# What song hit you like a thunderbolt when you first heard it
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-hit-you-like-a-thunderbolt-when-you-first-heard-it/914065
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** music
**Created:** [July 2, 2020, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-hit-you-like-a-thunderbolt-when-you-first-heard-it/914065 "2020-07-02T14:19:35Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 6
### Author:  [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2020, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-hit-you-like-a-thunderbolt-when-you-first-heard-it/914065/101 "2020-07-05T21:40:52Z")
Barracuda by Heart. The first few chords made me think it was a new song by Led Zeppelin.
---
### Author:  [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2020, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-hit-you-like-a-thunderbolt-when-you-first-heard-it/914065/102 "2020-07-05T21:48:15Z")
> [@Trinary](#):
>
> Ravel’s Bolero: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhhkGyJ092E](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhhkGyJ092E)
>
> That flute, those drums, the whole feckin’ orchestra… gets right into the soul and says something.
Dudamel is one of my favoutire conductors.
> [@Trinary](#):
>
> Thanks for this link. I adore Bolero almost no matter how it’s arranged. One of the rare songs I could listen to over and over and never tire of hearing.
And here’s my favourite rendition of _Bolero_:
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTd3ZsvqDiQ)
---
### Author:  [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2020, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-hit-you-like-a-thunderbolt-when-you-first-heard-it/914065/103 "2020-07-05T22:01:27Z")
> [@racer72](#):
>
> Barracuda by Heart. The first few chords made me think it was a new song by Led Zeppelin.
I could see that. In hindsight, that “galloping” intro with those chords with that atonal feedback and phasing sound was very heavy for a something that was played on mainstream radio stations.
---
### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2020, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-hit-you-like-a-thunderbolt-when-you-first-heard-it/914065/104 "2020-07-05T22:27:55Z")
Most of the classical music from the Disney movie **Fantasia**. Rite of Spring and Night On Bald Mountain come to mind as seeming very cool to my pre-teen self in the 50s.
Just thought of another jazz tune that really got to me. It was _Soul Serenade_ played by King Curtis. I heard it first as a theme song for a late night radio show. I stayed up to hear it for a week, waiting for the DJ to say what it was and he finally did. I went to the record store the next day and ordered it. Still love that sax.
---
### Author:  [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2020, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-hit-you-like-a-thunderbolt-when-you-first-heard-it/914065/105 "2020-07-05T22:33:40Z")
[How Soon Is Now?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PIi1LWkfDE)
[Honey White](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKtDxX_Gzts)
More recently [Oh Mama](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBYsx1QWF9A).
---
### Author:  [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2020, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-hit-you-like-a-thunderbolt-when-you-first-heard-it/914065/106 "2020-07-06T00:07:34Z")
Too many to remember, but _To Sir With Love by Lulu_ is at the top of my list. I loved that song so much.
_Hallelujah by KD Lang_ is another one. I bought it the day I first heard it and to this day, I take a ride in my car at least monthly just to sing along at top volume.
_Glitter by Pink_ will always and forever be one of my most loved songs of all time. But that’s true of everything she’s ever done.
---
### Author:  [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2020, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-hit-you-like-a-thunderbolt-when-you-first-heard-it/914065/107 "2020-07-06T00:33:45Z")
A song I’ve always loathed, played in a style I’ve never particularly loved - blew me away to where it’s one of my favorite recordings. I heard it on an episode of Better Call Saul in season 4.
[The Gipsy Kings performing _ **A Mi Manera** _](https://youtu.be/Fsw2NQb5xSA) (a.k.a. _My Way_ ::shudder:: )
---
### Author:  [@Trinary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinary)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2020, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-hit-you-like-a-thunderbolt-when-you-first-heard-it/914065/108 "2020-07-06T08:13:34Z")
Awesome way to wake up - Thank you! Loved how they just kept rolling out the instruments, and all that young talent on display. Good stuff.
---
### Author:  [@tavalla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tavalla)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2020, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-hit-you-like-a-thunderbolt-when-you-first-heard-it/914065/109 "2020-07-06T09:01:20Z")
[DJarimirri](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgWHRdt8nnc) by Dr G Yunupingu. The first time I heard it, I was in the kitchen at work and I just stood listening to this magic pouring out of the speakers, utterly transfixed. It’s one of the most remarkable pieces of music I’ve ever heard.
---
### Author:  [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2020, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-hit-you-like-a-thunderbolt-when-you-first-heard-it/914065/110 "2020-07-06T11:14:29Z")
Link won’t work for UK, managed to find this
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-i0FQBbO8E)
---
### Author:  [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2020, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-hit-you-like-a-thunderbolt-when-you-first-heard-it/914065/111 "2020-07-06T14:34:37Z")
I had a similar reaction to their cover of “Hotel California”. I was thoroughly sick of the Eagles classic when I heard the Gypsy Kings’ version in _The Big Lebowski_ and was blown away.
---
### Author:  [@PAjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PAjoe)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2020, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-hit-you-like-a-thunderbolt-when-you-first-heard-it/914065/112 "2020-07-06T14:49:08Z")
I was into cheesy pop music until i heard Gimme Shelter. that was the end of that.
---
### Author:  [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2020, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-hit-you-like-a-thunderbolt-when-you-first-heard-it/914065/113 "2020-07-06T16:55:14Z")
This rendition of “Memories”:
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XB6yjGVuzVo)
---
### Author:  [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2020, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-hit-you-like-a-thunderbolt-when-you-first-heard-it/914065/114 "2020-07-06T17:17:28Z")
I was 13 when I first heard “Don’t Come Around Here No More” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and that was pretty much what set me on the path from just liking songs to liking MUSIC.
---
### Author:  [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2020, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-hit-you-like-a-thunderbolt-when-you-first-heard-it/914065/115 "2020-07-07T01:42:50Z")
> [@SCAdian](#):
>
> This rendition of “Memories”:
>
> [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XB6yjGVuzVo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XB6yjGVuzVo)
>
Beautiful!
---
### Author:  [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2020, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-hit-you-like-a-thunderbolt-when-you-first-heard-it/914065/116 "2020-07-07T17:23:47Z")
Re: “Fuckin’ Perfect” absolutely. As a father of 2 girls, I have trouble getting through the song without tearing up.
---
### Author:  [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)
#### Post date: [July 8, 2020, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-hit-you-like-a-thunderbolt-when-you-first-heard-it/914065/117 "2020-07-08T11:15:42Z")
Wheels by the String-A-Longs, 1961 😉
---
### Author:  [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2020, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-hit-you-like-a-thunderbolt-when-you-first-heard-it/914065/118 "2020-07-09T08:43:24Z")
I was reminded of another example yesterday - I was shocked _lyrically_, not so much musically - by Amy Winehouse: [Rehab.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUmZp8pR1uc)
I have never heard anything more painfully honest. It took a few more years for Amy to kill herself, but she surely put the writing on the wall with this.
Sorely missed.
j
---
### Author:  [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2020, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-hit-you-like-a-thunderbolt-when-you-first-heard-it/914065/119 "2020-07-09T12:21:38Z")
Welcome to the Jungle, 1987
I was 10 years old. Up until that point there wasn’t a lot of music in the house growing up. My mother only ever listened to ABBA and my father only liked the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and Fleetwood Mac.
We had just gotten cable. The first channel that came on was MTV, right at the beginning of that video. Mind blown. I had no idea what I was seeing and hearing, but I loved it and my life was changed forever.
---
### Author:  [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)
#### Post date: [July 9, 2020, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-hit-you-like-a-thunderbolt-when-you-first-heard-it/914065/120 "2020-07-09T13:09:21Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#):
>
> “Cocktails for Two” by Spike Jones
> “Birdhouse in [It’s Automatic](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=frwWi2spMoU)Your Soul” by They Might Be Giants
> “Urban Spaceman” by the Bonzo Dog Band
> “Trouble Every Day” by The Mothers
> “Good Times, Bad Times” by Led Zeppelin
> “Dear Mr. Fantasy” by Traffic
> “Up the Junction” by Squeeze
I’ll co-sign on [Up the Junction](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RQciegmLPAo), and while while _Birdhouse_ is enchanting, my thunderbolt moments with TMBG came from their first album — just a banquet of smart lyrics and catchy music. [I Hope that I Get Old Before I Die](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=odarzRKfbu8).
That’s the thunderbolt formula for me: Smart lyrics and easy melodies. I had an instant obsession with Kid Creole and the Coconuts, largely due to the lyrics, which were super smart (in the fashion of Randy Newman or They Might Be Giants). This was the lead song on the album the sucked me in: [It’s Automatic](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=frwWi2spMoU). Sloganeering with a Greek chorus undercutting the singer.
And, ohh yeah, the big hook in _Born To Run_ burrowed into my head the moment I heard it.
[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-hit-you-like-a-thunderbolt-when-you-first-heard-it/914065.md?page=5)
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-hit-you-like-a-thunderbolt-when-you-first-heard-it/914065.md?page=7)