Songs that are too sad & painful for you to listen to

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― Mark (MarkR), Wednesday, 6 November 2002 04:32 (twenty-three years ago)

"Pale Blue Eyes"

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Wednesday, 6 November 2002 04:34 (twenty-three years ago)

"more than a woman"

― jess (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 6 November 2002 04:39 (twenty-three years ago)

field mice "willow"

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Wednesday, 6 November 2002 04:41 (twenty-three years ago)

"more than a woman"

Tavares or Bee Gees?

― Mark (MarkR), Wednesday, 6 November 2002 04:48 (twenty-three years ago)

aaliyah.

― jess (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 6 November 2002 04:49 (twenty-three years ago)

"i've never been to me"

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Wednesday, 6 November 2002 04:50 (twenty-three years ago)

"Missing" by Everything But the Girl

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 6 November 2002 05:25 (twenty-three years ago)

― jess (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 6 November 2002 05:27 (twenty-three years ago)

"Hot Cock Annie" by the Frogs

― paul cox (paul cox), Wednesday, 6 November 2002 05:34 (twenty-three years ago)

For some reason "#9 Dream" by John Lennon has *always* choked me up. Something about the strings and that Harrison-y (does George play on this?) guitar and the vocals. And that bridge...

― Jay Vee (Manon_70), Wednesday, 6 November 2002 06:21 (twenty-three years ago)

Billie Holliday and 'Blue' phase Joni Mitchell are the ones I need to avoid. The macho version of the same depth of feeling - Joy D, etc - is for some reason easier to bear.

#9 dream freaks me out, too - but it's not sadness, it's madness. too much of that and you'd go gaga. weird.

But pale blue eyes? I'd never thought of it like that. It's always been a pretty, sunny day faraway stoned-on-a-beach kind of song to me. In fact i've often wished he'd sing 'linger on... those pale blue skies'. Must listen again for the sadness.

― jon (jon), Wednesday, 6 November 2002 08:42 (twenty-three years ago)

Almost Blue - Elvis Costello

"theres a girl here and shes almost you"

― gazza, Wednesday, 6 November 2002 09:04 (twenty-three years ago)

Most things by the Cocteau Twins, Joy Division, the Jam, Mod/Brit psychedelia in general, Northern Soul in general, medieval music, Scottish lo-fi, Pulp, Gipsy Kings, Curtis Mayfield/Impressions, lots of others...Laura liked all of these :-(

― Marcello Carlin, Wednesday, 6 November 2002 09:31 (twenty-three years ago)

19 years on and I still get a lump in my throat every time I hear Love Cats by The Cure.

Cruel by Prefab Sprout isn't much better either.

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Wednesday, 6 November 2002 10:05 (twenty-three years ago)

'Archway People' by st Etienne, based on the last time I saw someone being in Archway of all the goddamn places on Earth.

― Anna (Anna), Wednesday, 6 November 2002 11:16 (twenty-three years ago)

Beach Boys "Friends", Nearly God "Poems", Aretha "Say A Little Prayer", Manics "Motorcycle Emptiness", Sonic Youth "Tunic(Song For Karen)".

― luke (luke), Wednesday, 6 November 2002 12:01 (twenty-three years ago)

"satisfied mind" covered by jeff buckley

― mary b. (mary b.), Wednesday, 6 November 2002 12:04 (twenty-three years ago)

All of 'Brothers in Arms' by Dire Straits, some songs more than others. No kidding.

When I was 11 or 12, I got caught shoplifting and my mum had to come pick me up from the police station. It was horrible, really humiliating because of what I'd been stealing (porn) and the fact that the woman next door worked in the police station and saw me, and it was my first time in serious trouble.

When we got home I went upstairs and tried to bury myself in my cupboard, in total misery, scared to death of what would happen when my dad got home. I just stayed there for like 3 hours crying non stop. Meanwhile, downstairs, my mum for some bizzare goddam reason put 'Brothers in Arms' on repeat play really loud. I was weeping like an idiot AND being subjected to Dire Straits over and over. Seriously, that was a hard time. And there's some pretty sad songs on that record. So now if I hear bits of it, it's just too much for me.

― Eyeball Kicks (Eyeball Kicks), Wednesday, 6 November 2002 14:54 (twenty-three years ago)

Fuck, another vote for "#9 Dream". That song just renders me unable to do anything except sit there and wish I could die. (But in a good way. Does that make any sense?)

ELO's "Mr Blue Sky" also destroys me for some reason

― dave q, Wednesday, 6 November 2002 15:26 (twenty-three years ago)

"mandocello" by cheap trick. i don't feel like wasting anyone's time (my own included) by elaborating.

"love's easy tears" by the cocteaus

"whiter shade of pale" - such a sense of resignation. though i don't know to what exactly...

"the first time ever i looked into your eyes"

jess is otm about "more than a woman"

― mike (ro)bott, Wednesday, 6 November 2002 16:37 (twenty-three years ago)

Too Late - Carole King (ex girlfriend)

No Agreement - Fela Kuti (ex wife )

Jan

― Jan Geerinck, Wednesday, 6 November 2002 16:39 (twenty-three years ago)

"#9 Dream." That song just renders me unable to do anything but sit there and wish Chapman had got to the bastard six years earlier.

― Denise Lambert, Wednesday, 6 November 2002 16:41 (twenty-three years ago)

"close to you" carpenters. seriously.

― Aaron Grossman (aajjgg), Wednesday, 6 November 2002 16:42 (twenty-three years ago)

"Dreaming" by Blondie
"Don't Forget to Dance" by the Kinks

― rpk (Rahul Kamath), Wednesday, 6 November 2002 16:47 (twenty-three years ago)

'You're gonna make me lonesome when you go' by Robert D hurts, because, of course, she did.

― Roger Fascist (Roger Fascist), Wednesday, 6 November 2002 17:19 (twenty-three years ago)

"I Know It's Over" by the Smiths.

― Chriddof (Chriddof), Wednesday, 6 November 2002 18:28 (twenty-three years ago)

"Trust" by the Cure. I couldn't listen to it for about...six years? Eight?

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 6 November 2002 18:31 (twenty-three years ago)

"Don't Go Away " - Toad the Wet Sprocket. Girlfriend in college broke up with me while this was playing in the background. Damn bitch.

― Chris V. (Chris V), Wednesday, 6 November 2002 18:33 (twenty-three years ago)

pretty ironic, if you ask me.

― Chris V. (Chris V), Wednesday, 6 November 2002 18:35 (twenty-three years ago)

Rusted Roots' "Beautiful People"...already a beautiful weepy-ass song, I happened to hear it within moments of finding out one of my best friends had committed suicide back when I was in high school, and I haven't been able to get through it ever since.

― nickalicious, Wednesday, 6 November 2002 19:35 (twenty-three years ago)

'i want you' - elvis costello
'standing in the doorway' - dylan

― donna (donna), Wednesday, 6 November 2002 19:50 (twenty-three years ago)

'till i die' by the beach boys; reflections after jane by the clientele

― dave k, Wednesday, 6 November 2002 20:31 (twenty-three years ago)

"Medication" - Damien Jurado.

― david h (david h), Wednesday, 6 November 2002 20:35 (twenty-three years ago)

Up until recently, I didn't want to listen to "The Hand that Rocks the Cradle" - I associated it with unspecific, bad memories and didn't think it would do me any good to listen to it. Then I listened to it again - no big deal really - I guess I'm over whatever it was.. Although now I don't want to listen to it because I just don't care to.

"The Price of Paradise" by the Minutemen.. no foolin'. I think the line "Young men dying is all it would cost" gets to me...

― dave225 (Dave225), Wednesday, 6 November 2002 20:39 (twenty-three years ago)

'too far down' by husker du. oh, the pain...

― angelo (angelo), Wednesday, 6 November 2002 21:41 (twenty-three years ago)

American Music Club in general.

― Mike Appelstein (mike a), Wednesday, 6 November 2002 22:21 (twenty-three years ago)

"Strange Fruit", Billie Holiday- so bitter, so endlessly sad, so downright scary.

― Daniel_Rf (Daniel_Rf), Wednesday, 6 November 2002 23:25 (twenty-three years ago)

i remember who you are (swans).

― cecilia, Thursday, 7 November 2002 01:59 (twenty-three years ago)

"Famous Blue Raincoat" - Leonard Cohen

― Ian Johnson (orion), Thursday, 7 November 2002 04:46 (twenty-three years ago)

"Don't Go Away " - Toad the Wet Sprocket. Girlfriend in college broke up with me while this was playing in the background. Damn bitch.

I've had two relationships end to the sounds of 'You've Lost That Loving Feeling'. I have never heard it played in a bar or pub before or since. The second time it caused inapropriate giggles.

― Anna (Anna), Thursday, 7 November 2002 10:35 (twenty-three years ago)

'too far down' by husker du. oh, the pain...

-- angelo (discusdude72@hotmail.com), November 6th, 2002.

angelo, were you the girl called valeria i had a relationship with in 1996 in Buenos Aires?

― Queen G (Queeng), Thursday, 7 November 2002 10:49 (twenty-three years ago)

Baby Genius by Eels. Reminds me of myself and my relationship with my parents far too much...

― Mr Swygart (mrswygart), Thursday, 7 November 2002 11:06 (twenty-three years ago)

The theme song to 'Enterprise' ! :)

― mr drongo, Thursday, 7 November 2002 11:08 (twenty-three years ago)

Good thing there's so much music because misery befogs my enjoyment of so much good stuff. I mean, I can still be in a room with it but I can't like it, I'm too busy getting upset and pondering. All the sad parts of ZEN ARCADE and WAREHOUSE. Side 1 of SOMETHING/ANYTHING, and probably 30 or so Todd tracks pre-and-post. "Fourth of July" by X. In fact, plenty of X. A lot of Beach Boys stuff. Fuckin' Al Stewart. A number of significant Janes' Addiction songs, among them all my favorites. I seriously can't be around most music by Game Theory/Loud Family (well, just my luck, the situation has rarely arisen), especially side 1 of INTERBABE CONCERN. Lots of fine GbV songs really rip me up. There really ARE a few very painful-to-Matt Carpenters songs. "Today" by Jefferson Airplane. A few TMBG songs, their most "ironic" I'm sure many would say. "Orange and Red Beams" by the Animals, HOUNDS OF LOVE (all of it), some Swans, even some of BURNING WORLD, a bunch of Patti Smith, much of my own music. Honestly, I could go on but I'm sure you all get the picture, how banal and predictible. No wonder I listen to brain-shattering beats and insufferable textural music of late. I notice no one here has said how emotionally draining Merzbow is but I bet it could be given the right circumstances.

― matt riedl (veal), Thursday, 7 November 2002 22:37 (twenty-three years ago)

I remember after my brother died, I frightened my mother by playing "Sometimes It Snows In April" over and over for about two and a half hours. (These were the days of vinyl, when you had to work to do that.) To this day, I will get choked up when I hear that song (and hence rarely listen to it, even though I think it's one of Prince's best).

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Thursday, 7 November 2002 22:44 (twenty-three years ago)

Another vote for "almost blue" by elvis costello, which reminds me greatly of a girlfriend I tempestuously dated for around five years until I finally left her in another state we had moved to and came back home, only to have her come back to my city and become a junkie who ripped off all of her family and friends and essentially became a street walker, which is why I also have to second the vote for "famous blue raincoat" as well which was one of her favorite songs.

― webcrack (music=crack), Thursday, 7 November 2002 23:45 (twenty-three years ago)

Jesus...

― jm, Friday, 8 November 2002 01:41 (twenty-three years ago)

Britney SPears - Sometimes

― , Friday, 8 November 2002 14:43 (twenty-three years ago)

"Beast of Burden." I was in the middle of a painful should-we-or-shouldn't-we-break-up conversation with someone I was seeing at the time, and that song came on. I had picked it when I was up at the jukebox earlier (I thought it might be a sarcastic/bittersweet soundtrack to the things we were talking about), and I confessed, "Yeah, this is one of mine." The guy had made his own trip to the jukebox a few minutes prior, and he shot me a look -- "No, I picked this!" Ouch.

― Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Friday, 8 November 2002 15:14 (twenty-three years ago)

Tears in Heaven by Eric Clapton, it was on the radio shortly after I was told someone close to me had died. Clichéd I know but I can't help it.

― Plinky (Plinky), Friday, 8 November 2002 15:29 (twenty-three years ago)

The Kindness of Strangers -- Nick Cave

...They found her the next day, tied to the bed,
a rag in her mouth and a bullet in her head,
Oh, poor Mary Bellows...

― christoff (christoff), Friday, 8 November 2002 15:52 (twenty-three years ago)

Go Betweens-"Bachelor Kisses". Reminds me of dead old boyfriend.

― Arthur (Arthur), Friday, 8 November 2002 16:43 (twenty-three years ago)

Maybe it's a bit obvious, but 'Holocaust' by Big Star always does it for me, especially the last verse.

― stephen. s (yaye), Saturday, 9 November 2002 14:32 (twenty-three years ago)

oh, and 'Til i die' by the Beach Boys

― stephen. s (yaye), Saturday, 9 November 2002 20:30 (twenty-three years ago)

'Ring of Fire' by Johnny Cash. No associations with anything - just too apt.

― Treena, Sunday, 10 November 2002 00:09 (twenty-three years ago)

"Camera" by REM...guilt by association.

The entire Berlin album by Lou Reed...slid on ice and wrecked while listening to that tape, can't remember which song. I don't ever want to hear that one again, not that it was that great anyway.

Nirvana...guilt by timeperiod/association. I've still got the cds, but I haven't listened to them in years.

― earlnash, Sunday, 10 November 2002 01:01 (twenty-three years ago)

Not When I Need It by Matthew Sweet. And most of the Girlfriend album.

― Maria (Maria), Sunday, 10 November 2002 03:44 (twenty-three years ago)

too sad: 'P.T.A.' by Pulp

too painful: most Daniel Johnston

― l., Sunday, 10 November 2002 05:54 (twenty-three years ago)

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