Weepy songs

Man, I need to start a Tom Waits thread...

capital idea

Sinner's Prayer




Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy on me
Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy on me
Well if I done somebody wrong
Lord have mercy if you please

I used to have plenty money
Finest clothes in town
Bad luck and trouble overtook me
Why did you let me down

Please have mercy Lord have mercy if you please
Well if I done somebody wrong
Have mercy if you please

Keep on working night time
Or in the morning - oh

Well if I've been a bad boy baby
I'll change my way
Don't bad luck and trouble worry me
All of my days, please have mercy
Lord have mercy on me

Well if I done somebody wrong
Oh have mercy if you please, Oh Lord.

Tom Waits thread posted and ready.

Leonard Cohen: Hey That's No Way to Say Good-Bye

I loved you in the morning, our kisses deep and warm,
your hair upon the pillow like a sleepy golden storm,
yes, many loved before us, I know that we are not new,
in city and in forest they smiled like me and you,
but now it's come to distances and both of us must try,
your eyes are soft with sorrow,
Hey, that's no way to say goodbye.
I'm not looking for another as I wander in my time,
walk me to the corner, our steps will always rhyme
you know my love goes with you as your love stays with me,
it's just the way it changes, like the shoreline and the sea,
but let's not talk of love or chains and things we can't untie,
your eyes are soft with sorrow,
Hey, that's no way to say goodbye.

I loved you in the morning, our kisses deep and warm,
your hair upon the pillow like a sleepy golden storm,
yes many loved before us, I know that we are not new,
in city and in forest they smiled like me and you,
but let's not talk of love or chains and things we can't untie,
your eyes are soft with sorrow,
Hey, that's no way to say goodbye.

EVERY TIME WE SAY GOODBYE

(Cole Porter)

Everytime we say goodbye I die a little
Everytime we say goodbye I wonder why a little
Why the gods above me who must be in the know
Think so little of me, they allow you to go

And when you're near there's such an air of Spring about it
I can hear a lark somewhere begin to sing about it
There's no love song finer but how strange the change from major to
minor
Everytime we say goodbye

Why the gods above me who must be in the know
Think so little of me, they allow you to go
And when you're near there's such an air of Spring about it
I can hear a lark somewhere begin to sing about it

There's no love song finer but how strange the change from major to
minor
Everytime we say goodbye, everytime we say goodbye
Everytime we say goodbye, everytime we say goodbye.....

Ronmac60, Irving Berlin has to be the best, for the reasons given by Eva.

Was it Ceili who mentioned Cowboy Junkies? I love Nancy Griffith's voice.

Now for one which I played a lot after 9/11. Whenever I listen to it, I need to be alone. Any disturbance seems almost sacriligeous.


Gorecki Symphony no.3
The Symphony of Sorrowful Songs

Gorecki is devotedly religious, and I am an

atheist; but then I also love Bach, whose music is

almost exclusively religious. Beauty is all, as

far as I'm concerned.

Here is an excerpt of the meaning behind the lyrics--sorry, I don't have a link.

Symphony no.3, Symphony of Sorrowful Songs is an

hour-long work that demands the attention of the

listener. It is made up of three movements, all

labelled Lento, their slow, deliberate pace having

a ritualistic prayer-like quality, with the

intensity of Gregorian chant. They have an

extremely slow deliberate harmonic progression and

build to a slow controlled climax.

Movement 1 - Lento
sostenuto tranquillo ma cantabile - (sustained,

tranquil, and song-like)
The first movement is a great, complex canon of

deep sorrow. It starts almost inaudibly with the

basses, then with utmost slowness, progressively

rises through the strings until the entire

orchestra is involved in its glory.

At its heart, as the strings suddenly fade, lies a

15th century Polish poem known as the Lamentation

of the Holy Cross. The Mother of Christ begs her

dying son to speak:
My son, chosen and loved,
Let your mother share your wounds
Read the complete lyrics
At the end of this soprano respite, this brief ray

of light, the huge string canon returns, more

powerful than before. This time it retreats, and

eventually fades into oblivion.

Movement 2 - Lento e largo - tranquillissimo
The second movement is based on a message found

scrawled on a Gestapo prison cell wall in 1944 by

an 18 year old girl Helena Wanda Blazusiakówna:
No, Mother, do not weep,
Most chaste Queen of Heaven
Help me always.
Hail Mary.
It is heralded by a radiant set of chords that has

made the whole work famous, but then quickly

darkens. Again, the theme is motherhood, but this

time, the child calls out to the mother, both

actual and spiritual.

Movement 3 - Lento cantabile semplicez
The final movement is based on folksong, a mother

searching for her son.
Where has he gone,
My dearest son?
Read the complete lyrics
Although certainly sorrowful, these diverse texts

are linked by the theme of motherhood and motherly

love. There is hope and joy, yearning and loss,

tenderness and ultimately peace in this music.

Fare Thee Well

One of these days and it won't be long
You're gonna call my name and I'll be gone
Fare thee well, oh honey, fare thee well

Well you don't know you don't know my mind
When you see me laughing baby it's to keep from crying
Fare thee well honey fare thee well

God knows I tried I done my best
But I guess I'm just a rumbler like all the rest
Fare thee well, fare thee well oh honey, honey fare thee well

I don't know where, don't know where I'm bound
Keep lookin´ for something I ain't never found
Fare thee well oh honey, honey, honey, honey fare thee well

There is just one thing that troubles my mind
And that's leaving you darling
Leaving you here behind
Fare thee well oh honey, honey fare thee well
Bye bye baby, pretty baby bye bye, your daddy's gone
Your daddy's gone from you
Fare thee well, honey, honey, honey fare thee well

Since I Don't Have You

I don't have plans and schemes and I don't have hopes and dreams.
I don't have anything since I don't have you.
I don't have fond desires and I don't have happy hours.
I don't have anything since I don't have you.


I don't have happiness and I guess I never will again.
When you walked out on me in walked old misery,
And he's been here since then.


I don't have love to share and I don't have one who cares.
I don't have anything since I don't have you.
You, you...

SALLY, GO 'ROUND THE ROSES
The Jaynetts

Sally go round the roses (sally go round the roses)
Sally go round the roses (sally go round the pretty roses)
Hope this place can't hurt you (hope this place can't hurt you)
Roses they can't hurt you (roses they can't hurt you)
Sally don't you go, don't you go downtown
Sally don't you go-o, don't you go downtown
Saddest thing in the whole wide world
Is see your baby with another girl
Sally go round, oh Sally don't you go
Sally don't you go, Don't you go downtown
Oh, don't you go downtown
Saddest thing in the whole wide world
See your baby with another girl
Sally go round the roses (Sally go round the roses)
Sally go round the roses (Sally go round the pretty roses)
They won't tell your secret (they won't tell your secret)
They won't tell your secret, Oh no won't tell your secret
Sally baby cry, let your hair hang down
Sally baby cry, let your hair hang down
Sit and cry with the door closed
Sit and cry so no one knows
Sally baby cry, let your hair hang down
Sally baby cry, let your hair hang down
Saddest thing in the whole wide world
See your baby with another girl
Sally go round the roses (Sally go round the roses)
Sally go round the roses (Sally go round the pretty roses)
Sally go round the roses (Sally go round the pretty roses)

I'm a thousand miles from nowhere
Time don't matter to me
'Cause I'm a thousand miles from nowhere
And there's no place I want to be

I got heartaches in my pocket
I got echoes in my head
And all that I keep hearing
Are the cruel, cruel things that you said

I'm a thousand miles from nowhere
Time don't matter to me
'Cause I'm a thousand miles from nowhere
And there's no place I want to be

Oh, I
Oh, I
Oh, I yeah

Instrumental

Oh, I
Oh, I
Oh, I yeah

I got bruises on my memory
I got tear stains on my hands
And in the mirror there's a vision
Of what used to be a man

I'm a thousand miles from nowhere
Time don't matter to me
'Cause I'm a thousand miles from nowhere
And there's no place I want to be

I'm a thousand miles from nowhere
Time don't matter to me
'Cause I'm a thousand miles from nowhere
And there's no place I want to be

Instrumental
Oh, I

I'm a thousand miles from nowhere...

Dwight Yoakum

I AIN'T GOT NO HOME
(Woody Guthrie/Woody Guthrie)

I ain't got no home, I'm just a ramblin' around
A hard working ramblin' man, I go from town to town
The police make it hard wherever I may go
And I ain't got no home in this world anymore

I was farmin' on the shares and always I was poor
My crops I laid into the banker's door
And my wife took down and died upon the cabin floor
And I ain't got no home in this world anymore

I ain't got no home, I'm just a ramblin' around
A hard working ramblin' man, I go from town to town
The police make it hard wherever I may go
And I Ain't Got No Home in this world anymore

Now as I look around it's mighty plain to see
This wide wicked world is a funny place to be
The gamblin' man is rich and the workin' man is poor
And I ain't got no home in this world anymore

(1963) bob dylan

Hollis brown
He lived on the outside of town
Hollis brown
He lived on the outside of town
With his wife and five children
And his cabin fallin' down

You looked for work and money
And you walked a rugged mile
You looked for work and money
And you walked a rugged mile
Your children are so hungry
That they don't know how to smile

Your baby's eyes look crazy
They're a-tuggin' at your sleeve
Your baby's eyes look crazy
They're a-tuggin' at your sleeve
You walk the floor and wonder why
With every breath you breathe

The rats have got your flour
Bad blood it got your mare
The rats have got your flour
Bad blood it got your mare
If there's anyone that knows
Is there anyone that cares?

You prayed to the lord above
Oh please send you a friend
You prayed to the lord above
Oh please send you a friend
Your empty pockets tell yuh
That you ain't a-got no friend

Your babies are crying louder
It's pounding on your brain
Your babies are crying louder

It's pounding on your brain
Your wife's screams are stabbin' you
Like the dirty drivin' rain

Your grass it is turning black
There's no water in your well
Your grass is turning black
There's no water in your well
You spent your last lone dollar
On seven shotgun shells

Way out in the wilderness
A cold coyote calls
Way out in the wilderness
A cold coyote calls
Your eyes fix on the shotgun
That's hangin' on the wall

Your brain is a-bleedin'
And your legs can't seem to stand
Your brain is a-bleedin'
And your legs can't seem to stand
Your eyes fix on the shotgun
That you're holdin' in your hand

There's seven breezes a-blowin'
All around the cabin door
There's seven breezes a-blowin'
All around the cabin door
Seven shots ring out
Like the ocean's pounding roar

There's seven people dead
On a south dakota farm
There's seven people dead
On a south dakota farm
Somewhere in the distance
There's seven new people born

Oh man, it's a good thing today is a sunny day in Denver.

Cav, Jerry Chesnut wrote "Good Year" in 1971 for George Jones and it became a #1 hit.Nobody writes tear-jerkers like Nashville. IMO

knockin' on heavens door - Dylan (especially as heard while viewing the scene it was written for in the film Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid

Sheesh! Correct, panzade. I only know the Elvis Costello rendition.

Inspired by a recent dyslexia thread :wink: :

SAM STONE
John Prine

Sam stone came home,
To his wife and family
After serving in the conflict overseas.
And the time that he served,
Had shattered all his nerves,
And left a little shrapnel in his knee.
But the morphine eased the pain,
And the grass grew round his brain,
And gave him all the confidence he lacked,
With a purple heart and a monkey on his back.

Chorus:
There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes,
Jesus christ died for nothin' I suppose.
Little pitchers have big ears,
Don't stop to count the years,
Sweet songs never last too long on broken radios.
Mmm....

Sam stone's welcome home
Didn't last too long.
He went to work when he'd spent his last dime
And sammy took to stealing
When he got that empty feeling
For a hundred dollar habit without overtime.
And the gold rolled through his veins
Like a thousand railroad trains,
And eased his mind in the hours that he chose,
While the kids ran around wearin' other peoples' clothes...

Repeat chorus:

Sam stone was alone
When he popped his last balloon
Climbing walls while sitting in a chair
Well, he played his last request
While the room smelled just like death
With an overdose hovering in the air
But life had lost it's fun
And there was nothing to be done
But trade his house that he bought on the g, i. bill
For a flag draped casket on a local heroes' hill

Holding Back the Years - Simply Red
Holding back the years,
Thinking of the fear I've had for so long.
When somebody hears,
Listen to the fear that's gone.
Strangled by the wishes of pater,
Hoping for the arm of mater,
Get to me sooner or later,

Nothing ever could, yeah.
I'll keep holding on,
I'll keep holding on,
I'll keep holding on,
I'll keep holding on.

Chance for me to escape from all I know.
Holding back the tears.
There's nothing here has grown.
I've wasted all my tears,
Wasted all those years.
Nothing had the chance to be good,

Nothing ever could, yeah.
I'll keep holding on,

I'll keep holding on,
I'll keep holding on,
I'll keep holding on
So tight.

Against the Wind - Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band

It seems like yesterday
But it was long ago
Janey was lovely she was the queen of my nights
There in the darkness with the radio, playin' low
The secrets that we shared
Mountains that we moved
Caught like a wildfire out of control
'Til there was nothing left to burn and nothing left to prove

And I remember what she said to me
How she swore that it never would end
I remember how she held me, oh so tight
Wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then

Against the wind
We were running against the wind
We were young and strong and we were running
Against the wind

The years rolled slowly past
And I found myself alone
Surrounded by strangers I thought were my friends
Found myself further and further from my home
I guess I lost my way
There were oh so many roads
I was living to run and running to live
Never worrying about paying or even how much I owed

Moving eight miles a minute for months at a time
Breaking all of the rules that we bent
Began to find myself searching
Searching for shelter again and again

Against the wind
I was running against the wind
I found myself seeking shelter
Against the wind

But those drifter's days are past me now
I've got so much more to think about
Deadlines and commitments
What to leave in, what to leave out

Against the wind
I'm still running against the wind
Well I'm older now but still running
Against the wind
Against the wind
Against the wind....

Got no one
Got no one to call my own
I am blue
I am blue and all alone
No one calls me
No one calls me on the phone
Or invite
Or invite me to their home
Got no one
Got no one to call my own

I don't remember the group who did this song. Doo wop. Late 50''s/early 60's. Anybody else know this cut?