain away.
Don’t try so hard,
You can just simply be.
Cry with me, don’t try to fix me, friend.
That’s how you’ll comfort me.”
To be found on the complilation album, “Coram Deo,” which also features songs by Susan Ashton, Michael Card, and Out of the Grey.
The recording’s apparently out of print (surprise, surprise!), but I located copies from 3rd-party sellers on Amazon dot kom for reasonable and outrageous prices just now. It’s worth the price. ;0) The whole record is excellent. Happy hunting!
“Out of the Depths” Sovereign Grace
“If you want me to” Ginny Owens
“Glory Baby” Watermark
“Let that be enough” Switchfoot
Nothing Like A Train- Vigilantes of Love
Locket Full of Moonlight(Reprise)- Bill Mallonee
Here’s a newer clip of VOL playing Nothing like a Train w/ steel guitar. A real heartbreaker…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CK_TEyB8Rr8
Indelible Grace’s version of “Jesus, I come”.
When I am sad and need encouragement, I love these by Sovereign Grace:
God Moves; Out of the Depths; I Have a Shelter; and; It Is Not Death to Die.
By Michael Card: Mourning the Death of a Dream.
“I Never Dreamed You’d Leave In Summer”-Stevie Wonder
“Change Gon’ Come”- Sam Cooke
“The Faithfulness of Christ” -Timothy Brindle
There are so many songs to choose from. Also, for me it kind of depends if a song for sadness is a song which gives me a biblical perspective or one which is just sad and kind of commiserates with me.
I’ll pick one of each: “On Fire” by Switchfoot and “Into Dust” by Mazzy Star.
Because I can get “caught and dragged under” by allowing too much “grief feeling”, I have learned to choose only Biblical perspective songs…especially those having to do with choosing to trust:) When I feel genuinely sad, I don’t resist that; but I have to put a boundary on how much room I make for it in terms of my mind because I’m sometimes vulnerable to despair. (That’s sort of in the “besetting sins” category for me)
I find I listen to the kinds of sad songs in a progression. When I’m feeling sad, I listen to some just plain sad music first, and then some to give me perspective.
Then again, I listen to sad music fairly often anyway. A lot of my music is somewhat melancholy sounding; I have a joke with a friend about having to comb through my collection to find something upbeat!
The first two years or so after my husband died of cancer – I’ll See You in My Dreams by Giant.
In general – Hallelujah, Jeff Buckley version.
Lately – Hold Me Jesus by Rich Mullins.
Duh. How could I forget the Sarah McLachlan Mirror Ball CD. Sheesh. Talk about a river of tears.
Say the Name (Maragaret Becker)
God Will Make a Way (where there seems to be no way)
I Know My Redeemer Lives (Nicole Mullen)
Held (Natalie Grant)
Perfect Union (Matthew Ward)
Also, White As Snow (Leon Olguin)
“Failure” by the Swans. It’s truly a grim song, yet with a undeniable pull.
The Valley Song – Jars of Clay
I See a Darkness – Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy
or
Casimir Pulaski Day – Sufjan Stevens
The Whole of the Moon, by the Waterboys.
Some people may not see that as a song about sadness, so I might get disqualified.
Don’t forget ‘Gloomy Sunday,’ by Billie Holliday. There are few songs bluer than this one.
“The Silence of God” – Andrew Peterson
“Sleep’s Dark and Silent Gate” – Jackson Browne
“After the Last Tear Falls” – Andrew Peterson
Knew I was forgetting something:
“Come Lord Jesus (Not Another Worship Song)” and “Are You Out There Tonight” – both Greg Adkins
When I’m upset, I find myself most often listening to Demon Hunter’s “Deteriorate”. There’s just something that resonates within when they sing the bridge:
“I need a heart that carries on through the pain
when the walls start collapsing again.
Give me a soul that never ceases to follow
Despite the infection within.”