# Songs that give you chills **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 12, 2005, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-chills/312101 "2005-07-12T01:22:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-chills/312101/61 "2005-07-13T12:03:35Z")
Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) by the Eurythmics. Almost anything by this groups is chill-inducing. ---
**Author:** ![bang\_ouch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@bang\_ouch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bang_ouch)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-chills/312101/62 "2005-07-13T15:59:59Z")
About half of these have already been mentioned, so just consider them seconded: Something Vague - Bright Eyes Bittersweet Symphony - The Verve Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd Love Will Tear Us Apart - Joy Division Hurt - Johnny Cash version of the NIN song Any version of Tainted Love St Swithen’s Day - Ben Gibbard cover of the Billy Bragg song Zombie - The Cranberries The ultimate winner: O Holy Night - sung by the local Tongan Choir (despite being agnostic and all). A woman with the most amazing voice ever does the “fall on your knees” bit on her own, and wow. Everyone gets teary. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-chills/312101/63 "2005-07-14T00:26:51Z")
Reflections of My Mind - _Marmalade_ ---
**Author:** ![phoebo32](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@phoebo32](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phoebo32)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-chills/312101/64 "2005-07-15T19:16:34Z")
Without you I’m nothing - Placebo Play Dead - Bjork Time - Tori Amos Roads - Portishead Winners - K’s Choice And theres a song on the “To the Faithful Departed” album by the Cranberries, the name has escaped me right now but it sounds like a corousel or merry-go-round. And seconds to Roxanne (Moulin Rouge), Songbird by Eva Cassidy and nothing compares to you by Sinead O Conner, but more so the video that the song. It’s not even an interesting video, but for some reason she draws you in and doesn’t let you go right til the end. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-chills/312101/65 "2005-07-15T19:39:48Z")
“Genesis Hall” by Fairport Convention (Richard Thompson’s acoustic version is nearly as good). “Anakie Gordon” by Mary Black “Before the Deluge” by Jackson Browne “Lovely on the Water” by Steeleye Span “Banks of the Nile” by Fotheringay ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-chills/312101/66 "2005-07-15T20:19:15Z")
**South City Midnight Lady** - Doobie Brothers **The Temples of Syrinx** - Rush ---
**Author:** ![ArrMatey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrmatey/32/3522_2.png) [@ArrMatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArrMatey)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-chills/312101/67 "2005-07-15T20:34:00Z")
Recently found this one: [http://www.west-of-the-moon.net/servlet/ReadGenPoetry?poetryID=46](http://www.west-of-the-moon.net/servlet/ReadGenPoetry?poetryID=46) And it’s made me weep more than once, especially when I think about how well the Frodo-Samwise bond was presented in the recent films. ---
**Author:** ![cruel\_butterfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5daacb/32.png) [@cruel\_butterfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cruel_butterfly)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-chills/312101/68 "2005-07-15T20:40:22Z")
**Wild** by Poe. Actually, most of the songs from that album give me the chills, as do the eerie recordings of her father’s voice and whoever did the voice of the little girl. Her voice reminds me of little Carol Anne from Poltergeist. ---
**Author:** ![Ol\_Gaffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Ol\_Gaffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ol_Gaffer)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-chills/312101/69 "2005-07-15T20:55:09Z")
> [@shelbo](#): > > That Crosby Stills & Nash song, I don’t know the name: > > _I was standing on the grave > of a soldier that died > in 1799. > And the day he died it was a birthday; > And I noticed it was mine. > And my head didn’t know just who I was > And I went spinning back in time > And I am high, upon the altar_ _Winchester Cathedral_. Good pick. My choices: _The Town I Loved So Well_ - The Dubliners _Johnny Come Lately_ - Steve Earle _New York City_ - as covered by They Might Be Giants (mostly because I saw them in concert about a week after 9/11 and when they introduced it they said “This next song is about New York (pause) because that’s where we’re from.” They didn’t really have to say anything else.) ---
**Author:** ![boofuu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f4b2a3/32.png) [@boofuu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boofuu)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2005, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-chills/312101/70 "2005-07-16T00:06:14Z")
Seal’s “Kiss From A Rose” makes my boyfriend cry everytime it plays. Like snivelling crying. I play it when I am mad at him. My mother chimes in with Smokey Robinson’s “Quiet Storm.” I would add “Bad Girl” with him and the Miracles. My brother’s nominates “Komm Susser Tod” on the Evangelion soundtrack. I produces an odd feeling of dissonance with me. The song has a pretty upbeat sound but the [lyrics](http://www.animelyrics.com/anime/eva/ngekst.htm)… Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” gives me the chills like no other song, except for… the 4th movement in Beethoven’s Ninth. For the best emphasis play it about 10 minutes before dawn, get a nice view, a comfy chair and enjoy. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Vega](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a9adbd/32.png) [@Lord\_Vega](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Vega)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2005, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-chills/312101/71 "2005-07-16T03:59:55Z")
Little Wing by SRV and Double Trouble. I can’t listen to it alone. I start tearing up, don’t know why. Anytime I watch or listen to the soundtrack of Jesus Christ, Superstar, when Jesus throws the moneychangers out of the temple, and sings the line “My temple should be a house of prayer…”, big time chills. Major goosebumps every time. Cheers, Vega ---
**Author:** ![mojave66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@mojave66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mojave66)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2005, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-chills/312101/72 "2005-07-16T05:29:17Z")
Kind of (undeservedly) obscure, but ohhhh my, Indian playback singer Lata Mangeshkar (w/ Jagjit Singh) did a ghazal called “Dard Se Mera Daaman Bharde.” It starts with Lata reaching these unreal, slow, soaring high notes starting with the words “Ya Allah” that are just ELECTRIC. It’ll turn you Sufi, I swear. ---
**Author:** ![Baggins111](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc29f/32.png) [@Baggins111](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baggins111)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2005, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-chills/312101/73 "2005-07-16T06:12:57Z")
**Ripple** - Grateful Dead. Hell, even when Garrison Keillor did it a month or so ago on APHC. **I Stand Alone** - Godsmack **Ne Me Quite Pas** - Edith Piaff **Israel Kamakawawo’ole** - Somwhere Over the Rainbow. Even though it’s been used abundantly in TV ads. It was MY song before those ad execs knew it, dammit. Pretty ecclectic… **Vega** - I’m with you on JCSS, except for me it’s when Jesus sings while praying in the garden, “Alright, I’ll die!” And I’m not a religious man. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2005, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-chills/312101/74 "2005-07-16T08:12:07Z")
**Severance** by _Dead Can Dance_ , **Hollow Hills** by _Bauhaus_ , **1959** by _The Sisters of Mercy_ , **Sand** by _Einstuzende Neubauten_ and **A Rainy Night in SoHo** by _The Pogues_ are mine ---
**Author:** ![Hung\_Mung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hung\_Mung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hung_Mung)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2005, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-chills/312101/75 "2005-07-16T08:59:47Z")
“In My Life” == The Beatles “The Luckiest” Ben Folds ---
**Author:** ![Carm6773](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/2bfe46/32.png) [@Carm6773](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carm6773)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2005, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-chills/312101/76 "2005-07-16T13:49:58Z")
[QUOTE=ArrMatey! **The Thunder Rolls** , not the radio version one normally hears, but the live version with the ‘extra’ verse. The crowd goes wild as he goes into the last verse, the one that makes the song, to me, a lot more poigniant. Doesn’t hurt that I love the sound of thunderstorms.[/QUOTE] I vote here for Garth’s [The River](http://www.planetgarth.com/lyrics/the_river.shtml). I heard this song not long after my Uncle (who loved fishing) died. It gets me everytime. Some other Country songs to consider: Brad Paisley/Alison Krauss: **Whiskey Lullaby** Martina McBride: **Concrete Angel** Toby Keith: **New Orleans** John Michael Montgomery: **The Little Girl** Randy Travis: **Three Wooden Crosses** ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2005, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-chills/312101/77 "2005-07-16T14:13:53Z")
Some great choices! Here are my picks that haven’t (I think) been mentioned yet: **Older** by They Might Be Giants. A great little creepy song about time, beginning: > [@](#): > > You’re older than you’ve ever been > and now you’re even older > and now you’re even older > and now you’re even older > You’re older than you’ve ever been > and now you’re even older > and now you’re older still **The Wind that Shakes the Barley** by Dead Can Dance. A pretty typical my-love-gets-killed song, but beautifully performed. **Black Wings** by Tom Waits. There’s a specific lyric in it that sends chills through me: > [@](#): > > When the moon is a cold chiselled dagger > And it’s sharp enough to draw blood from a stone > He rides through your dreams on a coach and horses > And the fenceposts in the moonlight look like bones And one more Tom Waits pick (though really, he’s got quite a few): **Kentucky Avenue** , off of _Blue Valentine_. Again, it’s a particular lyric that gets me: at the end of a slow, quiet love song sung by one delinquent boy to another, during which he’s described plans to slash schoolbus tires, spit on ronnie arnold, kill some rattlesnakes, and so forth, there’s the following: > [@](#): > > take the spokes from your wheelchair > and a magpies wings > and tie em to your shoulders and your feet > i’ll steal a hacksaw from my dad > and cut the braces off your legs > and we’ll bury them tonight in the cornfield Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2005, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-chills/312101/78 "2005-07-16T14:15:00Z")
Oh, one more I wanted to mention: Kronos Quartet’s performance of Shostakovich’s **Quartet #8** is deeply, deeply powerful, ominous, and chilling. (The piece is a dirge for the millions dead at Stalin’s hands, I believe). Daniel [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-chills/312101.md?page=3)