The 55 Saddest Songs of All Time That Will Make You Cry
THE 55 SADDEST SONGS OF ALL TIME THAT WILL MAKE YOU CRY
These are the most gut-wrenching, tear-inducing, sad songs ever
Music has the ability to evoke powerful emotions; it can make us laugh, fuel our anger, provide comfort during loss, or even make us cry. With that in mind, we have scoured the music world for the most heart wrenching sad songs that are guaranteed to make you cry.
While it may seem counterintuitive, depressing and sad music can actually cheer you up. There’s scientific evidence that music filled with sorrow is more effective at making you happy than joyful tracks. Research suggests that “By identifying with the lyrics of a sad song, a listener can empathize with the vocalist and understand that others have shared experiences of rejection, loss, unrequited love, misfortune, or other themes characteristic of sad songs” which makes a lot of sense.
Think about your favorite sad song and think about how it makes you feel. Does it bring back fond memories? Does the sad song remind you of the one who got away? Was the song played as a mourning at a funeral perhaps? Chances are, there’s a lyric in there that you can relate to on a deep emotional level–it provokes chills when you hear it aloud. Nostalgia does that to a person.
Whatever the heartache that made you stumble upon this article, you should know that things will get better. Take comfort in knowing that time will heal all wounds. Now grab some tissues and take a listen to the saddest songs of all time. We’ve added also some interesting facts and our favorite melancholic lyrics. Don't forget to share the list on your favorite social network if you enjoyed it–it might just help cheer someone else up.
Here's a peak at our top saddest songs of all time–keep scrolling for the full list.
- Gary Jules - Mad World
- R.E.M. - Everybody Hurts
- Adele - Someone Like You
- Sinead O'Connor - Nothing Compares 2 U
- Johnny Cash - Hurt
- Passenger - Let Her Go
- Luthor Vandross - Dance With My Father
- Chocolate Genius, Inc. - My Mom
- Fastball - The Way
- A Great Big World featuring Christina Aguilera - Say Something
55
ROBBIE WILLIAMS - ANGELS
Did you know?
Ray Heffernan, co-writer of Angels, says he wrote this sad song about his baby son who died. Williams has also said that he was partly inspired by the angel resting on top of Stoke-On-Trent town hall (his home city) that could be seen from his bedroom every night as a child.
Moment you'll cry:
When I’m feeling weak
And my pain walks down a one way street
I look above
And I know ill always be blessed with love
54
PINK FLOYD - WISH YOU WERE HERE
Did you know?
Wish You Were Here was originally going to end with a country fiddle composed by jazz violinist extraordinare Stéphane Grappelli. Grappelli recorded his part but it was ultimately retracted during the mixing process. A very faint version can still be heard near the 5:21 minute mark. Grappelli was not credited but did receive his fee for the contribution.
Moment you'll cry:
What have we found?
The same old fears.
Wish you were here.
53
ANA NALICK - BREATHE (2 AM)
Did you know?
There have been many interpretations for this song, but Nalick makes it easy for the listener to fill in their own tragedy. It's ambiguous enough for you to make it your own story, and bleak enough to bring you down.
Moment you'll cry:
'Cause you can't jump the track, we're like cars on a cable
And life's like an hourglass, glued to the table
No one can find the rewind button, girl
So cradle your head in your hands
And breathe...just breathe
52
RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS - UNDER THE BRIDGE
Did you know?
Anthony Kiedis wrote the lyrics for this Red Hot Chili Peppers song during a period when he felt distraught and emotionally drained. The dejection he was experiencing, in addition to prior drug use, led to emotional distress:
The loneliness that I was feeling triggered memories of my time with Ione and how I'd had this beautiful angel of a girl who was willing to give me all of her love, and instead of embracing that, I was downtown with fucking gangsters shooting speedballs under a bridge.
Moment you'll cry:
It's hard to believe that there's nobody out there
It's hard to believe that I'm all alone
At least I have her love, the city she loves me
Lonely as I am, together we cry
51
RADIOHEAD - CREEP
Did you know?
According to Thom Yorke, Creep tells the tale of an inebriated man who follows the woman he is attracted to, trying to get her attention. In the end, he lacks the self-confidence to face her and feels he subconsciously is her. The lyrics grasp at optimism, but the subject sinks back into the throes of self-pity.
Moment you'll cry:
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 fucking special
I wish I was special
50
OUR LADY PEACE - THIEF
Did you know?
Our Lady Peace revealed that the song was written about Mina Kim, a young girl with a cancerous brain tumor. The "thief" in the song is in reference to the tumor.
Moment you'll tear up:
I don't want to understand this horror
There's a weight in your eyes
I can't admit
Everybody ends up here in bottles
But the name tag's the last thing you wanted
49
CHRIS ISAAK - WICKED GAME
Did you know?
Wicked Game first gained popularity when it was featured in David Lynch’s 1990 movie Wild At Heart. From then on, the track has appeared in pretty much everything. To quote Flight Of The Conchords: ”Women like three things: Men in Kilts, Southern Comfort and Chris Isaak's Wicked Game.”
Moment you'll tear up:
I'd never dreamed that I'd love somebody like you
And I'd never dreamed that I'd lose somebody like you
48
PERNICE BROTHERS - CHICKEN WIRE
Did you know?
This song is about a woman who has one last drink before killing herself with carbon monoxide in the garage.
Moment you'll tear up:
With a drink in her hand
She will stop her car and then
Seal herself for good in the garage
Tired of sad songs? Change the pace with our list of the funniest songs of all time.
47
PEARL JAM - LAST KISS
Did you know?
Wayne Cochran was inspired to write this song after having lived near a dangerous highway where several accidents had occurred yearly. Knowing that songs about tragedy were big hits and selling lots of records, he got together with some of his friends at the time to write it. Pearl Jam does a great cover of this song.
Moment you'll tear up:
I lifted her head, she looked at me and said
"Hold me darling, just a little while"
I held her close, I kissed her our last kiss
I found the love that I knew I had missed
46
BEN FOLDS FIVE - BRICK
Did you know?
Ben Folds:
When I was in high school, me and my girlfriend had to get an abortion, and it was a very sad thing. And, I didn't really want to write this song from any kind of political standpoint, or make a statement. I just wanted to reflect what it feels like. So, anyone who's gone through that before, then you'll know what the song's about.
Moment you'll tear up:
And we drive
Now that I have found someone
I'm feeling more alone
Than I ever have before
45
NIRVANA - SOMETHING IN THE WAY
Did you know?
It was long rumored that Kurt Cobain was homeless and lived under a bridge which was the inspiration behind Something in the Way. While he was actually a vagrant for some time, sleeping at various friend’s homes and in waiting rooms of hospitals, Kurt never lived under a bridge. This rumour was refuted in the 2001 biography, Heavier Than Heaven.
Moment you'll tear up:
Underneath the bridge
The tarp has sprung a leak
And the animals I've trapped
Have all become my pets
44
RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS - UNCHAINED MELODY
Did you know?
Songwriter Hy Zaret chose to focus his lyrics on someone who pines for a lover he hasn't seen in a "long, lonely time." Unchained, the 1955 film that commissioned the song, focused on a man who contemplates either escaping from prison, living life on the run, or completing his sentence and returning to his wife and family.
Moment you'll tear up:
And time goes by so slowly
And time can do so much
Are you still mine?
43
CYNDI LAUPER - TIME AFTER TIME
Did you know?
Lauper has indicated that much of the lyrics were written about occurrences in the studio and her life at the time. The line, "the second hand unwinds," refers to producer Rick Chertoff's watch, which was winding backwards.
Moment you'll tear up:
After my picture fades and darkness has
Turned to gray
Watching through windows, you're wondering
If I'm OK
Secrets stolen from deep inside
The drum beats out of time
42
DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE - I WILL FOLLOW YOU INTO THE DARK
Did you know?
Surprisingly, I Will Follow You Into the Dark was not written about anyone in particular, but rather about Ben Gibbard’s obsession over death. This was after his realization that at 29, he had not lost anyone really special in his life. Knowing that he was being comfortable and death would eventually strike made him take stock of how important everyone around him truly is. The solo was recorded in mono with just one microphone and almost no editing.
Moment you'll tear up:
Love of mine
Someday you will die
But I'll be close behind
I'll follow you into the dark
41
ALTER BRIDGE - IN LOVING MEMORY
Did you know?
In Loving Memory is about lead guitarist Mark Tremonti’s mother. The track was never released as a single despite it being the most popular in Alter Bridge’s repertoire.
Moment you'll tear up:
You were as kind as you could be
And even though you're gone
You still mean the world to me
40
AMY WINEHOUSE - BACK TO BLACK
Did you know?
The music video features a funeral procession in which Winehouse mourns over a grave that reads "R.I.P. the Heart of Amy Winehouse." This song is sadder still, considering the recent events that enlisted her as a member of the tragic 27 Club.
Moment you'll tear up:
And I tread a troubled track
My odds are stacked
I'll go back to black
39
THE BEATLES - YESTERDAY
Did you know?
Yesterday is a melancholy acoustic guitar ballad about a break-up.
Moment you'll tear up:
Why she had to go I don't know,
She wouldn't say.
I said something wrong,
Now I long for yesterday
38
EMINEM - STAN
Did you know?
Despite popular belief, Eminem’s character Stan is purely fictional. Eminem has admitted that he gets a lot of fan mail and people take his words too literally — that is what Stan is based on. The referenced story from In The Air Tonight by Phil Collins is also an urban legend.
Moment you'll tear up:
And even if I could it'll all be gray
Put your picture on my wall
It reminds me, that it's not so bad
It's not so bad
37
U2 - WITH OR WITHOUT YOU
Did you know?
Bono wrote the lyrics while struggling to reconcile his responsibilities as both a married man and a musician. Being part of a band was often at odds with his domestic life. While writing the lyrics, he came to the realization that neither of these facets defined him; rather, the tension between the two did. He explains that the final lyric is about "torment" and how repressing desires only makes them stronger.
Moment you'll tear up:
My hands are tied
My body bruised, she's got me with
Nothing to win and
Nothing left to lose
And you give yourself away
36
KELLY ROWLAND - STOLE
Did you know?
The lyrics of the track chronicle three different scenarios with teenagers whose lives are drastically changed by the aftermaths of a school shooting and a suicide.
Moment you'll tear up:
Mary's got the same size hands
As Marilyn Monroe
She put her fingers in the imprints
At Mann's Chinese Theater show
She coulda been a movie star
Never got the chance to go that far
Her life was stole, oh
Now we'll never know
35
REGINA SPEKTOR - SAMSON
Did you know?
The song is about the biblical Samson and Delilah. Samson, the fierce warrior, was betrayed by his love Delilah. The song is written from her perspective.
Moment you'll tear up:
You are my sweetest downfall
I loved you first, I loved you first
34
SARAH MCLACHLAN - I WILL REMEMBER YOU
Did you know?
This song has been--and will be--used as the soundtrack to melancholy moments:
- Sarah McLachlan performed this song during an "in memoriam" slideshow at the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards, held on September 20, 2009
- She has also signed up to honor the victims of 9/11 with a special concert to mark the opening of the Flight 93 National Memorial, one day before the 10-year anniversary of 9/11
Moment you'll tear up:
I'm so tired but I can't sleep
Standin' on the edge of something much too deep
It's funny how we feel so much but we cannot say a word
We are screaming inside, but we can't be heard
33
THE VERVE - THE DRUGS DON'T WORK
Did you know?
Lead singer Richard Ashcroft wrote the song in early 1995; in an interview at the time, he related it to his drug usage:
There's a new track I've just written [...] It goes 'the drugs don't work, they just make me worse, and I know I'll see your face again.' That's how I'm feeling at the moment. They make me worse, man. But I still take 'em. Out of boredom and frustration you turn to something else to escape.
While the exact meaning of the song remains unclear, it is widely believed that Ashcroft wrote the song in response to the death of his father.
Moment you'll tear up:
Now the drugs don't work
They just make you worse
But I know I'll see your face again
'Cause baby, ooh, if heaven calls, I'm coming, too
Just like you said, you leave my life, I'm better off dead
32
BOOMTOWN RATS - I DON'T LIKE MONDAYS
Did you know?
According to Bob Geldof, he wrote the song after reading a telex report at Georgia State University's campus radio station, WRAS, about the shooting spree of 16-year-old Brenda Ann Spencer. Spencer shot at children playing in a playground at Cleveland Elementary School in San Diego, California on January 29, 1979. She killed two adults, and injured eight children and a police officer. She showed no remorse for her crime, and her full explanation for her actions was, "I don't like Mondays; this livens up the day."
Moment you'll tear up:
And all the playing has stopped in the playground now
She wants to play with the toys of war
And school's out early and soon we'll be learning
That the lesson today is how to die
31
FOO FIGHTERS - FRIEND OF A FRIEND
Did you know?
The song was written by then Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl in 1990--and recorded in secret the same year. It was about his first impressions of new bandmates Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic. Grohl first wrote it in Cobain's Olympia apartment when he stumbled upon Cobain's acoustic guitar--referring to the lyrics, "It was his friend's guitar."
Moment you'll tear up:
He's never been in love
But he knows just what love is
He said nevermind
And no one speaks
30
HANK WILLIAMS - I'M SO LONESOME I COULD CRY
Did you know?
This song about loneliness was largely inspired by his troubled relationship with wife Audrey Sheppard.
Moment you'll tear up:
Did you ever see a robin weep
When leaves began to die?
That means he's lost the will to live
I'm so lonesome I could cry
29
BON IVER - SKINNY LOVE
Did you know?
The musician Birdy recorded her own cover of Skinny Love, which, at the time of this writing, has over 100 million views on YouTube. She was only fourteen when she released the cover.
Moment you'll tear up:
Come on skinny love what happened here
Suckle on the hope in light brassiere
28
U2 - KITE