Use italics (lyric) and bold (lyric) to distinguish between different vocalists in the same song part

The Sad Son: A surprisingly funny memoir about mental illness The Sad Son: A surprisingly funny memoir about mental illness

A foreboding bass note introduces Deserted By Every God. Soon a sparse bass drum and skeletal snare gives the song a rhythm to hold on to until the chorus again gives us firmer ground on which to stand. An album highlight, Deserted By Every God builds slowly but surely until it again hits epic territory and shows us why Saudade is an album that very much deserves your time and attention. The Red Hot Chili Peppers are one of the bands that have the power to spark a party in life or to drive you to the tissue box. Under the Bridge will make you cry every time and is about a time when lead singer, Anthony Kiedis felt alone and unloved. A recovering addict, Kiedis gives us a glimpse into the city as a character in his personal story. With an equally evocative title, Makarska Sunset, 25th May 2018 is another instrumental, this time featuring a lone, almost classical piano melody for its brief running time of just under a minute. It serves as almost a palette cleanser for the rest of the album. Away Until Christmas Morning again evokes the 60s psych era, with Bowie/Barrett flourishes very much to the fore. Powell finds beauty in sadness as he sings “the dark is on your side and the night is beautiful”. The piano work here is beautiful, with clever use of dissonance hinting at the song’s deeper concerns. The undulating pedal steel guitar on “D-I-V-O-R-C-E” pulls at metaphorical heartstrings, but the lyrical content is gut-wrenching enough on its own. Tammy Wynette articulates the internal struggle of so many divorcees-to-be with children, the strain and ache in her warble serving as a vehicle for her overwhelming remorse. Plus juxtaposing words like “toy” and “surprise” with “divorce” and “custody” severely ups the misery factor.— Tess DuncanSaudade may be defined as “a deep emotional state of nostalgic or profound melancholic longing for an absent something or someone”, but it can also be the first step on a path to better, brighter times.

Sad Songs - playlist by Spotify | Spotify Sad Songs - playlist by Spotify | Spotify

Yes, sad songs do say so much. And these 50 songs helped the Paste staff to hurt so good. I tried to keep it to one song per artist but Johnny Cash ended up getting a pass. This list barely scratches the surface of sad songs—or even sad songs that got nominated by our writers. If your favorite is missing, add it to the comments section below. Here are our 50 favorite of the saddest songs: Former boy band singer, Robbie Williams was failing to establish himself as a solo artist when he released Angels. “When I’m feeling weak, and my pain walks down a one-way street” is a pretty bleak opening to any song. Angels is a popular funeral song in Europe and gives everybody a chance to wallow in misery for three minutes. That molten caramel voice drenches an acoustic guitar. Another man-fighting-with-his-wife country ballad is deceptive as the chorus swells up “You don’t know sadness til you face life alone / You don’t know about lonely ’til it’s chiseled in stone…” Suddenly, sorrow’s permanence is concrete, pride is poison and Vern Gosdin bends notes and your heart. It’s 1989’s Country Music Association’s Song of the Year for good reason.— Holly Gleason

This Eric Clapton ballad has gotten a lot of play in the 20-plus years since its initial release, and you’d think that would dull its sadness a bit, but just take a minute and remind yourself of its tragic origins: Clapton’s four-year-old son Conor fell out of a 53rd-floor window and died in 1991, and “Tears in Heaven” is the songwriter’s attempt to express his grief, speculating whether his young child would even recognize or remember him in heaven.— Bonnie Stiernberg

The Sad Son by Claire B. Josephine | Goodreads

Stark. The echo chamber of a broken heart for a beat; dried twigs scratching at a cold window for a voice make Townes Van Zandt’s “Waitin’ Around To Die” a haunting more than a song. Beaten women, getting hustled, crime gone bad, jail time, addiction. Two minutes, 23 seconds of harsh reality, stoic in its acceptance of a fate worse than death.— Holly GleasonThe song titles hint at Powell’s mood as he worked, with Deserted By Every God and These Tears Won’t Cry Themselves evoking desolate images before a note of the album is played. It is a pleasant surprise then that Saudade is a far cry from being a downbeat trip through somebody else’s solitude and is instead an uplifting and ultimately positive experience. George Jones thought the song was too sappy and cliché to be a hit but recorded it years after he had reached his commercial peak. The country staple has sounded melodramatic in the hands of other bands and singers but Jones gives the story of loss and lost loves a poignant feeling that breaks your heart. Few songs have the emotional power of Maps because of the rawness of the situation. Karen O was in a relationship with fellow musician, Angus Andrew when she wrote the song about being away from her lover. The video features a crying Karen O who was upset about the fact Andrew was late for the video shoot and she would leave on tour directly after the promo was completed.