Misery Loves Harmony

In today's music genre most pop songs are really upbeat and sing-alongish. Gone are the real good days of music when talent was actually a factor in the popularity of songs. These aren't the songs that make you dance and sing. On the contrary. These are the songs that you listen to after a break up or when you feel a loss of meaning. Life ain't all peaches and cream. These songs are real. These are the 7 Saddest Rock Songs.

By the way, as you readers know by now, these aren't my saddest songs, these ARE the saddest songs. Ever. My opinion is truth around here. Anyways.....

7. Pale Blue Eyes
Performed/Written By: Performed by The Velvet Underground and penned by front-man Lou Reed
My Mountaintop, My Peak. Off one of the better (and most underrated) albums of the 1960s, Lou Reed absolutely brings it. "Pale Blue Eyes," although I'm not sure what it is about, makes you want to look into someone eyes and see the sadness and pain that is riding them everyday. They endure only because they have no other option. Thus, they linger on. Reed brings his amazing vocals and absolutely melts the listener with his low-key emotion. That same low-key emotion is exactly what makes the song work so well to bring it all out.
Tear-Jerking Moment: When Reed brings out near the end "Skip a life, completely, stuff it in a cup." Mesmerizing stuff.



6. Konstantine
Performed/Written By: Something Corporate performed and front-man Andrew McMahon wrote it.
Damnit, Your So Young. This 9-minute piano accompanied tear-jerker gets me every time. Whether or not you enjoy the pop punk music performed by Something Corporate, this song is just more beautiful than Miley Cyrus on the cover of Vanity Fair. (Oops...that's about 3 years too soon to be legal for me to say) Written about his ex-girlfriend, the song is just so full of emotion. Every new verse and every line reveals the hurt in his voice. McMahon, now of Jack's Mannequin, refuses to play this song anymore because he's married to someone else but wow....let the hurt just sing in while delving into the tortured heart of Sir McMahon.
Tear-Jerking Moment: When McMahon goes into a constant (ahh the pun, the lowest and best for of humor) "Did you know I missed you?" and sound like he could be crying while singing.


5. Most of the Time
Performed/Written By: Performed and Written by Bob Dylan
I Can Endure. Bobby D's composition of lost love always tugs at my heartstrings. One of the greatest poets in all of music history, Dylan really shows what he's feeling in this song. Most know the feeling of losing someone they care about and how hard it is to get over them. Most of the time, you're over them, but there's always something there that lingers. For a long time, its only "most of time" and not "all of the time." Anyone who says differently is lying or a virgin. Dylan may not have had the best voice of all time, but he certainly has written some of the best lyrics to some of the best songs recorded. And this is among them.
Tear-Jerking Moment: "I can smile in the face of mankind, I don't even remember what her lips felt like on mine....most of the time." 'Nuff said.


4. And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda
Performed/Written By: Covered/Performed by Irish band The Pogues. Originally written by Australian singer Eric Bogle.
Oh, Waltzing Matilda. This 8 minutes epic was written about the Battle of Gallipoli that saw a major loss of Australian soldiers in World War I. The lyrics are very vivid and have no reservations about sharing its feelings on war. Australia has never been known for its military and the Battle was marked by incompetence and heavy casualities for the Allied side. What's so emotional about this song is that the imagery hits the listener so hard, almost as if you're imagining the story along with the singer. War is a brutal, ugly thing, and the worst military battle (casualty wise) for the Australians is depicted in this loudly resonating song.
Tear-Jerking Moment: "And in five minutes flat he'd blown us all to hell, Nearly blew us right back to Australia. But the band played Waltzing Matilda, As we stopped to bury our slain." War is always a touchy subject and you can hear it in the lyrics.


3. Tears in Heaven
Performed/Written By: Written and Performed by Eric Clapton.
Would You Know My Name? After his 4-year old son fell 52 stories from Clapton's condo and died, Mr. Clapton was understandably distraught. This song is a great example of how music can help sooth tragedy in our life. While writing a song for the film Rush, Clapton saw an opportunity to fit in a song he had written about his song's death. So many of the lyrics, if you know what the song means, resonate with anyone who's ever lost a loved one too early. There is nothing at all comforting about the death of a 4-year old and you can hear it in Clapton's voice as he pours his heart out.
Tear-Jerking Moment: "Time can bring you down, Time can bend your knee, Time can break your heart. Have you begging please, Begging please" Why yes, it certainly can.


2. Hallelujah
Performed/Written By: Covered and performed by the late Jeff Buckley and written by Canadian singer Leonard Cohen.
It's a Cold and It's a Broken. In one of the most underrated albums of all-time, Buckley's cover of Cohen's "Hallelujah" is one of the most vocally inspiring songs ever song. Buckley's voice goes above and beyond transcendent as he sings this song. After the unfortunate cover by American Idol's Jason "I Only Get Votes because I'm Cute and Emotional" Castro, it can make you appreciate Buckley's version even more. This song covers the tragedy that life is a cold and dark thing and there's often little pretty. It is love, that the song subtly conveys, that is what gives life meaning, hope, and the happiest moments in our life. Unless, of course, the Cubs ever win the World Series.
Tear-Jerking Moment: "i've seen your flag on the marble arch, but love is not a victory march. It's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah." Buckley accidently drowned at 30 years old, depriving the world of his musical talents. But thankfully, not before this. (Note to self: Do not go swimming at night in Mississippi River tributaries when you're bipolar)


1. High and Dry
Performed/Written By: Performed by Radiohead and written by front-man Thom Yorke
Don't Leave Me Dry. I'm sure many will disagree with my selection and I'm probably a little biased. I listened to this song alot after getting rejected by a girl I really liked. It's a song about isolation and being totally, completely alone. Where some would argue that Radiohead's "How to Disappear Completely" is much sadder, I would argue that this cuts to the core of the raw emotion of Yorke's falsetto followed by the insanely amazing guitar bit. Maybe it's because I was drinking alone to this song every night for a week that its number 1 or maybe because it just brings up memories that still haunt me. One cannot deny that listening to "High and Dry" really makes you fear rejections and being alone. For me, more so than any song I've heard.
Tear-Jerking Moment: "Drying up in conversation, You will be the one who cannot talk. All your insides fall to pieces, You just sit there wishing you could still make love" Although the falsetto is not for everyone, Yorke and Radiohead have certainly been some of the most influential musicians of the past 15 years.


That's enough of the tearjerkers for now. I will try not to depress my blogging audience next time. I hope you at least agreed with some of my choices. Stayed tuned for next time when I tell you the secret to the best sex you'll ever have! Ok, that's not true. But I will back soon enough to give you some more of the good ole fanshioned blogging that has entertained you for the past year or so. Now go outside and cheer up after you're done reading this!
Get Upbeat!