# What songs are "sinister" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 3, 2005, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-are-sinister/324658 "2005-10-03T23:01:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bluecanary](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bluecanary/32/3614_2.png) [@bluecanary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bluecanary)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-are-sinister/324658/1 "2005-10-03T23:01:32Z")
Some songs sound ‘sinister’ to me. I know it’s a bit of an odd way of describing a piece of music, but that’s the closest description I can think of. The mention of “The Thing” by Phil Harris in another thread reminded me–that song’s pretty sinister. So are some of the “Fingertips” clips by They Might Be Giants. But more mysteriously shiver inducing songs include ‘Auberge’ by Chris Rea ‘Driver’s Seat’ by Sniff ‘n’ The Tears (it’s definitely the music rather than the lyrics that’s got that ‘sinisterness’ about it). Any more. ---
**Author:** ![Oregon\_sunshine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/50afbb/32.png) [@Oregon\_sunshine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oregon_sunshine)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-are-sinister/324658/2 "2005-10-03T23:12:19Z")
Most of the songs off Sixteen Horsepower’s _Sackcloth 'n Ashes_ is creepy as hell. I call it “evil cowboy” music. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-are-sinister/324658/3 "2005-10-03T23:24:25Z")
Off the top of my head, I’d say … **Depeche Mode** “To Have and To Hold” **Depeche Mode** “Nothing’s Impossible” - one of the best songs from the new album, and by DAVE! **16 VOLT** “Downtime II” **Gracious Shades** - the entire “Aberkash” album **Dismantled** “Armed and Ready” **Assemblage 23** “King of Insects” ---
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-are-sinister/324658/4 "2005-10-03T23:26:42Z")
I’d say about 70% of Nick Cave’s work qualifies. Hell he gets a prize for The Carny alone. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-are-sinister/324658/5 "2005-10-03T23:29:05Z")
Almost anything by Ghoultown, a band that specializes in “Gothabilly” music: a blend of minor-keyed rockabilly, spaghetti western soundtrack twang, and mariachi music, all conjuring up horror-Western images: the dead rising from their graves on Boot Hill, zombie gunslingers, killer bandits stalking the desert, and real ghost riders in the sky. Tom Waits has a lot of dark, sinister-sounding music. Listen to songs like the twangy “Goin’ Out West,” the noir-sounding “Jockey Full of Bourbon,” “Reeperbahn” (influenced by Weimar-era cabaret music, like Berthold Brecht and Kurt Weill), and the self-explanatory “And the Earth Died Screaming.” Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds also specialize in dark, spooky, sinister – an Australian singer-songwriter obsessed with American South and its Gothic traditions. They have an entire album called _Murder Ballads_, based on the ancient songwriting tradition of songs of murder and death. One of my favorites is “Henry Lee,” a haunting duet between Nick and P.J. Harvey, where she kills him. He also sings a song called “The Mercy Seat,” about an innocent convict dying in the electric chair, which was covered (and made even more creepy and dark) by Johnny Cash. Mr. Bungle, one of the many side projects of Faith No More singer Mike Patton, combines everything from heavy metal to swing to funk to creepy, evil-sounding carnival music. Patton is a very versatile vocalist, who can do everything from Sinatra-style crooning to demented growling and howling. Portishead’s music is extremely lush and sexy, but there’s no denying a lot of it is on the eerie, haunting, “not quite right” side. Some call their style “trip-hop,” which uses jazz, electronica, samples, and what sounds like spy movie soundtrack music to create a smoky, sultry sound, almost always in minor keys, led by the ethereal voice of Beth Gibbons. They make great music for having sex with the femme fatale of your dreams, and then pursuing her killer through fog-covered urban streets fraught with danger. Massive Attack and Morcheeba have a lot of similar-sounding stuff, but Portishead is my favorite. Finally, Morphine, a 3-piece band with a distinctive “low” sound, consisting of the late Mark Sandman on vocals and 2-string bass, Dana Colley on booming baritone saxophone, and drums. A lot of their stuff was minor, mournful, and melancholy. Wow, it turns out almost all the music I love could be considered “sinister”-sounding! I hope others chime in, validating my choices and adding their own, but I’ll probably be back with more later. I’m a sucker for any dark, minor, cinematic music. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-are-sinister/324658/6 "2005-10-03T23:33:54Z")
The Who’s “Fiddle About It” from Tommy… Creep show. I also always found “Captain Jack” to be creepy as well. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-are-sinister/324658/7 "2005-10-04T01:02:54Z")
_There’s a Moon over Bourbon Street_ by Sting _The 1941 New York Mining Disaster_ by The BGs ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-are-sinister/324658/8 "2005-10-04T01:56:35Z")
Down In The Park - Foo Fighters Unmarked Helicopters - Soul Coughing Hands Of Death (Burn Baby Burn) - Rob Zombie And Alice Cooper Ok, pretty much everything off of Music In The Key Of X. Also that new (I think) Robert Plant song with the bells in it. ---
**Author:** ![Torgo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@Torgo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Torgo)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-are-sinister/324658/9 "2005-10-04T02:05:42Z")
Much of \*\*The Cramps’ \*\* catalogue fits the description. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-are-sinister/324658/10 "2005-10-04T02:11:05Z")
**Swamp** by the Talking Heads. Nothing else I’ve heard has been more downbeat or relentlessly depressing. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-are-sinister/324658/11 "2005-10-04T02:40:22Z")
**Tubular Bells** by Mike Oldfield. Even without its film association, (music for The Exorcist) it conjures up darkness to me. **Suicide is Painless** , the theme song to M_A_S\*H the movie (with the lyrics) is a lovely downer. ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-are-sinister/324658/12 "2005-10-04T02:52:25Z")
“The Sinister Minister,” by Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. ---
**Author:** ![Witch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/258eb7/32.png) [@Witch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Witch)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-are-sinister/324658/13 "2005-10-04T03:11:16Z")
Midnight Rambler by The Stones. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-are-sinister/324658/14 "2005-10-04T03:13:48Z")
Radiohead’s _Climbing Up the Walls_. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-are-sinister/324658/15 "2005-10-04T03:18:55Z")
Dang, someone got to my Tom Waits and Depeche Mode choices already. Elvis Costello, “Watching the Detectives” The Who, “Boris the Spider” Wall of Voodoo, just about everything on “Call of the West” Jethro Tull, “Cross-eyed Mary” and “Locomotive Breath” Steely Dan, “Your Gold Teeth” The _Firefly_ TV show had some great incidental music, but in partcular I’m thinking of an oboe theme that ran through the episode “Objects in Space”. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-are-sinister/324658/16 "2005-10-04T03:20:45Z")
Riders on the Storm by the Doors ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-are-sinister/324658/17 "2005-10-04T03:41:47Z")
Well since we are nearing Halloween, 2 songs come to mind - **Season of the Witch** by **Donovan** **Fire** by the **Crazy World of Arthur Brown** By the way, **bluecanary** you think Driver’s Seat is sinister? Interesting. Whatever the case, that has been (and still is) one of my all-time favorite songs. To me it is the archetypal rock song. ---
**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:** [October 4, 2005, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-are-sinister/324658/18 "2005-10-04T03:48:24Z")
“Savoy Truffle” by the Beatles: definitely sinister (though in a jokey kind of way) ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-are-sinister/324658/19 "2005-10-04T03:51:18Z")
The “Lullaby of Hell” from _Guinea Pig 2_ seems to qualify. I’m having trouble deciding if Penderecki’s _Canticum Canticorum Salomonis_ is “sinister” or just “eerie” (I’d say it’s good Barrow Wright music), but his _Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima_ and the _Passacaglia - Allegro Moderato_ from his 3rd Symphony seem pretty dang sinister. ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-are-sinister/324658/20 "2005-10-04T03:55:19Z")
> [@BurnMeUp](#): > > I’d say about 70% of Nick Cave’s work qualifies. > > Hell he gets a prize for The Carny alone. I was going to say anything by **The Birthday Party** , but you beat me to it. Actually, I wanted to mention Scratch Acid, but almost no one has heard of them, much less heard them. How about **Bauhaus** ’s entire discography? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-are-sinister/324658.md?page=2)