Keane are rather good at penning heart-wrenching ballads - 'Bedshaped', 'Allemande' and 'Love Is The End' are three which quickly spring to mind, for instance - yet which would you say is their biggest tearjerker? (A difficult question, I know, but one which will hopefully make for interesting discussion!)

Interesting topic!
I would add to your list On a day like today, He Used to be a Lovely Boy and Hamburg Song... but the truth is , of all Keane songs, only Fly To Me has made me shed a tear, more than once

Good idea!

add to your list: Somewhere Only We Know, Early Winter, Closer Now, Sunshine and You Don´t See Me

My friends, the first Keane song I ever heard was "Somewhere Only We Know", and as beautiful as so many of their songs are ("Maybe I Can Change"), that will always be #1 emotionally.

 

Though at the concert I only cried during "Strangers".... so, I guess it's a tie for me. Don't hate me but I'm still H&F all the way...

good question, dear perfect symmetry. i was thinking about this today and you have one of the tear jerkers that did a number on me! that's 'love is the end' and it really caught me off guard.  i distinctly remember walking down the street in a crowd of people as i was jamming to perfect symmetry on ipod shuffle mode. after 'better than this' came on, it shuffled to 'love is the end.'  i heard this ballad a couple of times before but i don't knoa why and how out of all places this song just knocked me out.  

i never realized until then how haunting and beautifully finite the lyrics were. maybe i was more in tune with the words as i was waiting for the walk sign to change. i  took them to mean someting like... nothing else in time or space mattered except this thing we called 'love.'   'love' was all that remained when the world melted away.  i was devastated at these words right there and then. i got this knot in my throat and panicked that i would burst out in uncontrollable tears in front of all these people on the busy sidewalk!  immediately, i had to yank the earphones out of my ears and quickly cross the street!!!! : o  i told myself that i would NEVER listen to that song in public out of fear what it might do to me! :(

She Has No Time

I Think about the lonely people in the world..

It depends what mood you're in, I imagine. My Shadow has very poignant associations for me right now. It's possible to interpret the lyrics of all the songs on a very personal level, I find.

Uhm...I think it depends on the mood you're in, as Dawns says....plus I also think that it depends on some things you've gone through your life..because it may be a very cheerful song but maybe it reminds you of something sad...I don't know...

In my case, it has to be WE MIGHT AS WELL BE STRANGERS...from beginning to end.

No one has mentioned A Bad Dream yet? I love how tides of distorted CP-70 add despairing sadness to the lyrics.

IMHO, She Has No Time, but I think Maybe I Can Change is a very emotional song

I suppose it depends from what perspective I'm listening to the song.  If we're talking about from my own experience/perspective, I'd say "Nothing in My Way" or "Your Eyes Open."  If we're talking about sympathy for another person, I'd say "She Has No Time" since it's Tom singing Tim's words about Tom's own experience.

If we're talking about the perspective of the human condition, then "A Bad Dream" or "Bedshaped."

"Love is the End" I find bittersweet.  I love the bit about "singing a song with your feet on the dashboard/a cigarette streaming into the night/these are the things that I want to remember/I want to remember you by."  We all have these perfect, beautiful memories of certain points in time with the people we love.

I also cry when I hear "Atlantic" and "Somewhere Only We Know" because they remind me of my husband.  Those tears are ones of happiness.

It's difficult to say just one song, but for me i think these are their saddest songs so far

Hamburg Song

Fly To Me

Try Again

Love Is The End

muse-ic:

No one has mentioned A Bad Dream yet? I love how tides of distorted CP-70 add despairing sadness to the lyrics.

 

I was about to mention it too. It's one of their most poignant songs imo.

Dionysia:

If we're talking about the perspective of the human condition, then "A Bad Dream" or "Bedshaped."

You've just hit me hard. I didn't expect this thread to be this personal. It's interesting to know which one is the saddest for who. 

I rarely open up like this on public messageboards, so it's probably back to fluff posting for me.

On a Day Like Today, no question.

 It amazes me how certain songs can touch your soul and make you feel sad and comfort you at the same time.

We Might As Well Be Strangers

For me the saddest song definitely is A Bad Dream

I think the saddest Keane song is Love Is The End. which is crazy because i cant even relate to the song! i was listening to it and i guess it was the singing and the lyrics and everything that brought tears to my eyes. and this has happened more than once.

Aside form that, i think He Used To Be A Lovely boy has some very sad lyrics. The hopelessness of the poor guy in the song makes me think of this song as very sad.

Broken Toy, Hamburg Song, or Try Again.