What is the saddest non-Morrissey song you've ever heard?

And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda - The Pogues

When I was a young man I carried my pack
And I lived the free life of a rover
From the Murrays green basin to the dusty outback
I waltzed my Matilda all over
Then in nineteen fifteen my country said Son
It's time to stop rambling 'cause there's work to be done
So they gave me a tin hat and they gave me a gun
And they sent me away to the war
And the band played Waltzing Matilda
As we sailed away from the quay
And amidst all the tears and the shouts and the cheers
We sailed off to Gallipoli

How well I remember that terrible day
How the blood stained the sand and the water
And how in that hell that they called Suvla Bay
We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter
Johnny Turk he was ready, he primed himself well
He chased us with bullets, he rained us with shells
And in five minutes flat he'd blown us all to hell
Nearly blew us right back to Australia
But the band played Waltzing Matilda
As we stopped to bury our slain
We buried ours and the Turks buried theirs
Then we started all over again

Now those that were left, well we tried to survive
In a mad world of blood, death and fire
And for ten weary weeks I kept myself alive
But around me the corpses piled higher
Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over tit
And when I woke up in my hospital bed
And saw what it had done, I wished I was dead
Never knew there were worse things than dying
For no more I'll go waltzing Matilda
All around the green bush far and near
For to hump tent and pegs, a man needs two legs
No more waltzing Matilda for me

So they collected the cripples, the wounded, the maimed
And they shipped us back home to Australia
The armless, the legless, the blind, the insane
Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla
And as our ship pulled into Circular Quay
I looked at the place where my legs used to be
And thank Christ there was nobody waiting for me
To grieve and to mourn and to pity
And the band played Waltzing Matilda
As they carried us down the gangway
But nobody cheered, they just stood and stared
Then turned all their faces away

And now every April I sit on my porch
And I watch the parade pass before me
And I watch my old comrades, how proudly they march
Reliving old dreams of past glory
And the old men march slowly, all bent, stiff and sore
The forgotten heroes from a forgotten war
And the young people ask, "What are they marching for?"
And I ask myself the same question
And the band plays Waltzing Matilda
And the old men answer to the call
But year after year their numbers get fewer
Some day no one will march there at all

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
Who'll come a waltzing Matilda with me
And their ghosts may be heard as you pass the Billabong
Who'll come-a-waltzing Matilda with me?
 
It would have to be Ernie (who drove the fastest milkcart in the west)
by Bennny Hill or 2 little boys by Rolf Harris
 
"Black" by Pearl Jam

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFVlJAi3Cso


sheets of empty canvas, untouched sheets of clay
were laid spread out before me as her body once did
all five horizons revolved around her soul
as the earth to the sun
now the air i tasted and breathed has taken a turn
and all i taught her was everything
i know she gave me all that she wore
and now my bitter hands shake beneath the clouds
of what was everything?
all the pictures had all been washed in black, tattooed everything...
i take a walk outside, i'm surrounded by some kids at play
i can feel their laughter, so why do i sear
and twisted thoughts that spin round my head
i'm spinning, oh, i'm spinning
how quick the sun can, drop away
and now my bitter hands cradle broken glass
of what was everything?
all the pictures had all been washed in black, tattooed everything...
all the love gone bad, turned my world to black
tattooed all i see, all that i am, all i'll ever be...
i know someday you'll have a beautiful life, i know you'll be a star
in somebody else's sky, but why
why, why can't it be, why can't it be mine?
 
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"Black" by Pearl Jam

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFVlJAi3Cso


sheets of empty canvas, untouched sheets of clay
were laid spread out before me as her body once did
all five horizons revolved around her soul
as the earth to the sun
now the air i tasted and breathed has taken a turn
and all i taught her was everything
i know she gave me all that she wore
and now my bitter hands shake beneath the clouds
of what was everything?
all the pictures had all been washed in black, tattooed everything...
i take a walk outside, i'm surrounded by some kids at play
i can feel their laughter, so why do i sear
and twisted thoughts that spin round my head
i'm spinning, oh, i'm spinning
how quick the sun can, drop away
and now my bitter hands cradle broken glass
of what was everything?
all the pictures had all been washed in black, tattooed everything...
all the love gone bad, turned my world to black
tattooed all i see, all that i am, all i'll ever be...
i know someday you'll have a beautiful life, i know you'll be a star
in somebody else's sky, but why
why, why can't it be, why can't it be mine?



pearl jam=american garbage
 
Hey,
Awesome question. I thrive on morbidity, angst, gloomy, murky songs. :)
Here's my partial list....


I would say there's so many of them but, here's some I'd recommend...
1) It Can't Rain All the Time-- Jane Silberry
2) Atmosphrere-JD
3) Unloveable--Morrissey
4) I Believe--Buzzcocks
5) Coming Back to Life--Pink Floyd
6) Cut Here--The Cure
7) Under the Milky Way--The Church
8) Last Night I Dreamt Somebody Loved Me--The Smiths
9) No Friend of Mine(Diggle sings)--Buzzcocks
10) Why Can't I Touch It?--Buzzcocks
11) Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone you Shouldn't've?)--Buzzcocks
12) Shake the Disease--Depeche Mode
13) What if we are?--Echo & the Bunnymen (several others of theirs but, I LOVE them to death)
14) Ocean Rain--Echo & the Bunnymen (personal favorite)
15) Original of the Species--U2

many, many others (in my eyes)
 
This has to be the saddest song of all time. No seriously


Grandma, we love you
Grandma, we do
Though you may be far away
We think of you

There's no one quite like Grandma
And I know you will agree
That she always is a friend to you
And she's a friend to me
There's no one quite like Grandma
She's there in times of need
Before it's bedtime, on her knee
To us a book she'll read

Grandma, we love you
Grandma, we do
Though you may be far away
We think of you

And one day when we're older
We'll look back and say
There's no one quite like Grandma
She has helped us on our way

Grandma, we love you
Grandma, we do
Grandma, we love you
Grandma, we do

There's no one quite like Grandma
A love we always share
At party time and Christmas too
We know that she'll be there
There's no one quite like Grandma
She always has a smile
She never hurries us along
Just stays a little while

Grandma, we love you
Grandma, we do
Though you may be far away
We think of you

And one day when we're older
We'll look back and say
There's no one quite like Grandma
She has helped us on our way

Grandma, we love you
Grandma, we do
Grandma, we love you
And we know you love us too
 
you bathtard, I can't get that thong owt ma head now, thor thucks sake!

love

Grim (just don't go there)


This has to be the saddest song of all time. No seriously


Grandma, we love you
Grandma, we do
Though you may be far away
We think of you

There's no one quite like Grandma
And I know you will agree
That she always is a friend to you
And she's a friend to me
There's no one quite like Grandma
She's there in times of need
Before it's bedtime, on her knee
To us a book she'll read

Grandma, we love you
Grandma, we do
Though you may be far away
We think of you

And one day when we're older
We'll look back and say
There's no one quite like Grandma
She has helped us on our way

Grandma, we love you
Grandma, we do
Grandma, we love you
Grandma, we do

There's no one quite like Grandma
A love we always share
At party time and Christmas too
We know that she'll be there
There's no one quite like Grandma
She always has a smile
She never hurries us along
Just stays a little while

Grandma, we love you
Grandma, we do
Though you may be far away
We think of you

And one day when we're older
We'll look back and say
There's no one quite like Grandma
She has helped us on our way

Grandma, we love you
Grandma, we do
Grandma, we love you
And we know you love us too
 
Hmmm hope you weren't in ST Winifred's School Choir as well.

I'm still waiting for my royalty cheque!
 
Suzanne Vega 'The Queen and the Soldier'

The soldier came knocking upon the queen's door
He said, "I am not fighting for you any more"
The queen knew she'd seen his face someplace before
And slowly she let him inside.

He said, "I've watched your palace up here on the hill
And I've wondered who's the woman for whom we all kill
But I am leaving tomorrow and you can do what you will
Only first I am asking you why."

Down in the long narrow hall he was led
Into her rooms with her tapestries red
And she never once took the crown from her head
She asked him there to sit down.

He said, "I see you now, and you are so very young
But I've seen more battles lost than I have battles won
And I've got this intuition, says it's all for your fun
And now will you tell me why?"

The young queen, she fixed him with an arrogant eye
She said, "You won't understand, and you may as well not try"
But her face was a child's, and he thought she would cry
But she closed herself up like a fan.

And she said, "I've swallowed a secret burning thread
It cuts me inside, and often I've bled"
He laid his hand then on top of her head
And he bowed her down to the ground.

"Tell me how hungry are you? How weak you must feel
As you are living here alone, and you are never revealed
But I won't march again on your battlefield"
And he took her to the window to see.

And the sun, it was gold, though the sky, it was gray
And she wanted more than she ever could say
But she knew how it frightened her, and she turned away
And would not look at his face again.

And he said, "I want to live as an honest man
To get all I deserve and to give all I can
And to love a young woman who I don't understand
Your highness, your ways are very strange."

But the crown, it had fallen, and she thought she would break
And she stood there, ashamed of the way her heart ached
She took him to the doorstep and she asked him to wait
She would only be a moment inside.

Out in the distance her order was heard
And the soldier was killed, still waiting for her word
And while the queen went on strangeling in the solitude she preferred
The battle continued on
 
Famous blue raincoat by Leonard Cohen

It's four in the morning, the end of December
I'm writing you now just to see if you're better
New York is cold, but I like where I'm living
There's music on Clinton Street all through the evening.

I hear that you're building your little house deep in the desert
You're living for nothing now, I hope you're keeping some kind of record.

Yes, and Jane came by with a lock of your hair
She said that you gave it to her
That night that you planned to go clear
Did you ever go clear?

Ah, the last time we saw you you looked so much older
Your famous blue raincoat was torn at the shoulder
You'd been to the station to meet every train
And you came home without Lili Marlene

And you treated my woman to a flake of your life
And when she came back she was nobody's wife.

Well I see you there with the rose in your teeth
One more thin gypsy thief
Well I see Jane's awake --

She sends her regards.
And what can I tell you my brother, my killer
What can I possibly say?
I guess that I miss you, I guess I forgive you
I'm glad you stood in my way.

If you ever come by here, for Jane or for me
Your enemy is sleeping, and his woman is free.

Yes, and thanks, for the trouble you took from her eyes
I thought it was there for good so I never tried.

And Jane came by with a lock of your hair
She said that you gave it to her
That night that you planned to go clear

-- Sincerely, L. Cohen
 
Hey,
Awesome question. I thrive on morbidity, angst, gloomy, murky songs. :)

3) Unloveable--Morrissey
8) Last Night I Dreamt Somebody Loved Me--The Smiths

Unloveable is really underrated on every level. The music is so beautiful, and the lyrics are fantastic, as is the way he sings it, being one of my favorite Smiths vocals. It is underrated as a really sad song too. It seems so obvious as gloomy because of its lyrics, yet because of that I feel it goes unappreciated. And Last Night I Dreamt, well, I don't even have to say anything about that classic.

3) Cut Here--The Cure
Cut here is great!!!

I am so glad to see other people who like that song. I just discovered it recently but I feel a certain attachment to it, because it means so much to me, it's so sad that I'm happy other people think it's sad. :p
 
I forgot, the theme song from Twin Peaks...
 
i can't beleive you all forgot AT SEVENTEEN

I learned the truth at seventeen
That love was meant for beauty queens
And high school girls with clear skinned smiles
Who married young and then retired
The valentines I never knew
The Friday night charades of youth
Were spent on one more beautiful
At seventeen I learned the truth


And those of us with ravaged faces
Lacking in the social graces
Desperately remained at home
Inventing lovers on the phone
Who called to say, "come dance with me"
And murmur vague obscenities
It isn't all it seems at seventeen


A brown eyed girl in hand-me-downs
Whose name I never could pronounce said
Pity, please, the ones who serve
They only get what they deserve
The rich-relationed home-town queen
Marries into what she needs
With a guarantee of company and haven for the elderly

Remember those who win the game
Lose the love they sought to gain
In debentures of quality
And dubious integrity
Their small town eyes will gape at you in
Dull surprise when payment due
Exceeds accounts received at seventeen

To those of us who knew the pain
Of valentines that never came
And those whose names were never called
When choosing sides for basketball
It was long ago and far away
The world was younger than today
And dreams were all they gave for free
To ugly duckling girls like me

We all play the game and when we dare
To cheat ourselves at solitaire
Inventing lovers on the phone
Repenting other lives unknown
That call and say, "come dance with me"
And murmur vague obscenities
At ugly girls like me, at seventeen
 
It changes for me...but at the moment its Days by The Kinks

Thank you for the days,
Those endless days, those sacred days you gave me.
Im thinking of the days,
I wont forget a single day, believe me.

I bless the light,
I bless the light that lights on you believe me.
And though youre gone,
Youre with me every single day, believe me.

Days Ill remember all my life,
Days when you cant see wrong from right.
You took my life,
But then I knew that very soon youd leave me,
But its all right,
Now Im not frightened of this world, believe me.

I wish today could be tomorrow,
The night is dark,
It just brings sorrow anyway.

Thank you for the days,
Those endless days, those sacred days you gave me.
Im thinking of the days,
I wont forget a single day, believe me.

Days Ill remember all my life,
Days when you cant see wrong from right.
You took my life,
But then I knew that very soon youd leave me,
But its all right,
Now Im not frightened of this world, believe me.
Days.

Thank you for the days,
Those endless days, those sacred days you gave me.
Im thinking of the days,
I wont forget a single day, believe me.

I bless the light,
I bless the light that shines on you believe me.
And though youre gone,
Youre with me every single day, believe me.
Days.
 
Here's one of my favourite sad songs. Sometimes I cry when I listen to it (I always cry when I watch the video clip!)
Am I a bit too sentimental?:(


So Real

Love, let me sleep tonight on your couch
And remember the smell of the fabric
Of your simple city dress

Oh... That was so real

We walked around 'til the moon got full like a plate.
The wind blew an invocation
And I fell asleep at the gate
... And I never stepped on the cracks 'cause
I thought I'd hurt my mother
... And I couldn't awake from the nightmare
That sucked me in and pulled me under
Pulled me under

Oh... That was so real

I love you,
But I'm afraid to love you

I love you,
But I'm afraid to love you...
 
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