The sad stories behind these popular songs might just make you ugly cry

Sometimes, songs can have a hidden layer of sadness beneath their catchy melodies and upbeat rhythms. Behind the facade of joyful tunes, lies a world of heartbreak and tragedy that inspired these famous tracks. While some songs are purely products of the artist’s imagination, there are those that draw their melancholic essence from real-life events that proved far more devastating than anything a songwriter could concoct.

Here are some very sad backstories of 10 popular songs.

“Circus,” also known as “Circus Left Town,” was released by Eric Clapton on his 1998 album “Pilgrim.” The song reflects on the last night Clapton spent with his four-year-old son, Conor, who tragically fell from a New York apartment window in 1991. Conor’s death deeply devastated Clapton, and he channeled his grief into music, including the more popular but equally melancholic “Tears in Heaven.” “Circus” specifically addresses the precious moments Clapton shared with Conor before the tragic incident, emphasizing the joy and love they experienced together.

“Jesus to a Child” is a heartfelt tribute by George Michael to his Brazilian lover Anselmo Feleppa, whom he met in 1991 during a performance in Rio de Janeiro. Tragically, Feleppa passed away two years later from an AIDS-related brain hemorrhage.  Originally performed at Feleppa’s funeral, Michael wrote the tender and melancholic“Jesus to a Child’ in less than an hour. Michael consistently dedicated the song to Feleppa before performing it live until his death on Christmas Day 2016.

Ed Sheeran wrote the ballad ‘Supermarket Flowers’ for his mother, as his grandmother was ill in the hospital while he was recording his next album.  “It was written for my mom’s point of view.”   Sheeran told Zane Lowe during a track-by-track interview, My grandmother was very ill during the time I was making the record and passed away at the end of me making the record so we wrote this song as a tribute and just left it on.” The song captures Sheeran’s emotions and pays homage to his grandmother’s impact on his life. With tender lyrics from his mother’s perspective, ‘Supermarket Flowers’ beautifully encapsulates the complex intertwining of love, loss, and cherished memories.

With countless newlyweds swaying to the timeless melody of “Save the Last Dance for Me,” an irony of poignant proportions lingers within this beloved pop song: the man who penned those heartfelt lyrics never experienced the joy of dancing at his own wedding. Doc Pomus, the larger-than-life songwriter contracted polio as a child and had to walk on crutches before being confined to a wheelchair in mid-life. The song’s lyrics were inspired by Pomus’s wedding to the actress Willi Burke in 1957,  when he sat and watched his bride dance with other men, including his brother.

The Temptations’ soulful and melancholic track was written by Motown’s Rodger Penzabene during a period of personal anguish. In 1967, Penzaben caught his wife cheating on him. Unable to deal with the betrayal, Penzaben dumped his feelings into the lyrics. Tragically,  a week after the release of “I Wish It Would Rain”, Penzabene committed suicide by gunshot at the age of 22, adding an additional layer of sadness to this soul classic.

The Cranberries’ haunting protest song, was written by the late Dolores O’Riordan in response to the 1993 Warrington bombings during the Troubles. The attacks resulted in the deaths of two children who were shopping for Mother’s Day cards. O’Riordan was near the location when the bomb exploded, and the event deeply affected her. She channeled her emotions into the song,  pleading: “Another mother’s breaking / Heart is taking over / When the violence causes silence / We must be mistaken.”

Van Halen’s 1984 single hit “Jump” rather than a mere metaphorical leap. According to David Lee Roth, the band’s frontman, the upbeat anthem was inspired by a rather harrowing incident. Roth watched a live report documenting a harrowing incident—a person teetering on the edge of the Arco Tower in Los Angeles, contemplating a tragic leap.  “There was a whole crowd of people in the parking lot downstairs yelling, ‘Don’t jump, don’t jump!’ and that gave me the idea of ‘Jump’ for the title. Roth said in an interview.  “I wrote it down and it made it onto the record, although in a much more positive vein. It’s easy to translate it the way you hear it on the record as a ‘go for it’ attitude, a much more positive sort of affair.”

Neil Young’s poignant song “The Needle and the Damage Done” holds a deeper narrative beyond its overt exploration of substance abuse A part of his  1972 album “Harvest”  the heartfelt ballad is a haunting eulogy to Young’s bandmate, guitarist Danny Whitten. Young gave Whitten $50 and a plane ticket to Los Angeles, hoping to aid him in his battle against addiction. Alas, Whitten succumbed to his demons and used the money for a destructive high that resulted in a fatal overdose.

Blondie’s infectious hit, ‘One Way or Another,’ draws from lead singer Debbie Harry’s personal experience of being stalked by an ex-boyfriend. The song’s lyrics carry an eerie undertone, offering a glimpse into Harry’s real-life ordeal.

Pearl Jam’s ‘ emotionally charged ‘”Jeremy,” draws inspiration from a tragic real-life incident. The lyrics delve into the heartbreaking story of Jeremy Wade Delle, a 15-year-old student from Richardson, Texas who on January 8, 1991, took his own life in front of his classmates. The music video depicts a poignant scene where a shirtless Jeremy tosses an apple to his teacher before ending his life. In reality, Delle briefly left the classroom to obtain an attendance slip and returned with a .357 Magnum, proclaiming, “Miss, I got what I really went for,” before tragically taking his own life.