Saddest Song in all Genres of Music?

Annabelle - Gillian Welch

Many...most of which have been mentioned but what about 'Dance with my father' Luther Vandross or 'Hallelujah' Rufus Wainwright.

"Another Auld Lang Syne" - Dan Fogelberg

wolb wrote:

Cat's in the Cradle --- Harry Chapin

I agree... this one always gets to me...

Arms of an Angel - Sarah McLachlan

1916 by Motorhead is good:

16 years old when I went to war,

To fight for a land fit for heroes,

God on my side,and a gun in my hand,

Counting my days down to zero,

And I marched and I fought and I bled

And I died & I never did get any older,

But I knew at the time, That a year in the line,

Is a long enough life for a soldier,

We all volunteered,

And we wrote down our names,

And we added two years to our ages,

Eager for life and ahead of the game,

Ready for history's pages,

And we fought and we brawled

And we whored 'til we stood,

Ten thousand shoulder to shoulder,

A thirst for the Hun,

We were food for the gun,and that's

What you are when you're soldiers,

I heard my friend cry,

And he sank to his knees,coughing blood

As he screamed for his mother

And I tell by his, side,

And that's how we died,

Clinging like kids to each other,

And I lay in the mud

And the guts and the blood,

And I wept as his body grew colder,

And I called for my mother

And she never came,

Though it wasn't my fault

And I wasn't to blame,

The day not half over

And ten thousand slain,and now

There's nobody remembers our names Í

And that's how it is for a soldier. Ð

He Stopped Loving Her Today---George Jones

She's Leaving Home - The Beatles

Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven

So sad that it doesn't even need words.

Home by Sheryl Crow. Makes me miss a lot of things about home.

Iris DeMent:

"My Life" and "No Time To Cry"

I dreamt of a fever

One that would cure me of this cold winter-set heart

With heat to melt these frozen tears

Burned with reasons as to carry on

Into these twisted months I plunge without a light to follow

But I swear that I would follow anything

Just get me outta here

But you get six months to adapt

Then you get two more to leave town

And in the event that you do adapt

We still might not want you around

But I fell for the promise

Of a life with a purpose

But I know that that’s impossible now

And so I drink to stay warm

And to kill selected memories

Cause I just can’t think anymore about that

Or about her tonight

Then I give myself three days to feel better

Or else I swear I’ll drive right off a f***ing cliff

Cause if I can’t learn to make myself feel better

How can I expect anyone else to give a shit

And I scream for the sunrise

Or a car to take me anywhere

Just get me past this dead and eternal snow

Cause I swear that I’m dying

Slowly but it’s happening

And if the perfect spring is waiting somewhere

Just take me there and lie to me and say

It’s gonna be allright

Gaucho - steely dan

had brought tears to my eyes on several occasions

its called "tears in heaven"

The Johnny Cash cover of Hurt is one of the very rare instances of a cover being as good or even better than the original. Certainly one of the saddest songs ever. I remember when it came out and June was in fact alive and she is in the video. Trent gave it the ultimate tribute a songwriter can give:

"Extremely moving video directed by Mark Romanek is at times uncomfortable to watch because it does not hide that Johnny Cash and his wife, June Carter Cash, were at the end of their lives. June Carter died two months after the filming and Johnny died four months after. Although written and first recorded by Nine Inch Nails, Trent Reznor was so moved by Cash's interpretation that he declared, 'That song isn't mine anymore.' 'Hurt' won the Grammy and Country Music Award for best video of the year."

from Dabble.com

My nomination for saddest song "What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong. A friend who understands music tried to explain to me that songs in that key or some other musical explanation are sad. Ever since that I hear it as a sad song. I think it's him watching the other people in their wonderful world.

THat and 'Everybody Hurts' by REM if nobody said it already.

for no one

Green Fields of France

- Flogging Molly among many others

long black veil

- johnny cash

I don't know about the lyrics, but Staind, Epiphany is the most depressing & sad song musically. Every time I hear it I go into depression.