November 29, 2001

10:13 AM

Adios Ayer by Jose Padilla (Track 13 of Cafe Del Mar Vol. 6) is one of the most emotionally touching songs I've heard. What songs have touched you on a deeply emotional level?
posted by physics (37 comments total)

"Jane Said" live by Jane's Addiction. A wrenching portrait of a heroin addict.
posted by archeopterix at 10:16 AM on November 29, 2001

The version of "Truth is Marching In" on Albert Ayler's "Live in Greenwich Village" - never fails to (strangely) soothe and inspire.
posted by ryanshepard at 10:19 AM on November 29, 2001

Everybody has their own life soundtrack. Here's mine.

Hey. He asked.
posted by ZachsMind at 10:20 AM on November 29, 2001

O. V. Wright's version of "Let's Straighten It Out". Also, "The Turning Point" by Jimmy Holiday (on one of Dave Godin's compilations).
posted by Mocata at 10:32 AM on November 29, 2001

nearly 3/4 of ani difranco's songs. despite me being a guy and all.
posted by lotsofno at 10:34 AM on November 29, 2001

on the cd i have with me at work: "downhill racer" by everything but the girl (buy their album, "temperamental"; jesus. christ. beauty made sonic.)
posted by moz at 10:36 AM on November 29, 2001

C'mon, people! Take it to Metasurvey! Or is it Surveyfilter?.
posted by owen at 10:37 AM on November 29, 2001

Joel R.L. Phelps's 'Now You Are Found', from his album Inland Empires.
(from CMJ review):Written in remembrance of Phelps' sister, who recently committed suicide, it peels back layers of guilt, sorrow and memory with subtle, touching restraint broken only by Phelps' verge-of-tears delivery. Devastating.

note: semi-self-links
posted by skwm at 10:41 AM on November 29, 2001

The two songs which are capable of moving me to tears are remarkably unhep choices-"In My Room" by the Beach Boys and "Coat of many Colors" by Dolly Parton. Now these songs may strike many of you as "trite," but as writer Tim Sandlin said(about country music in general, but it applies here too honesty is often trite.
posted by jonmc at 10:46 AM on November 29, 2001

Back back back in the back of your mind
are you learning an angry language
tell me boy boy boy are you tending to your joy
or are you just letting it vanquish

Who are these old old old people in their nursing homes just scowling away at nothing
like big rag dolls just cursing at the walls and pulling out all of their stuffing
every day is a door leading back to the core
yes old age will distill you
and if you're "this this this" full of bitterness now
some day it will just fill you

your arrogance is gaining on you
as slow as eternity
you better put some beauty back
while you got the energy

posted by holloway at 11:02 AM on November 29, 2001

owen: i apologize if this post appears like a survey, it's just something i thought would make a great topic. i'm always in search of new music and thought it would be a great way for the mefi community to discover new music as well.

btw: Unicornio performed by Cecelia Noël (originally by Silvio Rodriguez) is another great song that I haven't been able to find other than in BMW's Film The Follow. Although, Charly Garcia's and Mercedes Sosa's version isn't all that bad, I want Cecelia Noël's version!
posted by physics at 11:08 AM on November 29, 2001

Mozart's Requiem Mass. I listen to it whenever I'm depressed, always stopping at the Lacrimosa- which seems both a natural end point (you can really hear the hand of Sussmayer after that) and the one that releases all that built-up emotion in a great cathartic wave.

I know, it may be controversial to say this, but I honestly think Mozart was a musical genius... ;)
posted by hincandenza at 11:10 AM on November 29, 2001

i was going to post some smartass response, say, 'kick out the jams, m*therf*cker' by mc5. but truthfully, almost anything from any yes album. if forced to choose from among the many, i guess i'd say 'gates of delerium' from the relayer album. obtuse, inaccessible, poorly recorded and off the map as it is, it's an emotional tour-de-force for anyone with the persistence to be with it. i can't beleive it's over 30 years old. i love yes.
posted by quonsar at 11:11 AM on November 29, 2001

Funny. I was thinking about the very same thing this morning.

Any song on Fiona Apple's When the Pawn.... In particular "Love Ridden." I can't get over how tragically beautiful her style is for her age.
posted by eyeballkid at 11:33 AM on November 29, 2001

Kristen Vigard singing the Elvis Costello composition "God Give Me Strength" in the movie "Grace of My Heart".
This version is superior to the Costello/Bacarach version and the gawdawful Bette Midler cover, because its just voice and piano and the full impact of the words hit you like fist in the gut.
I would also suggest "I've Been A Mess" by perhaps most criminally overlooked band of the last decade: The American Music Club.
posted by black8 at 11:37 AM on November 29, 2001

"Blood and Fire," by the Indigo Girls. I listened to it a lot when I was going through a bad time, and Amy Ray's wracked voice just made me ache. Also, it's right near the top of my vocal range, and singing along with it in the car was really cathartic.
posted by diddlegnome at 11:45 AM on November 29, 2001

Symphony Number 3 (Symphony Of Sorrowful Songs) by Henryk Gorecki is probably the single most moving piece of music that I've ever heard (or will hear).

Being an electronic and indie music fiend, I could pick several things from either of those genres as well, but the above piece nearly brings me to tears every time I hear it and there's nothing else that really comes close to that.
posted by almostcool at 11:55 AM on November 29, 2001

Fields of Gold (Real Audio) by Eva Cassidy. If you've heard only Sting's version, you haven't really heard it.
posted by mw at 12:05 PM on November 29, 2001

Tony Bennett frequently touches me very intimately.
posted by EngineBeak at 12:08 PM on November 29, 2001

Enginebeak-that sounds vaguely obscene...
posted by jonmc at 12:16 PM on November 29, 2001

Holly Cole. Stephen Sondheim's Loving You and Blame It On My Youth by Heyman & Levant transport me elsewhere.
posted by mmarcos at 12:20 PM on November 29, 2001

I like the first part of Queen's "Who wants to live forever".......great singing there
posted by ericdano at 12:47 PM on November 29, 2001

Dido's songs: "Thank You," moves me to happy tears; "My Lover's Gone" and "Hunter" to sad tears. Dang, her whole
album, "No Angel" gets under my skin.
posted by Lynsey at 2:43 PM on November 29, 2001

Off the top of my head: River Man by Nick Drake; Aguas de Marco by AC Jobim and Elis Regina; Patriot - a single and Farmer in the City by Scott Walker; Aivoton by Hedningarna (for the vocals rather than the meaning of the lyrics); Gold and Swim by Peter Blegvad; Les Marquises and Mon Enfance by Jaques Brel.

Oddest of all last year's live version of Mechanik Destruktiw Kommandoh by Magma.
posted by Grangousier at 2:59 PM on November 29, 2001

Two others have mentioned Ani DiFranco, but me too.

Black, by Pearl Jam. Especially the version played April 1994 in Atlanta.
posted by jragon at 3:23 PM on November 29, 2001

Anything by Erik Satie. Hauntingly beautiful piano compositions.
posted by catatonic at 3:44 PM on November 29, 2001

Tindersticks "Cherry Blossoms"
Elvis Costello "The Birds Will Still Be Singing"
Tom Waits "A Little Rain"
Lou Reed "The Bed"
posted by Kafkaesque at 4:03 PM on November 29, 2001

Debussy's Clair de Lune (mp3). When I'm sad, it makes me happy. When I'm happy it makes me ecstatic. When I'm cold and lonely it makes me warm and reminds me of the love in my life. It's a magical song.
posted by Dreama at 4:13 PM on November 29, 2001

'Ordinary Joe' by Terry Callier always gets me. Also 'Everything You Do Is A Balloon' by Boards Of Canada. As well as 'Comes A Time', 'Sugar Mountain' and 'I Am A Child' by Neil Young. Dammit, I'm going on a bit...
posted by boneybaloney at 4:27 PM on November 29, 2001

Protection, Massive Attack

And I've leaned on you / Now you can lean on me And that's more than love, that's the way It should be / Now I can't change the way you think / But I can put my arms around you / That's just part of the deal / That's the way I feel / I put my arms around you / I stand in front of you / I'll take the force of the blow / Protection / I stand in front of you / I'll take the force of the blow / Protection

That's more than love, that's the way it should be.
posted by signal at 4:46 PM on November 29, 2001

Ella Fitzgerald & Duke Ellington - "It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing": jazzy, very expressive, makes me get in a good mood (look for the 6.8 MB live version!).

To a lesser degree, the same is true for Lamb's "B line".
posted by willem at 5:43 PM on November 29, 2001

One of the most beautiful and moving pieces of music that I have heard is Allegri's Miserere. It has this soaring high "C" that is exquisite. It was apparently an 'abbellimenti' not written down, and only performed in the Sistine Chapel until transcribed by Mozart at some tender young age. I have recently read much that casts doubt on a lot of this myth (and clarifies the original' composition before Mozart's "assistance"), but I am completely in love with this 'adjusted' and more famous version.
Also, James, Fiona Apple (I love her cover of The Beatles' Across the Universe). Lastly, Ladysmith Black Mambazo always reminds me of my childhood, although they're not Zimbabwean. :) Oh well.

As a side thought - I wonder whether the music of Richard D. James and other more experimental artists moves people emotionally? I know get emotional about a lot of songs made with the classic chord steps of what constitutes the vast majority of modern pop, so maybe is all personal... I certainly enjoy Aphex Twin et al and I don't doubt experimental/electronic musicians' abilities, but often wonder whether they are emotionally compelling or not.
posted by Hypnerotomachia at 5:59 PM on November 29, 2001

speaking of nick drake: strange meeting II, fruit tree, pink moon. so many others.
posted by moz at 6:00 PM on November 29, 2001

Dark Was The Night (Cold Was The Ground)--mp3 --by Blind Willie Johnson, for one. Skip James' Devil Got My Woman, for another, this one via the boombox button, then the star to the right of Enid, at Ghost World.
posted by y2karl at 6:10 PM on November 29, 2001

Agree on the Nick Drake, especially Pink Volkswagen. Also: Tom Waits, Martha; Tricky, She Makes Me Wanna Die; Dylan, You're a Big Girl Now; and Sinatra's Watertown in its entirety. Honestly, that is one odd, hard to get, and devastating Sinatra concept album.
posted by D at 8:09 PM on November 29, 2001

eels - "P.S. You Rock My World"
posted by Mrmuhnrmuh at 8:37 PM on November 29, 2001

Top 5 (not necessarily in this order)
1. Cake - Mexico
2. Modest Mouse - Bankrupt on Selling
3. Neutral Milk Hotel - Oh, Comely
4. Townes Van Zandt - Dead Flowers
5. Nirvana - Where did you sleep last night?

Special holiday song mention:
Old City Bar by Trans-Siberian Orchestra
posted by eschewed at 11:45 PM on November 29, 2001