REM tops songs that make grown men cry
PRS for Music, the organisation that collects and pays royalties to its 70,000 song-writing and composing members, today reveals that REM’s Everybody Hurts tops the list of songs that make men cry.
REM’s Everybody Hurts was used as a charity single early this year in response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake, in which VAT and royalties were waived to maximise the aid money. The single became the UK’s fastest-selling charity record of the 21st century.
Top ten songs that make men cry
- Everybody Hurts – REM
- Tears in Heaven – Eric Clapton
- Hallelujah – Leonard Cohen
- Nothing Compares 2 U – Sinead O’Connor
- With or Without You – U2
- Drugs Don’t Work – The Verve
- Candle In The Wind – Elton John
- Streets of Philadelphia – Bruce Springsteen
- Unchained Melody – Todd Duncan
- Angels – Robbie Williams
Source: PRS for Music
Eric Clapton’s 1992 ballad, Tears in Heaven, was written about the pain that he felt following the death of his four-year-old son. Clapton stopped playing the song in 2004 when he had finished mourning his son.
The results are based on a survey of over 1,700 people, conducted by PRS for Music.
From this chart, it is clear that 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.
