Sad prog

Mortte wrote: I am a blues guy. Minor songs achieve me always better than major.

supertramp - lord it's mine

anglaglard and andeknoten

Great topic!  I've been putting together playlists for themed radio programs (If I ever get back on the air again) -- one I entitled "Beautiful Sadness", and so far it includes the following tracks:

Tears and Losing It - Rush
The Black Flame - Rennaissance
Epitaph - King Crimson
Red Dust Shadow - IQ
I Turned You Down - Riverside
The Raven That Refused to Sing and Routine - Steven Wilson (the videos for these really help capture the feeling of sadness/loss too)
House With No Door - Van Der Graaf Generator
Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd
Rain - Uriah Heep
Deathless - Haken
Blood On the Rooftops and Silent Sorrow in Empty Boats - Genesis
Rhayader Alone/Fritha Alone/Epitaph - Camel
Bells for Her - Tori Amos

Was also thinking of adding Rudy from Supertramp

So there are certainly more out there, but these are the saddest (but quite beautiful) songs I could think of.








Edited by zwordser - May 08 2018 at 14:49

pretty much this whole album

Progaholic3 wrote: For the life of me I cannot imagine why you would be looking for music of this kind

Guldbamsen wrote: A better known use of sadness in music that seemed to strike a chord with most people all over the western hemisphere is Clapton's Tears In Heaven.

A song I can't bear, which goes to show how subjective all this is. I would never make light of the awful tragedy it came out of, but it just doesn't work for me.

Not that I'm immune to the allure of sadness in pop. There are songs I love that can reliably make me shed tears - notably Crowded House's Private Universe and Iron and Wine's Trapeze Swinger. The latter would be high on my personal list of candidates for greatest song in the whole genre of popular music (in which I include rock, prog and all the rest).




Edited by Mascodagama - April 29 2018 at 03:54

Maybe he's just into Moon Safari and the more lighthearted side of Yes?
Sad prog, at least to me, doesn't necessarily equate to modern day renditions of Droopy the dog, but can incorporate realism and hard to talk about subjects in a way that is infinitely more inviting than an hours worth of news on the same subject.
There is beauty in sadness. Sadness pertaining to music doesn't have to be covered in emo and 'priviliged white guys with the weight of the world on their shoulders' (sic), but can be subtle and evocative in a manner that speaks to me unlike any 'happy-sounding' music can.

That's why I love Penderecki's music for Hiroushima. Sadness to the absolute max...but heartwrenchingly beautiful.

A better known use of sadness in music that seemed to strike a chord with most people all over the western hemisphere is Clapton's Tears In Heaven.