Sad songs are a staple of country music. You know the kind I mean - the ones that wring out your tear ducts and then have you crying some more. Country songs are about emotion, and the sorrowful type at least confirms that you are not alone in your mournfulness. Between the lyrics and the delivery, they pack a powerful punch. We wanted to revisit some of the most melancholy of these tracks. They are hard to forget and definitely worth taking a few minutes to remember.
Videos by Wide Open Country
"He Stopped Loving Her Today" by George Jones
This is a classic big-time weeper. It earned so much prestigious acclaim over the years that puts it almost in a category all by itself. The 1980 track describes a man's potent love for his woman that only ends with the day of his death. The spoken word passage adds to the hyper-dramatic effect. The intensity, simplicity, and raw feeling that Jones captures with his singing goes straight to the heart. Per the Library of Congress National Recording Registry web site, where it was enshrined in 2008, "'He Stopped Loving Her Today' has been called the 'quintessential country song' and the 'greatest country song ever.'" A number one hit, it rescued Jones' faltering career and catapulted him to the height of the country music heap.
"Concrete Angel" by Martina McBride
Martina McBride has a lovely, expressive voice. When she sings "In My Daughter's Eyes," for example, it's hard not to get emotional, even if you are not a mom. "Concrete Angel" tells a very different story of a child, one who is cruelly battered by her parents and neglected before meeting a horrendous fate. Per medium.com, Rolling Stone included it on a list of "40 Saddest Country Songs of All Time" six years ago. The imagery in the song is so detailed and powerful, along with McBride's sincere vocals, that you cannot help but be deeply moved.
"Tonight I Wanna Cry" By Keith Urban
There is sad, and then there is gut-wrenching. This song falls in the latter category. Any person who has ever faced and survived a miserable romantic break-up knows exactly what Urban is singing about. He communicates so much with his voice - loneliness, isolation, longing, and regret. All curled up into a ball that plummets into the pit of your stomach. Urban co-wrote the sorrowful track. The video is magnificent too.
"I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" By Hank Williams
This is the granddaddy of all sad country songs. The words are so plaintive and the emotion is one that we can all identify with. Williams richly deserves his place at the center of modern country music. Achingly simple and touching in its directness. It will last forever in the pantheon of legendary tear-jerking tunes.
