There'll Be Sad Songs / To Make You Cry
- Wade
I got this from a friend at work today: clicky-clicky.
It's a cool premise. And written in an entertaining manner, although the author's trying way too hard to be funny in a lot of the vignettes. Most of these songs speak for themselves. With these comments in mind, I'm going to both a) try to be funny by 2) throwing my two cents in. Deal with that.
23. You Don't Bring Me Flowers Neil Diamond & Barbra Streisand (1978) - My love for Neil Diamond is well-documented, but I can't think of this song as sad; actually, I can't listen to this song without laughing. Maybe it's my aversion to Streisand, or that I've never been able to appreciate sappy, schmaltzy, seventies ballads. Or that I always think about how Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy "covered" this once on "The Muppet Show." I did always wonder why Neil was so sad about not getting flowers-- although a lyric like "You don't comb my hairpiece" wouldn't sell as many albums.
22. The River Bruce Springsteen (1980) - Bruuuuuce! I've also got an appreciation for the Boss-- after a few lame attempts at songwriting I must admit envy of anyone who can work the word "economy" into a song without blushing-- but he sure can write some downers. I suppose you can't always crank out pure gold like "57 Channels."
18. Prayers for Rain The Cure (1989) - When I originally read the premise for the article, I made the assumption that the entire list would be comprised of Cure and Morrissey / Smiths songs. The fact that this is the only one that made the cut makes me even more sad.
16. The Rose Bette Midler (1980) - Again, I'll always laugh when I hear this after seeing Napoleon Dynamite.
14. Comfortably Numb Pink Floyd (1979) - How depressing can a song really be if you gently fall asleep every time you hear it? No, really. Pink Floyd has that effect on me, so much that I have to turn the station when one of their songs come on while I'm driving. Yes, it's strange. It also happens whenever I watch Coming To America.
11. One Metallica (1988) - Really? Metallica? James Taylor can be sad. Patti Griffin can be sad. Adam Duritz can be sad, sometimes. But James Hetfield? If so, this isn't the song... Sad songs need pianos, acoustic guitars, and softly-delivered lyrics. Not Kirk Hammet's distorted guitar solos and "LANDMINE.. HAS TAKEN MY SIGHT..." etc etc.
8. Hurt Nine Inch Nails (1994) - I never really noticed the NIN version of this song, which is strange because The Edge seemed to play it over and over and over during my freshman year. But if you want sad, watch the video of the Johnny Cash version here. Whew.
See, I have trouble figuring out whether he's rating songs on their "merit" of sadness ("Brick," "Strange Fruit") or rating them on their level of treacle. He seems to mix both in the countdown, which, to borrow a phrase, "just ain't right." But it was entertaining, anyway. Got a sadder song? Post it to the forum. (When it comes to self-promotion, we have no shame.)
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feedback. Maybe we'll even run your letters in future Gambits. 'The Daily Gambit' is updated every weekday.
