The story
Sad songs are the only company that stays.
He tries to dance to something upbeat, but his feet keep drifting back to the slow songs, because the happy ones feel hollow when his heart is an empty cup. He plays the playlist called \Don't Play This\, the one full of kitchen dances by the light, and lets the minor keys hold him when nobody else does. Tonight he sings until he’s hoarse, because the sad songs ask nothing back.
Lyrics
Verse 1
I put on something upbeat, tried to dance around the room But my feet kept findin' slow songs like they're chasing after you The happy ones feel hollow when your heart's an empty cup So I let the sad songs pour it full and fill the silence up
Pre-Chorus
There's a comfort in the cryin', there's a beauty in the ache Sometimes the saddest songs are all it takes
Chorus
Here's to the sad songs that hold me when you won't That say the words I'm feelin' when I know that you don't Here's to the sad songs, the minor keys and the tears The melodies that get me through the longest, darkest years When everybody says move on, the sad songs let me stay Here's to the sad songs that keep the pain at bay
Verse 2
I got a playlist called \Don't Play This\ that I play every night It's got every song we danced to in the kitchen by the light I know it's kinda masochistic, hittin' play on my own pain But the sad songs understand me like the flowers love the rain
Chorus
Here's to the sad songs that hold me when you won't That say the words I'm feelin' when I know that you don't Here's to the sad songs, the minor keys and the tears The melodies that get me through the longest, darkest years When everybody says move on, the sad songs let me stay Here's to the sad songs that keep the pain at bay
Verse 3
One day I'll switch the playlist to the ones that make me smile One day these sad songs will feel like someone else's trial But tonight they're mine, all mine, and I'mma sing 'em 'til I'm hoarse 'Cause the sad songs are the only things that don't demand my force
Bridge
Somebody wrote this song when they were just like me Sittin' in the dark with nothin' but a melody And somehow knowin' that makes all the difference in the world The sad songs connect the broken boys and broken girls
The sound
Beautifully melancholy country at 88 BPM. Acoustic guitar with a gentle waltz-like feel. Pedal steel playing the saddest notes imaginable. Soft piano in the lower register. Cello or low strings adding depth in the chorus. Minimalist drums - brushes only. Bass guitar playing whole notes. A single violin entering in the bridge. Devastatingly pretty, therapeutic, cathartic. The saddest beautiful song.