BigWhiteHat has a post about the saddest song he's heard on his blog.
for me it's always been "fire and rain" by james taylor.
when i was a kid, moving around all the time it related to all the friends i lost touch with over the years. which is recommendation #1 for the day. if you've got netflix or one of those services and you haven't seen it yet, you need to stick "running on empty" with river phoenix in your queue. as a kid that was just a movie i could relate to so much. (no, my parents weren't wanted by the fbi).
as i've gotten older that song still means all the people i've lost touch with, which is really more tragic now than it was then, because now it's because i'm a lazy ass or something has happened where we're just not as important to one another. 25 years ago it was a little harder to communicate with kids once we moved from someplace. in today's day of cheap long distance, instant messaging and email if i lose touch with someone... but the song also means everyone i've lost over the years, that i'll never be able to say the things i should've said to. at least not in this life.
second recommendation? "chiefs" by stuart woods. and if you can find it on videotape, the miniseries. it's one of the few books that i've liked as a movie better, but just barely. he does ALOT of character development and backstory in the novel so in some ways the pacing of the mini series is just a little better. if you enjoy reading fiction and want a good end-of-summer read, it's a great one.
11 comments:
The poor dude was dealing with a pretty gnarly state of depression when he wrote it. People write some sad stuff when they're all tied up in knots.
bwh... if you're bored, there was an interesting history of the song on wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_And_Rain
Those are some sad songs. I always loved "Fire and Rain". It was my saddest, too, for a while. Now my number one saddest song is "The Drugs Don't Work" the Verve. Maybe because I know way too many people who can relate to it. Cancer sucks. I hate cancer.
I could probably write a post on why that songs makes me cry, but then I'd be crying too hard to write! You know what really kills me about it? This person is going to die, but the singer keeps saying "I know I'll see your face again" and that hope of an afterlife in the face of suffering and loss, it just kills me. It's too real for me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4XCGeckA-E
I love "Fire and Rain" too.
Also "Tears In Heaven."
There are a lot of other ones as well.
I have a "feeling blue" playlist that I blast whenever I'm feeling sad. It really helps.
Damn Blogger ate my comment...I think.
For me, Flames by VAST and Pieces by Red made me cry every time I heard them for a long time.
How Can I Tell You, by Cat Stevens is pretty sad.
I'm avoiding the sad ones right now, though.
I love James Taylor so much. I used to see him in concert when I lived in NC.
He sounds exactly the same 30 years later, apparently.
Such a sad and beautiful song.
Ok...I'm not old or anything, but I do remember this song from when I was a kid and it made me want to cry listening to it and it still does. It's Eddy Arnold's Lonesome Cattle Call.
(LeAnn Rimes & Eddy Arnold)
LeAnn:
(yodeling)
The cattle are prowlin',
The coyotes are howlin'
Way out where the doggies roam
Where spurs are a jinglin'
And the cowboy is singing
His lonesome cattle call
(yodeling)
He rides in the sun
'Til his days work is done
And he rounds up the cattle each fall
(yodeling)
Singing his cattle call
Eddy:
For hours he would ride
On the range far and wide
When the night wind blows up and slow
His heart is a feather
In all kinds of weather
He sings his cattle call
(yodeling)
He's browned as a fairy
From ridin' the prairie
And he sings with an western drawl
Singing his cattle call
LeAnn and Eddy:
(yodeling)
When I reflect on this style of music and I compare it with the indie music these days, I figure that country is not the only music that doesn't measure up to what it used to.
I love that song. ANd I will be checking out "Chiefs" too - thanks! :)
1. "Whiskey Lullabye" - Brad Paisley & Allison Krauss
2. "The Only One" - Melissa Ethridge
3. "Lovesick Blues" - Hank Williams
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