Backstreets: Bruce Springsteen- Friendship, possibly love, and loss.
YouTube - Bruce Springsteen: BACKSTREETS
Idiot Wind: Bob Dylan- "You'll never know the hurt I suffered/Nor the pain I rise above/And I'll never know the same about you/Your holiness, your kind of love/And it makes me feel so sorry." Just about sums it up. Not the best video of the song, but I wanted one of the 1992 performances because they really bring out the loss in the song:
YouTube - Bob Dylan - Genova 1992 - Idiot Wind
Out There In The Night- The Only Ones- A bit lighter, but the simplicity really works for this one. "Sometimes I think of you/Out there in the night/You ain't here with me/And nothing seems right."
(Remember) Walkin' In The Sand- The Shangri-La's- Lost love, lost innocence...either way, it's a killer track. Runner up: Past, Present, & Future.
YouTube - Shangri-Las - Remember (Walkin' In the Sand)
The Who- Tea & Theatre- Even though this really should be credited "Townshend/Daltrey," this is an amazing track. It's really more about aging, but there's definitely some loss there:
Lean on my shoulder now
This story is done
It's getting colder now
A thousand songs
Still smoulder now
We play them as one
We're older now
All of us sad
All of us free
Before we walk from this stage
Two of us
Will you have some tea
Will you have some tea
At the theatre with me?
Honorable mention: Lou Reed, Magic & Loss. "There's a bit of magic in everything and then some loss to even things out."