The twenty (actual) saddest songs of all time

Earlier this week, The Telegraph published the results of it's poll about the twenty saddest songs of all time. I was appalled by the list for several reasons.

Firstly because the top song, Everybody Hurts, is not sad in the least - it is an uplifting tune about the strength of the human spirit, about, as the songs says, taking comfort in your friends and not being alone, even when you feel like you are. What is remotely sad about that?

Secondly, you CANNOT have a list of the saddest songs ever and feature the fucking Beatles and Celine Dion. The guys who wrote I Feel Fine and I Want To Hold Your Hand clearly no nothing about the extent of true misery - Yesterday, which appears on the list, was originally a song about scrambled eggs. Likewise with Mrs. Dion..the only thing sad about My Heart Will Go On is that it didn't go down with the rest of the ship. And, like the R.E.M. song before it, the message it carries is actually one of enduring hope.

Put simply, for the most part these are not sad songs and with that in mind, I present my alternative selection of the twenty saddest songs of all time:


20. With Or Without You - U2



19. Save Me - Queen



18. Fire And Rain - James Taylor



17. A Woman Left Lonely - Janis Joplin



16. What Will You Say - Jeff Buckley



15. Sinead O'Connor - Last Day Of Our Acquaintance



14. You Never Wanted Me - Jackson Frank



13. Someone Saved My Life Tonight - Elton John



12. The Brilliant Dance - Dashboard Confessional



11. Don't Think Twice, It's Alright - Bob Dylan



10. Disintegration - The Cure



9. Unsatisfied - The Replacements



8. These Days - Jackson Browne



7. Empty - Ray Lamontagne



6. One Step Up - Bruce Springsteen



5. I See A Darkness - Johnny Cash (original by Will Oldham)



4. Friends - Ryan Adams



3. Crossing Muddy Waters - John Hiatt



2. River - Joni Mitchell



1. Asleep - The Smiths




If all this gloom has you weeping into your Nutrigrain wrapper please check out the blog of my friend Kate, who has reversed the polarity of my particular disposition to come up with the twenty happiest songs of all time