1. Ne Me Quitte Pas: Jacques Brel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2wmKcBm4Ik Who knew that the number one spot on this list would go to the Belgian artist Jacques Brel, I certainly didn't when it came to writing this. If you have heard this before then I have nothing but respect for you because honestly I hadn't heard it before researching for this list. My, my have I missed something special. Much of the credit goes to the performance of Jacques Brel in the video, not only are the lyrics filled with emotion but you can almost reach out and touch the pain oozing out of every part of Brel's being. There is only one performance I have ever seen that can even come close to matching the emotion on display here, and that's saying something. Ne Me Quitte Pas is truly a rare creature indeed and in my eyes fully deserves to be identified as one of the greatest breakup songs of all time. I couldn't find a link to the performance that had embedding enabled so I hope you'll copy and paste the link to appreciate the power of the performance. If you have any favourites, then let us know in the comment box below. I, for one, am always on the lookout for another fantastically depressing song.