Sad Song Lyrics

[Darkdale]

One of my favorite musicians is a Christian by the name of Pierce Pettis. He writes some of the saddest and most beautiful lyrics and I thought I'd share a couple of his songs and see if anyone else had any lyrics they'd like to share.

Pierce Pettis
From the album Chase The Buffalo, © 1993


The presence of your absence follows me
On trains and at the movies sitting next to empty seats
I wouldn't mind you going
If the emptiness would leave
But the presence of your absence follows me
(you're not there)

The silence of your voice deafens me
The sound of no one answering every time I speak
The overwhelming quiet
So loud I cannot think
The silence of your voice deafens me
(you're not there)

Heaven and earth could not make you stay
I'm damned by your memory that will not go away
The softness of your touch
The toss of your hair
Sometimes I even reach for you
But you're not there

The thought of your love tortures me
Left to my own devices sleeping with the enemy
The unexpected flashbacks that I don't want to see
The thought of your love tortures me
(you're not there)

Heaven and earth could not make you stay
I'm damned by your memory that will not go away
The softness of your touch
The toss of your hair
Sometimes I even reach for you
But you're not there

(you're not there)
The presence of your absence follows me
(you're not there)
The silence of your voice deafens me
(you're not there)
The thought of your love tortures me
You're not there

STICKMAN
Pierce Pettis, ©1992 Piercepettisongs (ASCAP)

A stickman sits upon his bed
His eyes sunk way back in his head
Like those haunting faces
Of some concentration camp

He finds it hard to catch his breath
His heart is beating him to death
A violence so senseless
He has no defenses left

A praying mantis in the dark
Stickman listens to his heart
Like a children's music box
Winding down until it stops

Stickman doesn't want to eat his food
Stickman, he cries so easily
Other sick men on the ward, they look the other way
Soon another empty bed
Fresh pillow where he lay his head
They've seen it all before
And he's just one more ... stickman

Oh, you are my precious boy
He can hear his mother's voice
And feel her hands upon his brow
How he longs to see her now

If she'd just come and set things right
Stickman cries into the night
But she's too far away to hear
Behind a wall of shame and fear

[CHORUS]

In this suffering and blindness
The milk of human kindness spills
And no one cries
With his ninety eight pound frame
Stickman doesn't carry too much weight
In a world where everybody dies

Night sweat soaking through the sheets
Nurses make their midnight rounds
In a metal bed that creaks
He waits as eager as a child

But the staff avoids contact
They all wear masks and rubber gloves
While the stickman starves to death
For just a shot of love

Stickman doesn't want to eat his food
Stickman, he cries so easily
Other sick men on the ward,
they look the other way
Soon another empty bed
Fresh pillow where he lay his head
You've seen it all before
And he's just one more ... stickman

The Christians here might really like this one:

LIONS OF THE COLOSSEUM
Pierce Penis, ©1992 Piercepettisongs (ASCAP)

Upon this rock let us build our church
Said the lions of the colosseum
And as the Christians wander in
We can lock the doors and eat 'em
Drink the blood of the saints
Roll the poor for pocket change
Then on our knees we will give thanks
Said the lions of the colosseum

I saw Dorothy Day on the barricades
She was hanging with comrade Jesus
But the lions did not see a thing
They were rendering unto Caesar
Roman soldiers did their best
To silence those who would protest
They had a warrant out for Dorothy's arrest
From the lions of the colosseum

In chains of ancient history
The church is a museum
Cobwebs hang like rosaries
Inside a mausoleum
Whose surfaces are clean and white
While inside rotting corpses lie
And so they like to keep the lid on tight
Those lions of the colosseum

Let us build a tower to the sky
And let it reach to heaven
We shall be as gods, we shall not die
And our reign shall be forever
So the lions built from age to age
Til they made a Babel of the faith
And tore the body in a thousand different ways
Like in the colosseum

Now on the satellite TV
Everyday you see 'em
Live from the lap of luxury
It's the lions of the colosseum
With politicians, millionaires
You won't see Mother Teresa there
Just the holy rollers with the manes of hair
Lions of the colosseum

But there's rebel graffiti on the walls
Inside the colosseum
Down below in the catacombs
The defiant ones are meeting
Hiding in the underground
Blood brothers pass the cup around
And they pay no heed to the roaring sound
Of the lions of the colosseum

Don't you pay no heed to the roaring sound
Of the lions of the colosseum

 

[michel]

This may not be sad, but I taught the song to an Iranian Girl who was in a mental hospital at the same time as I. She was here to learn English, and had no friends; I guess I felt so sorry for her (I was in my early twenties), and I remember teaching her the song, telling her to 'phone me whenever she felt down, after we had both gone home.

When she returned to Iran, we wrote to each other for about a year. I can still remember her name - Shahran Afshati-Afshar..........

You've Got Friend

When you're down and troubled
and you need a helping hand
and nothing oh nothing is going right
Close your eyes and think of me
And soon I will be there
To brighten up even your darkest nights

You just call out my name
and you know where ever I am
I'll come running yeah
to see you again
Winter spring summer or fall
All you got to do is call
And I'll be there yeah yeah yeah
You got a friend oh

If the sky above you
should turn dark and full of clouds
and that old north wind should begin to blow
Keep your head together and call my name out loud yeah
Soon I will be knocking upon your door
You just call out my name and you know where ever I am
I'll come running oh yes I will to see you again
Winter spring summer or fall
All you got to do is call
And I'll be there yeah yeah yeah

Hey ain't it good to know that you've got a friend
People can be so cold
They'll hurt you and desert you
Well they'll take your soul if you let them
Oh yeah but don't you let them

You just call out my name and you know wherever I am
I'll come running to see you again
Winter spring summer or fall
All you've got to do is call
And I'll be there yes I will
You've got a friend
You've got a friend
Ain't it good to know you've got a friend
Ain't it good to know you've got a friend
You've got a friend

 

[Darkdale]

I love that song. James Taylor right? He's got plenty of good sad songs.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

One of the saddest songs I can think of is Korn's "Pretty." It's about a prison warden (some sort of warden) who got drunk, raped his 11 month old daughter, and when he was done, he tossed her into the bathroom. The lead singer, Jonathan Davis, was working at the prison when he witnessed it.

So... so love.
Wait, but I don't realize.
Small, white legs
Broke, the pain between her thighs
I see your pretty face,
Smashed against the bathroom floor!
What a disgrace!
Who do I feel sorry for?
Skin... so cold.
Could, could someone steal a life?
Save... the blame.
Wait, I got some s*** to say.
I see your pretty face,
smashed against the bathroom floor!
What a disgrace!
Who do I feel sorry for?
Smashed and raped!
Not again. This is a real crime.
What a pretty face.
Who do I feel sorry for?
RAPE! Something...
NOW! Rips my...
HEART! And takes...
MY! Soul I...
WAIT! Too late...
NOW! I feel...
RAPED! Inside...
TAKE! My soul away....
Away....
I see your pretty face,
smashed against the bathroom floor!
What a disgrace!
Who do I feel sorry for?
Smashed and raped!
Not again. This is a real crime.
What a pretty face.
Who do I feel sorry for...

Sometimes, Jonathan Davis will actually break down and start crying on stage during this song.

 

[Quoth The Raven]

"Ten Days"

So we've put an end to it this time.
I'm no longer yours and you're no longer mine.
You said this hill looks far too steep
If I'm not even sure it's me you wanna keep.
And it's been ten days without you in my reach,
And the only time I've touched you is in my sleep.

But time has changed nothing at all -
You're still the only one that feels like home.
I've tried cutting the ropes and
I let you go but you're still the only one
That feels like home.

You won't talk me into it next time,
If I'm going away your hearts coming too.
'Cos I miss your hands I miss your face.
When I get back let's disappear without a trace.

'Cos it's been ten days without you in my reach,
And the only time I've touched you is in my sleep.

But time has changed nothing at all -
You're still the only one that feels like home.
I've tried cutting the ropes,
Tried letting go but you're still the only one
That feels like home.

So tell me, did you really think...
Oh tell me, did you really think
I had gone when you couldn't see me anymore?
When you couldn't...

'Cos baby time has changed nothing at all -
You're still the only one that feels like home.
And I've tried cutting the ropes,
I let you go but you're still the only one
That feels like home, yeah,
You're still the only one that feels like home,
You're still the only one I've gotta love.
Oh yeah...

Missy Higgins...very talented youngster, she is.

 

[Dark_Waltz]

Call you up in the middle of the night
Like a firefly without a light
You were there like a slow torch burning
I was a key that could use a little turning

So tired that I couldn't even sleep
So many secrets I couldn't keep
Promised myself I wouldn't weep
One more promise I couldn't keep

It seems no one can help me now
I'm in too deep
There's no way out
This time I have really led myself astray

Runaway train never going back
Wrong way on a one way track
Seems like I should be getting somewhere
Somehow I'm neither here no there

Can you help me remember how to smile
Make it somehow all seem worthwhile
How on earth did I get so jaded
Life's mystery seems so faded

I can go where no one else can go
I know what no one else knows
Here I am just drownin' in the rain
With a ticket for a runaway train

Everything is cut and dry
Day and night, earth and sky
Somehow I just don't believe it

Runaway train never going back
Wrong way on a one way track
Seems like I should be getting somewhere
Somehow I'm neither here no there

Bought a ticket for a runaway train
Like a madman laughin' at the rain
Little out of touch, little insane
Just easier than dealing with the pain

 

[ChrisP]

Billie holiday *sigh*. Such a sad life, such a spiritual women. She spent most of her life feeling inadequate and allowing the men around her to treat her badly, when she knew inside she was truly a great artist.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billie_Holiday

She's got a hundred others but here's one just to whet your appetite:

Don't Explain:

Hush now, don’t explain
Just say you’ll remain
I’m glad your back, don’t explain

Quiet, don’t explain
What is there to gain
Skip that lipstick
Don’t explain

You know that I love you
And what endures
All my thoughts of you
For I’m so completely yours

Cry to hear folks chatter
And I know you cheat
Right or wrong, don’t matter
When you’re with me, sweet

Hush now, don’t explain
You’re my joy and pain
My life’s yours love
Don’t explain