# Songs That Give You the Chills **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 3, 2001, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-the-chills/74802 "2001-08-03T17:09:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Living\_Dead\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecb155/32.png) [@Living\_Dead\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Dead_Girl)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2001, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-the-chills/74802/61 "2001-08-05T11:58:11Z")
I haven’t full read through the thread yet, so forgive me if some of these have been said. _Magic (live)_ - **Ben Folds Five** (“You’re the magic that holds the sky up, from the ground…”) _Boxing_ - **Ben Folds Five** _No Surprises_ - **Radiohead** (“I’ll take a quiet life, a handshake, some carbon monoxide.”) _Street Spirit (fade out)_ - **Radiohead** _Nightswimming_ - **REM** _Spaceboy_ - **Smashing Pumpkins** (“Spaceboy, they’ll kill me… before I’m dead and gone.”) _Everlong_ - **Foo Fighters** _Where Is My Mind_ - **Pixies** _Who Wants To Live Forever?_ - **Queen** (“Who waits forever anyway?”) _Three Libras_ - **A Perfect Circle** _You Said Something_ - **PJ Harvey** _Northern Lad_ - **Tori Amos** (“And if you, could see me now…”) _Wish You Were Here_ - **Pink Floyd** (“Running over the same old ground - what have we found? The same old fears… wish you were here.”) Sniff… I think I have something in my eye. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![VitrolicBump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a587f6/32.png) [@VitrolicBump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VitrolicBump)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2001, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-the-chills/74802/62 "2001-08-05T15:42:58Z")
Ooops…I forgot to mention that I have more songs, but how can I list most of my CD collection? That would be a lot of songs. I can usually relate to, and sometimes cry because of, a song. It makes it so much more enjoyable. ---
**Author:** ![sorrel554](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@sorrel554](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sorrel554)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-the-chills/74802/63 "2001-08-06T00:52:17Z")
Little Jimmy Scott’s **Sycamore Trees**. It figured prominently in the **Twin Peaks** finale, but it is hair-raising even without that attendant creepiness. ---
**Author:** ![Lyra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Lyra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lyra)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-the-chills/74802/64 "2001-08-06T01:06:03Z")
I am surprised no one has mentioned this one … **Leann Womack’s I Hope You Dance** That one does it for me… ---
**Author:** ![YthDecay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/82dd89/32.png) [@YthDecay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YthDecay)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-the-chills/74802/65 "2001-08-06T02:01:51Z")
**Safety In Numbers** - Joan Osborne (“since that day I learned the score/I know how to rise above”) **Liquid Diamonds** - Tori Amos (“Daddy’s down, preaching back into himself/let’s keep it just between us”) **Burning Flag** - Marilyn Manson (“Let’s hear it for the kids/but nothing they say/they gyrate and g-rate on election day”) **I Think I’m Paranoid** - Garbage (“bend me, break me, any way you need me/All I want is you”) **#1 Crush** - Garbage **Amost Done** - Morcheeba (“I thank you/I’d love to cut your throat”) **Dog Coffee** - Ani Difranco (“Freedom and democracy/that’s the word from Washington every day/put America to sleep with warm milk and a cliche/some people are expendable along the way/your dollar is dependable, what more can we say?”) **Exit Music (for a film)** - Radiohead (“We hope your rules and wisdom choke you”) **Yes, Anastasia** - Tori Amos (“we’ll see how brave you are/We’ll see how fast you’ll be running”) **Iron Flower** - K’s Choice (“take a jump from your pretty linguistic tower”) ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-the-chills/74802/66 "2001-08-06T02:54:53Z")
Well, I know this is a shock, but “Sam Stone” by John Prine. Also, “Boom Boom Mancini” and “Charlie’s Medicine” by Warren Zevon. ---
**Author:** ![YWalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/6f9a4e/32.png) [@YWalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YWalker)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-the-chills/74802/67 "2001-08-06T03:47:26Z")
I’ll agree with **More than Words** — I always feel myself sigh when it’s over, wishing it would go on. Roberta Flack’s **Killing Me Softly** and **The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face** are wonderful, too. And I love too many to name by **Gershwin.** When I saw the thread title, I had a different impression of “chills” than was intended in the OP, though. I thought back to a dreadful song called “DOA” which was out some time around 1970 (the year my older sister died — I was 9.) It was a first person account of someone in a terrible accident dying. The lyrics I can’t forget are “Pain is flowing out of my body…God in Heaven, teach me how to die.” I would get physically ill listening to it. Why the hell would anyone want to listen to that? ---
**Author:** ![Doobieous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Doobieous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doobieous)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-the-chills/74802/68 "2001-08-06T06:28:38Z")
My picks: Deftones: Pink Maggit Change (In the House of Flies) Teenager Poe: Angry Johnny Amazed 5 1/2 Minute Hallway Spanish Doll Janet Jackson: Better Days Trust a Try Anytime, Anyplace The Body That Loves You Massive Attack: Dissolved Girl Mezzanine Angel Portishead: Theme from “To Kill a Dead Man” Strangers Roads All Mine Glorybox ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-the-chills/74802/69 "2001-08-06T07:44:35Z")
Mrs. Lennon by Yoko Ono Song For John by Yoko Ono Working Class Hero By John Lennon When I listened to those songe they were spooky. Now they are some of my favorites. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-the-chills/74802/70 "2001-08-06T09:01:25Z")
I’ll toss in votes for **Street Spirit (fade out)** by Radiohead, and **Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald** by Gordon Lightfoot, and I’ll add; **Caught without an Umbrella** - Spearhead **Drink** - Junkhouse **Crossing a Canyon** - 54-40 **Let me In** - REM **Wing-stock** - Ashley MacIssac **Bohemian Rhapsody** - Queen **East St. Louis Toodeloo** - Duke Ellington ---
**Author:** ![bwanasimba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/53a042/32.png) [@bwanasimba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bwanasimba)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-the-chills/74802/71 "2001-08-06T11:34:20Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by exchicagoan \* > \*\* > The “celebration”/ending to 1812 OVERTURE. The bells, that stunning pacing. > FORTUNA IMPERATIX MUNDI from CARMINA BURANA. > The QUARTET from WEST SIDE STORY. > ----raises the hair on my arms every time._\* Yum! Sung / played many of the classsical ones in this fantastic list. Don’t forget **Vidor’s Toccata** , but only when you’re standing right in front of the organ. Goosebumps, electricity crackles up and down my back and moves me to tears every time. Marvelous. ---
**Author:** ![stolichnaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@stolichnaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolichnaya)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-the-chills/74802/72 "2001-08-06T13:20:42Z")
Wow there are a lot of good ones here. This is going to sound strange, but that little “Teenage Dirtbag” song by Wheatus makes the hair stand up on my arms. Also, there’s a short (1min) song on the _Rounders_ soundtrack called “Fold” that I can put on repeat for an hour. Lots of movie soundtracks get me: _Dead Poets Society_, _Braveheart_, _Glory_ for example. Ben Harper’s live version of “Sexual Healing” is awesome. In fact I’m listening to it right now. I’m headed right off to GQ to ask why my hair needs to stand up when I hear this stuff. ---
**Author:** ![BlueMoonofKentucky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8dc957/32.png) [@BlueMoonofKentucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueMoonofKentucky)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-the-chills/74802/73 "2001-08-06T15:26:23Z")
Great thread, Here’s mine, **Mother’s not Dead (she’s only a’sleeping)** and **In The Pines** As performed by Bill Monroe **Amazing Grace** and **May the Circle Be Unbroken** **Hero Of The Day** From the Metallica w/ SF symphony album. **Changes** By Black Sabbath ---
**Author:** ![Spritle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Spritle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spritle)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-the-chills/74802/74 "2001-08-06T18:06:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by darian00 \* > \*\* > _Cyndi Lauper_’s Time After Time. We did this my junior year in high school for the Winterguard competition. While I wasn’t actually in Winterguard, I was on the loading and stage crew. That show brought chills to me every time I saw it, and to this day it’s all still very vivid. > \*\* May I suggest you give **Eva Cassidy** ’s version a listen. It’s hauntingly beautiful in a way that would make Cyndi Lauper smear her eye-liner until she looked like Tammy Faye Bakker. **stolichnaya** , while I don’t get the chills frim **Ben Harper** ’s version, I do “suffer” [other effects](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=69858) from the song. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Drum\_God](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drum_god/32/44_2.png) [@Drum\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drum_God)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-the-chills/74802/75 "2001-08-06T19:05:31Z")
**Lord of the Rings** - deMiej **A Lincoln Portrait** - Copland **Appalachian Spring** - Copland **Theme from _JFK_** - Williams **Duel of the Fates from _SW Ep. 1: The Phantom Menace_** - Williams There’s more of course. Just about anything sung by Charlotte Church gives me chills. Such a spectacular voice from someone so young (or, really, from anyone) is simply breathtaking. ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-the-chills/74802/76 "2001-08-06T21:13:50Z")
Lots of good choices here. Especially Les Mis and Tori. (Yay, Northern Lad!) More Tori: Winter “When you gonna make up your mind? When you gonna love you as much as I do? … You say that things change… so fast” Jackie’s Strength Another Les Mis moment: Just after Fantine’s death, the duet between Valjean and Javert: “And this I swear to you tonight” “There is no place for you to hide” “Your child will live within my care” “Wherever you my hide away” “And I will raise her to the light” “I swear to you… I will be there.” Metallica’s One gets me and so does Pearl Jam’s Elderly Woman… ---
**Author:** ![dasceder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3d9bf3/32.png) [@dasceder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasceder)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-the-chills/74802/77 "2001-08-06T21:14:02Z")
“Here Comes a Regular” By The Replacements A little toe-tapper about small-town, drunken human-debris. One bootleg version I have is made especially poignant by a completely hammered Paul Westerberg slurring, “…opportunity knocks once and then the door slams shut, all I know is that I’m sick of everything my money can buy, a foolish waste of life, God rest his guts.” ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2001, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-the-chills/74802/78 "2001-08-06T21:51:02Z")
“Anna Begins” - Counting Crows “One Caress” - Depeche Mode “1963” - New Order “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out” - The Smiths “Blue Moon Revisited (A Song for Elvis)” - Cowboy Junkies “Sing” - Travis “Distortions” - Clinic “Sulk” - Radiohead ---
**Author:** ![The\_Mermaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@The\_Mermaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Mermaid)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2001, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-the-chills/74802/79 "2001-08-07T02:47:24Z")
Without a doubt, **This Perfect World** by Freedy Johnson is at once one of the most beautiful and the most creepy songs ever written. It is told from the point of view of a guy who had killed this woman’s daughter and is now confronted by him in her own home. He is telling her that he still deserves to grieve for her even if he is a monster. Lyrics in part… - You outghta lock that door/ somebody might get in/ didn’t I teach you that?\* The last line makes me shiver - You outght see your face/ you ought hear your voice/ lock this after me. ---
**Author:** ![Folkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@Folkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folkie)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2001, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-the-chills/74802/80 "2001-08-07T03:05:34Z")
Great thread topic… Great thread… “The Water is Wide” performed by just about anyone. When the lyrics get to: “But not so deep as this love I’m in, I know not if I sink or swim…” That does it for me. “And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda” and “No Man’s Land,” written by Eric Bogle. “Soda Machine” by Fred J Eaglesmith, especially as performed by Jenny Whiteley. “39” by Queen, the best science fiction song I know. The last line: “pity me” makes me shiver. “The Clone Lullaby” by Zeke Hoskin. Very funny song until the punch line slaps you in the face. “Hard Love” and “For Real” by Bob Franke. “Now That I’ve Taken My Life” by Tom Paxton. “Guenevere and the Fire” by Fred Small. “Coke Oven Brook” by James Gordon. “The Kind of Love You Never Recover From” by Christine Lavin "“Hands on the Switch” and “Evelyn Leaves the Lights on” (coincidence?) by Dave Gordon. “You’ll be There” by The Foreman, but especially as performed by Rebel Voices. “Democracy” and Bird on a Wire" and “Famous Blue Raincoat” and “Ain’t No Cure for Love” by Leonard Cohen, especially as performed by Jennifer Warnes in many cases. “January Man” by Dave Goulder, esp as performed by Pint and Dale. What can I say? I shiver easily. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-the-chills/74802.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-give-you-the-chills/74802.md?page=5)