# What Music Gives You Chills? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 10, 2001, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-gives-you-chills/53898 "2001-02-10T07:58:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Road\_Rash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@Road\_Rash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Road_Rash)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2001, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-gives-you-chills/53898/21 "2001-02-11T03:18:51Z")
“You will be Mine Tonight,” (I think) by the Toadies. At first I thought it was just a neat song, until I heard the lyrics. It is about a man breaking into a girl’s resident, drinking a beer from her fridge, then breaking into her room and raping, killing, or possibly kidnapping her. I hear lots of rap songs with violent lyrics, but the machismo and bravado of them just makes them sound silly to me. This song’s lyrics is very creative and very disturbing. ---
**Author:** ![Broken\_Doll](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbce88/32.png) [@Broken\_Doll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broken_Doll)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2001, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-gives-you-chills/53898/22 "2001-02-11T03:54:11Z")
Any of Danny Elfman’s music, and most Jeff Buckley songs give me chills. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Red\_Menace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/82dd89/32.png) [@The\_Red\_Menace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Red_Menace)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2001, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-gives-you-chills/53898/23 "2001-02-11T03:58:00Z")
there’s a tori amos song called “space dog” that has the most incredible end to any song i’ve ever heard. i have no idea what the lyrics mean, but her voice and the instrumentation makes my whole body shiver. her first three albums all give me chills, as a matter of fact. also, the second half of disc one on the wall is mighty chilling sometimes. “run to the bedroom in the suitcase on the left you’ll find my favorite axe”. i love that part of the album ---
**Author:** ![Skwerl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Skwerl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skwerl)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2001, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-gives-you-chills/53898/24 "2001-02-11T04:48:42Z")
The first movement Mendelssohn’s violin concerto in E minor, Opus 64, often does it for me. Also the first movement of Beethoven’s 6th symphony. The 4th movement of his 9th symphony (aka Ode to Joy) is good, too. Dang it, I know there are a few more, I just can’t think of them at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![Skwerl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Skwerl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skwerl)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2001, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-gives-you-chills/53898/25 "2001-02-11T04:53:53Z")
Oh yeah, one of them is “Gabriel’s Oboe” by Ennio Morricone from The Mission. Especially in one of the last scenes where Jeremy Irons is holding the cross and the Portugese (hmm…maybe Spanish, I don’t remember) are shooting at him. And that reminds me, Schindler’s List’s theme is pretty moving, too. ---
**Author:** ![Gazoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ce73a5/32.png) [@Gazoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gazoo)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2001, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-gives-you-chills/53898/26 "2001-02-11T05:21:02Z")
Three songs: _Crush_ by **Dave Matthews** (perhaps the most romantic song ever writen) _Untitled_ by **Domestic Problems** (you can download about half of it [here](http://www.domesticproblems.com/dphear.htm)) _Suicide is Painless (theme from M_A_S_H)\* (Lyrics that always seem to hit home when I’m feeling down.) Hmm, now that I think about it – > [@](#): > > \*originally posted by \ ***The Red Manace** “run to the bedroom in the suitcase on the left you’ll find my favorite axe”. The entire cut of _The Wall_, my favorite album of all time as well. ---
**Author:** ![rackensack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@rackensack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rackensack)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2001, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-gives-you-chills/53898/27 "2001-02-11T05:27:33Z")
The Pogues’ “Fairytale of New York”, along with several other moments on _If I Should Fall From Grace With God_ where the melody goes straight to some preconscious part of the limbic system for me. ---
**Author:** ![Jvanhorn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jvanhorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jvanhorn)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2001, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-gives-you-chills/53898/28 "2001-02-11T11:55:47Z")
Too Late for Prayin’, by Gordon Lightfoot Anything for Love, Gordon Lightfoot ---
**Author:** ![Tansu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@Tansu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tansu)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2001, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-gives-you-chills/53898/29 "2001-02-11T13:37:45Z")
Moya [sup]GODSPEED YOU BLACK EMPEROR![/sup] Mogwai Fear Satan [sup]MOGWAI[/sup] Houdini Blues [sup]KRISTIN HERSH[/sup] Washer [sup]SLINT[/sup] Stranger than Kindness [sup]NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS[/sup] [sup]DIAMANDA GALAS[/sup] Much of her work is music about the anguish of dying from AIDS. It’s supposed to give you chills. Spem in alium [sup]THOMAS TALLIS[/sup] ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2001, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-gives-you-chills/53898/30 "2001-02-11T14:09:24Z")
The soundtrack to **The Omen** and the Eurythemics song, **Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)** give me the chills. ---
**Author:** ![HP\_Ellison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HP\_Ellison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HP_Ellison)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2001, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-gives-you-chills/53898/31 "2001-02-11T14:17:26Z")
yes! a music thread! Lately, songs that have been giving me chills are ‘Prison’ and ‘Toxic Angel’, by Joseph Arthur. I downloaded the live versions of these songs off napster (considering how i own the albums on which these two tracks are to be found, I’m ok with this), and it’s simply chilling. Let’s see…It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue (Van Morrison’s version) always chills me up. Special K off the new Placebo CD is damn good as well. As far as classic chilling songs go, though, definately Caruso by Gavin Friday, Lemon by U2, and just about everything Leonard Cohen’s ever done, specifically Waiting for the Miracle, First We Take Manhattan and Everybody Knows. Great stuff. H.P.E. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2001, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-gives-you-chills/53898/32 "2001-02-11T20:52:44Z")
I have to agree with SPOOFE and Halber on Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb”, and with the ever-insightful Zenster on “Tocatta and Fugue in D Minor”. Other songs that have this effect, in no particular order: “Herald’s Lament” by Mercedes Lackey; soft, simple music with lyrics that blend hope and grief. (“Death never dared him captive keep/He lies not there, he does not sleep…”) “Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” by Gordon Lightfoot; the subject matter is enough to chill the blood, and Lightfoot handled it well, I think. “Poison Glen” by Clannad; again, simple harp song with poignant lyrics. “The Highwayman” by Loreena McKennit; the original poem always gave me chills–her voice makes it all the stronger. “Pretty Polly” (a folk song, I don’t know who wrote it)–the end is rather creepy: “Oh, where is pretty Polly/Yonder she stands/With rings on the fingers/Of her lily-white hands” seems innocuous enough, unless you know that Polly was murdered. ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2001, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-gives-you-chills/53898/33 "2001-02-11T22:06:28Z")
How could I forget this one?!? [li]SiBheag, SiMhor[/li][sup]PLANXTY[/SUP] _The Ullian pipes in the solo introduction are achingly plaintive. When the guitar and mandolin finally join in the melody line, it just about rips your heart out with its eloquence and dolorous sweep. Truly one of O’Carolan’s masterpieces._ [sup](Even though skilled Irish musicians regard it as a sort of nursery rhyme.)[/sup] PS: I’m listening to it right now and it is _so_ chilling me out. Learning to play this on guitar in full harmony was one of my most satisfying musical achievements. ---
**Author:** ![sulawesi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@sulawesi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sulawesi)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2001, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-gives-you-chills/53898/34 "2001-02-12T03:39:47Z")
Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto #2 in C Minor (Especially Mvt. 2, Adagio Sostenuto) ---
**Author:** ![Skarecrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@Skarecrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skarecrow)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2001, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-gives-you-chills/53898/35 "2001-02-12T05:59:14Z")
Crystal Flame - Blues Traveler Jealous Guy - John Lennon Piano Man - Billy Joel Walk - Pantera You don’t know me - Ray Charles Black - Pearl Jam Hunger Strike - Temple of the Dog Stuck inside of mobile with the memphis blues again - Bob Dylan Across the Universe - Beatles Hurdy Gurdy Man - Donovan Nothing Compares 2 You - Sinead O’conner Dead Skin Mask - Slayer Florence - Little Blue Crunchy Things Heaven - Talking Heads Jersey Girl - Tom Waits (and a plethora of his other tunes) Arms Wide Open - Creed (normally this song would do nothing for me, but it was serendipitously the first song that I heard after my son was born, the line, “I hope he’s not like me…” hit me hard.) 100 years - Blues Traveler Simmer Down - Mighty Mighty Bosstones Snap your Fingers Snap your Neck - Prong Wish you Were Here - Pink Floyd Homeward Bound - Simon and Garfunkel I could go on for awhile but this seems to be getting pretty long so I’ll leave it at that. ---
**Author:** ![Monkey\_Chews](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@Monkey\_Chews](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monkey_Chews)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2001, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-gives-you-chills/53898/36 "2001-02-12T10:27:41Z")
“Hallelujah” by Jeff Buckley never fails to do some serious spinal damage. Other songs that make me stop and gasp: “One Rainy Wish” - Jimi Hendrix “Souvenir” - Pretty & Twisted “Correspondences” - The Tea Party “Dry the Rain” - The Beta Band (especially that epic climax) “Red Right Hand” - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (just plain scary!) “Time After Time” - Cyndi Lauper (for purely nostalgic reasons) [sub]My first post. Yay![/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2001, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-gives-you-chills/53898/37 "2001-02-12T11:20:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Nicko \* > \*\*[sub]My first post. Yay![/sub] > \*\* Hello mate, you finally made it then? ---
**Author:** ![tevya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@tevya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tevya)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2001, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-gives-you-chills/53898/38 "2001-02-12T12:03:09Z")
The Mercy Seat by Nick Cave (and the fabulous cover of this song by Johnny Cash. ---
**Author:** ![RocknRoll\_Killing\_Machine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5daacb/32.png) [@RocknRoll\_Killing\_Machine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RocknRoll_Killing_Machine)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2001, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-gives-you-chills/53898/39 "2001-02-12T14:02:19Z")
Most definitely Moya by **Godspeed You Black Emperor**. Actually, most GYBE! stuff gives me chills. Swimming The Channel Vs. Driving The Chunnel by **Botch** Bro Hymn Tribute by **Pennywise** ---
**Author:** ![GWF\_Hefel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/898d66/32.png) [@GWF\_Hefel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GWF_Hefel)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2001, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-gives-you-chills/53898/40 "2001-02-12T14:09:54Z")
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