Following the recent revelation by Nick Clegg in The Guardian that there are songs that make him cry, various contributors then went on to list the songs that bring a tear to their eyes. The list included songs by people as diverse as Spiritualized, Patsy Cline, Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young and Will Young.
This week the public chose the songs that make them cry. Again, the list is quite eclectic, but there are a number of artists that feature more than once. Artists such as Radiohead, The Cure, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Tom Waits, The National, Elbow, Bon Iver and LCD Soundsystem. This is a subject quite close to my heart as I regularly have a good cry over a song. In the article it says, “music needs an extra emotional connection to have a lasting effect. A sad song only becomes poignant when it reminds you of something or someone, else.” I agree with that statement to a greater extent, but sometimes a song doesn’t need to remind me of someone or something. Sometimes just the song alone is enough to set me off.
Songs that remind me of a time, a place or a person are poignant, certainly. Ride On by Christy Moore would fall into that category. It reminds me of a time, a place and a handsome Irish boy, and it gets me every time. There was a Christy Moore session on BBC4 recently that I watched through misty eyes. Maybe it’s the masochist in me, but I fast-forwarded to Ride On, just so I could remember.
Sometimes, though it’s the lyrics that get you. The lyrics to Somebody by Depeche Mode are simple and beautiful. It’s about loving someone and wanting to be loved in return. It reminds me of a summer I spent in America and playing the song quietly on a late-night bus trip home so as not to wake the others. Coles Corner by Richard Hawley is a similarly poignant song about loneliness and wanting to find a connection with someone. It breaks my heart.
Then there are the songs that don’t hold a particularly strong emotional connection for me but nevertheless still have the ability to hit me with a punch. It might be the chord structure, it might be the minor key change, it might be the lyric. Codex by Radiohead is one such song. It floors me. The feeling starts almost from the opening bars of the piano, but it’s the horn section that just sets me off bawling. Most recently on a crowded train.
Another song that packs a punch is Sacrifice by Lisa Gerrard from the album Duality. The song is best listened to on headphones with your eyes closed and with your mind cleared of all distractions. Each time I emerge at the end of the song, I feel drained, purged and oddly euphoric.
I remember shedding quite a few tears at Ray Davies’ Glastonbury set last year as Ray and the choir sang Waterloo Sunset, followed by a spine-tingling rendition of Thank You For The Days, sung as a tribute to a friend who had recently died.
Of all the artists in my record collection though, the ones that have induced most tears is Elbow. At their recent concerts I found myself crying on a number of occasions. Firstly to Lippy Kids, then to Great Expectations. But the song that never fails to hit me with a punch is Friend of Ours from The Seldom Seen Kid album. I played it when someone close to me died and it reminds me of them. The sweeping strings, the horns, the “love ya mate” lyric leading into Craig’s beautiful piano riff just kills me.
There are probably many, many more songs I could mention. A good cry every now and then is something I can recommend. Why not dig into your own record collection and do the same…