Songs that make people cry?

[b1j]

Originally Posted by DianeA

What. I've read this whole thread and no one has mentioned, not once, Puff the Magic Dragon. That song makes me cry every time. Poor Puff! Poor anyone who loves and is left behind forever.

Yes. Like Jessie in Toy Story 2 (my second reference to that movie this week): When She Loved Me by Randy Newman.

[donlyn]

Songs that make people cry?

Songs that are really poorly done.

You know, bad off-tune vocals, untuned guitars, band not in sync, et cetera.

Don
.

[donlyn]

Originally Posted by DianeA

What. I've read this whole thread and no one has mentioned, not once, Puff the Magic Dragon. That song makes me cry every time. Poor Puff! Poor anyone who loves and is left behind forever.

Haven't read or seen it, but I understand there was a sequel book (?) written wherein Jackie Paper's daughter goes searching for Puff.

Maybe a generational companion?

*

"Puff the Magic Dragon" also fought for the USA as ground support or suppression missions in Viet-nam. It was the name given to the AC-47s equipped with three 7.62 mm mini-guns that could saturate a 50 yd radius area with bullets. A 7.62 mm round is roughly equivalent to a .38" caliber bullet.

Don't know if Jackie Paper was serving in-country at the time.

Don
.

[ewalling]

Originally Posted by donlyn

Haven't read or seen it, but I understand there was a sequel book (?) written wherein Jackie Paper's daughter goes searching for Puff.

.

"Puff II: The Reckoning"

Not for the faint-hearted!

[superbitterdave]

Originally Posted by donlyn

Songs that make people cry?

Songs that are really poorly done.

You know, bad off-tune vocals, untuned guitars, band not in sync, et cetera.

Don
.

Well, then, if you are looking for a good sob, check out my YouTube channel!

Cheers,

Dave

[biotechmgr]

For me,
Fire and Rain - JT
Everlong - Foo Fighters (acoustic version)

Chris

[Everton FC]

Originally Posted by kkrell

"Kilkelly"

Live version by Pat and Becky Egan on "Music At Matt Molloy's", recorded at Matt Molloy's pub in Westport, Co. Mayo, Ireland.

The original is certainly a sad song, especially for us Irishmen (I'm 100% Irish).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRHQAtKbRTk

Another sad one - and it may already be mentioned, as I haven't yet gone through the whole thread, is Gilbert O'Sullivan's "Alone Again, Naturally".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_P-v1BVQn8

Another one is Tim McGraw's (YES, TIM McGRAW!!) "Don't Take The Girl"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vn6QdqxK3g

[Horsehockey]

Let’s not forget Merle. Silver Wings

https://youtu.be/DQy-PnYfwy8

[sc-smitty]

Angel- Sarah Mclachlan- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozKsQnRHb-c

[volman]

A song I have just recently come across is "Riding to New York" by Passenger. There's a few videos where he tells the story behind the song. Very touching.

[frenchie]

Here Today by Paul McCartney, which is about John Lennon, usually sets me off.

[rbock]

Guy Clark's "Let Him Roll" is classic sad.

Originally Posted by airborne1

I make people cry whenever, and whatever I play!

But I’m determined, and I will keep hacking away until there is barely a sniffle!

ROTFL!!! Me too. At least for now, but I will be hacking away over here with you until there's not a wet eye in the house.

[LiveMusic]

Originally Posted by Glennwillow

I was listening just yesterday through external speakers to Dan Fogelberg's "The Leader of the Band." By the time it was over my wife came in with tears running down her face to give me a hug.



I find that this song strikes a sad chord not only because of the inevitable conflicts between fathers and sons and how hard it is to express love in this relationship, but also because of Dan Fogelberg's relatively early death.

Dan Fogelberg has said that this was perhaps his most important song and that nothing was left unsaid.

- Glenn

You said it well, Glenn. If a songwriter can write just one song that good in his/her entire career, it's quite something.

[LiveMusic]

Thanks for your insight, 'tis an interesting post and I don't know the answer. I do know that I admit that I am a particularly emotional person and neither my younger nor my older brother are such. FWIW, I am the middle son.

Songs can definitely slay me, especially ones I wrote. Songs about my late parents get me quite often. But I can also get weak with certain love songs now and again.

Originally Posted by ewalling

I'm finding this thread interesting and wondering if there may be a cultural dimension to people crying over songs. As an Englishman, I would say it would be pretty rare for particular songs, and certainly many of the ones listed, to consistently make English people physically shed tears. Unless this is something they do in private, I have never seen anyone do this or heard anyone say that they do it. That's not to say people don't feel the pathos in song lyrics, but to actually cry - I would seriously doubt that certain songs can repeatedly make them do that. For this reason, I'm wondering if crying is a more socially common response in the US than in the UK.

What I think does happen quite often to me and my countrymen and women is that a piece of music can unexpectedly cause tears, but this may have as much to do with the mood or the moment the listener is in as it is with the actual music itself. I remember once driving to work listening to Mozart's 40th symphony, and there is this part in it that sounds a little confused, disparate, with instruments seemingly disconnected. Suddenly, all the instruments came together in this utterly delightful falling melody that somehow seemed a metaphor for harmony out of chaos, not just in music but in life itself. I've obviously no idea if Mozart even thought of such a notion, but the section struck me in such a powerful way and I teared up with the sheer beauty of it - this perfect musical harmony seeming to combine with a profound truth. But the next time I heard that piece, although I still loved it and still do, it did not make me cry. That was a moment when maybe I was particularly susceptible and 'unprepared.' I could not repeat the physical reaction or even plan for a teary reaction ad infinitum every time I listened to it.

But maybe all this just confirms the stereotype of the stiff upper-lipped English!