Saddest songs in musical theater — Page 2

Telephone Wire, from Fun Home - the way she's in that position of memory, begging her past self to say anything to her dad that might open him up, even though she, and we, know that that's impossible, because otherwise the show, and the pain, wouldn't exist. I was a mess when I saw this on tour.

Children and Art, from Sunday in the Park - "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" is one of the saddest and most beautiful lyric lines ever put into any musical. It says so much about love and time in such a strange way, the emotional and conceptual epiphany always catches me off guard.

The I Love You Song, from 25th Annual - The absolutely devastating desperation knocks me over even when I'm just listening to the album while doing chores. When she spells the word and we hear "that is correct" in a distant echo, and then she and her parents sing the last notes in perfect, imagined, and impossible harmony, my heart aches.

Till We Reach That Day....the funeral dirge of Sarah end of Act.1. in Ragtime.

OlBlueEyes said: ""It Never Was You" Kurt Weill Knickerbocker Holiday 1938

Vocalist: Judy Garland, 1963

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQlwINqlHFE"

How could i have forgotten "It Never Was You" -- one of my favorite songs? Thanks for the reminder and the video.

Harriet Craig said: "Supper Time (As Thousands Cheer)

This Nearly Was Mine (South Pacific)

Her Face (Carnival)

There's Always One You Can't Forget (Dance A Little Closer)"

I love This Nearly Was Mine and ironically, the best recording of it I’ve ever heard is Kelli O’Hara’s from her album Always. If you’ve never heard it, download it now! ??

qolbinau said: "In Buddy’s Eyes - I can’t think of much sadder than a woman lying through her teeth that she has had a happy marriage for 30 years to the man she actually loves. Almost no one can act this song like Bernadette can, especially the last verse. "



I agree with this completely. Also, Not a Day Goes By, the I Love You song - Spelling Bee, Losing my Mind - Follies, Children and Art and We Do Not Belong Together - Sunday in the Park, Without You - RENT, Another Winter in a Summer Town - Grey Gardens, If I Didn’t Believe in You - L5Y.

A few people have mentioned "Not A Day Goes By," and that's plenty sad for sure, but "Our Time" is much sadder to me (in context).

kdogg36 said: "A few people have mentioned "Not A Day Goes By," and that's plenty sad for sure, but "Our Time" is much sadder to me (in context)."

Our Time is heartbreaking in context.

"Losing My Mind" is another Sondheim song that's become a classic torch song.

poisonivy2 said: "And then I have to say the most collectively sad moment I ever experienced in a theater was the final performance of The Great Comet. When Lucas Steele started singing "Goodbye my gypsy lovers" and his voice broke in the middle of the song and I looked around and saw the Imperial Theatre staff wiping away huge sobs and some of the ensemble cast quietly crying."

THIS. Although I wouldn't qualify any of the songs in that show as the saddest songs, every number that afternoon was tinged with remarkable sadness. That show was the most emotional, beautiful experience I've ever had inside of a theater, alongside over a thousand equally emotional strangers both onstage and off.

Updated On: 6/26/18 at 09:00 AM

Not a Day Goes By

No More

In Buddy's Eyes

Loving You

I'll Be Seeing You (yes, it was from a Broadway musical, 'Right This Way' which closed after 15 performances)

Ethel Waters' rendition of Supper Time is heart-wrenching, possibly the saddest song ever written for musical theater.