One of my patients played this song today as I was completing a nursing task at work
Like all songs that evoke memories,
I was suddenly transported to 2007, and I was driving my very first Welsh terrier to the animal hospital near Chester
I knew Finlay was dying
And those words
“ If I lay here
If I just lay hereWould you lie with me and just forget the world?”
Finlay Christmas 2005
Have never left me. They summed up our relationship perfectly
Man and dog
And 18 years later, I still am moved to tears by the words.
What song breaks your heart?
Answers here please xxxx
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIt’s a lovely song one of my favourites Lee xx
DeleteMy mother’s favourite song is one you love
ReplyDeleteMoon River
We played it at her funeral and there was no a dry eye in the church
Keith
Xx
You know what I think about moon river lol
DeleteI always associate that snow patrol song with the loss of my first beautiful golden retriever Dylan - and like you I find it hard to listen to now - no matter how many further amazing animals who share my life and home since then . I love your blog John.
ReplyDeleteMary Jenkins
Mary k thank you for this comment
DeleteMy mother loved Fiddler too
ReplyDeleteBut her song was Do I Love You ?
It kills me to this day squire xx
Lee
Oh Lee , I get u totally
DeleteFor me it's Take Me Home Country Roads. Went to high school and finished college in WV (a long convoluted story); met my husband there and made some of my best friends ever. And that was THE state song. Remember particularly one night driving with my college pals, it came on the radio, we turned it on full blast and were going down the country road singing that at the top of our lungs. It always takes me back and makes me a weepy mess.
ReplyDeleteJohn Denver , sublime
DeleteFor me, it's Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah".
ReplyDeleteHugs!
I can cry at the thought of this one
DeleteCompany by Rickie Lee Jones - heartbreaking longing
ReplyDeleteOh Lynne is lovely
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nG0zxxzvyYE&list=RDnG0zxxzvyYE&start_radio=1
I too love this song and I think the first time I heard it was on the radio driving home from work. Other favorites are - If by Bread (the song from our wedding), Somewhere over the Rainbow - the Eva Cassidy version, Dream Weaver by Gary Wright and Hallelujah- the K D Lang version. Now I need to go listen to all 5 and it will be an earworm evening.
ReplyDeleteOver the rainbow is sublime xx
DeleteMoon River. Days of Wine and Roses. Time in a Bottle [Jim Croce]. Somewhere over the Rainbow. But I don't know f it's the songs or the memories.
ReplyDeleteStairway to Heaven. Born to Run/ Born in the USA.
Another moon river lover , like myself
DeleteI do like this song from Snow Patrol but from the same time period Linkin Park Shadow of the Day. The travails of my mother's months long illness and passing and this song was on the radio. . . "the sun will set for you". . .
ReplyDeleteX🩷🩷🩷
Delete"Dimming of the Day" by Richard/LindaThompson. Also covered beautifully by Bonnie Raitt. Rips my heart out every time...in a good way. X
ReplyDeleteCamille a new one on me and I loved it
DeleteDimming of the Day" by Richard/LindaThompson.
Finlay looks a teddy bear, a lovely teddy bear.
ReplyDeleteMy song is "Christmas In The Trenches", always makes me cry. Reminds me what a waste of lives wars are.
Pixie , the description over the video is wonderful
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9coPzDx6tA
Finlay was such a dear and gorgeous boy.
ReplyDeleteElbow's "One Day Like This". Because of grief, and for hope.
I loved this too
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NFV8dHrZYM&list=RD0NFV8dHrZYM&start_radio=1
No song, but I do remember sitting by my lovely cat Freddie as he went to sleep, never to wake. I'm so pleased that I stayed with him as he left us. It still makes me emotional.
ReplyDeleteHugs cro xx
Delete"At last" by Etta James, haunting and beautiful. Hugs from Ro (n.w. Italy).
ReplyDeleteBeautiful those eyebrows
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZag0E32is0&list=RDcZag0E32is0&start_radio=1
Quite a few by Willie Nelson...he describes life just so.
ReplyDeleteHe has “ the “ voice for it
Delete"Do they know it's Christmas?" Live Aid 1985. Cuddling my small son, watching mothers trying to breastfeed their starving children, with no milk in their breasts because they, too, were starving, and thinking to myself, if I'd been born a few thousand miles away, that could be me on that screen. Still gets me every year. xx
ReplyDeleteOh I so agree xx
Delete"Keep Me in Your Heart"....Warren Zevon
ReplyDeleteWhy Jim
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMTKb-pgxGI&list=RDRMTKb-pgxGI&start_radio=1
Instrumental - Green Onions by Booker T and MG's played at my dads funeral.
ReplyDeleteNow that’s a finish x
DeleteOff the top of my head, I would guess 'You Should Be Here'. My grandson had died. I was going somewhere with my son and the look on his face as that song came on. He said nothing but he snapped the radio off. I remember that look every tiime I hear that song.
ReplyDeleteDebby, what a heartbreaking comment. My sympathy to you and your son and family.
DeleteDebby thank you for sharing this , so brave xx
DeleteBeauty and the Beast, Halleluiah, The Circle of Life (it's the chord change that gets me every time).
ReplyDeleteBeauty and the beast ,…….sob fest
DeleteAngela landsburys version
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeR38fkOPQg
DeleteThanks for the link, John. I was tearing up from the first few seconds of the intro. x
DeleteWonder of you by Elvis.
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I have been married 58 years and it has been our song since it first came out.
Irene
Irene, not a song I love but I love your history with it
DeleteThe ethereal folk song, "She Moved Through The Fair."
ReplyDelete"Is My Team Ploughing?" The Butterworth song of grief and war, preferably sung by James Newby.
Sondheim's "Being Alive." So many incredible versions, but probably best by Ramin Karimloo or Neil Patrick Harris.
"Runnin'" - the acoustic version by Diamond and Naughty Boy
"When I Am Laid In Earth" by Dame Janet Baker.
"Dancing In The Dark" by Springsteen, or a haunting low key version by Tom Odell.
Jacques Brel's "Happy Anniversary" by Philip Quast
"Dido Bendigo" by The Watersons.
Better stop now....
I tried to find Philip quast’s version , I couldn’t 🥹🥹🥹🥹
DeleteBring Him Home from Les Miserables is one of several for me. The last time I saw my best friend before he died of AIDS complications, it played in the car and I broke down in sobs.
ReplyDeleteOh my friend I so get this , totally xxx
DeleteHoney Bobby Goldsboro.
ReplyDeleteOh yes
DeleteFor me it is Boulder to Birmingham by Emmy Lou Harris which she wrote for Gram Parsons after he died. It breaks my heart because my beloved grandma died around that time too so it reminds me of her. I still miss her and still love Gram Parsons also. Carole R
ReplyDeleteLoved the lyrics to this
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Klh7sAv9hu4&list=RDKlh7sAv9hu4&start_radio=1
SO many songs, because being a singer they get into my DNA. Sarah MaLachlan's In the Arms of an Angel, and Nick Cave's Into My Arms make me tear up. Many other songs bring on tears of good memories too though - Sunshine on Leith by the Proclaimers was our first dance in 2003 and gets me going. <3
ReplyDeleteThat Nick Cave song for me too. Used in the movie "About time" chokes me every time 🫶🏻
DeleteKath and maryanne
DeleteI get it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZY3gfcSNqU&list=RDHZY3gfcSNqU&start_radio=1
blimey i can't count the number of songs that pring me to tears...... one story i can recall was at a Stereophonics gig (Dawn's fave, not mine) and i nipped off to the bar to get some lager..... come back to find her in the middle of the big crowd, sobbing, uncontrollably.... i thought someone had robbed her purse or summat and i was about to kick off....... turns out it was just the song..... Maybe Tomorrow ..... it makes her cry!
ReplyDeletejust thought of one that does move me.... just for balance.... how about Johnny Cash - Hurt!
DeleteBig hugs for sharing that story I loved it x
DeleteEric Clapton's Tears in Heaven. Dear Theodosia from Hamilton
ReplyDeleteA healing song of loss
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_NpxTWbovE&list=RDP_NpxTWbovE&start_radio=1
"So Far Away" by Carole King.
ReplyDeleteBonnie in Minneapolis
Intelligent … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_NpxTWbovE&list=RDP_NpxTWbovE&start_radio=1
DeleteKD Lang’s version of Hallelujah and also Time to Say Goodbye. Gigi
ReplyDeleteI agree
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_NpxTWbovE&list=RDP_NpxTWbovE&start_radio=1
Have you listened to Monsters by James Blunt John?
DeleteIt's sung with such total raw emotion.
Papa, Can you hear me? 1984. My father had just died.
ReplyDeleteAve Maria (his favorite) was played on duel violins at his funeral. Both still do me in.
Oh lord yes
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwCPAo5e_F8&list=RDQwCPAo5e_F8&start_radio=1
DeleteThanks, John. Made me remember a night just like that scene. I was driving out in the country--all the stars shining across a wide open sky and that song playing on the radio. Had to pull off the road. XX
DeleteMy wife and I love that song John, very emotive for us.
ReplyDeleteThere are three songs that make me cry every time I hear them.
Heather Stewart ‘if I can’t take you with me’
Stephanie Rainey ‘please don’t go’
Ed Sheeran ‘visiting hours’.
Lewis Capaldi ‘Survive’ gets me very emotional as it was released around the time I had an early miscarriage and I’ve taken to listening to it a fair bit.
When we first started trying for children and my wife was pregnant, there was a tune I heard - it doesn’t have a name as far as I know, it’s more like a lullaby and I would hum it a lot. Can’t hear or think about it without getting tearful because we lost that baby and two more after. I haven’t sung it since those losses. Music has always been important to me, even if it hurts, maybe even more so for that.
LJ that is brave of you to share. In fact, I was a coward not to share the first song that came to mind. The Sound of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel. I was 8 months pregnant and had gone in for the regular exam when I was told "your fetus is no longer alive, we cannot get a heartbeat". I walked out, got in my car and that song was playing on my radio. For years I could not listen to it. My sympathy to you and your wife. Your last sentence is so very true.
DeleteJackie is right , Lj , thank you for sharing that , a brave thing to do and typical of my readers who are brave and wonderfully honest xx thank you
DeleteThank you Jackie and my sympathies to you too, in pain there is weakness but also you learn how to bear the unbearable. I hope you don’t mind this internet stranger saying, but I think you are very brave.
DeleteThank you John for this blog post. I carry my losses every day and will for the rest of my life, I keep them close because it is all I have left to do. It is painful to think of them and what could have been but it’s beautiful too and I think I needed that just a little bit recently.
LJ I am honored that the "internet stranger" finds me brave.
DeleteEverybody Hurts - R.E.M. and Landslide - Stevie Nicks x
ReplyDeleteAlison in Devon x
Oh yes x
DeleteFor me it is an a duo, Romanovsky and Phillips, their music was playing on the cassette player in the car when I went to visit my grandmother for the last time, knowing I was moving away, and would likely not return while she was still alive. For years listening to their music triggered sadness.
ReplyDeleteI get this David
DeleteSee
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDubOxicDl0&list=RDbDubOxicDl0&start_radio=1
Very Irish Liverpudlian for me
Delete"Bread of heaven" sung at my Welsh maternal grandma's funeral. I'll ask for that when my mum's time comes.
ReplyDeleteSee this version Kath it’s lovely
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iyys2yhfNt0&list=RDIyys2yhfNt0&start_radio=1
Whiskey Lullaby by Brad Paisley & Allison Kraus; Go Rest High on that Mountain by Vince Gill.
ReplyDeleteIt’s not music I know but I get the whisky lullaby
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZbN_nmxAGk&list=RDIZbN_nmxAGk&start_radio=1
Little Green, written and Sung by Joni Mitchell. At one point she draws out the word "sorrow" and really makes me feel it. Giving up a child, even for the child's own good ... how it must hurt.
ReplyDeleteSublime
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTxUrDtoPP0&list=RDHTxUrDtoPP0&start_radio=1
I'll always love you performed by Whitney Houston... when i'm feeling broken.......Hugs! deb
ReplyDeleteI get u x🩷🩷🩷
DeleteAnother vote for Guide Me O Thou Great Redeemer (Bread of heaven). Also-- Stay With Me Baby (Lorraine Ellison), The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face ( Roberta Flack)Misty Blue (Dorothy Moore) P
ReplyDeleteThis version of bread of heaven is bloody wonderful
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iyys2yhfNt0&list=RDIyys2yhfNt0&start_radio=1
The song Without You, the original by Nilsson still stops me in my tracks. When I was a child my parents got a call from the Police asking us to get round to my aunties as quickly as we could. We dashed to her house a few miles away, but in those days we all walked everywhere so it was stressful journey. When we got there we found out she had woken up to find her husband dead in bed beside her, and phoned the police in a panic. The ambulance crew were taking his body away as we arrived. After a long time my Dad calmed her down a bit and we were all sat drinking tea around the table coming to terms with what had happened, and then Without You came on the radio. She completely went to pieces all over again.
ReplyDeleteSending you a proper 🐻 hug
DeleteSo many, John, including the one you shared. “Free” by Florence + The Machine is one that I’ve been replaying lately. Olivia
ReplyDeletehttps://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ui8kUKuLBaU
Picks me up, puts me down 🥹🥹🥹🥹
DeleteThe one that brings tears to me is the Righteous Brothers "You've lost that loving feeling" because it was my mom's favorite song but later I realized it was because my dad had broken her heart. So always makes me cry when I think of her heartbreak. Lini from Petaluma
ReplyDeleteOh I so get this xx 🩷🌈
DeleteMy two most tearful pieces of music are The Last Post because Dad was allowed to have it at his funeral being an ex RAF navigator in WW2 and You Will Never Walk Alone because Mum had it as her curtain music for her funeral, She also had the hymn All Things Bright and Beautiful and I can no longer sing it in church with out shedding a tear.
ReplyDeleteJane
Carousel was made famous by that song, in Liverpool it’s an important emotional song xx
DeleteI loved that song as well, and I still have that Snow Patrol CD. I can't believe I've been following you so long that I remember Finlay!
ReplyDeleteYes he was my first Welsh terrier, followed by Meg, William , Mary and Roger xx
DeleteThis song was playing as a dear old workhorse was being given the gift of peace following years of hard work and then loving rescue by a wonderful women. Every single dog of my heart that has passed on still tears at me. The song I’ll Understand by Roza breaks me every time. Bless you John, and all your dear souls
ReplyDeleteIt’s a lovely post today, I’ve loved listening to each song or piece of music xx
DeleteThe artist Arvo Part’s recording of “Spiegel im Spiegel” for everyone I have loved and lost. Jan in Castle Gresley
ReplyDeleteThis makes me tear up too
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZe3mXlnfNc&list=RDFZe3mXlnfNc&start_radio=1
https://youtu.be/n0lWs536q4w?si=fRd7bQaxzBRWgpHV
ReplyDeleteThis cello solo from Brahms Piano Concerto no 2 rips me apart. I had to say goodbye to the love of my life under tragic circumstances , a cruel twist of fate and I will never fully recover. He used to play this.
Henrik Dam Thomsen Was sublime , thank you
DeleteSometimes when I hear the beginning notes of Here There and Everywhere, I pull off the road because it can tear me up. Willie Nelson's Stardust. And this Snow Patrol video today has me crying, because things are so difficult right now in the US and I really miss my old friend who used to lie with me during tough times.
ReplyDeleteNina
Lovely hugs xx🩷
DeleteThank you everyone
ReplyDeleteI have listened to as many songs as I could and have linked each one for others to experience
Thank you for sharing these stories, quite lovely
I was just singing You are my sunshine to my senior dog, remembering my father singing it to me when I was little. Lyrics and memories make me teary eyed.
ReplyDeleteU may remember this post
Deletehttps://disasterfilm.blogspot.com/2022/10/you-are-my-sunshine.html
Actually John, this song always makes me tear up. Every single time.
ReplyDeleteI get that x
DeleteAshokan Farewell😭. Kathy
ReplyDeleteWith or Without You - U2. One of our friends was killed when this song came out. It always makes me think of her.
ReplyDeleteSee You Again, by Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth. Every single time it plays it reminds me of my dog Murphy and how I couldn't save him from a bloat attack. But also how so very much I miss him and will indeed see him again.
ReplyDeleteGeorge Michael singing The Long & Winding Road, gets me every time.
ReplyDeleteJames Taylor. Fire and rain.
ReplyDeleteSo many
ReplyDeleteTook the children Away - Archie Roach
Summer of My Life - Archie Roach
Granchester Meadows - Pink Floyd
Benedictus by Karl Jenkins is so beautiful and moving. I get very emotional whenever I hear it. Jackie.
ReplyDeleteI won't mention "My heart will go on" since everyone hates it but I do have another for you. All your ups and downs the only song for you now is definitely "Hello Dolly" because you always come back and we all want you to stay.
ReplyDeleteDo you think Weaver is Albert incarnated?
It's my all time favourite song ever. The track was gifted to me not long after I lost my husband by the man who would become my partner. We play it everytime we go for an afternoon siesta. I feel so fortunate to have had a second chance at loving someone and being loved.
ReplyDeleteSnow Patrol - always. 🥲
ReplyDeleteAlso Mika's "Happy Ending", Goo Goo Dolls "Iris", Kirsty McColl "Days".
You might also like the Taye Diggs version of "Hallelujah".
Delete