Sad Love Songs With Great Lyrics That Inspire Emotion
In this article I compiled some of the most emotional, beautifully-written sad love songs. The criteria for what is truly a sad love song is sometimes difficult to fully pin down because some songs sound sad, but have a positive message while other songs sound happy, but can be sad. Nevertheless, here is my list! For my full collection of songs, please check out my full love song page.
Sweet And Sad Love Song: How Can I Tell You by Cat Stevens
This sound laments a lost relationship that he still cherishes. The singer is sweet and vulnerable, and it comes through in the emotions felt by the listener. The melody is also sweet.
Sad Love Song About Betrayal: Famous Blue Raincoat by Leonard Cohen
This song has an extra slow tempo and feel, but it’s incredibly listenable. The poetry and storytelling in this song is captivating. Leonard Cohen is on many of my lists of favorite songs. In my opinion, he is the greatest American singer-songwriter. Yes, even better than Bob Dylan.
Cohen’s songs are in my list of songs with the best lyrics of all time as well as the most meaningful songs.
The Famous Blue Raincoat is a song that’s really a letter sent to a woman who cheated on the hero of the song. The protagonist of the song is writing this letter while his woman is sleeping. He is writing in the middle of the night, poring his heart out. It’s a tremendous song with some fascinating lyrics that are sometimes poetic while sometimes vulgar – it’s an interesting mix.
Melancholy Sad Love Song: What Was It For by Alex Genadinik
This is a lesser-known song, but it’s pretty, mellow, and poetic. It builds on a metaphor of lovers drifting with and away from each other, and the sound of the song also flows gently like a river, helping the listener drift away to musical dreamland.
Sad Love Male And Female Duet Song: Hey That’s No Way To Say Goodbye
The musical chemistry between Leonard Cohen and Julie Felix in this video is inspiring and palpable. The song is so sweet.
Best Sad Love Song With Great Vocals: I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston is more than a great voice. She is a great vocalist. The difference is that she can convey the meaning in the song to the listener with her performance. In this song, she is on another level!
Sad Love Song To Parents: Landslide by Fleetwood Mac
When I first discovered this song, I was a teenager. This song caused an unbelievable swell of emotion in the young me. I will never forget that. It was levels above other great songs that I loved.
Sad Love Song About Moving On: Diamonds And Rust by Joan Baez
This is a song in which Joan laments pieces of her relationship with Bob Dylan. She goes over scant memories she had with him. This song features a rare combination of great lyrics and a great vocalist.
Sad Love Song About A Crush – She’s Devilish by Alex Genadinik
This is a song about having a crush on someone who you know is bad for you, but doing it anyway. In this particular song, the tables are turned, and the bad crush isn’t the evil person in the song. The person who does the most damage is the original person who had the crush.
The outcome is seldom good, so songs about a crush are a close relative to sad songs. Here is my full blog post with a collection of songs about a crush, and here is a link to a fuller analysis of this song with full lyrics.
Dreams I Weave by Alex Genadinik
This is an emotional and tearjerking ballad about a couple who love each other, but are apart. They long for one another, but when they meet, they just don’t find the right words to say in the moment, and things don’t work out for this couple. And they end up living with regret while remaining together in their dreams.
Here is the link to this song about longing, separation, and losing love with full lyrics and a longer analysis.
Unbreak My Heart by Toni Braxton
This is one of the most emotional performances in recent decades. At times this song feels like it’s a cry. As a listener, you really feel the pain in her voice. For that reason, this song made it to my list of some of the most romantic songs of all time.
