That is EXACTLY what came to mind when I read the thread title. I really like that song, but it’s got an underlying creepiness to it now.
[dennis hopper] CANDY COLORED CLOWN [/dennis hopper]
I also feel that Silence of the Lambs made Bach’s Goldberg Variations somewhat creepy. I can’t hear them without thinking of a blood-splattered Anthony Hopkins beating the police officer with a night stick. Ugh.
Zepplin’s In The Evening and In My Time Of Dying.
Gotta go with gloom-pop:
“Sister Europe” - psych. furs.
Just about anything by Echo and the Bunnymen.
“Happy House” - Siouxsie and the Banshees.
and finally, not gloom-pop, but “Birthday” by the Sugarcubes gives me chills whenever I hear it.
Ordinary World by Duran Duran
Here are some I came up with (mostly fairly obscure songs from the 80s, for some reason):
Mad Not Mad, by Madness
Victims, by Culture Club
Sanctuary, by Daniel Amos
Synchronicity II, by the Police
and just about any Alan Parsons Project with Eric Woolfson on lead vocals
Well, the “other haunting songs” from the OP seems to have been addressed–although I will add that Loreena McKennitt’s arrangement of “The Highwayman” is one of the most haunting things I’ve ever heard–what about the other question? What makes these pieces haunting?
Some factors that often turn up in songs I find haunting:
Minor key
Poignant lyrics (hence “Boys of Summer”)
Soft vocals (as opposed to hard-edged, not as in “quiet”)
“Hitched” vocals (I’m not sure how to describe this…think of someone trying to talk/sing around a sob…a tiny inhalation in the middle of a line.)
Detached vocals (Completely dispassionate voices singing about something emotional–to me, that suggests emotional devastation.)
How many of the haunting songs already discussed share some of these traits?
I can’t believe I didnt think of Still by ELP.
Heres two I heard on the radio this morning:
Its No Good bt Depeche Mode
Forever Young both the Alphaville and Rod Stewart versions.
I have a lot of these songs… I think I’ll put me a CD together of “Haunting Songs.”
pimpf by Depeche Mode is a wonderfuly haunting piece of music.
Unusual Kiss by Melissa Etheridge.
Julie by Merrill Bainbridge
Halleluja by Rufus Wrainright
“Something’s gotten hold of my heart” - Gene Pitney
“Windmills of Your Mind,” from The Thomas Crown Affair
Radiohead’s “Street Spirit” off the album The Bends
Nick Cave’s “The Sweetest Embrace” off Barry Adamson’s Oedipus Schmoedipus.
My personal list:
U2- “With or Without U”
Culture Crew (is that what they were called?)- “(I just) Died in your Arms”
Don Henley- “Boys of Summer”
Queensrych- “Silent Lucidity”
I’m sure there are alot more, but the two worst are “With or Without U” and “Boys of Summer”
And I think the reason is that they are both sad songs, but they leave the circumstances behind the story to the song vague. It’s not like Don Henley tells us that his girl left him for some guy who was in town for the summer, or maybe she left for the summer, or God knows what happened…
It’s like the story is so traumatic to the singer that he cannot even talk about it, only talk about his reactions and feelings.
I think the way that these songs make US create the backdrop in our heads to complete the story of the song is what makes them so personal.
Being the eldest child of a woman who had miscarriage after miscarriage 9about 10 in 7 yrs) I find that Lightening Crashes by Live is an incredibly haunting song. I used it as the focal point for a show of cemetery photographs a couple years ago.
Jaxbeachboy I just Died in your Arms was Cutting Crew 
I can’t believe I almost forgot to include Under the Milky Way Tonight by The Church in my list.
I found out the nam of my song. I nominate “Song of the Siren” by This Mortal Coil.
Someone mentioned Robert Johnson on the last page, and I realized I forgot to mention “Love in Vain.” Awesome song.
Also, Wladyslaw Szpilman’s recording of Chopin’s “Nocturne in C-Sharp Minor” done just after WWII is amazing. I’ve heard a few different versions of the song, but this one in particular has something about it - the tempo falters slightly in spots in a strange, but very poignant way.
“Everybody’s Talkin’” by Harry Nillson
“Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” by Bob Dylan
“These Foolish Things” by Nat Cole
“American Tune” by Paul Simon
“Over the Rainbow” by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole
Actually, “Over the Rainbow” by lots of people, especially Israel and Bill Frisell (both are on the “Finding Forrester” soundtrack, which is exquisite)
And most arias.
Julie
I was going to list that, but figured no one would have any clue what it was…
my exposure to that song comes from the fact that it has been remixed 6-7 times(at least) into various electronic dance genres…
the lyrics are pathetically sad, and the version that is always remixed is sung by the loneliest, most distant female voice
my favorite lines are
“did I dream that you dreamed about me?”
and
“I’m as troubled as a newborn child,
I’m as riddled as the tide…
should I stand amid the breakers, or
shall I lie with death my bride”
There are a lot of great examples here! Maybe add Streets of Philadelphia by Springsteen.
“Forever Autunm” - Justin Hayward