Elderly woman came up on my ipod driving to work this morning and I was really struck with how sad the "I wish I'd seen the place, but no one's ever taken me" lyric is. It's not just the failed dream. It's the loneliness that really makes that one killer.

I think some of the saddest, most depressing lyrics are in I got Shit.
"So Ill just lie down and wait for the dream
Where Im not ugly and youre lookin at me"

and

"I paid the price, never held you in real life..." then the sound of Mike making his guitar cry. Gets to me every time.

Of course all of The End could be added here as well.

I got shit is probably the most miserably depressing song in their catalogue. Both of those are excellent choices.

The end is a sad song but it's sad because the guy is so satisfied with what he's got going for him that it can't touch those others. The End is more fearful than it i ssad.

I think that's Neil Young on the guitar in I Got Shit.

Anyway, The chorus to Come Back has always been really sad to me. The whole song, really.

Now that I think of it, The End may be Ed's most depressing lyrics.

I have to go with The End here, even though it's new.

How much difference does it make?


No matter how cold the winter
There's a springtime ahead
I smile, but who am I kidding?


To myself, I surrender
To the one I'll never please
I still try to run on
But it's all or none


Ouch.

edit: Maybe it also has to do with the delivery, but I always found the last line of Rival to be extremely sad..."how's our father supposed to be told?" There is no silver lining to be found in that image.

"I know someday you'll have a beautiful life....."

Footsteps and Dead Man as well.

I'm not the same without you here
How can I quit to be there

The two saddest songs in their catalogue, for me, are 'Thumbing My Way' and 'All or None.'

'I have not been home since you left, long ago.'

'No matter how cold the winter,
there's a Springtime ahead.
I smile, but who am I kidding?'

Those lines kill me every time.

I also have to give a nod to Light Years. I think my lyrics are right:

'I've used hammers made of wood.
I have played games with pieces and rules.
I have deciphered tricks at the bar,
but now you've gone I haven't figured out why.
I've come up with riddles, and jokes about war.
I've figured out numbers and what they're for.
I've understood feelings, and I've understood words,
but how could you be taken away?'

That gets to me.

These deserve a mention too:

'It's my fault, now I've been caught
a sickness in my bones.
How it pains to leave you here
with the kids on your own.'

this one gets me most

My mistake, I was watching live versions of I got Shit on youtube today with Mike playing Neil's part. That is def Neil Young on the record. No comparison between the 2 IMO. The record version is incredible.

With heavy breath awakened regrets.
Back pages and days that could have been spent together but we were miles apart.
Every inch between us becomes light years now.

I'll ride the wave, where it takes me - in context this one gets me.

After thinking about it

Oh Dear Dad
Can You See Me Now
I Am Myself, Like You, Somehow

" 'Enough'. . . I don't think there's such a thing."

All of Other Side's lyrics are sad but especially...

You can't know how it feels to be in here
All the dark horse fields, befriendin' me


To be honest, Pearl Jam have so many sad lyrics I think I could literally sit here all day and run lines off, but the one above is the lyrics/song that strikes me as saddest at the moment.

I just want to grow old.

It's this one for me:
And I stay in bed. Oh, little I've seen there.
If just once I could feel loved, oh, stare back at me , yeah.