songs of loss

[brewerpaul]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLPgju2LLrE

[emmline]

I don't think Eric Clapton's Tears in Heaven is particularly religious, even though it mentions heaven.

[cowtime]

The first one that popped in my mind was-
Idumea (it's from a hymnal but no mention of heaven/etc)

And am I born to die?
To lay this body down!
And must my trembling spirit fly
Into a world unknown?

A land of deepest shade,
Unpierced by human thought;
The dreary regions of the dead,
Where all things are forgot!

Soon as from earth I go,
What will become of me?
Eternal happiness or woe
Must then my portion be!



The full bodied version-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJPdvitbOMU

my favorite version-(but then I love Tim Eriksen almost as much as RT) warning though, it has the fourth verse which could be interpreted as "religious"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u50IoS2n ... re=related

and one more by Tim Eriksen-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAG7owjQ ... re=related

I wish, I wish my baby was born

wish, I wish my baby was born
And sitting on its papa's knee
And me, poor girl
And me, poor girl, were dead and gone
And the green grass growing o'er my feet
I ain't ahead, nor never will be
Till the sweet apple grows
On a sour apple tree

But still I hope, But stil I hope the time will come
When you and I shall be as one

I wish, I wish my love had died
And sent his soul to wander free
Then we might meet where ravens fly
Let our poor body rest in peace

The owl, the owl
Is a lonely bird
It chills my heart
With dread and terror
That someone's blood
There on his wing
That someone's blood
There on his feather.



then there's Ashokan Farwell-although it's already been used in a documentary-
but it fit's the bill perfectly as a tune of loss-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx6dxrhqPZY

I may think of more, but right now I've got a brand new reed in my mouth and a horn waiting to be played....




Of course there's a bunch of laments in pipe music that would be suitable.

[Charlene]

Little Boy Blue
by Eugene Field (1850-1895)

The little toy dog is covered with dust,
But sturdy and stanch he stands;
And the little toy soldier is red with rust,
And his musket moulds in his hands.
Time was when the little toy dog was new,
And the soldier was passing fair;
And that was the time when our Little Boy Blue
Kissed them and put them there.

"Now, don't you go till I come," he said,
"And don't you make any noise!"
So, toddling off to his trundle-bed,
He dreamt of the pretty toys;
And, as he was dreaming, an angel song
Awakened our Little Boy Blue---
Oh! the years are many, the years are long,
But the little toy friends are true!

Ay, faithful to Little Boy Blue they stand,
Each in the same old place---
Awaiting the touch of a little hand,
The smile of a little face;
And they wonder, as waiting the long years through
In the dust of that little chair,
What has become of our Little Boy Blue,
Since he kissed them and put them there.


The Irish Rovers made it into a song on their "Tales to Warm Your Mind" LP. It always makes me cry. Don't know if you'd have to get permission from them to use it in a documentary though.

[dubhlinn]

James Taylor - Fire and Rain.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=64_303eHaTM

A nice cover of Eric Bogles "My youngest Son came home today"

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=-9LzkzZCcMI

John Prine covering Steve Goodmans "My Old Man"


http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=RH2YQAXjwWY

George Jones - He stopped loving her today.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Xz2aNifcy20


Luke Kelly and the Dubliners - The Unquiet Grave.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=pfgwxn95U6g


That's all I can think of now but I'll probably remember a few more after I get some sleep.

Slan,
D.

[mukade]

How about something a little kitsch?
Morrissey - Ouija Board, Ouija Board
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=TvNImzPim0w

Mukade

[Innocent Bystander]

THE HOUGHTON WEAVERS - THE LEAF

As I was a-walking one morning at ease,
Viewing the leaves as they fell from the trees,
They were all in full motion or appearing to be,
And those that were withered, they fell from the tree.

What is the life of a man any more than a leaf?
A man has his seasons so why should we greave,
Although in this world we appear fine and gay,
Like a leaf we must wither and then fade away.

If you could have seen the leaves but a short time ago,
They were all in full motion appearing to grow,
But the rain came upon them and withered them all,
And the frost came upon them and down they did fall.

What is the life of a man any more than a leaf?
A man has his seasons so why should we greave,
Although in this world we appear fine and gay,
Like a leaf we must wither and then fade away.

If you go to yonder churchyard there you will see,
The names of all the fallen like the leaves from the trees,
Although in this world we may wander with all,
Like a leaf we must wither and down we must fall.

What is the life of a man any more than a leaf?
A man has his seasons so why should we greave,
Although in this world we appear fine and gay,
Like a leaf we must wither and then fade away.

[rhulsey]

Do you know of any songs that speak of loss, of losing a loved one? I mean death, not a romantic breakup though I guess that could apply. It's for a documentary I'm making. The only one I know off the top of my head is Sarah McLachlan's "Angel," but it's too religious...

Beth Neilsen Chapman's Sand and Water comes to mind.

[mcurtiss]

Space Oddity (Major Tom)- David Bowie

[Charlene]

I have an LP of Pricilla Herdman singing this:

Do You Think that I Do Not Know
(Henry Lawson; tune Slim Dusty)

They say that I never have written of love
As a writer of songs should do
They say that I never could touch the strings
With a touch that is firm and true
They say I know nothing of women and men
In the fields where love's roses grow
I must write, they say, with a haunting pen
Do you think that I do not know?

My love burst came like an English spring
In the days when our hair was brown
And the hem of her skirt was a sacred thing
Her hair was an angel's crown
The shock when another man touched her arm
Where the dancer sat in a row'
The hope and despair and the false alarm
Do you think that I do not know?

By the arbor lights on the western farms
You remember the question put
While you held her warm in your quavering arms
You trembled from head to foot
The electric shock from her fingertips
The murmuring answer low
The soft shy yielding of warm red lips
Do you think that I do not know?

She was buried at Brighton, where Gordon sleeps
When I was a world away
And the sad old garden its secret keeps
For nobody knows today
She left a message for me to read
Where the wild, wide oceans flow
Do you know how the heart of a man can bleed?
Do you think that I do not know?

I stood by the grave where the dead girl lies
When the sunlit scene was fair
'Neath the white clouds high in the autumn skies
I answered the message there
But the haunting words of the dead to me
She'll go wherever I go
She lives in the marriage that might have been
Do you think that I do not know?

************
And this is positively the last sad song I'm thinking of today - it's my birthday and it's all happy thoughts for the rest of the day!

[WyoBadger]

Silas by Mick and Jean Bolger of Colcannon. A lovely, heartbreaking song about a faithful dog which loses his master.
Give it a listen--track 14.
Tom

[mamakash]

I was acquainted with Evanescence's music while searching for fan make Buffy videos. I've seen one or two well made ones set to this song. Nice and melancholy. Here's the official video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idd_92ajjwY

[tansy]

Anachie Gorden, sung by Loreena Mckennit ****
Let The Cold Wind Blow by Kate Rusby ( as good as it gets) *****
Tansy