I was scrolling through my ipod this morning on the way to work, trying to decide what to listen to, and I landed on Simon & Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Water album. I've loved that album since junior high, but I don't listen to it too often. When "The Boxer" started playing, I teared up as I always do. I'm not sure why this song moves me so much, but it always has, especially since Paul Simon performed it at the start of the first "Saturday Night Live" episode after 9-11. Then-NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani introduced him, and I always think of that moment when I hear the song. I know that's a weird association, and it's not particularly sentimental to get teary-eyed over a now Republican presidential candidate, but it still chokes me up.
Another song that always grabs my heart and gives it a twist is "Return to Pooh Corner." It's insanely cheesy to get worked up over a Kenny Loggins song, but it's just so heartwrentchingly, innocently sweet, that I get this big lump in my throat and my eyes get all watery every time I get to the verse where he's looking at his own son in his bed with Pooh by his side. Every time.
I feel a little guilty for not noting a more significant tear-jerker, like a song from my wedding. But the truth is, those songs don't really make me cry. They make me happy and nostalgic, but not teary-eyed. I'm sure that seems unromantic, but it's often the songs that are seemingly unrelated to my own life that sneak up and kick-start the waterworks.
But maybe that's just me. What songs move you to tears?
4 comments:
I found it interesting that you like Simon & Garfunkels Bridge over Trouble Waters album. I have that record (I know records are so old fashioned) and played it on my stereo all the time when I was single and lived in an apartment. I now have the cd and listen to it almost every morning on my way to work - along with the Beach Boys, The Rascals, The Lovin Spoonfuls and the Mama & the Papas. I am stuck in a time warp 1970. The boxer is one of my favorites on that album. It does make you sad. The song the makes me cry is Wind Beneath My Wings by Bett Midler. It makes me think of my best friend who was killed in a plane crash. They played that song at her funeral.
House of the Rising Sun. Not necessarily to tears, but I love that song.
Someday- Your dad used to sing it to me.
Unforgettable- we used that song for our Chicago/Magnificent Mile/Drake Hotel wedding!
Kathy, my mother likes Wind Beneath My Wings too, and wants it played also.
If a song makes me sob, it is generally a well written country western song. Like Kathy, I prefer the oldies. Overall, I think the lyrics were better then they are now, and the music was much better. It seems that each group had a unique sound whereas today, everyone tries to sound the same. One of my favorite groups is the Lovin' Spoonfull. Their music just always made you feel good when you heard it.
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