"This Woman's Work" - Kate Bush
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1d9BF6PysbE
Can anyone
not cry when they hear that? A dying wife's last reflections, and wishes for her husband to continue his life without her, rendered in such a classically realistic and non-soppy way - like only an artist of Kate's calibre can deliver.
"Sanvean: I Am Your Shadow" - Lisa Gerrard
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xpkRj99FH0
A mournful, atmospheric vocal of Lisa's faux-ethnic lyrics, set to the most stunning string arrangement...it could be the soundtrack to the end of all things - life, the universe. I can't hear it without being brought to tears. Possibly the single track that affects me more than any other I have ever heard.
My dad was my best friend, but when he died of cancer a few years ago, I had it played that day. I thought I might have been overwhelmed at that moment in my life, but in fact it was the only time I've ever heard this song and not cried. I think I had just run out of tears by then. Sometimes you find the very bottom of your sadness, and there's nowhere else to go but back up - to continue life.
"The Arrival" - Michael Nyman (from the "Gattaca" soundtrack)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M33oxfw7aS0
An instrumental of such simple, mournful beauty, capturing the exhausted, lifelong struggle of Ethan Hawke's discriminated character from the 1997 sci-fi drama so perfectly, but symbolic of any struggle.
If you haven't heard these, I'll never recommend any music on this board more highly, than these songs.
Rob.