Man sized tears

Filling in some playlists on my ipod yesterday I came up with an idea for a list of songs that can make grown men well up, not through cheesy sentimentality (no moon in june for my ipod) but by evoking intense emotion that can be both saddening but also uplifting.

A quick flit though my music library unearthed a top five. I'll try to make this into a top ten in another post but for now here are the five songs that moisten the edges of Dr Happy Mac'sa vision.

1) The Space Race is Over - Billy Bragg.
This song is a lament for the end of manned space flight. Full of regret for the lost opportunity and of the narrowing of human horizons, the desire to have been able to make it to the moon, symbolic of our romantic yearnings for achievement. The essential problem at the heart of the Apollo program is sumed up by words from Billy's son, "why did they ever go?" Billy's reply, "It may look like some empty gesture, To go all that way just to come back, But dont offer me a place out in cyberspace, Cos where in the hells that at?

2) Dance Called America - Runrig
Haunting and lyrical examination of the highland clearances, a period of Scottish history that saw the population of the highlands shipped off en mass to America in order to free up the land for farming. America was the name of a dance that was popular at the time amongst the aristocracy, which epitomised the cruel nature of the clearances. The haunting start to song builds up throughout to a rousing chorus and beyond.

3. Jwanasibeki - Juluka
Another song about an oppressed and suffering people. This time the predominatly Zulu miners of Johannesburg (Jwanasibeki in Zulu). This song of struggle and toil in apartheid South Africa is also a poem to the strength and determination of a people all set to a thumping tribal beat.

4) Bitter to the South - Bhundu Boys
Another african song. This time a song that vividly encapsulated the problem of African poverty and development. The upbeat african guitar and keyboards counterpoint the harsh lyrics.
There is no year of the refugee,
There is no year of the child,
There are only these years of the dead.

The so cold wind from the north,
Blows bitter to the south.
It takes the food out of the earth.
It takes the food out of the mouth.

A bitter reminder of who's at fault for many of Africa problems.

5) Clouds - Joni Mitchell
Because it's just beautiful.