Topic: Sufjan Stevens Vs. My Tearducts (Read 18270 times)

Johnny C · « **on:** 08 Jul 2006, 21:20 »

Seriously. Why does every song the sonofabitch releases bring me to or near to tears? Like, come on. I was listening to "Casimir Pulaski Day" which I hadn't listened to in a while and suddenly I realized it was about the girl's cancer and I just went "FUCK FUCK FUCK" and almost lost precious fluid out of my eyes. That twee fucker.

Does anyone else have this same problem?

Teh_Shinobi · « **Reply #1 on:** 08 Jul 2006, 21:30 »

Aye...
With the same song. Particularly cause it hits home for me. I had a friend die recently of leukemia.

Also, with John Wayne Gacy... that song's just flat out sad.

"His father was a drinker, and his mother cried in bed..."

*sob*

But that's not the case with all of his songs. For instance, the first track on "Greetings to Michigan" (All Good Naysayers...) always gives me a wide smile and makes me want to dance around with my arms swinging in random directions.

Also, the new album "The Avalanche" is REALLY good and has a lot of happy songs on it.

Gryff · « **Reply #2 on:** 08 Jul 2006, 21:51 »

Gosh, 'Casimir Pulaski Day' is about the saddest song I've ever heard. The first time you actually really listen to the lyrics... man.

Bunnyman · « **Reply #3 on:** 08 Jul 2006, 21:52 »

Geez. The only album that brought me to tears was Autechre's "Amber."

KharBevNor · « **Reply #4 on:** 09 Jul 2006, 04:41 »

Only songs that have ever bought me for tears have been 'Here Am I' by Sol Invictus and 'Something to Cling To' by Skyclad. Both for good reason. Their songs about the human condition that, I believe, anyone could be bought to tears to in the right circumstances.

The right circumstances being, for me, excessive drunkenness.

Zaarin · « **Reply #5 on:** 09 Jul 2006, 04:53 »

Pearls Before Swine's "I Saw The World", from their 1968 album Balaklava made me cry like a little boy when I first heard it. A combination of circumstances in my life and the pure fragile beauty of the song itself just made something snap inside me.

Inlander · « **Reply #6 on:** 09 Jul 2006, 06:53 »

Oh. Here was me thinking this was a thread about some mash-up between Sufjan Stevens and some indie band I'd never heard of called "My Tearducts".

Seriously.

EDIT: as for sad songs, the saddest I can think of is "The Testimony of Patience Kershaw" by some bloke called Frank Higgins. I know it via its recording by a lovely English folk singer named Elle (pronounced "Ellie") Osborne:

http://www.elleo.com/mp3s/The-Testimony-of-Patience-Kershaw.mp3

Spinless · « **Reply #7 on:** 09 Jul 2006, 08:21 »

Because NO THING COMPARES
NO THING COMPARES
TO YOU

Godammit, I'm starting to tear up now after just typing that. There we go, one single tear.

...

And now I'm fine.
(sinead oconnor version obviously)

Joseph · « **Reply #8 on:** 09 Jul 2006, 09:14 »

Hope There's Someone by Antony and the Johnsons is probably the song most likely to make me cry. There's just something about that song, I dunno.

Merkava · « **Reply #9 on:** 09 Jul 2006, 10:09 »

I think Bird Gehrl is the bigger tear-jerker, but I get chills from all of the Johnsons' songs.

Johnny C · « **Reply #10 on:** 09 Jul 2006, 10:34 »

Antony And The Johnsons is so sad that it ranks past The Cure on the mope-o-meter. Like, "I'd dig my own grave if it wasn't for the fact that someday you'll want there to be more earth and I'll just be taking up space" levels.

mookers · « **Reply #11 on:** 09 Jul 2006, 10:37 »

geez.. i never listen to lyrics. unless you're Pulp. i'm gonna go experiment with that now.

Johnny C · « **Reply #12 on:** 09 Jul 2006, 10:40 »

If you are experimenting with Sufjan, you should take a hanky with you to catch your weeping.

Praeserpium Machinarum · « **Reply #13 on:** 09 Jul 2006, 10:40 »

Ah come on! They have some affected gay humour, listen to My Lady Story for example. Antony and the Johnsons are not allways a mopefest, though most of the time of course you are correct.

Houdinimachine · « **Reply #14 on:** 09 Jul 2006, 11:00 »

Yes... Casimir Pulaski Day is officially the saddest fucking song ever.

But, there are a lot of his songs that make me tap my feet and smile.

Merkava · « **Reply #15 on:** 09 Jul 2006, 17:44 »

Quote from: Praeserpium Machinarum

Ah come on! They have some affected gay humour, listen to My Lady Story for example. Antony and the Johnsons are not allways a mopefest, though most of the time of course you are correct.

You mean the song that's at least partly about breast cancer?

"My lady story is one of breat annihilation/my lady story is one of breast amputation"

LOL

Kai · « **Reply #16 on:** 09 Jul 2006, 17:52 »

If there's one song that can stir up some emotion in me it is definitely The Legendary Pink Dots' Close Your Eyes, You Can Be A Space Captain. For various little reasons.

Spinless · « **Reply #17 on:** 09 Jul 2006, 18:48 »

Hey Darling...

NO THING COMPARES

NO THING COMPARES

TO YOU

(There goes that single tear drop AGAIN. Every fucking time! You know what I thought about when I had to cry in drama? Yeah, that's right)

Scuba_Steve · « **Reply #18 on:** 09 Jul 2006, 19:44 »

Man, there are quite a few songs by elliott smith that almost make me cry. (yeah, I've been whoring him too much, my bad)

If you have a significant idea of what his personality was like and the awful circumstances in which he died, there is a line in Kings Crossing that give me chills at the VERY least.

He sings "Give me one good reason not to do it" and then in the background you can very faintly hear his girlfriend say "Because I love you" I swear, it brings so many images to your head at once (elliott, his girlfriend, and him plunging the steak knife into his heart).

Wow, that sounded way too emo for my own good.

sjbrot · « **Reply #19 on:** 10 Jul 2006, 10:13 »

Much to my dad's chagrin, the one song that always gets to me if I'm actively listening to it is Loretta Lynn's "Miss Being Mrs.". Knowing her history doesn't help at all. It's just a simple song played on acoustic guitar, but her voice is so powerful and full of sorrow over the loss of her husband, and it's filled with all the simple little things that changed. It gets me everytime.

TrueNeutral · « **Reply #20 on:** 10 Jul 2006, 10:42 »

I lost it during:

Eels - It's A Motherfucker (when I realized it was about how empty it was when you lose your family. I thought it was about a girl leaving him)

Songs that make me really said and teary-eyed:
Pearl Jam - Footsteps
Modest Mouse - The Cold Part

Back when I was a depressed teenager, I would cry whenever I heard:
Dashboard Confessional - This Old Wound
Staind - Epiphany
From Autumn To Ashes - Autumn's Monologue
Evanescence - Hello
KoRn - Daddy (mostly because Davis sounds so goddamn distraught throughout this song, plus the subject matter, makes me believe it's probably true)

Skibas_clavicle · « **Reply #21 on:** 10 Jul 2006, 15:04 »

Quote from: TrueNeutral

Eels - It's A Motherfucker

Ok, you stole my crying song, what the hell?

I am known to cry to song though, here are some specifics:

-Ryan Adams - half the songs of Heartbreaker
-Cat Power - Names/I Don't Blame You
-Death Cab For Cutie - Tiny Vessels
-some Jenny Lewis songs just because of her voice
-Jets To Brazil - Further North, Lucky Charm, Sea Anemone (they're the -winners of making me cry)
-Martha Wainwright - Who Was I Kidding
-Sufjan on numerous occasions
-The Cure
-fucking BRIGHT EYES - Lua (I hate Bright Eyes so much, this was like a defeat)

schimmy · « **Reply #22 on:** 10 Jul 2006, 15:12 »

Quote from: Inlander

...as for sad songs, the saddest I can think of is "The Testimony of Patience Kershaw" by some bloke called Frank Higgins. I know it via its recording by a lovely English folk singer named Elle (pronounced "Ellie") Osborne...

Been listening to this song all day, and it's definatley more depressing than Casimir Pulaski Day by miles.

Edit: I just listen to Romulus (by Sufjan) and it really struck a chord with me. I've not been this close to crying in a long, long time.

Johnny C · « **Reply #23 on:** 10 Jul 2006, 17:55 »

Quote from: Skibas_clavicle

-fucking BRIGHT EYES

I like Bright Eyes. And they make me sad sometimes. "Bowl Of Oranges" especially.

KharBevNor · « **Reply #24 on:** 10 Jul 2006, 19:14 »

There's this subset of post-industrial type songs about the fact that the human race is doomed by its own nature that should really make me cry if I think about it. They're often too badass though. The best are 'C'est un Reve' by Death in June, in which Douglas P shouts out in French 'Where is Klaus Barbie' to answer himself 'In the Heart, in the black heart', finally capping it off by stating with immense finality 'Liberty is a dream', and 'Reign I Forever' by Blood Axis, which is basically just Thor laughing at humanity because war and hatred will rule forever.

Inlander · « **Reply #25 on:** 10 Jul 2006, 19:29 »

Quote from: schimmy

Quote from: Inlander

...as for sad songs, the saddest I can think of is "The Testimony of Patience Kershaw" by some bloke called Frank Higgins. I know it via its recording by a lovely English folk singer named Elle (pronounced "Ellie") Osborne...

Been listening to this song all day, and it's definatley more depressing than Casimir Pulaski Day by miles.

YAY! I WIN!!

I don't want to spoil the song for anyone, but there's one particular line in it that really gets me. She sings "A lady sir, oh no, not me" - and then the line after that, oh man. You just wanna hug her.

Lexington, 125 · « **Reply #26 on:** 10 Jul 2006, 20:27 »

Quote from: Johnny C

Quote from: Skibas_clavicle
-fucking BRIGHT EYES

I like Bright Eyes. And they make me sad sometimes. "Bowl Of Oranges" especially.

I too like bright eyes, but he can get heavy-"The joy in discovery" really makes me sad. M83-farewell/goodbye is another one-the music alone gets me all weepy 'sobs'

Injektilo · « **Reply #27 on:** 10 Jul 2006, 20:39 »

Casimir Pulaski Day is truly heart-breaking. I recall driving along Lakeshore Drive in Chicago while fresh snow fell in the mid-afternoon and this song coming on. I was overcome by the power it had, especially in the atmosphere around me.

Other songs that have played with my tear ducts:
"Try Not To Breathe" - REM
"The Weight" - The Band
"Crawling Back To You" - Tom Petty

Garcin · « **Reply #28 on:** 10 Jul 2006, 21:31 »

I don't understand how this song has "cancer of the bone" in the second line, and it still took me like 5 listens to actually figure out what it was about. It think it's the fucking banjo. It just makes me think that it's a happy song. Yeah, put me down in the "cried when he realized what the song was about and really listened to the lyrics for the first time" column.

Lise · « **Reply #29 on:** 10 Jul 2006, 22:42 »

Quote from: Inlander

Oh. Here was me thinking this was a thread about some mash-up between Sufjan Stevens and some indie band I'd never heard of called "My Tearducts".

I fell for that, too. Coincidence? In fact, I was going to name my reply "Sufjan Stevens vs. My Tearducts vs. Badly Drawn Boy" (in terms of musical similarity), until the thread turned into everybody's sob story.

I flinch everytime I hear Death Cab's "Marching Bands of Manhatten", as it was playing the first and only time my boyfriend was sentimental to me. "Your love is gonna drown"- I'm testament to that. Other than that, I can't think of individual songs with emotional repercussions, though certain lines just trigger the faucet.

"Sorrow drips into your heart through a pinhole ...And there is comfort in the sound."

EEEECK. It's a damn good thing I don't pay particular attention to Sufjan's lyrics while the tracks are playing.

The Eyeball Kid · « **Reply #30 on:** 11 Jul 2006, 05:06 »

When my grandfaher died i wanted the radio station i volunteer at to play something but the only thing i could think of was 'Chicago', which was overplayed but they played it anyway.
So i played it for my mom and she heard it for the first time and cried.
Yeah.
He's like that

The Eyeball Kid · « **Reply #31 on:** 11 Jul 2006, 05:07 »

Also when I listen to Van Morrison's 'Astral Weeks' album I can sometimes get to the second song without crying.
If i'm lucky

Praeserpium Machinarum · « **Reply #32 on:** 11 Jul 2006, 05:09 »

Quote

You mean the song that's at least partly about breast cancer?

"My lady story is one of breat annihilation/my lady story is one of breast amputation"

LOL

Great, now they are all mope. Damn.

If we are talking about sad songs nothing beats Low - listen to (That's How You Sing) Amazing Grace and tell me that is not the saddest song ever.
But generally I do not weep to songs(or anything really, I rarely have a good cry). However the first couple of times I listened to The Arcade Fire - In the Backseat I could feel I was choking up. It doesn't have anything to do with the lyrics(though they are sad enough) but the overt emotion in her voice, especially at the end. In my experience it has a lot to do with your general mental state ie. when you are down and out you are more likely to cry when you hear a certain song.

pinkpiche · « **Reply #33 on:** 11 Jul 2006, 06:55 »

Great i didn't know the Antony song went like that, now it's not half as beautiful as before. Sucky sucky sucky. Btw Prae Mech i agree, very much. If i'm happy i don't cry over Casimir Pulaski Day, i mean it takes more than a song to bring me down. But maybe that's just me.

Kite Flying Society - Breathe (they cry, scream, yell, whelps and whispers as if they were running away from the ancient ones)

tehjiggles · « **Reply #34 on:** 11 Jul 2006, 08:27 »

Risking any shred of indie cred, I have to say Maggie May by Rod Stewart. Does the trick every time.

karl gambolputty... · « **Reply #35 on:** 11 Jul 2006, 09:36 »

There are a couple of Cat Power songs that make me a little misty-eyed. Good Woman comes to mind.

Johnny C · « **Reply #36 on:** 11 Jul 2006, 11:26 »

Quote from: The Eyeball Kid

Also when I listen to Van Morrison's 'Astral Weeks' album I can sometimes get to the second song without crying.
If i'm lucky

Kai · « **Reply #37 on:** 11 Jul 2006, 12:32 »

Astral Weeks is a great album.

Merkava · « **Reply #38 on:** 11 Jul 2006, 13:28 »

I <3 Astral Weeks

Maybe I need to listen to it again, because I don't remember ever feeling that sad listening to it. >_>

Gryff · « **Reply #39 on:** 11 Jul 2006, 15:09 »

Quote from: karl gambolputty...

There are a couple of Cat Power songs that make me a little misty-eyed. Good Woman comes to mind.

Good woman is a magnificent song.

The Eyeball Kid · « **Reply #40 on:** 12 Jul 2006, 01:42 »

Quote from: tehjiggles

Risking any shred of indie cred, I have to say Maggie May by Rod Stewart. Does the trick every time.

Lester Bangs wrote a great short story based on that song. Its in 'Psychotic Reactions and Carbeoratour Dung', the same collection that has the review that convinced me to buy Astral Weeks

Don't knock it until you listen to it

Jayfarer · « **Reply #41 on:** 12 Jul 2006, 02:23 »

Ah, Casimir Pulaski Day. The last lyrics, "And he takes and he takes and he takes" get me every time.

Quote

I like Bright Eyes. And they make me sad sometimes. "Bowl Of Oranges" especially.

I'm a big Bright Eyes fan, and that song is actually one of the few happy ones I can think of.

Kai · « **Reply #42 on:** 12 Jul 2006, 08:54 »

Quote from: The Eyeball Kid

Quote from: tehjiggles
Risking any shred of indie cred, I have to say Maggie May by Rod Stewart. Does the trick every time.

Lester Bangs wrote a great short story based on that song. Its in 'Psychotic Reactions and Carbeoratour Dung', the same collection that has the review that convinced me to buy Astral Weeks

Lester Bangs is pretty much one of my heroes and I try to rip off his writing as much as possible.

karl gambolputty... · « **Reply #43 on:** 12 Jul 2006, 09:20 »

Quote from: Gryff

Good woman is a magnificent song.

"This is WHYYYYY, I am LYYYYIING,
When I SAAAAAY
I don't love you no more"

Get's me every fucking time. And those damn kids in the background. Damn kids.

Johnny C · « **Reply #44 on:** 12 Jul 2006, 11:40 »

Quote from: Jayfarer

I'm a big Bright Eyes fan, and that song is actually one of the few happy ones I can think of.

I know, and that makes me even more sad! I wish I knew why it made me mist up.

Also: Cat Power's some seriously sad tunes.

schimmy · « **Reply #45 on:** 12 Jul 2006, 12:02 »

Hellz yeah! I just read on Pitchfork that Sufjan in playing a gig in Manchester. At last, a good indie artist is playing in the north of England!

penpen17 · « **Reply #46 on:** 14 Jul 2006, 06:55 »

I think that John Wayne Gacy, Jr. is way sadder than Casimir Pulaski Day

Johnny C · « **Reply #47 on:** 14 Jul 2006, 15:53 »

Man, I think they are both on an identical level of sadness. And so are most of his songs, or at least the ones off of Illinois. (I haven't heard Michigan or Seven Swans yet.)

Scandanavian War Machine · « **Reply #48 on:** 14 Jul 2006, 16:14 »

I've never listend to Sufjan Stevens but "Remember Forever" by Tiger Army and "Save You" by Pearl Jam are two songs that make me very very sad.

Merkava · « **Reply #49 on:** 15 Jul 2006, 10:17 »

Quote from: Johnny C

Man, I think they are both on an identical level of sadness. And so are most of his songs, or at least the ones off of Illinois. (I haven't heard Michigan or Seven Swans yet.)

Gacy Jr is more chilling than sad. Polaski Day makes me choke up (most of his songs do), but when Sufjan sings "and on my best behavior/I am really just like him/look beneath the floorboards/for the secrets I have hid"...man. It hits me in a very different way.

I need to check out Michigan and Seven Swans, also.

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Author Topic: Sufjan Stevens Vs. My Tearducts (Read 18270 times)

Teh_Shinobi

Bunnyman

Zaarin

Spinless

Merkava

mookers

Praeserpium Machinarum

Merkava

Spinless

Scuba_Steve

sjbrot

TrueNeutral

Injektilo

Garcin

The Eyeball Kid

The Eyeball Kid

Praeserpium Machinarum

Merkava

The Eyeball Kid

Jayfarer

penpen17

Merkava