re: Songs that stop you in your tracks, make you pause and absorb the lyrics

I’m a huge Edwin McCain fan. Several years back he had a song “Boom” about his moms breast cancer diagnosis. First line is “Mama said let’s shave my head today. It’s all gonna fall out anyway.”

Because he is a storyteller at heart as much as he is a singer, through the years he talked about how his mom responded to treatment and had a respite from her cancer.

Last year he released a new album. One of the songs on it is called “Helicopter Ride.” First verse and chorus are:

You fought hard
Ten years longer than they gave you
And time has come to take you
Before I let you go
There's one more wish
Oh, I promised we would do it
Some would say it's foolish
But they will never know

I'll take you on a helicopter ride
Get a glimpse of what it will be like
When you take to the skies
We're going on a helicopter ride
Before you slip the strands of life
Before we say goodbye

I was in a parking lot finding a place to park when I heard it the first time. It was obvious what this song was about. I’m not exaggerating when I say these lines took my breath away and made me feel like I had been punched in the gut. I have no idea why it hit me like that. It’s not like I know the guy, after all. But this song makes me stop whenever it comes up on a playlist.

The Great Mandala by Peter, Paul and Mary.

Is It True - Eagles
Remember Me - Willie Nelson version
Trip Around The Sun - Buffett/McBride
Johnny Reb - Johnny Horton
Can’t Stop Loving You - White Horse (several others incl Keith Urban & Phil Collins)
Dear J - Mare Wakefield
The Living Years - Mike & The Mechanics
The Circle Is Small - Gordon Lightfoot

The entire eels album Electro-Shock Blues is about the lead songwriter coming to terms with his mom's death by cancer and his sister's suicide after a long battle with mental illness. The whole album is pretty bleak lyrically, as you might guess, but I've always found "Dead of Winter" to be a particularly tough listen:

Standing in the dark outside the house
Breathing in the cold and sterile air
I was thinking how it must feel to see that little light
And watch it as it disappears, and fades into the night
So I know you're going pretty soon
Radiation sore throat got your tongue
Magic markers tattoo you, and show it where to aim
And strangers break their promises, "You won't feel any pain."
And the streets are jammed with cars
Rocking their horns to race to the wire of the unfinished line
Thought that I'd forget all about the past
But it doesn't let me run too fast
I just want to stand right here, and know that this is right
And this is true and I will not fade into the night

so many Peter Murphy songs to choose from.

That reminds me of a Harry Nilsson song called, "Life Line".