Songs about love and loss

[Scud49]

"Come sit by the window,
last night the rain did fall,
makes me wonder if I ever knew you at all'...

 

[Bigboote]

Here's an absolute tearjerker from Tom Waits's first album:

 

[Zorro]

 

[Zorro]

 

[Zorro]

 

[Zorro]

 

[TerpWomenFan]

 

[Bama fan]

This one could show up in the horn thread too

 

[Golden Husky]

Since I Lost My Baby
The Temptations

Sun a-shining, there's plenty of life
A new day is dawning sunny and bright
But after I've been crying all night the sun is cold
And the new day seems old
Since I lost my baby (since I lost my baby)
Since I lost my baby (since I lost my baby)

Birds are singing and the children are playing
There's plenty of work and the bosses are paying
Not a sad word should my young heart be saying
But fun is a bore and with money I'm poor
Since I lost my baby (since I lost my baby)
Since I lost my baby (since I lost my baby)

Next time I'll be kinder (next time I'll be kinder)
Won't you please help me find her (won't you please help me find her)?
Someone just remind her (someone just remind her)
'Bout this love she left behind her ('bout this love she left behind her)…

 

[Bama fan]

Unrequited love's a bore , and I got it pretty bad

 

[PoppaBear]

Haven't thought about this band in forever. David Gates had a beautiful voice.

 

[Bigboote]

Here's another tearjerker. This one's about a guy who marries "the lassie with the land" rather than his true love, then bumps into the latter. One of the most poignant verses ever:

At nights when I go to my bed of slumber
The thoughts of my true love run in my mind
When I turned around to embrace my darling
Instead of gold sure it's brass I find

This has the added benefit that you can see Andy Irvine playing the hurdy-gurdy and Christy Moore the melodeon. Oh, heck, if you've never seen uillean pipes, you can Liam O'Flynn playing them too.

 

[snowkot]

From Wendy Waldman's Bryndle bandmate, Karla Bonoff. Karla's version (not Linda Ronstadt's) for me, tops them all. Perfect marriage of music, lyric and performance. Triva: written about the passing of her cat.

 

[hoophuskee]

Here's a twist:

 

[Bama fan]

From Wendy Waldman's Bryndle bandmate, Karla Bonoff. Karla's version (not Linda Ronstadt's) for me, tops them all. Perfect marriage of music, lyric and performance. Triva: written about the passing of her cat.

Karla is a fine artist and an accomplished song writer. She and Linda Ronstadt had a long history of collaboration. Linda recorded at least five of her songs, including the beautiful "Someone to Lay Down Beside Me". Karla credits Linda with kicking off her career.

 

[snowkot]

Karla credits Linda with kicking off her career.

Au contraire mate. Ms. Bonoff was among the Laurel Canyon types, lesser known of course. She credits the lot of them for influence. An amazingly creative time for singer-songwriters, pre-collaboration with Ms. Ronstadt.

She mentions, "All My Life" consistently as a sort of friendly frustration - she recorded it to little notice, Ronstadt recorded it as a duet with Aaron Neville. As she notes during performance, paraphrasing, "They went to the awards and won a Grammy, I stayed home and watched on TV in my pajamas." Of course they remain great friends, with more than a few of Ms. Bonoff's compositions on Ronstadt's records.

For me, there are some songs that belie silk / strong vocal performance for great effect. Witness Glynis Johns' brilliantly evocative original Broadway cast performance of "Send In The Clowns," versus the many others, from Judy Collins to Streisand. Sondheim himself notes writing the lyrics specifically for someone who couldn't hold long notes - hence the use of some words ending in consonants (e.g. "Isn't it rich...").

"Someone To Lay Down Beside Me" is probably Bonoff's signature song, eminently hers, though down the list for me, with so many from which to choose! "The Best Part of You" and "Wild Heart of the Young" next up.

We were bound to agree to disagree anyway, what with my sister a MASSIVE LSU fan - GEAUX TIGERS!

 

[Zorro]

I grew up in small-town southeast Kansas. In my HS days, the high point of the week was going up to the VFW hall in Hamilton to drink beer (or whatever we could get the older guys to buy for us) and listen to Bob Wills or Johnny Lee Wills or Hank Thompson or Leon McCauliffe. Ol Bob was often times so polluted that he could barely stand, but he never missed a note on that fiddle, as far as I could tell. Great music.

 

[Bama fan]

Au contraire mate. Ms. Bonoff was among the Laurel Canyon types, lesser known of course. She credits the lot of them for influence. An amazingly creative time for singer-songwriters, pre-collaboration with Ms. Ronstadt.

She mentions, "All My Life" consistently as a sort of friendly frustration - she recorded it to little notice, Ronstadt recorded it as a duet with Aaron Neville. As she notes during performance, paraphrasing, "They went to the awards and won a Grammy, I stayed home and watched on TV in my pajamas." Of course they remain great friends, with more than a few of Ms. Bonoff's compositions on Ronstadt's records.

For me, there are some songs that belie silk / strong vocal performance for great effect. Witness Glynis Johns' brilliantly evocative original Broadway cast performance of "Send In The Clowns," versus the many others, from Judy Collins to Streisand. Sondheim himself notes writing the lyrics specifically for someone who couldn't hold long notes - hence the use of some words ending in consonants (e.g. "Isn't it rich...").

"Someone To Lay Down Beside Me" is probably Bonoff's signature song, eminently hers, though down the list for me, with so many from which to choose! "The Best Part of You" and "Wild Heart of the Young" next up.

We were bound to agree to disagree anyway, what with my sister a MASSIVE LSU fan - GEAUX TIGERS!

Those Tigers are deserving rivals in a long running competition. Not being a native Alabamian, the whole thing is not personal to me. But it makes for some enjoyable football the likes of which is not seen in some parts of our fair land. As for the "au contraire", I was paraphrasing Ms Bonoff who said "I always mention Linda in my show and explain some of the ways she recorded my songs. She was very important (in) getting my career going at the beginning." This was from an article in the Tuscon.com in February, 2020. Qu'en est-il de ces pommes? As they say in Alabama, Geaux away Tigers.

 

[uconnfan68]

From Wendy Waldman's Bryndle bandmate, Karla Bonoff. Karla's version (not Linda Ronstadt's) for me, tops them all. Perfect marriage of music, lyric and performance. Triva: written about the passing of her cat.

Saw Karla live at SDSU coffee house (about 100+ could fit). Her backup band were all of the top LA studio guys (you see their names on multiple artists albums). Great show.

 

[Beemer]

Karla is a fine artist and an accomplished song writer. She and Linda Ronstadt had a long history of collaboration. Linda recorded at least five of her songs, including the beautiful "Someone to Lay Down Beside Me". Karla credits Linda with kicking off her career.

I love Ronstadt's "Someone To Lay Down Beside Me", I didn't know Karla Bonoff wrote it.

 

[CL82]

How about this one from Sweet Judy Blue Eyes:

 

[CL82]

 

[CL82]

I stumbled on to this looking for Heartbreak Hotel. This was the first time I'd heard it. It is worth a listen.

 

[Scud49]

Another Wendy Waldman gem:

 

[Scud49]

Danny O'Keefe - Angel Spread Your Wings

Prisoners of the heart in search of love and peace
Hung in desperation, longing for release
I'm just a traveler, angel, you're my ride
Take me past the place I've passed the last time that I died