[[Music/PeterGabriel This former front man]] of Music/{{Genesis|Band}} has a lot of [[TearJerker incredibly depressing songs]].
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* "Blood of Eden", especially the ''Carnivale'' fanvid.
** The wordless note he hits at the end of the bridge is ''heartrending.''
** Much of ''Music/{{Us|1992}}'' qualifies for this trope, really, on account of the CreatorBreakdown Gabriel experienced during its production; the album's content overall is a reflection of his failing relationships with people close to him.
* His cover of The Magnetic Fields "The Book of Love". The song earns extra points by being pretty darn hilarious as well.
* The alternate version of "I Don't Remember" that serves as the BSide to the "Games Without Frontiers" single evokes this; while the album version is nightmarishly chaotic, the alternate version sounds a lot more... defeated... like a cry of desperation.
* One Word: "Biko". The narrator is so troubled by Stephen Biko's death that he can "only dream in red."
* "Father, Son". God, this has to be the saddest of them all. Especially with children who lost their father. What made it worse is that Peter's father died in 2016.
* The quiet, ending section of "Family Snapshot" (a song about Lee Harvey Oswald, or someone similar; Gabriel has sourced inspiration to Arthur Bremer, the attempted assassin of George Wallace).
-->All turned quiet. I have been here before\\
A lonely boy, hiding behind the front door\\
Friends have all gone home... there's my toy gun on the floor\\
Come back Mom and Dad\\
You're growing apart, you know that I'm growing up sad\\
I need some attention\\
I shoot into the light.
* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjEq-r2agqc Don't Give Up]]" is a prime example. Sounds like a cheesy title, but the lyrics, melody and Music/KateBush doing supporting vocals all make it really work.
** And then there's Shannon Noll and Natalie Bassingthwaighte's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMUmfWh9_tk cover]]...
* "My Body Is A Cage", originally by TearJerker/ArcadeFire, has always been a tearjerker. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15E0swZPoQE Peter Gabriel took it]] and made it a ''triumphant'' one.
** Pretty much all of Scratch My Back.
* "Here Comes the Flood".
** The acoustic/piano version makes the song even more heartbreaking.
* "I Grieve". First released in 1998, the song took on more poignancy when in an interview in 2002 he revealed both of Gabriel's daughters were in New York City during the 9/11 attacks, and he had no way of contacting them to make sure they were okay. He dedicated the song to people who have been in similar situations.
* "Red Rain" as well.
* "Sky Blue".
* "[[LonelyPianoPiece The Drop]]".
-->One by one, they're going out\\
You watch them dim\\
One by one, you watch them fall\\
And wonder where they're falling to.
* "Wallflower" from ''Security'' veers between this and [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Heartwarming/Music Heartwarming Music]].
* "Home Sweet Home".
* His cover of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsvuipGq2ns "Heroes"]] amps up the poignancy from David Bowie's original with a much more minimalist composition, giving more weight to his vocal performance, highlighting the deceptively simple lyrics and their underlying bittersweet tone.
--> I, I can remember\\
Standing, standing by the wall\\
And the guns, shot above our heads\\
And we kissed, as though nothing could fall\\
And the shame, the shame was on the other side\\
Oh we can beat them, for ever and ever\\
And we could be Heroes, just for one day
* "Mercy Street".
-->[[Creator/AnneSexton Anne]] with her father\\
Is out in the boat\\
Riding the water\\
Riding the waves\\
On the sea...
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