Are there any songs or music pieces that are so beautiful and powerful, that they take over your whole existence? These are songs that you want to listen to 20, 30, or even 50 times in a row. Like a drug, they take you on a trip and allow you to transcend your life. Time has no meaning and all of your priorities are redefined when hearing songs of this type.
Here are some of mine:
“Anna Begins” - Counting Crows
“Fake Plastic Trees”, “Karma Police”, and “Let Down” - Radiohead
“Well I Wonder” and “I Know Its Over” - The Smiths
“Con Te Partiro” - Bocelli singing. (Featured in an episode of The Sopranos)
“Nessun Dorma” - Pavarotti singing.
“New World Symphony (1st Movement)” - Dvorak
“9th Symphony (2nd Movement)” - Beethoven
My husband loves Nessun Dorma so much that he wants to make sure it’s the last song he listens to before he dies. Yowza.
Now, jarbaby’s list of musical paralysis:
Lacrimosa - From Mozart’s Requiem
Wilder Wein - the original version, Rammstein
Stolzes Herz (lange version) - Lacrimosa
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - Elton John
One - U2
I get off on tangents a lot, I’ll get hooked on a song or a group for a few weeks and listen to their music until my husband forcibly takes the CD away from me…but the above are the standards that never leave my list.
D’oh! of course it’s THE. Who’s Laurie Freelove? I only know the Mortal Coil version with Liz Fraser on vocals. Would love to hear Tim Buckley’s original though.
Usually the songs that make me stop in my tracks are ones that I heard on the radio when I was younger and either ignored or detested - and now I can appreciate them. For instance, “The first time ever I saw your face” sung by Roberta Flack didn’t do anything for me as an adolescent boy when it first came out but now I listen to it and it’s like one of the most beautiful songs ever.
Fleetwood mac songs are like that. I hated fleetwood mac when I was in high school but now I’ve bought some of their CDs and learned some of their songs. Some great stuff there.
Neil Young and to a lesser extent James Taylor have some songs that really take me back.
Dreams - Fleetwood Mac
Champagne Supernova - Oasis
Last Goodbye - Jeff Buckley
Waltz No. 2 (XO) - Elliot Smith
Caroline - Concrete Blonde
No Aphrodisiac - The Whitlams
In My Life - The Beatles
Message To My Girl - Split Enz
Stolen Car - Beth Orton
Tender - Blur
Everlasting Love - U2
Make a Play For Her Now - Bangles
It’s a Fire - Portishead
Linger - The Cranberries
Shiver - Coldplay
Cornflake Girl - Tori Amos
Teardrop - Massive Attack
One Rainy Wish - Jimi Hendrix
Tomorrow Wendy - Andy Prieboy & Johnette Napolitano
Summertime Rolls - Jane’s Addiction
Cross Bones Style - Cat Power
A Place Called Home - PJ Harvey
Paranoid Android - Radiohead
Gorgeously beautiful and endlessly powerful, each and every one. Just what I want from music.
You might also be interested in this recent thread, it asked a somewhat similar question: What Music Gives You Chills?
Silent All These Years - Tori Amos
What’s the Matter Here? - 10,000 Maniacs
What Time Is Now? - The Smiths
Almighty Father from Leonard Bernstein’s Mass
The entire Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem (particularly having recently performed this piece)
“True Faith” and “1963” - New Order
“Ladykillers” - Lush
“Dogs of Lust” and “Love is Stronger than Death” - The The
“The Different Story” - Peter Schilling
“Fall On Me” - REM
“Black” - Pearl Jam
“Blue Moon” - Cowboy Junkies version
“Walk on Water” - Eddie Money
“True Colors” - Cindy Lauper
“Dream a Little Dream of Me” - Mama Cass version
“Bridge Over Troubled Waters” and “Sounds of Silence” - Simon and Garfunkel
There are probably another 20 songs by The Smiths and another 15 by Radiohead that I could add to this list, but I’ll spare you.
My God - I was just going to post these, myself! (I once drove from Youngstown to Toledo, Ohio, (a three hour drive) listening to nothing but True Faith)
Some others: Yes, Anastasia by Tori Amos Cuts You Up and Cascade by Peter Murphy Eileen Og by Irish Tenor Anthony Kearns The Second Element (Part 2) and A Question of Honor by Sarah Brightman - anyone else seen her most recent concert? Incredible. Easy Terms by Michael Ball Verdi Cries by 10,000 Maniacs Feed the Birds by Julie Andrews (off the Mary Poppins soundtrack)
Y’know, the This Mortal Coil version, to me anyway, is much more powerful. There are a couple versions by Tim Buckley, one uses a funky effect with the guitar and it kind of spoils it. Maybe it’s because I heard the This Mortal Coil version first, but it has so much more atmoshere.
But it’s Tim’s kid Jeff that turns me into a sobbing puddle of a girl. Pretty much every song on Grace, especially “Hallelujiah” and “Lover, You Should Have Come Over”.
I got the album at the beginning of a tenuous relationship and I listened to it constantly, so I put a lot of emotion into it. And then when Jeff Buckley died, well, that was just so sad. I actually haven’t listened to the album in it’s entirity for a couple of years because it’s too depressing. I’m not usually that sensetive, but Grace is a hell of an album.
Where Did You Sleep Last Night by Nirvana…especially how Kurt’s voice breaks at the end.
All I Want Is You by U2
So. Central Rain by R.E.M.
Me and A Gun by Tori Amos
Malibu by Hole
Northern Star by Hole
Something in the Way by Nirvana
Given to Fly by Pearl Jam
Oceans by Pearl Jam
Don’t Give Up by Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush
Dear Mama by 2Pac
Rhiannon by Fleetwood Mac
Lovesong by the Cure
Ok…here are some recent songs that have grabbed me by my boyz and would not let go:
Tear Garden- Romulus and Venus…i can’t get enough of this song…fantastic…beyond words…Ka-Spel and Cey are amazing!! Wolfsheim-It’s Hurtin for the 1st time…man…this song get’s me all emotional…i need a moment…ok, i’m fine. VnV Nation- Amrhan Comhrac…this song makes me wanna do an irish jig! Einsturzende Neubauten- Blumea sensitive and light song from the boys who bang on metal…well i’ll be a monkey’s uncle Radiohead-Wish you where here…brilliant cover…i think i like better then Floyd’s Saves The Day- You Vandal…emo/pop-punk to the highest quality.
** The The- The Shrunken Man**…no words to describe it
** Feindflug- Roter Schnee**…stalingard…masingrad Rammstein- Sonne wow…Till Lidemen learned how to sing…wunderbar! Venetian Snares-Befriend a Child Killer…hehe, umm…well, i’ll tell you guys later. Chemlab-Pyromance…these boys have always known how to do Aggro the right away…unlike ministry or 16volt. Depeche Mode- Surrender…why in the world was this a B-side!!!
