History TearJerker / RockMusic

* "Love Reign O'er Me" by The Who.

** Anthem of the Angels by Breaking Benjamin causes this troper to burst into tears, especially since she heard this AFTER her best friend killed herself.

** "Rain".

* JimiHendrix; "The Wind Cries Mary" and "Angel" - which even works as a spoken poem.
** Listen to the lyrics of "Castles In The Sand" and see which verse you can get to without crying. Nobody ever makes it past verse three.

* "Love Reign O'er Me" by The Who

* "Love Reign O'er Me" by The Who


!!!''Inversions''
* Inverted in "Daddy" by {{Korn}} in which the lead singer Johnathan Davis himself breaks into tears and sobbing for a good few minutes.
** Kellie Pickler did the same singing "I Wonder" at the CMA's.

* TheOffspring's "Million Miles Away"

!!!''Unorganized''
* "Last Kiss" (originally performed by Wayne Cochran, more famously performed by PearlJam) is either this or {{Narm}}.
** To clarify: The original is {{Narm}}, but the Pearl Jam cover fits the trope.
** J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers' famous cover version wasn't Narm in '62. I'm not sure if it's because everybody knew the backstory or what.

** Kellie Pickler did the same singing "I Wonder" at the CMA's.
* The RedHotChiliPeppers' eulogy song to Kurt Cobain (appropriately titled "Tearjerker").
** [[{{REM}} R.E.M.]]'s "Let Me In," about the same thing, is just as sad. It was even worse seeing it live because the guitar for the song is the actual one Cobain used to own. Heartbreaking.
** Pearl Jam's "Immortality" is another Kurt Cobain tribute that deserves a mention.
** Don't forget "Under the Bridge", also by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
** Dani California does it for me.
** "My Friends" hasn't popped up yet. The lyrics make me water up just thinking about them....
* Since you mentioned, Robbie Williams' "Angels". "Advertising Space" can be pretty depressing as well.
* "Love will Tear Us Apart" by Joy Division. Between Ian Curtis' haunting vocals, the fact that he committed suicide a ''month'' after the song was recorded; and, well, the song in general, it's a hell of a spectacle of sorrow.
** Though when New Order have played it live it's become a bit of a singalong anthem. [[TooSoon Guess enough time has passed]].
** Also there's "Decades", "Atmosphere" and "Ceremony". (The latter was released as the first single by New Order after Ian's death). The absolute pit of misery has to be "The Eternal" though. Really don't listen to it if you're feeling down.
** New Order's own "Your Silent Face" has one of the most tear-jerkingly lovely synth-choruses ever.
* This troper likes to think he isn't easy to bring to tears (well, when it comes to music), but, even so, there are a couple songs that will make me tear up very easily: Alive by Pearl Jam, Don't Look Back In Anger by Oasis, Who Wants to Live Forever by Queen, Love Reign O'er Me by The Who, Top of the World by Van Halen, Welcome to the Black Parade by My Chemical Romance, Amanda by Boston, and I Don't Want to Miss A Thing by Aerosmith. For most of them, the subject matter isn't really what gets me, it's the overwhelming emotion, especially in the choruses.
* {{Aerosmith}}'s "Dream On" and VanHalen's "Dreams" get [[StevieWillShowYou This Troper]] to cry a few tears, Manly or otherwise, every time he hears them.

The message is pretty shallow, but it's one that gets to me all the time. Combine that with the sad acoustic guitar, and you have one sad ballad. Especially heartbreaking with [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRFpXPu_7wE this video]], which was a tribute to the user's dad who died of cancer. "Ooh, what a lucky man he was..." * sniff*

"My Immortal" does it for this troper.

* How about "Information" by Dredg?

* Black Label Society do a good line in these, with this troper's particular favourite being "Just Killing Time".

* Kansas' ''Dust in the Wind''. Nihilism at its finest.

* JohnLennon's "Beautiful Boy" has alway smade this troper tear up a bit at the line saying how John can't wait to see Sean come of age... The mental connection this troper makes with Mr Holland's Opus doesn't help either.
** "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wv3ic6OOXns I don't believe in Beatles...]]"

* "Civil War" by GunsNRoses, the second verse when the singer tells how his first memory is the assassination of Kennedy and how he went numb for Vietnam get this troper every time.
** "November Rain". To say nothing of the music video (Overblown? Perhaps. Effective? Very.).
** "Estranged" and "Don't Cry" have some really depressing parts. Depending on your mood, the desperation of "The Garden" might count.
** "This I Love" always gets me. It's as if the high chorus part is at the same frequency as my heart strings.
* GreenDay's heartwarming "Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)" can break even the most macho of men when played at funerals.
** That is, assuming they don't [[LyricalDissonance listen to the lyrics...]]
*** Or, really, if they do, and realize that ''the lyrics are perfectly sweet.'' Seriously, this JustBugsMe. I have listened to that song a million times and read the lyrics equally often, and other than the title, there is nothing ironic or particularly bitter about them! Bittersweet, yes. It describes a relationship that has had its ups and downs, and now its time for both to move on, but it explicitly says that it was a relationship worth having!
*** Thank you! I said the same thing for "Time Of Your Life" for it's entry on Lyrical Dissonance, but you said it ''way'' better.
*** This troper has seen it happen. The fact that the funeral in question was for a teenage boy whose death would've been worthy of a Darwin Award nomination made the questionable appropriateness of the song even more tragic.
** Don't forget "Boulevard of Broken Dreams".
** Or "Wake Me Up When September Ends", considering the fact that this song is about his father, who died when Billie Joe was just 10 years old. This song makes this troper cry buckets.
** The ''AmericanIdiot'' outro, "Whatsername", does it for this troper.
*** Personally, I can get through the Green Day version without letting tears fall, but it's the Broadway cast's version that brings this troper to tears every time.
** "Before the Lobotomy", anyone.
** Anyone who has really listened to the ''21st Century Breakdown'' opener "Song of the Century" by itself should have to compose themselves at the mention of the title.
** Their cover of "The Saints Are Coming" with {{U2}}. Oh God.
** If this troper listens to ''AmericanIdiot'' all the way through, you can be sure she's sobbing like a baby by the end. Usually triggered by the beginning of "Homecoming."
* The Blue October song "For My Brother" is particularly gut wrenching once it turns to a plea for help. It's roughly the emotional equivalent of being sent through a meat grinder, and understandably this editor listens to it when trying to write particularly gut wrenching scenes in her current opus.
** "Hate Me".
** For this troper, it was "Black Orchid". You know it'll be depressing when it was written as a confession to the singer/writer's mother that he was suicidal, at the age of ''fourteen'', but the sheer helplessness in his voice is what makes this troper unable to listen all the way through.
** ''My Never''. Admit it, we've all been there before.
* There's just something about how the music builds and builds in "Three Libras" by A Perfect Circle.
* And then, there's PinkFloyd's "Wish You Were Here"...
** The entire damn album (with the possible exception of "Welcome to the Machine", which is merely at the band's typical level of moroseness), but particularly "Shine On You Crazy Diamond".
*** All of it can be traced to the band's own melancholy after Syd Barrett left. Barrett actually visited the studio as they were recording the song, apparently in really bad shape and offering to help in any way he could.
*** And he was in such bad shape they didn't recognise them as first...* whimper*
** This troper literally cried to this song after a certain Grad Night party incident.
** And on that note, "When the Tigers Broke Free" from ''TheWall'' is a pretty big downer as well.
*** The song's actually from ''The Final Cut'', though it's in the movie version of ''The Wall'' (which fits in with the overall theme of the movie).
** Ever heard Dar Williams's version of "Comfortably Numb"?
*** This troper has. And cried like a little kid every single time.
*** The regular version still gets this troper, especially at the "the child has grown, the dream is gone" part and the solo immediately after it...
** 'The Great Gig in the Sky' and 'Us and Them', especially revisiting them after Richard Wright's death.
** 'Nobody Home'. Oh, God. And as if the song itself wasn't bad enough, there's WordOfGod that "elastic bands keeping my shoes on" is a direct reference to Syd.
** Speaking of Syd, especially sad are the songs he wrote about his realization that he's losing his mind and there's nothing he or anyone else can do about it - namely the Pink Floyd songs "Jugband Blues" and "Vegetable Man" and the solo song "Dark Globe".
*** Oh, "Dark Globe"...that song actually makes me cringe when I listen to it. And I don't mean that in a bad way; it's actually probably a good thing more than anything, because it shows Syd's skill in just pouring his own emotion into the song. His voice sounds like he's trying not to undergo a breakdown, and the fact that there's no instrumentation apart from the acoustic guitar makes me think of him as so very alone in his madness. And when he wails "Wouldn't you miss me at all?" - I feel like he's literally asking his friends in Pink Floyd and everyone else he knows whether he'll be missed at all. Most songs aren't as literal and personal as this. (Right now, I am simultaneously listening to "Dark Globe" and trying not to weep. I've got a feeling I'm going to fail.)
** "Outside the Wall", particularly the version from the movie ''The Wall'', and the accompanying visuals.
** "High Hopes" from ''The Division Bell'' is about longing for lost youth and innocence after growing old and cynical; doubly moving by the fact that it is the last song ever to be produced by the band (though it does end with the hopeful words "Forever and Ever").
** "On The Turning Away" from ''Momentary Lapse of Reason''. Sure, it's possibly their least popular album. Sure, it sounds like it could be a show tune. ''Doesn't freakin' matter.''
** "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3PIG6XXIdw The Gunner's Dream]]" from ''The Final Cut''.
** Personally, "Goodbye Blue Sky" gives me goosebumps. Just... gorgeous.

* "Down In A Hole" by AliceInChains is a kind of depressing only they can pull off; whether the tears come or not will depend on who you are, but hearing the singer accept that his life is over and it's all his fault evokes a certain gloom and sorrow rarely pulled of tastefully.
** I've always found "Would?" to be even more depressing than "Down in a Hole"
*** The normal version is depressing enough, but the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5ZNJWobQ-Y acoustic version]] is almost painful to listen to (and even harder to watch when you can see Layne's rotting teeth, constant shaking, and pained face). Hearing that song coming from a dying man is one of the most depressing things you'll ever hear.
*** My first girlfriend killed herself. The last time I saw her alive was about an hour and a half before she went through with it, and the last thing we listened to together was "Would?". That song hurts to listen to, now.
** Most of their songs have this vibe, which is especially disturbing when you consider how the singer died...
** "Nutshell", good God, just..."Nutshell"
*** And again, "Nutshell".
** And "Rooster" as well. Especially the "Send me pictures of my boy" line...
*** Well, let's put it this way: said song is the happiest on the album ''Dirt'', and the subject is the guitarist's Vietnam vet father, and it's still talking about him getting shot at, and all his friends getting gunned down or dying from malaria.
** I can't listen to "Whales & Wasps" without crying.

* Also from R.E.M. there's "Everybody Hurts", and its video. Specially the video.
** I would have not hesited to agree with that one anyway, but since this was one of the songs played at my mum's funeral (her own request, despite being healthy and fairly young at 50), I can't even start to think about it without crying, and don't think I ever will. It perhaps say's something about the song though that the other two (Shania Twain's "You're Still the one" and Robbie Williams "Angels") barely effect me at all. Worst thing, I bet she doesn't regret her request one minute.
** And "Nightswimming" from the same record.
*** And "Find the River." And "Sweetness Follows." And - hell, the whole of ''Automatic for the People''.
**** No mention of "The Wrong Child" yet? Come ON, that is like the only song that actually made me cry!
***** "The Wrong Child" never fails to make this troper tear up. Interestingly, Michael Stipe has never actually admitted to what the song was about, but it paints a vague picture of a child who is handicapped and seperated from his peers.
** "I'm Not Over You", a small song stuck at the end of "Diminished" on ''Up'' seems so tortured. Stipe plays the guitar and sings a few lines about a failed relationship. Something in his voice and that half-hearted guitar-playing...

* BruceSpringsteen's [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZ-Ifwiz6Zw "Devil's Arcade"]] is currently doing it for this troper.
** Not to mention "Streets of Philadelphia", except perhaps thats been a bit overplayed. Try "Atlantic City" instead, especially the line 'Maybe everything that dies one day comes back'.
*** In the case of former, the lyrics "The night has fallen/I'm lyin'awake/I can feel myself fading away/So receive me, brother, with your faithless kiss, or will we leave each other alone like this/On the streets of philadelphia" get to this troper every time.
** Gotta give some points to "The River," which probably single-handedly earned him the nickname of "John Steinbeck in Black Leather."
** For this troper, along with Atlantic City (well, most of Nebraska, actually), Springsteen's tearjerker is [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xokeiep6yHU Devils and Dust]]. The video is especially powerful, and never fails to bring this troper to tears, even thinking about the song sometimes will do it.
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcya8uKNWn4 Lonesome Day]] for this troper. For all that [[LyricalDissonance it sounds like a rousing anthem]], it's actually from the POV of the relatives of those who died in 9/11.
*** This Troper was 10 years old on 9/11 and lives in New York City. As such, he can hardly listen to that album (The Rising) without tearing up. Particular mention goes to Empty Sky - particularly the lyric "I want a kiss from your lips, I want an eye for an eye... I woke up this morning to the empty sky..."
*** For this fellow New York City troper (I was 30 on 9/11), it's "City of Ruins" that does it.
** A live version of "4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)" performed right after the death of E Street member Danny Federici. Right before they start the song, Bruce says, "We'd better get this right...someone's watching."
* Since you mentioned {{U2}}, "With Or Without You". And depending on your mood, "New Year's Day".
** Also, their "Sunday Bloody Sunday."
*** The Edge's solo performances of it on the Pop Mart tour. Just... oh God. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwkeoL1cYjg * sniffle* ]]
** "Electrical Storm" does it for this troper.
** "Kite" and "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own", both dealing with Bono's father.
*** Especially when they did it at the Slane show the week of the funeral. Oh god, that was heartbreaking.
**** It's possible to ''almost'' get through that song without tearing up. And then you hear Bono sing "Don't leave me here alone..."
** "Mothers of the Disappeared" never fails to do it for this troper.
** Don't forget "Bad" and "All I Want Is You".
** For this troper, it's "Tomorrow" and, strangely enough, "Lemon" - both dealing with Bono's mother.
** This troper saw U2 in concert just after 9/11. During "One" she burst into tears. At a ''rock concert''. Every year on 9/11 she plays "One" and "Walk On" in the car as a tribute.
** "Brothers in Arms" is inextricably tied up in this troper's mind with [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_6rRgXI5-I this.]]
*** For this troper it's Where the Streets Have No Name," due to [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gq08ouOwiqQ their halftime performance at the 2002 Super Bowl]] where they played this song in front of a scrolling list of the victims of 9/11.
**** "And when I go there, I go there with you" + Bono's jacket with the American flag stitched into the lining = ''"It's okay, America. We've got your back."'' And this troper lost it. I just watched the above video ''with the sound off'' (at work) and had to summon a lot of willpower not to attract the attention of the people in the next cube over.
** This troper just about lost it at a show on their U2360 tour--during the encore Bono sings "Amazing Grace" (with a 20K+ member audience) and then they transition to "Where the Streets Have No Name". Glorious.
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tYn9_iuA8k "Window In The Skies"]] is what gives this troper ManlyTears, but in a good way. Am kinda glad I haven't seen it performed live, it would reduce me to a puddle...
* "Love of a Lifetime" by Firehouse always gets this troper sniffling by the final chorus.
* Poison was a hair metal band with a long-haired pretty boy singer, but their ballad [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xe71zCA5xFQ "Something to believe in"]] is surprisingly moving. Even as a little girl, the video reduced me to tears more than once.
** "Every Rose Has Its Thorn". Full stop.
* "Only Women Bleed" by Alice Cooper.
** Don't forget "I Never Cry". This troper bawled her eyes out when the Coop performed it in concert.
* "Working at Perfekt" from Geddy Lee's underrated solo album ''My Favorite Headache'' was a punch to the gut for this troper. It didn't help that her then-boyfriend broke up with her at the time...

* "Glycerine" by Bush.
* The FooFighters "Friend of a Friend" -- which is the ''only'' song by the band confirmed to about Kurt Cobain. "He needs a quiet room with a lock to keep him in."
** "Walking After You", "Next Year", and "Best of You" also fits.
* JimiHendrix; "The Wind Cries Mary" and "Angel" - which even works as a spoken poem.
** Listen to the lyrics of "Castles In The Sand" and see which verse you can get to without crying. Nobody ever makes it past verse three.
* You might laugh, but "Snuff" by Slipknot gets this troper all misty-eyed. That might be because it details a really messy breakup, and the possible suicide of one of the people involved.
** "Vermillion Part 2", the slow version. Chilling.
* Dream Theater's "Disappear", "Vacant", and "Space-Dye Vest." "And I'll smile and learn to pretend/And I'll never be open again/And I'll have no more dreams to defend/And I'll never be open again?" God-''damn''.
** Not to mention "Goodnight Kiss", a song about post-partum depression. And that is merely the pinnacle of the suite of depression that is Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence. Parts of Scenes from a Memory also qualify, especially Scene V: Through Her Eyes and Scene IX: Finally Free, bridges the gap between {{Nightmare Fuel}} and TearJerker.
** The Budokan DVD version of "Disappear" is worse. If I remember right, the singer wrote it about his mother's death, and it's easy to see when they play it on that particular DVD, that he's very, very close to breaking down at the end of the song. The Ministry of Lost Souls is pretty depressing, too.
*** The Ministry of Lost Souls is depressing, sad, heartwarming, and disturbing all at the same time. For those who don't know: A man dies to save a woman from drowning, but she's unable to enjoy her life because she loved him too much. [[spoiler: His spirit returns to take her with him.]] The final "Don't turn your back on paradise" always gives this troper the chills.
** Hollow Years. Just Hollow Years...
** From their new cd: "The Best of Times" is TearJerker of the heartwarming variety: the drummer wrote it in memory of his late father, reminiscing about how great it was when they were together.
** How could we not talk about "The Spirit Carries on"? This song is REALLY tearjerker.
* "Hear You Me," by Jimmy Eat World. "May angels lead you in..." It certainly doesn't help that the first time ThisTroper heard it was on a very well put together [and now taken down] Firefly vid where freakin' ''Kaylee'' actually ''died''.
** This troper has to add that this song was one of the things that helped me cope with and express myself after the death of a friend. Made worse by the fact that it could've been written for her -- she died young, and the people at her funeral kept extolling her virtues, pointing out how much of a positive impact she'd made on them. Really goes with the line "A song for a heart so big/God wouldn't let it live."
* {{Nirvana}}. "All Apologies". The final part with the distorted guitar and Kurt singing "All in all is all we are"... choke-inducing at least. ThisTroper even deleted his copy of "Gallons of Rubbing Alcohol..." because it ruined the effect. The ''MTV Unplugged in New York'' album also has tons of this.
** On that note, Kurt Cobain's rare "Do Re Mi" demo, on the WTLO box set. It is one of the last songs recorded before his death, and while a lot folkier and more upbeat than his earlier work, it still manages to be tear inducing.
* Styx's "Babe", for this troper.
* Scorpions' "Still Loving You," especially the last few lines. It doesn't help that Klaus Meine actually sounds genuinely heartbroken when he sings it.
-->''Yes I've hurt your pride''
-->''And I know what you've been through''
-->''You should give me a chance''
-->''This can't be the end''
-->''I'm still loving you''

* "Rain" by Breaking Benjamin.

** "Telephone Line" by Electric Light Orchestra (which, admittedly, kind of straddles the line between being sad and lugubrious).

*** And "Jeremy", in addition to being NightmareFuel.

* Much of ''TheBlackParade'', MyChemicalRomance's RockOpera about a terminally ill patient, could be considered DeusAngstMachina or even {{Narm}}. Nevertheless, "Sleep" really is genuinely sad: "The hardest part is letting go of your dreams".
** This troper agrees at least partially on the Narm part but finds listening to the song ''"Mama"'' particularly wrenching for some reason. It's got that * very* My Chem, 'and man am I pissed!', gas-masks-and-angst thing going on but it's supposed to be at least vaguely about one of the world wars, and the verses that have Liza Minelli in them are... jeez. She doesn't even ''like'' Liza Minnelli.
** This troper always cries at the song "Welcome to the Black Parade", in part because she's always associated it with moving on from an unrequited love. (No, really. Something about the second verse...) The oddly upbeat melody and lyrics make it worse, not better.
*** She also cries at "The Ghost of You". Go ahead and laugh, but it's a very freakin' sad song, mkay?
** The song "Cancer". "Because the hardest part of this is leaving you..."
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxRxpnHqfCE This video]] manages to make the TearJerker moments from TengenToppaGurrenLagann even worse by setting them to Welcome to the Black Parade.
** To all MCR fans, Early Sunsets Over Monroeville...if you're not crying halfway through, then you are not a fan. The last 5 seconds just make it so damn SAD...
** See also: Kill All Your Friends, Cemetery Drive, and worst, Demolition Lovers.
*** Aww, god. Kill All Your Friends does get this troper's emotions going in... one way or another but doesn't make her feel genuinely ''depressed'', maybe due to the vicious and wry way Gerard Way delivers it... At least until the last repeat of the chorus... "It's been ''ten fucking years'' since I been seeing your face/And you're walking away, and I will drown in the fear..."
** No love for Disenchanted? It's so nostalgic (if for the sake of its place in the album's storyline), emotional, and depressing this troper must've cried at least the first few times she listened to it. I don't even know where to ''begin.''
** This troper heartily agrees. Also, Ghost of You, with the video especially.
*** This troper agrees with Ghost of You. She's pretty sure the first time she saw the video she wasn't even into the band, and was upset enough by it that she didn't watch it again for almost ''3 years'', despite rewatching all the others soon after getting into the fandom. Unsurprisingly, once she knew who the people were, it was even worse.
** Helena hasn't been mentioned yet? The song sounded sad enough the first time this troper heard it, but when you realise Helena was Gerard and Mikey Way's grandmother it suddenly gets a lot more meaning.

* DireStraits' "Brothers in Arms", about a dying (or dead) soldier talking to those he shed blood with.
** This troper thinks it's the other way around, the only soldier left alive talking to those who died. Which just makes it sadder, and that guitar doesn't exactly help.
*** The first troper has the right interpretation. In verse one, "These mist-coloured mountains are a home now for me / But my home is the lowlands, and always will be / Some day you'll return to your valleys and your farms" he's pretty much saying "You're going on living, while I'll never return to my real home."
** Dire Straits has a lot of this. "Romeo and Juliet", "Iron Hand", and "Tunnel of Love" are prime candidates.
*** This troper always thought that "Romeo and Juliet" was so sad- and the cover by The Killers with Brendan Flowers sounding like he was going to cry- *sobs*
*** Don't forget "Private Investigations". "What have you got at the end of the day? / What have you got to take away? / A bottle of whisky and a new set of lies / Blinds on the windows and a pain behind the eyes. / Scarred for life, no compensation."

* Garbage's "Drive You Home" stops this troper dead every time.
* Death's "Voice of the Soul" from their final album, which is a somber acoustic piece with electric guitar noodling throughout the song. A sharp contrast from the death metal/progressive metal workings of the rest of the album.
** This was the only song in the world that made this troper cry genuine tears.
* "Jeremy" by PearlJam. About a guy to committed suicide in the middle of his English class.
--->Daddy didn't give attention
--->Oh, to the fact that Mommy didn't care.
--->King Jeremy the Wicked,
--->Oh, ruled his world.
** And "Even Flow". About a homeless, illiterate, mentally insane man.
** This troper gets really depressed listening to "Given to Fly".
** "Yellow Ledbetter". The melody alone is pretty fucking depressing...
* {{Motorhead}} - '1916'. If you are or are related to a soldier, you just might cry.
* BonJovi - Someday I'll Be Saturday Night. Something about the stories of so many hopeless lives calls to this troper.
* {{Rammstein}} has some. Yes, it's a German band, yes, it's NDH, yes, the singer may be the scariest guy alive... But God, isn't [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWd_7cI4FUw Ohne Dich]] just... * sniff*
-->Without you I cannot be
-->Without you
-->With you I am alone too
-->Without you
-->Without you I count the hours without you
-->With you the seconds stand still
-->They aren't worth it without you
* "Russians" by Sting. That's all that needs to be said.
* Breaking Benjamin's 'Unknown Soldier'.
-->''Show me what it's like
-->To dream in black and white
-->So I can leave this world behind.''
** For this troper, it's practically every one of their songs. Especially "Breath".
** The first time this troper heard "Rain" I bawled.
* {{Evanescence}}'s 'Missing', 'Hello', 'My Last Breath' and 'Everybody's Fool'. One is about someone who asks themselves if anyone would miss them (and implies suicide with the line 'Even though I'm the sacrifice'), the second one is about someone who's broken down due to a trauma - a girl's death. the third one is sung by a dying person to ther loved one who can't do anything to avoid it, and the fourth one is some severe self loathing (and [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewO5NWQ97sI the music video]] ''does not help at all'').
"My Immortal" does it for this troper.

* "Paschendale", by IronMaiden. The battle it talks about is bad enough, but this magnificent song both makes you angry and brings a tear in your eye. "Rust your bullets with his tears/Let me tell you 'bout his years."
** "Blood Brothers", inspired by the death of Steve Harris' father.
* The song "Seize the Day" by AvengedSevenfold. They may be a hard rock band, but damn they know how to yank at your heartstrings. The guitar solo in the middle of it, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-38wFpXE3Q especially in the video]] is beautiful. (Also noting the video is quite a TearJerker). Their songs "MIA" and "Dear God" may also qualify.
* Needs more Audioslave. There's something about "Like a Stone" that usually kicks in sometime around the halfway point of the guitar solo that tells me that if a guitar could cry, that's what it would sound like. Also from their first album, "I Am the Highway" and "Getaway Car".
* Kansas' ''Dust in the Wind''. Nihilism at its finest.
* "Cut" by Plumb. It ends on a positive note, but this troper was still sad after listening to it.
** "Damaged" by the same artist.
* Anything by Good Charlotte... "Emotionless" and the hidden track at the end of "Meet My Maker" get to me...

* ElectricLightOrchestra's "Eldorado", which is about a man who decides to stay in a fantasy world because he can't take the real world anymore. It really hits home for this troper, since she's been struggling with depression for years.
** Also, their "Is this the way life's meant to be?"
** I found it rather sad because when I first heard it, I was in the midst of a depression as well. I, like the guy in the song, had a sort of fantasy world in my head that I often escaped to, which I liked much better than the real world. I found myself identifying ''exactly'' with that song, to the point where I thought it might as well have been written about me.
* Electric Light Orchestra's "The Way Life's Meant To Be," a song about change, the future and letting go of the place you once called home. In fact, the entire ''Time'' album (which is basically a story about a man taken to the future, being separated from all he loves, trying to cope with it and then being ''sent back'' so that he can make the world into a better place.)
** Tell me you don't cry when you hear ''Wild West Hero''. Go on, all of you, ''tell me''.
*** I could never tell you that.

* Guys, how could you forget Lita Ford and Ozzy Osbourne's "Close my eyes forever"!?
* I've always found the song "Orion" by {{Metallica}} to be a tearjerker. It's a cool song, but what makes it a tearjerker is the fact that this is the song that was played at Cliff Burton's funeral after he was killed in a bus accident in 1986. Until recently (2006), the remaining members of the band had never played it live, partially as a tribute to their bandmate.
** Just to prove how much of a masochist he is, this Troper decided to read through the entire TearJerker section on this website while listening to "To Live Is To Die". What, IMHO makes this song special is that the band didn't sully their feelings by putting them in words. In the entire 10 minute song, the only lyrics are the following poem written by Cliff shortly before his death:
---> When a man lies, he murders a part of the world.\\
These are the pale deaths, which men miscall their lives.\\
All this I can no longer bare to witness.\\
Can not the Kingdom of Salvation take me home?
** "One": about a war solder who loses his limbs and senses, and has nothing to live for.
** "Fade to Black": about a man contemplating suicide, and follows through on it.
** The straightforward ballad, "Nothing Else Matters".

* Think MarilynManson can't do tearjerkers? Just listen to 'The Speed Of Pain'.
** Or 'Coma White' ("A pill to make you numb\ A pill to make you dumb\ A pill to make you anybody else\ All the drugs in this world\ Won't save her from herself."). Or 'Putting Holes In Happiness'. YMMV at the latter.
** 1/4th of all Manson's songs are {{TearJerker}}s.
-->"I know it's the '''Last Day on Earth'''\\
We'll be together while the planet dies\\
I know it's the last day on Earth\\
We'll never say goodbye."
** ''Count to Six and Die'' is even more of a tearjerker and NightmareFuel when you realize the "counting to six" and the five clicking sounds at the end really mean... [[spoiler: a revolver with five empty rounds]]
-->"She's got her eyes open wide\\
she's got the dirt and spit of the world\\
her mouth on the metal\\
the lips of a scared little girl\\

-->She's got her Christian prescriptures\\
and death has crawled in her ear\\
like elevator music of songs\\
that she shouldn't hear\\

-->and it spins around 1...2...3\\
and we all lay down 4...5...6\\
some do it fast \\
some do it better in smaller amounts..."
** "Man That You Fear" was written after Manson went to a family wedding and nobody wanted to speak to him.

* The Police's "Message in a Bottle". Unless you're actually playing the song, its hard to not cry.
* "Telephone Line" by Electric Light Orchestra (which, admittedly, kind of straddles the line between being sad and lugubrious).

* ELP's "Lucky Man". It details a rich young man who goes to war, but he gets shot and dies.
-->No money could save him\\
So he lay down and he died
The message is pretty shallow, but it's one that gets to me all the time. Combine that with the sad acoustic guitar, and you have one sad ballad. Especially heartbreaking with [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRFpXPu_7wE this video]], which was a tribute to the user's dad who died of cancer. "Ooh, what a lucky man he was..." * sniff*
* Creed's "Lullaby". No one dies in it, there are no broken hearts...it's just that single guitar playing that sad melody, those lyrics, that make it seem equally suited to a funeral as a lullaby.

* Nearly the entirety of Music/Beck's ''Sea Change.''

* "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4y-RzVGrHg Far Away]]" by {{Nickelback}}. It's about someone who's critically injured and possibly dying.

* {{Silverchair}} has tons of these. Especially "Ana's Song" which is about Daniel's struggle with male anorexia.

* Blink-182's "Adam's Song", an [[LyricalDissonance upbeat song about suicide]].
** Not ''that'' upbeat.
** While on the subject of Blink, "Stay Together For The Kids" is fairly sad, and then this troper listened to the lyrics properly. Ooh dear.
** This troper finds "Man Overboard" and "What Went Wrong" particularly sad. If "Man Overboard" really is about Scott Raynor, the original drummer (which he seems to know it is), it marks the day when Blink officially forgot about Scott. As for "What Went Wrong", it seemed to have been made for the Blink break-up, and was completely depressing for that reason. Then the reunion came, and... yeah.
* Commercial [[PostGrunge Post-grunge]] crap or not, Seether can make some pretty damn sad songs. The one that brings this Troper to tears is "The Gift".
** {{Nickelback}}, surprisingly, had a song. The popular "Gotta Be Somebody" usually makes this troper tear up at least a little bit. Maybe that's just me.
--->'Cause nobody wants to be the last one there
--->'Cause everyone wants to feel like someone cares
--->Someone to love with my live in their hands
--->There's gotta be somebody for me like that
--->'Cause nobody wants to go it on their own
--->And everyone wants to know they're not alone
--->There's somebody else that feels the same somewhere
--->There's gotta be somebody for me out there

* {{Aerosmith}}'s "Dream On" and VanHalen's "Dreams" get [[StevieWillShowYou This Troper]] to cry a few tears, Manly or otherwise, every time he hears them.
* The Irish-American rock band Flogging Molly has a few songs like this. This Troper's choices would be "Don't Let Me Die (Still Wondering)" (which was allegedly written as a tribute to Johnny Cash, when the band's lead singer, Dave King, heard of Cash's death) and "The Spoken Wheel" (a song written for King's late father, though it becomes a CrowningMomentofAwesome when it leads into the following track, "With a Wonder and a Wild Desire").
** This troper finds that ''With a Wonder and a Wild Desire'' has a certain furious defiance that can inspire a few Manly.
** Some of their more punk-orientated songs, such as the tragic ''Laura'' and the bittersweet ''Within a Mile of Home'' are also well worth a mention.
** ''Float''. Especially with the gorgeous but heartachingly sad [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2W1Y5hxR40 video]].
* "Silent Lucidity" by Queensryche does it for this troper every time without fail. The mournful music plus those lyrics actually hurt my heart, they're so sad.
** ''Hush now don't you cry/wipe away the teardrop from your eye'' ...
* A kinda unique ''brutal death metal'' TearJerker comes from Hate Eternal's "Tombeau (Le Tombeau De La Fureur Et Des Flammes)". Have the lyrics at hand to better understand what he says, though; it's dedicated to his best friend who died.
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AyqAzEpssE "All My Love"]] by LedZeppelin -- which is a GriefSong that Robert Plant wrote after his five-year-old son died of a stomach virus.
** Can also include: "Stairway To Heaven", "Over the Hills and Far Away", "Thank You", "That's The Way", "The Rain Song", "Tangerine", "Ten Years Gone", "Going To California", "Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You" and "The Battle of Evermore".
* Think {{Pantera}} doesn't have tearjerkers? Try "Floods" and "Cemetery Gates".
* Nightwish's Eva gets to me. Say what you want about Anette, I think she has a wonderful voice.
* Sixx Am's "Girl With Golden Eyes". I got it badly because I first heard the lyrics as being a sort of love song. Then I quickly realized it was a song about heroin addiction, and while that was certainly sad, it still didn't make me cry. No, that came close to the end when the song's narrator comes on and talks about trying to quit. He realizes how bad things have gotten, how much he messed up his life, and the withdrawal is painful and he can barely take it... and then: "Day 7- ''I can't believe I'm clean.''" That bit of triumph is what finally broke me down right in front of my computer.
* The Doors (yes, The Doors)this troper can't be the only one who tears up listening to the first and last verses of "The End"
** "Waiting For The Sun" (the song, not the album) and "L.A. Woman" do it for this one, especially with this line from the latter: ''Motels, money, murder, madness / Let's change the mood from glad to sadness''
* Never Too Late by ''ThreeDaysGrace''. If you think it's not sad enough, you should see [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lL2ZwXj1tXM&ob=av2e the video]].

* ''Hero of War'' by Rise Against. It's about a young man who enlists in the military. The song starts out talking about his boot camp, how he was making friends, and how his buzzcut didn't look too bad, and the chorus is fairly positive. "A hero of war / Yeah, that's what I'll be / And when I come home / They'll be damned proud of me / And I'll carry this flag / To the grave if I must / 'Cause it's a flag that I love / And a flag that I trust." Then it moves onto the serious matters as he actually goes to war. He beats a prisoner of war with his squadron after trying to get them to stop, and he kills a civilian woman, mistaking her for an enemy soldier. The final chorus of the song takes a rather darker turn.
--> A hero of war / Is that what they see? / Just medals and scars / So damned proud of me / And I brought home that flag / Now it gathers dust / But it's a flag that I love / And it's the only thing I trust

*** JohnLennon's "Beautiful Boy" has alway smade this troper tear up a bit at the line saying how John can't wait to see Sean come of age... The mental connection this troper makes with Mr Holland's Opus doesn't help either.

* {{Silverchair}} has tons of these. Especially "Ana's Song" which is about Daniel's struggle with male anorexia.
* This troper has heard of people who ''can't even listen'' to "Dead Boy's Poem" by {{Nightwish}}, because it depresses them so much.
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2sd8UMUaIk The Islander]] causes this troper to start bawling. Every. Single. Time.
** The same has been said of PearlJam's "Black".
*** And "Jeremy", in addition to being NightmareFuel.
** This troper, who has trouble with "Creek Mary's Blood," is suddenly questioning his desire to look for those songs...
** There's a [[NeonGenesisEvangelion Shinji/Asuka]] video on Youtube to "Dead Boy's Poem". It is the most ''depressing thing in the universe''.
** Speaking of Nightwish, this troper sometimes tears up when she listens to "Ghost Love Score"
** "The Poet And The Pendulum" isn't tearjerky at start, but is very emotionally fraying. You're pumped up, you're nostalgic, you're disturbed, you're creeped out... then comes the soft and emotional final part (''"Be still, my son... you're home..."''), at which point you burst into tears.
** Don't forget "Eva" and "Higher Than Hope" and "Meadows of Heaven"
** It doesn't even need to have Tarja or Anette singing it to be heartwrenching. "While Your Lips Are Still Red" is sung by Marco Hietala, the bassist, and this troper tears up ''every damn time'' he hears it.

* "Space Oddity" by DavidBowie. A routine space mission accompanied by sad music and Major Tom philosophizing -- and then "Can you hear me, Major Tom? Can you hear me, Major Tom? Can you heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeear..." "I am floating 'round my tin can..."
** The true tragedy of this is that the song is two-layered: one is the implied suicide by Major Tom. The other is that the song was released at the very end of the Sixties: depending on interpretation, its either about drugs or technology, the two great hopes of the Space Age that never delivered on their Utopian promises. "And I think my spaceship knows which way to go..."
*** "Space Oddity" never did it for [[GGCrono this editor]]. Peter Schilling's ''Major Tom'', on the other hand...
*** For this troper, on the other hand, this song is both Tearjerker and NightmareFuel, especially when she imagines Mission Control calling out desperately to Major Tom and being completely unable to do ANYTHING. That level of utter helplessness is horrifying in every possible way.
** "Space Oddity" is one of the few songs that can make this troper cry, which is why she always turns the radio off when it comes on.
**** "I'm high!/ Can you see me?/ I'm the blink in the night sky./ I'm not afraid./ Everything's clear./ Tell my wife no need for tears."
*** There's a [[http://www.quickstopentertainment.com/2008/07/24/masters-of-song-fu-1-final-challenge-voting-begins/ Masters of Song Fu]] challenge that deals with reinterpreting this song, and both have this undertone of loneliness that really gets this troper.
** Don't forget the final song of ''Ziggy Stardust'', "Rock and Roll Suicide." The chorus of "Give me your hands!" before the Main/LastNoteNightmare...I don't want to meet anyone who's not affected.
*** The first song, "Five Years", can be pretty depressing too.
**** "Ziggy Stardust" itself is pretty sad too, if you think about it. Made even worse by the ''Stage'' live version, which sounds like something I'd hear song at a funeral.
** ThisTroper would also like to point out the imagery in the first verse of "Life On Mars?" is decidedly heartbreaking. It doesn't help that the song is used in some of the more emotionally charged moments of the [[LifeOnMars TV series of the same name]].
*** This troper can no longer quite deal with "Life On Mars?" after [[SuicideIsPainless certain associations]] it acquired in the series finale of the eponymous TV show.
*** As if the original version wasn't sad enough, the one Bowie performed on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson is simply [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMZ0-nJ0Ipo devastating.]]
** What about "Heroes"?
** This troper bawled the first time she heard "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPcUTlHcp-Y The Drowned Girl]]".
** "Thursday's Child", particularly the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8S227FFNwl8&p=25302E0CD684CDBC video]], was this for me ''and'' a friend who lives halfway around the world (thank you Internet). At least it's hopeful.
** And finally, in more ways than one, "Bring Me the Disco King," his bittersweet, introspective swan song.

* Rain by Breaking Benjamin.

* "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4y-RzVGrHg Far Away]]" by {{Nickelback}}. It's about someone who's critically injured and possibly dying.

* "Silver and Gold" by Joe Strummer seems to be a cheery folk song about the singer's plans for a happy future:
--> "I'm gonna take a trip around the world\\
I'm gonna kiss all the pretty girls\\
Do everything, silver and gold\\
But I've got to hurry up before I grow too old."
** Then you realize that it's the final song on a posthumous album.

* Tom Petty's "Mary Jane's Last Dance."

* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKq2_Mz6HMA&feature=related "Fragile" by Sting]], especially when you realize that the song was slated for a concert performance in the 'States on the evening of September 12, 2001. He had to decide on 9/11/01 whether to sing this. He did, and it was '''haunting'''.
--->Perhaps this final act was meant to clinch a lifetime's argument
--->That nothing comes from violence and nothing ever could
--->For all those born beneath an angry star
--->Lest we forget how fragile we are...

* TheOffspring's "Million Miles Away"
** Don't forget "Gone Away".
** "The Kids Aren't Alright" is also horribly depressing if you listen to the lyrics closely and realize the entire thing is about a bunch of kids with hopes and dreams for the future on a single street corner. But to a man are consumed by drugs, accidental pregnancies, and a billion other sad events that ruin their hopes and dreams forever. Particularly depressing if you really know anyone like this in real life.
** This troper had never listened very hard to "Gone Away" in the couple of times she had heard it. Then she went to an Offspring concert. Dexter Holland (lead singer) comes out and sits in front of a piano. After playing around for awhile, even playing the trademark Snoopy tune, he launches into a solo of "Gone Away." It was a thousand times more emotional with just the piano and his voice. This troper was in tears, and music never does that.
*** And it gets even more tear-jerking if you know [[CreatorBreakdown the circumstances it was written]]...
** Also "Kristy, Are You Doing Okay?" and "Fix You," although admittedly they sound nothing like any song that they've ever done (and that's not a compliment at all).
*** For nearly 5 months following getting the CD...this troper had to skip over Fix You whenever it would play on his iPod to avoid bawling in the middle of class/on the way home.
* TheCure's "Lovesong"
** Pretty much all of the songs on ''Disintegration'' qualify.
*** Except "[[NightmareFuel Lullaby]]".
** The ironically titled "Boys Don't Cry" as well.
** "Cut Here" never fails to make me sob like a little girl.
* Sick Puppy's "Howard's Tale" is a very nice example
* A fairly obscure metal band by the name of Primordial has a song that goes by the name of "The Coffin Ships." Just listen to the song and read along to the lyrics, it hits very close to home if you are of Irish heritage. It helps that the vocalist sings it with very intense conviction. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsnRDcHdf_A]] if interested...
* Anything by Apocalyptica.
* Anything by Apocalyptica.
** In particular, ''Hope''.
** And let's not forget ''Farewell''.
** ...and ''Epilogue (Relief)''
*** Keep in mind that all of the above have ''no lyrics''.

* This troper would like to nominate Megadeth's song "A Tout Le Monde". The narrator telling all of his friends "I love you all, but I have to go"? * sniffle* ...
** Seconded. "In My Darkest Hour" is a tear jerker too, especially when you find out that Dave Mustaine wrote the music after he learned that Cliff Burton had died.

* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTWHzO2gI_w "That Time Of Year"]] by Sick Puppies. If you've watched the NCIS ad that this song was played over, then you'll know how tearjerking this song is.
* Howabout "Information" by Dredg?
* Black Label Society do a good line in these, with this troper's particular favourite being "Just Killing Time".

* Howabout "Information" by Dredg?

* Metallica has a few:

* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTWHzO2gI_w "That Time Of Year"]] by Sick Puppies. If you've watched the NCIS ad that this song was played over, then you'll know how tearjerking this song is.

* The Police's "Message in a Bottle". Unless you're actually playing the song, its hard to not cry.

* "Love of a Lifetime" by Firehouse always gets this troper sniffling by the final chorus

Commercial [[PostGrunge Post-grunge]] crap or not, Seether can make some pretty damn sad songs. The one that brings this Troper to tears is "The Gift".

Note: Keep in mind that we want ''rock'' songs on this page, not ''pop'' songs. Metal songs are fine, unless we come up with enough to warrant giving that genre its own page.

** This troper finds "Man Overboard" and "What Went Wrong" particularly sad. If "Man Overboard" really is about Scott Raynor, the original drummer (which he seems to know it is), it marks the day when Blink officially forgot about Scott. As for "What Went Wrong", it seemed to have been made for the Blink break-up, and was completely depressing for that reason. Then the reunion came, and... yeah.

* Tom Petty's "Mary Jane's Last Dance."