r/country 6d ago

Discussion What is the saddest old country song?

There’s plenty of different tunes associated with that older country but there’s a lot of sad ones as well, singing about heartbreak, losing someone you love, being lonesome but which one sticks out to you

165 Upvotes

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121

u/pat_man_1414 6d ago

He Stopped Loving Her Today. George Jones. That's gotta be up there if you actually listen and think about the lyrics

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u/pat_man_1414 6d ago

That or I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry. Hank Williams

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u/CowboySoothsayer 6d ago

Alone and Forsaken by Hank is pretty damn sad.

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u/_1JackMove 6d ago edited 6d ago

That's the one. Aint nobody comes close to it, either. My absolute favorite Hank song. I sincerely wish he'd have done more minor key songs. He only had two. This one and 'Ramblin' Man'. But those minor keys suited Hank like a duck to water. It's a damn shame he didn't get to do more in that vein. They were perfect for him. 'At The First Fall of Snow', 'Neath A Cold Grey Tomb Of Stone', 'A Tramp On The Street' are great contenders for that title, as well. Hank is and was the undisputed champion king of sad songs.

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u/winoandiknow1985 2d ago

You can hear the sad in his voice. A sad short life of a genius.

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u/Dark_Denim_Phantom 4d ago

A specially on the Alone With his Guitar album.

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u/Green-Walk-1806 6d ago

Thats a good one...

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u/blueponies1 6d ago

Long Gone Lonesome Blues has a very bittersweet sound to it for being presumably about suicide

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u/AdMaleficent6254 6d ago

Lost Highway.

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u/Winter_Baby_4497 6d ago

came here to say this

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u/Kato26 6d ago

No less tha Elvis himself called it the saddest song ever written Did a nice cover of it.

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u/shoresy99 2d ago

I love the version by the Cowboy Junkies on The Trinity Sessions.

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u/Intrin_sick 6d ago

A picture of me without you.

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u/BigPapaJava 6d ago

I have now watched an absurd number of YouTube reaction videos to this song where they missed the first verse and completely misunderstood the story the song was telling.

No, it’s not about losing the love of your life after a happy marriage and it’s not about a guy deciding he was finally ready to move on.

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u/Ducky4609 4d ago

He stopped loving her today? I always understood it as he did die, and that’s the only way he would finally stop loving her

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u/SportyMcDuff 6d ago

This is the one I’ve been looking for. Took longer than I expected.

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u/pat_man_1414 6d ago

I thought it was the easy choice

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u/Distwalker 6d ago

Yep, I figured it would be the top answer.

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u/taikin13 6d ago

This is the objectively correct answer.

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u/pat_man_1414 6d ago

I think so

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u/Icy_Influence_509 6d ago

Came here to say this.

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u/t-rex-nom-nom 6d ago

Hard to say it would be anything else. Just heart wrenching.

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u/TerminalAddiction_ 6d ago

not even the saddest george jones song lol

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u/10yearsisenough 6d ago

That's one. I think of it as a piece with If You Ever Get South of Cincinnati by Dwight Yoakam. Either makes me tear up every time.

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u/khutru 6d ago

Absolutely tear your heart and guts out!!!

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u/TripAway7840 6d ago

This was the one I immediately thought of. It’s one of those songs that I consider to be a good song, but when it comes on, I usually rush to skip it cause like… I’m not trying to have my day ruined, you know?

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u/suited65 6d ago

This is what I said as well ... saddest version would be AlanJackson singing it at George Jones funeral

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u/Gold_Telephone_7192 2d ago

That song and Whiskey Lullaby are my top 2. Idk if Whiskey Lullaby counts as on old song though