Barry Manilow once claimed to write the songs that made the whole world cry, but today that trophy goes to everyone from Taylor Swift to Eric Clapton.
When it comes to tear jerkers, there’s one for every occasion.
#20 Broken Friendships
Everything Has Changed by Taylor Swift Feat. Ed Sheeran
We all know that feeling. You’ve moved home and miss your old buddies. Taylor and Ed sum it up in this sad song about friendships.
Lyrics: “Your eyes look like coming home … Just wanna know you better … But everything has changed”.
#missingyoualready
#19 Sad piano songs
Lost Boy by Ruth B has just enough melody to hold up those beautiful lyrics about feeling lost and like an outsider.
Lyrics: “I am a lost buy from Neverland, usually hanging out wth Peter Pan … Always on the run from Captain Hook … Away from all of reality.”
Hang in there Ruth, we’re all outliers in the end.
#18 Best sad songs
Sign of the Times by Harry Styles
Lyrics: “Just stop your crying it’s a sign of the times, we gotta get away from here. Just stop your crying it’ll be alright.”
This is a sad rock song with a millennial twist as Styles belts out the bellowy tune then drops into that heartbreaking falsetto.
If you’ve had a bad day and this doesn’t have you in tears, you must be a stone
#17 Songs about death
Living Years by Mike and the Mechanics.
This is the Mechanics’ classic song about how he wishes he’d told his dad how much he meant to him before he died.
Lyrics: ” I just wish I could have told him in the living years.”
Don’t waste a minute peeps, tell your folks you love them, right now!
#16 Sad breakup songs
Anyone whose had a break up will relate to this – that one person who “got away” which Adele sums up in Someone Like You.
Lyrics: “Never mind I’ll find someone like you … don’t forget me I beg, I remember you said, sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead.”
Doesn’t it just. Begging doesn’t get you anywhere, but somehow listening to this on repeat seems to help.
#15 Sad love songs
A Thousand Years by Christina Perri is one of the saddest love songs ever. And talk about taking romance to a new level …
Lyrics: “Gonna love you for a thousand years … love you for a thousand more.”
Not sure we’ve all got that much to give but this is a corker when you’re feeling down in the dumps and wanna bring on the tears.
#14 Songs that make you cry
Sad by Maroon 5
Lyrics: “Oh but I’m scared to death that there may not be another one like this … And I confess that I’m only holding on by a thin, thin thread.”
Who would have thought even Adam Levine would feel relationship woes. His powerful vocals will put a lump in your throat for sure. We’re always here if you get lonely, Adam.
#13 Sad lyrics
Dancing On My Own by Callum Scott
What a voice. But he’s not the guy you’re taking home and he’s pretty upset about it.
Lyrics: “I’m in the corner watching you kiss her … and I’m giving it my all but I’m not the guy you’re taking home.”
Callum, we’ll take you any day so don’t worry petal. Keep dancing, we’ll be there soon.
#12 Most depressing song
Nothing Compares 2U by Sinead O’Connor
Released on 8 Jan, 1990 in the dead of the British winter it was hankies all round while Sinead was literally counting the hours.
Lyrics: “It’s been 17 hours and 15 days since you took your love away.”
There’s nothing more tragic than wishing they still loved you. Sinead, we feel your pain.
#11 Song to listen to when you’re sad
It doesn’t get much more melancholic than Linger by The Cranberries. That haunting vocal and jangly guitar will have you weeping into your hands before you remember Dolores O’Riordan the lead singer died in January 2018.
Lyrics: “You know I’m such a fool for you, you got me wrapped around your finger, did you have to let it linger…”
He was having an affair, he kept her hanging on, she kept loving him. Been there …
#10 Most popular sad songs
Strong by London Grammar
Haunting lyrics and vocals to match and that video that suggests a broken home where the kids are left to suffer – it’s enough to make you weep.
Lyrics: “Have you wondered for a while, had a feeling deep down, you’re caught in the middle.”
And the tears just keep flowing.
#9 Sad songs about hard times
Angels by Robbie Williams
For an ex-boy band member, Robbie has coined some deep and meaningful tear jerkers and Angels is one of them. Written about the love his mum has for him it’s a heartwarming song that’s sad and uplifting in the same breath.
Lyrics: “I sit and wait. Does an angel contemplate my fate? And do they know the places where we go when we’re grey and old.”
We’re praying for your happiness, Robbie.
#8 Saddest Country song
Ronan Keating’s cover of the classic country song, If Tomorrow Never Comes is so sad it’ll definitely make you cry. Imagine dying before you had a chance to tell your loved one how much they mean to you.
Lyrics: “If tomorrow never comes will she know how much I loved her … did I try in every way to show her every day she’s my only one … Is the love I gave her in the past gonna be enough to last if tomorrow never comes.”
We hope so, Ronan, we really do.
#7 Missed opportunities and unrequited love
You could almost choose any song from The Greatest Showman for a sad song list, but Never Enough is one of the most heartbreaking. Especially if you watch the video and see Philip (Zac Efron) reach out a hand to Anne (Zendaya) and witness her turning him down. How could she.
Lyrics: “All the shine from a thousand spotlights … it’ll never be enough”
Can someone pass the tissues please.
#6 When you should have said sorry
Apologize by Timbaland feat. OneRepublic
OneRepublic know how to pull the heart strings (think Burning Bridges), but in this tune they’re accompanying Timbaland and it’s enough to make you weep.
Lyrics: “You tell me that you need me then you go and cut me down … It’s too late to apologise.”
Damn.
#5 Saddest slow song
Say Something I’m giving Up On You by A Great Big World and Christina Aguilera
Ever had one of those arguments that turn into a war of silence. That plus one of the most heartbreaking videos makes this a super sad slow song. The old couple in the video? It’s almost too much to watch.
Lyrics: “Anywhere I would have followed you. Say something I’m giving up on you. And I am feeling so small. It was over my head I knew nothing at all.and I will stumble and fall. I’m still learning to love just starting to crawl.
When it comes to relationships, we’re all hanging on by a thread.
#4 Sad lyrics
Candle in the Wind by Elton John.
Elton re-wrote and performed his hit song at Princess Diana’s funeral in 1997 and unsurprisingly there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.
0Lyrics: “Goodbye England’s rose may you always grow in our hearts … and it seems to me you lived your life like a candle in the wind.”
Choking up…
#3 Biggest tear jerker ever
Oh Canada by Missy Higgins
Doesn’t get more heartbreaking than a 3-year-old Syrian boy being washed up on a foreign shore. And to know that it’s a song about real life not fiction, well, this song will make you think and cry and end up in one bawling heap of mess.
Lyrics: “He was running from the terror with this father who once believed that nothing could be worse … Oh Canada if you could help me out. All I wanted was a safe place for my family.”
Missy Higgins sure knows how to pull those heartstrings.
#2 Sad songs about death
Hurt by Christina Aguilera
Let’s face it, most of us blame our parents for the things we couldn’t do and Aguilera summed it all up in this 2009 smash hit which will have you in tears every single time.
Lyrics: “Seems like it was yesterday when I saw your face, you told me how proud you were but I walked away. If only I knew what I know today.”
Never mind X factor 2019, this is Cry Factor 5 million.
#1 Saddest song ever
Tears in Heaven by Eric Clapton
No contest, this is The. Saddest. Song. Ever.
Clapton write this song after his 4-year-old son Conor fell from a 53 storey window on March 20, 1991.
2Lyrics: “Would you know my name if I saw you in heaven. Would it be the same if I saw you in heaven.”
Don’t even get me started.
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