I love sad music


I'm talking about music that when you're feeling down will make you feel worse. I don't want uplifting or inspirational. Some of Chopin's more melancholic works can do it for me.  I don't listen to country, but George Jones singing "It's a good day for the roses" is about as sad a song as you will find. Leonard Cohen's "Alexandra leaving" is another sad song. I have everything Davis and Coltrane recorded, so I'm looking for recommendations for the most beautiful but depressing music you've ever heard. I want to hear a violin, my favorite instrument, that will bring tears to your eyes. I know this is a strange request but some of the best music comes from dark places. Thanks
cal91
Billie Holiday  Lady In Satin  “You’ve Changed”

Robert Cray  False Accusations  “The Last Time”

Death Cab For Cutie   Plans “I will follow you into the dark”

The Doors  “This is the end”

Julee Cruise   Floating Into The Night  “I Float Alone”

Ed Aames   The Windmills of Your Mind   “Windmills of Your Mind”



@cal91,

"Oh, the wind, the wind is blowing
Through the graves the wind is blowing"

His star crossed relationship with Marianne Ihlen was tragically just so Leonard Cohen. It had to be.


@emrofsemanon,


’maria callas singing "o mio babbino caro." hers was a singularly sad-sounding voice.’


Yes. The ugly fat girl who eventually came good had a voice to last the ages.

With a life like hers there was simply never any need for any artificial acting or vocal dramatics.

’Casta Diva’ is off any emotional scale and about as final as final can ever be.
"Parachute" by Elysian Fields.

It sounds like Mazzy Star on morphine. My knees turn to jello when she sings: "If you ever need a parachute, you can fall free with me bay-bee."
teo-audio...People who can self-reflect and not feel some sadness are truly blessed, or just not being honest. In my opinion.
If you want powerfully sad strings, Barber's Adagio comes straight to mind.

When I want to grieve my old Labrador, it's "You Break my Heart" by the Milk Carton Kids.

When I need to grieve for my sister, it's "Lo! How a Rose E'er Blooming" on the Sufjan Stevens Christmas record.

I’m surprised no one has yet mentioned Tchaikovsky’s 6th (“Pathetique”) Symphony last movement. I remember a professor in college saying “ this movement makes you want to go out and hang yourself.” I’ve found that the times I appreciated music the most was when I was in the deepest depression.
rvpiano...I have it, but I've never listened to it. I will change that tonight.
I appreciated music the most was when I was in the deepest depression.
You are right for sure in my case...

Tough i will differentiate, depression and anxiety and panick attack...

In depression any beloved piece of music will be soothing even therapeutical...

In anxiety the soul can also be relieved but not so easily and at the same level by our ordinary best composer or jazz etc...Panick attack are case of extreme concentrate anxiety and normal favorite music will not do the job with enough power in most cases ...

But there exist very efficient sounds and pulsated frequencies, or musical creations that are specialized for that with varied but powerful efficiency....And this work very well...

This is a testimony not only of the power of music, but in the case of acute anxiety to the power of frequencies harmonies and pulsations which will cure the soul and liberate the spirit....

But this fact is not so well known in the general population, especially for those who dont suffer any acute anxiety....Only mild depression or strong depression....Depression and anxiety are not the same diseases so to speak...The can be induced by the body or by the soul in the beginning or even by the 2 at the same time....

I was using myself this frequencies in the past with great success at moment when even my beloved Bach or anything else could work....

When anxiety engulf you the least thing possible sometimes is listening music.... The reason is simple, you dont have the energy level no more to sustain any attention and concentration at all for any melodic or complex harmony and any effort is impossible... Anxiety paralyse the body, the soul and the spirit....

Then the solution is exploring the world of therapeutical frequencies.... These will work on the body first, and also on the soul and the spirit.... It is so powerful that it is better than any pills whatsoever...Good bye doctor in most cases... 😛😎

The lesson is this for any audiophile:
The music you have learn to like and you are in the habit to listen to is very powerful and unbeknownst to you, the frequencies or the rythmic pattern of the music will greatly affect your entity, but you will not detect it being healthy or young.... Choose wisely what you listen to.... Any taste is born with a learning conditioned habit...

In fact ultimately and at the end there is no "taste" that pilot us in music, it is our body, soul and spirit who ask for the set of frequencies which we had learn to lik, which set that now sustain our body/soul/spirit or sustain especially some part or aspect of them at the expanse of other one ....

Music is  powerful at the same level than  many substance, even LSD, but way less spectacular at first, the effect of music appear mostly diluted in a greater span of time ... Gregorian chant for example can work miracles even just hearing them without even listen to them ....Gregorian chant and mantras are 2 examples of some music very efficient for anxiety....But therapeutical specialized frequencies will do even better, especially with Om and Christ mantras that would also complete the job so to speak....

For depression only, Mozart or Bach or whatever you like will do....Some better than other for sure...

I go on with Pachelbel organ work set and for depression it is miraculous.....What a great composer.....By the way i am not in a depressive state now.....

Happy christmas to all souls, from stones to stars....
😊

How could I forget? Bruce Springsteen's, "One Step Up, Two Steps Back". Seriously despondent
If you are a fan of Leonard Cohen then I suggest you give a good listen to two Jackson Browne albums. The first being For Everyman and the next being Late For The Sky. Both contain achingly beautiful sad music. In many ways I think the first side of For Everyman is the finest first side of an album ever written.  And the classics on Late For The Sky will have you playing them over and over. 
Almost anything by Richard Thompson, but check out Waltzing's for Dreamers, Aly Bain's fiddle will break your heart. 
Steve Young's take on "All Your Stories" by Jesse Winchester.
Emmylou Harris' versions of "Sweet Dreams" (Elite Hotel), "Too Far Gone" (Pieces of The Sky), "Making Believe" & "When I Stop Dreaming" (Luxury Liner).
The Seldom Scene doing "Wait A Minute" by Herb Pedersen on "Old Train".
Merle Haggard: "What Am I Gonna Do"
Otis Redding: "Loving You Too Long", "Dreams To Remember"
– this could be an endless list: somehow sad songs seems to have a direct connection to the heart strings, hurting so bad it feels "good".
BTW: emrofsemanon – Yoshikazu Meru sings "Solveig's song" (Solveigs sang) in its original language – Norwegian.
dickieboy: Agree 100% on Richard Thompson. I think the best version of Waltzing's for Dreamers was done by him and Maura O'Connell.
Speaking of "sad songs" & Jesse Winchester, check out his performance of "Sham - A - Lang - Ding - Dang" from the Showtime series "Spectacle" that Elvis Costello hosted. Just prepare yourself for some potential eye leakage.

 
Adagio for strings- barber
solveigs Song- peer gynt suite- edvard grieg
here comes a regular- the replacements
All her favorite fruit- camper van Beethoven
Peter Gabriel "I Grieve"
From the album "Up"
One of my all time favorites and an "audiophile" recording imho😎
The saddest music I ever heard was a video of what seemed to be a very old, drug addled lady, leaning onto a grand piano, who was trying her best to sound as distraught as the best actor in the world could do.  The saddest part is that the singer was not only truly terrible, but that it was Stephen Tyler.  Sorry Steve, Dan V from FtL H-D.
@richdirector+1 on the Josienne Clark

+1 to all that mentioned the Górecki.   I can point you to two good recordings of this on LP.  
Henryk Górecki
Symphony No. 3 Opus 36 (1976)
Nonesuch 2016
075597949544 

Recorded May 1991 at CTS Studios, London
Dawn Upshaw Vocals
David Zinman conducting the London Sinfonietta 

This record was mastered by Bernie Grundman

the second is:

Henryk Górecki
Symphony No. 3 (Symphony
   Of Sorrowful Songs) Op. 36
Domino (UK) 2019
887828039517

Beth Gibbons Vocals
Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra 

Interestingly, Beth Gibbons is the vocalist from the trip hop band Portishead.  If you’re inclined to be nonplussed by that information resist that urge.  
I believe they both have their merits.  
Love this post.  We share this interest.  Please consider adding your experience to the ongoing  “What’s on your turntable” thread on here moderated/led by @slaw 
Looking for Answers by Susan Tedeschi on Just Won't Burn
You Mean So Much to Me by Sea Level on Ball Room
To Be Without You by Ryan Adams on Prisoner
Belief by John Mayer try the Village Sessions
Eva Cassidy Acoustic  f cancer
Chris Cornell  
The Bluest Blues by Alvin Lee

The sound track from the Red Violin - most of it. My wife hates this. 
Dave Mason - Alone Together: World in Changes, Sad And Deep As You. Making me more sad since 1970. 
Pretty much anything by Patsy Cline or George Jones.  Then there’s the whole genre of Blues.  Oh, and anything by Townes  Van Zandt.
I was going mention Leonard Cohen. Good call. Much of Nick Cave's catalogue is melancholy as well. 
"Hurt" Johnny Cash
"I Can't make You Love Me" Bonnie Raitt
"River" Natalie Merchant
"Hey Mister, That's Me Up On The Jukebox" Linda Ronstadt
"Prisoner in Disguise" Linda Ronstadt
"Thorn Tree in the Garden" Derek & The Dominos
"Baby Can I Hold You" Tracy Chapman
"Living Years" Mike and The Mechanics
"What a Wonderful World" Louis Armstrong
"How Can You Mend A Broken Heart" The Bee Gees
very few music will beat this one for his redemptive sadness:

Djivan Gasparyan

I will not be sad in this world

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hOhEh4KrBo
If you like sad music, bordering on tragic, try Scarlatti's Il Primo Omicidio by Alte Musik and Renee Jacobs. 

"Duetto: La Fraterna Amica Pace" is sublime, as are the next few cuts. 
If you like sad music you may want to discover the Portuguese Fado and the  Sevdah  from Bosnia, you could say they are like the blues.

If you are curious you could stream a compilation of each from

https://www.mixcloud.com/jgueron/globeat-fado-saudade-rebroadcast/

https://www.mixcloud.com/jgueron/globeat-sevdah/

I hope you enjoy it

Regards, Joe Gueron


Someone had mentioned Tchaikovsky’s 5th Symphony first movement. Try instead his 6th Symphony 4th (last) movement... they subtitled it the Symphony "Pathetique" for a reason....

Stevie Nicks "Landslide"

Stevie Nicks "Silver Springs" (version) from "The Dance"

Linda Ronstadt "Long, Long Time"

Eva Cassidy "What a Wonderful World" sang while knowing her time was short. Makes it that much more poignant.

Thanks!
Frankly religious music is designed to be both sad and uplifting at the same time 
Das Lied von der Erde...Mahler (Das Abshied)

Try Jamie Johnson country/western
Mahler: Das Lied Von Der Erde

With Kathleen Ferrier....

One of the most moving music ever written....

Oups i apologize to the last poster repeating him....

My best to him ....
One of my goals when I started this thread was to get people to share their feelings about why they turn to sad or melancholic music and what effect it has on them. While the anonymity afforded by forums such as these is often used for personal attacks, in this case it offers the ability to be open and honest with others. I have emotional issues, which is probably apparent from my posts and certain music seems to have a therapeutic effect on my state of mind. I am saddened to hear that others are also dealing with similar issues but I am happy to see that many of the posters feel safe and secure enough to share those feelings with others on this thread. I'll probably get some criticism for this, but that's OK.

tostadosunidos...I can't believe I didn't list John Prine, who we recently lost. Sam Stone, Hello in There, and others definitely qualify.

slaw...Absolutely. Air, Largo, etc.

maxnewid...Lucinda Williams - one of my favorites. I saw her in concert. What a great songwriter and performer.

Mahgister...I always look forward to hearing from you. You are a valuable resource for adding to my music library.

A lot of people have mentioned symphonies. I recall George Jones on David Letterman and Letterman said in his introduction something to the effect that if you can't sing like George Jones, go home. I feel that way about symphonies. If you can't write symphonies like Mozart, go home. I'm hoping people can change my mind about that.

tony1954...What a Wonderful World (has to be Armstrong) no doubt about it. 
Thanks cal91 for your kind words and interest for me....

Another suggestion coming from my favorite classical cd:

Purcell "O solitude" by Andras Scholl a countertenor

The perfect union of melancholia and the platonic remembrance of paradise in a sad but redemptive singing rendition in one of the best countertenor cd ever....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5y69gogMrvo


Also the great Christa Ludwig singing Mahler lieders.... Less heart crushing than Kathleen Ferrier but with a sophisticated and natural singing that were match only by the greatest female singer of the century....
Hi, a few goodish recommendations, but a clear winner is , 
bonnie 'prince' billy, i see a darkness, so dark, so sad, but utterly great,  don't have any rope around when playing it, or you will top yourself, LOL, also Antony and the Johnson's, am a bird now, haunting,  
 Cassidy's version of Danny Boy. The repression the Irish experienced at the hands of their neighbors. Very Sad! Beautiful tune non the less.

Another Cassidy tune that has a more up-lifting yet sad note which she is just superb singing, Over the Rainbow. 

I'm Irish.......