Sad songs/tunes/snippets of sound/etc. anyone? The most mournful, lamentful you know. I’d like to learn some. Links (per the new copyright rule) to sound clips and sheet music are appreciated. Thanks.
Mother’s Lament - So sad, it always get me right, uh, right about… uh… there! And the lyrics are traditional, public domain.
A mother was washing her baby one night;
The youngest of ten and a delicate mite.
The mother was poor and the baby was thin;
'Twas naught but a skeleton covered with skin.
The mother turned 'round for a soap off the rack.
She was only a moment but when she turned back
Her baby had gone, and in anguish she cried,
“Oh, where has my baby gone?” The angels replied:
Oh, your baby has gone down the plug hole.
Oh, your baby has gone down the plug.
The poor little thing was so skinny and thin,
He should have been washed in a jug.
Your baby is perfectly happy;
He won’t need a bath anymore.
He’s a-muckin’ about with the angels above,
Not lost but gone before.
I love this song! 
It tears my heart right out.
Eamonn a Chnoic (Ned of the Hill)
sheet music:
http://www.hslc.org/~gormley/tunes/nedoth.htmlx
midi:
Sad, haunting…
Carrickfergus
Not that I’ve ever given this matter any thought, but here’s a thread that might interest you, with lots of ideas:
http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?t=28667&highlight=lament+slow+airs
and
OOPS!! Just Realized the thread is about songs, not tunes. Therefore, the below-suggested tune is ‘off topic.’
O’Carolan’s Farewell to Music–especially in the context of his life and the lore surrounding it and the tune–should fill the bill in the somber department. The version by Jerry Sullivan on Vol. I of the two volume Narada label compilation of O’Carolan’s music (various artists - “Celtic Treasure”) is an exceedingly moving piece.
Tom D.
I love Bluejacket’s recommended tune as well. I’ve been doing some recording in my house and I think I’ll have a friend come over and sing those lyrics. (since I can’t sing a lick myself)
The Willow Tree, as done by the Boys of the Lough on their latest CD, is a beautiful and very sad song. At a concert they did at my university, they dedicated the song to a girl who had recently died in a fire at the school. It was very moving. The melody is simple, slow, and haunting, and the words are just lovely. And I’ve always liked Cathal McConnells voice.
Edited original post. 
Sad Is My Fate from Fair Warning album - Johnny Cunningham
You can hear the entire album here
http://www.greenlinnet.com/shopping/search_detail.cfm?ProductID=31, should be fourth track.
Fiddle music but easily adaptable.
Lots of good stuff!
Phil Cunningham’s tune When Summer Ends is a good one. Originally on the Silly Wizard album “Glint Of Silver”, it was also featured in the Ken Burn’s Lewis and Clark program on PBS (and is on the soundtrack CD).
O’Carolan’s Eleanor Plunkett is good too. I love the Deanta version on the “Celtic Treasure” album put out by Narada.
And Honey, I miss you…
And I’m being gooood…
And I long to be with youuuu…
If only I could…
Sobbing in my Lone Star beer,
Dave