As I said, the sad songs say so much… Here’s part 2, and I promise the next parts won’t be gut-wrenching like this one (0r maybe that’s just me.) To recap, I had an emo day the other day that prompted me to think about all the songs that always elicit an emotional response. So here goes, Part 2.
THE SAD
“To Make You Feel My Love,”
written by Bob Dylan, but Garth Brooks’ version
One weekend in Weleetka, Oklahoma, when my mom was still alive and had just bought Garth’s complete collection on CD, she forced me to stand with her in the laundry room and listen to the words to this song. “This is how I feel about you and Nick (my brother)” she told me. I’m crying just thinking about this… It’s a love song, but the fact that my mom thought of her children when she heard it makes it so much more special to me, and since her death, sad. My mom always told me she’d die young. She was right. But she left me with a lifetime of memories, and I never doubted her love.
“I know you haven’t made your mind up yet But I would never do you wrong I’ve known it from the moment that we met No doubt in my mind where you belong. I’d go hungry, I’d go black and blue I’d go crawlin’ down the avenue No, there’s nothin’ that I wouldn’t do To make you feel my love. There ain’t nothing that I wouldn’t do. Go to the ends of the earth for you. Make you happy; make your dreams come true. To make you feel my love.”Garth’s version is the one I like best, because of that moment. Doesn’t take away the fact that the greatest songwriter in history wrote it. Thanks, Bob, once again for the lyrics, and thanks, Garth, for the moment.
“You’re the Reason God Make Oklahoma,”
David Frizzell and Shelly West
It’s pretty obvious why this song would make me sad, if you know me just a little bit. It made me love Oklahoma and tear up even when I lived there. Alas, I had to leave to stake out my fortunes elsewhere. But it’s where my home and heart remains, where my people are buried, and where I will probably be buried too. I heard this song during an hourlong stint in Dallas traffic when I was in my mid-20s and living in the DFW area. I was back in Oklahoma within a month.
The fact that the song centers on the best part of Oklahoma is probably not on purpose, but Northeastern Oklahoma gets all the love — with good reason. From the opening guitar, I’m a puddle.
“This Woman’s Work,” Kate Bush
This is the song that I heard the morning after my emo night, prompting this blog series. It is a relatively new entry in the Make Sarah Cry files. Geez that woman can sing. When you know that the song was written for the movie “She’s Having a Baby,” and is used in the scene where Kevin Bacon is learning that his wife and child are in danger during childbirth, it pulls those ol’ heartstrings but good. Maxwell also did a version, but Kate’s sweet, innocent voice adds the drama.
“Pray God you can cope. I stand outside this woman’s work, This woman’s world. Ooh, it’s hard on the man, Now his part is over. Now starts the craft of the father. I know you’ve got a little life in you yet. I know you’ve got a lot of strength left. I know you’ve got a little life in you yet. I know you’ve got a lot of strength left. I should be crying, but I just can’t let it go. I should be hoping, but I can’t stop thinking Of all the things I should’ve said, That I never said. All the things we should’ve done, Though we never did. All the things I should’ve given, But I didn’t. Oh, darling, make it go, Make it go away.”Waaaaah.
And let’s go for a happier subject, shall we?
The Garish Chicken 