Day #10 - Song that makes you sad

[shadowkat]

Day #10 of the 30 Day Music Meme. . The most frustrating thing about this meme, is I can't think of any songs that fit the meme. I know the perfect song, it's on the tip of my tongue, but I can't remember it to save my life. So you basically end up with whatever I decide to settle on in a fit of frustration.

Also, regarding songs that make us sad, and songs that make us cry - there's a world of difference. A song can be uplifting and make me cry - I always cry during a "Bridge Over Troubled Water" but it's not really a sad song.
Nor is "It's a Wonderful World" or Rachel Loy's "Big Sky".

So this is going to require work.

It's also possible for a song to be depressing and not make you cry. In other words a depressing song. Flirting with Paint it Black and Sounds of Silence - but they don't make me sad exactly.

Hmm. I don't want a love song, and about 85% are - I flirted with Sarah McLachlan's Full of Grace and Bonnie Raitt's - I Can't Make You Love Me, If You Don't.

Okay, I found two and I'm splitting the difference between song that makes me cry and a sad song. Because I honestly don't know how to interpret this category.

The first is a song that makes me bawl...because it touches my soul, and I've had a difficult week, and I'm trying really hard to be brave and not scared, and this comforted me.

Watch on YouTube

The other is sad, horrifying and painful blues song via Billie Holiday..

Watch on YouTube

Comments

[cjlasky7]

Ooh. I was thinking about "Strange Fruit"--but for me, that song evokes horror, not sadness.

I'm going to keep it simple:

https://youtu.be/4Yd2PzoF1y8

It was my mother's favorite.

[wendelah1]

I don't remember the movie--though I'm sure I saw it at some point--but I do recall loving the score.

[shadowkat]

I don't think I ever really saw the movie, just snatches of it here and there with my mother, who had seen it. The score, however, is ingrained. I've heard it so many times. It is a beautiful score. But it isn't sad to me.

But then, while going through about a 100 songs hunting for the one I wanted, I was struck by how sad much like beauty is a subjective thing.

[shadowkat]

Yeah, I debated two other Holliday numbers...Gloomy Sunday and God Bless the Child, but I'm swinging away from love songs. And God Bless the Child doesn't strike me as sad, necessarily.

Ah, your mother was Russian, wasn't she? I have a friend who saw the musical version and when I asked her about it - she said, to understand the angst and pain of it, you almost had to be Russian.

It is a beautiful score, with a melodious sadness to it - it's not sad to me, but I'm beginning to think sad songs are in the ear of the beholder? I mean I agree with you on Strange Fruit as well - it's depressing, horrific, and painful...but sad? Yes, maybe, in the same way Lara's Theme is and Mad World, and Wish You Were Here and Paint it Black are - depressing.

[cjlasky7]

My mother was German (Bavarian, to be exact). But she loved the movie, and she would sing "Lara's Theme," one of the few times she would sing any piece of music.

Is "Lara's Theme" particularly sad? Maybe not. I just miss her, that's all.

[shadowkat]

Oh, I understood why you picked it. I can see how that could make you sad. That wasn't what I was trying to say.

Will try again.

I went through a 100 some songs, and 50% of them I didn't find sad at all - but if they resonate that way to the person who selected them? It's a sad song. This is a very personal choice. Such as my selection? Sending you Light and Strange Fruit may not be considered sad to someone else, or touching, or make them cry - but that's how they effect me. Just as Lara's Theme may not make someone else sad - but it makes you sad because your mother sang it and it reminds you of her.

she would sing "Lara's Theme," one of the few times she would sing any piece of music.

How does one sing Lara's Theme - it's an instrumental orchestration not a song. Am I missing the song version?

[cjlasky7]

She would vocalize the melody:

"La...la...laLA...."

I can still hear her voice. It's a cherished memory, but it still makes me sad.

[wendelah1]

Thank you, thank you for "Sending You Light." I need the Light. We all need the Light.

[shadowkat]

You're very welcome. I needed it too, today. Badly.

[beer_good_foamy]

"Strange Fruit" is one of the most powerful songs of the 20th century. Just incredible.

[shadowkat]

Yep - it gave voice to a horrifying situation that very few would. And helped push awareness of it.

I find it moving. I listened to it twice, and decided to pick it over God Bless the Child.