3 Folk Songs From the 1970s That Are So Heartbreaking, You Can’t Listen to Them Often

These folk songs from the 1970s are so heartbreaking that you can’t listen to them too often. These tracks have their time and place. Every once in a while, we like to break our own hearts a little bit. If you need a good cry, revisit these iconic yet painful folk staples.

[RELATED: 3 Folk Singer-Songwriters From the 70s You Can Probably Recognize (Even if You Can’t Name Them)]

“Sam Stone” — John Prine

John Prine’s “Sam Stone” is just about as heartbreaking as it can get. This song about the painful life of a soldier who’s returned home twists the knife. “There’s a hole in daddy’s arm where all the money goes / Jesus Christ died for nothin’ I suppose / Little pitchers have big ears / Don’t stop to count the years / Sweet songs never last too long on broken radios,” the iconic chorus reads, reminding us all of the ways war affects those involved long after the ceasefire.

Prine has plenty of folk songs about the struggles of soldiers, as a veteran himself. But this is undisputedly his most painful.

“Alone Again (Naturally)” — Gilbert O’Sullivan

Living somewhere between folk and rock, Gilbert O’Sullivan’s signature song “Alone Again (Naturally)” is about a man contemplating suicide. “In a little while from now / If I’m not feeling any less sour / I promise myself to treat myself / And visit a nearby tower,” the tragic lyrics read.

Every line of this song is more heartbreaking than the next. “But as if to knock me down
Reality came around / And without so much as a mere touch / Cut me into little pieces,” the lyrics read later in the song. That sense of crushing reality is something everyone can relate to, drawing the listener in further.

“If I Could Only Fly” – Blaze Foley

Blaze Foley struggles to maintain his freedom while wanting to settle down in “If I Could Only Fly”. “If I could only fly, if I could only fly / I’d bid this place goodbye to come and be with you / But I can hardly stand and I got no where to run / Another sinking sun and one more lonely night,” the lyrics to this folk song read.

This song is a bittersweet, morose song that everyone can relate to on some level. It’s so universal that it’s hard to revisit at the drop of a dime. You need to rev up before you play this one.

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