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"The Ballad of the Sad Young Men" by Fran Landesman

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southendmd:
"The Ballad of the Sad Young Men".

Not sure how I stumbled onto this song (was it facebook?), but it's my latest obsession. I shouldn't be so interested in such a melancholy song while it's still that beautiful time between summer and fall, but there it is, and maybe that's why ("autumn turns the leaves to gold, slowly dies the heart...").

Written by the poet Fran Landesman, with melody by Tommy Wolf, it was featured in the Broadway show "The Nervous Set", around 1959, along with a perhaps more famous song, "Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most" (which relates to T.S. Eliot's "April is the cruelest month..." from The Waste Land).

It seemed to be very popular, and was covered by many artists in the '60s and beyond.  

Listen to the words.
Are they about sad, young gay men? Many think so.  

Here are the lyrics:

Sing a song of sad young men
 Glasses full of rye
 All the news is bad again
 Kiss your dreams goodbye

All the sad young men
 Sitting in the bars
 Knowing neon lights
 And missing all the stars

All the sad young men
 Drifting through the town
 Drinking up the night
 Trying not to drown

All the sad young men
 Singing in the cold
 Trying to forget
 That they're growing old

All the sad young men
 Choking on their youth
 Trying to be brave
 Running from the truth

Autumn turns the leaves to gold
 Slowly dies the heart
 Sad young men are growing old
 That's the cruelest part

All the sad young men
 Seek a certain smile
 Someone they can hold
 For a little while

Tired little girl
 Does the best she can
 Trying to be gay
 For a sad young man

While the grimy moon
 Watches from above
 All the sad young men
 Play at making love

Misbegotten moon
 Shine for sad young men
 Let your gentle light
 Guide them home tonight
 All the sad young men

southendmd:
Might as well start out with a torch-style belter, Dame Shirley Bassey, from 1979:


[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wL6AvSgO6Ak[/youtube]

southendmd:
Interestingly, the title may refer to F. Scott Fitzgerald's collection of stories:  "All the Sad Young Men".

southendmd:
A lovely version by Roberta Flack: 

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JksP1Kc6fjo[/youtube]

southendmd:
Here is a most excellent instrumental version, with Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette, from 1989:

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxWNB-2FltA[/youtube]

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