# What song do you like (or that moves you positively) in spite of yourself? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 10, 2017, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-do-you-like-or-that-moves-you-positively-in-spite-of-yourself/793217 "2017-08-10T02:41:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2017, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-do-you-like-or-that-moves-you-positively-in-spite-of-yourself/793217/1 "2017-08-10T02:41:19Z")
Here is my example, to make it more clear. I am a confirmed and nearly life-long atheist and skeptic. Nevertheless, in the right hands, the song “Lost in the Stars” gets me every time. Especially this part. [QUOTE=Kurt Weill] But I’ve been walking through the night, and the day Till my eyes get weary and my head turns grey And sometimes it seems maybe God’s gone away Forgetting his promise that we’ve heard him say And we’re lost out here in the stars. Little stars, big stars Blowing through the night And we’re lost out here in the stars. [/QUOTE] To me it speaks to the essential loneliness and solitary nature of life, I guess. My life, anyway. So what’s yours? Any subject, any point of view. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2017, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-do-you-like-or-that-moves-you-positively-in-spite-of-yourself/793217/2 "2017-08-10T06:16:14Z")
\*Zip City \* [Drive-By Truckers - D1 - 10) Zip City - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffI303l9SLY) Ultimate Teen-age Angst and Disillusionment. And I’m an old geezer. ---
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2017, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-do-you-like-or-that-moves-you-positively-in-spite-of-yourself/793217/3 "2017-08-10T14:49:05Z")
“Supper’s Ready,” for the same reasons as the OP. I’m a life-long atheist, but the last few minutes of the song, describing the Second Coming, always sends chills down my spine and makes the hair on my arms stand up. Neal Morse became a hardcore Christian, and writes entire concept albums about it. When he went solo, I shied away at first because I didn’t want to listen to him going on and on about God. But I finally gave him a chance, when he released _One_, and I was blown away. The music is [so freakin’ awesome](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0uFb75wpkE), the lyrics can be forgiven. After a while, I even found myself singing along. The stories can be interesting, and invoke strong emotions… especially the middle-late part of _?_. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2017, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-do-you-like-or-that-moves-you-positively-in-spite-of-yourself/793217/4 "2017-08-10T15:36:18Z")
“calling occupants of interplanetary craft” by the Carpenters At face value it is quasi-woo cheesy bollocks and yet…and yet. She sings it as if she truly believes it and so for the length of the song I’m happy to believe it too. Ah, that voice! ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2017, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-do-you-like-or-that-moves-you-positively-in-spite-of-yourself/793217/5 "2017-08-10T16:40:50Z")
Anything Rob Zombie. It’s the weirdest thing, because I don’t like that genre of music (metal) at all, and his songs are all about zombies and death and horror. But I can usually count on a Rob Zombie song to cheer me up and energize me. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2017, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-do-you-like-or-that-moves-you-positively-in-spite-of-yourself/793217/6 "2017-08-10T18:38:42Z")
I’m a non-believer myself but I will always always groove to Norman Greenbaum’s _Spirit In The Sky_. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2017, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-do-you-like-or-that-moves-you-positively-in-spite-of-yourself/793217/7 "2017-08-10T19:07:55Z")
Another confirmed atheist here, but _Amazing Grace_ always gets me. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2017, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-do-you-like-or-that-moves-you-positively-in-spite-of-yourself/793217/8 "2017-08-10T19:38:27Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > I’m a non-believer myself but I will always always groove to Norman Greenbaum’s _Spirit In The Sky_. Ditto. It’s that fuzzed up guitar that does it. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2017, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-do-you-like-or-that-moves-you-positively-in-spite-of-yourself/793217/9 "2017-08-10T19:39:57Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > “calling occupants of interplanetary craft” by the Carpenters > > At face value it is quasi-woo cheesy bollocks and yet…and yet. She sings it as if she truly believes it and so for the length of the song I’m happy to believe it too. > > Ah, that voice! Yes. Best female singer of the 20th Century IMNSHO. I could listen to her sing names out of a phone book and be entranced. And “[For All We Know](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3doTyoI80E)” will always make me cry. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2017, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-do-you-like-or-that-moves-you-positively-in-spite-of-yourself/793217/10 "2017-08-10T23:12:22Z")
> [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](#): > > Another confirmed atheist here, but _Amazing Grace_ always gets me. I always hated the reference to “a wretch like me.” I’m no wretch, thank you very much, Christians. It does have a nice tune, though. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2017, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-do-you-like-or-that-moves-you-positively-in-spite-of-yourself/793217/11 "2017-08-10T23:17:37Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Yes. Best female singer of the 20th Century IMNSHO. I could listen to her sing names out of a phone book and be entranced. And “[For All We Know](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3doTyoI80E)” will always make me cry. Try [the other one](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QH1Mfg3xOM) if you really want a tear-fest. ---
**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 11, 2017, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-do-you-like-or-that-moves-you-positively-in-spite-of-yourself/793217/12 "2017-08-11T01:50:38Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > I always hated the reference to “a wretch like me.” I’m no wretch, thank you very much, Christians. [John Newton](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Newton) was, though. If being a slave trader counts. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2017, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-do-you-like-or-that-moves-you-positively-in-spite-of-yourself/793217/13 "2017-08-11T02:25:46Z")
I’m very much a Christian, but Tim Minchin’s “White Wine in the Sun” always moves me. ---
**Author:** ![DMGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@DMGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2017, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-do-you-like-or-that-moves-you-positively-in-spite-of-yourself/793217/14 "2017-08-11T02:47:00Z")
> [@GESancMan](#): > > “Supper’s Ready,” for the same reasons as the OP. I’m a life-long atheist, but the last few minutes of the song, describing the Second Coming, always sends chills down my spine and makes the hair on my arms stand up. Same here…non-believer, but the end of the song describing the rapture and the second coming gets me every time. There’s an angel standing in the sun, and he’s crying with a loud voice ‘This is the supper of the mighty one’ Lord of Lord, King of Kings Has returned to lead his children home To take them to the new Jerusalem Actually, the whole last section beginning with “can’t you feel our souls ignite”. Ah hell, everything from ‘666 is no longer alone’ in the Apocalypse in 9/8 section gives me goosebumps ---
**Author:** ![melodyharmonius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/melodyharmonius/32/21310_2.png) [@melodyharmonius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melodyharmonius)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2017, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-do-you-like-or-that-moves-you-positively-in-spite-of-yourself/793217/15 "2017-08-11T02:57:14Z")
“Feed Jake” by Pirates of the Mississippi. It’s not a great song - especially on re-listen 25 years later - but just the sentiment - it gets me.