# Songs that scared you when you were young **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 24, 2001, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-scared-you-when-you-were-young/77823 "2001-08-24T01:50:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![okielady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/fbc32d/32.png) [@okielady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/okielady)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2001, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-scared-you-when-you-were-young/77823/21 "2001-08-24T15:08:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tabithina \* > \*\*And then, there’s [Angie Baby](http://members.tripod.com/~Ladymafia/ml-458.html) :eek: \*\* My sister and I were talking about this song a few months ago. I need to hear it again to remember it, but she remembers EVERY SINGLE WORD. It was weird, that’s for sure. Creepy! ---
**Author:** ![poohpah\_chalupa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/91b2a8/32.png) [@poohpah\_chalupa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/poohpah_chalupa)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2001, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-scared-you-when-you-were-young/77823/22 "2001-08-24T15:14:36Z")
**Tubular Bells** by Mike Oldfield. Theme music from the film “The Exorcist.” **Timothy** by the Buoys. This was about a group of miners trapped, cold and hungry, in a collapsed mine. When they were dug out, one of the guys, Timothy, was missing. …the question was: did they eat him? Not scary, but absolutely creepy. ---
**Author:** ![Hamadryad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6de8d8/32.png) [@Hamadryad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamadryad)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2001, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-scared-you-when-you-were-young/77823/23 "2001-08-24T15:16:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by finnofranco \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by jellen92 \* > > \*\*“I Always Feel Like Somebody’s watching Me” - Michael Jackson and someone else I believe?! Made me paranoid as a kid… \*\* > > I think that it was Maxwell who did this song. > I have to agree with **Hugh Jass** about ‘American Pie’. I loved it, but the idea that it was a song about death sort of freaked me out. \*\* I can’t think of a song that scared me, but I have to mention that “Somebody’s Watching Me” was by Rockwell, with background vocals by Michael Jackson…and did y’all know that Rockwell is actually Berry Gordy’s son? \ ---
**Author:** ![finnofranco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@finnofranco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/finnofranco)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2001, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-scared-you-when-you-were-young/77823/24 "2001-08-24T15:25:18Z")
Thanks **Hamadryad**. I thought about it after I sent off my reply, but I just couldn’t get Maxwell out of my head. ---
**Author:** ![Legomancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@Legomancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legomancer)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2001, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-scared-you-when-you-were-young/77823/25 "2001-08-24T15:31:49Z")
I’ll second “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia”. That one creeped me out. My sister played me the alleged “I buried Paul” part of “Strawberry Fields Forever” and I wasn’t the same for months. I was also young when the rumor about “Rollercoaster of Love” was around (the scream in the backgroud is a woman being murdered that was picked up on the mic) so that creeped me out. I’m sure there were others - I spooked easily. ---
**Author:** ![Jet\_Jaguar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jet_jaguar/32/3562_2.png) [@Jet\_Jaguar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jet_Jaguar)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2001, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-scared-you-when-you-were-young/77823/26 "2001-08-24T15:47:03Z")
Not the entire song, but that psychedelic bit in the middle of Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love” terrified me. When I was growing up (in the Detroit area), one of the local independent stations (channel 50 - I believe they’re the Fox affiliate now) would show cheesy horror and monster movies every Saturday. They called it the “Creature Double Feature” or something like that. Anyway, they used that bit as their theme music, and played it in the bumper going to/coming back from commercials. It terrified me so much, I would actually run out of the room and wait out the commercials. To this day, that part of the song still creeps me out a little bit… ---
**Author:** ![plasticbryan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6a8cbe/32.png) [@plasticbryan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plasticbryan)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2001, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-scared-you-when-you-were-young/77823/27 "2001-08-24T16:00:30Z")
I will second Hotel California, it was just plain creepy. But, the song that still gives me the willies (and I’m in my mid 30s) is The Doors “Riders on The Storm”. The music and rain in the beginning of the song, then the thought of a killer on the road is bad enough, but the truly terrifying part for me was the idea of his brain squirming like a toad. ::shudder:: ---
**Author:** ![Legomancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@Legomancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legomancer)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2001, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-scared-you-when-you-were-young/77823/28 "2001-08-24T16:02:22Z")
I just thought of another one: “Dark Lady”, I think by Cher. ---
**Author:** ![lolagranola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ea5d25/32.png) [@lolagranola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lolagranola)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2001, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-scared-you-when-you-were-young/77823/29 "2001-08-24T16:12:39Z")
I didn’t have any songs that scared me, but a band. My parents were very religious, and I think I misunderstood some comments I heard about the band KISS. The first time I saw them, I was convinced that they were demons from the pit of hell. And anyone who liked them must be Satan worshippers. And, of course, the Thriller video was a little too creepy for me. The song freaked me out a little too. ---
**Author:** ![Turpentine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Turpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turpentine)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2001, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-scared-you-when-you-were-young/77823/30 "2001-08-24T17:42:05Z")
When I was 18, I was scared by Pinion by Nine Inch Nails. I couldn’t listen to it alone. Further back, I remember being terrified by the theme song from the Electric Company, especially the woman screaming in the beginning. I was always creeped out by “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” because of the lines “He sees you when you’re sleeping/He knows when you’re awake” I was delighted years later when I found that Calvin shared my sentiments :" Santa Claus- Kindly old elf or CIA spook?" ---
**Author:** ![DeskMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f14d63/32.png) [@DeskMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeskMonkey)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2001, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-scared-you-when-you-were-young/77823/31 "2001-08-24T18:30:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Legomancer \* > \*\*I just thought of another one: “Dark Lady”, I think by Cher. \*\* This was my FAVORITE when I was about 3 or 4!! I was hypnotized by how evil and scary it was. I used to play the 45 over and over and over on my little portable record player. My dad said that because I listened to it so much, he once called me “Dark Lady”. Apparently I wouldn’t talk to him for the rest of the day because she was such an awful woman. She deserved to be shot by Cher! That “Time keeps on slippin’, slippin’, slippin” song by Steve Miller used to scare the bejeezus out of me. There was also a spooky song about James Dean called “Rock On” or something which frightened me so much, I was actually afraid to touch the radio to turn it off. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2001, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-scared-you-when-you-were-young/77823/32 "2001-08-24T18:54:01Z")
“Killing me softly with his song…” Creeped me out because I took it literally. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2001, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-scared-you-when-you-were-young/77823/33 "2001-08-24T19:36:30Z")
The beginning to “You Took the Words Right Outta My Mouth” by Meatloaf. _On a hot summer night, would you offer your throat to the wolf of the red roses?_ The end of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” That older song, “They’re coming to take you away” ---
**Author:** ![PolishSausage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@PolishSausage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PolishSausage)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2001, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-scared-you-when-you-were-young/77823/34 "2001-08-24T19:38:43Z")
‘There Coming to Take Me Away’ - by some sick SOB. Scared the poop out of me when I was little. And to a lesser degree, ‘Tiptoe Through the Tulips’ - by Tiny Tim. His voice, let alone his appearance, was creepy. I was also freeked by any of the Beatles backwards stuff. ~t ---
**Author:** ![PolishSausage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@PolishSausage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PolishSausage)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2001, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-scared-you-when-you-were-young/77823/35 "2001-08-24T19:40:30Z")
Kick ass, Poysyn! Posted the same at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2001, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-scared-you-when-you-were-young/77823/36 "2001-08-24T20:01:47Z")
- House of the Rising Sun \* Just creepy. - Moon River \* The soundtrack to a horrifying nightmare I had repeatedly when I was 6 years old. It was the year my parents separated and I had this dream where they were being sucked into a vortex and a bunch of black-jacketed hoods were standing around laughing while Moon River played in the background. Can’t stand that song to this day. stoid ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2001, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-scared-you-when-you-were-young/77823/37 "2001-08-24T20:41:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Turpentine \* > I was always creeped out by “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” because of the lines “He sees you when you’re sleeping/He knows when you’re awake” > > I was delighted years later when I found that Calvin shared my sentiments :" Santa Claus- Kindly old elf or CIA spook?" Do you read Sluggy Freelance, **Turp**? You might appreciate this [strip](http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=000827). 😃 I can’t think of any songs that really creeped me out as a kid. I feel deprived, somehow. ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2001, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-scared-you-when-you-were-young/77823/38 "2001-08-24T22:24:45Z")
“Nights in White Satin” by the Moody Blues. Just sounded kind of eerie to me. Now I kinda like it. ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2001, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-scared-you-when-you-were-young/77823/39 "2001-08-24T22:33:44Z")
I have to third “Hotel California.” _You can check in any time you want, but you can never leave_? Nooo! “I Put a Spell On You” by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins. That man’s voice is just scary, and I hated the idea of being magically bound to him against my will. Ew. “Mother” by the Police. This one is really ridiculous, but there was one song in the movie _Labyrinth_ that creeped me out at 13 and still does: “Chilly Down”. I have the soundtrack to the movie and have to skip that song every time. ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2001, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-scared-you-when-you-were-young/77823/40 "2001-08-24T22:37:29Z")
/i Damn. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-scared-you-when-you-were-young/77823.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-scared-you-when-you-were-young/77823.md?page=3)