Line #8 TearJerker/PorcupineTree


1	[[Music/PorcupineTree This progressive rock band]] [[TearJerker can write some very moving songs]].
2	----
3
4	* First off, to quote Steven Wilso himself,
5	-->"This is a very sad song, but, if you're like me, I always find the saddest music is also the most beautiful. And this is one of my favorite songs that I've ever written, and it's called Stop Swimming." --'''Warszawa Live Album'''
6	* "Blackest Eyes" is nothing short of overwhelming... but when you look at the lyrics: OhCrap.
7	** It's remarkable how such a gorgeous song can have such cutthroat lyrics: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xg95jxsjI80]]
8	* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yp4kVvSXTU4 Heartattack in a Lay By]]"? Steven Wilson's mournful voice, the final verse of the song, and the keyboard make this the saddest song ever. The guy in the song had a fight with his wife and goes to cool off in a rest stop, but dies of a heart attack before he goes back. Steven has said that the song is essentially about regret, and the fear of being unable to make things right before it's too late.
9	-->"I guess I should go now\
10	She's waiting to make up\
11	To tell me she's sorry\
12	And how much she missed me\
13	I guess I'm just burnt out\
14	I really should slow down\
15	I'm perfectly fine but\
16	I just need to lie down\
17	We'll grow old together..."
18	** The beauty of the album that song is from is that all the songs are pretty ambiguous and can be interpreted any way you want, but the song takes on a darker tone when you think about the fact that it's on a concept album about psychopaths and serial killers. Especially when you learn about Fred West, suddenly the last four tracks on the album -- including this one -- seemed to fit in with the story of how West was caught and brought to justice.
19	* While the music from ''Heartattack in a Layby'' is incredibly depressing -- the ending verse of "Collapse the Light into Earth", the last song on the album, can be more heartbreaking.
20	-->"I won't heal given time\
21	I won't try to change your mind\
22	I won't feel better in the cold light of day\
23	But I wouldn't stop you if you wanted to stay..."
24	** Throughout the whole song, Steven says "Will" in a way that it's interchangeable with "Won't", so it can be taken as optimistically bittersweet or just a straight downer.
25	* Shesmovedon.
26	-->"She changes every time you look\
27	By summer it was all gone - now she's moved on\
28	She called you every other day\
29	So savour it it's all gone - now she's moved on"
30	* The video for "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NY5_nQAPGXY Way out of Here]]", which is dedicated to the founder of the PT myspace group, who was killed by a train.
31	** And then there's the song itself.
32	--->"I'll try to forget you\
33	And I know that I will\
34	In a thousand years\
35	Or maybe a week\
36	I'll burn all your pictures\
37	Cut out your face\
38
39	--->And the shutters are down and the curtains are closed\
40	And I've covered my tracks\
41	Disposed of the car\
42	And I'll try to forget even your name\
43	And the way that you look\
44	When you're sleeping\
45	Dreaming of this..."
46	* Most of the songs on Fear of a Blank Planet, but particularly [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06ITNnBRveU Sentimental]]. There's something heartbreaking in the way Wilson sings:
47	-->"I've wasted my life\
48	And I'm hurting inside\
49	I don't really know\
50	And I'm not really sure\
51
52	-->Sullen and bored the kids stay\
53	And in this way they wish away each day"
54
55	** Nobody ever mentions "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ey7yeu4DyfE My Ashes]]", erf.
56	-->"And my ashes find a way beyond the fog\
57	And return to save the child that I forgot\
58
59	-->And my ashes fade among the things unseen\
60	And a dream plays in reverse on piano keys\
61
62	-->And my ashes drop upon a park in Wales\
63	Never-ending clouds of rain, and distant sails\
64
65	* Not to mention "Buying New Soul" or "Where We Would Be". Just saying. Oof.
66	** Especially the solo in "Where We Would Be," so full of hopeless longing that it aches just to hear it.
67	** The very reminder that we'll all die is beautiful, heartbreaking, and horrifying all at the same time.
68	* "Normal", "Stop Swimming", "Shesmovedon", "Feel So Low", "Arriving Somewhere But Not Here", the ending of "Anesthetize", some others depending on context... probably the majority of their music. Then again, Steven Wilson, the main songwriter/leader of the band, feels that the most beautiful songs are the saddest, so this makes sense.
69	* "I Drive the Hearse".
70	* "Black Dahlia".
71	-->There's nothing here for you under the sun\
72	There's nothing new to do, it's all been done\
73	So put your faith in another place\
74
75	-->Never seem to get away from this\
76	It's all falling into an abyss\
77	So put your foot on the pedal, boy\
78
79	* As early as their first Delerium album we have "Radioactive Toy", which Steven wrote after seeing ''Film/{{Threads}}''. He sings the macabre lyrics about [[AfterTheEnd the aftermath of a nuclear attack]] as if [[DullSurprise the narrator in question is so traumatised as to be unable to express emotions]], with the effect being completed by the slow, funeral-march tempo of the song, the Music/PinkFloyd-ian guitar solo and the ominously creepy bridge and "malfunctioning synth" conclusion.
80	* "Lazarus" off of ''Deadwing'', especially when you take into consideration that it's part of a [[WhatCouldHaveBeen scrapped-screenplay]]-turned-concept-album about a boy's relationship with his mother, who happens to be a ghost.
81	-->"My David, don't you worry.\
82	This cold world is not for you.\
83	So rest your head upon me.\
84	I have strength to carry you."
85	* The chorus of "Every Home is Wired" from ''Signify''. It's only Steven Wilson [[TitleOnlyChorus singing the title of the song]] repeatedly, but the arrangement of the vocals ([[SelfBackingVocalist all 37 layers of them]]) and melody is enough to anyone cry.
86	** "Waiting (Phase One)". The vocal melodies are among some of Wilson's most haunting yet.
87	* "Don't Hate Me".
88	-->"Don't hate me\
89	I'm not special like you\
90	I'm tired and I'm so alone\
91
92	-->Don't fight me\
93	I know you'll never care\
94	Can I call you on the telephone\
95	Now and then?"
96	* "This Is No Rehearsal", which was inspired by a famous case in which a young child was murdered.
97	-->"And still I remember how I dressed him this morning\
98	And then he was gone - stolen, my only one"
99	* "Time Flies" is a pretty saddening song, being about Steven Wilson's childhood. While Steven's childhood wasn't tragic or depressing, it seems more like if Wilson's having a nostalgic flashback about his childhood and past. It's actually pretty heartbreaking but [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments nice to see him look back at who he became later on]].
100	* The title track off ''Lightbulb Sun''. Nuff said.
101	** Even [[FromBadToWorse more with the song "How Is Your Life Today?"]]
102	* ''The Start Of Something Beautiful'' is another tear jerker - both musically and lyrically. It's a very lovely song, though.
103	** Three words: ''Glass. Arm. Shattering''.

Context TearJerker / PorcupineTree