In a new segment, each member of the Third Man fam will be answering a simple question via Vault post. For this first question, we're receding into our shells, looking into quiet water and picking the songs that consistently make us teary-eyed. Some will give reasons, others won't. The point is we hope this gives our devoted friends, followers and fans a little glimpse into the lives of the people curating, designing and shipping some of your favorite records and, in this post, the music that fuels the experiences here. *Sniff sniff* Here goes --

Ben Swank -- "Baker Street" - Gerry Rafferty

Ben Blackwell -- "Honey, We Can't Afford to Look This Cheap" - The White Stripes
Is it cheating picking a Stripes song? Who cares? This seemingly-overlooked b-side to "Conquest" recorded with the help of Beck is achingly brilliant and fragile and funny and terribly difficult to pigeonhole into a genre. The song kinda feels like a country experiment, but comes out as some sort of twisted unclassifiable beast. In short, the story of a couple of down-on-their-luck songwriters trying to make it -OR- the story of every waiter/waitress/bartender in Nashville. While a lot of the lyrics leave me scratching my head (what in the hell is reheated beer?) there's one verse that, only recently, made me fall into tears…

"We've got to keep up appearances as long as we can
There's too much to lose
Our social status
Our ice machine and our ceiling fan
If they find out we ain't real songwriters
That we go dutch on cigarette lighters
We're gonna lose the paradise that's in our hands"

That last line…I'm still not sure if it's "pair of dice" or "paradise" but the duality of interpretation is what makes it perfect. I'd rather not know the truth anyway. Singing along to this while holding my daughter and realizing how truly happy and blessed I feel with my family, to lose that would be devastating and that's what broke me down in a beautiful way.

"Despair in the Departure Lounge" - Arctic Monkeys

The boys began playing this live in the midst of the critical hubbub after Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not. My introduction to it was as a nigh-throwaway performance while a broken string was replaced on a guitar, all recorded on primitive cell phone video capture. A momentary big deal was made about this song by music websites you can count on to make momentary big deals about cell phone videos of unreleased songs. Anyway, the heart of the song is about missing your girlfriend while on tour, a sentiment I was painfully familiar with at that point in life. There's a handful of couplets that just destroyed me, but nothing tops this line...

"Yesterday I saw a girl that looked like someone you might knock about with
and almost shouted"

Waterworks. Niagara Falls. I know it's may seem cliche to say it, but I'm absolutely honest when I tell you that I've lived that line.

Todd V. -- "Mama You've Been On My Mind" - George Harrison, "That Old Time Feeling" - Guy Clark

Josh G. -- "Old Man" - Randy Newman

Okay, so, this song is brutal. Let me TRY to set the scene for those of you with no intention of listening to this song... The sun has left the sky, the birds have flown away. It's the story of a son visiting his stubborn, emotionally distant father on his hospital deathbed. The son visits to begin the process of saying goodbye, see his dad through these challenging final moments and, apparently, the old man hasn't had many visitors. Nobody cares, nobody's come to cry with him or console him. Of course the old man, no matter how cold and emotionally stunted he may be, wants to stick around. The song ends pretty quick on a rather tense part of the melody, giving the song an unusual resolve Ultimately, the tough love and cold demeanor that the old man was known for are reciprocated by the son. Here are the last lines, best if read while listening to the song:

"Won't be no God to comfort you
You taught me not to believe that lie
You don't need anybody
And nobody needs you
Don't cry, old man, don't cry
Everybody dies."

A mentor and buddy of mine played this song for me nearly seven years ago. I can't remember what triggered it. Probably one of us was caught in the undertow of dad-zone mega-tantrum, which is like getting a swirly in a toilet full of boiling puke. Although me and my friend are almost estranged at this point, it did galvanize our shared love of sad songs.

Dani R. -- "Teach Me to Forget" - Merle Haggard, "Blue" - Eiffel 65

Karl B. -- "Crystal" - Fleetwood Mac

But only if I've been drinking

Rebecca C. -- "Angel" - Sonic Boom, "No Place to Fall" - Townes Van Zandt

Ryon N. -- "Ore D’Amore" - Mike Patton

Jamie G. -- "Welcome Home Baby" - The Shirelles

I remember as a kid watching those Time Life infomercials trying to sell you cd's with only the best songs from whatever decade they were pushing.
The 1950's was always my favorite one and it was a good way to learn about music (pre-internet days)…When they showed old footage of The Shirelles, I felt my fear of cooties melting away and I'm pretty sure they were my first major crush. BABES. The tears start because of the melody, the delivery, and the lyrics in the song…Being out to sea for months at a time makes you really appreciate being home and I've developed a major soft spot for homecomings. Anytime I see a clip of a soldier coming home and hugging their family it just reduces me to mush. So this song, for me at least reminds me of those emotional homecomings from a long deployment.

Cam S. -- "Street Hassle" - Lou Reed

This song explores the friendship between time and grief. Like a good cry, it swells and softly subsides with repetitive staccato strings with an amazing spoken word cameo from the Boss as well as some of Lou Reed's prettiest and most pain-ridden lyrics:

"Love has gone away. There's no one here now, and there's nothing left to say. But, oh, how I miss him, baby. C'mon and slip away."

Bonnie Dee -- “Wish You Were Here” - Pink Floyd

My childhood best friend and I went down very different paths when we graduated High School. She became a ULTRA MAJOR DEAD HEAD, and I remained a Rock N Roller. ANYHOW, the one band we could agree on was Pink Floyd. So, when she would come home from one of her adventures in a sweat box in the desert, or the mountains in Zion… we would hang out, go hiking, smoke “stuff” and listen to Pink Floyd. "Wish You Were Here” summed it up the best for us at that time in our lives (and probably even now).

“Two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year… what have we found? Same old fears, wish you were here.”

Angelina C. -- "Aeroplane Over The Sea" - Neutral Milk Hotel
I met my best friends in the world and they showed me this album and this song. It makes me miss my friends even when they're in the same room. It makes you want to enjoy every part of life but also, death isn't so bad? I don't know. It kinda just wrecks me. "How strange it is to be anything at all." I can't really explain this one. Harry gets it. I think.

"I Don't Want To Get Over You" - The Magnetic Fields
Stephen Merrit's words and voice KILL ME in the best way. Probably one of my top 3 songwriters still alive and working. I Don't Want to Get Over You is a song that I liked and enjoyed, until I was almost dumped by the person I love most in the world... then it became my #1 go-to tearjerker. However perfect/imperfect any future relationships might be for me, every time I hear this song it bring be back to:
I could leave this agony behind
Which is just what I'd do
If I wanted to,
But I don't want to get over you

Chloe C. -- "Breezy" by Conor Oberst

While I'm at great risk of pigeonholing myself as the resident emo-core sap by listing a Conor Oberst song, this one's a genuine revelation in the way of go-to tearjerkers for me. You know when you're mindlessly perusing an album and, suddenly, some part of your subconscious that's been quietly perceiving and filtering it all just flips on and you know that song's meant for you to hear? Well, that's how this guy feels for me. Possibly the best use for Conor's melancholic voice, "Breezy" reminisces about a friend and lover gone too soon. I've always considered him to be a master wordsmith and the imagery here is no exception. It's simultaneously past and present; it's the things you'll always remember and the things you can't make yourself forget; and in a way, it helps makes sense of these memories becoming one and the same.

"Lover, You Should Have Come Over" by Jeff Buckley

On a lighter note, it never hurts to have a total self-pitying break-up jam on hand. And Jeff Buckley's Grace is chock full of 'em. This was one of several songs on the album that accompanied me as I drove home from, ironically enough, some of my first days at Third Man bawling and lamenting a split that was, in retrospect, all my fault. If I learned anything from this situation, it was this. One: never take someone who loves you for granted. Two: slashing down cardboard with a box-cutter alone in a garage is surprisingly cathartic.

Trent T. -- "Lay Low" - Shovels and Rope
this first line gets me every time, “i probably should be…drug out to sea. i can’t hurt no one and no one can hurt me….”
it’s so striped down and raw. this entire song makes me feel as if my bones are exposed.

"How to Disappear Completely" - Radiohead
this is my go to song when any sort of change is happening. i like to listen to it at night, while I’m driving. the droning sounds of thom york’s voice and the echoing of the strings take me away from reality for a bit. i have no favorite lyric on this one…it’s the song in it’s entirety.

"Tomorrow Will Be Kinder" - Secret Sisters
her voice, the low strumming of the mandolin, and the hopefulness in the lyrics makes this song so tearily beautiful.
this song reminds me that it’s okay to sit in the feelings for awhile, but to remember that they fleeting.
“sorrow weighs my shoulders down and trouble haunts my mind. but i know the present will not last and tomorrow will be kinder. “

Jenna Kay -- "Change Is Gonna Come" - Otis Redding

Otis sings in such an achingly sad voice, but there is something very powerfully positive to me about what he is singing. It's been a long time coming, BUT a change is GONNA come. Oh, yes it is. I have been in seasons of my life where I have been so depleted of hope and energy that the only thing that kept me going was knowing that things were going to have to change. This song also keeps me rooted in where I grew up (the deep south, the country), and the love I have for my family, especially my mother and father and all they did to change their circumstances to give me a better life.

"With God on Our Side" - Bob Dylan

This song was the first one I ever listened to that made me weep for us, the people of the world. It is a really harsh, truthful history lesson. This song also made me realize that I want to write (even if it's in a journal that only I can see) and I could have topics that steer away from love, lost love, new love, puppy love, unrequited love.....but really write about what is going on.

Nat S. -- "Father & Son" - Cat Stevens
My dad can’t sing in-tune at all. But he sings anyway. And he used to sing this to me when I was a kid. With every bad note also came the reassurance that he would love me no matter what. And that he knew one day I’d grow up and become my own person, but we’d always be close.

"Cathedrals" - Jump Little Children
Pearl introduced me to this song about 5 years ago and I was immediately enthralled. It’s such a beautiful song.

"Hoodoo" - Muse
It’s all about the intensity and build-up with this one. And while the lyrics might have been intended for someone else, I see it as a conversation with myself. This is my favorite line: “And I’ve had recurring nightmares, that I was loved for who I am. And missed the opportunity to be a better man."

Noah U. -- "Wigwam" - Bob Dylan
from "Self Portrait", Columbia 1970

This instrumental piece always makes me cry tears of joy as it's the song I walked down the aisle to marry my lady to!

Mimi R. -- "Dream Baby Dream" - Suicide

Ian B. -- "The Ride" - David Allen Coe

Mindy W. -- "I'll Follow The Sun" - The Beatles
Makes me burst into tears every time I hear it. I love how happy it sounds when the lyrics are so devastating.

"Nude" - Radiohead
All hope is abandoned.

"Don't Call" - Fatt Legs
This is a song by an artist I'm producing. It's about losing everything because of fear. The repeated closing line is "Gonna lose it today..."