#Yswimmer96: Calum Scott - Dancing On My Own
Ah, yes. This infamous slowed down cover of Robyn's (arguably) best song. So, uh… I tried to find a nicer way to put this but I've just gotta be honest with this game so here goes: I just flat out hate this song. I went into the listen for this game with an open mind and I just sat there the whole time waiting for it to end. I don't find it emotional. I don't find it sad. I don't even find it to be a good song. This cover completely misses the point of what makes Dancing On My Own so great! I heard it years ago and thought it was good, but I’d never actually heard the original before. Once I changed that, I could never look back. This is just soulless. Sorry!
#Txashaun: Evanescence - My Immortal
I know a lot of people really don't like Evanescence but I love them, especially the album this is from. I'd argue this is their best song, it puts Amy Lee's raw powerhouse vocals front and center and lets her carry the song. The instrumentals do help though, starting off soft and letting everything build to the moment the guitars kick in properly and that final chorus can soar. Does it make me cry? No, not really, but it does make me nostalgic for better days and that counts for something.
#NewNightmare7: Demi Lovato - Anyone
Yeah. That'll do it. I don't particularly feel this is the time or place to expand on why, but events that took place a few years ago led me to a pretty similar spot Demi found themselves in, with damn near the same end result. The emptiness, the desperation, practically begging someone, anyone, to save their life, it hits me in ways I can't begin to explain. I will say, though, I prefer the Grammy performance to the studio version. I can’t really explain why though except that it’s just better imo. That doesn’t take away from this song at all though.
#Weetmaster: Anne Hathaway - I Dreamed A Dream
I've actually never seen Les Mis, so I was pretty excited to get into this one. I did have to look up the context for this because I felt like I was missing something on my first listen. Once I figured out exactly what she was singing about though, this hit pretty damn hard.
#LaCroix: Sugarland - Stay
I've never cared about Sugarland but I also hadn't heard this so I went in with an open mind. And… Yeah, this got me. My history with past relationships isn't really a secret and as someone who's watched people I was deeply in love with choose to cut it off in favor of other people, this really spoke to me on a level I wasn't expecting from this band.
#Booyahhayoob: Linkin Park - One More Light
Growing up, Chester Bennington was my hero. I was only 5 or 6 when Hybrid Theory came out but because of some very personal shit it really hit hard for me. This song hit me hard when it was first released even before all of the context that was added after its release. After Chris Cornell and Chester Bennington took their own lives and this became a tribute of sorts to both... it has simply destroyed me on every listen. I love Linkin Park, and I love this song.
#JayElVeeIsBack: Brad Paisley ft Allison Krauss - Whiskey Lullaby
I love this song so much. THIS is the kind of country music I live for! The melodramatic, alcoholic, soul bearing type, and having a body count doesn’t hurt either. Of course, the fact that the bodies are the ones of the narrators is soul crushing. The fact that this hits particularly close to home for me is doing a number on me as I listen to this song for the first time in a while, it’s not a song I seek out that often because of the weight of their vocals mixed with those gorgeous melodies, but when it comes on I will always allow myself to get lost in it for a few minutes.
#Arris: The Script - Breakeven
Ok, so I’m gonna start by saying I love the hell out of this song and The Script in general. I have to say though, this really doesn’t affect me all that badly in terms of emotions. I know it probably SHOULD, especially since I have quite literally been through the situation this song talks about, but it just doesn’t hit me in that way. It might be the overplay, it might be the fact that I associate this song with more happy memories and nostalgia than memories of heartbreak, or it might be the fact that I’ve actually found other songs of theirs to be sadder than this one. Whatever it is, though, as much as I LOVE this song and band I can’t say it was a good choice for this round. Sorry!
#Ilovetosing: waa wei - Heaven
First off, thank you for including a translation, made my life a whole lot easier while listening to this! But anyway, let’s talk about the song. It was a very bold choice submitting a foreign song for this category when lyrical content is what hits me so much harder than just how something sounds, but reading along as she sang it hit me like a ton of bricks. Death has always been a very big part of my life and every time I think I’m numb to it I hear a song like this and just lose it. This woman has a very beautiful voice and even though I couldn’t understand the words without a translation, the pain in her voice was very palpable. Suffice to say, this got me.
And those were your attempts to break through my cold exterior and make me well up with emotion. But who did the best job? Ranking these mostly on which songs brought out the most tears and the most sadness, with just a bit of how much I actually like the song sprinkled in... The top 4 were all impossibly close but the top 3 are...
This song has all the emotional depth and quality of that fuckin rancid Lewis Capaldi song from the end of 2019. Ok maybe that's a bit far but still...
Your ratings make ME cry!
*locks in faceoff song* Good luck Arris!