Music & memories

I agree that Old Man River is a very moving song( tired of living, and scared of dying.)Paul Robeson had a wonderful voice just right for this song.
Anything from Madam Butterfly is beautiful.Why shouldn't we be selfish and spend all our money on gloves and brandy, or in this case, records!

I learned a long time ago that, if anything sad was happening in my life not to play any music that I would want to play in the future because, listening to it put me straight back into that moment. A song that I was playing a lot one Christmas[Nik Kershaw]when I heard that my neighbours son had been killed in a car crash . Still can't listen to it. The Aha song that I played in the car when I drove to the nursing home where my dad had passed away [Scoundrel Days]. The 10,000 Maniacs song that I, again, played in the car when I had my beloved spaniel put to sleep. More recently I've been moving my cd's around and putting them [yet again] into alphabetical order, and there's a Dido album that I used to play when I would drive in the early hours of the morning to pick my son up from wherever he'd been; just looking at it made me so aware of the passage of time..another album I'd just bought when he'd split up from his girlfriend and was very unhappy. It's got me thinkng about how people used to feel listening to all the old wartime songs.

My poor MiL, lost in dementia, insisted that the 2 young students in the flat above hers, were constantly playing Old Man River,sung by Paul Robeson.
It brings back sad memories when I hear it now.

DD is 50 this week, and top of the hit parade in 1965 was "Trains and Boats and Planes" - brings it all back. (Bit of a traumatic time, but brilliant afterwards)

And my mother, the musician, always sang "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" to me - it still brings tears.

But, of all the songs, it's Sandy Denny singing "Who Knows Where the Time Goes" ....

I can't listen to 'Somewhere over the Rainbow' without crying. Eva Cassidy's version was played at my friend's funeral (42 years old) and it just tears me apart.

So does 'There's a Land Somewhere' from Westside Story and 'Abide with me'

In fact most sad songs turn me into a blubbering wreck!

LL if you find Somewhere over the rainbow sad, watch this version -- the jar at the end contains the singers ashes , he die at 38. (Israel "Iz" Kaʻanoʻi Kamakawiwoʻole )

I don't know whether I dare pompa..........

oops forgot the link - www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_DKWlrA24k

I have a CD of Paul Robeson songs sung by Sir Willard White but strangely, it doesn't have Ol' Man River on it. I went to see him in concert a while ago and he sang it then. He also sang Lazy Bones, which my dad used to sing to me, and I used to sing it to GS.

Oh yes, 'lazybones, sleeping in the sun' I remember that one.

The day after my mum died, my brother and sister-in-law were woken early by the sound of their 13 year old daughter accompanying herself on the piano as she sang Michael Bolton's 'How am I supposed to live without you?'. That was nearly 24 years ago and I have never since been able to listen to that song without tears.

So many sad songs get me going, though, even if they're not associated with a personal memory. One that always does it for me is Bette Midler's 'Wind beneath my Wings' . East 17 singing 'Stay another Day' I know has been played at so many funerals - my hairdresser had a friend who died in her early 20's and this was played at her funeral. I didn't know her but I always think of my hairdresser if I hear this. And cry, of course.

It might sound silly to others, but when our beloved cat, Patch, died in the early 80s, a song that was played a lot on the radio, Bright Eyes, by Art Garfunkel, really got to me, and still makes me think of lovely Patch.
Printmiss, thank you for reminding me about Paul Robeson, he had a wonderful voice, haven`t heard any of his records for ages.

Over the Rainbow (Johnny Mercer/E Y Harburg) nearly didn't make it...
A studio executive said 'no-one wants to see a kid singing to a bunch of chickens...' Ah Hollywood - I swear they made some great movies by accident!

Eva Cassidy singing Fields of Barley was played at my sister in-law's funeral, as was Catch The Wind by Donovan. Both make me sad when I hear them.

AshTree your post made me cry.

Several songs can reduce me to tears but not because of specific memories just due to their moving lyrics.

"Somewhere over the rainbow" Eva Cassidy, we played at dh funeral, I've not heard it played anywhere when I have been out and I don't have the raidio on, but when dd had to put new GS in nursery earlier than expected, she was so upset the first day, but when she went to collect him he was asleep in the cot and the mobile that they have next to him was playing "somewhere over the rainbow"....