A look at some of the best disturbing songs.
This subjective list, focusing more on lyrics than on music, is in no particular order.…
"A sinister cabal of superior writers."
A look at some of the best disturbing songs.
This subjective list, focusing more on lyrics than on music, is in no particular order.…
Article comments
— go to most recent comments26 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
great article, Scott, here's a few others off the top of my head.
"The Mercy Seat" - Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds.
about a fella being executed. Johnny Cash does a brilliant BRILLIANT cover on American III, but the original Cave one has the upper (red right?) hand when it comes to sheer terrifyin dementia.
ANYTHING from Closer by Joy Division.
i still can't listen to this album, i bought it an heard it an loved it an knew i never wanted to hear a note of it ever again. truly unpleasant experience.
"4st 7lbs" by The Manic Street Preachers
A lot of The Holy Bible is incredibly disturbing, songs discussin the holocaust and serial killers tend to have that effect, but this is particularly stark and it's the only track I skip on the album. not becuase it's bad, but because it's too damn good, TOO effective. it's about anorexia. "i wanna walk in the snow and not leave a footprint.." etc
Strange Fruit by Billie Holiday
this just makes me feel like shit for the rest of the day. which is the idea, i guess. incredibly beautiful and powerful and distressing.
Kim by Eminem
one of the most relentlessly unpleasant, disturbing songs i've heard from a mainstream artist in many a damn year.
there's loads more, but thats the ones off the top a my head
27 - Rodney Welch
Let me mention a pair of really, really disturbing albums, each with their share of disturbing songs. Both by Lou Reed, both involve tragic drug deaths: Berlin and Street Hassle.
There is a song on Berlin that I can barely bring myself to listen to. It's called "The Kids," and it's about a woman whose kids are being taken away from her. The song goes absolutely overboard in the melodrama department, since the actual cries of anguished young kids are mixed into the song.
The title track from Street Hassle is a long, morbid Reed masterpiece about a girl who goes to a party and winds up dead.
The song is in three sections, and in the second section the girl's boyfriend gets some advice about disposing of the body.
If these words aren't disturbing, then nothing is:
[I saw your formatting problem resolved in #32 so deleted this for tidiness sake. Comments Editor]
28 - Rodney Welch
Or not. How do you format lyrics these days?
29 - Shark
Welch, that experience was pretty fucking disturbing.
What else ya got?
30 - Scott Butki
Thanks for stopping by, Glen.
Yeah, Lou Reed can definitely do disturbing, much of the New York album, for example.
Or Heroin.
31 - Rodney Welch
Hey, that cunt's not breathing
I think she's had too much
Of something or other, hey, man, you know what I mean
I don't mean to scare you
But you're the one who came here
And you're the one who's gotta take her when you leave
I'm not being smart
Or trying to be cold on my part
And I'm not gonna wear my heart on my sleeve
But you know people get all emotional
And sometimes, man, they just don't act rational
They think they're just on tv
Sha-la-la-la, man
Why don't you just slip her away
You know, I'm glad that we met man
It really was nice talking
And I really wish that there
was a little more time to speak
But you know it could be a hassle
Trying to explain myself to a police officer
About how it was that your old lady got herself stiffed
And it's not like we could help
But there was nothing no one could do
And if there was, man, you know I would have been the first
But when someone turns that blue
Well, it's a universal truth
And then you just know that bitch will never fuck again
By the way, that's really some bad shit
That you came to our place with
But you ought to be more careful around the little girls
It's either the best or it's the worst
And since I don't have to choose
I guess I won't and I know this ain't no way to treat a guest
But why don't you grab your old lady by the feet
And just lay her out on the darkened street
And by morning, she's just another hit and run
You know, some people got no choice
And they can't never find a voice
To talk with that they can even call their own
So the first thing that they see
That allows them the right to be
Why they follow it, you know, it's called bad luck
32 - Dave
Gabriel has said that "Family Snapshot" was inspired by a book about Arthur Bremer, the guy who shot George Wallace, who fortunately never became president.
33 - Sterfish
Great article. Here are my picks:
"'97 Bonnie and Clyde" by Eminem (also remade by Tori Amos)
When Aaron, Duke De Mondo mentioned "Kim" in his comment, I immediately thought of this song, which I think is more disturbing than "Kim." I was definitely surprised and unsettled when I first heard this song. The combination of the Em talking to his daughter and the gradual realization of the savagery of Em's acts made it quite disturbing to me.
"Suicidal Thoughts" and "You're Nobody Til Somebody Kills You" by The Notorious B.I.G.
"Suicidal Thoughts," the lyrics of which were lifted to create the single "Hold Ya Head" with Bob Marley, always got to me. From Biggie wishing his mother had an abortion to the self-inflicted gunshot that ends the song (and Biggie's first album Ready To Die), it's chilling. Equally chilling is the song "You're Nobody Til Somebody Kills You." It might not come off so strongly if not for the context that surrounded it, including the death of Tupac Shakur and the fact that the song was released shortly after Biggie himself got killed.
"The Devil Is In The Details" by Boards Of Canada
This song is just overall disturbing. It has a female voice speaking about death that is warped to make it sound like she's drowning as wails make periodic appearances in the background.
34 - GoHah
Instrumental division--"Mrs. O'Leary's Cow" (think Chicago Fire) on Brian Wilson's SMILE (unexpectedly re-constructed after a 37-year delay)--fantastic and visionary album, melodiously Wilsonian (with most lyrics by Van Dyke Parks). This increasingly intensifying and scary track is lent an extra layer of disturbance because this is the piece that, in 1966, drove Brian over the psychological edge enough for him to scrap and destroy much of the whole SMILE recordings, even though he had all the musicians wear fun fireman's hats! In his mentally-fragile, drug-addled state, however, Brian lost it when, hearing fire engine sirens out in the streets, he somehow thought that he had started the fire that was raging up in the hills, and in this delusionary condition, he, according to legend (although there are varying ones), broke down and went into some kind of paranoic tangent or cowering retreat that, in any case, led to the destruction of the SMILE tapes (again, conflicting reports--but many bits and pieces survived or were re-made and then scattered among various Beach Boys albums).
On the heels of such a traumatic experience, Brian took to his bed, painted his house purple and planted his piano in a big sandbox that he had put in the living room.
Disturbing then, and now, but I'm glad Brian is supposedly well enough that he could virtually re-live and deal with the issue enough to complete "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow," troubled past or not. I'm thinking though, that he skipped the fireman's hats this time around.
35 - Mark Edward Manning
"DOA" by Bloodrock is the ultimate disturbing rock song. Gotta add that one to the list.
36 - Scott Butki
I thought about adding"Every breath you take" by the Police, which was supposedly originally about stalking before the public instead accepted it a a love song.
37 - mt
Anybody ever hear FRANKIE TEARDROP by Suicide? It's about a young man who loses his job and murders his wife and 6 month old baby in her crib. This song is beyond disturbing.
38 - Scott Butki
Sounds like it.
39 - Nancy
I used to think "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" was disturbing; obviously I need to come out of the monastery from time to time; it has NOTHING on most of the stuff cited above.
40 - Armand La Bes
Ever thought about the lyrics to "Iron Man" by Black Sabbath? Apparently about a hero who is converted into an "Iron Man" while in the course of traveling time in the service of mankind. Ignored and rejected after his transformation, the end of the song describes his "revenge" as he sets out to destroy those he once saved. Pretty disturbing stuff.
41 - Armand La Bes
Sorry... thought it might help if I included the simple, but harrowing lyrics to one of rock and rolls outstanding songs:
Iron Man
"Has he lost his mind?
Can he see or is he blind?
Can he walk at all,
Or if he moves will he fall?
Is he alive or dead?
Has he thoughts within his head?
We’ll just pass him there
Why should we even care?
He was turned to steel
In the great magnetic field
Where he traveled time
For the future of mankind
Nobody wants him
He just stares at the world
Planning his vengeance
That he will soon unfurl
Now the time is here
For iron man to spread fear
Vengeance from the grave
Kills the people he once saved
Nobody wants him
They just turn their heads
Nobody helps him
Now he has his revenge
Heavy boots of lead
Fills his victims full of dread
Running as fast as they can
Iron man lives again!"
Wonder what inspired it...
Armand
42 - MazeBorn
"DOA" is a good/bad one -- I heard they took it off the playlists because the realistic siren had people pulling over on the road...
I'd propose "Timothy", not the UFO or Elton John song, but an old one whose artist I don't recall. It has disturbing overtones of cannibalism, and a haunting chorus of "God! What did you do?"
43 - Zack
Don't know if anyone mentioned this, but I saw "One" by Metallica being mentioned... it's actually about de-cerebration. If you don't know what that is, it was practiced around WWII or WWI (can't remember which). It's an operation in which the "patient" (victim) has his cerebral functions removed (speech, memory, vision, personality and muscle control).
Another disturbing one - not violently so, but spiritually so (to some) - would have to be:
"From the Cradle to Enslave" - Cradle of Filth
"Better to Reign in Hell" - Cradle of Filth
Then one about a man burning down a chapel because five "men of God" raped his wife (who was a witch) and left her to freeze to death in the winter snow.
"Her Ghost in the Fog" - Cradle of Filth
NOTE: If you can't understand metal, look up lyrics at www.darklyrics.com
44 - Scott Butki
Good picks. Thanks
And yes one definitely fits the bill.
45 - Bob A. Booey
Oh, and of course, let's not forget the most disturbing song of all time:
"One Week" by Barenaked Ladies.
"Ants are Marching" by Dave Matthews always raises the hair on the back of my neck too.
But seriously, folks, I'll have to sit and think of the INTENTIONALLY creepy creeps.
That is all.
46 - Scott Butki
One week is disturbing in its annoying habit of getting stuck in your head and forcing you to hum it weeks later.
I've had the same problem all week with the song
"dreidel dreidel dreidel" after going to a pre-hannukah festival.
It's gotten so bad that my niece - 3 - is walking around singing dreidel dridel dreidel...
47 - Seth Moore Sings Songs
Don't forget 'The Knoxville Girl!'
I met a little girl in Knoxville
A town we all know well
And every Sunday evening
Out in her home I'd dwell
We went to take an evening walk
About a mile from town
I picked a stick up off the ground
And knocked that fair girl down;
She fell down on her bended knees
For mercy she did cry
Oh, Willie dear, don't kill me here
I'm unprepared to die
She never spoke another word
I only beat her more
Until the ground around me
Within her blood did flow.
I took her by her golden curls
And I drug her 'round and 'round
Throwing her into the river
That flows through Knoxville town
Go down, go down, you Knoxville girl
With the dark and roving eyes
Go down, go down, you Knoxville girl
You can never be my bride.
I started back to Knoxville
Got there about midnight
My mother she was worried
And woke up in a fright
Saying, ""Dear son, what have you done
To bloody your clothes so?""
I told my anxious mother
I was bleeding at my nose.
I called for me a candle
To light myself to bed
I called for me a handkerchief
To bind my aching head
Rolled and tumbled the whole night through
As troubles was for me
Like flames of hell around my bed
And in my eyes could see.
They carried me down to Knoxville
And put me in a cell
My friends all tried to get me out
But none could go my bail
I'm here to waste my life away
Down in this dirty old jail
Because I murdered that Knoxville girl
The girl I loved so well.
-traditional, recorded by The Louvin Brothers
48 - Bob A. Booey
That one is pretty disturbing. Don't get me wrong -- if you take out the murder, blood, and beating, the hair-pulling would be hot.
I thought of a stalker anthem that's creepy but people mistakenly think is romantic: "Every Breath You Take" by The Police. A lot of Police songs had slightly creepy lyrics, though, before Sting went all "Field of Gold" adult contemporary.
There are many others like that.
Butki: Happy Hannukah. I always thought you were Polish from your name.
That is all.
49 - Scott Butki
Oh I'm half German half Polish. Raised Catholic. Currently Unitarian. But was visiting a friend who is Jewish so I had much cultural diversity.
Happy holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy hanukah, etc.
Yes Every Breath You Take is disturbing on many levels because not only is it a stalker song but since it mistaken as a romance song it's even more insidious. I think at some point Sting just gve up on explaining it because it was sampled by, I think, Puffy and Sting allowed it and it wasn't mean in the stalker type way.
Most Violent Femmes songs would fit the disturbing category.
50 - Bob A. Booey
The Femmes are just goofballs who are kidding around, so their songs are more enjoyable than disturbing. I saw them for the first time since college this summer and that just may be among the top live concerts I saw all year in 2005. I didn't expect them to be nearly as fun as I did, but everyone sang along to every song and it brought back a lot of memories. Even their songs that try and go out of their way to sound disturbed, like "Country Death Song," are just schtick.
Get any Jewish tail during our cosmpolitan holiday visit, Butki? :)
How many Polish Blogcritics do we have? We have a Butki, a Saleski, a Paprocki, and a Bambenek...
That is all.
51 - Bob A. Booey
Beating a dead horse, but the creepiest stalker anthem of all time is "Your Body is a Wonderland" by John Mayer.
Read my various thoughts elsewhere on this site about him and that song.
That is all.
52 - Caroline Shaw
Anorexic beauty is a scary song. By Pulp, its a widely known pro-ana song. Its well written...just dusterbing.
Same with "Ride the Wings of Pestillence." by From First To Last.
Creepy, but good.
53 - Scott Butki
I saw the Femmes live several times while in college in so. cal in the late 80s and they were great. But from a lyrical point of view they were somewhat disturbing, like Nine Inch Nails is disturbing but with - as you correctly note - more intended humor.
And to your question, no there was no tail partaken of
54 - Scott Butki
Oh and as I was just writing over in the
car accident thread accident thread, Smiths songs can be disturbing because lyrically it goes from being pure angst to almost suicidal at times.
55 - uao
[Excerpts from the #1 pedophilia-is-OK anthem]
But try as hard as I might do I don't know why
You get to me in a way I can't describe
Words mean so little when you look up and smile
I don't care what people say,
To me you're more than a child
Oh! Clair, Clair
But why in spite of our age difference do I cry
Each time I leave you I feel I could die
Nothing means more to me than hearing you say
I'm going to marry you
Will you marry me Uncle Ray?
Oh! Clair, Clair
Clair, I've told you before
Don't you dare
Get back into bed
Can't you see that it's late
No you can't have a drink
Oh! all right then but wait just a bit
While I, in an effort to baby sit,
Catch of my breath what there is left of it.
You can be murder at this hour of the day
But in the morning this hour
Will seem a lifetime away
Oh! Clair, Clair
The song ends with the sound of a perhaps 8-year-old girl squealing with laughter.
The song? "Clair" by Gilbert O'Sullivan (better known for "Alone Again", naturally), top-10 in 1972.
If it weren't for the giggling at the end, I'd write this off as a clumsy, innocent joke.
But the giggling disturbs me...
56 - Bob A. Booey
A lot of Oldies songs have weird creepy lyrics like that.
Gary Puckett's "Young Girl" is one of the creepiest songs ever: ""Young Girl, get out of my mind/ My love for you is way out of line/ Better run girl/ You're much too young, girl."
That is all.
57 - Scott Butki
Last nite I watched Crash and that made me think of gangsta rap lyrics like copkillers, which are disturbing on a whole different level.
58 - Dave Nalle
I've got two for the list. I've always found "Eleanor" by The Turtles strangely disturbing. Not because the lyrics are in any way disturbing, but because the way they sing the song just makes you feel like there's some sort of agenda behind the words which is bound to end up with the girl in pieces wrapped in plastic and buried in a shallow grave.
And for a more transparently creepy, but extremely good song, I recomment the little known but excellent Gary Numan song "Down in the Park", which is far better than much of his earlier and more famous work and also quite creepy.
Dave
59 - Melody
I've always thought "Once" by Pearl Jam was a little disturbing. It's like the second act to "Alive" where the character becomes a killer.
I admit it...what's to say
I'll relive it...without pain
Backstreet lover on the side of the road
I got a bomb in my temple that is gonna explode
I got a sixteen gauge buried under my clothes, I play...
Once upon a time I could control myself
Ooh, once upon a time I could lose myself...
Oh, try and mimic what's insane.
I am in it...where do I stand?
Oh, Indian summer and I hate the heat
I got a backstreet lover on the passenger seat
I got my hand in my pocket, so determined, discreet...I pray...
Once upon a time I could control myself
Ooh, once upon a time I could lose myself.
You think I got my eyes closed
But I'm lookin' at you the whole fuckin' time...
Ooh, once upon a time I could control myself,
Once upon a time I could lose myself.
Once, upon a time I could love myself, yeah...
Once upon a time I could love you, yeah, yeah, yeah...
60 - El Bicho
Aside from the good choices above
"Terror Couple Killed Colonel" by Bauhaus
"Night Prowler" by AC/DC
"Am I Evil?" by Metallica, original Diamond Head
"I Put A Spell On You" by Marilyn Manson original Screamin' Jay Hawkins
"Momma's Gotta Die Tonight" by Body Count
"I'm Afraid of Americans" by David Bowie although I admit the video adds to my impression of it.
Give me a moment. I'm sure I'll be back with at least some Danzig.
I read "One" was based on Dalton Trumbo's book, "Johnny Got His Gun". They used footage from the movie in the video.
Scott, could you use a / or a hard return to break up the lyrics? It would make for an easier read of the meter rather than a capital letter.
61 - KYS
How about Don't Fear the Reaper? Isn't this about a suicide pact? Freaks me out every time I hear it. It kind of pisses me off, too, cause it sounds like he convinced her then chickened out.
All our times have come, Here but now they're gone
Seasons don't fear the reaper, Nor do the wind, the sun or the rain..
We can be like they are, Come on baby... don't fear the reaper, Baby take my hand... don't fear the reaper, We'll be able to fly... don't fear the reaper, Baby I'm your man...
Valentine is done, Here but now they're gone
Romeo and Juliet Are together in eternity... Romeo and Juliet, 40,000 men and women everyday... Like Romeo and Juliet
40,000 men and women everyday... Redefine happiness
Another 40,000 coming everyday... We can be like they are
Come on baby... don't fear the reaper
Baby take my hand... don't fear the reaper
We'll be able to fly... don't fear the reaper
Baby I'm your man...
Love of two is one. Here but now they're gone
Came the last night of sadness
And it was clear she couldn't go on
Then the door was open and the wind appeared
The candles blew then disappeared
The curtains flew then he appeared... saying don't be afraid
Come on baby... and she had no fear
And she ran to him... then they started to fly
They looked backward and said goodbye... she had become like
they are
She had taken his hand... she had become like they are
Come on baby... don't fear the reaper
62 - Scott Butki
Oh that's a good one
63 - KYS
Another song, by Billy Joel, is poignant, and as relevent now as ever: Goodnight Saigon:
We met as soul mates on Parris Island
We left as inmates from an asylum
And we were sharp, as sharp as knives
And we were so gung ho to lay down our lives
We came in spastic like tameless horses
We left in plastic as numbered corpses
And we learned fast to travel light
Our arms were heavy but our bellies were tight
We had no home front, we had no soft soap
They sent us Playboy, they gave us Bob Hope
We dug in deep and shot on sight
And prayed to Jesus Christ with all our might
We had no cameras to shoot the landscape
We passed the hash pipe and played our Doors tapes
And it was dark, so dark at night
And we held on to each other
Like brother to brother
We promised our mothers we'd write
And we would all go down together
We said we'd all go down together
Yes we would all go down together
Remember Charlie, remember Baker
They left their childhood on every acre
And who was wrong? And who was right?
It didn't matter in the thick of the fight
We held the day in the palm of our hand
They ruled the night, and the night
Seemed to last as long as six weeks...
...On Parris Island
We held the coastline, they held the highlands
And they were sharp, as sharp as knives
They heard the hum of our motors
They counted the rotors
And waited for us to arrive
And we would all go down together
We said we'd all go down together
Yes we would all go down together
64 - gonzo marx
bah....just to tweak big Al...
howabout "Less than Zero" by Elvis Costello
Oswald and his sister are doing It again
they got the finest home movies
that you have ever seen
they got 1000 variations
every service with a smile
they're gonna take a little break
and they'll be back in just a while
well, I hear in South America
It's coming into Style....
just a Thought
Excelsior!
65 - Al Barger
Uh! [insert indignant noise here] I am tweaked!
XOX, Gonzo. Keep slinging that Elvis.
66 - Dave Nalle
Man, I forgot about Clair. I remember it now from when I was a kid, but I'd never seen the lyrics written out before. As written they COULD be seen as harmless, but there's no way you can actually hear the song and not think paedophilia.
But since we're sharing disturbing lyrics, here's my pick:
Down in the Park - Gary Numan
Down in the park
Where the Machmen meet
The machines are playing `kill-by-numbers'
Down in the park with a friend called `Five'
I was in a car crash
Or was it the war?
Well, I've never been quite the same
Little white lies like "I was there"
Come to "Zom-Zom's", a place to eat
Like it was built in one day
You can watch the humans
Try to run
Oh, look, there's a rape machine
I'd go outside if it looks the other way
You wouldn't believe
The things they do
Down in the park
Where the chant is "Death, death, death"
Until the sun cries morning
Down in the park with friends of mine
"We are not lovers
We are not romantics
We are here to serve you"
A different face but the words never change
Dave
67 - gonzo marx
bah..yas are pikers in the Realm of Disturbing...
howabout some Tool...an exceprt from Prison Sex
"Do unto you now what has been done to me.
You're breathing so I guess you're still alive
even if signs seem to tell me otherwise.
Won't you come just a bit closer,
close enough so I can smell you.
I need you to feel this.
I need this to make me whole.
There's release in this sodomy.
For I am your witness that
blood and flesh can be trusted.
And only this one holy medium brings me piece of mind.
Got your hands bound, your head down,
your eyes closed.
You look so precious now."
Excelsior!
68 - Bob A. Booey
Tool and "Don't Fear the Reaper" don't count because they're TRYING to be creepy and weird.
It has to be somewhat unintentional, which disqualifies a lot of classic rock, goth, and industrial music.
The Costello song isn't creepy because those lyrics are cheeky and satirical. Well-placed irony also largely disqualifies songs from being creepy.
Anything with "rape machine" is definitely creepy, I agree.
That is all.
69 - GoHah
the facile snap-out-of-it sappiness of "Don't Worry, Be Happy" leaves me worried and unhappy, and that disturbs me.
70 - Juliette
There are two songs that I'm surprised no one has mentioned here: Murder by Numbers (The Police) and Tyler (by The Toadies).
Murder by Numbers was creepy enough to be used in a movie called Copycat about a serial killer. It's cast includes Sigourney Weaver, Harry Connick, Jr., Holly Hunter, and Dermot Mulroney. The lyrics should be very easy to find if you don't already know them.
Tyler is a song about a stalker breaking into a woman's home. I am conflicted by it because I love the song and tend to sing it at full volume in my car despite it's frightening content. Here are the lyrics:
And she runs through her days with a smile on her face
And she runs, and she waits, and I wait
We can drive to anyplace, day or night, across the state
And in the morning, into Mexico, we will wake up
I find a window in the kitchen, and I let myself in
Rummage through the refrigerator, find myself a beer
I can't believe I'm really here, and she's lying in that bed
I can almost feel her touch, and her anxious breath!
I stumble in the hallway, against the bedroom door
I hear her call out to me, I hear the fear in her voice
She pulls the covers tighter, I press against the door
I will be with her tonight! (repeats this line several times)
71 - GoHah
"And he dug up her grave and built a cage with her bones": EXCITABLE BOY--Warren Zevon in his darkest humor, with--perhaps its most disturbing aspect--a catchy tune you can hum:
Well, he went down to dinner in his Sunday best
Excitable boy, they all said
And he rubbed the pot roast all over his chest
Excitable boy, they all said
Well, he's just an excitable boy
He took in the four a.m. show at the Clark
Excitable boy, they all said
And he bit the usherette's leg in the dark
Excitable boy, they all said
Well, he's just an excitable boy
He took little Susie to the Junior Prom
Excitable boy, they all said
and he raped her and killed her, then he took her home
Excitable boy, they all said
Well, he's just an excitable boy
After ten long years they let him out of the Home
Excitable boy, they all said
And he dug up her grave and built a cage with her bones
Excitable boy, they all said
Well, he's just an excitable boy
72 - GoHah
Dave Nalle#58--you may be on target about the Turtles' "Eleanor": later on (as Flo and Eddie), they admitted that they purposely and cynically wrote the most absurdly sappy and commercially lovey-dovey ("gee, I think you're swell!")hit song they could. Nothing specifically about a more sinister agenda, but as a song that served a dual purpose, I wouldn't rule it out, either.
73 - Brady
First of all I have to agree that the "driedel song" is quite creepy without even ever having heard it. Kudos to GoHa and JP for their inclusion of Richard Thompson and David Ackles, respectively. I think that perhaps Thompson's "The End of the Rainbow" from "I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight" is more shudder inducing ( as is virtually anything off of said recording). I think Richard's naive sexual predator in "Read About Love" from "Rumor and Sigh" is a bit creepier as well. Or perhaps I've
just heard "Shoot Out the Lights" too many times. "Hello Skinny" by the Residents is another chilly number but they have way too many to mention ( lest we be forced to include virtually everything from Ralph Records here). Scott Walker wrote some Gothically ( the Wuthering Heights kind not the Bauhaus kind) inspired tunes such as "Montague Street" and the Bergman inspired "The Seventh Seal" which never fail to give me pause. Elliot Smith's ouvre has many disturbing or just plain sad songs - the obvious being "Waltz # 2." His songs sometimes are so personal that they are often hard to sing along to despite their sometimes very strong melodies. Gordon Lightfoot's "Sundown" freaks me out with a chorus that begins: "Sundown, you better take care if I find you've been creepin' down my back stairs" Unless of course "Sundown" is just his dog, cat or latex wearing Gimp. Lastly, the line "It's not your heart I want to break" from "B Movie" by Elvis Costello and the Attractions from the brilliant "Get Happy" is fairly disturbing too.
74 - GoHah
Costello's always had isolated, jarring lines of disturbance and violence jutting out: "Shake you very gently by the throat," "White knuckles on black and blue skin," "Don't look now under the bed/An arm, a leg, a severed head," etc.
The most sustained song of pent-up and building obsession is "I Want You." A Sample:
The truth can’t hurt you it’s just like the dark
It scares you witless
But in time you see things clear and stark
I want you
Go on and hurt me then we’ll let it drop
I want you
I’m afraid I won’t know where to stop
I want you...
...I might as well be useless for all it means to you
I want you
Did you call his name out as he held you down
I want you
Oh no my darling not with that clown
I want you
You’ve had your fun you don’t get well no more
I want you
No-one who wants you could want you more
I want you
Every night when I go off to bed and when I wake up
I want you
I want you
I’m going to say it once again ’til I instill it
I know I’m going to feel this way until you kill it
I want you
I want you
75 - Scott Butki
What's the Costello song about watching the cops drag the lake? Watching the detectives?
Disturbing!