Songs That Make You Laugh; Songs That Make You Cry

[PrincessLuceval]

Oh, definitely, Delurker!

 

One that makes me smile and sing along, every time I hear it - Wild Wild Life by Talking Heads:

[Shannon L.]

Do They Know It's Christmas?  I love this song, but it will still make me teary eyed.  Speaking of which:

 

Do They Know It's Christmas? v2.

 

1.  I, for one, can't wait to hear it and,

2. 30 years already?!  Wow.

Edited November 11, 2014 by Shannon L.

[DeLurker]

I have an irrational love of Howard Jones and his New Song always makes me happy.  The music actually sounds like happiness to me, although the video with the S&M mime is all kinds of odd.

[JayKay]

The last verse to Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree by Tony Orlando made me cry the first time I heard it, even though it's an upbeat song. A Change is Gonna Come by Otis Redding tears my heart out. Sam Cooke's version is my favorite but Otis' slight lyrical changes make the song brutal.

[DeLurker]

One of the perks of being incredibly shallow is that I don't spend a whole lot of time feeling down (reflected in my prior list of songs that make me happy), but Almost Blue by Elvis Costello (song, not the album) always makes me blue (completely appropro) even though I love the song.    I believe he originally wrote the song with Chet Baker in mind (and who does a kickass version).

Edited November 18, 2014 by DeLurker

[briochetwist]

Adam's Song by Blink 182 makes me openly weep everytime I hear it.  

[DkNNy79]

Songs that get me choked up:

Oklahoma by Billy Gillman (this song is about an orphan reuniting with his father who did not know of his existence.  I grew up without my father and I actually "met" him for the first time when I was 20, so this song resonates with me.

 

 

Full of Grace by Sarah McLaughlin

I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston

[aurora296]

I could provide a list of songs that make me laugh or cry for days, but here's my most recent. This video is from a movie called Flashbacks of a Fool. The song playing in the video is If There Is Something by Roxy Music. I've loved this song practically my entire life and the ending segment has always stabbed me in the heart because of Bryan Ferry's raw emotions and the lyrics. I saw this movie and came upon this scene and it completely reminded me of my lost younger years, young love, cool glam rock clothes and innocence. Turns me into a blubbering mess everyone I see & hear this. Doesn't help that I've developed a crush on the young guy dressed in his Bryan Ferry clothes. Anyway, here's the lyrics & video:
 

 

Shake your hair girl with your ponytail
Takes me right back (when you were young)
Throw your precious gifts into the air
Watch them fall down (when you were young)
Lift up your feet and put them on the ground
You used to walk upon (when you were young)
Lift up your feet and put them on the ground
The hills were higher (when we were young)
Lift up your feet and put them on the ground
The trees were taller (when you were young)
Lift up your feet and put them on the ground
The grass was greener (when you were young)
Lift up your feet and put them on the ground
You used to walk upon (when you were young)

Edited December 8, 2014 by aurora296

[Frisson]

I agree that"Fast Car" is a sad song, but I thinkTracy Chapman's "Behind the Wall" is so hopeless that it's the one that really gets me.

Aimee Mann's "Give Up" is not a song I can hear if I'm already sad. It will push you over the edge.

[Joe Jitsu913]

"Songbird" by Fleetwood Mac. 'For you, they'll be no more crying. '

"When You're Gone" by Avril Lavine (don't judge). It reminds me of my grandmother.

"Break Away" by Kelly Clarkson. It was the first song I remember hearing after my grandmother died. I can't listen to this song without changing the channel.

"Long December " by Counting Crows. A very somber, introspective song.

[spaceytraci1208]

I agree that"Fast Car" is a sad song, but I thinkTracy Chapman's "Behind the Wall" is so hopeless that it's the one that really gets me.

OMG, yes!

[magicdog]

Sad song for me:  "Roses Are Red" by Bobby Vinton.  He sings about his long time sweetheart, only to lose her to another guy during a prolonged absence.  When he meets up with her years later, he sees her with a daughter, and mentions sweetly how she looks a lot like her.  All the while being an awful good sport about the whole thing.  Sometimes I can't bear to hear the song all the way through!

 

Silly song?  There are a few - mostly old novelty hits of the 50s and 60s.  "They're Coming To Take Me Away" by Napoleon XIV is good for a giggle, especially when referring to the woman who scorned him as a "mangy mutt"!  There's also, "The Flying Saucer, Pt. 1" by Dickie Goodman and Bill Buchanan which could be seen as one of the first records to use the technique of sampling.

 

One that I absolutely adore is "Shaving Cream" by Benny Bell.  I heard it on the radio when I was in high school and thought it was just hilarious!

Edited December 26, 2014 by magicdog

[Beezel]

I really love "Songbird," but the Fleetwood Mac song that gets to me the most is Sara. I just think it's absolutely beautiful. I listened to on repeat initially during a time when I was very lonely, so I think that only increases the deep longing I feel every time I play it.  I get lost in it every time in a way I never get tired of. 

 

Other songs that have touched my shriveled little heart in similar ways: 

 

• Me and Bobby McGee Janis version
• Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters and This Song Has No Title by Elton John 
• A good bit of Bob Dylan, though I'm most partial to North Country Blues, and Bob Dylan's Dream, and To Ramona
• Love is a Loosing Game by Amy Winehouse

 

Also, WORD to You'll be in my Heart. I would nominate that and that song from Dumbo. Which always makes me cry. EVERY. TIME.  (and I don't like that movie really). 

 

Songs that fit more so in the "feel good" category that I am especially fond of:

• Suzanne by Leonard Cohen, but the Nina Simone version is my favorite 
• Though, Ain't Got No, I Got Life is my favorite from Nina, the second half makes me really happy
• Case of You by Joni Mitchell

Edited January 14, 2015 by Beezel

[woodscommaelle]

Sad:

Warren Zevon ~ Keep Me In Your Heart

Tom Petty ~ Wildflowers

Good mood:

Deee-Lite ~ Groove Is In the Heart

Phish ~ Bouncing Around the Room

Talking Heads ~ This Must Be the Place

Edited January 16, 2015 by woodscommaelle

[PrincessLuceval]

 

Talking Heads ~ This Must Be the Place

 

I'm addicted to Making Flippy Floppy by Talking Heads right now, from that same album. So fun!

[spaceytraci1208]

I had church in my kitchen to Michael Jackson's "Man In The Mirror" yesterday lol...that song just stirs my spirit.

I think Survivor's "Eye Of The Tiger" is the most fist-pump-worthy song of all time

[Beezel]

Cat Stevens has really been mellowing me out through a recent bout of anxiety. 

 

Some favorites: 

 

 

Edited February 10, 2015 by Beezel

[Archery]

Rascal Flatts, "Why," about an old school mate who commits suicide. Toward the end, it goes from quiet to this kind of wail, which sounds like an exclamation point:

Who told you life wasn't worth the fight?

They were WRONG! They LIED!

Now you're gone and we cry.

I had to sit in the car in front of my house for a moment after the song went off the radio the first time I heard it.

[Rick Kitchen]

"How to Save a Life" by The Fray.

Based on Isaac Slade's experience with a teenager when he, Isaac, was a camp counselor and didn't know how to reach out to the kid.

[SosaLola]

"How to Save a Life" by The Fray.

Based on Isaac Slade's experience with a teenager when he, Isaac, was a camp counselor and didn't know how to reach out to the kid.

I didn't know that! That song always had a special place in my heart. 

[Vixenstud]

Old head here....listening to my 70's songs and Shannon by Henry Gross never fails to leave me teary eyed.  Another one was Wildfire by Michael Murphy.

 

Glad to see all the Tracy Chapman love....Baby Can I Hold You from her debut CD is a serious tearjerker.

 

Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now) by Phil Collins, Anything For You by Gloria Estefan, One Last Cry by Brian McKnight and We Fall Down by Donnie McClurkin are recent tracks that without fail can reduce me to a puddle of tears.

Edited February 24, 2015 by Vixenstud

[cpcathy]

Speaking of Phil Collins--Why Can't it Wait Til Morning.

[DeLurker]

Every Little Thing She Does is Magic by The Police always makes me happy.

[Bastet]

I'm procrastinating today, so since I only listed the songs that make me cry previously, I will now think of those that make me laugh:

 

It Wasn’t Me by Shaggy

 

Just a Friend by Biz Markie

 

Barbie Girl by Aqua

 

You Never Even Call Me by My Name by David Allan Coe - For those who don't know this one, there is a hilarious interlude where Coe tells the listener that he disputed the songwriter's assertion it was the perfect country and western song; it couldn't be, because it didn't say anything at all about momma, trains, trucks, prison, or getting drunk.  So the songwriter sent him back another verse, which made it the perfect country and western song:

 

Well I was drunk the day my mom got out of prison
And I went to pick her up in the rain
But before I could get to the station in my pick-up truck
She got runned over by a damned old train

 

Bust a Move by Young MC

 

I Got a Man by Positive K

 

Guys Do it All The Time by Mindy McCready

 

Put Another Log on the Fire by Tompall Glaser

 

I'm Gonna Hire a Wino (To Decorate Our Home) by David Frizzell

 

Girls Lie Too by Terri Clark

 

Celebrity by Brad Paisley

 

I Spent My Last Ten Dollars (On Birth Control and Beer) by 2 Nice Girls

 

Shitlist by L7

 

A Boy Named Sue and One Piece at a Time by Johnny Cash

 

Stupid Girls by P!nk

 

I'm Too Sexy by Right Said Fred

 

Did I Shave My Legs For This? by Deana Carter

 

The Humpty Dance by Digital Underground

 

O.P.P. by Naughty by Nature

 

Fuck Me Pumps by Amy Winehouse

 

The Mississippi Squirrel Revival by Ray Stevens

 

All My Exes Live in Texas by George Strait

 

The Pill by Loretta Lynn

Edited March 30, 2015 by Bastet

[Betweenyouandme]

Counting Blue Cars by Dishwalla

Road to Perdition by Thomas Newman

This is a weird one, but it's a Kermit the Frog song, The Rainbow Connection. My dad used to sing it to me and rub my back when I was trying to go to sleep.

Most songs from Lifehouse's No Name Face

Elton John- Tiny Dancer

Edited April 3, 2015 by Betweenyouandme

[cpcathy]

The entire Muppet Movie soundtrack makes me weepy for personal reasons, I really don't know if I could listen to the whole thing without shedding a tear.

[potatoradio]

 

Walk the Dinosaur by Was (Not Was) always made me laugh

 

I never fail to crack up when I listen to their song "I'm in jail." Hello, Dad? I'm in JAIL! I LIKE it here. It's NICE! Yeah, I'm gonna STAY here. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

 

He sounds like a total maniac when he sings it and I always end up laughing by the end. Good traffic jam or bad day song.

 

Cannot listen to Bruce Springsteen's "Girls in Their Summer Clothes" without bawling. U2's "One" will make me misty-eyed, but I can contain myself. Kelly Clarkson's "Because of You" is 50/50 on whether I'll actually weep or just sniffle.

[Enigma X]

Any thing by Damien Rice pulls at my melancholy emotions. February Stars by Foo Fighters always hits me where it hurts. The Prince and Rosie Gaines version of Nothing Compares 2 U is another gut wrencher. Live Bruce Springsteen does something to me. In the Light and Ten Years Gone by Led Zeppelin touch me deeply. I have only scratched the surface. 

[33kaitykaity]

Candies in the Rain/Lay Down by Melanie always makes me sob.  So does Bruce Springsteen, Last to Die.  

[woodscommaelle]

Watched the Glen Campbell documentary a few weeks ago. So, new addition to saddest:

 

I'm Not Gonna Miss You (his last recorded song)

 

Wouldn't consider myself a 'fan' per se but this was a great watch.  Watch it if you at all like music.

Edited July 26, 2015 by woodscommaelle

[bosawks]

Tony by Patty Griffin makes my go from sad to pissed in about 5 seconds.

[DeLurker]

Heard Michael Jackson's Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' today and it impossible not to smile at the song for me.  My best friend George was a huge fan of the Thriller album and the funnest dancer I have ever known, so the memories are merged on this song.  Plus, he sings about vegetables!

 

You're Stuck In The Middle (Yeah, Yeah)
And The Pain Is Thunder (Yeah, Yeah)
You're A Vegetable, You're A Vegetable
Still They Hate You, You're A Vegetable

 

I always thought he sang "and I hate you", but whatever...

[potatoradio]

I recently discovered that Edie Brickell & the new Bohemians' song "Circle" makes me cry instantly. I cried when I heard it on an episode of "Cold Case" and then I heard it again at a restaurant and had to excuse myself to go the bathroom to wipe my eyes. Granted, I was a bit emotional anyway, but holy crap, I hope I never hear that song in public again.

 

And this could also go under the "I hate myself for loving you" thread because I hate EB & TNB's hit "What I am" with every fiber of my being. I don't even like acoustic guitar music all that much, but this song just shreds me.

 

 

[spaceytraci1208]

Heard Michael Jackson's Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' today and it impossible not to smile at the song for me. My best friend George was a huge fan of the Thriller album and the funnest dancer I have ever known, so the memories are merged on this song. Plus, he sings about vegetables!

You're Stuck In The Middle (Yeah, Yeah)

And The Pain Is Thunder (Yeah, Yeah)

You're A Vegetable, You're A Vegetable

Still They Hate You, You're A Vegetable

I always thought he sang "and I hate you", but whatever...

The part that always gets me grinning is:

If you can't feed ya baby (yeah,yeah)

Then don't have a baby (yeah, yeah)

And I don't mean maybe (yeah,yeah)

If you can't feed ya BAY-beh!

[truthaboutluv]

Fire and Rain came on the radio this morning. I can get through that song without tearing up. Not for anything personal, but, and this is an embarrassing confession, because of River Phoenix's performance in Running on Empty.

We'll be embarrassed together. I was so young when I saw that film but that ending scene always stuck with me. It was of course made worse knowing what happened to River. Same reason I tear up everytime hearing Stand By Me and thinking about that final part in the movie.

[Rick Kitchen]

Damn, this song and the video make me cry every time I hear it.

 

[Goldmoon]

Interesting thread.

Sad songs: a soldiers silent night - bonus points for patriotism.

Butterfly kisses

Live like you are dying

Christmas 1915 by Celtic thunder about the truce between germany and england on the battlefield. The first time I heard this I was trying to clean my living room and I just stopped, mesmerized. The last verse "I killed the boy who sang in no man's land" had me in tears.

Most irritating sing ever: Christmas shoes. It's manipulative drivel is perfect for getting one in the mood to smash one's radio!

[stonehaven]

There were two songs that I cry and they have nothing to do with death on some level..

When my Aunt died in 2008, I recall playing Fleetwood Mac's "Gold Dust Woman" endlessly..I think the line about "pick up the pieces and move on" made me weep...

The other was "You Can't Always Get What You Want"...I wanted her healed and happy...She went home to Heaven..

It took me a few years to like either tune...

For goofy, happy songs, I admit to smiling whenever "Blame it On The Rain" comes on as that song connects me to a fun memory from high school...a very rare time...

"Good Vibrations" by the Beach Boys gets me because I flash back to being five years old and hearing it blast from a radio as I'm in the kiddie pool..It was the first song I fell in love with...

[amaranta]

I have never gotten though this song without crying - The Dutchman, as sung by Steve Goodman (gone too soon in 1984), written by Michael Peter Smith.  I can't even read the lyrics without welling up.

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmYvGW4QxXk

 

I've never been too fond of country music -  I like a couple of Garth Brooks songs, I guess - so I'm not familiar with names and song titles.  But quite some time ago (maybe 15 -18 years?) I was watching a music awards show, I don't even know which one, and some guy I thought of as the Ford truck man came out and sang what I soon learned was Remember When.  By the time he was halfway into the song I was bawling.  Full on ugly cry.  My sister loves country (we are so different) and I can't listen to Alan Jackson sing anything.  Nothing; not even the Whatchmacallit River song.  I go full Pavlovian at just the sound of his voice and start crying again.  Yeah, I also think that's pretty weird.

 

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xM3_dtGyspQ

 

I might come back with more, but these two popped right into my head.

Edited November 29, 2015 by amaranta

[Bastet]

Alan Jackson has a lovely voice, but I don't like very many of his songs.  Remember When is one of the few exceptions, and it always puts me in a mood.

 

Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton singing You Can't Make Old Friends does the same.

[LADreamr]

For sad: "The Dance" by Garth Brooks. It was popular around the time I lost a beloved cousin to AIDS and seems to be around me at other times related to death. The line, "I could have missed the pain, but I'd have had to miss the dance," always gets me.

For funny, I've always loved Joe Walsh's "Life's been good to me":

I have a mansion

Forget the price

Ain't never been there

They tell me it's nice

My Maserati does 185

I lost my license

Now I don't drive

The whole thing is full of great lyrics about fame and money and how it changes you, even if you are oblivious.

[blueray]

I'm not sure that I've ever laughed at a song (unless Weird Al counts ;) )though there are many that make me smile or inspire me. As for sad songs:

 

Tears to heaven

freshman by vine pipe

adam's song by blink 182

living years by mike and the mecanics

I'm not going to miss you

Edited December 10, 2015 by blueray

[Bastet]

I'm not going to miss you

 

Oh man, that one is like a punch to the gut. 

[MyAimIsTrue]

I've long called Tears For Fears' "Everybody  Wants To Rule the World" my all-time favorite happy song.  It never fails to make me smile or look back on great times in my life, especially the summer of '85 when I was a 20 year old college student with an awesome summer job and not a care in the world.

[spaceytraci1208]

Otis Redding's rendition of A Change Is Gonna Come has reduced me to tears a time or two 

On the happy side, this little ditty has always made me laugh 

[NutMeg]

Songs that me make me cry or laugh can be the same, depending on my mood at the time. For instance, Leonard Cohen's I'm your man.

Some always made me feel powerful - like Queen's We are the Champions, or Pink's So What.

Some are fantastic for the gym - Sucker for pain is my new darling, but some Maroon 5 songs work well too.

Oh, one that I love to sing out loud is Exes and Ohs, never get tired of it. Also Sixteen tons, gloomy as it is love singing it :) Also Imagine Dragons' Demons. And Muse's Uprising. Lady Gaga's Americano, Edge of Glory, Bloody Mary.

[MyAimIsTrue]

On ‎9‎/‎24‎/‎2016 at 10:02 AM, spaceytraci1208 said:

Otis Redding's rendition of A Change Is Gonna Come has reduced me to tears a time or two 

Yes, same here.

[Archery]

Having a bad day?  Go put on Katrina and the Waves' "Walking on Sunshine." Go ahead. I'll wait. 

Yes, I am a grown woman and I have Taylor Swift songs on my iPod (I bought it used, and they were already loaded on it).  I cackle on that one song where she threatens to tell her ex's friends that he's gay.  So inappropriate.  So spiteful.  So funny. 

[roseslg]

The live version of Who Knows Where the Time Goes by Nina Simone always makes me sad and wistful.   Half of Nina's songs actually, even when they are covers.  Her voice is just filled with despair and melancholy (for the most part).  

[Silver Raven]

God, Lukas Graham writes such personal songs.