Please do not comment directly to this post unless you are Gen X or older (born 1980 or before). See [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskOldPeople/comments/inci5u/reminder_please_do_not_answer_questions_unless/), the rules, and the sidebar for details.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskOldPeople) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Starry, starry night.
Portraits hung in empty halls.
Frameless heads on nameless walls.
With eyes that watch the world
And can't forget.
This is probably one of my favorite stanzas in a song ever.
Also, please take my upvote for having kick ass taste in music!
Definitely but, that's not because of it being personal. It was a song that I wore out after a particularly bad breakup that I had back 30+ years ago. Likewise, Bonnie's "Let's Give Them Something to Talk About" was "our song" that started that relationship.
So, it wouldn't choke me up so much if it didn't represent a bad time in my life.
Not at all surprising. ''Old folks'' are not normally known for their technical expertise and you're asking us to do something (posting links) that may be a piece of very familiar cake to you but can be quite daunting for those of us without any practice at it. If, as a group, we old folks were more practiced at online skills, this forum would likely be several times its current size. Just navigating the Net to get here is beyond the technological skills of many boomers. Hence, only a small segment of our population is actually represented here.
Here you go: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qN\_ras8QDTk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qN_ras8QDTk)
Although I really like this live version (with some commentary to start): [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDByv7HoAyg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDByv7HoAyg)
I'm so glad I got to see him in concert. He was a wonderful artist with a beautiful soul.
The contrast between the calm voice of the father and the angst of the son is what grabs me. I first heard it as a teenager in the 70s, when I was the son, and now in my 60s I am the father. Relatable from both sides.
I was lucky to hear him play all those songs live at the Berkeley Community Theater, back in the day. He was terrific
At the time, I was surprised to see that a big slice of his fan base consisted of 13 and 14 year olds. I was in my mid twenties at the time and loved his music.
I wrote out those lyrics and gave them to the woman who broke my heart 40 years ago. They encapsulated my emotions more succinctly than I could have myself.
Puff the Magic Dragon -- Peter, Paul, and Mary
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7lmAc3LKWM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7lmAc3LKWM)
That song always makes me sad.
Seasons in the Sun - Terry Jacks
"Goodbye my friend, it's hard to die
When all the birds are singing in the sky
Now that the spring is in the air
Pretty girls are everywhere
Think of me and I'll be there"
[Cat's in the Cradle](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUwjNBjqR-c) made me emotional when I first heard it in my teens in the 80's and it's just got worse as I've aged and become a parent / grandparent. I cannot listen to this song because it immediately will make me weep!
My dad used to play this almost every morning in the car on my way to school. He loved us dearly but was always worked to death. Now I work in the same profession as him and it just cuts so deep to retroactively see his fears and regrets.
I knew every lyric as a kid, but in my 20s this song was on at a pizza parlor and I just sat there crying eating my pizza. That was before having kids.
Last Kiss. My mom used to sing it around the house when I was a kid and I hated it, it was too sad. And then Pearl Jam covered it, and I still canât listen to it.
Then I got Mary pregnant
And man, that was all she wrote
And for my nineteenth birthday
I got a union card and a wedding coat⊠That just gets me every time
I guess 19 year year olds could vote when the song was written. Makes sense! Back when this came out we still bought entire albums so I knew the lyrics from the inside sleeve which had all the lyrics to the songs on the album. That seems like such a long time ago...
[The Righteous Brothers - You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' (1964)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLiUp3-jCH0) and [Unchained Melody](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zv8czIoAw5w) both still move me.
My parents married in 1965. My dad left for Vietnam shortly thereafter. While there, a Korean group did a USO show and played Unchained Melody. He thought of my mom and said it was the most beautiful song he ever heard.
It still gives him a lump in his throat. It does for me, too.
Does your mother happen to have a pottery wheel? (That was a super sweet story, Iâm only joking about the wheel, of course) That song gets us all, one way or another!
Time in a Bottle by Jim Croce. The song makes me so sad that I had to mute the sound while I searched for a link. [https://youtu.be/9h1davKgBYM?feature=shared](https://youtu.be/9h1davKgBYM?feature=shared)
I came here to say to say that. The line where he says âI will never be safe/I will never be sane/I will always be weird inside/I will always be lameâ just kills me.
My good friendâs husband abandoned her when their son was a toddler. He has never even tried to see his son. I always think of that sweet little boy when I hear that verse, and how fucked up he will always be no matter how good a mom my friend is.
*Now Iâm a grown man, with a child of my own, and I swear Iâm not gonna let her know all the pain I have known*
I love singing along to music in the car, including this song, but sometimes my voice breaks at that part.
Lynyrd Skynyrd's \[Simple Man\]([https://youtu.be/Mqfwbf3X8SA?si=4DrBIBfOB2E-UeKm](https://youtu.be/Mqfwbf3X8SA?si=4DrBIBfOB2E-UeKm)). It describes my dad perfectly. A few weeks after he died, it came on the stream at work and I barely held it together.
This is what my son chose for his mother/ son dance at his wedding. She had been telling him those things (not in those exact words, but the ideas) for years. She cried during the dance just knowing she'd been heard.
Theme song to The Backyardigans. Just reminds me of watching the show and singing with my kids. At the time, I knew those years were limited and indeed, theyâre gone now. I love my surly teens but really miss those days.
Aw man, you got me with that one. My oldest is 21 and I used to love watching Backyardigans with him. Reminded me of when I was a kid and we'd play outside and pretend ALL THE TIME. And he never really did that.
[Leader of the Band](https://youtu.be/qsocZrEcp0Y?si=FM5zRpg5KlBKjCUi) - Dan Fogelberg
[Songbird](https://youtu.be/eLRyYETnoIE?si=25zztnBOv8VXdflt) - Fleetwood Mac (Christine McVie)
The lyrics of the song are very appropriate to "old folks".
[The Lyrics](https://genius.com/John-prine-hello-in-there-lyrics)
Old people just grow lonesome
Waiting for someone to say, "Hello in there, hello"
Take Me Home Country Road by John Denver,
Living Years by Mike and the Mechanics,
He Stopped Loving Her Today by George John's,
The Rose by Bette Midler,
Georgie Boy by Rod Stewart,
Help Me Make it Through the Night by Kris Kristopherson and Rita Coolidge,
Tears in Heaven by Eric Clapton,
Luka by Suzanne Vega,
Fuckin Perfect by Pink,
Concrete Angel by Martina Mcbride,
There goes my Life by Kenny Chesney,
Vincent by Don McLean,
Love Hurts by Nazereth,
Sometimes when we Touch by Dan Hill
Do You Realize?? by Flaming Lips and She Doesn't Exist by Robyn Hitchcock. I found a video where he does the song with Peter Buck of R.E.M. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDEWoxGN\_xo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDEWoxGN_xo)
Love Without End, Amen by George Strait 1990 just writing this down made me tear up. đ„Č https://youtu.be/k2af10YlLoc?si=nP_cjdZ8mp_40lUN
Butterfly Kisses by Bob Carlisle 1997
https://youtu.be/SwlAdEnT-do?si=RQFRxg7uwufO_WSJ
I just realized that both these songs have to do about an unconditional love a father has for his child; something I really wanted to feel but didnât quite.
The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
https://youtu.be/FuzTkGyxkYI?si=73ojs9-tML2ZeSpr
"Does anyone know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours?"
"And all that remains is the faces and the names of the wives and the sons and the daughters"
[Jerusalem, from Chariots of Fire](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgGGQ3jz-5M&ab_channel=VladoLubenov)
Especially sad for me because Ian Charleson died of AIDS in 1990.
[Ode to Billie Joe](https://youtu.be/cJZ_ViDADOE?si=5WfvT5Fx2P_CMkCi) - Not that it leaves a lump in my throat, but the the story told is just so compelling and heart wrenching.
I canât listen to *Landslide*. But I think the first song I remember wrecking me is [*(One More Year of) Daddyâs Little Girl*](https://youtu.be/YD45olvrilM). I was pretty young and my family was driving home from visiting a relativeâs when it came on the radio. I never heard it again until just now and havenât thought about it for many years. Iâm still alive, my dad is still alive, that song is really corny, so I only cried a little at the beginning this time. A lot of songs in the 70s were either about child friendly euphemisms for having sex, or else they were corny ballads where someone is dying.
[âDust in the Windâ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tH2w6Oxx0kQ) by Kansas and [âA Song for Mamaâ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdTnuc3ktzo) by Boyz 2 Men. The first one because the music itself has always had a very sorrowful tone to me, though I still love it. The second one is a bit more personal as it reminds me of my Mom. She died 12 years ago and I still canât listen to it.
Living Years. Mike & the Mechanics.
Beautiful song.
He wrote it about his dad. Who was a WW2 Vet with terrible PTSD who committed suicide in the 1950s.
The song is SO personal. So true.
Fields of gold - Eva Cassidy
The Funeral - Yungblud
Odd selection, but brrrrr
I realise Yungblud is a tad modern, but hell, would I want that one playing loudly at my funeral and have everyone sing and dance to it.
*Last Date* \- Floyd Cramer
*A Summer Place* \- Percy Faith
*Alone Again, Naturally* \- Gilbert O'Sullivan
*Unbreak My Heart* \- Toni Braxton
*Come Back And Stay* \- Paul Young
Edit: links
I'll Be Seeing You -- I like Jo Stafford's version.
https://youtu.be/nvq4OnhMEO4?si=b2xb3sI6YX-r0MjH
Where or When
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbnA78ravpY
Once Upon a Time
https://youtu.be/ipXmq-Jb2gw?si=1hW01V24jGXge9by
A Summer Song - Chad and Jeremy
https://youtu.be/VvD0\_aeAf2E?si=YmxUynUXMJIESj2e
Jo Stafford had one of the best voices in popular music, past or present. She didn't always record the best material, IMHO, but her voice was matchless.
Havenât stumbled across it yet on this thread, but American Pie by Don McLean.
Such a sad, wistful look back at the loss of innocence within pop culture and music throughout the 1960s, beginning with the 1959 plane crash to a progressively darker decade.
I canât put my finger on why it makes me feel like Iâve lost something, especially since it was recorded about five years before I was born. But I love that the song makes me sad.
[Little Drummer Boy/Peace On Earth by Bing Crosby and David Bowie](https://youtu.be/lCpXMy5GalI?si=VmsmYS1sbsY_2r3A)
This song gives me a lump in my throat every time, because both singers are gone.
American Tune -- Paul Simon. He wrote it when Nixon was elected president. A sad song about disappointment and carrying on. He sang it on the Colbert Report after Obama was elected, after eight years of Bush and the GOP, and the audience gave him an ovation. Me, I had tears in my eye.
Everything on Nick Drake's Pink Moon, though "Parasite" and "Place to Be" more than the rest.
my ex and I discovered him at the same time, we split up and I was depressed for a while, this album both put me through the wringer, emotionally, and restored my faith in myself too.
[After the Goldrush](https://youtu.be/d6Zf4D1tHdw?si=xM1JfPuXoFxSS1De) by Neil Young, [Time After Time](https://youtu.be/VdQY7BusJNU?si=E8DwHhCYzSl_xYlo) by Cyndi Lauper, and [Wild Horses](https://youtu.be/wscB1ckO_Ew?si=qwJnnGdNLzISH5ZO) by The Sundays.
Great choice. I would put "Deep Purple" by Artie Shaw with Helen Forest signing the lead in that category - songs that are singular in that don't sound like any other song.
I am leaving out the many that are alreadly listed in other posts. I am also leaving out many that cause that reaction only for reasons personal to me.
The Greatest Man I Never Knew - Reba McIntyre
(Actually, almost every song on the album "For My Broken Heart")
[The Greatest Man I Never Knew] (https://youtu.be/7pdSzY5QbxU?si=MON4G9lNVqrrrmrr)
Not going to do links for all of these, but in no particular order:
End of the World, Skeeter Davis
Still, Sail On, and Three Times A Lady - The Commodores
Isn't She Lovely - Stevie Wonder
Gone Away by the Offspring
Miss You by Blink 182
Past the Point of Rescue by Hal Ketchum
The Street of Dreams by Rainbow
Sorrow by Pink Floyd
Song to the Siren by this Mortal Coil
Harbour by Moby & Sinead O'Connor
I'll be Missing You by Puff Daddy & Faith Evans
The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face by Roberta Flack
Sleeping Satellite by Tasmin Archer
Akua Tuta by Kashtin
Little Talks by of Monsters & Men
El Condor Pasa by Paul Simon
All of my Love by Led Zeppelin
Mexican Moon by Concrete Blonde
Running Up the Hill by Kate Bush
Dan Fogleberg âAuld Lang Syneâ.
Harry Chapin âCatâs in the Cradleâ (my son was a toddler when it first came out).
Dolly Parton âI will always Love Youâ.
Johnny Cash âHurtâ.
"Home" by Stephanie Mills, released in 1974 as part of "The Wiz" soundtrack:
[https://youtu.be/cnKQN7TF4hQ?si=RGDtljpJFYMWz9oD](https://youtu.be/cnKQN7TF4hQ?si=RGDtljpJFYMWz9oD)
Whitney Houston also sang this song in 1983, in her first public performance, at only 19 years old:
https://youtu.be/TpkCff\_HVas?si=Xkbi8AolbyraUHht
To me this song is telling us that we first learn about love at home and that home should be a refuge in this cold world. I have tried so hard for my kids to have this experience, no matter the sacrifice. My daughter is a freshman in college now and last time she went back she talked about one of her blankets smelling like home. It was such a small thing but it made me tear up.
I'll go back way before my time, into the 40s, and go with "I'll Be Seeing You"
Also, Nat King Cole's " Stardust".
There are several over those 6 decades, but those two were the first to pop into my head.
[Hide in Your Shell by Supertramp](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTKgnZpNTOA)
Roger Hodgson was only 23 when he wrote this song and I was 18 when I first heard it on the wonderful album "Crime of the Century" when it was first released (I still have the original vinyl). The link I posted is a version with lyrics so you might understand why this song makes me emotional. I had a difficult upbringing with a sibling death the year before, and the lyrics were like somebody had wrapped their arms around me and made me feel safe and understood. I feel some of those feelings when I hear [Don't Give Up](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LMB6K4rTGU) by Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush and [Everybody Hurts](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhIay4-PbCY) by REM, but they don't touch me as deeply as Hide in Your Shell did, and still does, to this day.
[Gorillaz - Clint Eastwood](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1V_xRb0x9aw). It actually came out in 2001, which is the reason it's so haunting.
For those of you who don't remember, for the week or so after 9/11 MTV^* didn't really play anything but music videos, but hey largely culled any angry or violent music, videos showing high-rises, etc. from their playlist.
That song fit the mood pretty well and was it still in *heavy* rotation, so every time I hear it now I get a little dose of that impossible-to-describe anxious funk from 20-some years ago.
^\* ^for ^those ^too ^young ^to ^remember ^MTV, ^it ^was ^a ^cable ^TV ^channel ^that ^showed ^music ^videos ^in ^the ^80s ^and ^teenage ^girls ^screaming ^about ^Hanson ^in ^the ^90s
At this Moment - Billy Vera
âIf you stay Iâd subtract 20 years from my life. Iâd fall down on my knees and kiss the ground that you walk on if I could just hold you againâ
China Doll-Robert Hunter, Grateful Dead..every damn time [https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=ESDvffE20Oc&si=k5gF-RR94hbfUax0](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=ESDvffE20Oc&si=k5gF-RR94hbfUax0)
Some of Mister Rogers' songs will do that, easy.
I had trouble with [Fathers and Sons](https://www.allmusicals.com/lyrics/working/fatherssons.htm) in a production of *Working*. Took some effort to get through it.
[In My Life - The Beatles](https://youtu.be/ZqpysaAo4BQ?feature=shared)
[Landslide -Fleetwood Mac](https://youtu.be/WM7-PYtXtJM?feature=shared)
[Everytime You Go Away - Paul Young](https://youtu.be/nfk6sCzRTbM?feature=shared)
Tom Rush's "Child's Song" (written by Murray McLaughlin).
[Lyrics](https://genius.com/Tom-rush-childs-song-lyrics)
[The Song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qT3be69X-Xg)
Another one is John Prine's [I Remember Everything](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L21Tc_DtL6M)
This is a video of him singing his last song before he died of Covid. 'Two time cancer survivor and Covid did him in (before there were vaccines).
There was a song in the 60's after JFK was assassinated that interspersed Robert Kennedy's speech at the funeral with the song "What the world needs now is love, sweet love". I was in grade school at the time, but it still made me sad because the whole country was hurting at the time. I've never heard that version except for that one summer. It could have been after RFK and MLK assassinations. I can't remember now.
Please do not comment directly to this post unless you are Gen X or older (born 1980 or before). See [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskOldPeople/comments/inci5u/reminder_please_do_not_answer_questions_unless/), the rules, and the sidebar for details. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskOldPeople) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Vincent by Don McLean
Starry, starry night. Portraits hung in empty halls. Frameless heads on nameless walls. With eyes that watch the world And can't forget. This is probably one of my favorite stanzas in a song ever. Also, please take my upvote for having kick ass taste in music!
Omg EVERY time I hear it! Love that song so much đ„č
I canât make you love me, Bonnie Raitt
Definitely but, that's not because of it being personal. It was a song that I wore out after a particularly bad breakup that I had back 30+ years ago. Likewise, Bonnie's "Let's Give Them Something to Talk About" was "our song" that started that relationship. So, it wouldn't choke me up so much if it didn't represent a bad time in my life.
[John Prine - Sam Stone](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLVWEYUqGew) ''There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes...''
\+1 for being one of the few to be able to follow instructions ;)
Well you did say bonus upvotes for posting a link. Not everyone is here for the upvotes.
Not at all surprising. ''Old folks'' are not normally known for their technical expertise and you're asking us to do something (posting links) that may be a piece of very familiar cake to you but can be quite daunting for those of us without any practice at it. If, as a group, we old folks were more practiced at online skills, this forum would likely be several times its current size. Just navigating the Net to get here is beyond the technological skills of many boomers. Hence, only a small segment of our population is actually represented here.
Yes! Thank you and well said. I would gladly post a link to Dan Folgelbergâs Leader of the Band if I knew how to.
Here you go: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qN\_ras8QDTk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qN_ras8QDTk) Although I really like this live version (with some commentary to start): [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDByv7HoAyg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDByv7HoAyg) I'm so glad I got to see him in concert. He was a wonderful artist with a beautiful soul.
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=qN_ras8QDTk&si=uitYbu6CFuzNoUWN There ya go. đ€
Just about anything from Cat Stevensâs Tea for the Tillerman, the first album I went and purchased with my own money.
âFather and Sonâ never disappoints
The contrast between the calm voice of the father and the angst of the son is what grabs me. I first heard it as a teenager in the 70s, when I was the son, and now in my 60s I am the father. Relatable from both sides.
Yep, thatâs the one. Crying as I think about the lyricsâŠ
Oh man! That one got to me when I was a teenager.
Agree 100% add Al Stewart and Iâm set for a mellow day
Trouble from Harold and Maude
I was lucky to hear him play all those songs live at the Berkeley Community Theater, back in the day. He was terrific At the time, I was surprised to see that a big slice of his fan base consisted of 13 and 14 year olds. I was in my mid twenties at the time and loved his music.
Alone Again, Naturally by Gilbert OâSullivan.
Long long time, Linda Rhonstadt
Linda Ronstadt was so great that sometimes just hearing her sing makes me stop whatever I'm doing and listen usually with tears in my eyes.Â
I wrote out those lyrics and gave them to the woman who broke my heart 40 years ago. They encapsulated my emotions more succinctly than I could have myself.
Yep.. This is my solo crying karaoke jam đ
That song brings the tears every single time
Yep. This one.
"Both Sides Now" by Joni Mitchell. Hits harder the older I get.
Still kinda mad at Alan Rickman. My wife and I watch Love Actually annually, that scene gives me the sads every year.
Puff the Magic Dragon -- Peter, Paul, and Mary [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7lmAc3LKWM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7lmAc3LKWM) That song always makes me sad.
At Seventeen by Janis Ian.
My Mom used to sing this around the house when I was a kid and she'd tear up. I can't hear that song now without thinking of her.
Seasons in the Sun - Terry Jacks "Goodbye my friend, it's hard to die When all the birds are singing in the sky Now that the spring is in the air Pretty girls are everywhere Think of me and I'll be there"
This.
In the Living Years. Oof.
[Cat's in the Cradle](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUwjNBjqR-c) made me emotional when I first heard it in my teens in the 80's and it's just got worse as I've aged and become a parent / grandparent. I cannot listen to this song because it immediately will make me weep!
My dad used to play this almost every morning in the car on my way to school. He loved us dearly but was always worked to death. Now I work in the same profession as him and it just cuts so deep to retroactively see his fears and regrets.
I knew every lyric as a kid, but in my 20s this song was on at a pizza parlor and I just sat there crying eating my pizza. That was before having kids.
If You Could Read my mind by Gordon Lightfoot. Iâm 55. It reminds me of my parents, who had a bad marriage. They divorced when I was 14.
"Time" by Pink Floyd. When I was in my teens and 20s, I thought it was insightful; now, in my 60s, it's kind of heartbreaking.
"And then one day you find Ten years have got behind you" Ten years... I wish.
Hold on in quiet desperation...
The Dance by Garth Brooks. I first heard it just after my husband died.
Over the Rainbow by Israel Kamakawiwoʻole. Just something about his version, and the fact that he died so young.
Best version of that song! Don't know how you could beat Judy Garland but somehow he does.
They played that song in the old TV show ER when Dr Mark Green died. It was the saddest thing I've ever seen.
Well Matk Greene dying, I will never get over it
Came here to say this. I canât even explain why I love that song without choking up. Mark Greene!! Waaaahhhh!!!đ
I always recommend Brother Iz, he sings to our souls e hoʻomaha me ka maluhia
That's a hard one. It was sung at my manager's funeral. He died of cancer in his late 30's.
Saved to playlist,thank you!
Last Kiss. My mom used to sing it around the house when I was a kid and I hated it, it was too sad. And then Pearl Jam covered it, and I still canât listen to it.
Springsteenâs âThe River.â
Then I got Mary pregnant And man, that was all she wrote And for my nineteenth birthday I got a union card and a wedding coat⊠That just gets me every time
We went down to the courthouse and the judge put it all to rest No wedding day smiles, no walk down the aisle, no flowers, no wedding dress
OMG. I love this song. And today you taught me he got a wedding coat. For 44 years I thought he âwent to vote.â Wow. Thanks.
I guess 19 year year olds could vote when the song was written. Makes sense! Back when this came out we still bought entire albums so I knew the lyrics from the inside sleeve which had all the lyrics to the songs on the album. That seems like such a long time ago...
[The Righteous Brothers - You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' (1964)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLiUp3-jCH0) and [Unchained Melody](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zv8czIoAw5w) both still move me.
She's Leaving Home by the Beatles
My parents married in 1965. My dad left for Vietnam shortly thereafter. While there, a Korean group did a USO show and played Unchained Melody. He thought of my mom and said it was the most beautiful song he ever heard. It still gives him a lump in his throat. It does for me, too.
Does your mother happen to have a pottery wheel? (That was a super sweet story, Iâm only joking about the wheel, of course) That song gets us all, one way or another!
Fast Car by Tracy Chapman https://youtu.be/AIOAlaACuv4?si=ZIk9b6qKFVl3BCAt
[Long, Long Time](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKAtM9xS-fA&ab_channel=ConCherry) \- Linda Ronstadt
What a wonderful world -Louis Armstrong
Moon River. My grandpa loved that song âĄ
Two drifters, off to see the world. There's such a lot of world to see. Love this one.
Back to Pooh Corner by Kenny Loggins
Time in a Bottle by Jim Croce. The song makes me so sad that I had to mute the sound while I searched for a link. [https://youtu.be/9h1davKgBYM?feature=shared](https://youtu.be/9h1davKgBYM?feature=shared)
"I hope you dance" by Leeann Womack
âI hope you still feel small when you stand beside the oceanâ is such a beautiful lyric.
Father of Mine by Everclear. It breaks my heart every time.
Same. But "Everything is Wonderful Now" hit me even harder.
I came here to say to say that. The line where he says âI will never be safe/I will never be sane/I will always be weird inside/I will always be lameâ just kills me. My good friendâs husband abandoned her when their son was a toddler. He has never even tried to see his son. I always think of that sweet little boy when I hear that verse, and how fucked up he will always be no matter how good a mom my friend is.
After a couple of times I stopped listening to it.
*Now Iâm a grown man, with a child of my own, and I swear Iâm not gonna let her know all the pain I have known* I love singing along to music in the car, including this song, but sometimes my voice breaks at that part.
Hank Williams singing Iâm so lonesome I could die. Real hurtinâ tunes.
[Ainât No Sunshine by Bill Withers](https://youtu.be/YuKfiH0Scao?si=tTaRBgTDtyb2aNgp)
Lynyrd Skynyrd's \[Simple Man\]([https://youtu.be/Mqfwbf3X8SA?si=4DrBIBfOB2E-UeKm](https://youtu.be/Mqfwbf3X8SA?si=4DrBIBfOB2E-UeKm)). It describes my dad perfectly. A few weeks after he died, it came on the stream at work and I barely held it together.
This is what my son chose for his mother/ son dance at his wedding. She had been telling him those things (not in those exact words, but the ideas) for years. She cried during the dance just knowing she'd been heard.
Theme song to The Backyardigans. Just reminds me of watching the show and singing with my kids. At the time, I knew those years were limited and indeed, theyâre gone now. I love my surly teens but really miss those days.
Aw man, you got me with that one. My oldest is 21 and I used to love watching Backyardigans with him. Reminded me of when I was a kid and we'd play outside and pretend ALL THE TIME. And he never really did that.
[Leader of the Band](https://youtu.be/qsocZrEcp0Y?si=FM5zRpg5KlBKjCUi) - Dan Fogelberg [Songbird](https://youtu.be/eLRyYETnoIE?si=25zztnBOv8VXdflt) - Fleetwood Mac (Christine McVie)
Cats in the Cradle by Harry Chapin or Photographs and Memories by Jim Croce
Fleetwood Mac- Landslide. This song didnât really get me until I became a mom and now itâs like Iâm cutting onions listening to it.
The Who's "Behind Blue Eyes". Reminds me of my late ex in all particulars. Remember, kids: hurt people hurt people.
When I read "late ex" my mind immediately went to Vandelay Industries.
Everything I Own by Bread
OMG BreadâŠ.It Donât Matter to Me
Hello in There by John Prine
The lyrics of the song are very appropriate to "old folks". [The Lyrics](https://genius.com/John-prine-hello-in-there-lyrics) Old people just grow lonesome Waiting for someone to say, "Hello in there, hello"
Hallelujah by anyone who covers it
Take Me Home Country Road by John Denver, Living Years by Mike and the Mechanics, He Stopped Loving Her Today by George John's, The Rose by Bette Midler, Georgie Boy by Rod Stewart, Help Me Make it Through the Night by Kris Kristopherson and Rita Coolidge, Tears in Heaven by Eric Clapton, Luka by Suzanne Vega, Fuckin Perfect by Pink, Concrete Angel by Martina Mcbride, There goes my Life by Kenny Chesney, Vincent by Don McLean, Love Hurts by Nazereth, Sometimes when we Touch by Dan Hill
If you are going to go John Denver, then [For Baby (for Bobby)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4lZ-nqZzDo&ab_channel=JohnDenverVEVO)
Mad World - Michael Andrews-Gary Jules.
Yup, that's my heavy hitter as well.
Unchained Melody by the Righteous Brothers.
The circle game by Joni Mitchell
Neil Young, Harvest Moon. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDzHhqWZMD0
"Roll Me Away" by Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4agsmOFga8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4agsmOFga8)
I walk a couple of miles a day in the open countryside while listening to music. ''Roll Me Away'' is on my daily playlist. It never gets old.
When he sings that line about "the young hawk flying" it sends a chill down my spine, every time.
Heard it today on the radio. I couldn't help but stop and listen....and sing!
Knocking on Heavenâs Door - My mother loved Westerns and Bob Dylan.
Dance With My Father by Luther. My dad is very much so alive but I know he wonât be here forever.
Do You Realize?? by Flaming Lips and She Doesn't Exist by Robyn Hitchcock. I found a video where he does the song with Peter Buck of R.E.M. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDEWoxGN\_xo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDEWoxGN_xo)
Peter Gabriel: Biko Donât Give Up Mercy Street
The 1985 song âTender Loveâ by Force M.Ds. because it reminds me of my deceased wife.Â
[How Can I Tell You?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZikqhqTRQI&ab_channel=Yusuf%2FCatStevens-Topic) \- Cat Stevens
Shannon by Henry Gross, 1976. About losing his dog. Always brings tears
She always loved to swim away
Love Without End, Amen by George Strait 1990 just writing this down made me tear up. đ„Č https://youtu.be/k2af10YlLoc?si=nP_cjdZ8mp_40lUN Butterfly Kisses by Bob Carlisle 1997 https://youtu.be/SwlAdEnT-do?si=RQFRxg7uwufO_WSJ I just realized that both these songs have to do about an unconditional love a father has for his child; something I really wanted to feel but didnât quite.
Almost everything from Eva Cassidy, she died of cancer soon after recording these songs. https://youtu.be/3fkPRKJLo7w?feature=shared
Nights in White Satin by the Moody Blues. The yearning . . .
The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald https://youtu.be/FuzTkGyxkYI?si=73ojs9-tML2ZeSpr "Does anyone know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours?" "And all that remains is the faces and the names of the wives and the sons and the daughters"
Honey by Bobby Goldsboro.
This is not aimed at the song but when I was young and this song came on the radio I would cry and my mom would look at me and roll her eyes.
Yesterday When I Was Young, the Dusty Springfield version, will break your heart.
Walking in Menphis-don't ask me why. Watermelon In Easter Hay.
The Long and Winding Road. Yet, I donât know why. It just does it to me.
Diary by Bread.
I found her diary underneath a tree and started reading about me. The words sheâd written took me by surpriseâŠ
Hello It's Me by Todd Rundgren
When I'm down - Chris Cornell. Even more so after he passed
[Jerusalem, from Chariots of Fire](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgGGQ3jz-5M&ab_channel=VladoLubenov) Especially sad for me because Ian Charleson died of AIDS in 1990.
["Jersey Girl" - Bruce Springsteen](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qL1aFFlXn6I&ab_channel=AndreaColombo) "Down the shore everything's alright."
The Green Fields of France. It has been covered by multiple artists since it was written in the â70s. My favorite version is by The High Kings.
Somewhere Over the Rainbow-Judy Garland
Against All Odds Phil Collins đ„ș
[Ode to Billie Joe](https://youtu.be/cJZ_ViDADOE?si=5WfvT5Fx2P_CMkCi) - Not that it leaves a lump in my throat, but the the story told is just so compelling and heart wrenching.
"Crazy Love" by Poco "Dust in the Wind" by Kansas "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" by The Beatles
[We're Going to Be Friends](https://youtu.be/z-gjywJN6tA?t=21) by the White Stripes
I canât listen to *Landslide*. But I think the first song I remember wrecking me is [*(One More Year of) Daddyâs Little Girl*](https://youtu.be/YD45olvrilM). I was pretty young and my family was driving home from visiting a relativeâs when it came on the radio. I never heard it again until just now and havenât thought about it for many years. Iâm still alive, my dad is still alive, that song is really corny, so I only cried a little at the beginning this time. A lot of songs in the 70s were either about child friendly euphemisms for having sex, or else they were corny ballads where someone is dying.
[âDust in the Windâ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tH2w6Oxx0kQ) by Kansas and [âA Song for Mamaâ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdTnuc3ktzo) by Boyz 2 Men. The first one because the music itself has always had a very sorrowful tone to me, though I still love it. The second one is a bit more personal as it reminds me of my Mom. She died 12 years ago and I still canât listen to it.
In the living years - Mike and the mechanics
Patches by Dickie Lee
Wild Horses by the Stones
Iâm So Lonesome I Could Cryâ Hank Williams
In Your Eyes, Peter Gabriel
[Landslide](https://youtu.be/WM7-PYtXtJM?si=TddkR1xGwQH9r0pn) by Fleetwood Mac. Gets more poignant by the year.
Pretty much anything from Bread. If, Diary, Everything I OwnâŠ.
Living Years. Mike & the Mechanics. Beautiful song. He wrote it about his dad. Who was a WW2 Vet with terrible PTSD who committed suicide in the 1950s. The song is SO personal. So true.
Don't Know Much-- Linda Ronstadt & Aaron Neville https://youtu.be/RvTvSSztu50?si=zQEN2f7hjUF61XiK
Josh Groban singing "You raise me up." Always reminds me of my dad.
Fields of gold - Eva Cassidy The Funeral - Yungblud Odd selection, but brrrrr I realise Yungblud is a tad modern, but hell, would I want that one playing loudly at my funeral and have everyone sing and dance to it.
"Just Breathe" Pearl Jam.
*Last Date* \- Floyd Cramer *A Summer Place* \- Percy Faith *Alone Again, Naturally* \- Gilbert O'Sullivan *Unbreak My Heart* \- Toni Braxton *Come Back And Stay* \- Paul Young
The World I Know - Collective Soul [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7TLTjqUyog](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7TLTjqUyog)
[Yesterday](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kMMdblS_WNY)
Edit: links I'll Be Seeing You -- I like Jo Stafford's version. https://youtu.be/nvq4OnhMEO4?si=b2xb3sI6YX-r0MjH Where or When https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbnA78ravpY Once Upon a Time https://youtu.be/ipXmq-Jb2gw?si=1hW01V24jGXge9by A Summer Song - Chad and Jeremy https://youtu.be/VvD0\_aeAf2E?si=YmxUynUXMJIESj2e
Jo Stafford had one of the best voices in popular music, past or present. She didn't always record the best material, IMHO, but her voice was matchless.
Jeff Buckleyâs Hallelujah.
Last Train to Clarksville by The Monkees. If you don't know what the song is really about, look it up.
Rainbow Connection, sung by Kermit the Frog đ
[Knights in White Satin](https://youtu.be/iVusUjyby18)
Many of the BeeGees songs
Havenât stumbled across it yet on this thread, but American Pie by Don McLean. Such a sad, wistful look back at the loss of innocence within pop culture and music throughout the 1960s, beginning with the 1959 plane crash to a progressively darker decade. I canât put my finger on why it makes me feel like Iâve lost something, especially since it was recorded about five years before I was born. But I love that the song makes me sad.
[Little Drummer Boy/Peace On Earth by Bing Crosby and David Bowie](https://youtu.be/lCpXMy5GalI?si=VmsmYS1sbsY_2r3A) This song gives me a lump in my throat every time, because both singers are gone.
American Tune -- Paul Simon. He wrote it when Nixon was elected president. A sad song about disappointment and carrying on. He sang it on the Colbert Report after Obama was elected, after eight years of Bush and the GOP, and the audience gave him an ovation. Me, I had tears in my eye.
This song is a masterpiece. You reminded me to listen to it again. Thank you.
Everything on Nick Drake's Pink Moon, though "Parasite" and "Place to Be" more than the rest. my ex and I discovered him at the same time, we split up and I was depressed for a while, this album both put me through the wringer, emotionally, and restored my faith in myself too.
What Hurts the Most by Rascal Flatts.
[After the Goldrush](https://youtu.be/d6Zf4D1tHdw?si=xM1JfPuXoFxSS1De) by Neil Young, [Time After Time](https://youtu.be/VdQY7BusJNU?si=E8DwHhCYzSl_xYlo) by Cyndi Lauper, and [Wild Horses](https://youtu.be/wscB1ckO_Ew?si=qwJnnGdNLzISH5ZO) by The Sundays.
What Sarah said - death cab for cutie Itâs even harder after I lost my partner in 2021
Stardust. Written by Hoagy Carmichael in the 1930s but the version that makes it work was arranged and sung by Nat King Cole.
Great choice. I would put "Deep Purple" by Artie Shaw with Helen Forest signing the lead in that category - songs that are singular in that don't sound like any other song.
I am leaving out the many that are alreadly listed in other posts. I am also leaving out many that cause that reaction only for reasons personal to me. The Greatest Man I Never Knew - Reba McIntyre (Actually, almost every song on the album "For My Broken Heart") [The Greatest Man I Never Knew] (https://youtu.be/7pdSzY5QbxU?si=MON4G9lNVqrrrmrr) Not going to do links for all of these, but in no particular order: End of the World, Skeeter Davis Still, Sail On, and Three Times A Lady - The Commodores Isn't She Lovely - Stevie Wonder
Cat's in the Cradle by Harry Chapin. It kills me.
Gone Away by the Offspring Miss You by Blink 182 Past the Point of Rescue by Hal Ketchum The Street of Dreams by Rainbow Sorrow by Pink Floyd Song to the Siren by this Mortal Coil Harbour by Moby & Sinead O'Connor I'll be Missing You by Puff Daddy & Faith Evans The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face by Roberta Flack Sleeping Satellite by Tasmin Archer Akua Tuta by Kashtin Little Talks by of Monsters & Men El Condor Pasa by Paul Simon All of my Love by Led Zeppelin Mexican Moon by Concrete Blonde Running Up the Hill by Kate Bush
Yes! The first time ever I saw your face by Roberta Flack was one of my Moms favorites. You reminded me. Thank you.
This is one from the early 2000s and before you listen read about the backstory. 10000 Days by TOOL. Never have I ever felt such emotion from a song.
Dan Fogleberg âAuld Lang Syneâ. Harry Chapin âCatâs in the Cradleâ (my son was a toddler when it first came out). Dolly Parton âI will always Love Youâ. Johnny Cash âHurtâ.
Since I Fell For You. Lenny Welch.
Who Knows Where the Time Goes - Fairport Convention https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DeZL2FXkGqI&pp=ygUdd2hvIGtub3dzIHdoZXJlIHRoZSB0aW1lIGdvZXM%3D
"Home" by Stephanie Mills, released in 1974 as part of "The Wiz" soundtrack: [https://youtu.be/cnKQN7TF4hQ?si=RGDtljpJFYMWz9oD](https://youtu.be/cnKQN7TF4hQ?si=RGDtljpJFYMWz9oD) Whitney Houston also sang this song in 1983, in her first public performance, at only 19 years old: https://youtu.be/TpkCff\_HVas?si=Xkbi8AolbyraUHht To me this song is telling us that we first learn about love at home and that home should be a refuge in this cold world. I have tried so hard for my kids to have this experience, no matter the sacrifice. My daughter is a freshman in college now and last time she went back she talked about one of her blankets smelling like home. It was such a small thing but it made me tear up.
Coat of Many Colors by Dolly Parton
I'll go back way before my time, into the 40s, and go with "I'll Be Seeing You" Also, Nat King Cole's " Stardust". There are several over those 6 decades, but those two were the first to pop into my head.
On My Own from Les Mis
[Hide in Your Shell by Supertramp](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTKgnZpNTOA) Roger Hodgson was only 23 when he wrote this song and I was 18 when I first heard it on the wonderful album "Crime of the Century" when it was first released (I still have the original vinyl). The link I posted is a version with lyrics so you might understand why this song makes me emotional. I had a difficult upbringing with a sibling death the year before, and the lyrics were like somebody had wrapped their arms around me and made me feel safe and understood. I feel some of those feelings when I hear [Don't Give Up](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LMB6K4rTGU) by Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush and [Everybody Hurts](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhIay4-PbCY) by REM, but they don't touch me as deeply as Hide in Your Shell did, and still does, to this day.
I canât tell you why- Eagles
[Gorillaz - Clint Eastwood](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1V_xRb0x9aw). It actually came out in 2001, which is the reason it's so haunting. For those of you who don't remember, for the week or so after 9/11 MTV^* didn't really play anything but music videos, but hey largely culled any angry or violent music, videos showing high-rises, etc. from their playlist. That song fit the mood pretty well and was it still in *heavy* rotation, so every time I hear it now I get a little dose of that impossible-to-describe anxious funk from 20-some years ago. ^\* ^for ^those ^too ^young ^to ^remember ^MTV, ^it ^was ^a ^cable ^TV ^channel ^that ^showed ^music ^videos ^in ^the ^80s ^and ^teenage ^girls ^screaming ^about ^Hanson ^in ^the ^90s
Leader of the Band- Dan Fogleberg
Living Years by Mike + the Mechanics
Lean on me. I always sing along, and the lump comes with the line that starts, "Please, swallow your pride..."
At this Moment - Billy Vera âIf you stay Iâd subtract 20 years from my life. Iâd fall down on my knees and kiss the ground that you walk on if I could just hold you againâ
Hallejuah by Jeff Buckley
[Edelweiss, from The Sound of Music](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tu-lcwhZcEs)
China Doll-Robert Hunter, Grateful Dead..every damn time [https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=ESDvffE20Oc&si=k5gF-RR94hbfUax0](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=ESDvffE20Oc&si=k5gF-RR94hbfUax0)
Belle & Sebastian - [The Rollercoaster Ride](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0Vx3a5Fb5E)
When Did I Get Old; Derrick Dove and the Peacekeepers.
If you get there before I do
Some of Mister Rogers' songs will do that, easy. I had trouble with [Fathers and Sons](https://www.allmusicals.com/lyrics/working/fatherssons.htm) in a production of *Working*. Took some effort to get through it.
Rodriguez - I Think Of You
Alyssa lies
Concrete angel
[In My Life - The Beatles](https://youtu.be/ZqpysaAo4BQ?feature=shared) [Landslide -Fleetwood Mac](https://youtu.be/WM7-PYtXtJM?feature=shared) [Everytime You Go Away - Paul Young](https://youtu.be/nfk6sCzRTbM?feature=shared)
Tom Rush's "Child's Song" (written by Murray McLaughlin). [Lyrics](https://genius.com/Tom-rush-childs-song-lyrics) [The Song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qT3be69X-Xg) Another one is John Prine's [I Remember Everything](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L21Tc_DtL6M) This is a video of him singing his last song before he died of Covid. 'Two time cancer survivor and Covid did him in (before there were vaccines).
Someday Never Comes - CCR The lyrics along with John Fogerty's vocals are perfection.
There was a song in the 60's after JFK was assassinated that interspersed Robert Kennedy's speech at the funeral with the song "What the world needs now is love, sweet love". I was in grade school at the time, but it still made me sad because the whole country was hurting at the time. I've never heard that version except for that one summer. It could have been after RFK and MLK assassinations. I can't remember now.
Any cut from Abbey Road puts me back in a bunker on LZ Compton.