Creepy/Eerie Songs That Weren't Meant To Be

Hey, Marge, remember when we used to make out to this hymn?

 

Hmm. "Greenfields" by The Brothers Four. I think it's a great song but the melody has an ominous vibe to it.

This thread reminds of when around 8 or 9 and playing my mom's 45's. My younger sister by three years would cry whenever I put on "You're Didn't Have To Be So Nice" by the Lovin' Spoonful. Literally, seconds after the intro started. I'd call it a joyful, happy song but apparently she didn't!

 

I always thought there was a hidden dark undertone to Chicago "Wake Up Sunshine," but I figured it was only me. Then I saw this when I did a search on the song yesterday.

 

Porter Wagoner & Dolly Parton - "Malena", followed by "Jeannie's Afraid Of The Dark".

 

It's a combination of the otherworldly background voices, ambiguity of the boy's fate (are the boy's pleas for the mother not to tell his father his last words?), and the backwoods starkness with which the subject matter is approached. Never would I have thought a song with "Dinky" in its title could be unsettling.

 

Harry Chapin - A Better Place To Be
Harry Chapin - Sniper



He's always seemed creepy to me.

 

I saw several mentions of Cry Baby Cry and Revolution 9. The little insert between the two often referred to as Can You Take Me Back always gives me the creeps. I have always wanted to hear the entire song....if it exists.

 

This is like an episode of Outer Limits for me...

 

I originally heard the song "Hurdy Gurdy Man" from Butthole Surfers and thought it was eerie. Then, I heard the original and thought it was unsettling and creepy. Years later that Zodiac movie didn't help matters! Lol

 

There's something absolutely nuts about this:



For some reason it makes me think of some kind of speed crazed slasher murderer wreaking havoc at summer camp in the Adirondacks.

Great tune.

 

I don't care much for the "Creepy/Eerie" songs but I'm a fan of all the Vampirella songs.

 

Procal Harum "Whiter Shade of Pale" has an eerie tone with the organ's chord progression.

The Bouey's "Timothy" was a 70s AM radio staple when I was a kid, a song that hints of human cannibalism.

 

Good one! Gene's got a real Rod Serling thing working for him there, what with the undertaker suit and the intense expressions...submitted for your approval, one town utterly lacking in the milk of human kindness....

But what is supernaturally creepy is the damage this wonderful song did to the actual Town Without Pity movie. A sleazy screeching saxophone instrumental version intrudes loudly and inappropriately over the proceedings what seems like every few minutes-or-so until the film itself is often overpowered. A genuine shame, that. Kirk Douglas plays an Army defense attorney charged with defending the indefensible...and he wins...sorta. In what has to be one of the greatest scenes Douglas ever played he is informed of the aftermath of his 'victory'--and then you get to see what's been going on all along beneath the surface of this 'pitiless' lawyer. It takes a truly cold heart to not be blown away by that finale. Recommended viewing...with mute button at the ready for that damn sax.

 

I really enjoyed your musings and can well understand how you might react this way. Actually, I think both Hurdy Gurdy Man and Jennifer Juniper are affectionate recollections of Donovan's first meditation experiences - I think he was along with the Beatles and Beach Boys on their celebrity tour.

As a trained Transcendental meditator (TM), I spot giveaways in each song. The Hurdy Gurdy Man appears to refer to the Maharishi. Jennifer Juniper appears to be written as an observance of someone while meditating. One thing I've always liked about Donovan is he seems to retain his sense of humor while writing his poetic lyrics. BTW, I heard both songs when they first appeared. I learned to meditate in 1979. It was last summer; my wife and I were listening to a Donovan recording and during Jennifer Juniper, she suddenly blurted out: "Kevin, that song's about TM!"

 

The lyrics feel quite uninspired and literal when you know the story behind the song. But those close intervals make it sound creepy.

 

not a HUGE 13th Floor Elevators fan, but i recently heard their "Bull Of The Woods" release a year or so ago for the first time, and the last song on the LP "May the Circle Remain Unbroken" which i thought was really atmospheric and spooky…...

 

That side 4 sequence of songs (or maybe disc 2) always made me feel uneasy even before I knew about the Manson connection.

Long Long Long with that ghostly wail at the end. Cry Baby Cry is unsettling which goes into the haunting "Can You Take Me Back" into some soft dialogue that leads into Revolution 9 which stills scares me.

It's not the Manson thing. Maybe he picked up on the vibe though?

 

Dust in the wind. It was eerie then and still is.
Cheers;
John

 

i always thought the song had an unsettling feeling to it.

the Morse code guitar ending always sounded weirdly sinister to me, but the whole song itself definitely carries over that weird White Album vibe.

 

Really? At the risk of sounding flowery, I think it's quite beautiful.

 

I've always found it creepy to think that Sharon Tate likely listened to that, and in the exact living room she was killed in.

 

Nights In White Satin - The Moody Blues immediately comes to mind.

 

Decades by Joy Division is also very eerie....as is most of the 'Closer' album...but it's one of my favorite albums of all time.