# Very "Disturbing" Songs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 3, 2009, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-disturbing-songs/505120 "2009-08-03T02:54:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![wunderkammer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ed8c4c/32.png) [@wunderkammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wunderkammer)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-disturbing-songs/505120/21 "2009-08-03T06:37:32Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > [John Wayne Gacy Jr. by Sufjan Stevens](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otx49Ko3fxw) I’ve always thought that this one is surprisingly un-creepy, considering the subject. Pathetic, yes, tragic, yes, but not really what I consider _disturbing_. I’d nominate the Beatles’ “Run For Your Life” > [@](#): > > Well I’d rather see you dead, little girl > Than to be with another man > You better keep your head, little girl > Or I won’t know where I am > > You better run for your life if you can, little girl > Hide your head in the sand little girl > Catch you with another man > That’s the ennnnn-d, little girl It’s especially creepy because it just comes out of nowhere at the end of _Rubber Soul_. It starts out all catchy and upbeat, and you’re listening casually, but suddenly the lyrics you’ve been humming along with pop into focus (Catch you with another ma, that’s the ennn-d, little girl…) and the vocal harmonies take on a sinister sound that you hadn’t noticed before, and you’re a tiny bit shaken, because didn’t this seem like a pretty likeable album before now? Did they just go there? It works (the creepy, that is) because it sneaks up on you like that. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-disturbing-songs/505120/22 "2009-08-03T07:25:15Z")
Diane-- Husker Du ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-disturbing-songs/505120/23 "2009-08-03T08:12:45Z")
Most of the above are disturbing due to imagery involving violence etc. On a totally different track, my personal nightmare is the song “Time” from Dark Side of the Moon. I re-read the lyrics just now in order to remind myself for the purpose of this post. Just reading them gives me a mild sense of panic and a desperate but useless and repressed urge to somehow grab onto something to stop my life flowing inexorably away before I get a chance to do all that I want to do. Excuse me while I hyperventilate. ---
**Author:** ![Shamozzle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shamozzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shamozzle)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-disturbing-songs/505120/24 "2009-08-03T10:01:16Z")
Hurt by Nine Inch Nails. Tame, considering upthread content, but still: I hurt myself today To see if i still feel I focus on the pain The only thing that’s real [LYRICS DELETED BY MOD] ---
**Author:** ![Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abby_Emma_Sasha)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-disturbing-songs/505120/25 "2009-08-03T10:24:36Z")
I haven’t heard of most of the songs posted but the most disturbing I can get is _Janie’s Got A Gun_ by Aerosmith. _Tell me now it’s untrue. What did her daddy do? He jacked a little bitty baby The man has got to be insane They say the spell that he was under the lightning and the thunder knew that someone had to stop the rain_ \* The album version had the lyric "_put a bullet in his brain"._ ---
**Author:** ![Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abby_Emma_Sasha)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-disturbing-songs/505120/26 "2009-08-03T10:32:47Z")
I don’t mean to junior mod but **Shamozzle** you can’t quote the whole song, copyright and all that. ---
**Author:** ![Mojo\_Pin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mojo\_Pin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mojo_Pin)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-disturbing-songs/505120/27 "2009-08-03T10:57:06Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > [Country Death Song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lwj5_SNWYc8) by the Violent Femmes. Great one, love that band. > [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > [http://www.lyricsfreak.com/t/tool/prison+sex\_20139421.html](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/t/tool/prison+sex_20139421.html) > > It’s about child abuse. More specifically I think it’s from the pov of the child grown up and doing the same things to another kid. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-disturbing-songs/505120/28 "2009-08-03T11:07:01Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > [John Wayne Gacy Jr. by Sufjan Stevens](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otx49Ko3fxw) thread winner ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-disturbing-songs/505120/29 "2009-08-03T11:12:05Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > On a totally different track, my personal nightmare is the song “Time” from Dark Side of the Moon. I re-read the lyrics just now in order to remind myself for the purpose of this post. Just reading them gives me a mild sense of panic and a desperate but useless and repressed urge to somehow grab onto something to stop my life flowing inexorably away before I get a chance to do all that I want to do. I love the comparison between Pink Floyd’s “Time” and They Might Be Giants’ “Older”. They both deal with the concept of inevitable death, but “Older” is a little more direct. > [@Pink Floyd - Time](#): > > Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain > And you are young and life is long and there is time to kill today > And then one day you find ten years have got behind you > No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun [Quote=They Might be Giants - Older] 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. [/quote] On the subject of Nick Cave’s Murder Ballads, it’s not the subject matter per se but some of the imagery is a little graphic. > [@Nick Cave - O'Malley's Bar](#): > > Well, you know those fish with the swollen lips > That clean the ocean floor > When I looked at poor O’Malley’s wife > That’s exactly what I saw > > I jammed the barrel under her chin > And her face looked raw and vicious > Her head it landed in the sink > With all the dirty dishes ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-disturbing-songs/505120/30 "2009-08-03T11:46:01Z")
The Boomtown Rats’ [\*\*_I Don’t like Mondays_](http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/I-Don't-Like-Mondays-lyrics-Boomtown-Rats/5E4558452F6911EC48256E8C00104FD4)\*\*, even more so because it’s based on a [true story](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brenda_Ann_Spencer). ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-disturbing-songs/505120/31 "2009-08-03T12:42:29Z")
MODERATOR BANGS GAVEL FOR ATTENTION: Folks, please remember our rules on copyright material: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=7696968#post7696968](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=7696968#post7696968) and [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=6769907&postcount=2](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=6769907&postcount=2) The best approach for a song is to quote a stanza, and then provide a link to a site that holds the copyright and can legitimately display all the lyrics. There’s a fair amount of ambiguity in the “fair standards” use when it comes to songs. We at the SDMB tend to be more strict than we perhaps might legally need to be. We don’t want others copying our stuff (especially Cecil’s Columns or Staff Reports, say) without permission, and therefore we don’t want our members copying the material of others. I’ve deleted out, in a couple of posts above, all but the first stanza. That may not be what you intended as illustrative, but it’s straight-forward mechanical. If you’d rather that a different stanza or couple of lines be shown, please email me with exactly what you want (use REPORT on your post, if you want) and be specific and I’ll be glad to fix it for you. Please be aware of our concerns with copyright material in future. ---
**Author:** ![Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abby_Emma_Sasha)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-disturbing-songs/505120/32 "2009-08-03T12:51:18Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > MODERATOR BANGS GAVEL FOR ATTENTION: > > Folks, please remember our rules on copyright material: > [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=7696968#post7696968](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=7696968#post7696968) > and > [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=6769907&postcount=2](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=6769907&postcount=2) > > The best approach for a song is to quote a stanza, and then provide a link to a site that holds the cope. There’s just one problem with that: what if you don’‘t trust the site? I am forced to go to various sites for lyrics, but I don’'t dare post them here. I say post partial lyrics and let freedom be damned. Yeah? ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-disturbing-songs/505120/33 "2009-08-03T12:54:19Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > I’ve deleted out, in a couple of posts above, all but the first stanza. That may not be what you intended as illustrative, but it’s straight-forward mechanical. If you’d rather that a different stanza or couple of lines be shown, please email me with exactly what you want (use REPORT on your post, if you want) and be specific and I’ll be glad to fix it for you. > > Please be aware of our concerns with copyright material in future. You’ve deleted part of my post, you may not be aware but the song the excerpt is from is very long, I quoted only a small part of it. Here is the entire song [G200M: Situs Slot Online Tergacor Hari Ini Terpercaya Maxwin Slot88](http://www.purelyrics.com/index.php?lyrics=jhndaodk). ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-disturbing-songs/505120/34 "2009-08-03T13:18:02Z")
Lyle Lovett’s **L.A. County**. On first listen, it sounds like a love song (and some people have even used it as music at their weddings). But if you pay attention, it’s about someone who murders a bride and groom at the altar, then kneels down and prays next to their corpses. ---
**Author:** ![Shamozzle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shamozzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shamozzle)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-disturbing-songs/505120/35 "2009-08-03T13:58:54Z")
> [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](#): > > I don’t mean to junior mod but **Shamozzle** you can’t quote the whole song, copyright and all that. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-disturbing-songs/505120/36 "2009-08-03T14:20:12Z")
[quote=“1920s Style “Death Ray”, post:33, topic:505120”] You’ve deleted part of my post, you may not be aware but the song the excerpt is from is very long, I quoted only a small part of it. Here is the entire song [G200M: Situs Slot Online Tergacor Hari Ini Terpercaya Maxwin Slot88](http://www.purelyrics.com/index.php?lyrics=jhndaodk). [/QUOTE] I wasn’t aware of that, and I don’t know if **C K Dexter Haven** was. But the guideline here is that you post no more than about one stanza. We ask that everybody stick to that no matter how long the song is. ---
**Author:** ![yoyodyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a9a28c/32.png) [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-disturbing-songs/505120/37 "2009-08-03T14:53:58Z")
Sublime - [Wrong Way](http://www.purelyrics.com/index.php?lyrics=jvbhtybp) ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-disturbing-songs/505120/38 "2009-08-03T15:18:17Z")
[Lake by Anna Domino](http://toroid.org/ams/this-time#lake) - a suicide song from the POV of the suicide. The Ninth Wave - a song cycle by Kate Bush about a woman lost in the water at night. She either drowns or doesn’t, and dies and is judged or not. The song [_Waking the Witch_](http://www.gaffa.org/sensual/l_wtw.html) is especially disturbing. ---
**Author:** ![Normal\_Phase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Normal\_Phase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Normal_Phase)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-disturbing-songs/505120/39 "2009-08-03T16:47:34Z")
> [@madrabbitwoman](#): > > The Childcatcher - Patrick Wolf - Gahhhhhhhh > Pedophilia from the child’s and perpetrator’s pov > [Patrick Wolf - The Childcatcher Lyrics](http://www.lyricsmania.com/lyrics/patrick_wolf_lyrics_3996/lycanthropy_lyrics_11896/the_childcatcher_lyrics_138005.html) In a similar vein, [Art Lover](http://www.lyricsmania.com/lyrics/kinks_the_lyrics_28038/other_lyrics_58555/art_lover_lyrics_593135.html), by The Kinks. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-disturbing-songs/505120/40 "2009-08-03T16:54:44Z")
> [@wunderkammer](#): > > I’d nominate the Beatles’ “Run For Your Life” I can’t disagree with you but for some reason it doesn’t strike me as disturbing. Perhaps because the music is so upbeat it is cancelling the effect of the lyrics. I mean you are right, but for some reason I don’t get the feel of disturbing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-disturbing-songs/505120.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-disturbing-songs/505120.md?page=3)