As a lucky, lucky girl with a flexible work schedule, I often find myself with time to do all of the lazy things I enjoy. Namely, laying in the back yard and soaking up the stifling North Carolina sun while idly flipping around my favorite MP3 play list. The list consists of the 90’s alt-rock songs that take me back to my high school days, current rock in all of its over-compartmentalized forms (pop punk, alternative, emo, screamo, hardcore, melodic…), classic rock, cheesy pop that makes me smile, rap, and even a little instrumental.

I don’t know if my environment today was particularly peaceful, or if I was just more awake than normal, but I found myself quite tuned into the lyrics of each and every song. Now mind you, it’s not as if I was listening to these lyrics for the first time, but maybe with some of them it was the first time I was hearing them. A paltry distinction, I know, but a distinction nonetheless.

What I found was that I was enormously creeped out. So many songs on my list have downright scary lyrics. Being the music enthusiast that I am, this sent me into a full blown investigation.

What other songs have I played over the years, innocently, only to miss the strange nature underneath? In the wake of this epiphany, I have compiled a list of the songs I find the most unnerving. I was surprised, at the end, to find that most are totally listenable.

It should be said that these are in no particular order, other than where they popped up in shuffle mode.

1. “Every Breath You Take” – The Police
Sample Lyric: "Every bond you break, every step you take, I'll be watching you."
Author Note: One of my all time favorite songs. Sting has said himself that it is about an obsessive stalker.

2. “The Runaway” – Something Corporate
Sample Lyric: "If I woke up alone, I won't stop till I find you and you are with me."

3. “There Is A Light That Never Goes Out” – The Smiths
Sample Lyric: “And if a double-decker bus crashes into us, to die by your side is such a heavenly way to die.”

Author Note: This is the classic case of how to write a disturbing love song. To listen to this track, it is sweet and subtle. But if a man professed his love to me in this fashion, I’d be running in the opposite direction.