Sunday
A little while ago Teeni posted something called her “Tearjerker Song Meme”.
You were asked to post a song that rocked your world emotionally, or upon hearing it would make you cry.
I thought it was an interesting post and chided her for not tagging me.
I know, I hate being tagged but this one seemed pretty cool.
I found the video below of a singer that you may or may not have heard of.
Her name is Eva Cassidy.
She died in 1996 from melanoma.
Gone far too soon.
I’ve always had an emotional attachment to this song for many reasons that elude me.
Maybe it’s because I accompanied my daughter Sarah on piano when she sang this in the fourth grade.
Or maybe it’s the combination of melody and harmony that moves me so.
That said, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” is just one of those songs for me.
The voice of Eva Cassidy singing this doesn’t make me cry but it does give me goosebumps, my internal tears.
If you want do this little “meme”, please feel free.
Just let me know.
What song does it for you?
(the first person that says, Color my World, will be ridiculed unmercifully) 
Watch out, Eva will just rip your heart out . . .
Wow – that was powerful. Eva most certainly had her life mercilessly shortened and I’m saddened that we have been deprived of her talent. Thanks for choosing such a wonderful artist and song. For some reason “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” completely slipped my mind. But I think I had a brain slam (when something suddenly comes rushing back to the forefront of my consciousness) thanks to you. Somehow I knew you’d be doing this meme up right, though and as usual, you did not disappoint.
oh my. this is one of mine… “internal tears” and “goosebumps on my heart” is a better descriptor… worth the time to track down more Eva. i’ve got a ton of her stuff – not enough on iTunes, Amazon, so i’ve skittered about picking up odd CDs. she did a live set at House of Blues that’ll melt your socks… (sigh)
Never heard that song done so well before, thanks for sharing her with us.
For me it would be ‘Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain” by Willie Nelson -although not a country fan by inclination- this song takes me right back to the long dark night when I first heard it.
Sometimes you have to go there just to come back, ya know-
Thought I should stick my head in the door and say hi {waving}
Am at work as you know, so it’s only a quickie and I can’t play the video, but I can well imagine it’s along the same lines of good taste you normally display
As to mine, well there are far too many to choose just one…other than Home on the Range, but that had a deeper meaning than usual as you know, regardless of how old or silly it sounds…
Beautiful rendition… I believe I shared one of my two favorite songs… emotional songs… 1. Hurt by Johnny Cash 2. Hurt by Christina Aguilera (ironic they have the same name…) Not a huge fan of hers, however this song she captured and her voice is beautiful… this song resonated with me after I lost my father… Johnny Cash’s song holds something of an energy… powerful and brilliant
Love Eva. But my ballad has to be any kinda eighties rock love song (I know I know….cheeeeeeezzzzzy) Love Bites by Def Leppard, for reasons only known to my darkest self, being one of them.
Oh, and “Running to stand still” by U2.
What a beautiful voice. Wow. Thanks for sharing.
The songs that affect me: “Go Rest High on that Mountain” by Vince Gill and “When I Get to Heaven” by Brad Paisley and Dolly Parton.
Hmmm… I can’t say there are any songs that immediately spring to mind for me, although a police siren does cause a bit of an emotional reaction.
Eva is one of my all-time favorite singers. I have several of her CDs; “Live at Blues Alley” would have to be my favorite. I bought it several years ago because I had so enjoyed another one of her CDs (one with The Letter, Ain’t No Sunshine, At Last.) But also because it had a song, “Stormy Monday,” which I knew to be a “classic” blues tune. I popped in the CD on my way home and the first song was a jazzy version of [Dancing] Cheek to Cheek. Then Stormy Monday. It blew me away. I cried. I’m still in awe every time I hear it. She could take a song and do it in a unique way, making her extraordinary vocal talent sound simple. She didn’t show it off. She sneaked it in there; but if you’re a singer, you recognize it. Her version of At Last is also extraordinary. Just her and her guitar – sung like nobody else can sing it.
And I have to add, her band on the Blues Alley CD is fantastic. Do I need to send you this CD?
My vote goes to Martina McBride’s “ConcreteAngel”.. if that song doesn’t give you a lump in your throat well ’nuff said ;(
hey lumpy,
sarah mclaughlan’s “angel” always does it for me…
there is a scant handful of others as well, but that’s the first one that hits me over the head.
Hey ~m:
That song sung by Brad Paisley and Dolly Parton is “When I get Where I’m Going.” It’s a song about Heaven. I can sing it, just couldn’t get the name of the title right.
Sorry ’bout the blonde moment. LOL.
Wow. Very moving. To answer your question, if I had to pick one song, it would be “Kathleen”, by (who else?) Gene Clark. Like the song on your post, it is simply him and an acoustic guitar, along with a harmonica. And yet he conjures up wellsprings of emotion with this simple arrangement.
-smith
hey, YOU’re the one that made the lumpy reference about martina! LSTM.
actually, i guess it’s all in the interpretation of the lyrics. i think “angel” has more to do with self-worth and self-love {“there’s always some reason to feel not good enough”}, possibly loneliness {“the endlessness that you fear”}, not an actual MVA {“you are pulled from the wreckage of your silent reverie”}…
i just love that yodeling chest voice/head voice thing that she and john mayer and My Girl Jewel do.
hey, there’s worse things than lumpy. lumpy is GOOD….;)
There have been many songs that moved me to tears, some for their beauty, some for their touching lyrics, some simply because they’re attached to a sad moment in my life (and a few of them are actually mentioned above).
One song that touched me deeply the first time I heard it and to this day manages to get my full attention is Elton John’s ‘the last song’. Never really quite understood why, but I just know the place where that song came from.