What song would you nominate to be the most haunting song ever written?

I'd nominate Strange Fruit by Billie Holiday

Southern trees bear strange fruit,
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,
Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze,
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.

Pastoral scene of the gallant south,
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,
Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh,
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh.

Here is fruit for the crows to pluck,
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,
For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop,
Here is a strange and bitter crop.

yeah that one is fucking unreal. I remember hearing it in a humanities class years ago and I was totally blown away.

Hurt, Delia's Gone- Johnny Cash
Dirty Old Town, The Old Main Drag-The Pogues
Nebraska, Meeting Across the River, Streets of Philidelphia, Straight Time, You're Missing, State Trooper-Bruce Springsteen
Once I Was-Tim Buckley
Charlie Don't Surf-The Clash
I Fall to Pieces, Crazy, The Wayward Wind-Patsy Cline (almost anything from her, I just find her stuff so lonely)
I find a lot of Elvis' early Sun Records stuff has a very spooky, haunting sound to it.

There's a lot more.

everytime I hear, "Mad World" by Gary Jules and Michael Andrews that was in the movie Donnie Darko, I get weird chills and such a creepy sad feeling...

Mazzy Star- 'Fade Into You'
there's something about that song that just really makes me cry like a baby, a hungry angry baby.

Samurai

Posted by Jesus Died For Somebody's Sins Hurt, - Johnny Cash

Absolutely harrowing. An old man raging against his mortality. Gets my vote for #1

You know that was NIN first right?

The end of Cash's career was mostly covers, but he did them all amazingly, most of the time better then the original.

Posted by vicexsquad everytime I hear, "Mad World" by Gary Jules and Michael Andrews that was in the movie Donnie Darko, I get weird chills and such a creepy sad feeling...

Definitely in my top 3 too.

Post by Jonsered Posted by Jesus Died For Somebody's Sins Hurt, - Johnny Cash Absolutely harrowing. An old man raging against his mortality. Gets my vote for #1

This too.

Post by Wabbit You know that was NIN first right? The end of Cash's career was mostly covers, but he did them all amazingly, most of the time better then the original.

Yes, Hurt was off The Downward Spiral, and as amazing as it was, Cash's voice suited it better in my opinion.

Posted by Tyralus Yes, Hurt was off The Downward Spiral, and as amazing as it was, Cash's voice suited it better in my opinion.

it was a fitting epitaph... it always sounded like he knew that he was about to die. very powerful, more so than NINs' version.

Samurai

Posted by Wabbit You know that was NIN first right? The end of Cash's career was mostly covers, but he did them all amazingly, most of the time better then the original.

yeah he totally kicked trents ass with trents own song.


I really like Epitaph from King Crimson.

"The wall on which the prophets wrote
Is cracking at the seams.
Upon the instruments of death
The sunlight brightly gleams.
When every man is torn apart
With nightmares and with dreams,
Will no one lay the laurel wreath
As silence drowns the screams.

Between the iron gates of fate,
The seeds of time were sown,
And watered by the deeds of those
Who know and who are known;
Knowledge is a deadly friend
When no one sets the rules.
The fate of all mankind I see
Is in the hands of fools.

Confusion will be my epitaph.
As I crawl a cracked and broken path
If we make it we can all sit back
And laugh.
But I fear tomorrow Ill be crying,
Yes I fear tomorrow Ill be crying."

Might seem silly, but I've always thought that 'Hotel California" by The Eagles was an eerie tune,seems like a bad dream or something.

Listening to The Righteous Brothers' "Unchained Melody"... i love that fucking song... makes me all misty.

Samurai

i hung my head-johnny cash
4am-our lady peace
ana's song(open fire)-silverchair

I find Radiohead's "How to Disappear Completely" really creepy, but i absolutely love it.

Lonesome Town, by Ricky Nelson.

Metallica- Nothing Else Matter, Unforgiven(original)

Evan's Blue- Cold(But I'm still here)... This one has a very interesting meaning to me..

Delia's Gone-Johnny Cash
straight to hell- the clash
crazy arms- jerry lee lewis
redemption song - bob marley or the joe strummer version
Highway man- johnny cash

I guess I'll revive this old thread.

I was trying to figure out, lyrics wise, what is the most depressing song you can think of.

I think of two songs,

Tears for fears~Mad World
All around me are familiar faces
Worn out places, worn out faces
Bright and early for their daily races
Going nowhere, going nowhere
And their tears are filling up their glasses
No expression, no expression
Hide my head I want to drown my sorrow
No tomorrow, no tomorrow
And I find it kind of funny
I find it kind of sad
The dreams in which I'm dying
Are the best I've ever had
I find it hard to tell you
'Cos I find it hard to take
When people run in circles
It's a very, very
Mad World
Children waiting for the day they feel good
Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday
Made to feel the way that every child should
Sit and listen, sit and listen
Went to school and I was very nervous
No one knew me, no one knew me
Hello teacher tell me what's my lesson
Look right through me, look right through me

Depeche Mode~Blasphemous Rumours
Girl of sixteen, whole life ahead of her
Slashed her wrists, bored with life
Didn't succeed, thank the lord
For small mercies

Fighting back the tears, mother reads the note again
Sixteen candles burn in her mind
She takes the blame, its always the same
She goes down on her knees and prays

I don't want to start any blasphemous rumours
But I think that gods got a sick sense of humor
And when I die I expect to find him laughing

Girl of eighteen, fell in love with everything
Found new life in jesus christ
Hit by a car, ended up
On a life support machine

Summers day, as she passed away
Birds were singing in the summer sky
Then came the rain, and once again
A tear fell from her mothers eye

I don't want to start any blasphemous rumours
But I think that gods got a sick sense of humor
And when I die I expect to find him laughing

This Mortal Coil's Song To The Siren featuring Elizabeth Fraser from Cocteau Twins.

Posted by Novocaine I find Radiohead's "How to Disappear Completely" really creepy, but i absolutely love it.

One track off. The National Anthem gets my vote for the most haunting vocal distortions and sinister bass line. Plus the spastic horns help the song just fall apart right in front of you at the end. can't wait to see them next month.
http://www.youtube...atch?v=n02PhHaeRG4

but if we're just paying attention to the lyrics then i'd say I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry by Hank Williams. what a sad song.
http://www.youtube...atch?v=aXfQIchkifA

The OP's selection is a good one, a very intelligent take on a horrifying phenomenon. I'm more cartoonish, so I think Black Sabbath's "Black Sabbath" is pretty creepy. And, some songs from the 70s like early Hall and Oates and R&B slow jams creep me out. Too black? Maybe. They just seem so foreign to me.