Sad Lines in Sad Songs | Page 4 | The Boneyard

Sad Lines in Sad Songs

Not just the lyrics, per se. But the lyrics plus the performance of the song, her death and a life that felt filled with regret. For me, a gut kicker.


One day up near Salinas, Lord, I let him slip away
He's lookin' for that home and I hope he finds it
Well, I'd trade all my tomorrows for one single yesterday
To be holdin' Bobby's body next to mine

Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose
Nothin', and that's all that Bobby left me
Well, feelin' good was easy, Lord, when he sang the blues
And feelin' good was good enough for me
Good enough for me and my Bobby McGee, yeah


 
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Clearly the saddest ever:

"Rocky Top, you will always be, home sweet home to me."
 
JordyG said:
There's a lot of lines in this song but here is the one that gets me every time.

Trent Reznor - Hurt

"Beneath the stains of time
The feelings disappear
You are someone else
I am still right here"
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Even sadder was Cash's version. An old man reflecting on his life and preparing for his end. Maybe a generational thing?
 
vtcwbuff said:
Even sadder was Cash's version. An old man reflecting on his life and preparing for his end. Maybe a generational thing?
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The question was sad lines from sad songs and Reznor was the writer. But if you'll notice I did note in a previous post that the best version is and probanly will be Cash's version. I also noted that, aside from being a reflection upon his life it was a gift of tragic honesty to his family and his fans. Even Reznor thought so. I'm a big fan of Maxwell's version of Kate Bush's song "This Woman's Work" as well, and in some ways I prefer it, but I felt Bush wrote it and deserved the credit.
 
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This one , or Oh, Death. Not sure which is more dolorous.

 
Kathy Mattea -- Where've you been. I just about died crying the first time I heard the last verse when she was on Carson. I find dementia (which runs in my family) sad and absolutely terrifying.

Claire soon lost her memory,
Forgot the names of family.
She never spoke a word again,
Then one day, they wheeled him in.
He held her hand and stroked her hair,
In a fragile voice she said:

"Where've you been? "
"I've looked for you forever and a day."
"Where've you been?"
"I'm just not myself when you're away."
"No, I'm just not myself when you're away."


 
From "We Are the Others" by Delain, about a young woman who was senselessly beaten to death by a group of teenagers in Lancashire:

I'm walking with Sophie tonight
She lives in the air that I breathe
I can't get it out of my mind
How you were left to bleed
Was it how you dressed?
Or how you act?
I can't believe
How they could act
So violently, without regret
Well we will not forget
 
Many, many sad love songs (or breakup songs). This is one of them, "Forever Has Come to an End" by Buddy & Julie Miller. You could pick pretty much any lyric but I'll just use an excerpt:

Now the sun need no longer to shine dear
And the world need no longer to spin
For your love has run out of time dear
And forever has come to an end
 
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Allison Moorer's second album--The Hardest Part--has a gut wrenching hidden track at the end that is about the murder/suicide deaths of her parents when she was a teenager:

Drunk with grief and loneliness
He wasn't thinking straight
He knew he couldn't live unless
They pardoned his mistakes
He went into the city
To try to make amends
Asked his love for pity
But she would not give in
Overwhelmed with sadness
He reached for his gun
And took her life along with his
Before the morning sun
Now they are lying
In the cold, cold earth
Such a sad, sad story
Such a sad, sad world


I can't even fathom what writing that song must have been like for her. Maybe there was some catharsis to it. Anyway I've never been able to find it on you tube but I have the cd.
 
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I don't have happiness and I guess, I never will ever again
When you walked out on me, in walked ol' misery
And he's been here since then
I don't have love to share and I don't have one who cares
I don't have anything, since I don't have
You, you, you, you
You, you, you you
You, you, you, you
Yooooouuuuuuuuuu
True Doo Wop lovers will understand all the yous at the end.
This is one of the GOATs of Doo Wop, sung by the Skyliners.
 
donalddoowop said:
I don't have happiness and I guess, I never will ever again
When you walked out on me, in walked ol' misery
And he's been here since then
I don't have love to share and I don't have one who cares
I don't have anything, since I don't have
You, you, you, you
You, you, you you
You, you, you, you
Yooooouuuuuuuuuu
True Doo Wop lovers will understand all the yous at the end.
This is one of the GOATs of Doo Wop, sung by the Skyliners.
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"Since I Don't Have You." ;)
 
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The Day After Tomorrow, Tom Waits. If you can't stand his voice, Joan Baez did it, too. It's a song about someone deployed in Afghanistan or Iraq, looking forward to returning to his sweetheart. The verse that always choke me up:

You can't deny, the other side
Don't want to die anymore then we do
What I'm trying to say is don't they pray
To the same god that we do?
And tell me how does god choose
Whose prayers does he refuse?
Who turns the wheel
Who throws the dice
On the day after tomorrow

 
McFly said:
Liam Clancy: The Dutchman
"Sometimes she sees her unborn children in his eyes."
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The last of the Clancy brothers. I can't remember the last time I saw someone singing while playing the concertina. Beautiful.

 


He was an innocent bystander
Watching his time go by
Mister Innocent Bystander
Doesn't your time fly by?
But he's guilty of one crime
Must he ruin your life and mine?
For he's always standing by
In the corner of your eye
Yes, he's guilty! Guilty!
 
8893 said:
You can really take your pick of any line from Jason Isbell's "Elephant," but I'll go with this one:

I buried her a thousand times, given up my place in line
But I don't give a damn about that now
There's one thing that's real clear to me
No one dies with dignity
We just try to ignore the elephant somehow
We just try to ignore the elephant somehow
We just try to ignore the elephant somehow
Somehow
Somehow
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"Surrounded by her family, I could see that she was dying alone."

Southeastern came out about the time my mother died. I can remember going through her things playing it. That's the one that made me break down.

I shouldn't like that album.
 
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You got a fast car
I want a ticket to anywhere
Maybe we make a deal
Maybe together we can get somewhere
Anyplace is better
Starting from zero got nothing to lose
Maybe we'll make something
But me myself I got nothing to prove
You got a fast car
And I got a plan to get us out of here
I been working at the convenience store
Managed to save just a little bit of money
We won't have to drive too far
Just across the border and into the city
You and I can both get jobs
And finally see what it means to be living
You see my old man's got a problem
He live with the bottle that's the way it is
He says his body's too old for working
I say his body's too young to look like his
My mama went off and left him
She wanted more from life than he could give
I said somebody's got to take care of him
So I quit school and that's what I did
You got a fast car
But is it fast enough so we can fly away?
We gotta make a decision
We leave tonight or live and die this way
See I remember we were driving, driving in your car
The speed so fast I felt like I was drunk
City lights lay out before us
And your arm felt nice wrapped 'round my shoulder
And I had a feeling that I belonged
I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone
You got a fast car
We go cruising entertain ourselves
You still ain't got a job
And I work in the market as a checkout girl
I know things will get better
You'll find work and I'll get promoted
We'll move out of the shelter
Buy a bigger house and live in the suburbs
See I remember we were driving, driving in your car
The speed so fast I felt like I was drunk
City lights lay out before us
And your arm felt nice wrapped 'round my shoulder
And I had a feeling that I belonged
I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone
You got a fast car
And I got a job that pays all our bills
You stay out drinking late at the bar
See more of your friends than you do of your kids
I'd always hoped for better
Thought maybe together you and me'd find it
I got no plans I ain't going nowhere
So take your fast car and keep on driving
See I remember when we were driving, driving in your car
The speed so fast I felt like I was drunk
City lights lay out before us
And your arm felt nice wrapped 'round my shoulder
And I had a feeling that I belonged
I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone
You got a fast car
But is it fast enough so you can fly away?
You gotta make a decision
Leave tonight or live and die this way
 
Gutter King said:
The whole of Southeastern is a target rich environment for this thread. That album will stand the test of time.

"Children of Children"

I was riding on my mother's hip
She was shorter than the corn
All the years I took from her
Just by being born.

And of course.....

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Ha, I hadn't seen that Colbert video.

Minor correction: Children of Children is from "Something More than Free"

Southeastern got more hype, but that's his best one, I think.
 
Mark-Almond Band - One Way Sunday:



Denver, Oklahoma, San Anton,
Another gig a long long way from home.
One way Sunday
Where do we play tonight?
I hope that this show will be all right
Maybe I'll phone you tonight
Still she finds a reason to stay (still she finds a way)
Still she finds a reason to see
What I have today
Maybe when my traveling days are through
I'll come on back and stay at home with you
 
Out into the cool of the evening
Strolls the Pretender
He knows that all his hopes and dreams
Begin and end there
Ah the laughter of the lovers
As they run through the night
Leaving nothing for the others
But to choose off and fight
And tear at the world with all their might
While the ships bearing their dreams
Sail out of sight
 


You must remember this A kiss is just a kiss, a sigh is just a sigh The fundamental things apply As time goes by And when two lovers woo They still say, "I love you" On that you can rely No matter what the future brings As time goes by Moonlight and love songs Never out of date Hearts full of passion Jealousy and hate Woman needs man And man must have his mate That no one can deny it's still the same old story A fight for love and glory A case of do or die The world will always welcome lovers As time goes by Moonlight and love songs Never out of date Hearts full of passion Jealousy and hate Woman needs man And man must have his mate That no one can deny it's still the same old story A fight for love and glory A case of do or die The world will always welcome lovers As time goes by........
 
For a single line, I've long found the final words of Bruce Springsteen's "Brilliant Disguise" very powerful.. "God have mercy on the man...who doubts what he's sure of..."
 
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