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Most depressing country songs

D

dustintv

As part of my media studies stuff I was looking through country music on the side, and I've compiled a list of what I think are the most depressing country songs:

"Love, Me" by Collin Raye
"Here in the Real World" by Alan Jackson
"Don't Take the Girl" by Tim McGraw
"I'd be Better Off(In A Pine Box)" by Doug Stone
"One Promise Too Late" by Reba McEntire
"Amarillo By Morning" by George Strait
"I Wish I Had A Heart of Stone" by Baillie and the Boys
"She Can't Say That Anymore" by John Conlee
"Independence Day" by Martina McBride
"Roses For Mama" by C.W. McCall
"Used to Blue" by Sawyer Brown
"You Were Mine" by the Dixie Chicks
"Everything That Glitters (Is Not Gold)" by Dan Seals
"He's Back and I'm Blue" by Desert Rose Band
"Blue Moon with Heartache" by Rosanne Cash
"You Look So Good in Love" by George Strait
 
dustintv said:
As part of my media studies stuff I was looking through country music on the side, and I've compiled a list of what I think are the most depressing country songs:

"Love, Me" by Collin Raye
"Here in the Real World" by Alan Jackson
"Don't Take the Girl" by Tim McGraw
"I'd be Better Off(In A Pine Box)" by Doug Stone
"One Promise Too Late" by Reba McEntire
"Amarillo By Morning" by George Strait
"I Wish I Had A Heart of Stone" by Baillie and the Boys
"She Can't Say That Anymore" by John Conlee
"Independence Day" by Martina McBride
"Roses For Mama" by C.W. McCall
"Used to Blue" by Sawyer Brown
"You Were Mine" by the Dixie Chicks
"Everything That Glitters (Is Not Gold)" by Dan Seals
"He's Back and I'm Blue" by Desert Rose Band
"Blue Moon with Heartache" by Rosanne Cash
"You Look So Good in Love" by George Strait
Click to expand...

I have to disagree on "Amarillo By Morning." Sure, the subject matter may be sort of sad, but you HAVE to love those fiddles. And the song just feels good. Martina's "Independence Day" is part of a lot of July 4th celebrations now, oddly enough.

Back to the depressing stuff, though:

"Old Violin" by Johnny Paycheck

"Ol' Shep" by Elvis Presley

ANYTHING from Red Sovine, except for "Phantom 309"

"You'll Be There" by George Strait

"Cheap Whiskey" by Martina McBride

"Mom, IOU" by Jimmy Dean (I almost lost composure on the air after this one)

Also, there's a more recent song that I can't remember the title of. But it's about a guy who's talking to his wife...at her grave in a cemetery.
 
I listen to more trucking songs myself.

"Giddy Up Go" - Red Sovine
"Roses For Mama" - C.W McCall
"Teddy Bear" - Red Sovine
 
Some others I'd consider:
Holes in the Floor of Heaven by Steve Wariner
Time Marches On - Tracy Lawrence
He Stopped Loving Her Today - George Jones
What a Good Year for the Roses - George Jones / Alan Jackson
Two Story House - George Jones / Tammy Wynnette
Yesterday, When I Was Young - Roy Clark
Skin - Rascal Flatts
Old Violin - Daryl Singletary / Johnny PayCheck
Travellin Solider - Dixie Chicks
 
Have you ever heard "I Can Still Hear the Music In the Rest Room" by Jerry Lee Lewis? Tom T. Hall wrote it and it was aired briefly in the early-mid 70's.

Also: "The Last Will and Testament of A Drinking Man" by Howard Crockett from the same era. (....Lay my body on the bar, of that honky-tonk downtown.... - that's all I remember)

Nick Gerard
 
Just remembered it! Chad Brock, with a song called "The Visit."

Would you consider "I'm Tryin'" by Trace Adkins depressing enough?

"Didn't I" by Montgomery Gentry

"Guardian Angels" by the Judds (brings a tear to my eye anyway)
 
I'll Give You 10 For Now ...

"It's Gettin' Better All The Time" - Brooks & Dunn
"Tonight I Wanna Cry" - Keith Urban
"The Grand Tour" - George Jones
"Down In Tennessee" - John Anderson
"I Still Miss Someone" - Johnny Cash
"Is It Raining At Your House?" - Vern Gosdin
"Together Again" - Buck Owens
"Promises"- Randy Travis
"In Pictures" - Alabama
"Two Doors Down" - Dwight Yoakam

Boy, we could go on forever!

BTW, George Jones originally recorded "The Visit" on his "High Tech Redneck" CD, that also features a great cover of Conway's "Hello Darlin'".
 
Have to correct Clark Kent, sorry "Superman", but "Ole Shep" was by Red Foley. Elvis may have had a cover though I have never heard it. When I was a kid we had a family dog die, poisoned we suspected by a nasty neighbor. Anyway whenever I wanted a good cry all I had to do was slip that on the turntable (the copy we had was an old 78).

The Daryl Singletary version of "Old Violin" is especially poignant because of inclusion of an extremely feeble Johnny Paycheck at the end.

I have to agree with the Red Sovine songs, excepting "Phantom 309."

Nobody has mentioned Hank William Senior’s. "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry". To me it is the epitome of sad songs, as well as beautiful poetry.

Then there is "I Will Always Love You" by Dolly Parton. It is especially emotional for me after having seen her perform it on the "Opry" triubute to Porter Wagoner which was mere weeks before his passing.
 
One that we haven't gotten yet:
Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town - Kenny Rogers - it is kind of up-beat, but has a sad lyric.

I didn't know that the gentleman at the end Singletary's Old Violin was PayCheck himself.
 
PTBoardOp94 said:
One that we haven't gotten yet:
Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town - Kenny Rogers - it is kind of up-beat, but has a sad lyric.

I didn't know that the gentleman at the end Singletary's Old Violin was PayCheck himself.
Click to expand...

Yes, according to Chubby Howard (myclassiccountry.com/WBZI, Xenia, Ohio) they took portable recoding equipment to the nursing home to make that recording not long before Johnny passed.

Also to add:
Lefty Frizell's "Long Black Vail" and the cover by Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash's cover of Nine Inch Nails’ "Hurt". Cash was a master with soulful sad songs., like “the Ballad of Ira Hayes”.

Porter Wagoner's "Parkview" from his final album.
 
nmoore6676 said:
Have to correct Clark Kent, sorry "Superman", but "Ole Shep" was by Red Foley. Elvis may have had a cover though I have never heard it. When I was a kid we had a family dog die, poisoned we suspected by a nasty neighbor. Anyway whenever I wanted a good cry all I had to do was slip that on the turntable (the copy we had was an old 78).
Click to expand...

Not a correction...I've never heard the Red Foley version. Elvis' take is the only one I knew of:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zc6LlzGcqqo

What about "Patches," as recorded by George Jones (and I know there were other versions)? Or "Mr. Jones," which I recall being done by Big Al Downing? Kenny Rogers and the First Edition's "Ruben James"?
 
ClarkKent said:
nmoore6676 said:
Have to correct Clark Kent, sorry "Superman", but "Ole Shep" was by Red Foley. Elvis may have had a cover though I have never heard it. When I was a kid we had a family dog die, poisoned we suspected by a nasty neighbor. Anyway whenever I wanted a good cry all I had to do was slip that on the turntable (the copy we had was an old 78).
Click to expand...

Not a correction...I've never heard the Red Foley version. Elvis' take is the only one I knew of:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zc6LlzGcqqo

What about "Patches," as recorded by George Jones (and I know there were other versions)? Or "Mr. Jones," which I recall being done by Big Al Downing? Kenny Rogers and the First Edition's "Ruben James"?
Click to expand...

The Red Foley version dates from the late 40's I believe. It is included on a box set of 4 CDs released last year as I recall. I had never heard the Elvis version and I thought I had a fairly complete set of his recordings. Just goes to show ya!

If you scroll down the page where YouTube has the Elvis version of Old Shep you will see the Red Foley version should you wish to compare.

Wasn't Patches one of those teen age death songs popular in the 50's and early 60's? I can not recall the singer or group of the pop version but it sticks in my head. I do recall it by George Jones though but that wasn't the top 40 version.
 
"Patches" was about a poor schoolboy whose father dies and leaves him to take care of the family farm and keep everybody going...at least that's the song I meant. George Jones did it, but Clarence Carter's version was probably better known.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuzJxNQgtjo&feature=related

Dickey Lee (who also did "9,999,999 Tears" and "Rocky") did a "60s teenage death song" called Patches, too, though. Not sure if it was ever done by anyone else...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GzyEAC8rOw
 
The saddest song ever made Billy Yates 'Flowers'. This Came out in 1997. There was a video for it that was so heartbreaking you couldn't watch half way through without crying.
 
Clarence Carter's "Patches" is definitely less depressing than Dickey Lee's song...I get requests for Dickey Lee's almost on a weekly basis...make's me wanna puke ...also "Honey " by Bobby Goldsboro..pass the gas pipe ,please !
 
She Thinks His Name Was John, by Reba (didn't particularly like it, tho)

The Walk, Sawyer Brown

The Car, Jeff Carson

Wish You Were Here, Blake Shelton(?). Funny story the singer told, an airline wanted to feature the song on its onboard music show. He told her, Ma'am, I don't think you know what that song is about.

Every Day, Oak Ridge Boys (only because it's the last one I played before selling my station)
 
At least ten years ago, there was a major thread on a country music newsgroup about "the saddest country song." The general consensus was the saddest was "Jeannie's Afraid of the Dark" by Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton.

Country is an emotional music, and "sad songs" have always been a big part of it... with many excellent examples on this thread.

To me, there's a difference between "sad country songs" and the "Teen Angel"-type tearjerker Top 40 songs, although I can't really explain it. Maybe the country songs seem more real?
 
NE Miss Radio said:
She Thinks His Name Was John, by Reba (didn't particularly like it, tho)

The Walk, Sawyer Brown

The Car, Jeff Carson

Wish You Were Here, Blake Shelton(?). Funny story the singer told, an airline wanted to feature the song on its onboard music show. He told her, Ma'am, I don't think you know what that song is about.

Every Day, Oak Ridge Boys (only because it's the last one I played before selling my station)
Click to expand...

Wish You Were Here was done by Mark Wills. Funny story indeed...yeah, let's play a song about a plane crash on our airline...

Totally agree on "The Walk" and "The Car"...I can't hear either one of those without at least being blue for a while afterward, if the tears don't come. And I'm a grown man and not ashamed to admit that.
 
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