What are some really sad songs?

Whiskey Lullabye (Brad Paisley and Allison Krause sing it) is perhaps the saddest Country Song ever written, if not the saddest song period. Just to sing it without

LITERAL ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

It is autumn and the leaves are falling All love has died on earth The wind is weeping with sorrowful tears My heart will never hope for a new spring again My tears and my sorrows are all in vain People are heartless, greedy and wicked…

Love has died!

The world has come to its end, hope has ceased to have a meaning Cities are being wiped out, shrapnel is making music Meadows are coloured red with human blood There are dead people on the streets everywhere I will say another quiet prayer: People are sinners, Lord, they make mistakes…

The world has ended!

breaking down takes lots of practice. It is rarely performed in public concerts.

She put him out…like the burning end of a midnight cigarette. She broke his heart…he spent his whole life trying to forget. We watched him drink his pain away…a little at a time. But he never could get drunk enough,

                        to get her off  his mind, ...until the night,

He put the bottle to his head, and pulled the trigger
And finally drank away her memory.
Life is short, but this time it was bigger,

Than the strength he had to get up off his knees.

We found him laying face-down on the pillow,
With a note that said "I'll love her 'til I die".
And when we buried him beneath the willow
The Angels sang a whiskey lullabye.

The rumors flew, but nobody knew how much she blamed herself. For years and years, she tried to hide the whiskey on her breath. We watched he drink her pain away,

                                 a little at a time.

But she never could get drunk enough To get him off her mind,

              until the night...

She put the bottle to her head, and pulled the trigger, And finally drank away his memory. Life is short, but this time it was bigger, Than the strength she had to get up off her knees. We found her with her face down in the pillow, Clinging to his picture, for dear life. We buried her next to him, beneath the willow, And the Angels sang a whiskey lullabye.

If you know a sadder one, I would be very much surprised.

For oldies, there is “Gloomy Sunday” also known as the Hungarian Suicide Song, and with a legend that every time it was performed, someone would kill themselves that same day - for many years no band or orchestra would play it. Recently it has been beautifully recorded by Bjork (It rhymes with JERK…not FORK!!!)

Here are the original, extremely depressing, and very dreary lyrics:

“Gloomy Sunday”

Sunday is Gloomy, My hours are slumberless, Dearest, the shadows I live with are numberless Little white flowers will never awaken you Not where the black coach of sorrow has taken you Angels have no thought of ever returning you Would they be angry if I thought of joining you

Gloomy Sunday

Sunday is gloomy with shadows I spend it all My heart and I have decided to end it all Soon there’ll be flowers and prayers that are sad,I know, let them not weep, Let them know that I’m glad to go

Death is no dream, For in death I’m caressing you With the last breath of my soul I’ll be blessing you

Gloomy Sunday

Dreaming I was only dreaming I wake and I find you Asleep in the deep of My heart Dear

Darling I hope that my dream never haunted you My heart is telling you how much I wanted you

Gloomy Sunday

The English translation took some liberties with the original Hungarian, so for you perfectionists here is the “literal” translation, from the poem in Magyar, by
s z o m o are ú v a s á are n a p a and d are e z s ő s e are e s s

LITERAL ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

It is autumn and the leaves are falling All love has died on earth The wind is weeping with sorrowful tears My heart will never hope for a new spring again My tears and my sorrows are all in vain People are heartless, greedy and wicked…

Love has died!

The world has come to its end, hope has ceased to have a meaning Cities are being wiped out, shrapnel is making music Meadows are coloured red with human blood There are dead people on the streets everywhere I will say another quiet prayer: People are sinners, Lord, they make mistakes…

The world has ended!

And in the original: Ősz van és peregnek a sárgult levelek Meghalt a földön az emberi szeretet Bánatos könnyekkel zokog az öszi szél Szívem már új tavaszt nem vár és nem remél Hiába sírok és hiába szenvedek Szívtelen rosszak és kapzsik az emberek…

Meghalt a szeretet!

Vége a világnak, vége a reménynek Városok pusztulnak, srapnelek zenélnek Emberek vérétől piros a tarka rét Halottak fekszenek az úton szerteszét Még egyszer elmondom csendben az imámat: Uram, az emberek gyarlók és hibáznak…

Vége a világnak!

g l o o m y s you n d a y t h e s you I c I d e s o and g

Gloomy Sunday - the notorious ‘Hungarian Suicide Song’ - was written in 1933. Its melody and original lyrics were the creation of Rezső Seress, a self-taught pianist and composer born in Hungary in 1899.

The crushing hopelessness and bitter despair which characterised the two stanza penned by Seress were superseded by the more mournful, melancholic verses of Hungarian poet László Jávor.

When the song came to public attention it quickly earned its reputation as a ‘suicide song’. Reports from Hungary alleged individuals had taken their lives after listening to the haunting melody, or that the lyrics had been left with their last letters.

The lyricists Sam M. Lewis and Desmond Carter each penned an English translatation of the song. It was Lewis’s version, first recorded by Hal Kemp and his Orchestra, with Bob Allen on vocals (1936), that was blamed by some for over 40 deaths, and was to become the most widely covered.

The popularity of Gloomy Sunday increased greatly through its interpretation by Billie Holiday (1941). In an attempt to alleviate the pessemistic tone a third stanza was added to this version, giving the song a dreamy twist, yet still the suicides continued. Gloomy Sunday was banned from the playlists of major radio broadcasters around the world. The B.B.C. deemed it too depressing for the airwaves.

Despite all such bans, Gloomy Sunday continued to be recorded and sold.

People continued to buy the recordings; some committed suicide.

Rezső Seress jumped to his death from his flat in 1968.

These are my two candidates for sad songs. Let me know if there are any competitors. I dare anyone to sing Whiskey Lullabye without breaking down, unless you have practiced it maybe fifty times…Hell, Paisley and Krause barely got through it! Cheers, Ridgerunner