TUESDAY TUNES: Songs That Make Us Cry

Songs can bring out a wide variety of emotions and feelings - and they can also make us cry. Whether it's tears of joy or tears of sadness, it's interesting to see what makes us shed a few. I asked the Oasis girls what song makes them cry, and if they ever listen to it when writing a particularly sad scene:

AE:
I Can't Live if Living is Without You by Harry Nilsson.
"That was Greg's favorite song," my sister said. Her blue eyes started tearing right there, just thinking about our brother who passed some years ago. "How can you listen to it? All I do is think about Greg and cry." I think of that conversation everytime I play the song. I can't listen to it without crying, either. But I want to cry. I want to hurt. I want to miss him. Because Greg was the best and brightest of us--he laughed and loved without equal. I don't ever want him to fade away. Like Nikki, I've never used it as a tool for writing. For the same reason--it's sacred.


Sheri:
I'm going to go with The Absence of Fear by Jewel. Why it makes me cry? On the outside, I had what appeared to be a wholesome upbringing, ushering me into and through my teenage years. I had clothes, food, a roof over my head, and a ton of friends. But so often I felt lonely. No one, excluding two uniquely close friends, knew what happened within the walls of my house. My mother was a manic depressant. Spelled H.E.L.L. for a teenager. When I first heard this song, I completely fell into it. Even though I had already moved out and was newly married, there was so much I wanted and longed for from my hidden past, from the teen years I'd lost. This song seemed to understand that.  


Jessie:
As you may or may not know, my girls are only 13 months apart. Once Samantha was born, my husband & I knew we were "done." I used to sit in the nursery at night, rocking my precious little baby (this was after the colic was over), and listening to Watercolor Ponies by Wayne Watson. It would bring tears to my eyes thinking about how fleeting those moments would be and how quickly time would pass us by. And just look, my oldest went to Kindergarten this week and little Sami is in pre-K4.

There are watercolor ponies
On my refrigerater door
And the shape of something
I don't really recognize
Drawn by careful little fingers
And put proudly on display
A reminder to us all
Of how time flies

***

But, baby, what will we do
When it comes back to me an you?
They look a little less
Like little boys every day
Oh, the pleasure of watching
The children growing
Is mixed with a bitter cup
Of knowing the watercolor ponies
Will one day ride away

Jessica:
A House Is Not A Home by Luther Vandross. THis song makes me cry every time because a LONG time ago my DH and I were having...issues. In fact we separated, but one day this song played on the radio one night as I pulled into my driveway. My house was completely dark. My son was at my mom's for the weekend. I cried my eyes out in the car in the driveway. But when I opened the door, my husband was sitting at the table with dinner ready and a bunch of lit candles. It was the day we got back together. We've now been married for almost 11 years. A sad story with a happy ending. :D

A chair is still a chair, even when there's no one sittin' there
But a chair is not a house and a house is not a home
When there's no one there to hold you tight
And no one there you can kiss goodnight...

...Pretty little darling, have a heart, don't let one mistake keep us apart
I'm not meant to live alone, turn this house into a home
When I climb the stairs and turn the key
Oh, please be there, sayin' that you're still in love with me

Nikki:
Mine is In the Arms of an Angel, by Sarah McLaughlin. It was the song I chose for the Father/Daughter dance at my wedding (I know it's a random song choice, but there was a part of the lyrics that really reminds me of him). Now whenever I hear it I start crying or turn the channel - because he passed away eight years ago and it immediately brings those memories to the front of my mind. I haven't yet tried to listen to it while writing, probably because I sort of view it as sacred, and would end up thinking of my Dad rather than the scene.

Your turn: What songs make you cry?