I don't know about saddest song ever, but Avec Le Temps is certainly well done. I find Ferré's delivery to be a bit overdone.
And I second Waits. I like his lyrics, they're highly impressionistic. Most lyricists tell a story, but Tom Waits paints a picture. I think this trait in his lyrics is evident in Hold On, which is also quite beautiful in it's own right:
Hold On
click to show They hung a sign up in our town
If you live it up, you won't live it down
So she left Monte Rio, son
Just like a bullet leaves a gun
With charcoal eyes and Monroe hips
She went and took that California trip
Well the moon was gold, her hair like wind
She said don't look back, just come on Jim
Oh, you've got to hold on, hold on
you've gotta hold on
Take my hand, I'm standing right here
You've gotta hold on
Well, he gave her a dime store watch
And a ring made from a spoon
Everyone's looking for someone to blame
When you share my bed, you share my name
Well, go ahead and call the cops
You don't meet nice girls in coffee shops
She said 'baby, I still love you --
Sometimes there's nothing left to do
Oh, but you've got to hold on, hold on
Babe you've gotta hold on
Take my hand, I'm standing right here
You've gotta hold on
Well, God bless your crooked little heart
St. Louis got the best of me
I miss your broken china voice
How I wish you were still here with me
Oh, you build it up, you wreck it down
And you burned your mansion to the ground
Oh, there's nothing left to keep you here
And when you're falling behind in this big blue world
Oh, you've got to hold on, hold on
Babe, you've gotta hold on
Take my hand, I'm standing right here
You've gotta hold on
Down by the riverside motel
It's ten below and falling
By the ninety-nine cent store
She closed her eyes and started swaying
But it's so hard to dance that way
When it's cold and there's no music
Oh, you're old home town's so far away
But inside your head a record's playing
A song called Hold On, hold on
Babe you've gotta hold on
Take my hand, I'm standing right here
You've gotta hold on
I might get nailed for this one, but I do like some of the lyrics penned by Ben Gibbard, better known as 'that guy from Death Cab.'
A Lack Of Color
click to show
And when I see you
I really see you upside down
But my brain knows better
It picks you up and turns you around
Turns you around
Turns you around
If you feel discouraged
And there's a lack of colour here
Please don't worry, lover
It's really bursting at the seams
Absorbing everything
The spectrum's A to Z
This is fact not fiction
For the first time in years
All the girls in every girly magazine
Can't make me feel
Any less alone
I'm reaching for the phone
To call at seven o'three
And on your machine I slur a plea
For you to come home
But I know it's too late
I should've given you a reason to stay
Given you a reason to stay
Given you a reason to stay
Given you a reason to stay
This is fact not fiction
For the first time in years
Emo as all hell, yeah, but I think it's pretty anyway.
Also as said, if you want good lyrics turning on the radio is probably not the best way to find them.