sad songs based on real events

[sexy-girl]

this song is about a young man that killed himself by throwing himself infront of a train ... its one of my fav songs but i find it sad to listen too when it came out not that many people knew it was about real events and that the band knew the guy that did it

ok this thread will get too depressing if its just sad songs but do you know any songs that are based on real events happy or sad



"Local Boy In The Photograph" - Stereophonics

There's no mistake, I smell that smell
It's that time of year again, I can taste the air
The clocks go back, railway track
Something blocks the line again
And the train runs late for the first time

A pebble beach, we're underneath, a pier that's just been painted red
Where I heard the news for the first time

And all the friends lay down the flowers
Sit on the banks and drink for hours
Talk of the way they saw him last
Local boy in the photograph
Today

He'll always be 23, yet the train runs on and on
Past the place they found his clothing

There's no mistake, I smell that smell
It's that time of year again, I can taste the air
The clocks go back, railway track
Something blocks the line again
And the train runs late for the first time
Today

And all the friends lay down the flowers
Sit on the banks and drink for hours
Talk of the way they saw him last
Local boy in the photograph
Today

He's gone away

 

[novice]

In the air Tonight- Phil Collins.

Apparently about him seeing someone drown

 

[novice]

Tears In Heaven _Eric Clapton

about his son falling from a hotel balcony to his death.

 

[Saturn Return]

sad that this is anyone's truth..ever!

"Me And A Gun"

Tori Amos

5am
Friday morning
Thursday night
Far from sleep
I'm still up and driving
Can't go home
obviously
So I'll just change direction
Cause they'll soon konw where I live
And I wanna live
Got a full tank and some chips
It was me and a gun
And a man on my back
And I say "holy holy" as he buttoned down his pants

Me and a gun
and a man
On my back
But I haven't seen Barbados
So I must get out of this
Yes I wore a slinky red thing
Does that mean I should spread
For you, your friends your father, Mr. Ed
And I know what this means
Me and Jesus a few years back
Used to hand and he said
"It's your choice babe just remember
I don't think you'll be back in 3 days time
So you choose well"
Tell me what's right
Is it my right to be on my stomach
of Fred's Seville

Me and a gun
and a man
On my back
But I haven't seen Barbados
So I must get out of this

And do you know Carolina
Where the biscuits are soft and sweet
These things go through you head
When there's a man on your back
And you're pushed flat on your stomach
It's not a classic cadillac

Me and a gun
and a man
On my back
But I haven't seen Barbados
So I must get out of this

 

[Merelan]

Sorry, if you watch the making of "Face Value", the album, it talks about that song. Means absolutely nothing.

Sad songs about real events? Hmmm.. off the top of my head:

Tears in Heaven, Eric Clapton

Ode to Billy Joe just remade by Sheryl Crow but originally sung by Bobbi Gentry. The obvious. A boy who discovers he is gay and kills himself. Remember, it was written in the sixties.

Fist by Allgood, not really a sad song but inspired by the death of a friend.
A friend overdosed and turned the band's lives around. His death brought them all to understand what drugs were doing to them.

Sad Songs by Elton John also Candle in the Wind. Marilyn Monroe

 

[Merelan]

Janie's got a Gun, not sure if that's the title... Aerosmith Obvious again, listen to the lyrics. Her Daddy abused her, got her pregnant and she killed him. Then was locked up as Deviant, for the rest of her life. Aerosmith is making a statement here. Don't think I need to explain it.

Not sure if it qualifies... Wish you were Here, by Pink Floyd Written in mourning for their lost Syd Barrett, yes he is still alive, but a total recluse. Was the driving force behind early Pink Floyd. A tad, okay, more then a tad whacked.

 

[morninggirl5]

Tears in Heaven by Eric Clapton and If You Came Back from Heaven by Lori Morgan get to me every time.

I'm Already There by Lonestar is another one that affects me, just not to tears every time I hear it.

 

[sexy-girl]

thanks i've heard of a lot of these and knew the storys behind them ... but there are some that i havent heard/didnt know

so can you tell me the real event that the songs are based on when you post ? sorry just my sick curousity


i think its very amazing though when someone can take something so tragic and make a beautiful song about it i guess its why im sometimes drawn to these sorts of songs

 

[sexy-girl]

Possession - Sarah Mclachlan

based on a stalking letter that she received from a "fan" saying


"And I would be the one
to hold you down,
kiss you so hard,
I'll take your breath away
and after I'd wipe away the tears,
Just close your eyes dear"



Possession - Sarah Mclachlan


Through this world I've stumbled
so many times betrayed,
Trying to find an honest word,
to find the truth enslaved,
Oh you speak to me in riddles and
you speak to me in rhymes
My body aches to breathe your breath,
you words keep me alive,

And I would be the one
to hold you down,
kiss you so hard,
I'll take your breath away
and after I'd wipe away the tears,
Just close your eyes dear

Listen as the wind blows
from across the great divide,
Voices trapped in yearning,
memories trapped in time,
The night is my companion
and solitude my guide,
Would I spend forever here
and not be satisfied,

And I would be the one
to hold you down,
kiss you so hard,
I'll take your breath away
and after I'd wipe away the tears,
Just close your eyes dear

Through this world I've stumbled
so many times betrayed,
Trying to find an honest word,
to find the truth enslaved,
Oh you speak to me in riddles and
you speak to me in rhymes
My body aches to breathe your breath,
you words keep me alive,

And I would be the one
to hold you down,
kiss you so hard,
I'll take your breath away
and after I'd wipe away the tears,
Just close your eyes dear

Into this night I wander,
it's morning that I dread,
Another day of knowing of
the path I fear to tread,
Oh into the sea of waking dreams
I follow without pride,
Nothing stands between us here
and I won't be denied,

And I would be the one
to hold you down,
kiss you so hard,
I'll take your breath away
and after I'd wipe away the tears,
Just close your eyes dear...

 

[Merelan]

Okay, I edited my posts to explain the songs.

 

[sexy-girl]

Okay, I edited my posts to explain the songs.

thank you

 

[delite]

Sunday Bloody Sunday ..............U2
I don't like Mondays .............Boom Town Rats
Candle in the wind (pricess Diana version)............ Elton John

 

[gridiron]

Blink-182 "Adam's Song"

Verse I:
I never thought I'd die alone
I laughed the loudest who'd have known?
I trace the cord back to the wall
No wonder it was never plugged in at all
I took my time, I hurried up
The choice was mine I didn't think enough
I'm too depressed to go on
You'll be sorry when I'm gone

Chorus:
I never conquered, rarely came
16 just held such better days
Days when I still felt alive
We couldn't wait to get outside
The world was wide, too late to try
The tour was over I'd survived
I couldn't wait till I got home
To pass the time in my room alone

Verse II:
I never thought I'd die alone
Another six months I'll be unknown
Give all my things to all my friends
You'll never set foot in my room again
You'll close it off, board it up
Remember the time that I spilled the cup
Of apple juice in the hall
Please tell mom this is not her fault

Chorus:
I never conquered, rarely came
16 just held such better days
Days when I still felt alive
We couldn't wait to get outside
The world was wide, too late to try
The tour was over I'd survived
I couldn't wait till I got home
To pass the time in my room alone

(Bridge)

Chorus:
I never conquered, rarely came
But tomorrow holds such better days
Days when I can still feel alive
When I can't wait to get outside
The world is wide, the time goes by
The tour is over, I've survived
I can't wait till I get home
To pass the time in my room alone

 

[lovetoread]

The song Garth Brooks sang after the Oklahoma bombing. The name escapes me though.

 

[StondTmplPilot]

The Wreck of The Edmund Fitzgerald

I don't know the words, but it was written by Gordon Lightfoot shortly after the tragic loss of the frieghter Edmund Fitzgerald to the Greatest of the Great Lakes.

It is a sad, but at the same time, a beautiful, song.

 

[gridiron]

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

Here ya are, Pilot..


Gordon Lightfoot - "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they called "Gitche Gumee"
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy
With a load of iron ore twenty-six thousand tons more
Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty.
That good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
When the "Gales of November" came early.

The ship was the pride of the American side
Coming back from some mill in Wisconsin
As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most
With a crew and good captain well seasoned
Concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
When they left fully loaded for Cleveland
And later that night when the ship's bell rang
Could it be the north wind they'd been feelin'?

The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound
And a wave broke over the railing
And every man knew, as the captain did too,
T'was the witch of November come stealin'.
The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
When the Gales of November came slashin'.
When afternoon came it was freezin' rain
In the face of a hurricane west wind.

When suppertime came, the old cook came on deck sayin'.
"Fellas, it's too rough to feed ya."
At Seven P.M. a main hatchway caved in, he said
"Fellas, it's been good t'know ya"
The captain wired in he had water comin' in
And the good ship and crew was in peril.
And later that night when 'is lights went outta sight
Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Does any one know where the love of God goes
When the waves turn the minutes to hours?
The searches all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay
If they'd put fifteen more miles behind her.
They might have split up or they might have capsized;
May have broke deep and took water.
And all that remains is the faces and the names
Of the wives and the sons and the daughters.

Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
In the rooms of her ice-water mansion.
Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreams;
The islands and bays are for sportsmen.
And farther below Lake Ontario
Takes in what Lake Erie can send her,
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
With the Gales of November remembered.

In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed,
In the "Maritime Sailors' Cathedral."
The church bell chimed till it rang twenty-nine times
For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald.
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call "Gitche Gumee".
"Superior", they said, "never gives up her dead
When the 'Gales of November' come early!"

 

[Saturn Return]

The Freshman
The Verve Pipe

Song about a girl whom killed herself after the lead singer's friend dumped her in college.

When I was young I knew everything
And she a punk who rarely ever took advice
Now I'm guilt stricken, sobbing with my head on the floor
Stop a baby's breath and a shoe full of rice

I can't be held responsible
'Cause she was touching her face
I won't be held responsible
She fell in love in the first place

For the life of me I cannot remember
What made us think that we were wise and we'd never compromise
For the life of me I cannot believe we'd ever die for these sins
We were merely freshmen

My best friend took a week's vacation to forget her
His girl took a week's worth of valium and slept
Now he's guilt stricken sobbing with his head on the floor
Thinks about her now and how he never really wept he says

I can't be held responsible
'Cause she was touching her face
I won't be held responsible
She fell in love in the first place

For the life of me I cannot remember
What made us think that we were wise and we'd never compromise
For the life of me I cannot believe we'd ever die for these sins
We were merely freshmen

We've tried to wash our hands of all of this
We never talk of our lacking relationships
And how we're guilt stricken sobbing with our heads on the floor
We fell through the ice when we tried not to slip, we'd say

I can't be held responsible
'Cause she was touching her face
I won't be held responsible
She fell in love in the first place

For the life of me I cannot remember
What made us think that we were wise and we'd never compromise
For the life of me I cannot believe we'd ever die for these sins
We were merely freshmen

For the life of me I cannot remember
What made us think that we were wise and we'd never compromise
For the life of me I cannot believe we'd ever die for these sins
We were merely freshmen
We were merely freshmen
We were merely freshmen

 

[StondTmplPilot]

Thanks Grid!

 

[Svedish_Chef]

Self explanatory I think

Madonna - In this life.

Sitting on a park bench
Thinking about a friend of mine
He was only 23
Gone before he had his time
It came without a warning
Didn't want his friends to see him cry
He knew the day was dawning
And I didn't have a chance to say goodbye

In this life I loved you most of all
What for?
'Cause now you're gone and I have to ask myself
What for?

What for?
Driving down the boulevard
Thinking about a man I knew
He was like a father to me
Nothing in the world that he wouldn't do
Taught me to respect myself
Said that we're all made of flesh and blood
Why should he be treated differently
Shouldn't matter who you choose to love

In this life I loved you most of all
What for?
'Cause now you're gone and I have to ask myself
What for?

People pass by and I wonder who's next
Who determines, who knows best
Is there a lesson I'm supposed to learn in this case
Ignorance is not bliss

In this life I loved you most of all
What for?
'Cause now you're gone and I have to ask myself
What for?

People pass by and I wonder who's next
Who determines, who knows best
Is there a lesson I'm supposed to learn in this case
Ignorance is not bliss

Have you ever watched your best friend die [what for]
Have you ever watched a grown man cry [what for]
Some say that life isn't fair [what for]
I say that people just don't care [what for]
They'd rather turn the other way [what for]
And wait for this thing to go away [what for]
Why do we have to pretend [what for]
Some day I pray it will end

I hope it's in this life
I hope it's in this life time
I hope it's in this life
I hope it's in this life time

 

[1HotNurse]

Sad songs

Angels in Waiting-female country singer

She sings about her 2 brothers who have both died from cystic fibrosis. I cry every time I hear that song.

 

[nasty]

The song Garth Brooks sang after the Oklahoma bombing. The name escapes me though.

The Change. THat song would effect me deeper if, I knew the words. The song that effects me, most recently is "Where Were You,(When The World Stopped Turning?) About Sept. 11. Know, I'm not one to get too emotional, often, but, THIS SONG!!!!!! WHEW!!!!!!!!!! I'll despence of the lyrics, but, if you've heard it, you know why it's SO MOVING!!!!!!!!!!

 

[april-wine]

The Change. THat song would effect me deeper if, I knew the words. The song that effects me, most recently is "Where Were You,(When The World Stopped Turning?) About Sept. 11. Know, I'm not one to get too emotional, often, but, THIS SONG!!!!!! WHEW!!!!!!!!!! I'll despence of the lyrics, but, if you've heard it, you know why it's SO MOVING!!!!!!!!!!

Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning)


Verse:

Where were you when the world stop turning on that September day
Were you in the yard with your wife and children
Or working on some stage in L.A.
Did you stand there in shock at the sight of that black smoke
Rising against that blue sky
Did you shout out in anger, in fear for your neighbor
Or did you just sit down and cry
Did you weep for the children who lost their dear loved ones
And pray for the ones who don't know
Did you rejoice for the people who walked from the rubble
And sob for the ones left below
Did you burst out in pride for the red, white and blue
And the heroes who died just doin' what they do
Did you look up to heaven for some kind of answer
And look at yourself and what really matters

Chorus:

I'm just a singer of simple songs
I'm not a real political man
I watch CNN but I'm not sure I could
Tell you the difference in Iraq and Iran
But I know Jesus and I talk to God
And I remember this from when I was young
Faith, hope and love are some good things He gave us
And the greatest is love

Verse:

Where were you when the world stop turning on that September day
Teaching a class full of innocent children
Or driving down some cold interstate
Did you feel guilty 'cause you're a survivor
In a crowded room did you feel alone
Did you call up your mother and tell her you loved her
Did you dust off that bible at home
Did you open your eyes, hope it never happened
And you close your eyes and not go to sleep
Did you notice the sunset the first time in ages
Or speak to some stranger on the street
Did you lay down at night and think of tomorrow
Go out and buy you a gun
Did you turn off that violent old movie you're watchin'
And turn on "I Love Lucy" reruns
Did you go to a church and hold hands with some strangers
Stand in line and give your own blood
Did you just stay home and cling tight to your family
Thank God you had somebody to love

Repeat Chorus

 

[nasty]

I just heard that song, and, yet AGAIN, it chilled me to the bone.

 

[lovetoread]

Nasty,

I agree it hits you hard. Affects me the same way.

 

[kiwiwolf]

The song Garth Brooks sang after the Oklahoma bombing. The name escapes me though.

Was it "If Tomorrow Never Comes" ?