BroadwayGirlNYC: #BwayTears - Songs to Make you Cry

Today I left my apartment with headphones stuffed deep into my ears.  I didn't have a destination in mind, but knew I needed to walk.  The gray sky mirrored my mood; for some reason I just felt down.  I hit shuffle on my iTunes Broadway playlist (over 3200 songs), hoping for something to brighten my day, but found that every song that shuffled through was a melancholy one.  Rather than hit "next" a hundred times, I let the songs wash over me.  As I made my way over to Hudson River Park and walked North from midtown towards the Upper West Side, I began to cry.  Instead of bringing me further down, I felt cleansed by the ability to let the darkness ou,t with help my favorite art form.  The walk, and the music, opened my heart back up to its usual cheerful self.  Soon the sky followed suit, and a beam of sunlight poked through, and followed me all the way home.

Sometimes, we just need to turn on the waterworks.  Stressful day at work, fight with the boyfriend, missing a family that's far away… sucks.  And tears help.

Here is a list of the Broadway songs that bring on the tears.  Use it to soothe yourself.  Bathe in the sadness, the anger, the heartbreak, the loss.  Make yourself a pot of tearwater tea.  And when you're done, dab those eyes dry, and stand strong to face the world again.

Thanks to all of my kindred emotional Broadway musical fans, who, via twitter, compiled this list with me.  Tweet yours at hashtag #BwayTears.

• Will I from Rent (@TheWriteSteph)
• Petrified from Taboo (@rhonjfan76)
• A Little Fall of Rain from Les Miserables (@krisjaus, @ela_guez)
• New Music from Ragtime (@zakiyayoung)
• Everything I Know from In the Heights (@mostlyfilth, @jillsoares)
• Some Things are Meant to Be from Little Women (@Kelly_Kathleen)
• Happy/Sad from The Addams Family (@maxx923)
• Left Behind from Spring Awakening (@akomuzikera, @leeat110)
• Coney Island from A Catered Affair (@vineyardtheatre)
• What Would I Do from Falsettos (@HESherman)
• River in the Rain from Big River (@Fronkensteen)
• You Walk With Me from The Full Monty (@titleofblog)
• Slipping Through my Fingers from Mamma Mia! (@shannabeth7)
• Astonishing from Little Women (@Mariannetogo)
• I Don't Care Much from Cabaret (@StBerryKlain)
• Someone Like You from Jekyll & Hyde (@marisagreen)
• I am the One (Reprise) from Next to Normal (@patmeal, @brothermarc7, @david2587)
• No One is Alone from Into the Woods (@Candzbee)
• Unchained Melody (Dance)/ The Love Inside from Ghost (@butstillwepay)
• Losing My Mind from Follies (@MadlyHatted)
• The Next Ten Minutes from Last Five Years (@bailey_jordan3)
• I'll Cover You (Reprise) from Rent (@leelooincali)
• The Flesh Failures from Hair (@MartaRJ)
• I'll Be Here from Ordinary Days (@claireshiell)
• Till We Reach That Day from Ragtime (@DominoDeCoco, @kris_gee)
• For Good from Wicked (@JenniferSlater, @abigail_rdh, @tblondiefairy, @cosmopaulitan)
• Children and Art from Sunday in the Park with George (@darth_sydious)
• Stop Time from Baby (@BurlingameT)
• If He Walked into my Life from Mame (@andromakie)
• Santa Fe from Newsies (@werefadingfast, @LCThornton)
• Shine Like the Sun from 9 to 5 (@LuvDanceDream)
• Falling Slowly from Once (@MelissaCabey)
• With You from Ghost (@shay_gallagher_)
• I Don't Do Sadness/ Blue Wind from Spring Awakening (@erinmtkarll)
• I Miss the Mountains from Next to Normal (@lindsaystclair)