Well, it's Friday, and you know what that means. Yes, my Oriental amanuensis Hop-Sing and I are off to...well, actually I can't tell you where we're off to because I'm in the midst of firing the disloyal little toad (hint: That Mitzi Gaynor album is missing again) and I don't want to involve lawyers.
But in any case, posting by moi will be completely not happening until Monday.
Thus, in my absence, here's a little project for us all:
Coolest Post-Elvis Song or Record Referencing The Emotion of Sadness or the Word Sadness Itself (Title or Lyric!!!)
No arbitrary rules this time -- just take your meds and promise you won't slash your wrists when all this is over.
And my totally top of my head Top Eight is:
8. Little Miss Sad -- The Five Emprees
A big hit in the Chicago area, summer of '65. My across the hall college neighbor that fall turned me on to it just this year. Thanks, Eric!
7. Sad Songs (Say So Much) -- Elton John
I've never owned an Elton album or particularly even wanted to, but for some reason this song gets under my skin.
6. Still I'm Sad -- The Yardbirds
You know, for a blues band, these guys sure did a lot of modal Middle-Eastern sounding stuff.
5. Sad Peter Pan -- Smashing Pumpkins
You thought it was going to be that Melon Collie shit, didn't you?
Inspirational verse:
It's the plan of most
To discover that magnificent ghost
When did I get perverted
And my innocent eyes diverted from the view so grand
Imbued with distractions
I'm greedy like Senior Babbitt
I'm just chasing that electric rabbit
I'm a reluctant rebel
I just want to be Aaron Neville
I'm really glad Billy Corgan takes himself seriously because after reading that it's a wonder anybody else does.
4. I Was Young When I Left Home -- Bob Dylan
It's like a distillation of all the melancholy in the world. And people said he couldn't sing...
3. Sad Little Girl -- The Beau Brummels
There is a school of thought, to which I occasionally subscribe, that BB's frontman Sal Valentino is one of the greatest rock voices ever.
2. The River -- Bruce Springsteen
As Thelma Ritter says in All About Eve -- what a story; everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end.
And the number one it's-all-so-sad song, don't give me a hard time about this or I'll harm you, quite obviously is ---
1. I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry -- Hank Williams
Still the most profoundly blue piece of music ever recorded.
Awrighty, then -- what would your choices be?
[Shameless blogwhore: My parallel Cinema Listomania (theme: Genre parodies) is now up over at Box Office. As always, if you could see your way over there to leave a comment, an angel gets its wings, blah blah blah.]
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29 comments:
Irma Thomas -- Cry On
Tammi Terrell -- I Cried
Merle Haggard - Sing a Sad Song
Sad Song - Lou Reed
Sad About Girls - Elvis the C.
I Just Wasn't Made for These Times ("sometimes I feel very sad") - Brian Wilson w/the Wrecking Crew
I'd throw in Johnny Ray, but he's definitely pre-Elvis...
Crying - Roy Orbison (with the greatest backing band ever assembled)
So Sad About Us - The Who
Sad Song - Lou Reed
Little Boy Sad - Johnny Burnette
I Can Never Go Home Anymore - The Shangri-Las
And that's called "sad."
Five completely random choices, from the current and last four decades:
Unhappy Girl--The Doors (from Strange Days,1960's)
Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad--Derek and the Dominoes(from Layla,1970's)
Sad, Sad, Sad--The Rolling Stones (from Steel Wheels, late 1980's)
He Cried--Morrissey (from Maladjusted,1990's)--Got quite stuck for an entry from this decade
Why So Blue--Paul McCartney (fine bonus track from the expanded edition of Memory Almost Full, 2000's)
End of the world - -skeeter davis
Hurt so Bad - Little Anthony
Sorry seems to be the hardest word - elton john
Oh lonesome me -- neil young
Many to choose from...
REM - Everybody Hurts
Smokey Robinson - Tears of a Clown
Matthew Sweet - Someone to Pull the Trigger
The Guess Who - Laughing
And of course
Willie Nelson - Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain
Joy to the World was a beautiful girl (but to me Joy meant only sorrow)
-- harry
Gotta second the Who's "So Sad About Us" except that I really prefer Pete Townshend's solo version on the first "Scoop" album.
Tonio K., H.A.T.R.E.D. - "sad-hearted lovers could cry in their beer, what the hey"
The Eagles, "The Sad Cafe" - just kidding! just kidding! Put away that grenade launcher!
I agree with your reader who suggested Skeeter Davis for her melting capability.
There is also Poco's "Sad Memory", Everlys' "So Sad", Dave Mason "Sad and Deep As You", his home band Traffic' stunning "Don't Be Sad" and, of course, "Pali-sads Park."
And tho it is word-free ol' Percy Faith's "Theme From A Summer Place" is a wistful pistol to my heart.
Yo La Tengo - "Tears are in Your Eyes"
"Are You Ready To Be Heartbroken?" by Lloyd Cole & the Commotions
(the man Morrisey said he wished he could write lyrics like)
Eleanor Rigby -Beatles
Count me in on Skeeter Davis. I ache for Dylan's "Sad-eyed Lady of the Lowlands," but saddest song in the world is Kate and Anna McGarrigle's "Heart Like a Wheel," with their soaring "(Talk to Me of) Mendocino" hard on its heels.
What Becomes of the Broken Hearted - Jimmy Ruffin -"Filled with sadness and confusion"
Bye Bye Love -everly bros -
"She sure looks happy.I sure am blue."
Breaking up is hard to do - neil sedaka -- "If you go then I'll be blue"
Blue Navy -- diane renay
Sad Poetry - Mental as Anything
So Sad About Us - The Jam
Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song) - Otis Redding
Cry baby - Dwight Twilley
I'll Cry Alone - Flamin Groovies
Are you kidding me?
"Tracks Of My Tears" - Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
Duh.
"Sorrow" by the McCoys, Merseybeats or David Bowie
So far, I think the concensus song is "So Sad About Us" by the Who.
Which, frankly, should have been my number one. The ultimate power pop/folk rock track ever.
Hank Williams died on January 1, 1953. Hard to call him "post-Elvis." I'm with you all the way on the song, though. Maybe it could slip in under a "B.J. Thomas Cover Version" exception...
"Many Rivers to Cross"
by either Jimmy Cliff or Joe Cocker.
lpsteve is of course correct about Hank Williams being pre-Elvis.
Thus demonstrating the truth of the old adage that everybody needs an editor. Even if on the intertubes they rarely get one.
:-)
I regret the error, in any case.
Way too easy this time, Steve. Close to 90% of the great rock and pop songs are sad-related products. Anyway, here's a few--
Carolyn Crawford - “My Smile is Just a Frown (Turned Upside Down)”
-- didn't i first hear about that song on this site?
X - Poor Girl
Replacements - Can't Hardly Wait
(and, um, most of their catalog)
Buck Owens - Act Naturally
Amy Rigby - Sad Tale
and one that's a must-hear even if you actively dislike the man --
Ryan Adams - To Be Young Is to Be Sad, High, etc.
"I'll Cry Instead" - The Beatles: I got every reason on earth to be sad ...
"Whispering Pines" by Professor Louie and the Crowmatix.
http://www.youtube.com/user/professorlouie
Bruce Springsteen - "One Step Up", from Tunnel of Love. Not loud, not dramatic, not gimmicky, not overblown...just plain sad. It's hard for me to listen to sometimes.
James McMurtry - "Ruby and Carlos", from Just Us Kids. A story song about two people who were made for each other, but who still can't connect. This one makes me cry almost every time I hear it.
More Beatles: "Any Time At All"
Beatles 6 was a great album.
Little Boy Sad - Johnny Burnette
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