This is an odd one. There are several songs that make me sad for different reasons and in thinking through them, I tried to pick one that made me sad for nostalgic reasons as opposed to dark ones. The song that immediately came to mind was:
Lost for Words by Pink Floyd
This is certainly not a sad song, by any means. But the context for the song is nostalgically sad. The album on which the song appears, The Division Bell came out in 1994, the year I graduated from U. C. Riverside, and I remember listening to the album over and over during the spring semester of my senior year–my final quarter at college. Listening to the song reminds me of those long lost days at school when a career in the real world was little more than vapor and I was running on the successes I had built up over the previous few years, the long hours I put into my studies, the longer hours I put into my job in the dorm cafeteria. Especially, the song reminds me of wandering one final time across the campus on an early morning, with the sun rising in the east casting long, dark shadows over the ivied buildings. Those were good times, innocent times when the notion of a family and a job and all of that responsibility was an idea far in the future. They were times shared with good friends. And whenever I hear “Lost for Words” it reminds me of those now long lost times.
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My sad/emotional song is packed full of mixed emotions for me. American Pie. This song was my youngest brother, Scott (12 years my junior) and my song. The last time I saw him alive, in 1986, he asked me, “Janie, do you remember our song?”
It is one of those songs that stands the test of time and keeps on ticking. For years I could barely listen, when it would materialize on the radio, without tearing up.
I have since acquiesced and have now found this song to give me a source of inner strength and encouragement. I can occasionally smile when I hear it on the radio now. Is he thinking of me and is that why I hear it?
Thanks for sharing that, Jane. It is a pretty sad song even when it is not associated with sad memories so I can only imagine how it must impact you. (I have a completely different memory of that song, which is included on my Autobiography Playlist. It reminds me of crossing over the bridge into Fall River, Mass, when I was a little kid.)
I know there are some, but they’re all escaping me right now. How weird.
Libby, you are just never sad. How could any writer ever be sad, right? 😉
I just saw this challenge because of your post today, and want to take part. But I’m stumped already on the day 1. How can I possibly pick my favorite song?
And now also, thinking ahead…how can I pick a song that makes me sad?
And your description of graduating UCR is making me nostalgic now for graduating from my university in SoCal. Thinking of driving through the mountains one last time right after a night spent all around campus…knowing that it wasn’t just another summer vacation, that this one was different. I’ll be curious to see what some of your other songs are over the next few weeks.
Patricia, where in SoCal did you go to school? I had a tough time picking a “favorite”. As I said, if you are older than 15, you’ve learned that there really isn’t one favorite song. I just picked a song that I am happy to hear anytime.