Country or Folk Songs

[JuanCarlosVejar]

Folks ,

 

if anyone knows a song or two that are about depression. please let me know :) .

 

thanks

 

JC

[Madman_Greg]

Folks ,

 

if anyone knows a song or two that are about depression. please let me know :) .

 

thanks

 

JC

 

 

Depression as in a mental illness or economic depression ?

 

Madman Greg

[JuanCarlosVejar]

Depression as in a mental illness or economic depression ?

 

Madman Greg

 

mental illness !

[ajay]

My mistake. Thought you meant The Great Depression. Good luck, and I hope you don't have it.

[Buc McMaster]

Funny you should ask...... I'm currently writing a song on that very subject, from the perspective of the diseased mind. You'll have to wait a little while yet though......

[livemusic]

T. Graham Brown had a country hit years ago called "Wine Into Water." It's about alchoholism but depression is part of that. I think it was song of the year, it's quite a song.

[Danner]

Kris Kristofferson - Sunday Morning Coming Down

 

This is pretty depressing.

 

 

Well I woke up Sunday morning,

With no way to hold my head that didn't hurt.

And the beer I had for breakfast wasn't bad,

So I had one more for dessert.

Then I fumbled through my closet for my clothes,

And found my cleanest dirty shirt.

An' I shaved my face and combed my hair,

An' stumbled down the stairs to meet the day.

 

I'd smoked my brain the night before,

On cigarettes and songs I'd been pickin'.

But I lit my first and watched a small kid,

Cussin' at a can that he was kicking.

Then I crossed the empty street,

'n caught the Sunday smell of someone fryin' chicken.

And it took me back to somethin',

That I'd lost somehow, somewhere along the way.

 

On the Sunday morning sidewalk,

Wishing, Lord, that I was stoned.

'Cos there's something in a Sunday,

Makes a body feel alone.

And there's nothin' short of dyin',

Half as lonesome as the sound,

On the sleepin' city sidewalks:

Sunday mornin' comin' down.

 

In the park I saw a daddy,

With a laughin' little girl who he was swingin'.

And I stopped beside a Sunday school,

And listened to the song they were singin'.

Then I headed back for home,

And somewhere far away a lonely bell was ringin'.

And it echoed through the canyons,

Like the disappearing dreams of yesterday.

 

On the Sunday morning sidewalk,

Wishing, Lord, that I was stoned.

'Cos there's something in a Sunday,

Makes a body feel alone.

And there's nothin' short of dyin',

Half as lonesome as the sound,

On the sleepin' city sidewalks:

Sunday mornin' comin' down.

 

Do do do do do do do do,

Do do do do do do do,

Do do do do do do do do,

Do do do do do do do.

[JuanCarlosVejar]

Kris Kristofferson - Sunday Morning Coming Down

 

This is pretty depressing.

 

 

Well I woke up Sunday morning,

With no way to hold my head that didn't hurt.

And the beer I had for breakfast wasn't bad,

So I had one more for dessert.

Then I fumbled through my closet for my clothes,

And found my cleanest dirty shirt.

An' I shaved my face and combed my hair,

An' stumbled down the stairs to meet the day.

 

I'd smoked my brain the night before,

On cigarettes and songs I'd been pickin'.

But I lit my first and watched a small kid,

Cussin' at a can that he was kicking.

Then I crossed the empty street,

'n caught the Sunday smell of someone fryin' chicken.

And it took me back to somethin',

That I'd lost somehow, somewhere along the way.

 

On the Sunday morning sidewalk,

Wishing, Lord, that I was stoned.

'Cos there's something in a Sunday,

Makes a body feel alone.

And there's nothin' short of dyin',

Half as lonesome as the sound,

On the sleepin' city sidewalks:

Sunday mornin' comin' down.

 

In the park I saw a daddy,

With a laughin' little girl who he was swingin'.

And I stopped beside a Sunday school,

And listened to the song they were singin'.

Then I headed back for home,

And somewhere far away a lonely bell was ringin'.

And it echoed through the canyons,

Like the disappearing dreams of yesterday.

 

On the Sunday morning sidewalk,

Wishing, Lord, that I was stoned.

'Cos there's something in a Sunday,

Makes a body feel alone.

And there's nothin' short of dyin',

Half as lonesome as the sound,

On the sleepin' city sidewalks:

Sunday mornin' comin' down.

 

Do do do do do do do do,

Do do do do do do do,

Do do do do do do do do,

Do do do do do do do.

 

Danner thanks , I knew this song already and you are right each time I here it ... It gets me .

[Denis57]

David Bowie's Rock and Roll Suicide comes to mind, but this is not country or folk . On the other hand, it comes with cool acoustic parts

[AnneS]

Dar Williams-- After All

 

"And it felt like a winter machine that you go through and then

you catch your breath and winter starts again

And everyone else is spring bound.

When I chose to live, there was no joy, it's just a line I crossed

I wasn't worth the pain my death would cost

So I was not lost or found."

 

A lovely, poetic, moving piece...

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWWxJwRGT8w

[Tman]

Keith Urban's Tonight I Want to Cry.

 

He doesn't specifically mention mental illness but does exhibit some of the symptoms in the lyrics.

[gearbasher]

Long Long Time by Linda is quite depressing.

 

Love will abide, take things in stride

Sounds like good advice but there's no one at my side

And time washes clean love's wounds unseen

That's what someone told me but I don't know what it means.

 

Cause I've done everything I know to try and make you mine

And I think I'm gonna love you for a long long time

 

Caught in my fears

Blinking back the tears

I can't say you hurt me when you never let me near

And I never drew one response from you

All the while you fell all over girls you never knew

Cause I've done everything I know to try and make you mine

And I think it's gonna hurt me for a long long time

 

Wait for the day

You'll go away

Knowing that you warned me of the price I'd have to pay

And life's full of flaws

Who knows the cause?

Living in the memory of a love that never was

Cause I've done everything I know to try and change your mind

and I think I'm gonna miss you for a long long time

Cause I've done everything I know to try and make you mine

And I think I'm gonna love you for a long long time.

[AnneS]

Oh, and here's one of my favs--Emmylou's "Can You Hear Me Now"

 

"How did the load get to be so heavy?

I used to wear my troubles like a crown.

A bad flood sprouted on the levy

And I'm going to need some help to hold my ground.

 

But I'm sinking like a stone

to where, in solitude, this life I'll spend.

In the coldest place I've ever known

I'm here just waiting until the end.

I send out my S.O.S.

Message in a bottle, set out to sea.

It just reads "Soul in Distress"

And nobody ever got back to me."

 

The lady can write songs!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dijFXYqsqrA

[ol fred]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1uIFs-pNdc

[Lotus]

Jackson C Frank has some very sad yet beautiful songs.

He had a terribly sad life and his 'second album' is too sad to even listen to.

Be sure you listen I Want to be Alone (Dialogue)and the famous Blues Run the Game

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdfCG-cGn7s

[zombywoof]

The song that immediately comes to mind although it ain't country or folk still works well with an acoustic guitar is The Temptations "I Wish It Would Rain."

 

I would also think Nick Drake's "From the Morning" might be worth a listen.

[JOESTONE]

I wrote and recorded this song. I was inspired by a prescription ad in a magazine and a picture of a woman who was suffering from depression. I knew she was a model but the expression on her face was so sad. I wanted to tell her it will be okay. It's called "Hang on Tight"

http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=6781469

[E-minor7]

You enter serious territory JCV – As I see it there might be 2 main branches on the topic (let's count standard country and blues tunes out as they often either get dripping sentimental or stand like empty cliches).

 

1 is the songs that circles around the theme from a poetic or should we say romantic angle. Maybe they rather belong in the melancholy category.

 

2 is the songs which actually reflects, bleeds and cries from the bottom of a crater.

 

First can be like small fires around which you'll take comfort simply by listening to something that isn't up'n'flying (and thus demanding). This kind of music 'allows' you to be on the moody shelf yourself – it's a key to acceptance of flat tires.

 

Second are pieces of work that clearly have had therapeutic effect on the writers/performers, and therefor glow with a poignant extra strength. They are real, hard to take in, but not seldom worth it as they manage to out-phase the listeners own burden when things and scenes get low.

 

Oh yes, of course people are different. Some minds can't take a high/happy tune when they are under the carpet – others would never be able to cope with the gloomy repertoire down there. There's a reason the film industry churned out comedies during difficult times as f.x. the depression.

 

Anyway – this theme is good (though it hasn't that much to do with Gibsons).

I would name some early Neil Young stuff as examples of the first branch :

 

See The Sky About To Rain

Don't Let It Bring You Down

Harvest

Big parts of the Tonight's The Night album.

 

American Tune and

Still Crazy After All These Years by Paul Simon live in that same box

 

So do songs like

Nobody Loves You (when you're down and out) not to mention Scared from Lennons Walls And Bridges record.

 

then again, maybe they are on the border, , , ,

 

, , , , to branch 2 where I'd have to point out Nick Drake as a very shadowy figure.

Listen to his third album Pink Moon and you'll know what I mean. Not to forget several of the titles released posthumously, f.x. Black Eyed Dog.

 

Then there is an album like Lou Reeds Berlin, which I – though he may have been rather far out while making it - believe is 100% fictitious.

Boy I haven't heard that for light-years, but remember it as one long disastrous fate-play. A journey through the dark side of dark sides, drowning in swamps of utter despair -

 

This was from the hip - there are so many others.

Keep it up Mr. Threadhost.

[tpbiii]

How about Rock Salt and Nails by Utah Phillips

 

On the banks of the river where the willows hang down

And the wild birds all warble with a low moaning sound

Down in the hollow where the water runs cold

It was there I first listened to the lies that you told

 

Now I lie on my bed and I see your sweet face

The past I remember time cannot erase

The letter you wrote me it was written in shame

And I know that your conscience still echoe's my name

 

Now the nights are so long, ah, sorrow runs deep

Nothing is worse than a night without sleep

I'll walk out alone and look at the sky

Too empty to sing, too lonesome to cry

 

Now, if the ladies were blackbirds and the ladies wore thrushes

I'd lie there for hours in the chilly cold marshes

If the ladies were squirrel's with them high bushy tails

I'd fill up my shotgun with rock salt and nails

 

Let's pick,

 

-Tom

[JuanCarlosVejar]

I wrote and recorded this song. I was inspired by a prescription ad in a magazine and a picture of a woman who was suffering from depression. I knew she was a model but the expression on her face was so sad. I wanted to tell her it will be okay. It's called "Hang on Tight"

http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=6781469

 

Joe thanks ;) . very kind of you to share that song .

[onewilyfool]

Here's one that talks of depression AND upliftment

 

Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen

Misc. Gospel

F Bb F

Nobody knows the trouble I've seen;

Bb C7

Nobody knows but Jesus.

F Bb F

Nobody knows the trouble I've seen;

C7 F

Glory Halle lujah!

 

F

Sometimes I'm up, sometimes I'm down;

C7

O yes Lord.

F

Sometimes I'm almost to the groun';

C7 F

O yes Lord.

 

Although you see me going so;

I have my trials here below,

 

One day when I was walking along;

The heavens opened and the love came down,

 

I shall never forget that day;

When Jesus washed my sins away,

[Mojorule]

Possibly the saddest country song in the world besides Sunday Morning Coming Down - hell KK wishes he was stoned, but Steve Earle seems to like being down:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQm59Svd9rs

 

Lots of versions out there, but this one sounds really nice because of the J45.

 

Are any Paul Simon songs not about depression? Let's see: Sounds of Silence - depression at being a bit of a Cassandra in a crappy world; I am a Rock - say it loud, I'm blue and I'm proud, or a reminder to John Donne that he wrote this Nocturnal on St Lucy's Day one 13 December before he turned Anglican and started preaching against insularity; April Come She Will - the spring time, the pretty ring time is so nice, but we're all going to die; The Leaves That Are Green Turn to Brown - ditto (and he was only 21 years when he wrote that song); Hazy Shade of Winter - hold on to your hopes my friend, since April Come She Will, actually nah, don't bother; Bleecker Street - surely just a spelling mistake; the Boxer - sadder even than Sunday Morning Coming Down. Need I go on?

[Mojorule]

And if we're off country and folk and on Lou Reed and Sunday Morning songs, then this is every bit as hard as KK's sabbath:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hY0Wwz1HYI

 

NB Michael Ball has this playing in the background throughout his rather upbeat Sunday morning show on BBC Radio 2. But then Love, Love Conquers Everything...

 

A brief mention for Morrisey's Every Day is like Sunday, and then back to Lou Reed, who manages to make his Perfect Day sound somehow in need of Lithium, but whose real clincher for the title of most monumentally depressed song ever has to go to the following:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nz6nq4AhFZE

As Lou once said to John Cale, put that in your pipe and smoke it... And as Cale replied, you already did, Lou. In this version you'd almost think it was a folk song, ripe for covering by a bluegrass band...

[jdd707]

Folk you asked?

 

Sometimes I feel like a motherless child

Sometimes I feel like a motherless child

Sometimes I feel like a motherless child

A long way from home

 

Also check almost any Frenzy Ford song!

 

Also a standard from the American Songbook ... Mood Indigo

 

You ain't been blue, no no no

You ain't been blue

Till you've had that mood indigo

That feeling goes goes rollin' down to your shoes

While I sit an cry

Roll on blues roll on

[roughdiamond]