Listening to a sad song has reduced seven out of ten men to tears, according to the study.

And almost 90 per cent of women admit listening to an emotional song or passage of music has made them cry.

The research shows one in five females 'often' shed tears when they hear a sad tune.

And 'Everybody Hurts' by American band REM was named as the saddest song of all time, beating Elton John's 'Candle in the Wind'.

Mike and the Mechanics' 'The Living Years' came third in the poll.

The survey was commissioned by theatrical producer David King to discover more about what he described as "the power of music."

It revealed 84 per cent of men men aged between 18 and 24 have become tearful to music.


TOP 20 SAD SONGS (as voted in survey)

Everybody Hurts - REM

Candle in the Wind - Elton John

The Living Years - Mike and the Mechanics

I will always love you - Whitney Houston

Nothing compares to you - Prince/Sinead O'Connor

Hallelujah - Leonard Cohen/Alexandra Burke/Jeff Buckley

My heart will go on - Celine Dion

Fix You - Coldplay

Seasons in the sun - Terry Jacks

Without You - Harry Nilsson

Yesterday - The Beatles

All by myself - Eric Carmen

My Way - Frank Sinatra

Sound of silence - Simon and Garfunkel

Aint no sunshine - Bill Withers

Love will tear us apart - Joy Division

Leaving on a jet plane - Peter, Paul and Mary

Eleanor Rigby - The Beatles

Annie's Song - John Denver

Everybody's got to learn sometimes - Korgis

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/music-news/9051673/REMs-Everybody-Hurts-voted-most-depressing-song-of-all-time.html

What an awful song... I've never liked it... slow, tuneless, sounds insincere... I'm yawning just thinking about it... The song equivalent of a strong sleeping pill... Like U2, REM were fantastic pre slow corporate crap like this song... Get CDs IRS released of their music instead (a compilation is a great start) for wall-to-wall great music from REM (if your musical tastes match mine)...

Gilbert O'Sullivan's Alone Again (Naturally) is far more of a depressing number.

So. Central Rain - REM ... http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xcu4uy_r-e-m-so-central-rain_music ... oooo*shivers*

"Shannon" by Henry Gross-- Back in 1976 I didnt know it was about his dog who died

"Jackie Brown" by John Mellencamp has always been depressing to me when I hear it.

Everybody Hurts.

I remember hearing that song in the movie When A Man Loves a Woman.
It made me cry, or maybe it was Andy Garcia's handsomeness, but yeah I cried. :p

Seasons in the Sun I was going to mention, but I see it was voted in the survey so others must agree it's a tear jerker.

The Day the Music Died is another one, but not sad enough to make the survey.

..Just thought of another - Cry in the Sun by Better Than Ezra can make one tear up...

I would add Gordon Lightfoot's "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" to that list.

most of those songs make me ANGRY - mostly because if i m listening to one of them, it means I can't turn it OFF.

"Nobody Wants to Be Lonely" by Christina Aguillera and Ricky Martin makes me cry sometimes.
"Goodbye My Friend" By Linda Rhondstat is another one that makes me cry.
I do like "Everybody Hurts" though. That's a great song.

Luka by Suzanne Vega and Wildfire by Michael Martin Murphy. And more recently, Set Fire to the Rain by Adele.

I think that song could win the "most boring song of all time" category as well.

I actually like "Everybody Hurts", but yeah, I can see how people can look at it as the most depressing song out there.


I think there should be some distinction between saddest song (in a good way) and most depressing song--or is there really a difference? I guess it all depends to some people. One man's Kleenex is another man's eternally pulled clown-hankie. :happyface

That song, "At Seventeen" by Janis Ian has some pretty depressing lyrics:

I learned the truth at seventeen
That love was meant for beauty queens
And high school girls with clear skinned smiles
Who married young and then retired
The valentines I never knew
The Friday night charades of youth
Were spent on one more beautiful
At seventeen I learned the truth...

And those of us with ravaged faces
Lacking in the social graces
Desperately remained at home
Inventing lovers on the phone
Who called to say "come dance with me"
And murmured vague obscenities
It isn't all it seems at seventeen...

I actually like "Everybody Hurts", but yeah, I can see how people can look at it as the most depressing song out there.


I think there should be some distinction between saddest song (in a good way) and most depressing song--or is there really a difference? I guess it all depends to some people. One man's Kleenex is another man's eternally pulled clown-hankie. :happyface

I remember listening to a Tool CD once, and I was drifting in and out of sleep at the time, and when I became alert again, I don't remember the exact song that was playing, but I do remember I had strong thoughts of suicide in my head brought on by that song lol... It was just something I didn't expect at all, but music is subjective in that way, as someone's perception of a song can be affected (and altered) by their mood and circumstances at the time they hear it... There are songs I find very depressing for personal reasons, but they're not necessarily inherently depressing songs... Even a song like Joy Division's Love Will Tear Us Apart, that's on the list here, which has lyrics that kind of are inherently depressing, is really only depressing to me because I've loved Joy Division since the '80s, and I know lead singer Ian Curtis committed suicide...

I remember listening to a Tool CD once, and I was drifting in and out of sleep at the time, and when I became alert again, I don't remember the exact song that was playing, but I do remember I had strong thoughts of suicide in my head brought on by that song lol... It was just something I didn't expect at all, but music is subjective in that way, as someone's perception of a song can be affected (and altered) by their mood and circumstances at the time they hear it... There are songs I find very depressing for personal reasons, but they're not necessarily inherently depressing songs... Even a song like Joy Division's Love Will Tear Us Apart, that's on the list here, which has lyrics that kind of are inherently depressing, is really only depressing to me because I've loved Joy Division since the '80s, and I know lead singer Ian Curtis committed suicide...

To hear anything by Justin Bieber will definitely make us want to commit suicide. :nod:

I'm surprised "Think of Laura" isn't on this list, to me that's always such a sad song