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."
Best Disturbing Songs - Comments Page 3
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 comments76 - Al Barger
Perhaps this little tribute to my favorite psycho kiddie songs might interest some of you in this "disturbing songs" vein.
77 - Al Barger
Link doesn't seem to have worked, though I can't see why. Let's try my psycho kiddie songs link again.
78 - Dan
Mazeborn, comment #42
The song "Timothy", about the dudes trapped in a caved in mine, who then resorted to cannibalism, was performed by the "buoys".
79 - GoHah
Scott#75--yeah, it has one of my favorite lines:
"She's filing her nails while they're dragging the lake." Evocatively noirish imagery, femme fatale and all.
80 - Brazenhead
This song came out in 1982 and charted in the UK, It's the Specials (it's not a Ska song and very unlike anything else they ever did) and the lyrics were spoken by Rhoda Dakar. The ending of the song is a minute or so of incredible screaming...amazingly powerful and disturbing. Find it.
The Boiler
I went out shopping last saturday
I was getting some gear, and this guy offered to pay
Who's the hunk? I think to myself
For so many years I've been left on the shelf
An old boiler
Then we went walking back down the high street
And I felt so proud because he looked so neat
He was a real hard man, tough as they come
He said I was cool but I still felt like
An old boiler
He bid me "Come out", how could I say no?
He said "Meet me at eight round my place, you know"
With my new gear on, and a blow dried hair-do
But in my mind I knew I was sill
An old boiler
We danced all night long to a nice steady beat
But my hair went to frizz in the terrible heat
My mascara ran, and so did my tights
Confirming in my sight, I must be
An old boiler
So we came out this club, hot and sweaty
Because we'd been dancing all night
And he says to me "Well babe, what you doing then?"
"Well I think I might get a cab" I said casually
"Nah nah, come back to my place, I only live just round the corner
You can go home in the morning, yeah?"
"Well I don't think so, I've only known you a day, It' a bit soon innit
Give me a ring sometime yeah?"
But then he starts to get mad
"Listen here girl, I bought that gear you got on, I paid you in here tonight
I bought you all them drinks and you wanna go home, I should bleedin coco"
And then he stormed off
Well, I felt a right mug, well you would wouldn't you
So I ran after him, caught him up
And here we are walking down this street about a hundred miles per hour
Arm in arm, no talking, atmosphere you could have cut with a knife
There's no-one about, nothing to take your mind off it you know
No cars, not even the occasional stray animal
It was cold and the wind's whistling through the tree's
Blowing newspapers accross my legs so I tripped as I tried to keep up with him
And there was all these alleyways and railway bridges, the stink of piss
The all of a sudden he grabbed hold of my arm
And he starts to drag me up one of these alleyways
Then he starts to hit me really hard across the face, you know
He was hitting me and grabbing at me
It was awful because he was, like, so big
Hitting me he was, and tearing at my clothes
There was nothing I could do honest, I was helpless
And then he tried to rape me, and there was nothing I could do, honest
All I could do was scream, no...
81 - MD
How about Beautiful South's "Woman In The Wall:"
He was just a social drinker but social every night
He enjoyed a pint or two or three or four
She was just a silent thinker, silent every night
He'd enjoy the thought of killing her before
Well he was very rarely drunk but very rarely sober
And he didn't think the problem was his drink
But he only knew his problem when he knocked her over
And when the rotting flesh began to stink
Cry freedom for the woman in the wall
Cry freedom for she has no voice at all
I hear her cry all day, all night
I hear her voice from deep within the wall
Made a cross from knitting needles
Made a grave from hoover bags
Especially for the woman in the wall
She'd knitted him a jumper with dominoes on
So he wore it everyday in every week
Pretended to himself that she hadn't really gone
Pretended that he thought he heard her speak
Then at last it seemed that he was really winning
He felt that he had some sort of grip
But all of his new life was sent a-spinning
When the rotting wall began to drip
82 - Scott Butki
Oooh, good one and very catchy. Many Beautiful South and Housemartins songs definitely fit this category.
83 - Scott Butki
Happy New Year, everyone
84 - GoHah
Chilling stuff: "Psycho" by Leon Payne--inspired by the 1966 sniper Charles Whitman who killed his mother and his wife, climbed up into the University of Texas tower and started shooting away ("my mind just walked away"):
Can Mary fry some fish, mama
I'm as hungry as can be
Oh lord, how I wish, mama
You could stop the baby cryin'
'Cause my head is killing me
I saw my ex again last night mama
She was at the dance at Miller's store
She was with that Jackie White mama
I killed them both
And they're buried under Jacob's sycamore
You think I'm psycho don't you mama
I didn't mean to break your cup
You think I'm psycho don't you mama
You better let 'em lock me up
Oh, don't hand me Johnny's pup mama
As I might squeeze him too tight
I'm havin' crazy dreams again mama
So let me tell you 'bout last night
I woke up in Johnny's room mama
Standing right there by his bed
With my hands around his throat mama
Wishing both of us were dead
You think I'm psycho don't you mama
I just killed Johnny's pup
You think I'm psycho don't you mama
You'd better let 'em lock me up
Oh you recall that little girl mama
I believe her name was Betty Clark
Oh don't tell me that she's dead mama
'Cause I just saw her in the park
We were sitting on a bench mama
Thinking of a game to play
Seems I was holding a wrench mama
Then my mind just walked away
You think I'm psycho don't you mama
I didn't mean to break your cup
You think I'm psycho don't you mama
Mama why don't you get up?
85 - Scott Butki
I don't know that one but it sounds like a good pick.
86 - Aaman
Woot! That's crazy
87 - GoHah
I should've mentioned that I know the song mostly from Elvis Costello's cover of it on his country album, Almost Blue.
88 - Scott Butki
Oh and I was worried it was a lullaby you sang to kids.
Whew!
89 - GoHah
No here's the lullaby I sing to to the kids, guaranteed to scar them of life:
I feel for you, you little horror
Safe at your mother's breast
No lucky break for you around the corner
'Cause your father is a bully
And he thinks that you're a pest
And your sister she's no better than a whore.
Life seems so rosy in the cradle,
But I'll be a friend I'll tell you what's in store
There's nothing at the end of the rainbow.
There's nothing to grow up for anymore
Tycoons and barrow boys will rob you
And throw you on the side
And all because they love themselves sincerely
And the man holds a bread knife
Up to you throat is four feet wide
And he's anxious just to show you what it's for.
Your mother works so hard to make you happy
But take a look outside the nursery door
There's nothing at the end of the rainbow.
There's nothing to grow up for anymore
And all the sad and empty faces
That pass you on the street
All running in their sleep, all in a dream
Every loving handshake
Is just another man to beat
How your heart aches just to cut him to the core
Life seems so rosy in the cradle,
But I'll be a friend I'll tell you what's in store
There's nothing at the end of the rainbow.
There's nothing to grow up for anymore
90 - Scott Butki
(snaps bullhorn on)
Put the lullaby down, step away from your children and keep those lips closed before you depress anyone else.
Wha? You trying to make the movie the Wall into a documentary?
:)
91 - Scott Butki
Any new nominees?
I thought the Rolling Stones performance last nite
was pretty disturbing but that's more an appearance issue than lyrics.
92 - lowlevel
Father Picard by King Diamond...
Welcome to my quarters, do come inside
Welcome dearest Sisters, come into the light
I'm Father Picard, I'm taking over
Things will be different here
you are the four GOD has chosen
To be his angels in white
Drink My sweet holy wine
Oh yeah come on it's not a crime
From now on every sunday this time
You will attend this communion of mine
Father Picard is hiding something
A white powder for the wine
I'm Father Picard, I'm taking over
Things will be different here
you are the four GOD has chosen
To be his angels in white
Drink My sweet holy wine
93 - Chris Lockhart
"He Hit Me (and it felt like a kiss)" by the Crystals.. certainly deserves a position on a list, at least of some length, of disturbing songs. Sung from the perspective of a woman who in her mind feels the abuse she receives from her man is justified.
94 - Scott Butki
Oh that is an excellent one.
95 - Guppusmaximus
I would include Opeth "Deliverance" because of the impending doom:
"walk with me, you'll never leave
wait to see your spirit free
tell me how your heart's in need
as i drown you in the sea
unwinding snares of distrust
your wrist in my face grip
look me in the eye, i'm clear
this is your time
face down beneath the waterline."
96 - Rodney Welch
"He Hit Me" is a Phil Spector masterpiece, but the message is one you hear in a number of songs, where women feel the guy doesn't really care about her until he cracks her one. Billie Holiday's "Lover Man" and "Ain't Nobody's Business If I Do" also come to mind.
97 - zingzing
strange fruit?
coil's "love's secret domain"?
any nick cave? nearly.
joy division's "24 hours"?
98 - Cheddar
New poster here...love the thread.
Gotta second E.Costello's I want you as a super creepy tune. It's an audio tour through the twelve-step program of unrequited love...even better because of the desperate pacing towards the end...
Here's some of my nominees...
Tom Waits....someone else mentioned 'singapore', but I think 'What's he building' is pretty creepy too. for a spoken voice recording. 'Filipino box spring hog' I find terrifying because it visually captures my horror of moving from a big city to a small town where people regularly grilled their pets in their front yards as part of some strange celebratory ritual...Waits also gets a nod for 'earth died screaming'. He's just not a lullaby kind of guy...
2. Rugburns "ballad of tommy and marla" or "Dick's automotive" are pretty f'd too. Hard to believe that Steve Poltz, the lead singer of the rugburns, is the same guy who penned Jewel's 'you were meant for me' song. I guess even psychos can get nostalgic after nookie...
3. Did I see Violent Femmes 'country death song' on here? makes my list...
4. Patti Smith's 'summer cannibals' is made even more viscerally disturbing by the zombielike pastiness of her image, screaming EEEEEAAAATTTT!!!!
5. Bjork's 'pagan poetry' is worth a trip..especially the video, showing a masochistic, muttering, brooding, displaced girlfriend getting pierced again and again while wailing "he makes me want to hurt myself"
6. Any 'love song' by the Dead Kennedy's...their political ones are bad enough, but 'too drunk to fuck's line, 'you bawl like the baby in Eraserhead' in this context, almost made me celibate.
7. Country creepy award goes to Lyle Lovett for 'creeps like me'. I love the image of a guy wearing a ring made from his grandma's gold tooth.
very classy.
8. old school award to Nancy Sinatra for 'bang bang'...a beautiful ballad about the evolution of a battered woman, from child victim to...Just what we would expect from that disfunctional family...
9. What happened to Frank Zappa? pick one. My favorite is Bobby Brown.
I'm gonna reserve on the last of my top 10...I need to mull this a while...
99 - Scott Butki
Cool. I am glad you like the thread.
Good choices.
100 - Mark Saleski
"Ballad of Dwight Frye" - Alice Cooper
101 - Steve C.
There's a song by the Blood Brothers called "The Salesman, Denver Max" about a malevolent travelling salesman who spirits a young girl away from her parents. The verses are thick with the kind of disconnected metaphors that pop up a lot in the band's songs, but the chorus gets uncomfortably direct:
Don't you try to call the cops little girl, cops little girl
Before you pick up the phone you'll be dead
Don't you try to call the cops little girl, cops little girl
Your tongue is withered, it's heavier than lead
Won't you just step into the car little girl, car little girl
Your parents don't understand what's in your head
We're really onto something special little girl, special little girl
You're blushing red, your head can't hide those thoughts of dread
And then there's Jean Grae. Jean's got a number of disturbing songs ("God's Gift" off Attack of the Attacking Things, for instance, or her contribution to the Mr. Lif song "Post Mortem"), but none more so than "Taco Day", her collaboration with Company Flow beatmeister Mr. Len. It's an unhinged narrative about a girl who loses her mind and shoots up her school. There's a bit too much in the way of lyrics to post, but the MP3 is out there if you care to look for it.
Also... regarding the Rugburns: "Dick's Automotive"? A bit too silly to disturb. "You Should've Told Me"... now that's a messed-up song.
102 - Melanie
"Balck Mass" by Jason Crest
Check out the creepy backwards loop and the ear piercing wailing.
103 - mike hayden
"i love the dead" and "dead babies" by alice cooper
"kill yourself" by s.o.d
"last caress" and "die die my darling"(among others) by the misfits
some lyrics from "last caress" are---
I got something to say
I killed your baby today
And it doesn’t matter much to me
As long as it’s dead
Well I got something to say
I raped your mother today
And it doesn’t matter much to me
As long as she spread
Sweet lovely death
I am waiting for your breath
Come sweet death, one last caress
like the site.
see ya
104 - Brodie
"Paper Cuts" by Nirvana
"Big Long Now" by Nirvana
"Revolution 9" by The Beatles
"Hey foxymophandemama that's me" aka "Stupid Mop" by Pearl Jam
105 - Meghan
Rope of Weeds by Elysian Fields. About a sailor who gets a dead woman tangled in his fishing line, pulls her up on deck, sleeps with her, then wraps chain around both of them and throws them overboard.
"Now I roam the ocean floor, with the lady I adore. This is where we remain."
Dangerous because it has a catchy little rythym. I was at work humming it until I realized I was humming a song about necrophelia. Ick!
106 - Scott Butki
Yeah that's definitely a strong contender.
Thanks for that comment and thanks to others who have keep this topic alive.
107 - Scott Butki
Video
for World Destruction
108 - Scott Butki
Family Snapshot video
Interesting
109 - Snarkattack
Ooh, ooh, me, me!
Um...
Pulp's "Little Girl With Blue Eyes" from the 1987 album Masters of the Universe.
"Little girl with blue eyes...there's a hole in your heart / and one between your legs / you'll never have to wonder which one he's gonna fill / in spite of what he says..."
The Soft Pink Truth's rendition of a punk track (original artist eludes me at present, apologies) "Homosexual" from the album Do You Want New Wave Or Do You Want The Soft Pink Truth?
(you'll have to listen to the opening on Amazon.com or something - the lyrics are wild! but funny)
Dead Kennedys' rendition of "Viva Las Vegas" - I do not want to hear about Elvis' coke boogers.
I'm sure I've got plenty more but those instantly come to mind.
Oh crap! How could I forget Steven Sufjan's song on Illinois about John Wayne Gacy Jr.? (track 4) - shudder. 'Casimir Pulinski Day' disturbs me a bit too. Beautiful musicianship but shudder.
110 - Snarkattack
#23 - Stephen V Funk said what I feel about the Stevens song - sorry chum, didn't see your comment before. But yeah, beautiful and so sickening.
Singer-songwriter from fin-de-siecle 19th/20th-C Paris Aristide Bruant could make some death/grindcore lyrics look like lullabies. No, I'm not showing off, I wouldn't have known about Bruant if it weren't for the fact I nearly did a thesis on him.
Where are my manners - Scott, this is a good 'un, glad to discover it especially as it's way before my BC time.
111 - Scott Butki
Thanks a lot, Snarkattack.I'm glad you like it.
Great suggestions.
112 - lnlemonlime
1) "Leon Payne" - Did NOT write "PSYCHO" and neither did "Elvis COstello"...............it's a COuntry song from the late 1950's,early 1960's..I still do not know who did????
2) "DOA" by "BloodRock" - was removed from the airwaves, because it was sooooooooooooooooo GRAPHIC, for it's time. The song made people sick........
3) Add these to your lists":
a) "Stranded in the Jungle" - New York Dolls.
2) "How Will I Ever be Simple, Again" - Richard Thompson
3) "Steven" - Alice Cooper
4) "There's a Hole in the Wall" - Alan Jackson
5) The ENTIRE Murder Ballads - Nick Cave
6) "Don't Pay the Ferry man" - Chris DeBurgh
7) "My Cricket" - Leon Russell
8) "Ten Feet Tall and Bullet Proof" - Travis Tritt
9) Most operatic music
10) "Tenement Steps" - The Motors
11) "Down Among the Dead Men" - Flash and the Pan
12) "Hey, Joe" - Jimi Hendrix
13) "Dead Flowers - The Rolling Stones
14) "God Damn the Pusher Man" - Steppenwolf
15) "He Nevr Got Enough Love" - Lucinda Williams
113 - Gordon Hauptfleisch
Gosh, lnlemonlime, think you can be more vague?: ""Leon Payne" - Did NOT write "PSYCHO" and neither did "Elvis COstello" it's a COuntry song from the late 1950's,early 1960's..I still do not know who did????"
I can cite many sources stating that Leon Payne wrote "Psycho" in 1966 (and no one here claimed Costello wrote it--he did a cover on his Country album). You, on the other hand, need to flesh out your refutation and contention to come anywhere near to beinng credible. Anyway, here's one of my sources, from CMT (Country Music Television):
In San Antonio, news of the tower shootings greatly affected Leon Payne. He was a blind songwriter and singer who had written the great country standards "Lost Highway" and "They'll Never Take Her Love From Me," recorded by Hank Williams. Payne's "Psycho" is unlike anything else he wrote and indeed is very much unlike most other country songs ever written. It's been recorded a few times, most effectively by Elvis Costello, who cut it live at Hollywood's Palomino Club and released it as the B-side of "Sweet Dreams" on a UK-release single. It also appears on his album Almost Blue.
The dark tale is told matter-of-factly -- which only accentuates the horror -- as the song's pace gets faster and faster, and Costello's voice grows darker and darker. It's the story of the frenzied Whitman of the night before his calm sniper spree. And it ends with the chilling line: You think I'm psycho, don't you Mamma/Mamma, why don't you get up?
"Psycho" remains the most chilling song I have ever heard. It can still make the hair on the back of my neck stand up. And that, my friend, is the indicator of a good and powerful song.
114 - Tina
Lets not forget "Spinal Meningitis" - Ween, extreamly SICK and disturbing song with a kid that asks his mom if hes gonna die and telling her how it hurts ..
...Smile o mighty jesus spinal meningitis got me down...
seriously its haunting me.!!
115 - Kryst
Black Serenade by Slayer
"Terrorize frozen eyes stare deep in me
Paralyzed inside death breeds on your pain
Pretty lace lie in hate you wear my scars
Terrified you find that you push me too far
Your repulsiveness reminds me of dead flesh
Rotting corpse the smell of your putrid fucking soul
Petrified that I decide the moment of your death
Belongs to me the taste is sweet it's so unreal
Your God weeps, it bleeds, it begs for me
God is letting you recover
Welcome to my Black Serenade
The entrance to my hell your pain
Scream your song the Black Serenade
Live in fear a mind insane
Voice inside my head
Your face still shows itself to me
Telling me you're dead
Staring at your lifeless body
I saw you fucking die
My mind's tearing itself apart
Screaming from the inside
Release this pain from my fucking heart
Destroy the empty shell
Smash away the haunting fear
I hate your endless stare
Watching as I fuck your corpse
Welcome to my Black Serenade
The entrance to my hell your pain
Walk on through a tortured mind
You'll scream your song in time
Welcome to my Black Serenade
The entrance to my hell your pain
Flesh is burnt the Black Serenade
Live in fear no coming back
Welcome to my Black Serenade
The entrance to my hell your pain
Walk on through a tortured mind
You'll scream your song in time
Welcome to my Black Serenade
The entrance to my hell your pain
Flesh is burnt the Black Serenade
Live in fear death is back
(fear death)
116 - Ethan
Doa from bloodrock is really disturbing.Most disturbing song I evr heard.
117 - Venema
About "Polly": Nirvana never performs this song anymore the way it was recorded, since two retards raped a girl WHILE SINGING the song Polly. In their sick moronic way they claimed to be "inspired" by the song.
When Nirvana heard about this, they changed the lyrics completely.
118 - Scott Butki
I'd never heard that. How disturbing!
119 - Huggy Bear
No mention of "Hotel California"?
120 - Scott Butki
I'd call that overplayed and thus annoying more than disturbing. But maybe that's my so. cal heritage showing.
121 - Huggy Bear
The lyrics are still freaky as hell. And no one thinks about it. Oh yeah, and "Warm smell of colitas"? That's marijuana. Fun fact many don't know.
122 - El Burro
I see that Leon Payne's "Psycho" has already made an appearance on this list. I would also have to add BR5-49's "18 Wheels and a Crowbar", in which the death count is five (I think). "Fate was on the dashboard looking right at me now". It's about a trucker gone mad...
I have played guitar in numerous country and western cover bands over the years, and "Psycho" has been one of my mainstays. Most of the time, no one even notices, but once in a while, someone will actually listen to the lyrics as I sing them, and the moment of recognition, then surprise, then almost-fright, is priceless.
123 - El Burro
PS: Leon Payne did, in fact, write "Psycho". The first recorded instance I know of was a guy named Jack Kittel (I know because my lovely wife hunted down a re-issue CD). Leon Payne, if I am not mistaken, eventually committed suicide.
124 - Brian aka Guppusmaximus
Faith No More The Morning After. I believe it's from the perspective of a rape/murder victim who is in purgatory:
Awakened by the sun light
Victimized by last night
Memories flashin' through my head
Was I just born or am I dead?
Yesterday's forgotten, the morning after
I can taste you, I can hear your laughter
Fading in the distance
Recollections drifting
Bloodstains on my tattered clothes
Each minute the fear grows
If I could just lay down to rest
I'm tired of searching for myself
If I am dead, how can I feel such love?
If I am dead, why am I dreaming?
If I am dead, where do I go from here?
If I am dead, why does this pain feel so good?
Is this my blood dried upon my face?
Or is it the love of someone else?
It tastes so sweet, just like you used to
So rescue me my love, splice us together
I remember loving you so much
But where are you and where's your fatal touch?
When I closed my eyes, was it my siesta?
Did I encounter a darkness stronger than sleep?
I am thirsty for my sleep
There are no answers anyway...
125 - Al Barger
Depends on what really disturbs you, I guess. "Hurt" is a great sad song, but I don't particularly find it disturbing.
Much more disturbing would be "Mr Ambulance Driver." On the surface, it's a pretty, nicely textured Flaming Lips song. But the narrator has just been in a horrible wreck, and his girl is dead in the seat beside him, and he's waiting helplessly for the ambulance. That helplessness is much more disturbing to me than Leon Payne wanting to go on a killing spree.