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Remember when I made all my friends mad at me by asking them to pick just ONE song as the most romantic song of all time? Well, I’m back as an agent of musical chaos, baby! This time, I made a lot of people with a lot of feelings have…a lot of feelings. Specifically, I asked Cancers (and broadened the poll to include anyone Cancer risings and moons) to pick the saddest song ever. As with last time, people became a little too stressed about sticking to one song, so I did amend the rules slightly, as I did not want to be the cause of a Cancer’s meltdown. I ended up receiving over 30 songs covering grief, heartbreak, loneliness, pain, death, loss, you name it! I spent an entire afternoon listening to the songs while writing (I have no Cancer in my chart, but I have been often described as a Sad Bitch because of my preference for depressing art). I ended up picking 15 of my favorites and compiling them here!
This resulted in perhaps the greatest crying playlist of all time? See for yourself!
Sad Cancerian Bops
- “I Bet On Losing Dogs” by Mitski
- “The Glow, Pt. 2” by The Microphones
- “Silver Springs” by Fleetwood Mac
- “Promise” by Julia Nunes
- “Your Love Is Killing Me” by Sharon Van Etten
- “Sullen Girl” by Fiona Apple
- “Kiss” by Scout Niblett feat. Bonnie “Prince” Billy
- “Cry, Cry, Baby” by Nina Nastasia
- “Hurt” by Johnny Cash
- “Ride” by Lana Del Rey
- “Bones” by Mod Sun
- “I Want You” by Mitski
- “All Alright” by Sigur Rós
- “Dark Come Soon” by Tegan and Sara
- “If U Love Me Now” by MUNA
You don’t have to have any Cancer in your chart to know the power of a good cry-song. What’s your top sad tune?
Pride and Joy by Brandi Carlile.
It snuck up on me as I’m taking care of my Mom through Alzheimer’s, and obliterates me each time I hear it 💔
Pisces here, and it’s Fallingwater by Maggie Rogers
February by Dar Williams and Breathe Me by Sia are probably my top two, but it’s a very long list.
“february” KILLS ME EVERY TIME
Glitter by Tyler, the Creator; all my angsty queer feelings
(I’m a Cancer sun)
“Breathe Again” is “She Used to Be Mine” for Sara Bareilles fans who Cannot Handle Anything Related to Human Reproduction Now or Ever.
Very upset Julien Baker did not make this list
“Breathe Me” by Sia, and “Lua” by Bright Eyes always get the tears rolling for this Cancer Moon
I have not heard either of those songs since high school and now I’m crying just thinking of them thank you
Kate Bush, Moments of Pleasure. Concrete Blonde’s Take Me Home. Cyndi Lauper singing Sally’s Pigeons. Paloma Negra, as done by Chavela Vargas. And, oddly, She’s An Angel by They Might Be Giants kills me every time the slide guitar starts in.
Winter by Tori Amos.
Sellers of Flowers by Regina Spektor.
Any song with the bittersweet flavor of childhood and memories.
The one song I can’t hear without silently singing along and crying to is You Are My Sunshine. My grandma used to play it to tune up her guitar and it struck me as hauntingly sad then. Now interlaced with memories of her, I find it heartbreaking.
not a song per se, but “photograph” by andrea gibson performed as spoken word always destroys me.
Fast car by Tracy Chapman, tomorrow Wendy is going to die by concrete blonde, my name is luka by Suzanne Vega.
Yup, gen x’er here.
“What Sarah Said” by Death Cab for Cutie. Love is watching someone die….That lyric gets the waterworks flowing every time.
I do not have any Cancer in my chart, but I am an enneagram 4 so indulging in sadness greatly appeals to me. I have a Spotify playlist called Perfectly Melancholy that will definitely be expanding thanks to y’all’s recommendations.
Super sensitive cancer here! “Smile” by Portugal. The Man, “Can’t Help Falling in Love” by Elvis, and “Sea of Love” by Cat Power make me a sloppy, sad mess when I’m already melancholy. None of them are particularly sad songs, but they hit me right in my feels every time.
it is 100% absolutely Casimir Pulaski Day by Sufjan Stevens. Brings me to tears every time.
Same!! I loved this song when the album came out and I was fully in middle school, but looking back I think I missed the part where it’s fucking heartbreaking. I just liked the trumpets.
Came to the comments to say this! Such a beautiful, absolutely devastating song. Also, Sufjan’s Fourth of July is another that brings the tears hard
no hate but…meryl streep’s version of ‘winner takes it all’
Scorpio INFP here, very surprised no one has mentioned Nico’s “These Days”! Great for looking out the window feeling despondent while tears roll down your cheek.
mmm no grouper? “Come Softly,” “Living Room,” “Clearing,” “Headache…” all intensely sad and beautiful. love liz harris’s work so much.
Both Sides Now – Joni Mitchell
I don’t know how to love him – Sara Bareilles
Superstar – version by Sonic Youth
Love this article!! Someone mentioned Sufjan’s Casimir Pulaski Day already, which is my top song for crying to, but also The Night We Met by Lord Huron and St Jude by Florence + the Machine
Ok this one might sound a bit nuts but the last verse of “puff the magic dragon” sets me off. It did the very first time I heard it when I was like 6 years old and I never recovered.
I’m a double cancer. This might be relevant.
Cancer sun/Venus here! the last song I fully cried to (before reading this article) was “I Guess” by Mitski :’) “Two Slow Dancers” is another good one
for a real double whammy of Sad Girl/Sad Boy Music, I love Julien Baker’s cover of “Ballad of Big Nothing” by Elliott Smith
and “It’s Okay” by Land of Talk and “Bar on A” by Greg Holden always get me