Songs sung blue: James Reed picks 10 of the saddest songs
1. “She Even Woke Me Up to Say Goodbye,” Mickey Newbury: That title. Taken from the saddest record I’ve ever heard, 1969’s “Looks Like Rain,” Newbury’s examination of why love went bad is timeless and achingly pure.
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2. “I’ll Be Seeing You,” Billie Holiday: It’s such a bittersweet sentiment: The relationship is over, but you’re taking from it beautiful memories that will last a lifetime.
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3. “River,” Joni Mitchell: Christmas is around the corner. You’re alone. The piano is playing a melody that sounds like a mournful approximation of “Jingle Bells.” And then Joni lowers the guillotine: “I wish I had a river I could skate away on / I made my baby say goodbye.”
Nancy Siesel/The New York Times file 1998
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4. “So Sad (to Watch Good Love Go Bad),” the Everly Brothers: When the Everlys harmonize, it’s already enough to send shivers down the spine. When they’re mourning the loss of love, you might as well order one more before last call.
Wendy Maeda/Globe Staff file 1984
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5. “Love in Vain,” Robert Johnson: Covered by the Rolling Stones on “Let It Bleed,” this bluesman’s original lays his heart on the line with just his voice and guitar and the saddest train metaphor you’ll ever hear.
Columbia Records file 2002
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6. “Paloma Negra,” Chavela Vargas: American blues has nothing on the melodrama and despair of classic Mexican ranchera music. Vargas tugs at every heartstring in this ballad about letting go of someone who torments you.
JAIME RAZURI/AFP/Getty Images file 2002
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7. “For the Good Times,”Kris Kristofferson: Starting with its opening line (“Don’t look sad / I know it’s over”), country heartache doesn’t cut any closer to the bone than this.
Kevin Winter/Getty Images file 2005
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8. “Tell Me That It Isn’t True,” Bob Dylan: We’ve all been here: “I have heard rumors all over town / They say that you’re planning to put me down / All I would like you to do / Is tell me that it isn’t true.”
Rogelio Solis/Associated Press file 2003
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9. “Someone Like You,” Adele: Released last year — and promptly etched into your brain after hearing it every hour on the radio — “Someone Like You” will go down as this generation’s ultimate tearjerker.
Robert E. Klein for the Boston Globe file 2011
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10. “Adagio for Strings,” Samuel Barber: Wordless, orchestral sweep that lifts you up only to drop you face-first onto the pavement.
Curtis Institute of Music
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