Songs like this: emotionally charged, full of sad longing?

November 9, 2020 12:12 AM

I can't stop listening to this song. What other songs do I need to make a whole playlist that conveys a similar feeling of heartache and longing?

Every once in a while I come across a song that grips me instantly. I caught 15 seconds of it in a perfume ad and fell in love, and have been listening to it on repeat. But I do this with every song I love and eventually wear it out. What other songs have a similar emotional impact? I want that desperate, bursting heart, never-let-you-go vibe.

posted by keep it under cover to Media & Arts (29 answers total)

I got a very similar feeling from Agnes Obel's Familiar after stumbling across it recently.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 12:19 AM on November 9, 2020 [2 favorites]

I Know - Fiona Apple
Where Dreams Go To Die - John Grant
posted by crocomancer at 1:12 AM on November 9, 2020

The Cinematic Orchestra, To Build A Home
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 1:16 AM on November 9, 2020

Response by poster: Just want to add that the song switches tempo and tenor at 0:36 and if you skip away before that mark, my question won't make much sense.
posted by keep it under cover at 2:02 AM on November 9, 2020

A slightly more subdued mood but hope you like:
Tonight the Streets are Ours, Richard Hawley (1.51 for 'And no-one else can haunt me / the way that you can haunt me / I need to know you want me...')
Black Cab, Jens Leckman. Hits the yearning chorus at 1.50.
posted by Socksmith at 2:10 AM on November 9, 2020

Florence and the Machine — Wish you were here
Kicking Giant — She’s Real
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 3:56 AM on November 9, 2020

Maybe Robyn — Dancing On My Own?
posted by Johnny Assay at 4:17 AM on November 9, 2020 [2 favorites]

Maybe Four Ethers - serpentwithfeet ?
posted by emkelley at 4:57 AM on November 9, 2020

James Blake - Choose Me definitely a banger albeit may be slower than you're after (beat kicks in after 30 seconds). Is a desperate plea to a soon-to-be ex-lover.
posted by Flora Poste at 5:10 AM on November 9, 2020

Birdy has form! See Let it all go

A classic of the genre:
Jeff Beck - Lover you should have come over

Sixties style:
Dusty Springfield - Anyone who had a heart

Bittersweet:
St Vincent - New York

Slower burn but this one hits me in the emotional jugular similarly:
The Verve - So it goes

The OG heartbreak:
Otis Redding -I've been loving you too long
posted by freya_lamb at 6:02 AM on November 9, 2020 [1 favorite]

Dessa - Call Off Your Ghost
posted by restless_nomad at 6:27 AM on November 9, 2020

Neko Case - Vengeance is Sleeping
posted by JoeZydeco at 6:50 AM on November 9, 2020

Sia is a good option for searching--try
Lentil (give it til about 1:15 to kick in)
Chandelier (also featured in a perfume ad!)
Breathe Me
Alive
posted by CiaoMela at 7:58 AM on November 9, 2020 [2 favorites]

The song that always does this to me:

Waiting - Alice Boman
posted by hollisimo at 9:28 AM on November 9, 2020 [1 favorite]

eurythmics I Could Give You (A Mirror) and the walk
posted by brujita at 9:28 AM on November 9, 2020

The Absence of You - Tim Minchin
Apart Together - Tim Minchin
No Time for Love Like Now - Michael Stipe
Pink Rabbits - The National
All I Want is You - U2
And in a totally different style: Cerice - Ghost
posted by Ostara at 12:07 PM on November 9, 2020

Jeff Buckley's Song to the Siren, has been covered by many artists, my favorites are Sinead O'Connor and the Czars versions.
posted by effluvia at 12:51 PM on November 9, 2020 [1 favorite]

Just about anything by Lana Del Rey but especially Summertime Sadness.
posted by WalkerWestridge at 1:10 PM on November 9, 2020

Manchester Orchestra The Sunshine may not have the same wide presence/kick to it as your example, but I just love it and maybe you will as well.
posted by patternocker at 1:42 PM on November 9, 2020

This always did it for me: Massive Attack - Unfinished Sympathy
posted by Chairboy at 5:02 PM on November 9, 2020

Also, kind of mellower, but the spoken word section at around the 3 minute mark has a real emotional kick to it: Ooberman: Shorley Wall

"Like a broken arrow
I'll catch the tail wind and draw the clouds
Burning sugar
As black as smoke
It clothes the walls
I open my heart
She sings when she hurts
It's good to sink deep inside
To my only touchstone
She's a friend in the dark
My strength, my memories
She delights in torture
She holds my hand but never shields me
Because the best shield is to accept the pain
Then what can really destroy me?
Let me close my eyes and lie invisible
And perhaps the clouds will pass through me."
posted by Chairboy at 5:12 PM on November 9, 2020

Heavier, but this has the exact same quality too for me: Cocteau Twins - Musette and Drums. When I was younger I thought this track captured the very essence of yearning, especially from 2.43 onwards. Actually, it probably still does.
posted by Chairboy at 5:19 PM on November 9, 2020

Nothing Compares 2U - Sinéad O'Connor
posted by daisyace at 7:01 PM on November 9, 2020

Closest in musical style as well as emotion:
Gorecki - Lamb - wait for the sudden shift after a minute, also Gabriel
The Night and I L U - School of Seven Bells
Big Picture - London Grammar
The Walk - Imogen Heap
Let Go - Frou Frou

Also similar emotions I think, though musical styles vary:
Window to the Sky - Kim Churchill - also an utterly awesome video.
The Pull of You - The National
We're Going Home - Vance Joy - this one pushes my buttons since I live on the other side of the world from my partner and family, so for me there is a lot of longing in it - YMMV.
Mess is Mine - Vance Joy
Very low key but has that same aching longing to it: Here with me - Susie Suh & Robot Koch
posted by Athanassiel at 7:42 PM on November 9, 2020 [1 favorite]

Never again - Richard and Linda Thompson
posted by JonJacky at 8:31 PM on November 9, 2020

An Evening I Will Not Forget - Dermot Kennedy
Come On, Come On - Mary Chapin Carpenter (particularly the "Songs from the Movie" version, can't find it on youtube though)
posted by Alterscape at 10:26 PM on November 9, 2020

Your Ex-Lover is Dead - Stars
posted by derogatorysphinx at 4:41 AM on November 10, 2020

With or Without You - U2
posted by daisyace at 5:57 AM on November 10, 2020

Sad and longing songs with a dope beat? Lykke Li. Again. Again.
posted by FirstMateKate at 9:37 AM on November 10, 2020