Rent/Tear Jerker

• Mimi saying that she would quit the drugs and go back to school, knowing that she probably couldn't.
• When Angel died.
  • the "I'll Cover You" reprise
  • A more specific point - "When your heart has expired" in the Dark Reprise of "I'll Cover You". Dare you not to cry.
• The song Without You.
  • Seconded. This troper can just about hold himself together during I'll Cover You Reprise, but Without You NEVER fails to have him blubbering like a baby.
• Also the repeating chorus song, "Will I?" being sung by an AIDS support group, slowly joined by the main cast. "Will I lose my dignity?/Will someone care?/Will I wake tomorrow/from this nightmare?"
  • The worst part? The support group members are all named after Jonathan Larson's friends who died from AIDS.
  • And that the song was inspired by a member of a real life support group that Jonathan Larson visited who stood up and said something to the effect of "I know that I am going to die; I am not afraid of that. I know that it will probably be long and painful, and I am not afraid of that. The only thing that I am afraid of is, will I lose my dignity?"
• "Life Support". "Look, I find some of what you teach suspect/Because I'm used to relying on intellect/But I try to open up to what I don't know/Because reason says I should have died three years ago." And then everyone joins in with the Life Support mantra.
• Halloween. Why am I the witness!? And when I capture it on film... will it mean that it's the end, and I'm alone...? -sniff-
• Mark and Roger's fight.

Mark: Maybe you'll see why when you stop escaping your pain! At least now if you try, Angel's death won't be in vain!
Roger: His death IS in vain!

• In addition to the aforementioned "Halloween," when Roger accuses Mark of hiding behind his camera and Mark retorts "Perhaps it's because I'm the one of us to survive!" To hear him finally confess to his best friend how terrified he is of watching him die, especially in the middle of an argument, is just heartbreaking.
  • Especially since Roger completely ignores him, even though he's the one who's refusing to live and is hiding behind his withdrawal.
• In the stage show, when the members of Life Support are giving their names, you may notice that the names given vary from the ones in the Original Broadway Cast recording or the film (Steve, Gordon, Ally, Pam, and Sue). The thing is that these names are changed from production to production, to honor the friends and family of the cast who are living with or have died from AIDS.
• One song, glory.

"Glory, from the soul of a young man. ...A young man."

• You all said you'd be cool today,/So please, for my sake.../I can't believe he's gone./I can't believe you're going./I can't believe this family must die./Angel helped us believe in love./I can't believe you disagree.
• A meta example: Jonathan Larson unexpectedly died just before the show's off-broadway premiere. Anthony Rapp said in his autobiography that the next night, the cast did a performance for Jonathan's close friends and family - even though he and several others were crying too hard to even sing some of the songs properly. And then they sang again at the memorial service. Where, in addition to group songs, Adam Pascal performed One Song Glory. You know, the song about writing one last important, meaningful thing before you die?