Saddest Broadway Songs

[NameGreg]

Posted: 1/11/21 at 6:09pm

What are some Broadway numbers that are major tearjerkers?

For me, the ultimate examples would be Words Fail and So Big/So Small from Dear Evan Hansen and No More and No One is Alone from Into the Woods.

In both cases its two emotionally destructive numbers one after another, by mere seconds for the former.

[IAmAnIslander2]

Posted: 1/12/21 at 9:18pm

Send in the Clowns from A Little Night Music

Finale from Chess

The Letter from Billy Elliot

Tell Me It's Not True from Blood Brothers

I Am Here from Come From Away

I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserables

With You from Ghost

Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again from The Phantom of the Opera

Without You from RENT

I'll Cover You (Reprise) from RENT

She Used To Be Mine from Waitress

Updated On: 1/12/21 at 09:18 PM

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 1/12/21 at 10:11pm

Days and Days - Fun Home

Telephone Wire - Fun Home

How Could I Ever Know - The Secret Garden

Who Will Love Me As I Am? - Side Show

[brox22]

Posted: 1/12/21 at 10:14pm

Not A Day Goes By from Merrily We Roll Along

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 1/13/21 at 7:36am

The I Love You Song from The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

[lachri5]

Posted: 1/13/21 at 12:12pm

The Saddest Song from Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson

kidding

I second Not A Day Goes By from Merrily

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 1/13/21 at 12:25pm

It's Quiet Uptown  HAMILTON

[Demitri2]

Posted: 1/13/21 at 12:49pm

Jule Styne's "The Music That Makes Me Dance" from FUNNY GIRL. Unfortunately, the song was dropped in favor of "My Man" in the film narrowing its popularity as a ballad. 

 

[greensgreens]

Posted: 1/13/21 at 2:31pm

On My Own always gets me, even after all these years. Recently rediscovered the 1991 Paris recording and its truly heartbreaking.

[Bill Snibson]

Posted: 1/13/21 at 2:50pm

"So Anyway" from Next to Normal makes me weep every time! 

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 1/13/21 at 3:47pm

Not the whole song, but one line in “Children and Art” from SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE breaks my heart everytime.

“Isn’t She Beautiful?
There she is
There she is
There she is
There she is
Mama is everywhere
He must have loved her so much”

[fosterfan2]

Posted: 1/13/21 at 4:27pm

Although these two are more touching than sad:

"For Good",especially since my dad passed way.

"Omar Sharif"--my grandfather was Middle Eastern and loved Arabic music. I used to listen to this type of music with him,as the character Dina had described doing with her mother.

"Far From the Home I Love" This one is sad.

[ViniFromBrazil]

Posted: 1/13/21 at 5:40pm

Alex Kulak2 said: "The I Love You Song from The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee"

I second this.

And also "I Miss the Mountains" from NEXT TO NORMAL.

[David10086]

Posted: 1/13/21 at 10:51pm

The songs which brings tears to my eyes are:

Send in the Clowns (Jean Simmons) A Little Night Music

Back to Before ( Patti Lupino’s recording) Ragtime

When There’s No One (Betty Buckley) Carrie

Evitas Final Broadcast (Lupone) Evita

The last two lines of “ New Ways To Dream” by Lupone in Sunset Boulevard:

“ They can’t see where the future lies...They don’t recognize a star. “ (Makes me tear up every time!)

Same with Crawford’s “ Phantom” when he sings the line: “ Christine I love you...”

[kdogg36]

Posted: 1/14/21 at 9:10am

brox22 said: "Not A Day Goes By from Merrily We Roll Along"

I agree with this one, but in the context of the show, I think “Our Time” is much sadder still. 

[binau]

Posted: 1/14/21 at 10:25am

I always find it much more emotional to hear Not a Day Goes By out of context and in concert from Bernadette Peters and Marin Mazzie than within the context of any of the cast recordings or filmed London production.

[Highland Guy]

Posted: 1/14/21 at 10:31am

 

[Plannietink08]

Posted: 1/15/21 at 10:02am

The Love I Meant To Say from SMASH. (Not quite Broadway but still relevant)

[802AFM]

Posted: 1/18/21 at 11:01am

Another Winter In A Summer Town    -Grey Gardens

[lachri5]

Posted: 1/18/21 at 11:08am

Another one: Fifty Percent from Ballroom

[sittingovation]

Posted: 1/18/21 at 5:02pm

Surprised no one has mentioned:

"MAMA, LOOK SHARP" from 1776

or

 'FAR FROM THE HOME I LOVE" from FIDDLER ON THE ROOF.

[¿Macavity?]

Posted: 1/18/21 at 6:14pm

"No One Has Ever Loved Me" from Passion turns me into a puddle and "Finale" makes it hurt all the more. The OBC is unbeatable, but the '97 London recording's slower tempo toward the end of "Finale" is terrifically hypnotic.

"People Like Us" from LaChiusa's The Wild Party is a heartbreaking duet.

"What Would I Do?" from Falsettos is always a pleasure to cry to.

"What Would You Do?" from Cabaret. Highland Guy already posted the video, but if you skipped over it, I urge you to go back.

"Love and Love Alone" from The Visit is a different animal. It's sad, but in a profoundly numbing way that I have never heard before. The music and lyrics work in perfect tandem to create the effect. I think it's a monument of a song.

Updated On: 1/18/21 at 06:14 PM

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 1/19/21 at 2:35am

"It Never Was You"  Kurt Weill  Maxwell Anderson 

 

Judy Garland from I Could Go On Singing

Mobile link

https://youtu.be/IQlwINqlHFE

Updated On: 1/19/21 at 02:35 AM

[kyguy78]

Posted: 1/19/21 at 12:18pm

Count me as another vote for "The I Love You Song" from Spelling Bee.    

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 1/21/21 at 6:17pm

But You Go On. Annie Warbucks
50% Ballroom
People. Funny Girl