Saddest Song in all Genres of Music?

Ruby Don't Take Your Love To Town

( Kenny Rogers & The First Edition )

You've painted up your lips and rolled and curled your tinted hair,

Ruby, are you contemplating going out somewhere?

The shadows on the wall tell me the sun is going down,

Oh Ruby, don't take your love to town.

It wasn't me that started that old crazy Asian war,

But I was proud to go and do my patriotic chore,

And yes, it's true that I'm not the man I used to be,

Oh Ruby, I still need some company.

It's hard to love a man whose legs are bent and paralyzed,

And the wants and needs of a woman your age, Ruby, I realize,

But it won't be long, I've heard them say, until I'm not around,

Oh Ruby, don't take your love to town.

She's leaving now 'cause I just heard the slamming of the door,

The way I know I heard it slam one hundred times before,

And if I could move I'd get my gun and put her in the ground,

Oh Ruby, please don't take your love to town.

Oh Ruby, for God's sake, turn around

it's not dark yet

bob dylan

mentioned once in the list but have to also agree with Hurt and Seasons in the Sun as well...

Well, how do you do, Private William McBride,

Do you mind if I sit down here by your graveside?

And rest for awhile in the warm summer sun,

I've been walking all day, and I'm nearly done.

And I see by your gravestone you were only 19

When you joined the glorious fallen in 1916,

Well, I hope you died quick and I hope you died clean

Or, Willie McBride, was it slow and obscene?

Did they Beat the drum slowly, did the play the pipes lowly?

Did the rifles fir o'er you as they lowered you down?

Did the bugles sound The Last Post in chorus?

Did the pipes play the Flowers of the Forest?

And did you leave a wife or a sweetheart behind

In some loyal heart is your memory enshrined?

And, though you died back in 1916,

To that loyal heart are you forever 19?

Or are you a stranger without even a name,

Forever enshrined behind some glass pane,

In an old photograph, torn and tattered and stained,

And fading to yellow in a brown leather frame?

The sun's shining down on these green fields of France;

The warm wind blows gently, and the red poppies dance.

The trenches have vanished long under the plow;

No gas and no barbed wire, no guns firing now.

But here in this graveyard that's still No Man's Land

The countless white crosses in mute witness stand

To man's blind indifference to his fellow man.

And a whole generation who were butchered and damned.

And I can't help but wonder, no Willie McBride,

Do all those who lie here know why they died?

Did you really believe them when they told you "The Cause?"

Did you really believe that this war would end wars?

Well the suffering, the sorrow, the glory, the shame

The killing, the dying, it was all done in vain,

For Willie McBride, it all happened again,

And again, and again, and again, and again.

Thought of another good one I don't think's been mentioned yet...

Waltzing Matilda

Definitely "Tears in Heaven" by Eric Clapton. That one makes me want to cry every time I hear it.

Joy Division- Love Will Tear Us Apart

When the routine bites hard

And ambitions are low

And the resentment rides high

But emotions wont grow

And we're changing our ways,

Taking different roads

Then love, love will tear us apart again

Why is the bedroom so cold

Turned away on your side?

Is my timing that flawed,

Our respect run so dry?

Yet there's still this appeal

That weve kept through our lives

Love, love will tear us apart again

Do you cry out in your sleep

All my failings expose?

Get a taste in my mouth

As desperation takes hold

Is it something so good

Just cant function no more?

When love, love will tear us apart again

Amazing Grace.

End of thread.

"the lonesome death of hattie carroll" bob dylan

Ben Gibbard is a genius here is alist just off the top of my head

summer skin

tiny vessels

title and registration

a lack of color

expo '86

song for kelly huckaby

nothing better

this place is a prison

what sarah said

i will follow you into the dark

here are the lyrics from nothing better

Will someone please call a surgeon

Who can crack my ribs and repair this broken heart

That your're deserting for better company?

I can't accept that it's over...

I will block the door like a goalie tending the net

In the third quarter of a tied-game rivalry

So just say how to make it right

And i swear i'll do my best to comply

Tell me am i right to think that there could be nothing better

Than making you my bride and slowly growing old together

I feel must interject here you're getting carried away feeling sorry for yourself

With these revisions and gaps in history

So let me help you remember.

I've made charts and graphs that should finally make it clear.

I've prepared a lecture on why i have to leave

So please back away and let me go

I can't my darling i love you so...

Tell me am i right to think that there could be nothing better

Than making you my bride and slowly growing old together

Don't you feed me lines about some idealistic future

Your heart won't heal right if you keep tearing out the sutures

I admit that i have made mistakes and i swear

I'll never wrong you again

You've got a lure i can't deny,

But you've had your chance so say goodbye

Say goodbye

Two that always get to me, for different reasons are:

Wreck on The Highway - Bruce Springsteen. The last song on 'The River' with very haunting lyrics.

Great Gig in the Sky - Pink Floyd. The Piano strains to open the song, and Clare Torry's haunting and soaring vocal improvisations make this a personal favorite that never fails to bring tears to my eyes.

Plus the spoken part "And I am not frightened of dying, any time will do, I don't mind. Why should I be frightened of dying? There's no reason for it, you've gotta go sometime."

"I never said I was frightened of dying."

"Lick My Love Pump"

-SpinalTap

Late for the Sky--a 1973 album by Jackson Browne--is about as grim and downbeat as you can get. But also very haunting, smart, and beautiful. Way better than anything I've heard Browne do since.

I Can't Make You Love Me by Bonnie Raitt.

I'd have to vote for "Danny Boy" (read the lyrics) or "Cats in the Cradle." But the song that brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it, is Bob Carlisle's "Butterfly Kisses." If you have a daughter, listen to that song and try not to cry. It's tough.

There's two things I know for sure:

She was sent here from heaven and she's

daddy's little girl.

As I drop to my knees by her bed at night

She talks to Jesus and I close my eyes and

I thank god for all the joy in my life

Oh, but most of all

For butterfly kisses after bedtime prayer;

sticking little white flowers all up in her hair;

"Walk beside the pony, Daddy, it's my first ride."

"I know the cake looks funny, Daddy, but I sure tried."

In all that I've done wrong I know I must

have done something right to deserve a hug

every morning and butterfly kisses at night.

Sweet 16 today

She's looking like her mama a little more everyday

One part woman, the other part girl.

To perfume and make-up from ribbons and curls

Trying her wings out in a great big world.

But I remember

Butterfly kisses after bedtime prayer;

sticking little white flowers all up in her hair.

"You know how much I love you, Daddy, But if you

don't mind I'm only gonna kiss you on the cheek this time."

With all that I've done wrong I must have done

something right to deserve her love every morning

and butterfly kisses at night.

All the precious time

Like the wind, the years go by.

Precious butterfly.

Spread your wings and fly.

She'll change her name today.

She'll make a promise and I'll give her away.

Standing in the bride-room just staring at her.

She asked me what I'm thinking and I said "I'm not

sure-I just feel like I'm losing my baby girl."

She leaned over...gave me butterfly kisses with her mama there,

Sticking little white flowers all up in her hair

"Walk my down the aisle, Daddy-it's just about time."

"Does my wedding gown look pretty, Daddy? Daddy, don't cry!"

Oh, with all that I've done wrong I must have

done something right.

To deserve your love every morning and butterfly

kisses-I couldn't ask God for more, man this is what love is.

I know I gotta let her go, but I'll always remember

every hug in the morning and butterfly kisses.

seems to me some fine things have been laid upon your table but you only want the ones you can't have.

Tons of Bruce Springsteen songs. A few that stick out:

Lost in the Flood

Stolen Car

Wreck on the Highway (already mentioned in a previous post)

The Price You Pay

Highway Patrolman

Nebraska

Youngstown

You're Missing

Back In Your Arms

The Promise

Dead Man Walking (from the movie of the same title)

Philadelphia (from the movie of the same title)

American Skin (41 shots)

... plenty of others

These might not win the ultimate title of "saddest song of all time" but any of them could certainly rank on the list.

'Decoration Day'

i like john lee hooker's version best

Taps.

Souvenirs by John Prine and Steve Goodman

All the snow has turned to water

Christmas days have come and gone

Broken toys and faded colors

Are all that's left to linger on

I hate graveyards and old pawn shops

For they always bring me tears

I can't forgive the way they rob me

Of my childhood souvenirs

Chorus:

Memories they can't be boughten

They can't be won at carnivals for free

Well it took me years

To get those souvenirs

And I don't know how they slipped away from me