Songs that make you Cry

[Erunáme]

As for popular music ... much as I am moved by some music and lyrics, the feelings just aren't the same ... my soul (for want of a better word) is not stirred to the same depths. For me, classical music is a full-body/mind experience.

This is how I feel. I don't think a popular song has ever made me cry. Really, songs with lyrics don't. Incredibly awesome instrumental music really moves me though.

This always makes me get teary:

The Horns of Rohan

[Alatar]

Bach's "Bist du bei mir"...

One time my mother told me she wanted me to sing "Bist du bei mir" at her funeral. I told her I would be in no emotional state to be singing at her funeral.

It's funny but sometimes organists will play it at a wedding while people are being seated and what have you. It's obvious they don't know the words.

Bist du bei mir, geh' ich mit Freuden
zum Sterben und zu meiner Ruh'.
Ach, wie vergnügt wär' so mein Ende,
es drückten deine schönen Hände
mir die getreuen Augen zu!

Translation:
If you are with me, then I will gladly go
to my death and to my rest.
Ah, how satisfying will my end be,
for your dear, fair hands will shut
my faithful eyes!

I could see that working at a Wedding, after all, part of the Wedding Vow is "Till Death do us part". At my Brother's Wedding I sang the Folk Hymn "Wherever you go" which has similar themes in the second verse. (I think its based on the song of Ruth?)

Wherever you go, I shall go
Wherever you live, there shall I live
Your people will be my people
And your God will be my God too

Wherever you die, I shall die
And there shall I be buried beside you
We will be together forever
And our love will be the gift of our lives.

I managed to sing it without tearing up, but only with an effort. I'm a dreadful softie.

[JewelSong]

Sometimes a song or piece of music will make me cry not because of the music itself but because of the associations I have with it.

My father's favorite song (or one of them) was "Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms" with words by Thomas Moore. It has a lovely old Irish tune and I love to sing it, but I can't perform it without breaking down unless I concentrate very hard on something mundane - like toothpaste.

He used to sing it to my mother.

Believe me, if all those endearing young charms
Which I gaze on so fondly today
Were to change by tomorrow and fleet in my arms
Like fairy gifts fading away.
Thou wouldst still be adored as this moment thou art
Let thy loveliness fade as it will
And around the dear ruin each wish of my heart
Would entwine itself verdantly still.

It is not while beauty and youth are thine own
And thy cheeks unprofaned by a tear
That the fervor and faith of a soul can be known
To which time will but make thee more dear.
No, the heart that has truly loved never forgets
But as truly loves on to the close
As the sunflower turns to her God when he sets
The same look which she turned when he rose.

[Old_Tom_Bombadil]

I could see that working at a Wedding, after all, part of the Wedding Vow is "Till Death do us part".

It's performed as an instrumental, so you don't actually hear the words. The tune is quite pretty.

It looks like a moving song - I'd have to hear the tune, though, to know if I'd find it moving.

I go along with Hobby on this. The music effects me as much or more than the words.


I did come up with one song, it's a chorus actually, that I find quite moving and occasionally makes me a bit misty-eyed. It's "O welche Lust" from Beethoven's opera, Fidelio. To get the full impact you need to see it performed during the opera.

"O welche Lust" features male chorus: political prisoners being held in a dark, dank, dungeon. They are let out into the courtyard for a bit of air. Slowly they enter the courtyard, blinking and shielding their eyes from the light. The music begins quietly, crescendos to full-voiced singing, before fading away again as they creep back into the dungeon. The emotion the men express during their brief moment in the fresh air is astonishing.

Listen to a sample (track 12 on Disc 1) at Amazon.com.

Here's the English translation:

PRISONERS' CHORUS
Oh what joy, in the open air
Freely to breathe again!
Up here alone is life!
The dungeon is a grave.

FIRST PRISONER
We shall with all our faith
Trust in the help of God!
Hope whispers softly in my ears!
We shall be free, we shall find peace.

ALL THE OTHERS
Oh Heaven! Salvation! Happiness!
Oh Freedom! Will you be given us?

SECOND PRISONER
Speak softly! Be on your guard!
We are watched with eye and ear.

ALL
Speak softly! Be on your guard!
We are watched with eye and ear.
Oh what joy, in the open air
Freely to breathe again!
Up here alone is life.
Speak softly! Be on your guard!
We are watched with eye and ear.

[The Angel]

To give a topical example, Nessun Dorma, from Puccini's Turandot.

[truehobbit]

T_A, I agree it's strangely emotional. Though it's a triumphant song, I don't think it's meant to make people cry.

It's funny but sometimes organists will play it at a wedding while people are being seated and what have you. It's obvious they don't know the words.

Tom, the reason it makes me cry is not because it's about dying, but because it's about loving someone so much that even dying loses its terror if you can think that this person is with you. That's so touching, I get a lump in the throat just writing about it.

And that makes it suitable for weddings, I think.
Ok, I might want to avoid references to dying during a wedding ceremony, but as Alatar says, there's "till death do you part", so thinking of death is not quite absent anyway.

Schubert's Die Winterreise (The Winter's Journey), set to the poems of Wilhelm Müller, is so depressing it makes me laugh! Not that I don't love the music and the poetry, because I do, but I find the depressing images a little bit over the top.

Maybe you just haven't been depressed and disappointed enough to be able to relate to it!

Die Winterreise has some very beautiful music, but I don't recommend listening to it if you're even slightly down.

I only listen to it when I'm really down, and that's when it's able to make me cry. I could imagine that if I listened to it when I'm happy, I'd find it over the top, too.
I agree that the "Leiermann" is the absolute depth of depression, while I think the first songs still contain some railing against the pain.
As you'll have noticed, my favourites are all from the first part - I'm happy to say that I haven't quite gone where the Leiermann is yet.

I'm not sure I'd say the music does more than the words - they need to work together, I think.
Like with the pop-song I mentioned first (a bit surprised no one remembers it):

Butterfly Kisses

There's two things I know for sure.
She was sent here from heaven,
and she's daddy's little girl.
As I drop to my knees by her bed at night,
she talks to Jesus, and I close my eyes.
And I thank God for all of the joy in
my life, But most of all, for...

Butterfly kisses after bedtime prayer.
Stickin' little white flowers all up in her hair.
"Walk beside the pony
daddy, it's my first ride."
"I know the cake looks funny,
daddy, but I sure tried."
Oh, with all that I've done wrong,
I must have done something right
To deserve a hug every morning,
And butterfly kisses at night.

Sweet sixteen today,
She's looking like her momma
a little more everyday.
One part woman, the other part girl.
To perfume and makeup,
from ribbons and curls.
Trying her wings out in a great
big world. But I remember...

Butterfly kisses after bedtime prayer.
Stickin' little white flowers all up in her hair.
"You know how much I love you daddy,
But if you don't mind,
I'm only going to kiss you on
the cheek this time."
With all that I've done wrong
I must have done something right.
To deserve her love every morning,
And butterfly kisses at night.

All the precious time
Like the wind, the years go by
Precious butterfly
Spread your wings and fly

She'll change her name today.
She'll make a promise,
and I'll give her away.
Standing in the bride room
just staring at her,
she asked me what I'm thinking,
and I said "I'm not sure,
I just feel like I'm losing my baby girl."
Then she leaned over....and gave me....

Butterfly kisses, with her mama there
Sticking little flowers all up in her hair
"Walk me down the aisle, daddy, it's just about time"
"Does my wedding gown look pretty, daddy?"
"Daddy,
don't cry."
With all that I've done wrong,
I must have done something right
To deserve her love every morning,
And butterfly kisses
I couldn't ask God for more, man, this is what love is
I know I've gotta let her go, but I'll always remember
Every hug in the morning, and butterfly kisses...

(This site has tune as a midi-file)

The tune was sweet and nice, nothing spectacular, so I'd say it's very much the words that got to me here. But, of course, if the music had been hard rock, the words wouldn't have done anything for me.
That's what I mean by they need to work together.

(And it's made me cry again just now. - I think the songs that are simply emotional on a general level make me cry more than the sad songs, which only get to me when I'm sad myself.)

I've also been moved to tears by instrumental music, though - some baroque music, and things by Mozart and Haydn.

[Primula Baggins]

Just reading those words made me get teary, hobby!

I don't think I've ever been that strongly moved by instrumental music, though there is much that I find really powerful. For me, there have to be human voices. Words help, too, but I don't always have to understand them to be moved.

An exception: the end of Mahler's Symphony No. 2, the "Resurrection," made me cry because there were supertitles and I did understand it.

Dvorak's Stabat Mater gets me, particularly the final chorus. I first heard it in a live performance, and it made me gasp and tear up. The CD I have is of that performance, and it still gets to me.

[axordil]

Most of the music that makes me tear up does not make me sad. It's an involuntary response to the sound, and in some cases, the juxtaposition of music and words. It's just too beautiful to bear without a physical response.

[Rowanberry]

Hobby,I don't think that I've ever heard that song, but from the lyrics, I can see why it is so moving.

And, in the same vein, "Sunrise, Sunset" from Fiddler on the Roof - how parents feel when they realize that their children really have grown up and starting a life on their own. That one gets me every time.

[Estel]

I'm another where classical music is usually what does it for me. When I saw Beethovens Fifth Piano Concerto - The Emporers Concerto - performed by Emanuel Ax, I sobbed like a baby through the second movement. Cried in Beethovens Missa Solemnis as well. When I hear a particularily beautiful or difficult choral piece, I cry, sometimes because it's something I haven't sung with any choir. Missing out on being a part of something so incredibly beautiful actually causes physical pain.

As for non classical music - there are two songs I can think of offhand that make me cry when I hear them.


Wading in the Velvet Sea - by Phish. I cry almost every time I hear it - even back when I didn't like Phish, I would cry hearing this song...

• • I took a moment from my day
    wrapped it up in things you say
    mailed it off to your address
    you'll get it pretty soon unless
    
    the packaging begins to break
    and all the points I tried to make
    are tossed with thoughts into a bin
    time leaks out
    my life leaks in
    
    you won't find moments in a box
    and someone else will set your clocks
    I took a moment from my day
    wrapped it up in things you say
    and mailed it off to you

The other song is "Beloved One" by Ben Harper. The lyrics, combined with the way he sings it... it's just so beautiful

• • We have both been here before
    Knockin' upon love's door
    Begging for someone to let us in
    Knowing this we can agree
    to keep each other company
    Never to go down that road again
    
    My beloved one
    My beloved one
    
    Your eyes shine through me
    You are so divine to me
    Your heart has a home in mine
    We won't have to say a word
    With a touch all shall be heard
    When I search my heart it's you I find
    
    My beloved one
    My beloved one
    My beloved one
    
    You were meant for me,
    I believe you were sent to me
    from a dream straight into to my heart
    Hold your body close to me
    You mean the most to me
    We will keep each other safe from harm
    
    My beloved one
    My beloved one
    My beloved one
    My beloved one

I know there are others that make me cry. Music in general has a power over my emotions stronger than most other things in life.

[Sunsilver]

Rowan, when you mentioned Fiddler, I suddenly remembered another song that had me weeping like a baby: Streisand singing "Papa, Can You Hear Me?" in the movie, Yentl.

For those who have never seen this movie, it's about an independent-minded Jewish girl, who does not think book learning should be reserved only for men. Her father encourages her, and teaches her at home, behind drawn curtains, as she studies the Talmud and other Jewish sacred texts. Unfortunately, he dies, and she sees herself being pushed into an traditional female role: an arranged marriage, and forbidden access to books. She disguses herself as a boy, and runs away from home, intent on studying at a Yeshiva school. When she sings this song, she is kneeling alone on the cold ground in the darkness, gazing up at the starry sky:

God! May the light illuminate the night
the way your spirit illuminates my soul!

Papa can you hear me?
Papa can you see me?
Papa can you find me in the night?
Papa can you help me not be frightened?
Looking at the skies, I seem to see a million eyes.
Wich one are yours?
Where are you now, that yesterday
has waved goodbye and closed its doors?
The night is so much darker,
the wind is so much colder,
the world I see is so much bigger now that I'm alone.

Papa, please forgive me,
try to understand me
Papa, don't you know I had no choice?
Can you hear me praying?
Anything I'm saying?
Even though the night is filled with voices?
I remember everything you taught me,
Every book I've ever read.
Can all the words in all the books
help me to face what lies ahead?
The trees are so much taller,
and I feel so much smaller,
the moon is twice as lonely
and the stars are half as bright.

Papa how I love you,
Papa how I need you!
Papa how I miss you kissing me goodnight.

[elfshadow]

Hmmm, songs that make me cry? Not a whole lot, but definitely a few. Yesterday by the Beatles. And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda. I'm not sure who originally wrote it, it's about the battle of Gallipoli during WWI. America by Simon & Garfunkel. Time by Pink Floyd. And that's about all I can think of now.

[vison]

Desperado, by The Eagles. Many Bluegrass songs.

But not all tears are sad, to paraphrase Gandalf. Some are just a physical response to beauty, as axordil says. I have the same response to Nature, many times.

[Alatar]

This is a song I regularly try to play on guitar and I aiways have to give up cause I'm sobbing by the end. It's not just the music, or the lyrics, its the package deal; the fact that its based on real letters and mirrors the lives of thousands of Irish at the end of the last century.

http://www.skynet.ie/~alatar/Kilkelly.mp3

130 years after his great grandfather left the small village of Kilkelly in Co. Mayo, Peter Jones found a bundle of letters sent to him by his father in Ireland. The letters tell of family news, births, death, sales of land and bad harvests. They remind the son, that he is loved, missed and remembered by his family in Ireland. The final letter informs him that his father, whom he has not seen for 30 years, has died, the last link with home is broken.

Peter Jones used these letters to make this song.

The "trouble" in verse two is probably the Fenian rising of 1867.

Kilkelly
(Peter Jones)

Kilkelly, Ireland, 1860, my dear and loving son John
Your good friend schoolmaster Pat McNamara's so good
as to write these words down.
Your brothers have all gone to find work in England,
the house is so empty and sad
The crop of potatoes is sorely infected,
a third to a half of them bad.
And your sister Brigid and Patrick O'Donnell
are going to be married in June.
Mother says not to work on the railroad
and be sure to come on home soon.

Kilkelly, Ireland, 1870, my dear and loving son John
Hello to your Mrs and to your 4 children,
may they grow healthy and strong.
Michael has got in a wee bit of trouble,
I suppose that he never will learn.
Because of the dampness there's no turf to speak of
and now we have nothing to burn.
And Brigid is happy you named a child for her
although she's got six of her own.
You say you found work, but you don't say
what kind or when you will be coming home.

Kilkelly, Ireland, 1880, dear Michael and John, my sons
I'm sorry to give you the very sad news
that your dear old mother has gone.
We buried her down at the church in Kilkelly,
your brothers and Brigid were there.
You don't have to worry, she died very quickly,
remember her in your prayers.
And it's so good to hear that Michael's returning,
with money he's sure to buy land
For the crop has been poor and the people
are selling at any price that they can.

Kilkelly, Ireland, 1890, my dear and loving son John
I suppose that I must be close on eighty,
it's thirty years since you're gone.
Because of all of the money you send me,
I'm still living out on my own.
Michael has built himself a fine house
and Brigid's daughters are grown.
Thank you for sending your family picture,
they're lovely young women and men.
You say that you might even come for a visit,
what joy to see you again.

Kilkelly, Ireland, 1892, my dear brother John
I'm sorry I didn't write sooner to tell you, but father passed on.
He was living with Brigid, she says he was cheerful
and healthy right down to the end.
Ah, you should have seen him playing with
the grandchildren of Pat McNamara, your friend.
And we buried him alongside of mother,
down at the Kilkelly churchyard.
He was a strong and a feisty old man,
considering his life was so hard.
And it's funny the way he kept talking about you,
he called for you at the end.
Oh, why don't you think about coming to visit,
we'd all love to see you again.

Edited to correct lyrics

[Primula Baggins]

Oh, man. . . .

[Voronwë the Faithful]

(I haven't listened to the MP3 yet, but even the lyrics by themselves are incredibly moving. It'll be great to be able to listen to the song with the lyrics in front of me.)

[ToshoftheWuffingas]

Many of the powerful pieces that you have mentioned have that physical effect on me too as do other musical pieces. What is absolutely certain to make me howl though is the sound of certain voices. Top of the list has always been Joan Baez and most especially Kathleen Ferrier. Even just seeing Kathleen Ferrier's name can do the trick, such as at this moment.

[Maria]

Wow, Alatar, just reading those lyrics put me in tears. And flustered me enough that I forgot to minimize the screen when someone walked through my office just now!

Desperado used to get me, Vison, until I started wondering about that refrain:
Desperado, why don't you come to your senses?
You been out ridin' fences for so long now

Now "riding fences"- checking for breaks in the wire- is a very responsible thing for someone who is employed as a cowboy to do. Why would an outlaw do this? An outlaw would be more likely to cut a fence to get straight through to where they are going! Anyway, once that bit of reasoning had invaded my mind, I can't hear that song anymore without wondering WHY they said it that way? And the answer just has to be because it rhymed.

It no longer makes me cry, because I'm too distracted by the ignorance of the songwriter.

[Nin]

Classical music makes me cry sometimes, and usually makes me feel emotionally raw, thin-skinned. Difficult to talk about it.

Songs?

I remember one, last year in the summer, I was driving and they were passing "Creep" by the Radioheads. I cried so hard, I had to stop...

When you were here before
Couldn't look you in the eye
You're just like an angel
Your skin makes me cry
You float like a feather
In a beautiful world
And I wish I was special
You're so fuckin' special

But I'm a creep, I'm a weirdo.
What the hell am I doing here?
I don't belong here.

I don't care if it hurts
I want to have control
I want a perfect body
I want a perfect soul
I want you to notice
When I'm not around
You're so fuckin' special
I wish I was special

But I'm a creep, I'm a weirdo.
What the hell am I doing here?
I don't belong here.

She's running out again,
She's running out
She's run run run running out...

Whatever makes you happy
Whatever you want
You're so fuckin' special
I wish I was special...

But I'm a creep, I'm a weirdo,
What the hell am I doing here?
I don't belong here.
I don't belong here.

Now one year later; I think it's the "I don't belong here". I felt that way.

[Rowanberry]

Just remembered another one: Memory from "Cats". I always get in tears when I hear it, especially if it's sung by Elaine Page, the original Grizabella.

My reaction to some songs depends a bit on my mood, like Into the West, Eric Clapton's Tears in Heaven and Colours of the Wind from Disney's "Pocahontas" (stupid movie, but I like the music).