The Sad Son: A true story about mental illness and a mother's love

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A Love Letter to I’m Sorry and a Tribute to Funny Moms in 3 Bits By Annie Berke September 6, 2023 | 11:48am

Paste Magazine The 50 Saddest Songs of All Time - Paste Magazine

Matt Vasquez wrote this History From Below tearjerker as an ode to his late grandparents, who both passed away within a short timeframe. It’s written from the perspective of his deceased grandfather, who implores his still-living wife to “sleep oh sleep, my Vivian” because “heaven is too cold without you.” I mean, come on. If your heart is made of stone and that’s not enough to choke you up, he also visits his ailing wife from beyond the grave to comfort her as she dies: “I know it’s hard to deal with the pain/you’re yellow from your liver giving out/so just close your eyes and think of me/oh, Jerry’s not leaving this gal.” I’m getting misty just thinking about it.— Bonnie Stiernberg Saudade finishes as it started, with an instrumental given the name of a saying derived from a foreign language – Sine Qua Non, meaning something that, in its absence, would result in something else not happening, some kind of emotional catalyst. As such, it bookends Saudade very effectively and leaves us with a pleasant taste in the mouth after some emotional depths have been plumbed. The Verve are often accused of overproducing their songs until they are too sugary to enjoy. Richard Ashcroft is accepted as the leading frontman of his time and gives a stunning vocal to his song about a personal journey through substance use and depression. Ashcroft’s personal demons have become his driving force and this song reflects on the time he lost to this substance abuse. Musically, it is difficult to pigeonhole the music Powell makes, but I get flashes of early Bowie, Keane and the much-missed Delays in the songs that make up Saudade. Powell is that most old-fashioned of things, a singer/songwriter, a phrase that seems to have fallen out of favour in recent times but one that seems to sum things up here. Former boy band singer, Robbie Williams was failing to establish himself as a solo artist when he released Angels. “When I’m feeling weak, and my pain walks down a one-way street” is a pretty bleak opening to any song. Angels is a popular funeral song in Europe and gives everybody a chance to wallow in misery for three minutes.When Claire walked into a room, men paid attention. She was beautiful, she was blonde, and she dressed like a Kardashian. The song titles hint at Powell’s mood as he worked, with Deserted By Every God and These Tears Won’t Cry Themselves evoking desolate images before a note of the album is played. It is a pleasant surprise then that Saudade is a far cry from being a downbeat trip through somebody else’s solitude and is instead an uplifting and ultimately positive experience. Drake’s album, Take Care, is 20 songs of emotion and unhappiness. Doing it Wrong jumps to the top of the list of Drake’s great breakup songs. The emotion of the artist comes through and will help you channel your unhappiness.

The Sad Son: A surprisingly funny memoir about mental illness The Sad Son: A surprisingly funny memoir about mental illness

Everybody Hurts” is one of the rare songs on this list that actually offers catharsis. It’s beautifully simple: you’re sad, but you’re not alone because “everybody hurts, everybody cries.” You’re human, in other words, and we all have our moments. So take R.E.M.’s advice, “take comfort in your friends,” blast this song, have yourself a good cry, and then move on. You’ll feel better, I promise.— Bonnie Stiernberg Few songs have the emotional power of Maps because of the rawness of the situation. Karen O was in a relationship with fellow musician, Angus Andrew when she wrote the song about being away from her lover. The video features a crying Karen O who was upset about the fact Andrew was late for the video shoot and she would leave on tour directly after the promo was completed. Yes, sad songs do say so much. And these 50 songs helped the Paste staff to hurt so good. I tried to keep it to one song per artist but Johnny Cash ended up getting a pass. This list barely scratches the surface of sad songs—or even sad songs that got nominated by our writers. If your favorite is missing, add it to the comments section below. Here are our 50 favorite of the saddest songs:It’s difficult to talk about “Two-Headed Boy Pt. 2” without talking about the album it brings to a powerful close, but I do believe that even without the context of In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, the song stands out as one of the most moving pieces of music in the past two decades. Like most of Jeff Mangum’s work, there are times when you have to put in some effort to parse the expressionistic imagery (“blister please with those wings in your spine…how he’d love to find your tongue in his teeth”) but at other times, the emotion is plain and jarring. “In my dreams you’re alive,” he sings, in that plaintive, keening, inimitable voice, and it builds to a climax that I, personally, find devastating: “When we break, we’ll wait for our miracle. God is a place you will wait for the rest of your life.” I can’t think of a better way to encapsulate the hope and fear and agony and grace of being alive. Nor can I think of anyone who can somehow express this inexpressible concept with such power and emotional precision quite like Mangum. At the song’s end, you can hear the scuffling sound of a chair as he rises and leaves—a subtle, poignant conclusion to one of the most singular, beautiful albums ever made.— Shane Ryan Stark. The echo chamber of a broken heart for a beat; dried twigs scratching at a cold window for a voice make Townes Van Zandt’s “Waitin’ Around To Die” a haunting more than a song. Beaten women, getting hustled, crime gone bad, jail time, addiction. Two minutes, 23 seconds of harsh reality, stoic in its acceptance of a fate worse than death.— Holly Gleason

The Sad Song Co.: Saudade - album review | Louder Than War The Sad Song Co.: Saudade - album review | Louder Than War

Tori Amos made a living out of heartbreak in the 1990s and early-2000s. Tear in Your Hand is a masterpiece of the sad song genre. The song tells the story of a woman who is going through a painful breakup and contemplating the meaning of her life.Well, it's been a rough old few years, hasn't it? And sure, it's 2023, but even without the global pandemic, life can get a little sad from time to time. Sometimes the only antidote is a tub of ice cream, some incredibly sad songs and a seriously good cry. So don't worry, we've got you. In our opinion, the best sad songs don’t just whine and gesture at bad feelings - they wallow in the depths with you. George Jones thought the song was too sappy and cliché to be a hit but recorded it years after he had reached his commercial peak. The country staple has sounded melodramatic in the hands of other bands and singers but Jones gives the story of loss and lost loves a poignant feeling that breaks your heart.