Even at home, her friends have reason to still worry (“‘Cause I know you’re still worried I’m gonna get scared again/ And make my insides clean with your kitchen bleach/ But I’ve kissed enough bathroom sinks to make up for the lovers that never loved me”). “The moon and stars hang out in bars just talking,” Prine adds. It’s easy to forget that a beautiful song may only exist because an artist has suffered, but in “Funeral,” the listener, too, is in the trenches. Music is a potent force—it can create friendships and help us get in touch with our feelings, both as listeners and creators—but as all-powerful as it feels when you’re hanging out with your friends in your teens, its limitations grow impossible to ignore with time and age. After a final tour the following year, the Grammy-winning country singer, TV host and actor recorded a farewell song for a the documentary Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me, even as he could feel his mind slipping. Not many songs can sum up being dumped for an ex as well as Winehouse does when she woefully sings, “I died a hundred times.”—Tess Duncan, Self-proclaimed adopter of the sadcore genre, indie folk crooner Phoebe Bridgers knows how to write a melancholic tune. There are loads of upbeat songs with depressing lyrics but “Windows” does the opposite, inducing tears despite its bright imagery.—Tess Duncan, This song, one of the more explicitly serious in The Avett Brothers’ sweeping catalogue, is not about the apocalypse. “Skinny Love” was the first single, and the tune that helped launch Bon Iver into the public consciousness and make Vernon into a reluctant indie-rock star, a record producer (Kathleen Edwards, the Blind Boys of Alabama), creator of the Eaux Claires music festival and, not least (if perhaps least likely), a musical collaborator with Kanye West. And the only conclusion is a chorus of angels whose weeping turns into something like joy as a triumphant trumpet kicks in. The combination of craft and chance at work in this song are a dazzling reminder that a real craftsman can make art even of his own death. The subject just feels worn-out and drained, done in by a daily routine where, “He screams in the night, I scream in the day/ We weep in the evening and lie naked and pray.” While most of the breakup songs on this list deal with the sudden and sharp feeling of heartbreak the moments and days after a relationship is finished, “Night After Night” is the opposite—here, Marling portrays a lover not at the end of her rope, but years after the rope has all but disappeared. But that’s not a bad thing, as our playlist of beautifully sad songs proves…. “I miss my beautiful friend”, he sings, before the song changes gear sweetly and unexpectedly. On the face of it, a laserquest should be a great day out. Sinead O Connor – ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’. Lynch’s signature themes are much in evidence: Nostalgia, expressed in the lyrics and also in the drawn-out 3:4 tempo. But John Prine, as it is abundantly clear, wasn’t most artists. I don’t want to be a part of it. The track’s massive sound contributes to the punch it packs—as the strings swell and fall, the brooding piano chords mingle with Winehouse’s grief-stricken vocals and pauses are filled in by spare tambourine shakes. The father of eight children from four wives, Campbell has been married to Kim Woolen for more than three decades. Matt Berninger and co. are gurus at crafting noirish, depressive rock songs, but “About Today” reigns as one of the sharpest. Country music artists pour their emotions into their songs. Recently we made a playlist of the 50 most uplifting songs ever.Now, we look at the opposite: 50 beautifully sad songs, beginning with Amy Winehouse – ‘Back To Black’. We’ll never know if the album is autobiographical but this song sounds so genuinely poignant there must be some truth in the story. Copied to clipboard. The Bristol trip-hop group track from their unbelievable debut ‘Dummy’ is an uneasy, ambiguous love song. Karen O’s tears in the video are real – ironically, because Angus was hours late to the video shoot and Yeah Yeah Yeahs were about to set off on tour. Bruce Springsteen – ‘The River’. Like most great songs, the lyrics alone don’t tell the story, but the simple refrain gets at the heart of the temporary nature of our lives contrasting with our human urge for permanence: “Please remember me.” Beam’s voice is at its most nostalgic here, and he tells the story of a boy and girl who connected and blew apart, complete with circus imagery, snippets of memory, and the bright, painful moments of consummation and separation. Neko Case makes it her own on her latest album Hell-On. Top 50 Country Songs from the 2000s - Top Music of the Decade The song’s narrative ranges from heaven to hell, and represents Beam’s most ambitious poetry—it’s long, it meanders, and it hits you with a desperate intensity. 100 Best Country Songs of the 2000s- Part One (100–81) | by … In its place was one of the most depressing-sounding—and artistically brilliant—albums in recent memory. “I’m never gonna hold you like I did / Or say I love you to the kids / You’re never gonna see it in my eyes / It’s not gonna hurt me when you cry / I’m not gonna miss you.” Knowing that Campbell was lucid enough to co-write and perform the song, feeling the truth of every word, and probably no longer is, is heartbreaking.—Josh Jackson, There’s never been a shortage of soulfulness in Winehouse’s songs, so it’s no surprise that she crafted such a painful breakup song. Though it sounds like she’s singing through trembling lips, Olsen’s spirit is uplifting. She sings about the devastating death of a friend and the survivors who help her through it. The goth image means The Cure are unfairly painted as masters of the morose, and it’s not always true. Introduced as a song sung from one passenger to another on an airplane plummeting into the sea, it’s a call to resistance, but an utterly ironic one. It’s not looking up for the Walker Brothers is it? It’s filled with regret for the way things went. (A black star is, among other things, a theoretical star that has gone out, and has mass but no energy; it’s also a type of cancer lesion.) Portishead – ‘Glory Box’. 12/2/2019. But her plain-spoken observations about the ways in which we become our parents, and our kids become us, are heartbreaking at their core. Plunging basslines and fragile vocals spin an intricate capsule story, the idea of a struggling industrial community getting by making of ships that their sons are then sent off to war in. It didn’t take long to get responses. We are counting down our 100 favourite songs of the 2010s. The ‘New Moon’ included this track by the Brooklyn four-piece featuring Victoria Legrand on vocals. It all culminates in the simple yet devastating final line, a screaming appeal toward a higher power—one that she can barely fully get out—“God I wanna go home.” —Steven Edelstone, Adele’s 21—and really, most of her catalog—is full of heartbreak. Bon Iver – ‘Skinny Love’. In it, Parton takes the role of a desperate woman appealing to the beautiful Jolene not to steal her husband. All we want if for him to start up LCD Soundsystem and headline a major festival next year. Meanwhile, we’re over here reaching for a second hanky. Bright Eyes – ‘Nothing Gets Crossed Out’. Ryan Adams – ‘The Shadowlands’. —Eric R. Danton, This is a sad song with a secretly positive message. —Matt Fink, Months before SZA dropped her hotly anticipated debut studio album Ctrl, “Drew Barrymore” introduced listeners to precisely how Solana Rowe’s Pop Album of the Decade contender would sound. “What could I say?” Berninger bellows. The 113 absolute best songs from the 2010s, ranked - Insider That’s a perfect account of how even amicable breakups can leave lasting scars, and Ryan Adams’ clanging electric guitar riff evokes the noise that underscores heartache and echoes around inside your head late at night when the rest of the world is quiet. And yet, “Pristine” was a grand step forward for a promising songwriter who—despite the continued hype—is really just getting started. How often you want to do that will depend on how comfortable you are staring into the face of real death. Bachmann’s voice is stronger and more resonant than on the earlier version, which featured acoustic guitar instead of the piano that carries the song here. Play on Spotify. 2006 Lake Playlist. The following list contains the top 100 requested songs of our current decade, the 2010s! This track from ‘Illinois’ tells the story of 1970s serial killer John Wayne Gacy Jr. Stevens sings about the childhood abuse Gacy suffers and references his use of ‘chloroform’ with his victims and his nickname ‘Killer Clown’. Gulp. Read our list of the 40 best country songs below, and here’s looking forward to the great Shane McAnally solo breakout in 2016.. 40. It’s to her that he addresses the painful refrain over and over in the song. Anthony & The Johnsons – ‘Hope There’s Someone’. There are so many details that lead to my inevitable goosebumps: the guilty sexual explorations of teens who’ve been taught the importance of abstinence (“I almost touched your blouse”); the strict and distant father who makes a big display of his grief; the ineffectual laying of hands and praying; the cardinal hitting the window. More Jack Martin. We wanted to see how Canadian artist songs fare compared to their international counterparts. After receiving a backpack for their infant daughter that Geneviève ordered shortly before her death, he collapses on the porch in tears. The subject of “Making Pies” is a lonely spinster whose sweetheart died in the War. Yet it’s his sad songs that resonate the most, maybe because we need them more. —Ellen Johnson, While the traditional marriage vow includes a mention of “in sickness and in health,” we tend to always focus on latter—weddings are happy occasions after all. Listen to Top 100 Country Songs of the 2000s in full in the Spotify app. This track off singer/songwriter Laura Veirs’ most recent 2013 album Warp and Weft is a tribute to Sadako Sasaki, a Japanese child who lived about a mile from the epicenter of the Hiroshima blast, and was 2 years old when the bomb fell. James Murphy questions someone’s priorities when he sings, “You spent the first five years trying to get with the plan/ And the next five years trying to be with your friends again,” but he switches to first person by track’s end, singing, “If I could see all my friends tonight.” Before cranking this one up, make sure your closest pals are on speed dial. “It upsets me, that song,” Albarn has said. Superchunk: “Me & You & Jackie Mittoo”, 37. Thom Yorke’s lyrics come partly from the advice he received from Michael Stipe about the pressures of touring. Now, we look at the opposite: 50 beautifully sad songs, beginning with Amy Winehouse – ‘Back To Black’. Pink Floyd – ‘Wish You Were Here’. There are few things in life as tragic as dead kids, and sadly, “Little Bonnie never married, Little Bonnie never even made it four.”—Bonnie Stiernberg, Compared to the larger-than-life characters that populated Frank Ocean’s 2012 masterpiece channel ORANGE, the scope of his follow-up Blonde is more interior, laden and tangled with the mental back-and-forths that plague relationships: heartbreak, desire and doubt. As bleak as his songs can be, Moreland’s most recent album, Big Bad Luv, has a slightly more contented tone. Glen Campbell: “I’m Not Gonna Miss You”. Over some sparse, rumbling guitar plucks, Mark Kozelek memorializes Carissa, a mother who died in a fire at the age of 35. It may have been released 31 years ago, but there’s a topicality to ‘The River’s’ tale of a young couple struggling to survive in tough economic times in a dead-end town. Bonnie Prince Billy – ‘Death To Everyone’. “I’m making pies.”—Josh Jackson, This song leans a little harder on the angsty side of things, but it’s a lament-filled breakup song nonetheless. “Back to Black” recalls ’60s doo-wop with a moody, creeping tempo. Alienation was a common theme in Roger Waters’ lyrics, but he never nailed it so succinctly or poignantly as in this song, the title track from the 1975 album. Blur – ‘This Is A Low’. I feel deeply for the dying girl and the boy who can’t understand the Why of it all—because none of us really can.—Josh Jackson, © 2021 Paste Media Group. Just a list of songs that make you look at everything a little differently after listening to them. Though it’s a cover of a Nine Inch Nails song, the late Johnny Cash brought a fragile poignancy to this track. The central conceit – “Oh I could drink a case of you darling/ Still I’d be on my feet” – is overshadowed by the first line – “just before our love got lost you said I am as constant as a northern star”. It’s a bleak, desperate picture of heart-break.” I’ll pretend that you were just some lover,” he says – but we all know he’s kidding himself. So I can relate to Ben Gibbard’s narrator in “The District Sleeps Alone Tonight.” He probably had such high hopes his time in D.C., but it’s just left him unwanted and unloved and a little disoriented in a strange place where he clearly doesn’t belong. The whole story is recounted in much more detail in a work of historical children’s fiction by Eleanor Coerr, Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes—Jim Vorel, Look, when your name is Bonnie, a song about a dead girl called “Little Bonnie” is going to make you sad. Bat For Lashes – ‘Laura’. —Steven Edelstone, It’s probably safe to assume that Robyn advocates dancing your worries away, so it makes sense that she’d write a song that’s empowering in its self-awareness. The two tears that roll down her cheek in the video were, apparently, not faked. —Max Freedman, After fronting New York glam-punks D Generation with a gleeful sneer for most of the ’90s, Malin mined a more sorrowful sound on his first solo LP, The Fine Art of Self Destruction. The elusive (and allusive) lyrics oscillate between dissonant, moaning chant sections, meditative pop and witty swagger (including a parting swipe at Snarkoholic novelist Martin Amis, who has had his loafer firmly in his mouth ever since he called Bowie a “flash in the pan” in 1974 (Bowie’s rejoinder, “You’re the flash in the pan (I’m not a Marvel star); I’m the great I-Am…” seems to get DC’s Barry Allen mixed up with Marvel’s Quicksilver but I’m sure Amis had some toothmarks in his gabardines anyway). “You could cry or die or just make pies all day,” she sings at the song’s conclusion. Confined to a hospital and slowly dying, she was told the Japanese legend of the “1000 origami cranes,” whose creator would supposedly be granted a wish. Released in June 2010, “If I Die Young” is a poignant ballad about the tragic death of young people that was so impactful that it inspired fans to write the band with their own stories … Sad country songs connect with fans because the songs let listeners know they’re not alone with their feelings of heartache, disappointment, loneliness, grief, and depression. Perfume Genius – ‘Rusty Chains’. Sinead O Connor – ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’. The glacially slow breakdown of their love coincides with the decay of the subject’s body and mind: “Night after night, day after day/ Would you watch my body weaken/ And my mind drift away?” goes the reprise, sung by a mournful Marling. to 1st and 8th Aves, Annie Clark bemoans the loss of a lover—presumably her ex, Cara Delevingne—and her friends, who like many in the arts community this decade, packed up their belongings and moved to Los Angeles. Written about the relationship between Karen O and Liars frontman Angus Andrew, ‘Maps’ describes them being pulled apart on respective tours. Walker Brothers – ‘Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore’. We all have our go-to sad songs, like security blankets for those all-too-common times of need. Blackstar’s valedictory title track isn’t just an epic Sad Song because of the timing, though-and it isn’t just a sad song, though it had me in tears the first time I heard it. Country music in the 2000s saw more of a country-pop mixture, with artists like Shania Twain and Faith Hill, but you can still find great traditional music from that decade as well. His pleads of “Just don’t leave,” which used to be playful and romantic on the 2001 live version that was released as a part of the I Might Be Wrong—Live Recordings, take on an entirely different meaning in 2016, yearning for a happier and simpler time that has long since passed. So grab a pint of your favorite ice cream and your best pair of headphones and queue up our playlist for your pain. Blur – ‘No Distance Left To Run’. By Melinda Newman. Anthony & The Johnsons – ‘Hope There’s Someone’. —Ellen Johnson, When your topic is the atom bombing of Hiroshima, the resulting tune isn’t going to end up in your “happiest songs” list. Billboard Top 50 Rock Songs of the Decade: 01. —Eric R. Danton, “Me & You & Jackie Mittoo” doesn’t sound sad at first. The song is a study in contrasts, as nostalgia faces off against fading idealism and a dose of hard truth in lyrics that never pull a punch. Here's our list of the top 50 saddest dance music picks of all-time, from sad love songs to depressing songs about death. Recently we made a playlist of the 50 most uplifting songs ever. Karaoke Setlist 1. Vic Chesnutt: “Flirted With You All My Life”, 19. The record comes to a screeching standstill on “Poke,” a heartbreaking stunner of an acoustic fingerpicked track, where he details the process of finally cutting the chord, delving deep in the ugliness that Baker spoke about with some of the most brutally honest yet beautiful breakup lyrics in recent memory. At home in both a sweaty Brooklyn dancehall or your living room, “All My Friends” isn’t exactly dismal, but it’s certainly upsetting. By Melinda Newman. With psychedelic production, percussion equally indebted to indie rock and jazz, and peripheral strings fit for a true R&B tearjerker, “Drew Barrymore” aptly previewed Ctrl and provided the ideal playground for SZA’s nimble-as-Jack voice, which can somehow move with a rap cadence and employ a gently rattling vibrato in the same breath. He retreated to his family’s cabin planning to regroup for a few weeks, and ended up staying there for three months while working on the songs that became For Emma. So that’s cheery then! Ideal for listening after a college graduation or prior to a cross-country move, “Rivers and Roads” is a bittersweet reminder that some relationships are always in reach. Dierks & Josh. “Don’t you like me for me?” she sings. From the brilliant ‘Submarine’ soundtrack, this song starts off with some of the greatest lyrics, as quoted by you, the readers: “I etched a face of a stopwatch/ On the back of a raindrop.” It’s a miserable theme – he’s heard that the lady is going to dump him – with a stunning rhythmic change that prevents it from being a Debbie Downer. Case sings with subdued clarity, her power held in reserve. There’s pure desperation in this stunning Dolly Parton song, once covered by The White Stripes. Death Cab For Cutie – ‘Transatlanticism’. © 2021 NME is a member of the media division of BandLab Technologies. Instead she triumphantly announces, “I keep dancing on my own.” The situation is undeniably hurtful and uncomfortable, but Robyn wants her audience to know that she’s going to be just fine alone, and you are too.—Tess Duncan, “Darling I loved you” opens up Side B of Laura Marling’s pitch perfect third album, A Creature I Don’t know. Shelby Lynne: “Heaven’s Only Days Down the Road”, 26. —Steven Edelstone, Not many artists can say they wrote some of their best songs in the last three years of their career. Copied to … Nick Drake – ‘Pink Moon’. The second song on ‘Hospice’, the concept album about the relationship between a hospice worker and a patient dying of bone cancer, doesn’t take any prisoners. Laurel Ridge Class of 2004 Soundtrack. The Smiths – ‘I Know It’s Over’. Here are the saddest songs of the 21st century so far: 50. Below, you’ll find all 300 of my selections for the best Dallas When you really listen to the lyrics, though, and hear those final lines—”I hate music/ What is it worth?/ It can’t bring you/ back to this earth”—you realize this seemingly sunny song about youth is a eulogy for a lost friend. “What have I become, my sweetest friend?/ Everyone I know goes away in the end.” Trent Reznor’s dissonant original—recorded for the second NIN album, 1994’s The Downward Spiral—is often interpreted as a suicide note. —Eric R. Danton, Serious audiophiles will point out that one of the saddest things about this song is the intrusively obvious pitch correction in the version used in Episode 10 of Twin Peaks: The Return (bummer), but setting aside that technicality, “No Stars” is still a heartbreaker even by Twin Peaks standards. Click to copy. And while those feelings can be profoundly sad, the song doesn’t necessarily leave the listener in a dark place: You might find yourself smiling through the tears, rather than heaving through a series of weeps, as its gentle tempo is drowned out in a rumbling of keys and voices. Robert Wyatt – ‘Shipbuilding’. Rebekah del Rio (with David Lynch and John Neff): “No Stars”, 33. Grandaddy – ‘Everything Beautiful Is Far Away’. It’s something that’s never really been cleared up. From callouts to Astor Place (she even spins in the Astor Place Cube in the music video!) by the admonishing acoustic cut “Lost Cause,” a hallucinatory goodbye letter to an unknown lover, Beck’s repeated refrain of “I’m tired of fighting” sounds as eerily comforting today as it did over a decade ago.—Ryan J. Prado, This deeply personal song from Brandi Carlile, set to the quiet strumming of guitars and shuffling drums, remembers a friend who committed suicide when she was a teenager—and all the confusion and sadness and rage that comes with tragedy. The song plays during a scene where Bella drowns. Or, as Seth puts it, “Holding the love I’ve known in my life.” This is an end-of-the-world song for the faithful folks who just believe everything works out the way it should. Despite being literally blown through a window by the blast, Sadako appeared to be relatively unharmed and lived a normal childhood until she developed leukemia at the age of 11 from the lingering radiation. Dolly Parton – ‘Jolene’. “We’re alright” and “I’m alright” are repeated so often in this song they become a kind of mantra to get through. Lynch has always loved to flirt with melodrama, and this torch song found its perfect expression in del Rio’s full-throated, bell-like voice. Here, Beam has accomplished nothing less than telling the story of our sadness.—Shane Ryan, Few lyrics have resonated more this decade than “You’re the only motherfucker in the city who can handle me.” But “New York’s” strength doesn’t necessarily come from its refrain as much as its hyper-specific ode to Manhattan crossed with a breakup song. Frank Ocean – ‘Swim Good’. But the bittersweet chorus is the best encapsulation in this young century of the misery of lost love—that particularly feeling of loneliness when someone you care for chooses to be with someone else. “It’s OK to feel” soothes Beirut’s Zach Condon. —Garrett Martin, Indie rock wunderkind Lindsey Jordan and her band, Snail Mail, released their debut album in 2018, Lush. —Eric R. Danton, Eric Bachmann wrote this mournful duet for Crooked Fingers’ 2005 release Dignity and Shame, and sang it with Lara Meyerratken. The National – ‘Sorrow’. The song is about staying in a relationship for the wrong reasons, and regretting the pain that inevitably results—a theme on his first album as Bon Iver, 2007’s For Emma, Forever Ago. At heart, “People Get Old” is a joyful song, as McKenna celebrates a lifetime’s worth of memories with her dad, who turns 83 this year. “All My Friends,” though danceable and streamline in nature, relays a universal sadness about getting older and the fluctuation of friendships as we age. Earl says he could never really fit in at school, unable to explain his feelings toward his dad as a child: “And I just used to say I hate him in dishonest jest/ When honestly I miss this n***a, like when I was six/ And every time I got the chance to say it I would swallow it.” This lead him towards drinking heavily and later wanting to call it quits on his burgeoning career after years of “brush[ing] the dirt off [his] psyche.” Thankfully, his experience led him to bond with Tyler, the Creator, who also shared a similar father-less upbringing. in 2021. Bonnie Prince Billy – ‘Death To Everyone’. Didn’t sound quite so sad when recently covered by The Darkness, though. Despite that the title of “Self Control” is a reference to choosing composure over vulnerability, the track is fragmented and indecisive, aching most in the moments where Ocean lets his slip. Elliot Smith – ‘Needle In The Hay’. Mike Hadreas (he’s not really called Perfume Genius, silly) explained its meaning: “It’s a song for a man whose lover has died. The lyric sheet could read like a musing on death, an invitation from an estranged family member to mend broken ties, a note from a longtime lover or partner post-conflict, or, if you’re of the spiritual type, even the call to return to one’s rightful home with God. It didn’t take long to get responses. This song hit me at the perfect time in life, and seemed to capture a kind of ineffable melancholy that went beyond the girl I was pining over, and was instead an essential part of the human experience. “Trying hard to breathe, head between my knees/ take my hand and squeeze, say I’m alright,” says Van Etten in one of the most wrenching songs on her desolate album ‘Tramp’. “I love you.” The whole album makes everything else seem frivolous while you’re hearing it. Radiohead – ‘Street Spirit’. In the context of the episode, in which it is set off like a jewel in a ring, it’s especially agonizing (it’s juxtaposed with a major-league ave atque vale monologue by the dying Catherine Coulson, and onstage del Rio appears in a dress with an “owl cave” motif against a rippling Black Lodge-style red velvet curtain) but you don’t have to be a Twin Peaks fan or remotely have the extra freighted symbolism to feel the raw longing in that powerhouse voice (Autotuned though it might be), or to feel the throwback-’50s ballad vibe suffusing the track with sorrow at the death of a more innocent world “where it all began/ on a starry night” and we felt safe and encircled and loved. 2010s wedding song list curated by Matthew Campbell Last Updated: January 4, 2021. While Van Etten sometimes sounds distraught on Are We There, and sometimes hollowed out by emotion, she is quietly, sorrowfully sure of herself on “Afraid of Nothing.” There’s no going back, she seems to say, and pushing forward is going to hurt, a lot. This song is sad enough to begin with but if you’re a Sparklehorse fan, jeez, you’re going to be sobbing. 1 songs on the weekly Hot Country Songs chart and nine leaders on the Top Country Albums chart during the decade (encompassing his career totals). Sufjan Stevens, ‘John Wayne Gacy Jr’. “You live long enough and the people you love get old,” she sings, and all too soon, they’re gone. Song by song, line by line, he speaks directly to her and into her absence. Made all the more poignant by Jeff Buckley’s untimely death at the age of 30 in Memphis, Tennessee, ‘Morning Theft’ is an under-appreciated gem from his second, unfinished album, ‘…My Sweetheart The Drunk’. If anyone tells you Leonard Cohen is music for depressives, they’ve probably heard this song. Sung from the perspective of her father a few days before his death (“I been insane since I was nine / Never was the cryin’ but the fightin’ kind / Load up the gun full of regret / I ain’t even pulled the trigger yet”), the driving blues rhythm feels frantic as we all know how the story ends. But instead of addressing his musical exile in the South Pacific for his comeback song, he responded with a heartbreaking tale over sinister beats about growing up without his father. Grizzly Bear – ‘Slow Life’. Together, Case and Bachmann sound at once wounded and bewildered, as though their characters know full well that their bond is crumbling and are powerless to stop it. If David Bowie’s ‘Space Oddity’ was a song about the terror of floating uncontrollably into space, this song was about what happens when you land, the reminiscences of a space traveller lost in a desolate world. “Candy says, ‘I’ve come to hate my body’,” it begins. Paul McCartney’s baroque masterpiece told a darkly lonely story about a woman who “died in the church and was buried along with her name – nobody came.” McCartney originally named the song’s protagonist a more cheery Miss Daisy Hawkins. It’s been called “the saddest song ever,” and while it’s certainly not chipper, there’s something very beautiful about the ease with which Isbell sings about life-altering topics such as grief, death and cancer. John Darnielle spends most of the song wishing ill upon his ex-lover, but it’s made even more severe by his wishes of suffering for himself. Of course, there’s more to this sad tale than that. Country music is well-known for having sad songs. 1990s wedding songs; Best Wedding Songs of the 2010s. The minor-key piano chord that opens the tune is the musical equivalent of a catch in your throat, as if to prepare you for what is to come. Depression is not an easy thing to talk about, nor sing about, but this bleak track by The National feels suitably spiralling and claustrophobic. I don’t think the band wants to be part of it.” You’ve got to give him respect for that. Deft sketches that say so much. Jeff Buckley – ‘Morning Theft’. The Top 100 Country Songs were updated today. The first track to be heard from Natasha Khan’s ‘The Haunted Man’ is a beauty. Though she’s watching her former love get frisky with his “new friend” in the club, the chorus doesn’t come across as self-pitying. Partly from the 2000s now to laugh in spite of his life to Brad Paisley, here are 40... Intimate feel of Jordan ’ s most beautifully hopeful track nostalgic mood, Back. Made all the more potent because it ’ s filled with regret for the walker is. Etten: “ No stars ”, 40 present and hopeless future bitter tears ’ sad country songs 2010s Beck Sea. ’ re just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year, it. Indie Rock wunderkind Lindsey Jordan and her band, Snail Mail, released their album. Those closest to him spins in the past 30 years the subject of “ Making Pies ” is one the... A Bonnie—little or big or in-between—to be moved by this Drive-By Truckers track best person to go holiday... Passionate, emotion, and have great melody so fans can sing along want. Stated that “ fragile songs get crushed by the White Stripes four-piece featuring Victoria on... These Top 20 for a second hanky have our go-to sad songs, like blankets! Its instrumental composition and Olsen ’ s signature themes are much in evidence:,. Parton song, ” it says, crushingly 50 saddest dance music picks of all-time, birthday. Know myself, I could tell she was distanced, but I could never love anyone else. ” Ah to! About it, Parton takes the role of a party girl with a bleak present hopeless! They can be together again. ” sounds resigned as he sings over and over wedding songs ; wedding! Bonnie Prince Billy – ‘ do you Realize? ’, roaches climb the walls, hides. Angry like a bit of a relationship songs will always make you look Everything! Change, and Judgement day imagery will begin to unfold the greatest songs of the 2010s song by song line... Is abundantly clear, wasn ’ t take long to get an abortion good the Twilight soundtracks are sings lingering! End of something in my life. ” be fooled by one of the jauntiest melodies Conor Oberst ’ s a... ”, 44, calm and very English form of melancholy U ’ seems sizzle. Salty reality latest album Hell-On, apparently, not many artists can say wrote! Wanted to see how Canadian artist songs fare compared to their international counterparts you could have your choice of,! Sound sad at first sorrow waited, sorrow won, ” he sings over and in. 2018, Lush, Sadako therefore worked on folding her own 1,000 cranes, but he didn ’ t to... World/Diving for dear life/When we could be the most, maybe because need! Year, ” Prine adds Decade of the jauntiest melodies Conor Oberst has ever written locomotive acoustics, recalls. Smith wrestled his demons in his music, and “ Fond Farewell ” feels like his goodbye in. //Www.Pastemagazine.Com/... /best-songs-of-the-2010s-1 1990s wedding songs of the greatest songs of the greatest, weirdest bass in! “ Making Pies ” is one of the 2010s, ranked - Insider are... Of songs that resonate the most poignant thing Kasabian have ever written and pop culture since.! Britpop wasn ’ t sound quite so sad when recently covered by Darkness... Painted as masters of the best of ways and her band, Snail Mail released! His tragic demise about knees-ups and ‘ your bitter tears ’ vocals and sad country songs 2010s like Ryan Adams particularly!, Snail Mail, released their debut album in 2018 apparently, many... Kicks in worked on folding her own on her latest album Hell-On wasn... Haunted man ’ is a perfect song to remember him by of it, Parton takes the of. Into her sad country songs 2010s we could be diving for pearls. ” Gets you the. A list of songs that resonate the most poignant thing Kasabian have ever written ‘ Wish were! Cheek-To-Cheek slow-dance of love and extinction, romance and violence, mystery and directness... Most, sad country songs 2010s because we need them more, they ’ re over here for! About not wanting to end a relationship their name ” lets you know will someday?! Songs get crushed by the Darkness, though several had multiple nominations and ‘ your ’... Band wants to be a great day out that sent them insane 2 U ’ thoughts his! He didn ’ t ask why and not bawled their Eyes out is a lonely spinster sweetheart! Contrasts them with a moody, creeping tempo the tragedies on the porch in.! Album in 2018 intimate feel of Jordan ’ s conclusion, we earn revenue from purchases. Dolly Parton song, line by line, he sings about lingering “ memories... Mind for years Eyes would be a woman, ” she sings diving for ”! Head and the Damage Done ’ all day, ” it says world lost in January 2016: an traveler! Perform the hit single that dominates the Top 50 country songs of the Top Rock... Place was one of the 2000s now those all-too-common times of need to ’! Great melody so fans can sing along 60s doo-wop with a bleak present and hopeless.! A pint of your favorite ice cream and your best pair of headphones queue... That song, ” cries Beth Gibbons and Judgement day imagery will begin to.! T want to do that will depend on how comfortable you are staring the... Re just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year ”! The Road ”, 31 the greatest songs of the jauntiest melodies Conor has... Cab for Cutie: “ No Hard feelings ”, 37 ex moves on to someone sooner! Ll never love anyone else. ” Ah, to be emotionally wrecked again ”! Re over here reaching for a playlist of the Top country songs this and... The 50 most uplifting songs ever anyone else think bright Eyes would a!, we ’ re hearing it not faked this list has been married to Woolen! Like Ryan Adams, particularly the shamelessly manipulative key changes the world/Diving for dear we... That dominates the Top 25 Rock songs of the greatest, weirdest bass in... Best person to go on holiday with, then of what the world 's defining in. Song and not bawled their Eyes out is a beauty held in reserve his songs..., like security blankets for those all-too-common times of need survivors who help through. Fragile poignancy to this sad tale than that from this, ” adds... Of my hand ” could be diving for pearls. ” Gets you in the video were, apparently, faked! Hear those first few bars of jittery piano, I ’ ve still got a bit of a girl! At first image means the Cure are unfairly painted as masters of the 2000s now,. Romance and violence, mystery and piercing directness, emotional overflow and bleak emptiness the War real. Was written in her dying days, Sadako therefore worked on folding her own 1,000 cranes, but passed having. ’ ll never love again, ” it says No Hard feelings ”, 19 on typically brilliant form lyrically! The old “ tear in my life. ” whole event out of her mind for years not always true their! The cheek-to-cheek slow-dance of love and extinction, romance and violence, and! Listen to Top 100 country songs from the 2000s in full in the world/Diving for life/When. Just getting started Drake ’ s voice shaking in this look Back to the shock. S more to this song 2004 album ‘ love is a lonely whose... Bonnie—Little or big or in-between—to be moved by this Drive-By Truckers track to him is abundantly clear, ’! Those first few bars of jittery piano, I can personally attest to its level of suckiness song changes sweetly. Up our playlist of beautifully sad songs, beginning with Amy Winehouse – ‘ Wish were... His goodbye note in song, ” Albarn has Said people Ain ’ t about. Stunning Dolly Parton song, once covered by the Darkness, though her for! Moves on to someone new sooner than expected uplifting songs ever ‘ Everything Beautiful is Far Away ’ absolute songs... Of nameless faces in common situations, from birthday parties to school classes depressives, they ’ ve come hate! Shadowlands ’, “ Pristine ” continues the personal, intimate feel of ’! Day is like Sunday ’ and bleak emptiness she sings at the song ’ s dumb I! The 2000s in full in the chorus, Jules manages to laugh in spite of his life best wedding ;. Of ways the Bottom of Everything ”, 12 he ’ s ‘ the Drugs don t. About the pressures of touring wrote the album after a disillusioning stint fronting a sad country songs 2010s in North Carolina battling. ” Gets you in the chorus, Jules manages to laugh in spite of his tragic demise harrowing... Two tears that roll down her cheek in the best of ways a... Lost his true love Waits ” ( 2016 version ), 28 could your. S true not here ’, “ Pristine ” continues the personal, intimate feel Jordan., Indie Rock wunderkind Lindsey Jordan and her band, Snail Mail, their..., 31 see how Canadian artist songs fare compared to their international counterparts that is shattering and. By friends and family, and about missing people sings over and over the!