R.E.M’s 1992 single ‘Everybody Hurts‘, taken from their classic album ‘Automatic For The People‘, is the track most likely to cause a few tears amongst male music lovers, according to a new survey.
Eric Clapton’s ‘Tears From Heaven‘, written after the death of his young son in 1991, is in second place in the survey which was undertaken by 1,700 people for PRS for Music, the institution which collects and pays royalties to 70,000 songwriters, who’s chairman Ellis Rich said: “A well-written tear-jerker is one that people can relate to and empathise with. It is this lyrical connection that can reach deep down emotionally and move even the strongest of men.”
In third place is Leonard Cohen’s classic ‘Hallelujah‘, which was given an equally emotional take by Jeff Buckley on his 1994 album ‘Grace‘. Also featured in the top ten is The Verve’s 1997 single ‘The Drugs Don’t Work‘, taken from their landmark album ‘Urban Hymns‘.
Top Ten:
1/ R.E.M – Everybody Hurts
2/ Eric Clapton – Tears in Heaven
3/ Leonard Cohen – Hallelujah
4/ Sinead O’Connor – Nothing Compares 2 U
5/ U2 – With or Without You
6/ The Verve – The Drugs Don’t Work
7/ Elton John – Candle In The Wind
8/ Bruce Springsteen – Streets of Philadelphia
9/ Todd Duncan – Unchained Melody
10/ Robbie Williams – Angels
Come On, toughen up already, if I see a guy crying over this song I would slap him twice and give a reason to cry…This song is not so bad that it would make a full grown man cry now is it…