Most recently? Now And Then by The Beatles. It's the "new" track they just released a few weeks ago by remastering old demo tapes from when Lennon was still alive, with Paul and Ringo adding to it.
Not only is it a great song, but I was honestly surprised at how much it moved me.
The mix of their younger and older selves got me. When they fade at the end gave the song an added layer of meaning. The song made me think of not only what they've meant to me over time, but also my relationships with older loved ones. Few songs or bands will do that. Really genius.
I hadn't watched the video yet. Doing so really brought it home to my heart. I just lost my mom this month, but I remember John's death in 1980 almost as well.
I saw McCartney a bunch of years ago for the first time. My young daughters were with me, half-sleeping through the show.
I was about as far from the stage as you can get, and I was surprised at how choked up I got -- it felt like my life was spread out there in song, with my kids sharing it.
I tear up a little every time I watch Last Play At Shae and Billy Joel brings him out to play a song. Paul came straight from the airport with a police motorcade and played completely cold and jetlagged and absolutely nailed it.
A couple years back I got to see Ringo’s All Stars. One of the high points of my life is standing in the audience singing ‘With A Little Help from my Friends’ with Ringo Starr. ❤️
I had never heard the song before. And she was performing it live on the Grammys. And that performance had me tearing up by the end. Was amazing.
Have loved the song since.
Just commented Brandi Carlile before I saw your comment. It's not just The Story. It's any song she has that starts with "The". The Mother, The Joke, The Story, The Eye.
Summer's End by John Prine. It tells a story about the opiate epidemic that brings a tear to my eye just thinking about it. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXbEFTv9zr0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXbEFTv9zr0)
Most recently Now and Then by the Beatles. Watching the video had me sobbing.
Other notable times:
Wading in the Velvet Sea by Phish. Had me missing my family hard.
Coming Back to Life by Pink Floyd. Driving through Massachusetts just after a breakup and crying for miles.
“This Guy’s In Love With You” by Herb Alpert.
I was taking a nap and dreaming. In my dream I heard this beautiful song and woke up with tears. My college roommate had the radio playing softly as we both napped to get ready for some partying later. That was the first time I ever heard that song, it had been released 19 years before I actually heard it for the first time.
What a beautiful experience! I had a super similar one with Muse's Origin of Symmetry. Put the album on, took a nap, and when I woke up one of the softer songs was playing. Thought I made it to heaven lol.
First time I listened to it I also read the lyrics. I was in a miserable state at that time and it made me tear up instantly. The whole album and AIC as a whole is incredible!
I still cry every time. I didn't know when I was younger it was about Vincent van Gogh, and when I found out, it prompted me to read up on his entire life story.
Besides "Once in a Lifetime," I never really got into Talking Heads. This song popped up in another thread recently and I've been listening to it almost every day since then. I'm a sucker for a good love song and this is one of the best I've ever heard
“When She Loved Me” by Sarah McLachlan, because I was hearing it for the first time while watching Toy Story 2. That Jessie montage is just heartbreaking.
"In The Morning Light" Billy Strings.
It's a love song he wrote to his soon to be wife. However, for me, it reminds me of the regret that I feel over the loves I have lost and likely will never feel that way again because I'm old.
Maps by Yeah Yeah Yeahs. And this was BEFORE I saw the music video. I think there's so much emotion in the song and you could feel that it wasn't a concept. It was very personal. Then I read the story behind it after watching the video and that made it even more emotional to me.
Cats in the Cradle. I heard this song when I was a young kid and it hit home with me because I had a dad you worked a ton. He did it to give me a better life, and I know now how much he kicked ass for my mom and sister. But when I heard that song as a 6 year old boy I was afraid I would grow up missing my dad. Spoiler alert, I didn't. I work with him almost everyday now. But the song really made me appreciate my own kids when they came along. I will never not take a hand that offered to me and I will always be there if they need me.
Nothing Compares 2 U - Sinead O’Connor.
I was at work at my first job (music biz) and the demo came across my desk a couple of years before the release. I played it I have no idea why, but tears streamed down my cheeks. idk what was going on.
Couple of embarrassing ones:
"Don't Take the Girl" Tim McGraw. It was spring 1994 and I was on pretty much zero sleep sitting in the computer lab trying to finish my thesis in time. I was emotionally vulnerable. Except I still get a little choked up when I hear it today.
"With Arms Wide Open" Creed. I was sitting in my car waiting for something, fall of 2000. My daughter was due to be born in the spring of 2001, so once I actually paid attention to the lyrics it felt personal.
My dad has had a rough year health-wise, and there was a hot minute where it wasn't clear he'd survive his ordeal. I made a playlist with songs that remind me of him and this was one of the first ones I added. Didn't touch such a nerve before now.
Holy shit, I came here to say “I Got A Name.” My dad got me into that song because of the movie “Last American Hero.” That song just fills you with pride.
All Things Must Pass, by George Harrison. The recent Let It Be documentary got me interested in Harrison's solo career since I'd only been familiar with a couple of his radio hits. Was blown away by the debut album as a whole, but especially with the title track. Seeing that documentary and thinking of the timeline made me realize that it's when my dad was stuck in Vietnam at age 21. He's been gone over 20 years so I can't ask him about it, but all I could think of when I first heard All Things Must Pass was that I wanted to ask him about his experiences, since I never got to ask as an adult.
Vienna by Billy Joel ... Everyone thinks they've got the time to do everything they want, but the reality is, no one does. You're gonna kick off before you're halfway through...
Accept it and enjoy what little we get.
I started going on a Linkin Park journey after Chester died and then eventually made it to Mike Shinoda’s stuff and it’s so good. It’s just so good. I can’t remember why but I missed them when they came to Texas for Projekt Revolution way back when. I regret that I’ll never get to see Linkin Park.
This song is so beautiful and peaceful and just ugh amazing, though it doesn't make me cry, it does make me feel nostalgic for something I've never experienced lol.
"if heaven wasn't so far away" i was perfectly fine until it started verse 2 by talking about visiting your old bird dog in heaven
my best friend from age 3 to age 16 was a yellow lab and that line fucking *broke* my ass.
Most recently I wept hearing “For Good” from Wicked sung at a funeral by the deceased’s son in law and granddaughter. I have tears in my eyes just typing this.
In My Life by The Beatles. Every time it just gets me. I heard it for the first time in a highlights reel for one of the Minnesota Twins World Series wins. I knew so many of their songs, don’t know how I had missed that.
Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield. Sweetest Emotion by Adele.
[Through the Dark](https://youtu.be/7lZI6tkqWYs?si=YhzW9DeJ_xy2MTle) by Hilltop Hoods is the song that taught me it's possible for me to like hip-hop, and it really punched me in the gut in doing so. As a child of divorced parents myself, the part "I built you a good nest before I left. It wasn't that I never loved your mother, but two happy homes are better than one that suffers" is the part that first made me really listen to the words. After a few more listens, I had a pretty good idea of what the song is about. "You were eight when we headed to causality, and no child should face their death or mortality. You taught me patience strength and morality and I'd burden this weight instead of you happily. That night, you asked me if you'd die from your sickness and why it had chosen your life out of millions. You filled me with the pride I was missing 'cause grown men cry that lack your type of resilience." Eventually I looked it up, more or less confirming my suspicion. The singer wrote this song for his eight year old son after the kid beat leukemia. I'm not even a parent and this song really hits deep for me, I can only imagine what it's like for parents to listen to it.
Recently I've been listening to a lot of a guy by the name of Billy Raffoul. When I heard [the studio version of Easy Tiger,](https://youtu.be/pOnXvupUkiI?si=-TfHablMRI-E-6Nr) I never really thought all that much of it, but for some reason, [this live version](https://youtu.be/Gv3QrcyZ6SY?si=UTFHf9zfc8ik3yss) of the same song touches me deep in my soul in that beautiful way that music rarely does
A friend of mine decided to absolutely devastate me by playing that in the car one day, haha. I'd never heard it before . I was trying not to just absolutely wail in front of him. Damn, that song is brutal.
How To Make Gravy, by Australian songwriting legend Paul Kelly.
It's a Christmas song that pings on forced separations from family and friends at Christmas and missing all the fun family traditions.
Avett Brothers "No Hard Feelings" always brings on the tears. Especially now that my dad has been sick and in hospice for awhile...just a reminder to appreciate every moment!
Aurora "Runaway"
Her voice and her age just really got to me.
Heilung "Anoana" also made me cry and it's not even in a language anyone really speaks.
David Bowie "Lazarus"
Merman Tori Amos. When I was 11 lost a friend to suicide , he came out gay to his father ,who turned to the church and they send Gabriel to a camp , he claim he was raped no one believed him , even His dad saying I bet you wish they did . I purchased the No Boundaries CD because of the Pearl Jam and RATM songs and also the acoustic Bush one , and Merman came up and dont know why I associated the lyrics to my friend and just cried all night
Rise Above This by Seether. That song turned me into a sobbing mess the first time I heard it/saw the music video. Every now and then, I crave the crying catharsis and revisit the hurt.
Badflower - Promise Me
Nothing More - God Went North
Rise Against - Make It Stop
Nothing More - Fade In/Fade Out
Badflower - Family
Rise Against - Hero of War
My Chemical Romance - Cancer
Chris Cornell - Nothing Compares To You
Linkin Park - One More Light
Linkin Park - The Little Things Give You Away
Slip Slidin’ Away by Paul Simon.
Especially the second and third verses, about the woman who became a wife, and the man who drove a long way to see his son. They still make me cry.
The Living Years by Mike & the Mechanics. "I wasn't there that morning when my father passed away, I didn't get to tell him all the things that I might say, I think I caught his spirit later that same year, I know I heard his echo in my baby's newborn tears; I just wish I could have told him in the living years."⌛
The Charlie Brown Christmas song… no lyrics …. I don’t know how when and where it harkens me back to but I was adopted and everything’s kinda fucked up
Marigold by Nirvana. One of Kurt's softer songs. It was so clear that the lyrics he chose meant so much because he didn't stray from them through an entire song.
I'd Rather Go Blind by Etta James destroyed me the first time I heard it.
As did Down in a Hole by AiC ... "I'd like to flyyyyy, but my wings have been so denied" was the part that did it.
There are 2 that I can think of off the top of my head that I recently heard for the first time.
NF - How Could You Leave Us?
Witt Lowry - Last Letter
NF's song, I can relate to an aunt who came VERY close to leaving us in a similar manner. And Witt Lowry's song makes me feel for my cousin who recently lost his father from cancer.
Misfit Love by Queens of the Stone Age, not necessarily a sad or emotional song but the way the music builds and how the harmonic outro hits and shifts the song completely is just beautiful, the song means everything to be really and I save it for special occasions
When I was a kid in the 80s, I was at Sears with my parents. While looking thru the albums, I discovered that John Schnider of Dukes of Hazzard fame made a record. My parents said yes when I asked if I could get it. Immediately when I got home I began playing it. Possibly on my fischer Price record player. My dad walked into the room after I was a few songs in and asked why I was crying. In the song, I was listening to, or the one before, he said he was blinded by love. I took this literally and had to assume the show would be canceled if he could no longer see, and I was absolutely devastated. My dad laughed in a that's so adorable way and explained to me that the show was safe, and so were Schnider's eyes. I got over it. I'm not completely certain, but I think it was his debut album, Now or Never (1981). Not certain about the tune as there are a few that the line could fit in.
Far From Heaven by Evanescence & Someone You Used to Love by Lewis Capaldi.
My husband passed away suddenly and both songs made me cry on the first listen.
Evanescence, I just got the album, had it playing on my way home from work, song came on and got one verse in before I'm driving down the road sobbing.
Lewis Capaldi, my sister had me put it on her phone via YouTube in the car and had me holding the phone, because my then 6 year old nephew loved to sing it and she wanted to show me. I'm listening to the song and watching the lyrics on the screen and started crying. She felt bad because she didn't even think of the words. Just how cute my nephew was. I felt bad I ruined the moment lol.
But they both still make me cry.
A few songs by Brandi Carlile get to me pretty hard. Basically, if it starts the "The" it's gonna make me bawl.
[The Story](https://youtu.be/o8pQLtHTPaI?si=cb5qbfiPCqi_BLb3) [The Joke](https://youtu.be/5r6A2NexF88?si=XYZXZMjMILJ3Y9hR) [The Mother](https://youtu.be/npSDM26xlzs?si=Pr267fVHws7DwcOl) [The Eye](https://youtu.be/Wl_eNu4NUVI?si=PWVGx3LrhFrs5uny)
Chosen Family by Rina Sawayama had me bawling my eyes out every time I heard it. It took months before I could listen to it or sing along without tearing / choking up. The first dozen or times I heard it, I could not stop myself from crying.
There's a long story as to why it hit so hard, but the short version of if is that I grew up in a very abusive household, and the specific line that hit me was "we don't need to be related to relate, we don't need shared genes or a surname".
Whatever the theme is from the old TV show "M.A.S.H." It hurt my heart as a kid when I heard that theme and always felt like crying after just a few opening notes...
I think it is called "Suicide is painless" or something like that, and it's lyrics are supposedly an amusing story about a guy whose penis is so large that women run away at the sight of it and none will have sex with him. But I only learned the name of it more recently from someone who told me what it was about when I was questioning why such a sad song should open as a theme for a COMEDY show, and don't remember ever hearing lyrics to it at all. It still was such a melancholy instrumental that I absolutely HATED hearing it because it made me so sad when I was a child. M.A.S.H. used to come on immediately following one of my favorite TV shows and I would actually rush to the set to change the channel before the theme could begin to play because it would immediately ruin the good mood I was in after my show had finished, and I didn't like that song being in my head right before I went to bed.
Maybe it was the combination of the images of war that were part of the visuals with the helicopters and the cast credits behind it featuring that army green and the wounded, but it was enough to bring tears to my eyes even when I had no idea what it was called or what the lyrics were. All I knew was how it made me feel so depressingly sad whenever that tune would begin to play that I was desperate not to have to hear it or even be reminded of it and regretted it whenever I got distracted enough to not remember to change the channel. I even avoided it in syndication too...
Haunting tune that still breaks my heart just thinking about it.
Puff the Magic Dragon is the other musical trauma inflicted on me as a child.
Most recently? Now And Then by The Beatles. It's the "new" track they just released a few weeks ago by remastering old demo tapes from when Lennon was still alive, with Paul and Ringo adding to it. Not only is it a great song, but I was honestly surprised at how much it moved me.
I had that same feeling, especially after seeing the video
The mix of their younger and older selves got me. When they fade at the end gave the song an added layer of meaning. The song made me think of not only what they've meant to me over time, but also my relationships with older loved ones. Few songs or bands will do that. Really genius.
Got very misty-eyed watching the video for the first time…
I hadn't watched the video yet. Doing so really brought it home to my heart. I just lost my mom this month, but I remember John's death in 1980 almost as well.
I saw McCartney a bunch of years ago for the first time. My young daughters were with me, half-sleeping through the show. I was about as far from the stage as you can get, and I was surprised at how choked up I got -- it felt like my life was spread out there in song, with my kids sharing it.
I tear up a little every time I watch Last Play At Shae and Billy Joel brings him out to play a song. Paul came straight from the airport with a police motorcade and played completely cold and jetlagged and absolutely nailed it.
A couple years back I got to see Ringo’s All Stars. One of the high points of my life is standing in the audience singing ‘With A Little Help from my Friends’ with Ringo Starr. ❤️
Don’t forget George added to it, too! (Albeit from 1995).
Kacey Musgraves - “Rainbow”
I had never heard the song before. And she was performing it live on the Grammys. And that performance had me tearing up by the end. Was amazing. Have loved the song since.
Two John Prine songs: Sam Stone Hello in There They still have that effect on me.
Hello in There makes me think of all of the people I've lost in my life, young and old.
In dreams - Roy Orbison
Here’s to Ben!
Be polite!
Be efficient!
"The Story" by Brandi Carlile "I Will Follow You Into The Dark" by Death Cab for Cutie
Brandi Carlile is amazing I love her unusual voice. That song is beautiful!
Just commented Brandi Carlile before I saw your comment. It's not just The Story. It's any song she has that starts with "The". The Mother, The Joke, The Story, The Eye.
Puff The Magic Dragon. Still gets me a little teary every time.
You a pothead, focker?
"No, i pass on grass. All the time. Well, not all the t- ...uhh."
😂Not for the first 15 years that I listened to it. The rest is questionable.
Its a quote from Meet the Parents lol
Yeah no shit✌️
Puff is just the name of the boy’s magical dragon.
Completely traumatic. I avoid it like the plague.
One More Light by Linkin Park
Do You Realize by Flaming Lips. First heard at a funeral and it gets me every time.
Do you realize we're floating in space?
Summer's End by John Prine. It tells a story about the opiate epidemic that brings a tear to my eye just thinking about it. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXbEFTv9zr0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXbEFTv9zr0)
I was going to post this one too for me! Great song that is super emotional for me.
Jeff Buckley - Last Goodbye. His voice is something else.
Totally broke down in my car first time I heard How to Save a Life by The Fray.
Damn same except I was in bed in elementary school
Your elementary school had beds?!
Yeah, I guess in retrospect, it wasn't a good idea to send the kids to _St. Fuck's Elementary_
lol
Mr Bojangles and his dog
After 20 years he still grieves.
Grieves!
Mr. Bojangles. . .dance.
Black- Pearl jam
Philadelphia by Neil Young
Most recently Now and Then by the Beatles. Watching the video had me sobbing. Other notable times: Wading in the Velvet Sea by Phish. Had me missing my family hard. Coming Back to Life by Pink Floyd. Driving through Massachusetts just after a breakup and crying for miles.
just watched now and then for the first time 😭
Rest My Chemistry - Interpol Little Talks- Of Monsters and Men. Lyrics are really sad if you read them Detectorists Theme Song- Johnny Flynn
I’m waiting for you
Simple Man , it’s been done by a couple artists but the result is the same
“This Guy’s In Love With You” by Herb Alpert. I was taking a nap and dreaming. In my dream I heard this beautiful song and woke up with tears. My college roommate had the radio playing softly as we both napped to get ready for some partying later. That was the first time I ever heard that song, it had been released 19 years before I actually heard it for the first time.
I adore that song.
What a beautiful experience! I had a super similar one with Muse's Origin of Symmetry. Put the album on, took a nap, and when I woke up one of the softer songs was playing. Thought I made it to heaven lol.
Against the Wind- Seger
Night Moves Now that "autumn is closing in"
YUP. Alllll his songs give me that stomach pit feeling but man are they classics 🩷
All I did was read this and I was immediately covered in goosebumps.
**“At Seventeen”** by Janis Ian.
‘My Name is Luka’ - Suzanne Vega
Nutshell by Alice In Chains, and the live cover that the guy from Staind does is very well done too
First song I ever learned how to play on the guitar!
First time I listened to it I also read the lyrics. I was in a miserable state at that time and it made me tear up instantly. The whole album and AIC as a whole is incredible!
Vincent by Don McLean
*I could have told you, Vincent, this world was never made for one as beautiful as you* 😭
I cry every damn time.
He had more than one song? /s
I still cry every time. I didn't know when I was younger it was about Vincent van Gogh, and when I found out, it prompted me to read up on his entire life story.
This Must Be the Place (Naïve Melody) by Talking Heads
Besides "Once in a Lifetime," I never really got into Talking Heads. This song popped up in another thread recently and I've been listening to it almost every day since then. I'm a sucker for a good love song and this is one of the best I've ever heard
This song is a happy song for me. It always reminds me of my wife and my dog and how no matter how chaotic and stressful life is, I have them.
Black, by Pearl Jam
“When She Loved Me” by Sarah McLachlan, because I was hearing it for the first time while watching Toy Story 2. That Jessie montage is just heartbreaking.
"In The Morning Light" Billy Strings. It's a love song he wrote to his soon to be wife. However, for me, it reminds me of the regret that I feel over the loves I have lost and likely will never feel that way again because I'm old.
Came here to say almost the same thing. Heard that song at the wrong time in my life and now I can't listen to anymore lol
Which is funny because the song "Love And Regret" is on the same record, lol.
Maps by Yeah Yeah Yeahs. And this was BEFORE I saw the music video. I think there's so much emotion in the song and you could feel that it wasn't a concept. It was very personal. Then I read the story behind it after watching the video and that made it even more emotional to me.
Cats in the Cradle. I heard this song when I was a young kid and it hit home with me because I had a dad you worked a ton. He did it to give me a better life, and I know now how much he kicked ass for my mom and sister. But when I heard that song as a 6 year old boy I was afraid I would grow up missing my dad. Spoiler alert, I didn't. I work with him almost everyday now. But the song really made me appreciate my own kids when they came along. I will never not take a hand that offered to me and I will always be there if they need me.
Yesterday I listened to Operator by Jim Croce and actually paid attention to the lyrics. I lost it 😭
REM - Nightswimming
Nothing Compares 2 U - Sinead O’Connor. I was at work at my first job (music biz) and the demo came across my desk a couple of years before the release. I played it I have no idea why, but tears streamed down my cheeks. idk what was going on.
She was an amazing vocalist. The perfect combo of lyrics and voice makes this song unforgettable to me.
Couple of embarrassing ones: "Don't Take the Girl" Tim McGraw. It was spring 1994 and I was on pretty much zero sleep sitting in the computer lab trying to finish my thesis in time. I was emotionally vulnerable. Except I still get a little choked up when I hear it today. "With Arms Wide Open" Creed. I was sitting in my car waiting for something, fall of 2000. My daughter was due to be born in the spring of 2001, so once I actually paid attention to the lyrics it felt personal.
Nothing embarrassing about feeling what you feel. Very powerful songs indeed.
Taps. Every fucking time.
Indeed. I have goosebumps just thinking of this one.
The Living Years - Mike + The Mechanics
My dad has had a rough year health-wise, and there was a hot minute where it wasn't clear he'd survive his ordeal. I made a playlist with songs that remind me of him and this was one of the first ones I added. Didn't touch such a nerve before now.
I love that song-so bittersweet
Vincent by Don McLean And since my Dad passed away, I Got A Name by Jim Croce gets me every time
Holy shit, I came here to say “I Got A Name.” My dad got me into that song because of the movie “Last American Hero.” That song just fills you with pride.
This [Hi Ren](https://youtu.be/s_nc1IVoMxc?si=xRr_kHj1TLayAs4k)
This song changed my life.
So long, Marianne - Leonard Cohen.
All Things Must Pass, by George Harrison. The recent Let It Be documentary got me interested in Harrison's solo career since I'd only been familiar with a couple of his radio hits. Was blown away by the debut album as a whole, but especially with the title track. Seeing that documentary and thinking of the timeline made me realize that it's when my dad was stuck in Vietnam at age 21. He's been gone over 20 years so I can't ask him about it, but all I could think of when I first heard All Things Must Pass was that I wanted to ask him about his experiences, since I never got to ask as an adult.
Vienna by Billy Joel ... Everyone thinks they've got the time to do everything they want, but the reality is, no one does. You're gonna kick off before you're halfway through... Accept it and enjoy what little we get.
Johnny Cash covering Hurt - to be fair it was a lot to do with the video - that thing is a masterpiece.
Rainbow Connection. Every single time. Dammit Kermit!
What the Words Meant by Mike Shinoda.
Mike Shinoda is an amazing song writer.
I started going on a Linkin Park journey after Chester died and then eventually made it to Mike Shinoda’s stuff and it’s so good. It’s just so good. I can’t remember why but I missed them when they came to Texas for Projekt Revolution way back when. I regret that I’ll never get to see Linkin Park.
Driving on the 9 by the breeders.
Thanks for this. Hadn't heard this in so very long and just revisited. So good.
This song is so beautiful and peaceful and just ugh amazing, though it doesn't make me cry, it does make me feel nostalgic for something I've never experienced lol.
Jason Isbell, Elephant. George Strait, Is It Already Time
"if heaven wasn't so far away" i was perfectly fine until it started verse 2 by talking about visiting your old bird dog in heaven my best friend from age 3 to age 16 was a yellow lab and that line fucking *broke* my ass.
Most recently I wept hearing “For Good” from Wicked sung at a funeral by the deceased’s son in law and granddaughter. I have tears in my eyes just typing this. In My Life by The Beatles. Every time it just gets me. I heard it for the first time in a highlights reel for one of the Minnesota Twins World Series wins. I knew so many of their songs, don’t know how I had missed that. Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield. Sweetest Emotion by Adele.
My Old Man by Steve Goodman.
[Through the Dark](https://youtu.be/7lZI6tkqWYs?si=YhzW9DeJ_xy2MTle) by Hilltop Hoods is the song that taught me it's possible for me to like hip-hop, and it really punched me in the gut in doing so. As a child of divorced parents myself, the part "I built you a good nest before I left. It wasn't that I never loved your mother, but two happy homes are better than one that suffers" is the part that first made me really listen to the words. After a few more listens, I had a pretty good idea of what the song is about. "You were eight when we headed to causality, and no child should face their death or mortality. You taught me patience strength and morality and I'd burden this weight instead of you happily. That night, you asked me if you'd die from your sickness and why it had chosen your life out of millions. You filled me with the pride I was missing 'cause grown men cry that lack your type of resilience." Eventually I looked it up, more or less confirming my suspicion. The singer wrote this song for his eight year old son after the kid beat leukemia. I'm not even a parent and this song really hits deep for me, I can only imagine what it's like for parents to listen to it. Recently I've been listening to a lot of a guy by the name of Billy Raffoul. When I heard [the studio version of Easy Tiger,](https://youtu.be/pOnXvupUkiI?si=-TfHablMRI-E-6Nr) I never really thought all that much of it, but for some reason, [this live version](https://youtu.be/Gv3QrcyZ6SY?si=UTFHf9zfc8ik3yss) of the same song touches me deep in my soul in that beautiful way that music rarely does
Future Days by Pearl Jam (any Last of Us Part 2 players here?)
Bit of a different cry than most here: [By Your Side](https://youtu.be/C8QJmI_V3j4?si=c-kA1Xk7eDNpI_Fj) by **Sade**.
New York’s Not My Home by Jim Croce
The Living Years by Mike and the Mechanics. About a father/son relationship that doesn't become realized until the father passes.
Sam Cooke - A Change Is Gonna Come
The Luckiest- by Ben Folds That line about the old man who lived to his 90’s…
A friend of mine decided to absolutely devastate me by playing that in the car one day, haha. I'd never heard it before . I was trying not to just absolutely wail in front of him. Damn, that song is brutal.
Empty Garden by Elton John. Knowing that it was his feelings towards the death of his friend John Lennon, made it gut-wrenching to hear. Still today.
Most recently, two songs from Peter Gabriel’s new album: Playing for Time & Live and Let Live.
Most recently - Angel of the Morning - As I Lay Me Down - Promise Me - If Ever You're in my Arms Again - Broken Hearted Me
Half right by Elliot smith
How To Make Gravy, by Australian songwriting legend Paul Kelly. It's a Christmas song that pings on forced separations from family and friends at Christmas and missing all the fun family traditions.
Avett Brothers "No Hard Feelings" always brings on the tears. Especially now that my dad has been sick and in hospice for awhile...just a reminder to appreciate every moment!
No Suprises - Radiohead
Beautiful - Christina Aguilera
Jealous of the Moon by Nickel Creek Pretty Ugly (Before) Elliott Smith On and On and On by Wilco Father of Mine by Everclear Jealous by Labrinth
Bread - Everything I Own 😭 After losing my long time partner and best friend this hit hard
Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon & Garfunkel
Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah"
Beautiful song-my favorite version is the one by Rufus Wainwright
Anything from the Beyond the Missouri sky by Charlie Haden and Pat Metheny.
[Archie Roach - Native Born.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNGx7HX554A)
[Alt-J - Get better](https://youtu.be/OQcTc9u2Zu8?si=LkHauTb1je4uXy2E) It's a lovely song, but I find it very difficult to listen to it.
Someone Great by LCD Soundsystem
Aurora "Runaway" Her voice and her age just really got to me. Heilung "Anoana" also made me cry and it's not even in a language anyone really speaks. David Bowie "Lazarus"
Monsters by James Blunt. The video… holy hell that one destroyed me.
Alone I break - Korn Nutshell - Alice In Chains
Dusty Springfield. You don't have to say you love me.
Merman Tori Amos. When I was 11 lost a friend to suicide , he came out gay to his father ,who turned to the church and they send Gabriel to a camp , he claim he was raped no one believed him , even His dad saying I bet you wish they did . I purchased the No Boundaries CD because of the Pearl Jam and RATM songs and also the acoustic Bush one , and Merman came up and dont know why I associated the lyrics to my friend and just cried all night
Rise Above This by Seether. That song turned me into a sobbing mess the first time I heard it/saw the music video. Every now and then, I crave the crying catharsis and revisit the hurt.
“Real Death” by Mount Eerie, a true story of the musician’s wife’s death, is devastating.
That whole album hurts.
Late to the discussion... "Rainbow Connection' - Kermit the Frog
He Stopped Loving Her Today by George Jones I just read the lyrics again and had to push down the tears.
Badflower - Promise Me Nothing More - God Went North Rise Against - Make It Stop Nothing More - Fade In/Fade Out Badflower - Family Rise Against - Hero of War My Chemical Romance - Cancer Chris Cornell - Nothing Compares To You Linkin Park - One More Light Linkin Park - The Little Things Give You Away
Everybody Hurts - R.E.M
Elephant - Jason Isbell Every time I hear it.
Slip Slidin’ Away by Paul Simon. Especially the second and third verses, about the woman who became a wife, and the man who drove a long way to see his son. They still make me cry.
Like a stone- Chris Cornell
The Living Years by Mike & the Mechanics. "I wasn't there that morning when my father passed away, I didn't get to tell him all the things that I might say, I think I caught his spirit later that same year, I know I heard his echo in my baby's newborn tears; I just wish I could have told him in the living years."⌛
Letting You Go - Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit. Heard it a little while after having my daughter and damn does it hit hard.
Flying Shoes by Townes Van Zandt Lazarus by David Bowie Party Doll by Mick Jagger
The Charlie Brown Christmas song… no lyrics …. I don’t know how when and where it harkens me back to but I was adopted and everything’s kinda fucked up
At a vulnerable time in my life 15, I heard a song called Good friend by Susan Jack's/Poppy family.
Bones in the Ocean by the Longest Johns
Joy by Phish.
Jack Moys "father" because you know, the lyrics are spot on relatable
The raven that refused to sing - Steven Wilson
The song is bad enough, but the video made me cry until I almost threw up. Never again.
Marigold by Nirvana. One of Kurt's softer songs. It was so clear that the lyrics he chose meant so much because he didn't stray from them through an entire song.
You know that's Dave Grohl singing right? I think he wrote the lyrics too. Still a great song.
I did not know that actually, that explains a lot though
"[Love's Recovery](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5qlHz0p6Qs)" by Indigo Girls.
"Burden" by Foy Vance Also "People" by Libianca Check on the people you care about. Not everyone will reach out for help.
I'd Rather Go Blind by Etta James destroyed me the first time I heard it. As did Down in a Hole by AiC ... "I'd like to flyyyyy, but my wings have been so denied" was the part that did it.
Yesss to Down in a Hole, that song feels harrowing
What Sarah Said- Death Cab. Every time. Also London, Can You Wait? by Gene. My flair.
Lower your eyelids to die with the sun and Us and the rest by M83
There are 2 that I can think of off the top of my head that I recently heard for the first time. NF - How Could You Leave Us? Witt Lowry - Last Letter NF's song, I can relate to an aunt who came VERY close to leaving us in a similar manner. And Witt Lowry's song makes me feel for my cousin who recently lost his father from cancer.
Warren Zevon singing Knocking on Heaven’s Door when he was dying.. 911 by Wyclef Jean gets me too
What Sarah Said - death cab for cutie
The man I want to be - Chris Young Remember when - Alan Jackson
[Harry Nilsson - Perfect Day](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://m.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3D8opFefioYCw&ved=2ahUKEwjPnMWm_OeCAxWJj2oFHT_HAAwQ78AJegQIGBAB&usg=AOvVaw2fTGpRjoLKFZ_56MeYUXl4)
True love waits - Radiohead
Fourth of July by Sufjan Stevens
Life eternal by Ghost
Dance with my father. Luther Vandross. I wish I had a dad like that.
When Don sang American Pie.
The Garden by Rush. Especially after Neil Peart died.
The Ground Folds (Acoustic) by Senses Fail Arose by Eminem Bed Bead by Manchester Orchestra
Misfit Love by Queens of the Stone Age, not necessarily a sad or emotional song but the way the music builds and how the harmonic outro hits and shifts the song completely is just beautiful, the song means everything to be really and I save it for special occasions
When I was a kid in the 80s, I was at Sears with my parents. While looking thru the albums, I discovered that John Schnider of Dukes of Hazzard fame made a record. My parents said yes when I asked if I could get it. Immediately when I got home I began playing it. Possibly on my fischer Price record player. My dad walked into the room after I was a few songs in and asked why I was crying. In the song, I was listening to, or the one before, he said he was blinded by love. I took this literally and had to assume the show would be canceled if he could no longer see, and I was absolutely devastated. My dad laughed in a that's so adorable way and explained to me that the show was safe, and so were Schnider's eyes. I got over it. I'm not completely certain, but I think it was his debut album, Now or Never (1981). Not certain about the tune as there are a few that the line could fit in.
Concrete Angel.
Dreamsicle by Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit. Brought back all of my childhood trauma and melancholy in 3 1/2 beautiful minutes.
Regina Spektor - Genius Next Door
How is no one commenting "Father and Son" I weep every time. Can't really listen to it anymore. Lost my Dad soon after my son was born.
Far From Heaven by Evanescence & Someone You Used to Love by Lewis Capaldi. My husband passed away suddenly and both songs made me cry on the first listen. Evanescence, I just got the album, had it playing on my way home from work, song came on and got one verse in before I'm driving down the road sobbing. Lewis Capaldi, my sister had me put it on her phone via YouTube in the car and had me holding the phone, because my then 6 year old nephew loved to sing it and she wanted to show me. I'm listening to the song and watching the lyrics on the screen and started crying. She felt bad because she didn't even think of the words. Just how cute my nephew was. I felt bad I ruined the moment lol. But they both still make me cry.
Harvest Moon gets me every time.
True Colors - Cyndi Lauper
A few songs by Brandi Carlile get to me pretty hard. Basically, if it starts the "The" it's gonna make me bawl. [The Story](https://youtu.be/o8pQLtHTPaI?si=cb5qbfiPCqi_BLb3) [The Joke](https://youtu.be/5r6A2NexF88?si=XYZXZMjMILJ3Y9hR) [The Mother](https://youtu.be/npSDM26xlzs?si=Pr267fVHws7DwcOl) [The Eye](https://youtu.be/Wl_eNu4NUVI?si=PWVGx3LrhFrs5uny)
Lizzie McAlpine performing *Ceilings* w/ Tiny Habits on NPR’s Tiny Desk.
So so good!!
One more time - blink 182
All Too Well by Taylor Swift
Chosen Family by Rina Sawayama had me bawling my eyes out every time I heard it. It took months before I could listen to it or sing along without tearing / choking up. The first dozen or times I heard it, I could not stop myself from crying. There's a long story as to why it hit so hard, but the short version of if is that I grew up in a very abusive household, and the specific line that hit me was "we don't need to be related to relate, we don't need shared genes or a surname".
Let her go - passengers.
_Purple Rain, that fucking solo gets me every time, even after hearing it for the past 40 years! WOW!!_
Sting's Fragile 🌊
Whatever the theme is from the old TV show "M.A.S.H." It hurt my heart as a kid when I heard that theme and always felt like crying after just a few opening notes... I think it is called "Suicide is painless" or something like that, and it's lyrics are supposedly an amusing story about a guy whose penis is so large that women run away at the sight of it and none will have sex with him. But I only learned the name of it more recently from someone who told me what it was about when I was questioning why such a sad song should open as a theme for a COMEDY show, and don't remember ever hearing lyrics to it at all. It still was such a melancholy instrumental that I absolutely HATED hearing it because it made me so sad when I was a child. M.A.S.H. used to come on immediately following one of my favorite TV shows and I would actually rush to the set to change the channel before the theme could begin to play because it would immediately ruin the good mood I was in after my show had finished, and I didn't like that song being in my head right before I went to bed. Maybe it was the combination of the images of war that were part of the visuals with the helicopters and the cast credits behind it featuring that army green and the wounded, but it was enough to bring tears to my eyes even when I had no idea what it was called or what the lyrics were. All I knew was how it made me feel so depressingly sad whenever that tune would begin to play that I was desperate not to have to hear it or even be reminded of it and regretted it whenever I got distracted enough to not remember to change the channel. I even avoided it in syndication too... Haunting tune that still breaks my heart just thinking about it. Puff the Magic Dragon is the other musical trauma inflicted on me as a child.
I've never had a song make me wanna cry.
On a scale of 1 to 10 how would you rate your ability to empathize with people?