Some people listen to classic rock songs to feel the machismo. However, the best classic rock acts, from The Beatles to U2, know how to make you cry as well.

Some people listen to classic rock songs to feel the machismo. However, the best classic rock acts, from The Beatles to U2, know how to make you cry as well. Here are five songs that find the beauty in heartbreak.

How could anyone write a list like this without The Beatles’ “Yesterday?” The simple ballad of love gone wrong has become one of the biggest standards of all time. Artists as eclectic as Elvis Presley, Marvin Gaye, Frank Sinatra, Linkin Park, and Jay-Z all put their spin on the song. And it’s easy to see why.

This track has lyrics that are perfect in their simplicity. “Yesterday all my troubles seemed so far away / Now it looks as though they’re here to stay / Oh, I believe in yesterday” is a breathtakingly sad opening verse. This tune will be with us forever.

Penned by The Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, Marianne Faithfull’s “As Tears Go By” is an empathetic song about the challenges of getting older. It’s shocking that they wrote the track when they were so young! It’s almost the opposite of “Mother’s Little Helper,” The Rolling Stones’ mean, smarmy song about an aging, overworked mother.