# Songs that give you chills (good or bad)
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-chills-good-or-bad/742119
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [January 4, 2016, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-chills-good-or-bad/742119 "2016-01-04T02:09:25Z")
**Posts on this page:** 19
**Page:** 6
### Author:  [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)
#### Post date: [February 16, 2016, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-chills-good-or-bad/742119/101 "2016-02-16T17:59:09Z")
Easy to be Hard
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCs1rkAXZ9o)
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### Author:  [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)
#### Post date: [February 17, 2016, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-chills-good-or-bad/742119/102 "2016-02-17T01:43:18Z")
> [@Theodore\_Striker](#):
>
> The Wailin’ Jennys have a sound that reaches me on almost everything they sing, but their cover of One More Dollar always hits me hard … [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmGDSfUNBGs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmGDSfUNBGs)
>
> The other one, for different reasons, is this version of the Goo Goo Dolls “Sympathy”, three minutes that sum up a dark place in my life very well… [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6F\_A1Sr5584](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6F_A1Sr5584)
Love those Dolls.
“Let Love in”—great chills throughout, and the beginning is sublime:
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeBE5DJTmmk)
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### Author:  [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)
#### Post date: [February 17, 2016, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-chills-good-or-bad/742119/103 "2016-02-17T01:44:42Z")
Try this one as well from Matchbox 20 which I never heard getting any airplay:
"Bright Lights"
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### Author:  [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)
#### Post date: [February 17, 2016, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-chills-good-or-bad/742119/104 "2016-02-17T03:53:53Z")
Another vote for “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”. That one always gives me chills. It’s the combination of the mournful guitar and the haunting lyrics: “The wind in the wires made a tattletale sound, as the waves broke over the railings./ And every man knew as the captain did too, ‘twas the witch of November come stealin’…”.Perfect evocation of the dawning realization of disaster. Knowing it’s not a fictional story just adds to the power. I was born, almost literally, on the shores of Lake Erie, and that song always makes me homesick for the Great Lakes. Even though I was six months old when my parents left.
Another chill-maker is Delta Rae’s [“Bottom Of The River”](http://https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bimam2j2gEg). Good old fashioned Southern Gothic creepy.
ETA: Broken link. Sorry. I just can’t seem to post URLs on my phone.
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### Author:  [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)
#### Post date: [February 17, 2016, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-chills-good-or-bad/742119/105 "2016-02-17T15:49:51Z")
The Fifth Dimension - [If I Could Reach You](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfdsrDzF6Iw) Love Marilyn McCoo’s voice.
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### Author:  [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)
#### Post date: [February 17, 2016, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-chills-good-or-bad/742119/106 "2016-02-17T16:06:27Z")
“The Whole of the Moon” by the Waterboys
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pu7AR0-FRro)
Those who know me, know why.
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### Author:  [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2016, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-chills-good-or-bad/742119/107 "2016-06-13T17:28:53Z")
“River” by Bishop:
[![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJl0A2PsO-4)
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### Author:  [@Philliam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philliam)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2016, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-chills-good-or-bad/742119/108 "2016-06-13T18:27:55Z")
_The Host of Seraraphim_ by Dead Can Dance (vocal by the sublime Lisa Gerrard) is a non-stop shiver-fest.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ArEaOWqzYo)
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### Author:  [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2016, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-chills-good-or-bad/742119/109 "2016-06-14T17:28:30Z")
A big one that gives me ‘good’ chills is Wovenhand’s _[To Make a Ring](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mljDkraMJ4)_; the strings (cello?) get me every time.
One that gives me—well, not ‘bad’ chills, but definitely chills because it evokes something creepy is _Puppy Dog Snails_, which I can’t seem to find online right now, sadly.
One question, if I may: when you’re talking about ‘giving you the chills’, do you mean that metaphorically or literally? Because I get visible goosebumps when listening to those songs, and other songs I have a strong reaction to, which I’ve always considered normal, but my wife thinks is weird. So, how’s it with you?
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### Author:  [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2016, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-chills-good-or-bad/742119/110 "2016-06-14T18:16:47Z")
I’ve found damn near any song will give you chills if you play it loud enough.
My scalp tingles when I crank up **Drive-By Truckers**.
Probably not good for me…
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### Author:  [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2016, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-chills-good-or-bad/742119/111 "2016-06-14T20:38:09Z")
[Run Boy Run](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmc21V-zBq0) by Woodkid, best experienced as a music video. I’m not quite sure I can explain why. Something to do with a schoolboy fleeing in anguish and terror (maybe from being bullied?) and transforming into a fearless, powerful warrior allied with a whole panoply of imaginary beasts and giants. It’s surreal, escapist fantasy material, but it definitely gives me the chills (and occasionally tears) when I watch it. It feels good to imagine myself as that kid, shedding all manner of fear and frustration and finding the strength to just roar at the world.
[Touched By The Sun,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xe5ltsXX4Pc) Carly Simon. The lyrics speak of passionate pursuit of amazing ends. In engineering terms, being a goddam outlier way off on the right end of the bell curve. I start thinking of my own life when I hear the song; I had a spark of passion like that maybe 20+ years ago, but somehow it seems to have dimmed along the way…
> [@Gatopescado](#):
>
> I’ve found damn near any song will give you chills if you play it loud enough.
It certainly helps with a lot of songs. Not all of them, certainly not The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, but the ones I listed (among others) definitely justify some volume.
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### Author:  [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2016, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-chills-good-or-bad/742119/112 "2016-06-14T20:39:03Z")
> [@vivalostwages](#):
>
> The chills set in immediately when Johnny Cash covers NiN’s “Hurt”:
> [@Dante\_G](#):
>
> Echo the sentiment for Johnny Cash’s _Hurt_
This was one of the last songs Cash ever recorded.
The video is astounding too.
> [@vivalostwages](#):
>
> I don’t know how I almost forgot this one—Jeff Buckley’s cover of “Hallelujah.” The length of time he holds one note towards the end is astonishing.
>
> [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIF4\_Sm-rgQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIF4_Sm-rgQ)
> [@GreedySmurf](#):
>
> This is one that gives me a chill every time, and I’m not even religious.
Yes, in my opinion the best version ever of this classic.
Here is an A capella version by Marvin Gaye of ‘Heard it through the grapevine’ which is so pure…
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### Author:  [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2016, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-chills-good-or-bad/742119/113 "2016-06-14T20:41:22Z")
Disturbed, [Sound of Silence](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9Dg-g7t2l4&list=RDu9Dg-g7t2l4). The original always made me tear up anyway, but this one is more powerful. And the video is pretty good too, IMHO.
Jeff Buckley, [Hallelujah](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8AWFf7EAc4).
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### Author:  [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)
#### Post date: [June 15, 2016, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-chills-good-or-bad/742119/114 "2016-06-15T03:10:34Z")
> [@glee](#):
>
> This was one of the last songs Cash ever recorded.
> The video is astounding too.
>
> Yes, in my opinion the best version ever of this classic.
>
> Here is an A capella version by Marvin Gaye of ‘Heard it through the grapevine’ which is so pure…
I just clicked on that link but YouTube sez it’s not available in my country. ☹
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### Author:  [@Dorabella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorabella)
#### Post date: [June 15, 2016, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-chills-good-or-bad/742119/115 "2016-06-15T07:46:44Z")
Jeff Buckley [Dido’s Lament](https://youtu.be/sA5UAbl1OWY).
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### Author:  [@Nema98](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nema98)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2016, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-chills-good-or-bad/742119/116 "2016-06-16T02:31:44Z")
“Suddenly Last Summer” by the Motels creeps me out, the video does not help either.
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### Author:  [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2017, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-chills-good-or-bad/742119/117 "2017-04-27T04:17:45Z")
> [@Nema98](#):
>
> “Suddenly Last Summer” by the Motels creeps me out, the video does not help either.
This one, too: “Blood in the Cut” by K. Flay:
Dang.....
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### Author:  [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2017, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-chills-good-or-bad/742119/118 "2017-04-27T04:29:59Z")
[Come Wander with Me](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVdIf8BJME8) from _The Twilight Zone_
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### Author:  [@D.E.S.K.Top668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D.E.S.K.Top668)
#### Post date: [April 28, 2017, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-chills-good-or-bad/742119/119 "2017-04-28T00:22:26Z")
“Hurt” might have bee A NiN song, but Mr. Cash owns it now.
“The Sound of Silence” now belongs to Disturbed. Their rendition is just…OMG.
As far as my contributions, let me introduce Warren Zevon’s [Keep Me in Your Heart for a while](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dscsGRjpxk)
Mr. Zevon wrote this song after finding out he had terminal cancer. He wrote and sang this song for his wife
Also, [Charlie Daniel’s Band song "The legend of Wooly Swamp freeks me the F out. even now](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSM7voOCkU0)
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