Songs to feed your paranoia by
By Matt Baker March 12, 2009
So I was listening to my iPod the other day and stumbled upon a song that made me start thinking… some songs are friggin creepy. So I decided to make a list because what else do I have to do?
- Careful With That Axe, Eugene – Pink Floyd: I think this is probably the creepiest song of all time (and oddly, my second favourite), although it may not seem that way at first. The only lyric is the title said once. All I can say is that the best way to listen to it is to turn the lights down, the volume, close your eyes and let it wash over you.
- One Of These Days – Pink Floyd: Another one of those single lyric songs, all they say is “One of these days I’m going to cut you into ribbons.” That in itself is pretty creepy, but the music really steps it up. Good these guys lightened up by the time they got to The Wall.
- What’s He Building In There? and The Ocean Doesn’t Want Me – Tom Waits: I put these songs together here because they are quite similar in that they are both spoken word and will send shivers down your spine. Tom Waits has a lot of crazy, dark music, but I think these two really take the cake for outright scariness.
- Venus In Furs – The Velvet Underground: I took a course in my undergrad about Music and Pop Culture and the professor talked about how revolutionary Sgt. Pepper’s was because Getting Better talks about being cruel to your woman and beating her and how nobody wrote about dark things like that in 1967. Well The Velvet Underground and Nico came out in 1967 and it is way the fuck darker. This song for instance, in addition to just setting you on edge with its scratchy viola, is all about S&M. A sample: Shiny, shiny, shiny boots of leather; Whiplash girlchild in the dark; Clubs and bells, your servant, dont forsake him; Strike, dear mistress, and cure his heart. Also: Severin, severin, speak so slightly; Severin, down on your bended knee; Taste the whip, in love not given lightly; Taste the whip, now plead for me. So yeah, that is a tad bit darker. The rest of the album is all about heroin and speed and stuff. Incidentally, I emailed the prof to ask about this and he agreed but pointed out that nobody knew who The Velvet Underground were so they don’t count. Fair enough.
- The End – The Doors: Another crazy song from 1967. Any song with a drawn out dialogue about killing your father (and possibly brother and sister) and then raping your mother is pretty fucking creepy. And it also makes me think of napalm… smells like… victory.
- Time Reveals Its Plan At Poisoned Falls – Frog Eyes: This song isn`t really scary, it is just kind of overwhelmingly tense and guaranteed to set you on edge. I don`t even know what the hell he is singing about.
- If I Were A Carp – Final Fantasy: Another song that will set you on edge, the strings give me the heeby-jeebies. Apparently strings really get to me.
- Cowboys – Portishead: A lot of Portishead is creepy, I just happened to choose this one.
- Paperbag Writer – Radiohead: Some of Radiohead`s best and weirdest stuff is on their EPs and this is a great example. Although it is one of the less creepy songs on the list, the strings are wonderfully eerie. Again with the strings… hmm.
- Contre Le Sexisme – Sonic Youth: This is actually pretty similar to The Ocean Doesn`t Want Me – it starts with weird static and creep talking. Eventually she starts calling out to Alice saying “it’s just a kitten.” And then I don’t really know what she is talking about.
- No Queen Blues – Sonic Youth: Another song that puts you on edge more than creeps you out. It starts out edgy and then actually gets kind of catchy and you think your getting into a nice groove with the song. Then it goes crazy like only Sonic Youth can.
I also want to give the entire album Piper At The Gates Of Dawn by Pink Floyd an honourable mention. It doesn't really seem like a creepy album when you first listen to it, but I listened to it once in a less than lucid state and spent the rest of the night thinking I was in an evil carnival, so it holds a special place in my heart.