There are songs too sad for me to sing
to sing that is, without tearing up
and who can wait for the singer to recover
and compose themselves sufficiently to continue…
At first there was just one song I couldn’t manage
Elvis Presley’s “In the Ghetto” – I could listen
but when I tried to sing it -my throat closed
and my eyes watered – I could not perform
As years go by more songs are added to the canon
of those I cannot get through without weeping
and often I cannot listen either – are they
songs of mourning, laments, requiems
nothing so formal, but tales of the human condition
the mere brevity of which is tragedy enough,
or the near impossibility of finishing a shared life
at exactly the same moment…
Dolly Parton’s “Coat of Many Colours” might be considered
kitsch if it were not true or true enough and I weep to hear
the sweetness of her sometime collaborator
Linda Ronstadt who has lost her voice to Parkinson’s
and sings only within the loving circle of family.
The exquisitely sad songs of Charlie Dore – a woman pretending
her lover lives on the other side of the world in “Australia”
so as not to acknowledge his abandonment
– he must be sleeping while she endures the day…
The rubato moments when Patsy Cline’s rich voice
almost catches, falters, as it lays down
the tragic tales of loss, longing and betrayal
sung to cheerful melodies that belie the sentiment.
Joni Mitchell wishing for a “River” to skate away on
surely the saddest Christmas song
Billie Holiday singing “Strange Fruit”
a lump rises in my throat even as I write
and to think of all those who left us too soon
their lives driven, and driven down, by the need
to perform, entertain, be loved…
Janis Joplin, Nick Drake, Prince
John Lennon, Jim Morrison
Ian Dury who sang of “Sweet Gene Vincent”
“Young, and old, and gone…”
so many more…
These are the singers and musical moments that undo me…
I used to say that I listened to sad music when I was happy
and that happy songs could elevate my lower moods
but boundaries blur and I see poignancy everywhere
and there are songs too sad for me to sing…
© Andrew Wilson, 2025
Over at dVerse Poets Pub, merrildsmith in Poetics invites us to write about music and this is also the theme for next month’s meeting of my “in the real world” local library poetry group…
Andrew – it’s Gene Vincent 👍 and I love that Ian Dury song, especially the beautiful beginning.
Thanks for that catch Shaun – it is a beautiful beginning isn’t it!
Great title, Andrew, and I agree about the songs too sad to sing without tearing up, and about Dolly Parton’s ‘Coat of Many Colours’. The lines that resonate with me completely, as you might guess, are:
‘Joni Mitchell wishing for a “River” to skate away on
surely the saddest Christmas song’
and Billie Holiday singing ‘Strange Fruit’.
Thanks Kim,I think our age is showing…
I KNEW Kim would react to the Joni Mitchell line. 😊 “Strange Fruit” makes me angrier than sad since it’s about lynching.
I know just what you mean though about songs–and the lines do blur, especially as I get older. . .
Thank you for the thoughtful poem, Andrew!
I’m glad Kim didn’t disappoint Merril! You’re right – strange fruit does make me angry to listen to but also sad. I will read it at our library group – hope I get through it without tearing up…
We have exactly the same taste in music. If you haven’t seen the interview with Linda Ronstadt online.. do see it. It was recorded in the first stages of her Parkinson’s and gives such a good view of the wide range of her musical talents. What an amazing person as well as artist.
Thanks Judy – I didn’t see an interview online but I did see a documentary Linda Ronstadt: My Voice which had some moving scenes with her and her family at the end. For someone who was not a singer songwriter – she was an amazing interpreter of other peoples songs. Another beautiful voice I should have included who died tragically and young, was Karen Carpenter…
Love this Andrew, here are those songs that really touch the heart – as an aside, I posted about Joni Michell’s ‘Blue’ a few days ago: https://poetisatinta.wordpress.com/2025/07/27/blue/ 💙
Thanks AJ, I will check out that tomorrow…
This is incredibly poignant, Andrew. I agree, “there are singers and musical moments that undo” … it is so difficult to sing and to perform the way they do without tearing up ❤️❤️
Thank you Sanaa, I had been thinking about it for a few days for the library group and it just fell together last night. I haven’t been singing much in the last two years – poetry has usurped my ukulele and songbooks…
Songs do grab the heart and squeeze out tears. Very well done Andrew!
Thanks Dwight – it never ceases to amaze me how many songs so many covers of some of them, there are so many in languages we will never understand, so many slipping away as their mother tongues are lost…
Thank you so much Dwight – wonder what your musical taste is?
Andrew, your poem shows what a music lover you are. I know music helps bring out the heart of a person when other ways may fail. The human condition is pretty tragic when you think about it. “The Long Black Veil” is one that tears me up. Steve Earle’s “Taneytown” gets to me. Townes Van Zandt’s, “Tecumseh Valley” hits me in the feels. “Crazy Mary” by Pearl Jam. A newer one, “A Pearl” by Mitski:
https://youtu.be/p8FDl_tMs4Y?si=pQrLV7aG2i5wo3Rj
Thanks Li – I have checked out Mitski and thank you for that find too, on my way to work IK listen to the news but on the way home its music all the way…
I haven’t chacked out all of those songs yet Li but i thank you for introducing me to Mitski – I see what you mean about that particular song though I also think Slow Dancers – the last track fits the bill for a lump in the throat…
Love and life is bitter-sweet, and sad songs pour something so lovely into us they make us weep. Lament is said to be the oldest of songs, music of and for the lost. In the songs you can’t get through are sung with such empathy for the original they echo the lament. As Jack Gilbert said, grief makes the heart apparent.
So true Brendan. I have a low whistle and love to play Irish Slow Airs – would never have dared to do so at the pub when we lived in Ireland and besides they don’t approve of only playing slow airs if you can’t also keep up with the fast stuff…
Touching. How true this is about those songs. Beautiful ode to them all at once. Truely remarkable. Thanks.
Thank you Selma, I am a sucker for rich female voices – I suppose, they are the female equivalent of Crooners (why is that term only applied to men) and one I forgot to add was Karen Carpenter…
I come undone ~ Barber’s Adagio for Strings, Imagine, Stars and Stripes Forever, Hallelujah, Stardust, The Theme from “Out of Africa”, Love me Tender, Clair de lune, Light my Fire ~~~ you are not allowed to ask why.
I am with you on those pieces, Helen – and what happens in the fire pit stays in the fire pit…
Some of my favorite songs to tear up to. Years ago, I used to listen to sad music when I was depressed. I try not to do that anymore.
I’m glad you enjoyed it Sara…