if you go away

God, there's some stiff competition, but yeah. Fucking heartbreaking. Esp. cause of the pride in the dustbin aspect to the 'if you stay' section.

EXCEPT: "If you go away as I know you must" line poss. suggests that s/he is leaving with good cause. But not necessarily.

Whose version do you prefer? I only have Dusty's and Scott Walker's but I'm sure there are other ones. Jacques Brel's, duh.

It's depressing, alright. What makes it particularly so is that it's perfectly obvious from the lyrics that it's a lost cause; the lover is going away, and no amount of breast-beating is going to change that. It' a song I kind of like being depressed by, sometimes, but not now, so I kind of wish I wasn't reminded of it.

love adore Ms. Basseys version and of course Master Wlaker got me into it . I want to hear MArc ALmond sing it .

"Je suis venue de te dire que je m'envais" is worse. It sucks every tear out of you. I quite like Jo Lemaire's version of it.

"Send In The Clowns" from Sondheim's A Little Night Music. The melody just floats above everything else... I think it's one of the lovliest songs ever written.

Marc's done a variety of versions of the song over the years. His original studio take on Untitled is good, the later one on Jacques mighty fine, but I say go for the version on Twelve Years of Tears. Quite wonderful.

And of course Momus just after the Happy Family split: brilliant but yes depressing version: bonus on Circus Maximus cd

terry jacks version is good, brenda lee's is not

12 yrs of tears is almonds finest moment...shirley does a greta version, as does dusty..sinatra's is stunning..

i'd be the shadow of the shadow of your dog...such great self abasement at the hands of love

I think this was the title of a New Kids on the Block song, but I assume you guys are talking about a different song. If memory serves, their version was no "Right Stuff".

"Leave me just enough love to fill up my hand."
Whats depressing about that? i think the song is very sweet and i put it on all the time to cheer me up. i only know the Walker version so i can't comment on which is the best.

the most depressing song ever written about a lover leaving is "Forever Tuesday Morning" by the Mockers.

It's one of my favourite songs ever. I've got Scott's, Glen Campbell's and Nina Simone's versions - it's a close tie between Scott Walker and Nina Simone as to which version i like the most - glen campbell doesn't sound unhappy enough

Scott, Dusty, Brenda, blah blah blah... NO ONE tops Brel's original version. It's the most beautiful and harrowing few minutes of song I've ever heard. And as someone quoted earlier, "I'll be the shadow of the shadow of your dog", jesus, that line fucks me up. If you've only heard the English version of this then really, you're missing out. 'Voir un ami pleurer' is pretty upsetting too but that's about a friend going to war, rather than the end of a relationship.

Also, Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra do a gorgeous version of 'You've lost that loving feeling', all slowed-down and breathy.

Brel's version is simply esquisite but if you can only hear an english version then Walker's is the best rendtion by far. Only one quibble..why did he feel the need to go for the big Las Vegas finish on the final line? Still Walker made up for it with 'Farmer in the City,' from 'Tilt.'

original title is "ne me quitte pas" - "don't leave me". Don't leave me don't leave me don't leave me. "If you go away" is nowhere near as plaintive and moving.

that song is so sad! i want to hear the original in french.

another song that really hurts the heart is "this life" by mandalay. some lyrics are: you couldn't even bring yourself to stay/take this life/in your hands/you were mine/i could smile. it's so depressing.

There's something to be said for Natacha Atlas's version - I'm not quite sure what, but...something.

Scott's is incredible.

Only know the Almond version from 'Untitled' and the Brel original, both fantastically heart-string yanking; and noose-tyingly, absinthe drinkingly wonderful.
For those intent on listening to the strains of amazing yet depressing music, try Elvis Costello's 'I Want You' and 'Blue Valentine' by Tom Waits, both equally achingly wretched accounts of failing relationships.

I'm off down the pub...

"Dry Your Eyes" by the Streets is the most depressing song about a lover leaving.

Or maybe it isn't! Know what I mean?

i'd like to hear an accurately translated version of the song. Brel's is still the best.

I don't know, but I suspect, 'accurate translation' in the case of Brel (or Gainsbourg) involves a page and a half of footnotes and, quite possibly, a bibliography.

Not necessarily, dear old Momus had a stab at a more accurate translation didn't he?

Yeah, the Momus version is much closer to the original.

Soukesian, that's OTM about Gainsbourg but not Brel I think. Whatever Jacques has in the way of references is mostly to do with locations, and he wasn't half as fond of smart-arse double/triple/quadruple entendres. He's easy enough to translate, as far as songwriters go.

Is it wrong that the only version of this song that I know is Neil Diamond's? And Cyndi Lauper's? I love the song though, it's one of the true heartbreakers.

Not wrong, but you owe it to yourself to check out the originals and the other covers mentioned upthread.

Interesting to hear that Brel is relatively easy to translate, it's just that I've read so much bitching about the extant English versions of his lyrics. It usually comes back to the "JB is alive and well and living in Paris" show record frrom the 60s. I suspect most of the MOR versions of Brel songs which appeared in the early seventies derive from this. Is it worth hearing?

An ex-girlfriend swears by it.

Elegantly robust and poignant version of that and many other French originals , previously pooed on by English-language "lyricists", like Rod McKuen(so if you like him, you're out of luck here): Dee Dee Bridgewater's Jai Deux Amours. (Also a rousing French translation of the American "Girl Talk," previously a hit for somebody else Over There.)

I am referred to by my siblings as a “sad bastard music junkie”, but somehow I had never heard If You Go Away until I saw it performed lived be a band called Ambulette (the lead singer is Maura Davis formerly of Denali) on the 25th. And holy lord, that song is tremendously moving. I might not rate it the number one most heartbreaking song of all time, but it sure is up there. What is heartbreaking about it for me is the same thing that makes Rilo Kiley’s music so heartbreaking. I am not sure how much of this was Maura and how much of it was the song itself, but I was simply overwhelmed by her compassion, tenderness, and vulnerability while she sang it. Some people will live their whole lives and never love anyone enough to be able to immerse themselves in these, especially the last. And all it takes is one lost lover to tear these things so far down in a person that they are never the same. That is why these are the parts of a person that are the most fragile and that most beautiful. I recently acquired a studio recording of Maura’s cover, and while it is good, it unfortunately is not nearly as powerful as her liver performance.

Three other heavy weight contenders for most depressing left by a lover song come to my mind. The first was already mentioned by someone else, I Want You by Elvis Costello. He is an all around great song writer and more than anything else, this song it is brilliantly written.

The next song is from I group I already mentioned, Does her love you? by Rilo Kiley. The vocals on this song are so incredibly emotional that every time I hear it by about the fourth line I feel like running as fast as I can to find the lead singer (Jenny Lewis) and picking her up and kissing her on the forehead and holding her forever.

And after all that, I think my personal vote has to go to Motion Picture Soundtrack by Radiohead. There are several versions of this song and although they are all depressing, the live acoustic very is by far the saddest. Just thinking about the lyrics is usually enough to break me up. “White wine and sleeping pills help me get back to your arms. Cheap sex and sad films help me get where I belong.”

Sorry for the super long post.

Fine post, sir, apologize not

If you go away is wonderful; I love the Brel, but I also love how it swells in the Torrini right before "but if you stay..."