when you need to have a good cry look no
further than these videos just remember
the tissue box my welcome to
watchmojo.com and today we’re counting
down our picks for the top 10 saddest
music video
we don’t have a particularly demanding
criteria for this list but just to be
clear we’re counting down the saddest
videos not songs themselves so even if a
song has tear-jerking lyrics if it
doesn’t have a video to match you won’t
see it here I’m car you home
our lover’s got humour she’s the giggle
at a funeral knows everybody’s
disapproval number 10 take me to church
hozier
if the heavens ever did speak she’s the
last true mouthpiece considering this
was hosier’s first major-label video
release one may have expected him to
pursue a flashier spectacle instead he
stuck to the lyrical tone and its
message of religious institutions
rejecting natural facets of being human
specifically love of all kinds shot in
black and white the video depicts a
same-sex relationship shared between two
men
one of the men is outed the community
descends upon him with violence and
hatred they storm his house take him
captive and torture him mercilessly
tragically his partner can only watch as
outing himself would mean the same fate
it highlights the sad reality of fear
and hatred than many in the LGBT
community face every day
number nine little motel modest mouse
sweet sleep some suits you
well this video begins brightly greeting
the viewer with a collage of blurry
flashing lights it fades out to in Vale
they are the lights of a motel sign and
then moves inside to a loving mother
tucking her son into bed this initial
positive tone is soon lost as it is
revealed that the video is moving in
reverse chronological order
as the song progresses we learned the
true story of the mother and her boy as
a to spend their time driving around the
streets of Reno
ultimately the video tears at your
heartstrings as it is revealed that the
mother had taken her dying son out of
the hospital to spend some final moments
with him
number eight wake me up when September
ends Green Day summer has come and
passed the innocent can never last
released in 2005 this 7 minute long
video grounded itself in the harsh
reality of the war on terror it tells
the story of a young couple in love
dedicated to one another who were torn
apart when the boyfriend enlists to go
to war but of all people you would
understand why don’t you understand I do
this for us the tragedy is that he does
so out of love putting his life on the
line to keep his girlfriend safe she’s
left heartbroken as he broke his vow to
never leave her and may die in battle
the video is intercut with scenes of the
boyfriend in battle and his girlfriend
quietly mourning in a field meant to
promote free thought and peace the video
emphasizes the pain and suffering war
inflicts on everyone this way no matter
what you always have somebody here for
you I’m never gonna leave you
number seven Lazarus David Bowie look up
here I’m in heaven
I’ve got scars that can’t be seen look
up here I’m in heaven I’ve got scars
that can’t be seen the first lines of
this song assumed powerful meaning upon
Bowie’s death just three days after the
release of this video look up here man
I’m in danger the entire video assumes
more importance when placed in the light
of Bowie’s death as it centers on the
artist himself collapsed and trapped in
his deathbed
away
moving slowly the video presents a
blindfolded Bowie with but he’s covering
his eyes frail and near death it then
rapidly switches back and forth between
this feeble version of the artist and
the lively dancing version audiences
loved in his prime
and that just watch me
just before his death we see a tragic
bowie caught between cancer and the life
he craves
number six stall Kelly Rowland he was
always such a nice boy a quiet one with
good intention a song about loneliness
depression and lost dreams this video
tracks the lives of three interconnected
high school students opening with a
young man descending the stairs of his
house to see his sister with his
distraught mother who has a black eye
presumably after being beaten by his
father
at school he is overcome with depression
and commits suicide in the bathroom
fellow student Mary is overcome with
grief at his day
an aspiring actress her dreams are also
crushed when she learns she is pregnant
finally the school’s basketball star is
gunned down by a rival classmate
it’s a haunting portrayal of lives cut
short and it’s a hard one to watch
without tearing up
number five the ghost of you My Chemical
Romance
known for visually stunning and highly
creative videos My Chemical Romance race
their efforts to new heights with this
war epic
the invested $1,000,000 and shop enough
footage to make a movie in order to
capture the right tone and message for
their tragic ballad representing love
camaraderie and laws the video intercut
shots of the band at a USO dance and as
soldiers storming a beach
deliberately paralleling the Omaha Beach
scene from Saving Private Ryan we see
the horrible devastation of war the
terrified faces of soldiers losing their
innocence and lives in battle is
haunting and reminds the audience what
is truly sacrificed and lost through war
come up to meet you tell you I’m sorry
you don’t know
number four the scientist Coldplay this
video is both beautifully sad and an
astounding achievement in cinematography
presented in Reverse narrative but also
shot in Reverse it begins with Coldplay
lead singer Chris Martin lying on a
mattress seemingly in bliss but tracks
backwards to depict a tragic car
accident I was just gas
buzzer fingers
zoo
in order to make it appear like he is
singing but still moving the narrative
in Reverse Martin spent a month learning
how to sing the lyrics backwards the end
result of his efforts is an aura of
haunting surrealism which culminates in
the final tragic scene
Jesus
No
ever say
is so
Martin’s passenger is shown to unbuckle
her seatbelt just before the crash
ultimately causing her own death
number three hurts Johnny Cash I hurt
myself today to see it first to feel we
all know cash had a share of sad songs
but it’s this video for his cover of the
Nine Inch Nails song hurt that may just
stay with us forever
but uh I become my sweetest friend cash
and director Mark Romanek deliver a
video that highlights the artists
deteriorating health as well as the wake
of his career as it fades into memory
the video was set in Cash’s home and
museum the house of cash which is now
derelict rundown and closed to the
public and you could ever
at all
in the dark abandoned house cache
performs with heart as a video is
intercut with footage of cash as a
younger man with both he and his wife
June Carter Cash dying within months of
the video’s release it became an eerie
tribute to the man himself
I would find away
number two runaway train soul asylum
like a farmer
with this video soul asylum intended to
shock audiences and bring to light the
truly alarming and sad problems of
runaway and abused children
different versions of the video begins
with different stats but the core of the
video portrays several connected
tear-jerking stories a child who
witnesses his grandmother beaten to
death by his grandfather a young girl
who is pimped out sold as a prostitute
and eventually kidnapped and gang-raped
and a baby kidnapped from its stroller
ticket phone away these scenes are
intercut with the photos and names of
real children who have gone missing it’s
a moving video that reminds us of the
many young innocent children suffering
in the world
before we unveil our number one pick
here are a few honorable mentions
Brenda wants to run away mama say you’re
making me lose pay and Social Work is
here
number one weights for me Mobe I’m gonna
ask you to look away
my hands taking place in an old-school
videogame and using the video game trope
of lives
wait for me depicts the day of a normal
man who loses health with every bad
situation he finds himself in
me
the video begins with a silent breakfast
and his loveless marriage a trip through
the monotony of his life to his boring
white-collar job where he is fired by a
heartless boss following this he’s beat
up and left by his wife finally the
nameless man takes his own life and
chooses to exit the game rather than
play again ultimately it says characters
normal utterly unremarkable life that is
tragically sad so do you agree with our
list what do you think is the saddest
music video out there
for more compelling top 10s published
every day be sure to subscribe to
watchmojo.com
you
further than these videos just remember
the tissue box my welcome to
watchmojo.com and today we’re counting
down our picks for the top 10 saddest
music video
we don’t have a particularly demanding
criteria for this list but just to be
clear we’re counting down the saddest
videos not songs themselves so even if a
song has tear-jerking lyrics if it
doesn’t have a video to match you won’t
see it here I’m car you home
our lover’s got humour she’s the giggle
at a funeral knows everybody’s
disapproval number 10 take me to church
hozier
if the heavens ever did speak she’s the
last true mouthpiece considering this
was hosier’s first major-label video
release one may have expected him to
pursue a flashier spectacle instead he
stuck to the lyrical tone and its
message of religious institutions
rejecting natural facets of being human
specifically love of all kinds shot in
black and white the video depicts a
same-sex relationship shared between two
men
one of the men is outed the community
descends upon him with violence and
hatred they storm his house take him
captive and torture him mercilessly
tragically his partner can only watch as
outing himself would mean the same fate
it highlights the sad reality of fear
and hatred than many in the LGBT
community face every day
number nine little motel modest mouse
sweet sleep some suits you
well this video begins brightly greeting
the viewer with a collage of blurry
flashing lights it fades out to in Vale
they are the lights of a motel sign and
then moves inside to a loving mother
tucking her son into bed this initial
positive tone is soon lost as it is
revealed that the video is moving in
reverse chronological order
as the song progresses we learned the
true story of the mother and her boy as
a to spend their time driving around the
streets of Reno
ultimately the video tears at your
heartstrings as it is revealed that the
mother had taken her dying son out of
the hospital to spend some final moments
with him
number eight wake me up when September
ends Green Day summer has come and
passed the innocent can never last
released in 2005 this 7 minute long
video grounded itself in the harsh
reality of the war on terror it tells
the story of a young couple in love
dedicated to one another who were torn
apart when the boyfriend enlists to go
to war but of all people you would
understand why don’t you understand I do
this for us the tragedy is that he does
so out of love putting his life on the
line to keep his girlfriend safe she’s
left heartbroken as he broke his vow to
never leave her and may die in battle
the video is intercut with scenes of the
boyfriend in battle and his girlfriend
quietly mourning in a field meant to
promote free thought and peace the video
emphasizes the pain and suffering war
inflicts on everyone this way no matter
what you always have somebody here for
you I’m never gonna leave you
number seven Lazarus David Bowie look up
here I’m in heaven
I’ve got scars that can’t be seen look
up here I’m in heaven I’ve got scars
that can’t be seen the first lines of
this song assumed powerful meaning upon
Bowie’s death just three days after the
release of this video look up here man
I’m in danger the entire video assumes
more importance when placed in the light
of Bowie’s death as it centers on the
artist himself collapsed and trapped in
his deathbed
away
moving slowly the video presents a
blindfolded Bowie with but he’s covering
his eyes frail and near death it then
rapidly switches back and forth between
this feeble version of the artist and
the lively dancing version audiences
loved in his prime
and that just watch me
just before his death we see a tragic
bowie caught between cancer and the life
he craves
number six stall Kelly Rowland he was
always such a nice boy a quiet one with
good intention a song about loneliness
depression and lost dreams this video
tracks the lives of three interconnected
high school students opening with a
young man descending the stairs of his
house to see his sister with his
distraught mother who has a black eye
presumably after being beaten by his
father
at school he is overcome with depression
and commits suicide in the bathroom
fellow student Mary is overcome with
grief at his day
an aspiring actress her dreams are also
crushed when she learns she is pregnant
finally the school’s basketball star is
gunned down by a rival classmate
it’s a haunting portrayal of lives cut
short and it’s a hard one to watch
without tearing up
number five the ghost of you My Chemical
Romance
known for visually stunning and highly
creative videos My Chemical Romance race
their efforts to new heights with this
war epic
the invested $1,000,000 and shop enough
footage to make a movie in order to
capture the right tone and message for
their tragic ballad representing love
camaraderie and laws the video intercut
shots of the band at a USO dance and as
soldiers storming a beach
deliberately paralleling the Omaha Beach
scene from Saving Private Ryan we see
the horrible devastation of war the
terrified faces of soldiers losing their
innocence and lives in battle is
haunting and reminds the audience what
is truly sacrificed and lost through war
come up to meet you tell you I’m sorry
you don’t know
number four the scientist Coldplay this
video is both beautifully sad and an
astounding achievement in cinematography
presented in Reverse narrative but also
shot in Reverse it begins with Coldplay
lead singer Chris Martin lying on a
mattress seemingly in bliss but tracks
backwards to depict a tragic car
accident I was just gas
buzzer fingers
zoo
in order to make it appear like he is
singing but still moving the narrative
in Reverse Martin spent a month learning
how to sing the lyrics backwards the end
result of his efforts is an aura of
haunting surrealism which culminates in
the final tragic scene
Jesus
No
ever say
is so
Martin’s passenger is shown to unbuckle
her seatbelt just before the crash
ultimately causing her own death
number three hurts Johnny Cash I hurt
myself today to see it first to feel we
all know cash had a share of sad songs
but it’s this video for his cover of the
Nine Inch Nails song hurt that may just
stay with us forever
but uh I become my sweetest friend cash
and director Mark Romanek deliver a
video that highlights the artists
deteriorating health as well as the wake
of his career as it fades into memory
the video was set in Cash’s home and
museum the house of cash which is now
derelict rundown and closed to the
public and you could ever
at all
in the dark abandoned house cache
performs with heart as a video is
intercut with footage of cash as a
younger man with both he and his wife
June Carter Cash dying within months of
the video’s release it became an eerie
tribute to the man himself
I would find away
number two runaway train soul asylum
like a farmer
with this video soul asylum intended to
shock audiences and bring to light the
truly alarming and sad problems of
runaway and abused children
different versions of the video begins
with different stats but the core of the
video portrays several connected
tear-jerking stories a child who
witnesses his grandmother beaten to
death by his grandfather a young girl
who is pimped out sold as a prostitute
and eventually kidnapped and gang-raped
and a baby kidnapped from its stroller
ticket phone away these scenes are
intercut with the photos and names of
real children who have gone missing it’s
a moving video that reminds us of the
many young innocent children suffering
in the world
before we unveil our number one pick
here are a few honorable mentions
Brenda wants to run away mama say you’re
making me lose pay and Social Work is
here
number one weights for me Mobe I’m gonna
ask you to look away
my hands taking place in an old-school
videogame and using the video game trope
of lives
wait for me depicts the day of a normal
man who loses health with every bad
situation he finds himself in
me
the video begins with a silent breakfast
and his loveless marriage a trip through
the monotony of his life to his boring
white-collar job where he is fired by a
heartless boss following this he’s beat
up and left by his wife finally the
nameless man takes his own life and
chooses to exit the game rather than
play again ultimately it says characters
normal utterly unremarkable life that is
tragically sad so do you agree with our
list what do you think is the saddest
music video out there
for more compelling top 10s published
every day be sure to subscribe to
watchmojo.com
you
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