Saddest Song Ever

[Ravilah]

I like to have music during my games--especially when there actually IS music being played in the game (at taverns, street performances, temples, etc).

I want to include a Night Twist in my next session, and it produces a song sad enough to induce crushing despair.

Any ideas on the saddest, most haunting, melancholy song ever?

R

 

[Ruined]

Try 'Lonesome Tears', by Beck. It's got great orchestral parts to it, but man does it bring me low. IIRC, he wrote the album 'Sea Change' after a pretty bad breakup and it shows.

 

[Starman]

"Hallelujah" - Jeff Buckley

Unfortunately, it has become one of the go-to songs in TV and movies for sad scenes and is overused, but there is a reason. It's damn good song, moving and haunting.

 

[Slander]

Not sure what type of sad you are looking for, but "Mad World" is a pretty haunting song IMO. I think the Gary Jules version (on the original XBox 360 Gears of War commercial or Donnie Darko) is a little more in line with what you are looking for than the Tears for Fears version.

 

[ruleslawyer]

"Time" by Tom Waits, but I'm not sure how that one pans out in a game.

For classical or instrumental, I'm a big fan of the closing pieces in Bach's St. Matthew's Passion. Another option might be something in the Portuguese fado genre; see if you can find anything by Amalia Rodrigues (for more recent and fusion-y stuff, I'd recommend checking out Madredeus, a sort of ethereal-fado-instrumental group).

 

[Thunderfoot]

Check out the 7th & 9th symphonies by Sir Malcolm Henry Arnold.
The pieces are extremely melancholy and most of the reviews I've read regarding them include phrases such as 'blistering despair', 'crushing despair', 'bleak beyond reason', etc

I find that modern music rarely invokes good vibe for RPGs without someone else bringing their 'known' feelings into the fold. Usually little known pieces such as these are my ticket, you might also want to check out Holst's "The Planets", though most of the 'despair' sections are short. If you had the time, you might be able to cobble them together and create a truly disturbing piece...

 

[Meowzebub]

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald by Gordon Lightfoot. A very haunting tune.

 

[BaldHero]

Most of the pieces that John Williams scored for schindler's list were very haunting and sad.

Lots of violin and other strings.

L.

 

[Asmor]

Only thing I can think of is Sailorman's Hymn, by Kamelot.

 

[blargney the second]

I can't remember the name of the song, and it's certainly the wrong genre. That song by Pearl Jam where the guy has a car crash, his girlfriend dies, and he can't wait to die and go to heaven to see her.
-blarg