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1%% No pic on page per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1297091790046460100
2%% Nature of trope makes this impossible to picture without a lampshade.
3%%
4
5[[AC:For the best reading experience, play the music from [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-_cHAvCar8 this video]] while reading on.]]
6
7Is the hero in a [[HopelessBossFight losing battle against the villain]] and on the receiving end of a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown? Have they been [[BreakTheCutie broken down]]? Does the grief of the realization that InTheEndYouAreOnYourOwn overtake them? Cue the lonely piano piece.
8
9Basically, this is a piece of music that plays in a scene that represents that someone is left all alone and is stuck at a dead end with no allies or means of solving the problem at hand. The music is usually slow-paced and the notes are often lower pitched to show that the character has run out of momentum or that he or she has hit rock bottom.
10
11While this can be done with just about any instrument, the piano just seems to be a particularly common instrument for these kinds of pieces. There are a number of likely factors why:
12
13* The piano is most widely known as a solo instrument. While there are plenty of pieces composed for piano with ensemble accompaniment (the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_concerto piano concerto]] is a very well-known composition type in the ClassicalMusic world), and it is not unheard of to have pieces meant to be performed by two or more piano players, either with each at their own instrument or all performing together on the ''same'' instrument (known as "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_four_hands piano four-hands]]", "piano six-hands", etc.), the idea of "one piano, one performer" tends to dwarf all other piano composition styles in the public consciousness.
14* The piano has a ''massive'' note range compared to most other instruments. There's a reason [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_pitch_notation scientific pitch notation]] uses the piano keyboard as its basis: a standard piano keyboard contains 88 notes, which stretch from as low as the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contrabassoon contrabassoon]] to as high as the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piccolo piccolo]]. This huge range makes it much easier and more practical to get a variety of different sounds out of a single instrument.
15* It is extremely easy for a musician to play multiple notes at once on a piano keyboard in order to produce a richer musical texture. Woodwinds and brass instruments cannot play more than a single note at a time, which means you need more than one performer the instant you want to play anything more complicated than a standalone melody on an oboe or trumpet. Bowed string instruments like the violin do somewhat better on this point; it is certainly possible to play more than one note at once across different strings, but it's not the easiest thing for a string performer to do, and even if they ''can'' do it, you've only got four strings to work with. With a keyboard, however, you're pretty much only limited by the size of your hands and number of your fingers, meaning it's much easier to produce fuller sound and harmonization while still having only a single performer.
16
17The violin or acoustic guitar are also common instruments for these kinds of pieces. The general timbre of string instruments lends itself well to emotional pieces even when not playing as one voice in the sea of a full orchestral string section (see WorldsSmallestViolin). The guitar, on the other hand, is a plucked string instrument with a relatively wide range and is almost as frequently played solo as it is in ensembles, thus making it suitable for solo pieces in much the same way (if not to the same degree) as the piano.
18
19Subtrope of SimpleScoreOfSadness. If a character is constantly lonely, or even an entire cast, this may be a {{Leitmotif}}. The Lonely Piano Piece has a tendency to show up at [[ItAlwaysRainsAtFunerals funerals, especially when it's raining]], or [[SnowMeansDeath when it snows]]. Always expect {{Angst}}. If the story has a happy end, you can also expect YouAreNotAlone. May play with the OneWomanWail, though typically the Wail tends towards more epic points. Almost ALWAYS a TearJerker.
20
21See also PlayingTheHeartStrings. May overlap with SadBattleMusic.
22
23----
24!!Examples:
25[[foldercontrol]]
26
27[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
28* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' has "Sadness and Sorrow" which is played frequently, especially during the funeral scene.
29* Appears in the final battle of the ''Manga/SoulEater'' anime after [[spoiler:Maka and Soul wake up to find that the rest of their TrueCompanions have all been defeated]]. Of course, they were asking for it, given how Soul both plays the piano [[spoiler:and uses this for a literal ThemeMusicPowerUp]].
30* Very common in ''Manga/{{Spiral}}'', mainly because Ayumu, Kiyotaka and Eyes are all skilled pianists.
31* "Love Conservative" from ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann''. Like we need to be any sadder [[spoiler: watching Nia disappear]].
32* All of the Sunlit Garden pieces from ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena''.
33* Alies Grises would be a good starter, but practically all the music in ''Anime/HaibaneRenmei'' would count.
34* A very beautiful piece in the ''Anime/ReadOrDie'' OVA when the bad guys get the MacGuffin.
35* The power of this trope might reach its penultimate level in the first episode of ''Anime/{{Noir}}'', when Kirika is in Mireille's living room and the two are discussing Kirika's amnesia. Kirika's "alone in a crowd" theme is so brilliantly overpowering, the Lonely Piano Piece works even when she's not actually by herself.
36* "Elegia for Piano" from Hirano Yoshihisa's ''Manga/OuranHighschoolHostClub'' soundtrack is often used for this purpose in the series, particularly in uncovering the more depressing pasts of characters. "Sakura Kiss for Piano" is its sweeter brother and a touching recovery piece, also for solo piano.
37** "Nocturne pour Tamaki" is also a solo piano piece. The melody itself isn't necessarily sad, but the few scenes its played for aren't exactly joyous. Considering Tamaki's past, it gives off a more melancholy feel when its played.
38* "Will of the Heart" from the first ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' soundtrack by Sagisu Shiro, and "Swan Song" from the second, though the latter is a guitar piece.
39** Also from ''Bleach'', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQoOuFiP-fU "Never Meant to Belong"]] combines this trope effectively with PlayingTheHeartstrings
40* "A Mother's Love" from ''Manga/OnePiece'', first used [[spoiler: during Robin's flashback to Ohara, where her mother was killed, and she was left on her own with no one to rely on, at the age of 8]].
41** Done very literally with Brook. [[spoiler: With the entire crew severely injured, they try to perform one last song for their whale pet. Everyone begins dying, leaving only Brook left playing piano, asking why they would leave only the accompaniment.]]
42* ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' does this with piano ("Adieu") less often than other instruments, like saxophone ("Goodnight, Julia"). Session five even manages it on a pipe organ ("Rain").
43* "Rakuen" from ''Anime/WolfsRain'', which plays when [[spoiler:Cheza disappears, leaving Kiba to die alone as the world ends]], is heartbreakingly sad. However, once the strings come in and you realise there may still be hope, it becomes incredibly beautiful.
44* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', Rei's theme ("Rei I") is the epitome of loneliness, and appropriately so.
45** "A Hole in the Dream", "Passage of Emptiness", and "Reliance Leads to Falsehood" from ''End of Evangelion'' are two other such pieces (though the latter is played in violin). Several other tunes like that are tucked away in the S2 Works music collection. There are at least two piano versions of "Honeymoon with Anxiety" - the lonely one, and the really, really, REALLY lonely one.
46* One slowed down version of "Heart Moving" is played on a lone piano during the first season finale of ''Anime/SailorMoon'', when Usagi sits alone after [[ClimacticBattleResurrection all her friends have sacrificed themselves for her]].
47** The piano rendition of "Heart Moving" was also used for the last scene of season two's finale when [[spoiler:Chibiusa says her goodbyes to Usagi and returns to the future]]. There are other melancholy versions of songs used throughout the series, usually a rendition of one of the ending credits songs.
48** A quite popular one, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omfxzwhgqcA "Mercury no Toujou"]] (based on [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzscGBxrlUE La Follia di Spagna]]), is played in [[WhamEpisode the very climatic episode 101]] and through two different scenes. The first one features [[spoiler: Haruka angsting [[TheseHandsHaveKilled over how bloodstained she is]] and Michiru comforting her via toying with her hands]]; the second has [[spoiler: Ami, Rei, Makoto, Minako and Usagi]] thinking and angsting [[spoiler: about the recent reveal that Michiru and Haruka are the Outer Senshi.]]
49* ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist2003'' has a simple yet heart-tugging piano solo, which coincidentally is titled [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTEOpVvS1Sc "Alone"]].
50** There's also the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qEUR5rjLtE piano version]] of "Tune of Separation."
51** ''[[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist Brotherhood]]'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxLLWW7Tt54 this]] piano solo version of "Lapis Philosophorum."
52* ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha''
53** The track [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liMhcJrbxVE&feature=related Jewel Seed]]" from the [[Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha Nanoha]] The Movie 1st original soundtrack.
54** Also from the Movie, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPx3WtkhtcE "Watashi no Okaa-san (My mother),"]] one of the themes of the {{abus|iveParents}}ed DarkMagicalGirl, Fate.
55** The aptly named [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zryBFpWsKEY "Itoshisa to Sabishisa (Affection and Loneliness),"]] also one of the themes of Fate from the time before she was befriended by Nanoha.
56** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVhDEJNIRrE "Dear My Sister Dear My Memory"]] starts off this way [[spoiler:[[FinalFirstHug as Fate says goodbye to Alicia]]]], though more instruments join in and it becomes more hopeful as the song continues.
57* ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' features this in the episode where the Axis Powers are alone on an island. [[spoiler:You get a double whammy when it turns out that [[SorryILeftTheBGMOn Austria was playing it]], and realize that it could apply to him too.]]
58** The piano piece is Nocturne Opus 9 No. 2 in E Flat, by Frederic Francois Chopin.
59* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' has ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUz74xRAMLw&feature=related Decretum,]]'' Sayaka's theme [[spoiler:which plays during the scenes where she's consumed by her despair.]]
60** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISGDAXsS8c8 "Inevitabilis"]] counts even more for being a literal Lonely Piano Piece, and for being a DarkReprise of Homura's theme [[spoiler:for when she finally breaks down and admits everything to Madoka before steeling her resolve for a lonely final battle]].
61* ''Anime/CodeGeass'' gives us [[https://youtu.be/Y_xF7BI29cA "Unleashed"]], a somber tune meant to tug on the heartstrings. It is notable for only playing a few times in the show, such as for the flashback of Xingke making his promise to Empress Tianzi, Lelouch comforting the memoryless C.C. after she cut her finger, and Ohgi giving an AnguishedDeclarationOfLove to Villetta despite knowing she wants to kill him. [[spoiler: But it is best known for playing after Lelouch is fatally stabbed in his ThanatosGambit by Suzaku, and finishes after he says his last words and dies.]]
62* ''Manga/HisAndHerCircumstances'' with character themes [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqXPUXheg4c Yukino Miyazawa V (Nocturne)]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpmKPdeL6Zo Arima Souichiro I]].
63* ''Anime/FafnerInTheAzureDeadAggressor'' uses this, combined with OneWomanWail, as a remix of the usual ending theme, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-d1PaVvIKw Separation,]] to [[TearJerker spectacular]] effect following [[spoiler:Shouko's HeroicSacrifice]].
64* All over the place in ''Anime/BlackRockShooter'' anime, but especially in the OVA after [[spoiler:Yomi disappears]].
65* ''Manga/NabariNoOu'' has a piano arrangement of the main theme that serves for such moments in the anime.
66* In the original ''Manga/SaintSeiya'', one of these (named [[http://youtu.be/kF3sDURzuQE?t=8m55s "Far Reaching Five Old Peaks"]]) is heard [[spoiler:as the empty Virgo Cloth reassembles itself after Ikki's HeroicSacrifice to defeat its owner Shaka, all of this in front of [[HeroicBSOD the very shaken]] Shun, Seiya and Shiryu.]]
67* Much of the music in ''Anime/UmiMonogatari'' is this, to the point that tracks that ''aren't'' this tend to stand out.
68* ''Anime/TenchiMuyo'' has the piece "Royal Teardrop" that plays during sad moments. The name is also significant as its a flower from Jurai that is used for sad events.
69* ''Anime/GaoGaiGar FINAL'' had a slow, piano version of the series theme song "Yuusha-Oh Tanjou!" that played during the final episode. [[spoiler:After everything that happened, it really fits.]]
70* ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'' has the beautiful, haunting "i do" (yes, the name is in lower case).
71* ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'':
72** The anime uses ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCL5sHzlDOI the Adagio Cantabile]]'' of Beethoven's ''Pathetique'' sonata as this, namely during [[spoiler: Yumi Komagata's death scene]] and [[spoiler: Kenshin's flashbacks as he visits a tombstone ''strongly'' implied to be his wife Tomoe's.]]
73** The filler Shimabara arc uses the ''Moonlight Sonata'' as this too, when Magdaria is playing it on her own and [[spoiler: during the brief face-off between Shougo's UsefulNotes/JapaneseChristian's group and the Japanese Army.]]
74* While ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMEiIz9Xz5o Saigo no Yakusoku]]'' from ''Manga/MarmaladeBoy'' is an image theme performed by Miki's seiyuu Creator/MarikoKouda, it's worth noticing that it plays during some of the most dramatic scenes of the series (like [[spoiler: Natchan's departure to Hiroshima]] and [[spoiler: Miki breaking up with Yuu in the USA]]) ''and'' that it's mostly a piano song otherwise.
75* ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udkxHDhESBI& "Souiu natsu (That kind of summer),"]] which played in episode 11 when Kaguya and Shirogane both go to the school on the off chance that the other might be there, only for Shirogane to arrive right after Kaguya left. It's played again in episode 12 during Kaguya's HeroicBSOD.
76[[/folder]]
77
78[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
79* "Victor's Piano Solo" from ''WesternAnimation/CorpseBride'', clearly playing off the theme of Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" mentioned below, until he's interrupted - and similarly, "The Piano Duet" starts this way, echoing the earlier scene, until it's turned right around by the characters.
80* The official soundtrack for ''WesternAnimation/{{Antz}}'' replaces "High Hopes" with a soft piano version of the main theme.
81* The film version of ''ComicBook/TheSnowman'' has a piano version of 'Walking in the Air' playing when James [[spoiler: realises his snowman has melted]]. What makes this all the sadder is that this is the end of the film, and the melody plays over the closing credits, leaving the audience alone to weep.
82* In ''WesternAnimation/BigHero6'', a lone piano piece is playing after Tadashi's funeral, when Hiro sits lonely at the top of the stairs at home.
83* Befitting the sense of longing and distance the film conveys, the soundtrack for ''Anime/FiveCentimetersPerSecond'' is full of gentle, melancholy piano pieces. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NuuhRrRQZo Distant Everyday Memories]] comes to mind.
84* ''Anime/YourName'' has "Date", which plays [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin during Taki's date with Miki,]] becomes this after [[spoiler:it becomes apparent that the date's a failure.]] There is also the similar-sounding "Mitsuha's Theme" playing during [[spoiler:the flashback to Mitsuha's trip to Tokyo where she initially fails to find Taki and, when she actually does so, it's a younger him who doesn't recognise her]].
85[[/folder]]
86
87[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
88* The ''Film/{{JFK}}'' theme has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WebpqUdeuQ one]].
89* We get this in ''Film/RoadToPerdition'' during the gunfight in the rain late in the film.
90* Music/ElmerBernstein was the master of this trope. Listen to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Alg_V0dJs9c Far From Heaven]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_t98LWNwUhI To Kill A Mockingbird]].
91* The deeply haunting "Brooks Was Here" from ''Film/TheShawshankRedemption''.
92* "The Promise", the main theme of ''Film/ThePiano''.
93* From ''Fame'', there is "Ralph and Monty (Dressing Room Piano)"
94* ''Film/{{Downfall}}'' features Stephen Zacharias' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bv_q20nzoVY ''In The Courtyard of the Reich-Chancellory'']].
95* The main theme of the 2007 ''Film/IAmLegend'' has a notable piano part with solo sections. Thinking about it, the piano part may represent Neville's solitary existance surrounded by the evidence of his failure and memories of what once was, the strings brass and percussion parts.
96* The opening piano score from ''Film/BadSanta'' is oddly touching. Hearing Billy Bob Thornton monologue about how crappy a person he is while Chopin's Nocturn Op.9 No.2 plays is rather moving.
97* ''Film/BattleRoyale II'' has Memories, played by Shiori Kitano on a piano she finds in Shuya's base. As she plays, the scene cuts between her in the present, and her remembering how horribly she treated her father in years gone by.
98* "Home Movies" in the remake of ''Film/{{Halloween 2007}}'' and [[Film/HalloweenII2009 its sequel]].
99* Clint Mansell's soundtrack for ''Film/{{Moon}}'' uses mostly simplistic piano tunes, and the sad tunes work well in emphasizing the heart-breaking sadness of the main character's lonely moments.
100* ''Film/GirlWithAPearlEarring'' had this as virtually its only incidental music, being very driven by silent, stoic acting from Creator/ColinFirth and Creator/ScarlettJohansson and reliant only on a meandering theme.
101* ''Film/TheSocialNetwork'' has "Hand Covers Bruise", Mark's {{leitmotif}} for scenes in which he's at his lowest points.[[note]]In a subtle metaphor for Mark's growing isolation, each variation was recorded with the microphone further and further away from the piano on which it was played: once inside the cabinet, once outside and once on the other side of the room.[[/note]] It won the film an Oscar for Best Original Score.
102* ''Film/TheRoad'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gT6AnrDwew ''The Road'' ]].
103* ''Film/{{Lincoln}}'' has the end of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxyDSZ3fMcM The Peterson House and Finale]]. Skip to 9:30.
104* ''Film/{{Gravity}}'' most notably has the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3opF0hpWMs Aurora Borealis]] track.
105* ''Film/TheSting'' features a piece called Solace, done both as a piano solo only and as well as an orchestral version. And yes, it's played during the rain.
106* ''Film/ThePianist'' features one [[SourceMusic performed in-story]]. Szpilman, who has been hiding from the Nazis, starving, cold, and alone, is discovered by the Nazi officer Hosenfeld. On discovering that Szpilman is a musician, Hosenfeld requests a piece, and Szpilman hesitantly obliges with Music/FryderykChopin's haunting "Ballade in G Minor," to tremendous emotional effect.
107* Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse:
108** ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'' has The End of the Line. A melancholy song for a serious low point for the Comicbook/{{Captain|America}}. [[spoiler: Because he has to fight his old [[ReforgedIntoAMinion friend.]]]]
109** ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' has a very short one playing when the film's title appears during the credits, [[TheBadGuyWins which is appropriate]] [[WasItReallyWorthIt for how]] [[DownerEnding the film ended]].
110* ''Film/{{Interstellar}}'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOVUw1nxlek Message From Home]], when Coop and company get back from checking out one of the prospective planets (which nearly killed them) and get back to the ''Endurance'' to find messages from his children on Earth, who, due to proximity to a black hole, have grown up in what was a matter of hours for him and have pretty much given up on ever seeing him again. Not a moment of lost hope, but definitely a low point.
111* A piano rendition of the ''Film/JurassicPark'' theme plays in the trailer for ''Film/JurassicWorld''.
112* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZjEfb0gg7U ''The Crypt'']] from ''Film/{{Anthropoid}}''.
113* ''Film/CloudAtlas'': "The Cloud Atlas Sextet" in the film is a twinkly Debussy-esque piece (in the novel, it was described as much more avant-garde). Although the full piece only shows up in the end credits, when it is played in the film proper, we mostly just hear the piano and violin sections.
114[[/folder]]
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116[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
117* Parodied in ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'' with a running gag (mostly in one episode) where a character dejectedly walks away while the instrumental version of Music/VinceGuaraldi's "[[WesternAnimation/ACharlieBrownChristmas Christmastime Is Here]]" plays.
118%%* "Metamorphosis One" by Music/PhilipGlass was used in an episode of ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'' to great effect.%%This entry lacks an explanation as to why the piece expresses loneliness.
119* A slowed-down, piano-based version of the series theme tune plays as the characters go over the top [[spoiler:and to their deaths]] in the final scene of ''Series/BlackadderGoesForth.''
120* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
121%%** The end of the final episode of season 1 has the Buffy theme music being played over it, slowly, on a piano.%%This entry lacks an explanation as to why the piece expresses loneliness.
122** There's the Buffy/Angel love theme "Close Your Eyes" that first plays as Buffy brutally smashes the Master's bones in "When She Was Bad", and continues to tinkle gently through a baker's dozen of other gut-wrenching scenes.
123* In ''Chojin Sentai Jetman'' has Maria, who constantly plays a tune on a piano. During [[spoiler:the times when Maria is hurt or dying, this plays]].
124* ''Series/{{Community}}'': In the ChristmasEpisode "Regional Holiday Music", Abed's suggestion that the gang might stand in for the glee club is met with deaf ears -- as he's left alone, sad piano music plays -- [[LeftTheBackgroundMusicOn played by the head of the glee club]].
125* In the Thanksgiving episode of ''Series/CrazyExGirlfriend'', Greg is forced to work as a bartender on Thanksgiving in order to make sure his dad has good medical treatment. All alone, he sings [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rw0Z7E1L6pE "What'll It Be?"]] all about how he sick of West Covina and having to give up his dreams:
126-->''Everyone's going home 'cause it's time to give thanks,\
127Thanks for the chain stores and outlets and banks,\
128Thanks for this town, three short hours from the beach,\
129Where all of your dreams can stay just out of reach.
130* Over half the TearJerker sequences in ''Series/DoctorWho''. The other half is PlayingTheHeartStrings.
131* On ''Entertainment Tonight'', whenever a tragic news story breaks out, a DarkReprise piano version of the theme plays at the start of each episode.
132* ''Series/GameOfThrones'':
133** Subverted with "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pS-gbqbVd8c Light of the Seven]]" which plays during a sequence of [[ActionFilmQuietDramaScene quiet scenes]] building up to [[spoiler:Cersei]]'s EvilPlan getting carried out. The piece is initially this trope, later transforming into PlayingTheHeartStrings, an eerie CherubicChoir, and finally OminousPipeOrgan. The simplicity of each of the parts, as well as the use of piano, which is a first for the series, is in contrast to the rest of the soundtrack being composed of full orchestral pieces.
134** The trope is used in Season Seven with the piece "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmMaZXAahCs Winter is Here]]" which plays over a bleak scene of snowfall on King's Landing and helps set the tone for what is to come.
135** Used again to great effect in "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1frgt0D_f4 The Night King]]" during the Battle of Winterfell, [[spoiler:over Theon's death, and when the battle appears lost]]. Much like "Light of the Seven", the piece begins with soft piano music before building up into a full orchestra.
136%%** In ''Series/HouseOfTheDragon'', "The Prince That Was Promised" begins with piano music and a cello in the background.%%This entry lacks an explanation as to why the piece expresses loneliness.
137* Parodied by comedians Hale and Pace. The character walks across a street, and the piano plays -- [[LeftTheBackgroundMusicOn the character hears it]] and begins to experiment with the effect -- pull back camera to reveal that [[spoiler:he's standing on a giant Steinway]].
138* Partial {{Trope Namer|s}}, ''Series/{{The Incredible Hulk|1977}}'s'' end piece "The Lonely Man".
139* ''Series/InterviewWithTheVampire2022'': In "[[Recap/InterviewWithTheVampire2022S1E5AVileHungerForYourHammeringHeart A Vile Hunger for Your Hammering Heart]]", [[https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8kzmnu?playlist=x7nyow a sad piano piece]] is the BackgroundMusic in a scene where Louis de Pointe du Lac and Lestat de Lioncourt are both feeling very lonely even though they live together. Louis is bereft without their vampire daughter Claudia, who fled from their home seven years prior and refuses to respond to any of his psychic messages. As for Lestat, it was his ToughLove lesson in "[[Recap/InterviewWithTheVampire2022S1E4TheRuthlessPursuitOfBloodWithAllA ...The Ruthless Pursuit of Blood with All a Child's Demanding]]" that pushed Claudia away, so in revenge, Louis neglects his boyfriend with an austere mix of SilentTreatment and LysistrataGambit. Lestat can't help but suspect that Louis doesn't really love him after being deprived of emotional and physical intimacy for so long.
140* An episode of ''Series/KamenRiderDenO'' focuses on a nameless pianist, whose music is [[DoItYourselfThemeTune his rendition of the series' battle tune]]. The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XylY1JA9y2k&feature=related third iteration]] in particular seems quite lonely.
141* The piece "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igiJHTrLqqg Win One for the Reaper]]" from ''Series/{{Lost}}'' plays during the funerals for most of the characters who died as well as during other sad moments in the series.
142* ''{{Series/Lucifer}}'' has the main character himself sadly playing "Knocking on Heaven's Door" after an episode where against all odds he ended up in an OddFriendship with a Priest (who knew exactly who Lucifer was). It helped that not only was Father Frank a GoodShepherd despite his DarkAndTroubledPast and Lucifer's attempts to prove otherwise, but he was a CoolOldGuy and a superb pianist, leading to an "adorable" DuetBonding moment. The sad part comes in where Father Frank proved to be TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth and performed a HeroicSacrifice, though Chloe comes and [[YouAreNotAlone joins him on the piano]].
143%%* "Metamorphosis One" by Music/PhilipGlass plays during [[spoiler: Reese's last stand]] in the GrandFinale of ''Series/PersonOfInterest''.%%This entry lacks an explanation as to why the piece expresses loneliness.
144* ''Series/RedDwarf'' actually did this with Rimmer in "Better than Life", but it was short lived, while he stands on the observatory, staring out. Lister comes up and the music stops, and a serious scene goes on. It works really well, especially for a comedy.
145%%* ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' has a piece which repeats quite a lot.%%This entry lacks an explanation as to why the piece expresses loneliness.
146* ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' has one of these as a recurring theme throughout the series that's usually played when referencing John's past (hence the title "War" on the soundtrack), but becomes even more of a TearJerker in ''The Reichenbach Fall'' when the theme is extended in the track "Prepared To Do Anything" and played [[spoiler:when Sherlock steps off the roof]].
147%%* The very end of the ''Series/{{Warehouse 13}}'' season 3 finale.%%This entry lacks an explanation as to why the piece expresses loneliness.
148* On ''Series/TheYoungAndTheRestless'' it's a cue that a serious moment is about to play out when the theme tune ''Nadia's Theme,'' starts plinking in the background.
149[[/folder]]
150
151[[folder:Music]]
152* The first movement of the "Moonlight Sonata" by Music/LudwigVanBeethoven is often used for this when the soundtrack is not original.
153** [[StandardSnippet In more ways than one.]]
154** Another Beethoven example is the second movement of his final sonata in C minor (No. 32), written 5 years before he died. After the dramatic first movement ends with the Picardie third leading straight into the second movement, this movement starts off with a much calmer theme that highly contrasts with what you just heard. The first few variations on that theme gradually get more intense until finally bearing a resemblance to modern boogie-woogie, immediately after which it quiets down and maintains a serene, lonely, ethereal quality throughout the rest of the movement right up to the end. What's more, Beethoven never wrote a third movement for this sonata (because he felt no need to, not because he died before he could finish it), so the entire sonata is over at that point, and the feeling persists. The feeling is intensified by the juxtaposition of the fact that, by this point in Beethoven's life, he was almost completely deaf and did not have long to live, and this is one of the last piano works he has ever composed.
155* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gR3Y-h8Hl94 Clair de Lune]] by Claude Debussy.
156* A non-soundtrack example would be Music/XJapan 's Es Dur no Piano-sen by Music/{{Yoshiki|Hayashi}}. On the Jealousy album, it is the first, introductory track to the album, to convey this kind of atmosphere, that of the lonely calm before the storm... literally, because the next track is Silent Jealousy.
157* Fleetwood Mac's Songbird was the closing song of their concerts for many years, played by Christine McVie alone at a piano.
158* Music/TomWaits' is a master of these: ''Martha'' and ''Lonely'' from ''Music/ClosingTime'', ''Tom Traubert's Blues'' from ''Music/SmallChange'',...
159* Music/PeterGabriel's rehashed version of "Here Comes The Flood" from the album ''Exposure'' is the Lonely Piano Piece for the entire human race.
160** Not to mention "The Drop" from the album ''Up''.
161* Singer-songwriters who are piano-based (e.g. Music/ToriAmos, Music/ReginaSpektor, Music/RufusWainwright) are likely to have songs like this. Rufus even has a ''whole album'' of lonely piano pieces (''All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu'').
162** Oh Music/AmandaPalmer...
163---> "I think I'll wait another year..."
164** Literal with Music/EricCarmen's (or should we say Music/SergeiRachmaninoff's?) "All by Myself". Joo of IgudesmanAndJoo [[ExaggeratedTrope exaggerates this trope]] to its logical extent by playing and singing this song, slowly sounding more and more depressed, sobbing uncontrollably and singing unintelligibly by the end of the first chorus ([[RuleOfFunny and amazingly, all without missing a single note on the piano]]).
165** Yiruma's musical output is comprised almost entirely of these, many of them highly effective {{Tear Jerker}}s despite being instrumental.
166* Music/{{Efterklang}}'s song ''Mimeo'' on the ''Parades'' album.
167* Punk rock band Hüsker Dü had two on their concept album, ''Zen Arcade'': "One Step at a Time" and "Monday Will Never Be the Same."
168* DHT - Listen To Your Heart (Unplugged version)
169** Likewise, the piano version of Groove Coverage's cover of "Moonlight Shadow".
170* Music/{{BTS}} has their piano ballad "The Truth Untold," sung by the group's vocalists. Leader RM's playlist ''mono.'' has the opening track "tokyo," which opens with a piano melody using the Pentatonic scale.
171* Music/ChristinaPerri's song "The Lonely" is entirely about this. It's just Christina and her piano singing about how all she has is the loneliness. Possibly subverted since the song is actually about her being in a relationship with loneliness.
172* Music/DreamTheater frequently write songs like this, such as "Wait for Sleep," "Vacant," and "Far from Heaven."
173* Kate Nash with the songs ''Old Dances'' and ''Little Red''
174* "From My Hands" by Music/VNVNation.
175* "A Little Bit Longer" by Music/TheJonasBrothers
176* Music/EltonJohn, "The Bridge".
177* Music/{{Supertramp}}, "Downstream".
178* A rare organ example: Music/JohannSebastianBach's chorale prelude ''Nun, komm', der Heiden Heiland'' (BWV 659) is quite dreary and sad compared to his other chorale preludes and has been described as one of his saddest works.
179* Music/ErikSatie's "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-Xm7s9eGxU Gymnopédies]]" and "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUAF3abGY2M Gnossiennes]]" are this.
180* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJ5mqXgSmhY One Day I Will Fly]] by Evening Star.
181* "Is There Somebody Who Could Watch You?" by Music/{{The 1975}}.
182* The first verse of "By the Grace of God" by Music/KatyPerry.
183* Music/OneohtrixPointNever's "Replica" from the like-titled album has one serve as the basis, as more and more synth instruments are introduced throughout the song.
184* Music/EpikHigh's "Over" and "Spoiler" have shades of this, and a lot of their instrumental pieces (e.g. "Forest" and "Ocean. Sand. Trees.") are basically these.
185* Music/AphexTwin has a few examples, namely "Avril 14th".
186* "Right Now, I'm in Love. -triangle story-" from Music/HoneyWorks' ''Music/ConfessionExecutiveCommitteeLoveSeries'', conveying the singer's sadness at being left behind in the LoveTriangle he's in.
187* Music/{{Edguy}} has "Sands Of Time" (1995 version), "When A Hero Cries", and most of all the extremely sad "Standing In The Rain".
188* The SlowerAndSofterCover of "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_xEVzTDN3c Even in Death]]" (2016 version) by Music/{{Evanescence}} turns a hysterical GriefSong about the loss of a loved one into somber one on piano and cello to make it more gentle and heartbreaking as well.
189* Music/VisionDivine has "Of Light And Darkness" from ''Vision Divine''.
190* Music/SarahMcLachlan has a brief piece at the end of ''Surfacing'' entitled "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyr6dw6oRAc Last Dance]]." A theremin's wordless "vocals" and a slightly out of tune, tinny piano evoke images of warm nostalgia.
191* "Into My Arms" by Music/NickCaveAndTheBadSeeds has this feel, although the lyrics are surprisingly upbeat.
192* Music/BenjaminClementine's song "Cornerstone" is a piano ballad about both death and loneliness. Its chorus even begins with the lyrics "I am lonely".
193* Music/{{Arca}} has several examples, but the pianos are either synthesized or heavily processed in bizarre ways. "Peonies" is probably the most straight-foward example, but others include "Held Apart" and "Gratitud", which is a lonely ''harpsichord'' piece.
194[[/folder]]
195
196[[folder:Theatre]]
197* ''Theatre/JekyllAndHyde'' had a few of these along with vocals, backing up "Lost In The Darkness", "No One Knows Who I Am", and "Sympathy, Tenderness".
198* In ''Theatre/SpringAwakening'' there's a slow, sad piano-only accompaniment to [[spoiler: Moritz's monologue before he commits suicide]]. Observant viewers will note that it's the piano that accompanied [[BrokenBird Ilse's half]] of their CounterpointDuet.
199* ''Theatre/{{Pippin}}'': "I Guess I'll Miss The Man" is a Lonely Acoustic Guitar Song.
200* In the ballet ''Petrushka'', the centerpiece of the 2nd Tableau is a pianistic depiction of Petrushka's loneliness.
201* ''Theatre/{{Volta}}'' has the appropriately named [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuEMaaS_adg "Lone Soul"]], played while Waz [[AloneInACrowd wanders the city among the Greys]] after being ostracized from the talent show because of his blue feathered hair. Also heard at the end of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ib4ROHkfmA "The Bee and the Wind"]] and the beginning of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GPJOwmCg9g "Inside Me"]], although the last song subverts this trope as it builds into a triumphant symphonic rock ballad during Waz's [[TheElevenOClockNumber "Breakthrough" dance number]].
202* The instrumentals for Music/{{BTS}}'s Jin solo song "The Truth Untold" are for the most part a very minimalistic piano piece. Appropriately, the song itself is about the story of a man who doesn't dare to show himself to the woman he's in love with because of his grotesque appearance, only letting her take flowers from his garden and watching her from afar.
203[[/folder]]
204
205[[folder:Video Games]]
206* ''VideoGame/SCPSecretLaboratory'' has two:
207** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0DfhW9sqQU "Melancholy"]], which plays when you're at the Surface Zone. Whether you're making a mad dash to freedom as a D-Class/Scientist, making your way into the facility as a Mobile Task Force/Chaos Insurgency unit or mopping up anything the [[NukeEm Alpha Warhead]] didn't wipe out, its quite fitting.
208** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EBm0Z9RI34 "The Waiting Game"]], a remix of "Melancholy", plays whilst you're in the elevators connecting Light Containment to Heavy Containment. Hearing it is a much-welcome moment of respite, especially if you've [[ElevatorEscape slammed the doors in the face of certain death]].
209* ''VideoGame/DeadIsland'', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZqrG1bdGtg infamously]]. Its sequel ''Dead Island: Riptide'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEmXLn7mSM8 had its own as well.]]
210* ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'':
211** The first ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsI'' has a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QH3mbB3H57g haunting, beautiful piano piece]] as the FinalBoss battle theme.
212** ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII'' also has a piano theme as part of the FinalBoss theme. [[spoiler: It's a ThemeSongReveal that it's the exact same boss eons later, merged with the souls and power of all the Lords of Cinder who followed him in linking the Fire, and still defending the First Flame after all that time.]]
213* ''VideoGame/{{Deltarune}}'' has a piece called "Darkness Falls", serving as the game over music if the player says no to the continue screen. The game then resets to the chapter select after the music ends.[[note]]In the original SURVEY_PROGRAM demo, the game closed instead.[[/note]]
214* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':
215** ''[[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite Black and White]]'':
216*** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzfQhV3G_MU Unwavering Emotion]]" plays in several emotional scenes, for example when Bianca is arguing with her overprotective father, or during the emotional climax of the second game, in which [[spoiler:N tries to reason with Ghetsis for the last time, and fails.]] It was also remixed in ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'', but gained some more instruments. It is also played in all of the Memory Links in [[VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2 the sequel,]] even if [[SoundtrackDissonance it isn't fitting.]]
217*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJ4DJOTLgRQ "Sayonara",]] also known as "N's Farewell". Guess when it plays.
218** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uj2lzEUVto AZ's theme]] in ''[[VideoGame/PokemonXAndY X and Y]]'', which makes sense when you see his backstory, which is considered by the fandom to be one of the most depressing backstories in a Pokémon game.
219** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krGXMh6qaxA Route 209]] from ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'' is iconic among fans for its melancholy piano section. It's a common joke to [[SuspiciouslySimilarSong compare it to]] Music/GreenDay's sad punk ballad "21 Guns."
220* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
221** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'': When you play the Song of Healing at the graves of Daruni and Mikau, a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7G_aaak-tDE piano rendition of the same song]] plays through a cutscene where their spirits remember all the loved ones they can no longer help.
222** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mq7LrougGYk Farewell, Hyrule King]], which is a DarkReprise of the series' Hyrule Castle theme.
223** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'':
224*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Nq-gEG-E04 Midna's Lament.]] It's actually a variation on the [[{{Leitmotif}} Hyrule Field theme and Midna's theme.]] It's also a theme for the Bridge of Eldin in two of the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' games, though there it's SoundtrackDissonance.
225*** Though nothing 'terrible' has happened, the music the Snowpeak ruins qualifies for the sheer loneliness of the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1BJlLUieyM sound...]]
226** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkCepD1V68Y The music heard]] when Impa talks about the Gate of Time, which is also heard after [[spoiler:Link returns from the past upon witnessing Zelda beginning her centuries-long slumber]], is a melancholic musical composition that represents, respectively, the importance of opening the Gate and finding the Triforce to [[spoiler:kill the Imprisoned so Zelda can wake up in the present]].
227** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'': This is the ''standard'' for the game - most of the overworld music consists of ambient piano tunes, contributing to the melancholy nature of exploring the ruins of Hyrule.
228* ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'':
229** In [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil1 the first game]], Jill and Rebecca melodically play "Moonlight Sonata" on a piano in the Spencer Mansion.
230** In ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvilCodeVeronica Code Veronica]]'', this trope can also be used for "Piano Roll" which is the Ashford lulluby being played on the piano.
231** The first scenario credits and results screen in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2''. The former also uses [[PlayingTheHeartStrings lonely strings]]. Also the Save Room theme, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPVrizQOma4 Secure Place]].
232* In ''VideoGame/BeyondGoodAndEvil'', the very sad piano tune "Enfantes Disparus" plays when [[spoiler: Jade returns home to her lighthouse and finds it's been destroyed, and "her" kids have been kidnapped--meaning that the bad guys have now kidnapped everyone dear to her]].
233* ''VideoGame/BioShock'':
234** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlu2z2gkhhI Cohen's Masterpiece]] in ''VideoGame/BioShock1''... sorta. It serves as Cohen's theme, and loneliness ''is'' one of the themes. However, the main reason Cohen is alone is because [[AxCrazy he killed as many people as he could get his hands on]] [[MadArtist to complete his artistic works]], and the deranged theme matches ''that'' pretty well. [[AwesomeMusic/VideoGames And it's awesome]].
235** ''VideoGame/BioShockInfinite'' ends with a simple piece as [[spoiler:all of the alternate Elizabeths disappear one by one following Booker's death]], ending with the screen going black on the final note.
236* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
237** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3t_FtHNblk Cry In Sorrow]], a sad piano remix of its overworld theme for the sad moments.
238** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CSexDiQ-NQ Sorrows of Parting]], a sad piano and strings theme for the same purpose.
239** Subverted and averted in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIqKWLkm2-g "Aerith's Theme"]], which starts out sounding like it would be a lonely piano piece, before transforming into a soaring, almost triumphant orchestral theme.
240** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'':
241*** It has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-0G_FI61a8 "To Zanarkand"]]. Unique in that it's the ''very first piece of music'' that plays in the entire game. A bit more uplifting than usual, though. It's so iconic that it's become the [[MemeticMutation go-to track]] whenever a FanVid creator wants to add sad piano music to a scene.
242*** However, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzAckQ3c0gM "Via Purifico"]] (also known as "Path of Repentance" in more literal-minded translations) isn't upbeat at all. [[spoiler: It plays in a labyrinth that's supposed to be a death sentence. Needless to say, things get better.]]
243** Although the version used in-game is actually quite lively, the Star Onions' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6n5i89xnmsI remix]] of the Tavnazian Safehold BGM from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI'' is quite melancholy.
244** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0c8B97gfnw "Somnus"]], the main theme from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'', is slow and soft and melancholy, which contrasts the OneWomanWail, and the lyrics talk about a sleeping kingdom of everlasting night where the children are destined to suffer and die.
245** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjd8cdp-Oag 'The Order That Must Be Protected']] from ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy'', which is a variation of the {{leitmotif}} that crops up here and there throughout the game. This tune is particularly recognized because it plays during the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8WH4uxmiF8 cutscene that occurs]] after [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI Terra]] defeats [[FauxAffablyEvil Kefka]] in the 'Shade Impulse' campaign, as it puts an [[AlasPoorVillain emotional spin]] on the death of an otherwise MonsterClown.
246* ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' also similarly has a sad (or alternately, touching) theme, "In the Bottom of the Night", which starts solo piano and is later joined by strings. The game over theme, "No Hope", is a similar piece, but shorter and looped.
247* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'':
248** Roxas's theme. "The Other Promise" is a slightly faster BossRemix of his theme that gets progressively more intense, played during his and Sora's BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind in the Final Mix version of ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'' (which was just a [[CutsceneBoss cutscene]] in the original release).
249** "Kairi III" is her remixed theme song, at a chunk of the game where [[BreakTheCutie you couldn't feel more sorry for the kid]].
250** The most notable example is what has to be the series' ultimate woobie: Xion, from ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2 358/2 Days]]''. Not only is a lonely piano piece her main theme ("Musique pour la Tristesse de Xion": literally "Music for the Melancholy of Xion"), but the intro melody of that piece is used in [[spoiler:the music of the final boss fight against her, "Vector to the Heavens"]], which itself is a lonely strings section piece.
251** ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep Birth by Sleep]]'' features Ventus' theme, a melancholy remix of [[spoiler:both Roxas' and Sora's themes. This is because Ventus' heart has been sleeping within Sora since prior to the plot of the original game, which is why Roxas (Sora's Nobody) looks like him and can dual wield Keyblades; he has access to both Sora's and Ventus' weapons]].
252* One is used in a dark, isolated boiler room with a crying Mars-San in ''VideoGame/YumeNikki''.
253* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeoGAKXsMjE Bastila's Theme]] from ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic''.
254* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzHU4d_6-40 "Glass Soldier"]] in ''VideoGame/{{Iji}}'', especially in the scene where [[spoiler:Dan dies]].
255* One of the Eight Melodies in ''VideoGame/EarthBoundBeginnings'' is a mysterious piano that lies in an abandoned mansion... [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ePCB0ndgB4 Here it is, playing the melody once you find it]].
256* ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'':
257** If you lose in ''VideoGame/Persona3'', a slower, down-key piano version of "Aria of the Soul" plays on the Game Over screen.
258** If you get the bad ending in ''VideoGame/Persona4'', you also get a lonely piano piece. [[spoiler:It's actually the music used in the true final dungeon.]]
259** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIwyuOXXcus "Inherent Will"]] from ''[[VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga Digital Devil Saga 2]]''. This absolute [[TearJerker heart-wrencher]] of a theme plays during scenes where party members die, most notably [[DyingMomentOfAwesome Cielo]].
260* ''VideoGame/EvilTwinCypriensChronicles'' does this during the final battle against TheMaster, after [[spoiler: TheMaster kills [=SuperCyp=]]].
261* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'':
262** The original trilogy includes the EasterEgg song "Siege of Madrigal" in ''VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved'', which also appears in subsequent Creator/{{Bungie}}-made games; the unused song "Love and a Piano"; "Heavy Price Paid" and the piano part of "Unforgotten" in ''VideoGame/Halo2''; and "Keep What You Steal" plus the last part of the credits music in ''VideoGame/Halo3''.
263** ''VideoGame/HaloReach'' has "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_cF8UlwOZE Spartans Never Die]]", the music during the opening cinematic of the post-credits mini-level "Lone Wolf". The first half of "Ashes" combines this trope with a OneWomanWail, and the second also uses PlayingTheHeartStrings. The piano section without the wail can be heard during the cutscenes at the ends of the Winter Contingency" and "New Alexandria" missions. ''3''[='s=] "Keep What You Steal" is also reused when Six retrieves "the package" (Cortana).
264** ''VideoGame/Halo3ODST'' has a lonely sax that pops up every now and then, usually when the Rookie is traveling through the city by himself. "Rain" is another prime example.
265* ''Franchise/SilentHill'':
266** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEuNySeWQy0 "Magdalene"]] from ''VideoGame/SilentHill2'', which is played after Maria's first death.
267** The DarkReprise of "Theme of Laura", along with PlayingTheHeartStrings.
268** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8N_PXTGdlGw Promise (Reprise)]]" was apparently sad enough that [[http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/multimedia/index.asp?mm_file_id=9797&play_clip=y the Philadelphia Eagles used it on their website]]. It's used for comedic purposes though.
269** ''VideoGame/SilentHillShatteredMemories'' uses the same sad song all the time.
270* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJBF9KZJNHE The "Event Failed" music]] in ''VideoGame/{{Pilotwings}}'', a DarkReprise of the "Event Completed" theme.
271* ''VideoGame/DonPachi'':
272** Heard in ''[=DoDonPachi=] Daifukkatsu: Black Label'' as "Resurrection", a somber tune that plays as the [[DownerEnding bleak ending]] is read out to you. It also plays right before switching to a boss theme as your carrier gets shot down by [[FinalBoss Golden Disaster/Hibachi]].
273** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQ_pPq0tjRI This theme]] from ''[=DoDonPachi=] [=SaiDaiOuJou=]'' which plays during [[spoiler:Hina's]] AlasPoorVillain moment in the Platform/Xbox360 version.
274* The Game Over music in the Platform/PCEngine version of ''VideoGame/{{Valis}} 1''.
275* ''VideoGame/RaySeries'':
276** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2k1qMsGZC84#t=2m25s ending]] to ''Ray Crisis''. Since Ray Crisis is a prequel to ''VideoGame/RayForce'', ForegoneConclusion means that despite your success in shutting down Con-Human, the damage has already been done, and indeed, TheWarHasJustBegun. With the piano single as the BackgroundMusic, the lone pilot sorties off...
277--->'''Narrator:''' We managed to separate the human clone from Con-Human computer environment, but we could still not stop the violence generated by the Con-Human. [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman Can we call the Con-Human and human clone a new life creation?]] Are we supposed to destroy this creature? The humans who are fighting against their ominous fate will use their latest strategy, resulting in ''[[TitleDrop Operation Ray Force]]''.
278** The Special Mode ending theme is an electric piano and chimes [[RepriseMedley medley of the series' highlight songs]].
279* ''Franchise/MassEffect'':
280** ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'' has this aboard the Normandy after [[spoiler:[[SadisticChoice Kaidan or Ash]] [[SurvivorGuilt dies]]]]. It doubles as the music that plays during the romance sex scene.
281** Shepard's death at the beginning of ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' has a lonely piano piece play over it. This {{Leitmotif}} comes up several times throughout the game, including [[spoiler: after your crew is captured by the Collector raid]] and [[spoiler:if Shepard dies during the Suicide Mission]].
282** ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' plays another piano piece during ''Normandy'''s escape from the [[spoiler:Reaper-overrun]] Earth. Along with [[HellIsThatNoise Reaper bass]].
283*** Grunt gets one at the end of one mission. [[spoiler:Whether he lives or dies depends on the save file from ''Mass Effect 2''.]]
284*** Shepard's romance theme in [=ME3=] starts out this way, and then the [[PlayingTheHeartStrings string section joins in]], leading to one of the series's more hauntingly beautiful pieces.
285*** The theme that plays over the ending sequence. A slow, low, heartbreaking piano plays the game's leitmotif as you see the [[spoiler: blast from the Crucible save everyone from the Reapers as Shepard almost certainly dies]]. Followed by more [[PlayingTheHeartStrings strings]]. An even sadder piano piece plays if you [[spoiler: pick the Refusal ending from the Extended Cut]]. Basically, the ''Mass Effect'' series LOVES this trope, playing sad piano music whenever something even remotely sad happens.
286*** [[spoiler:One of the most powerful is played during Thane's wake as part of the Citadel DLC.]]
287* In ''VideoGame/LunarTheSilverStar'', a sad piano piece plays when you return to Burg after most of the villagers have been kidnapped for slave labor in the Talon Mine.
288* In ''VideoGame/MetroidOtherM'', the alternate title screen music is this. A more full rendition with strings in is near the end of the playable epilogue when [[spoiler: Samus finds Adam's helmet and reminisces to the situation where Adam decided to sacrifice himself to save her]].
289* The death music in the original ''VideoGame/RainbowSix''.
290* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'':
291** The aptly named "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_SDejECbS0 Sad Song]]" from the ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG'' soundtrack.
292** The World 3 BackgroundMusic from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2''.
293** The ending music from ''VideoGame/YoshisIsland''.
294* In ''VideoGame/AmnesiaTheDarkDescent'', we have [[http://youtu.be/PsmC6EDLnc8 Alexander's Ending Theme]].
295* ''VideoGame/MetalGear'':
296** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4UspBs3DGQ Enclosure]], which plays when [[spoiler:Sniper Wolf dies and in one of the two endings where Meryl dies]]. A more depressing [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8uyOyGaY2I version]] plays in Act 4 of ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'' when [[spoiler:Naomi dies]].
297** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDF1US7DkjY flashback to Snake's final fight with The Boss]] in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker'' features a literal lonely piano version of "Snake Eater" to intensify Snake's feeling of loss in that moment. To put it into context, he has just confronted [[spoiler:an AI with the voice and seemingly the personality of his mentor whom he had loved... and killed]].
298* ''VideoGame/HeavyRain'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNJNcRloU10 Painful Memories]], a beautiful and haunting theme that plays when [[spoiler:the main protagonist's son, Jason, dies]].
299* ''VideoGame/AceCombat5TheUnsungWar'' contains a song titled "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWZuLtCTZPU 15 years ago]]", which plays on only two occasions: during the appropriate flashback and during [[ActionFilmQuietDramaScene the optional quiet drama scene]] in the final mission, when you and your wingmen literally remain the only ones in the skies over Oured (not counting the OptionalBoss who can be ignored).
300* ''VideoGame/TheTaleOfAlltynex'' trilogy mostly uses organ, but in its sadder moments the series whips out the piano.
301* ''VideoGame/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice'', shockingly enough. [[spoiler:It makes Max's death so much more sad to see a lonely Sam helplessly wandering around the city mourning him.]]
302* ''[[VideoGame/DotHackR1Games .hack//Outbreak]]'' plays a piano version of ''Aura's Theme'' as Kite stands lonely in Carmina Gadalica as he contemplates if he's making an already bad situation worse. The scene is even appropriately titled ''Lone Sheep.''
303* Two examples from ''VideoGame/AsurasWrath'' are the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aK7v9ZXbfsE Options]] theme (No, really), and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFTMZE3mPPw Lamentation: Momentary End.]]
304* In the SNES version of ''VideoGame/SimCity'', the "bad approval rating" music is a lonely harp DarkReprise of its "good rating" counterpart.
305* ''VideoGame/TheSpiritEngine2'' has "[[http://music.jwmusic.org/track/my-worth-bonus-track My Worth]]", played during the first section of the ending sequence.
306* ''VideoGame/CaveStory'' even thought it is not piano, "Balcony" the song that plays before you fight the [[BigBad Doctor]] has the same effect.
307* ''VideoGame/LostOdyssey'' has ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIxfzM8wGD8 A Return, Indeed (Piano Version)]]'' which while it has a major key tonal shift towards the end is still one of the saddest pieces of game music ever written.
308* ''[[VideoGame/CastleOfShikigami Castle of Shikigami III]]'''s [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qiWRu5bXkA ending]]. It's especially fitting for Kohtaro, Batu, Emilio, Mihee, as well as some of the other multiplayer scenarios that have [[BittersweetEnding bittersweet]] or [[DownerEnding downer endings]].
309* In ''VideoGame/{{Skullgirls}}'', Painwheel's story mode ending has a LonelyPianoPiece [[DarkReprise version]] of her usually happier theme, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFslkP06zgE "The Lives We Left Behind"]], to set the mood for [[spoiler:her rejection from her parents.]]
310* From ''VideoGame/RadioZonde'', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-T8P_T8iw4Y Celestial Elegy]], one of the FinalBoss themes.
311* "Explore 7" from ''VideoGame/Fallout3''.
312* In ''VideoGame/FarCry3BloodDragon'', "Cyber Commando" begins with a piano version of Rex's theme. "Moment of Calm" combines lonely piano with DroneOfDread, making it especially creepy.
313* The final level of ''VideoGame/TheSaboteur'' is bleak enough already -- [[spoiler:Sean climbs the Eiffel Tower as Nazis cross the DespairEventHorizon ''en masse'', many of them DrivenToSuicide]] -- but it gets even worse with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeNv8zlzlV8 a haunting rendition of Nina Simone's "Feeling Good"]] playing throughout. On the second-to-top floor, [[spoiler:you see that a Nazi captain is playing it on the bar's piano; if you shoot him, the music stops for the rest of the level]].
314* Some of the randomly-triggered background pieces from ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' evoke this, e.g. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSepOYJxB64 "Wet Hands"]]. Fitting given the [[TheAloner solitary nature]] of the single-player mode. Actually subverted by one of them, which fades into a more upbeat (though still calm and peaceful) synth piece.
315* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVDh-qAaipg Ending of the Starry Sky]] from ''VideoGame/SilhouetteMirage''.
316* "Memories", the very first song you hear in ''VideoGame/{{Deemo}}''. The cutscene it functions as the soundtrack for shows Deemo alone in his tower, playing song after song. Not surprisingly, the cutscene's title is "Lonely Deemo".
317* ''VideoGame/OriAndTheBlindForest'' has this in the prologue during the TimePassesMontage when the forest withers and Naru's food supply dwindles, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEx7AB-c6cQ when Ori finds Naru dead]], and as [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-RxgmdWTS0 Ori struggles through the decayed forest afterwards]], as well as the piano sections of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnB4mFmlaCM "First Steps into Sunken Glades"]].
318* The final mission in ''[[VideoGame/{{Darius}} Dariusburst: Chronicle Saviours]]'' has this for its BackgroundMusic, titled "Dream Road".
319* ''VideoGame/TheDenpaMen'':
320** In the second installment, a slow, sad track plays after the first battle in the beginning once [[spoiler: Crystal, Jasper, and Amber, the hero's wife and two children respectively, are kidnapped.]] The theme continues until you leave Digitown, but doesn't play if you renter. This theme plays again at the East Village, because [[spoiler: all but one of the residents of the town have been kidnapped by the Hammer Angler.]]
321** In the third game, the Locksmith's House constantly plays the sad theme, because [[spoiler: both the locksmith residing there and his grandma eventually die over the story. The hero even tries to Revive the grandma, but it doesn't work.]]
322* The ''VideoGame/ProjectXZone'' series has "Tear Drop", which usually plays during an AlasPoorVillain moment. It's also played when [[spoiler: [[VideoGame/GhostsNGoblins Arthur]] [[DisneyDeath seemingly]] [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifices himself]] in the climax of Chapter 17]] and when [[spoiler: [[VideoGame/MegaManX4 Zero encounters Iris]] halfway through Chapter 29]] of the first game.
323* ''VideoGame/ChildOfLight'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3o5YtTPvJ0 "Pilgrims on a Long Journey"]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bm3tBq7cCcE "Final Breath"]], and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7B--AiVaFJE "Woods Darker than Night"]].
324* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' has:
325** "Empty House," a slower, echoier piano remix of "Fallen Down." It plays in Home only after Toriel's departure, most likely if [[spoiler:you killed her during a Neutral or Genocide run]].
326** "An Ending," a slow, sad song consisting mostly of piano, with some strings as well. It plays in most neutral endings of the game, [[spoiler: where Asgore is dead regardless of whether or not you killed him, and the monsters are still trapped underground]]. A variant of a part from the song, specifically "Don't Give Up", also plays [[spoiler: if you kill Undyne on a neutral run]].
327** The beginning of "Battle Against A True Hero" starts off with one, which becomes the main riff of the song. It plays [[spoiler: when you fight Undyne on a No Mercy run, as she is trying to stop you from killing the rest of the Underground's population, and possibly humanity as well]].
328* ''VideoGame/{{Cuphead}}'' has "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvjwcwYQGPk The End]]", which ironically is not happy but heartwrenching when you discover that [[spoiler:you have chosen to hand over the Soul Contracts to [[{{Satan}} the Devil]] and rule over the entire Inkwell Isles that are ''literally'' going to hell]]. The piano piece that is accompanied by a snare drum plays over the first part of the end credits, followed by complete silence. It's a TearJerker, to say the least.
329* ''VideoGame/TheLongestFiveMinutes'' has a piano tune that plays all throughout your journey through Stardust Island, which is basically a humongous landfill where the hopeless and homeless go to die.
330* ''VideoGame/OneBitHeart'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jmEK5QgUww "Nanashi and Misane"]], which plays in quite possibly the most emotional moment of the game.
331* ''VideoGame/{{Celeste}}'' has several of these, including "Awake", "Postcard from Celeste Mountain", the beginning sections of "Golden" and "Quiet and Falling", "Little Goth", "Exhale", and "My Dearest Friends".
332* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'':
333** ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'' has the ''Theme of E-102 Gamma'', which, unlike the other character {{Image Song}}s, only has two recurring phrases as lyrics set to a sad piano with synths. This befits its emotionless nature as an Eggman robot that gained sapience [[spoiler:and that its mission ultimately ends with it performing a HeroicSacrifice to [[PoweredByAForsakenChild free the bird powering it]]]].
334** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGLu_EGB7dY "I Am... The Story is Over"]] from ''VideoGame/ShadowTheHedgehog'' does this, after Shadow [[spoiler: destroys the Black Comet and apparently decides to remain aboard Space Colony Ark]]. It's followed by Never Turn Back, possibly the best piece in the game.
335* ''VideoGame/{{Blasphemous}}'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWp-bgKX0fU Gélida Expiración]] (Gelid Expiration), the theme of the [[DeathMountain Graveyard of the Peaks]], a [[SnowMeansDeath snowy mountain littered with the frozen corpses of women]] who died in their pilgrimage to the Convent of Our Lady of the Charred Visage.
336* ''VideoGame/{{Omori}}'' has "Lost Library," which plays during a sequence where the title character is all alone in a dark MetaphysicalPlace thickly suffused with wistful memories of his other self and his friends.
337* ''VideoGame/RuneScape'' has "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DDxmSvUf0s All for the Pest]]", where you have the option to MercyKill the TorturedMonster.
338[[/folder]]
339
340[[folder:Visual Novels]]
341* Some examples from the ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' series:
342** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCHFbYFTx1Q Elegy Of The Captured]]" from ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyTrialsAndTribulations''. It plays during the more sad, serious visits to the detention centre.
343** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTaE-neU87I&feature=related "Interview Tragicomedy"]], the Detention Center theme from ''VisualNovel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney''.
344** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uu54w4wBqc "Doubted People"]], a Lonely Harpsichord Piece that plays when someone is wrongly accused and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmuUS7zSOac "Reminiscence - False Relations"]] that plays in the third case from ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigations''.
345* ''VisualNovel/CrossChannel'' is full of piano pieces, but [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wN8H_COnk1o&feature=related Crystal-clear]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHuZka2tJK8&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL Fragile]] (Crisscross version linked to due to the original being missing,) fit the bill the most.
346* ''VisualNovel/{{Demonbane}}'' has "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nL97iARTHf4 Lament. After All, We Are Divine]]", which plays when the protagonists' hit rock bottom, [[spoiler:as Arkham City lies devastated in the aftermath of Cthulhu's rampage, and Demonbane lies defeated and broken at the hands of Anticross.]]
347* The piano version of "This Illusion", heard in every arc of ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight''. The scenes manage to be remarkably TearJerker even in an already {{Utsuge}}-drenched story.
348* ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry Kai'' has this with the piano versions of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oup_yzyP7rA Monogatari]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxsE37P1r3M Michishirube]], and a few others.
349* In ''VisualNovel/DokiDokiLiteratureClub'', [[spoiler:Monika composes the song "Your Reality" which, despite its jaunty tempo, is actually this. Monika sings about her fate as a self-aware side character in a video game, lamenting how her actions to break the status quo caused so much harm and the HeelRealization that followed, questioning if taking someone against their will (the player in this case) is really "love", and her ultimate decision to let them go.]]
350* ''VisualNovel/{{Infinity}}'':
351** Oh god, Karma of ''VisualNovel/{{Ever17}}''. It's as if [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkvQte7JWpw despair became song]].
352** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSBeCC56mLU&feature=channel&list=UL Once more- piano]] from ''VisualNovel/{{Never7}}''.
353** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytuLTw2tIj8 All or None- Piano]] from ''VisualNovel/{{Remember11}}''.
354* ''VisualNovel/MuvLuvAlternative''[='=]s "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElpL-EbCxT8 For You Who Departs]]" starts off as this. Then the [[PlayingTheHeartStrings strings]] join in. And then the OneWomanWail.
355* Most of the emotional music in ''VisualNovel/SteinsGate'' is piano-based (and, appropriately to the plot, quite lonely-sounding). [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rYI2eG3DuQ This reprise]] of the main theme, Gate of Steiner, takes the cake though, just because of [[TearJerker the scenes it tends to be played in]].
356* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZtiGhtyrSs&feature=PlayList&p=68CEB39A7155F59B&index=0 "Wingless"]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NadRS5ed0CE&feature=PlayList&p=68CEB39A7155F59B&index=39 "Fortitude"]] from ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry''.
357* ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony'' uses "Clair de Lune" by Claude Debussy to heartbreaking effect following [[spoiler:Kaede's execution.]]
358* ''VisualNovel/DiesIrae'' has plenty of those, all playing during crucial emotional moments.
359** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e27reRX-fqk "Sol lucet omnibus"]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAv6uqtG654 "AHIH ASHR AHIH"]] are sombre versions of Thrud Walküre and Über den Himmel, respectively. The former plays during segments dealing with Kei's past, while the latter plays, among other things, during certain character deaths.
360** There's also [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tj0JokwCteI "Et in Arcadia Ego"]], which plays during Ren's non-romantic interactions with his LoveInterest.
361[[/folder]]
362
363[[folder:Webcomics]]
364* ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' has several sad piano pieces. [[http://homestuck.bandcamp.com/track/showtime-piano-refrain-3 Showtime (Piano Refrain)]], [[http://homestuck.bandcamp.com/track/homestuck-2 Homestuck,]] [[http://homestuck.bandcamp.com/track/temporal-piano-2 Temporal Piano]], and [[http://homestuck.bandcamp.com/track/mother-piano-bonus Mother (Piano)]] (among others) are all beautiful but sad piano pieces.
365[[/folder]]
366
367[[folder:Web Original]]
368* Penny's theme and song from ''WebVideo/DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog'', as well the [[TearJerker beginning of the final]] BSODSong.
369** Also significant in that her quiet theme is quickly drowned out in the ending credits by Horrible's dark symphonic one.
370* WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic has a {{leitmotif}} of "Sad Romance", a sad violin instrumental.
371* ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'': A piano mix of Carolina's theme plays [[spoiler:during her brief fight/breakup with York]].
372** Later in the same season, a lonely piano is used to represent the shell of a man [[spoiler: the Director has become when Carolina and Church find him.]]
373* WebVideo/TheProperPeople have a particular sad piano piece they use fairly often over cinematic montages of the abandoned areas they explore.
374* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YN1YnqdjPo Afterlife]]'', composed by "soimon" for his {{Machinima}} short ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NCERdh_-j4 Story of a Sentry]]''.
375* PlayedForLaughs in ''[[WebAnimation/{{Tankmen}} Tankmen 0.5]]'' where Steve throws [[BigStupidDoodooHead a childish insult]] at Bill, a person standing in the way of his tank, which manages to seriously hurt Bill's feelings, and piano music is played right when this occurs.
376* Steve Cutts's "[[https://youtu.be/VlVeoPXFHEA Where Are They Now?]]", a short film depicting the present lives of has-been cartoon characters such as [[Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit Roger and Jessica Rabbit]], uses Music/ErikSatie's "Gymnopedie No. 1" at the beginning and end.
377[[/folder]]
378
379[[folder:Western Animation]]
380* In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode "Putting Your Hoof Down", Fluttershy realizes that she TookALevelInJerkass and walks back to her home to lock herself up while accompanied by a SuspiciouslySimilarSong version of "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDe4lD9u0mw The Lonely Man]]". This becomes HilariousInHindsight two seasons later in the episode "Power Ponies", when the characters are sucked into an [[PortalBook enchanted comic book]] and Fluttershy finds herself playing the part of Saddle Rager, an {{Expy}} of the Incredible Hulk.
381* Used as a RunningGag in the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "The Tooth Fairy's Tats 2000" when Kyle [[spoiler:discovers the Tooth Fairy isn't real]]. The revelation is split over three scenes, each one spontaneously initiating the exact same [[AwesomeMusic/SouthPark hilariously]] [[NarmCharm generic]] track.
382* In ''WesternAnimation/KipoAndTheAgeOfWonderbeasts'', a lonely piano reprise of Yumyan Hammerpaw's theme song accompanies his [[spoiler: permanent DeathOfPersonality.]]
383[[/folder]]
384
385[[folder:Real Life]]
386* Every time [[UsefulNotes/FormulaOne Ayrton Senna]] won a race, Brazilian broadcaster TV Globo played a happy song called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0hmmX96QvY Tema da Vitória (Victory Theme)]]. During Ayrton Senna's funeral after his death in a racing accident, broadcast live to the whole country, TV Globo played a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1X51IIh-XY slowed down, single instrument version of that song]].
387[[/folder]]
388
389----
390''You're leaving this page all alone? [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjS_g3Syhu8 Cue the Lonely Piano while this page weeps at your absence.]]''
391

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