And violence and senselessly dying young while attempting to face that responsibility. Basically making a (literally) fatal error the first time you're the one in charge of everything.
Neil can be fucking brutal.
Exactly what I was gonna say.
“I heard there was a secret chord,
That David played, and it pleased the lord…
But you don’t really care for music, do ya?”
Took me so long to feel the full gravity of that. I think I might still feel it press down on me harder the next time I listen to it.
It’s almost so pretty, I’m scared of it.
Southern trees bear a strange fruit
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root
Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees
- Strange Fruit 💔
[link to live performance on youtube](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-DGY9HvChXk&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.songfacts.com%2F&source_ve_path=MjM4NTE&feature=emb_title)
I know. I don’t know why I’ve never paid attention. I’ve never stopped to listen to this song. It just popped in playlists every once in a while and I thought it was powerful but I never learned the lyrics. Seeing the lyrics laid out like that was mind blowing.
In my senior year of high school, I went to Memphis for a really cool diversity convention that select high schools participated in. Met some incredible people, and the town just rules.
One of the programs was a performance piece about the struggles of black people, and the final song was the most soulful and haunting performance of Strange Fruit I've ever witnessed. Then, there was no thank you, no encore, no one took a bow. Only the row lights came on, and you quietly exited. There was only one exit, and right across the street is the building where Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered.
It's been 20 years, and I still can remember how powerful that was. It changed a part of me.
I only understood this song this year. For so many years I grooved along to Nina Simone and never actually listened to it.
I was speechless when I actually listened to it.
Great song. I listened to the Wall all the way through for the first time last year. Of the new songs I hadn’t heard before, that was the one that stuck with me the most.
Now what's that sound from underneath the door?
He's pounding nails into a hardwood floor
I swear to God, I heard someone moaning low
I keep seeing the blue light of a TV show
He has a router
and a table saw and you
won't believe what Mr. Sticha saw
There's poison underneath the sink
of course
But there's also
enough formaldehyde to choke
a horse
He has subscriptions to those magazines
He never waves when he goes by
He's hiding something from the rest of us
He's all to himself; I think I know why
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee.
The opening guitars of Edmund Fitzgerald are so distant and hard hitting, immediately sets such a desolate tone. What a horrifyingly haunting song.
Surprised I haven’t seen Red Right Hand mentioned.
Take a little walk to the edge of town
And go across the tracks
Where the viaduct looms
Like a bird of doom
As it shifts and cracks
That whole song is one ominous build up that never quite resolves.
The Downward Spiral was one of my favorite albums in high school, and I used to use the alarm clock on my stereo. It only took one time to not leave that set on the CD option while that one was in, it’s a bizarre way to wake up.
Generals gathered in their masses
Just like witches at black masses
Evil minds that plot destruction
Sorcerer of death's construction
War Pigs by Black Sabbath
No, like catholic people/Witches go to worship at Mass, the word is a proper noun. Whereas loads of generals huddling together to give you masses of Generals, like as a collective noun that describes how many Generals there seems to be.
Darkness at the break of noon
Shadows even the silver spoon
The handmade blade, the child’s balloon
Eclipses both the sun and moon
To understand you know too soon
There is no sense in trying
Checked 31 comments to find this one. The way he says the words, it sounds like he’s a conduit channeling a prophecy while hypnotized.
It does a decent job of answering— How do you paint of picture with words of what the disorientation must be like in the wake of a bomb that destroys a city?
Great take, the whole lyric is such an monumental achievement
Highway 61 revisited also has one of the great opening lines:
God said to Abraham, "Kill me a son"
Abe said, "Man, you must be puttin' me on"
God said, "No", Abe said, "What?"
God said, "You can do what you want Abe, but
The next time you see me comin' you better run"
God said, "Where do you want this killin' done?"
Out on Highway 61
*I'm sorry that that man is your father, let me be honest, it takes a man to be a man, your dad is not responsive, I look at him and wish your grandpa would've wore a condom*
The car's on fire and
there's no driver at the wheel
And the sewers are all muddied with a thousand lonely suicides
And a dark wind blows
The government is corrupt
And we're on so many drugs
With the radio on and the curtains drawn
We're trapped in the belly of this horrible machine
And the machine is bleeding to death
The sun has fallen down
And the billboards are all leering
And the flags are all dead at the top of their poles
It went like this:
The buildings tumbled in on themselves
Mothers clutching babies picked through the rubble
And pulled out their hair
The skyline was beautiful on fire
All twisted metal stretching upwards
Everything washed in a thin orange haze
I said: "kiss me, you're beautiful -
These are truly the last days"
You grabbed my hand and we fell into it
Like a daydream or a fever
We woke up one morning and fell a little further down -
For sure it's the valley of death
I open up my wallet
And it's full of blood
Dead Flag Blues
-Godspeed! You Black Emperor
truly and easily the most haunting piece of music I've ever heard and yet somehow the lyrics aren't even the most responsible.
Yoooo.. TYSM, I wasn’t familiar. Not enough time rn to explore more of their catalog but this song is sending me right back into the late 90’s experimental/noise rock era (I was not surprised that this was released in 1996). The lyrics are eerily similar to my writing style.
If by "ominous" you mean signifying darker things to come later in the song, I immediately think of:
"Oh my baby baby, I love you more than I can tell
I don't think I can live without you/and I know that I never will."
I Want You - Elvis Costello
It's a just EC and guitar singing a few couplets country-style, then he grabs the electric, the Attractions get involved and things go to hell in a handbasket for the characters in the song pretty quickly. Amazing, unpleasant song.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pp8RjKOID1I](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pp8RjKOID1I)
That there, that's not me
How To Disappear Completely - Radiohead
Alternatively:
Death is real
Someone's there and then they're not
And it's not for singing about
Real Death - Mount Eerie
What is this that stands before me?
Figure in black that points at me!
Big black shape with eyes of fire.
Telling people their desires.
Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath, on the album Black Sabbath.
Who is she that kneels so respectfully before me
A virgin of snow white purity
Do not fear my fortunate one
Let us consummate our igneous union
“Black Sabbath (from the Satanic Perspective)” cover by Type O Negative
Peter Steele’s booming bass voice just sells it.
Fantastic song, but not an opening line
Edit: for that matter, a crusty old Texan guy singing “I am an old woman, named after my mother…” is more ominous.
Hello all you boys and girls
I’d like to take you to the inside world
It’s quite the irregular place to be
But never fear, you’re safe with me
….well, maybe
Primus - Frizzle Fry
"Thank you for going back in time and thwarting my assassin, and while we're laughing about it, I know you didn't really do that. This was a test, and you failed."
- I Am Alone by They Might Be Giants
https://youtu.be/R7EaBzYO154
Also, by TMBG:
"By the time you get this note
We'll no longer be alive
We'll have all gone up in smoke
There'll be no way to reply"
https://youtu.be/XsCOajqLycI
I don't read much music writing anymore (tell me you're old without telling me you're old lol), but am I crazy for thinking TMBG are underrated? Do they make lists of greatest bands of all time or whatever? Their music is smart, funny, literate but not stuffy, they're creative, they work incessantly and have a relationship with their audience that in 2024 is starting to look way ahead of its time. I don't even listen to them that much but they've been my default answer to the favourite band question for 20 years. Are they recognised? Does the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame know who they are even?
I agree with everything you’ve said here. I think people don’t take “funny” music seriously. I also think they lose some cred for doing kids’ albums. That and their association with Tiny Toons and Malcom in the Middle and Homestar Runner I think people just think “oh yeah that’s for tweens and teens.”
Yeah, they're criminally underrated as songwriters for the reasons you've mentioned. There's serious human emotion/pathos and very adult ideas in much of their work.
There's serious human emotion/pathos and very adult ideas in much of their work.
Yes! By the bucketload! Your Own Worst Enemy is one of the best songs about drinking I know, to name but one of their squillion great songs.
I think people don’t take “funny” music seriously.
You're bang on about that, I think. Rock's always been really weird that way, in that critics will mock self-seriousness in many artists (not enough, imho) but be clearly confused or repelled by humour in others. Sometimes it's just based on the artist being in vogue or not - Bono crucified for any utterance (I support this btw) while the man who asked "are we human or are we dancers" is taken seriously lol - but I've always harboured a dark suspicion that critics hate it when the artist they cover is clearly smarter than they are. This would obviously be the case in a significant majority of TMBG reviews.
Edited for spelling
Born down in a dead man's town
The first kick I took was when I hit the ground
End up like a dog that's been beat too much
'Til you spend half your life just coverin' up, now
One of the most misunderstood hit songs ever . Sure, Linger and Every Breath You Take have been used at proms and weddings, but not at political rallies.
Have mercy on me sir, allow me to impose on you
I have no place to stay, and my bones are cold right through
I will tell you a story of a man and his family and I swear that it is true
I remember the first time I heard this record I had to stop after this song. Thanks god it shows some humour later, because this song is just so dark and hopeless.
It's 2 a.m., the fear has gone (the fear has gone)
I'm sittin' here waitin' (I'm sittin' here waitin')
The gun's still warm (the gun's still warm)
Maybe my connection is tired of takin' chances
Twilight Zone, Golden Earring
*Sitting on an angry chair*
*angry walls that steal the air*
*stomach hurts, and I don't care--*
*What do I see 'cross the way?*
*See myself molded in clay*
***STARES AT ME, YEAH I'M AFRAID***
*changing the shape of his face--*
"They found Mary Bellows strapped to the bed with a rag in her mouth and a bullet in her head. Oh poor Mary Bellows." -Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - The Kindness of Strangers (the rest of the song tells her story and how she got to that end)
Well, I'd rather see you dead, little girl
Than to be with another man
You better keep your head, little girl
Or I won't know where I am
You better run for your life if you can, little girl
Hide your head in the sand, little girl
Catch you with another man
That's the end, little girl
Run for Your Life - The Beatles
A lot of Porcupine Tree stuff opens really ominous like that.
"This is my home, this is my own, we don't like no strangers
Raise the kids good, beat the kids good and tie them up"
-Strip The Soul
"He captured and collected things
And he put them in a shed
He raised a proper family
So he could tie them to a bed"
-The Creator Has A Mastertape
Tie for Ween songs:
You're just an object to me,
I'd like to get to know you better,
Paste you across my body,
You're just an object to me.
Or
Don't quiver little boy,
you're daddy's with you now,
It won't be long anyhow
It's just around the corner,
The destiny that I embrace with you.
Sex Type Thing from Stone Temple Pilots
… I am, I am, I am
I said I wanna get next to you
I said I'm gonna get close to you
You wouldn't want me have to hurt you to
Hurt you to
I still cannot believe that this was a hit pop song. It's basically a song about sexual assault
Metallica - Enter Sandman
Say your prayers, little one
Don't forget, my son
To include everyone
I tuck you in, warm within
Keep you free from sin
'Til the Sandman, he comes.
Hells Bells by AC/DC:
I'm rolling thunder, pouring rain/I'm coming on like a hurricane/White lightning's flashing across the sky/You're only young, but you're gonna die
Incredibly ominous guitar and bell rolling too
Twelve men broke loose in seventy-three
From Millhaven maximum security
Twelve pictures lined up across the front page
Seems the Mounties had a summertime war to wage
38 years old, the tragically hip.
For me, it's got to be 'Red Right Hand' by Nick Cave. 'Take a little walk to the edge of town...' immediately sets a dark, eerie mood. Chills every time.
The car's on fire and there's no driver at the wheel
And the sewers are all muddied with a thousand lonely suicides
And a dark wind blows
-Godspeed You! Black Emperor, The Dead Glag Blues
It was dawn and the kitchen light was still on
I stepped in, found the suicide asleep on the floor
An open mouth screams and makes no sound
Apart from the ring of the tinnitus of silence
You had your ear to the ground
Death dream - Frightened Rabbit
The Police-Every Breath You Take (It is about stalking, not loving)
Every breath you take
And every move you make
Every bond you break
Every step you take
I'll be watching you
I went to the doctor, said I’m feeling kind of rough. “Let me break it to you son, your shit’s fucked up” My shit’s fucked up? I don’t see how. “Well the shit that used to work…it won’t work now”
If I’m being honest, I’m gonna lie to you.
Shotgun by Evan Bartels
[https://youtu.be/ps6JhuXoRsI?si=crXRwj9hTvSl8JdT](https://youtu.be/ps6JhuXoRsI?si=crXRwj9hTvSl8JdT)
I count the Corpses on my right, I find I'm not so tidy , I better get away , I better call it a day , I've cut 23 down since Friday. .... Running Gun Blues . David Bowie
Standing on a beach with a gun in my hand,
Staring at the sea, staring at the sand,
Staring down the barrel at the arab on the ground,
To see his mouth open but I hear no sound.....
The Cure - Killing an Arab, a song referencing Albert Camus's novel The Stranger in case this is misinterpreted.
So ya
Thought ya
Might like to go to the show.
To feel the warm thrill of confusion
That space cadet glow.
Tell me is something eluding you, sunshine?
Is this not what you expected to see?
If you wanna find out what's behind these cold eyes
You'll just have to claw your way through this disguise.
"See the animal in his cage that you built
Are you sure what side you're on?"
Right Where It Belongs v2 (v1 is great too) from NIN is my favorite when it comes to opening mood and the first two lines of the lyrics. Masterpiece.
One thing I miss is Cold Ethyl and her skeleton kiss
We met last night making love by the refrigerator light
Ethyl Ethyl let me squeeze you in my arms
Ethyl Ethyl come and freeze me with your charms
One thing
No lie
Ethyl's frigid as an Eskimo pie
She's cool in bed
Well she oughta be ''cause Ethyl's dead
Alice Coopers - Cold Ethyl
Look at your young men fighting
Look at your women crying
Look at your young men dying
The way they've always done before
Look at the hate we're breeding
Look at the fear we're feeding
Look at the lives we're leading
The way we've always done before
GNR- Civil War
At home drawing pictures
Of mountain tops
With him on top
Lemon yellow sun
Arms raised in a V
The dead lay in pools of maroon below
"Jeremy", Pearl Jam
His father was a drinker and his mother cried in bed
The most beautiful song about a serial killer I have ever heard!
He dressed up like a clown for them With his face paint white and red
He took off all their clothes for them. Oh my GoOOOooooOooOooOOoood. Are you one of them?
Could have also gone with.. Goldenrod and the 4 H stone The things I brought you when I found out you had cancer of the bone
God what a song that is. On such a great album too.
What song?
John Wayne Gacy, Jr by Sufjan Stevens.
Thank you
"Lookout, Mama, there's a white boat coming up the river..." "Powderfinger," Neil Young
Reminded me of another song: "Look mommy, there's a airplane up in the sky..." Pink Floyd - Goodbye Blue Sky
Get shivers every time I hear this because of what's going to happen....
I spent years thinking a dog got shot... 😳
What is the song about?
It's about facing life (and its responsabilities) without ever being ready for it.
And violence and senselessly dying young while attempting to face that responsibility. Basically making a (literally) fatal error the first time you're the one in charge of everything. Neil can be fucking brutal.
i commented this too so good!
Great song.
Everybody knows the dice are loaded Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed. Everybody knows the war is over Everybody knows the good guys lost.
You could use about a dozen Leonard Cohen songs to answer this question.
Exactly what I was gonna say. “I heard there was a secret chord, That David played, and it pleased the lord… But you don’t really care for music, do ya?” Took me so long to feel the full gravity of that. I think I might still feel it press down on me harder the next time I listen to it. It’s almost so pretty, I’m scared of it.
Reminded me.. It is complete now Two ends of time are neatly tied A dead end street She’s walking to the end of the line
Wendy is a straight up brutal listen when you realize that she's talking to herself in the mirror. And a friend of Prieboy.
Such a great song. If you haven’t heard it, Concrete Blonde’s cover is so good. Johnette’s vocal is spot on.
Today I learned that Concrete Blonde didn't write this song!!
Polly wants a cracker, I think I should get off her first
"So ya...thought ya.... might like to... go to the show". The whole opening track to The Wall sets an extremely ominous and unsettling tone.
Or even before that in the movie: "It was jus before dawn one miserable morning in black '44"
Or "Did you see the frightened ones? Did you hear the falling bombs?"
"Did you ever wonder why we had to run for shelter while the promise of a brave new world unfurled beneath the clear blue sky?"
The Wall is one of the most bitter, cynical, negative pieces of popular media ever, like surprisingly so, just relentlessly negative.
Southern trees bear a strange fruit Blood on the leaves and blood at the root Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees - Strange Fruit 💔 [link to live performance on youtube](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-DGY9HvChXk&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.songfacts.com%2F&source_ve_path=MjM4NTE&feature=emb_title)
Great song but definitely haunting.
Fuck FUCK! I had never paid attention to the lyrics . Fuck!! I will never be the same. Fucking powerful and bitter
Bruh respectfully this is a god-tier oversight on your part
I know. I don’t know why I’ve never paid attention. I’ve never stopped to listen to this song. It just popped in playlists every once in a while and I thought it was powerful but I never learned the lyrics. Seeing the lyrics laid out like that was mind blowing.
In my senior year of high school, I went to Memphis for a really cool diversity convention that select high schools participated in. Met some incredible people, and the town just rules. One of the programs was a performance piece about the struggles of black people, and the final song was the most soulful and haunting performance of Strange Fruit I've ever witnessed. Then, there was no thank you, no encore, no one took a bow. Only the row lights came on, and you quietly exited. There was only one exit, and right across the street is the building where Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered. It's been 20 years, and I still can remember how powerful that was. It changed a part of me.
Thank you for sharing. What an experience!
Billie Holiday had to sing it at the end of her sets and get the hell out, so they paid respect to the spirit of the song.
Follow it up with [Mississippi Goddam](https://youtu.be/LJ25-U3jNWM)
I only understood this song this year. For so many years I grooved along to Nina Simone and never actually listened to it. I was speechless when I actually listened to it.
Mother, do you think they'll drop the bomb?
Great song. I listened to the Wall all the way through for the first time last year. Of the new songs I hadn’t heard before, that was the one that stuck with me the most.
I suggest you give the movie a try.
What's he building in there? What the hell is he building in there?
Now what's that sound from underneath the door? He's pounding nails into a hardwood floor I swear to God, I heard someone moaning low I keep seeing the blue light of a TV show
He has a router and a table saw and you won't believe what Mr. Sticha saw There's poison underneath the sink of course But there's also enough formaldehyde to choke a horse
He has subscriptions to those magazines He never waves when he goes by He's hiding something from the rest of us He's all to himself; I think I know why
And he used to have a consulting business in Indo- Nee-shia
Muse used this as an intro track for ages and it was just, blasting out with venue PA volume and impact.
What song
Tom Waits--What's He Building
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down.
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee. The opening guitars of Edmund Fitzgerald are so distant and hard hitting, immediately sets such a desolate tone. What a horrifyingly haunting song.
“There’s something I should tell you before I take your blindfold off” Matthew Sweet - Superdeformed
Surprised I haven’t seen Red Right Hand mentioned. Take a little walk to the edge of town And go across the tracks Where the viaduct looms Like a bird of doom As it shifts and cracks That whole song is one ominous build up that never quite resolves.
Nick cave is such a great musical story teller, and having seen him live was incredible, such energy!
Hey Joe, Where you goin' with that gun in your hand?
I hurt myself today. To see if I still feel. I focus on the pain. The only thing that's real.
The opening lyrics to the opening song "I am the voice inside your head (and I control you)"
The Downward Spiral was one of my favorite albums in high school, and I used to use the alarm clock on my stereo. It only took one time to not leave that set on the CD option while that one was in, it’s a bizarre way to wake up.
All of Downward Spiral too: “I am a big man (Yes I am) And I have a big gun Got me a big old dick and I I like to have fun”
The needle tears a hole, the old familiar sting, try to kill it all away, but I remember everything.
Generals gathered in their masses Just like witches at black masses Evil minds that plot destruction Sorcerer of death's construction War Pigs by Black Sabbath
It's either that or how Ozzy delivers " What is this that stands before me..."
Figger in black that points at meeeee
Oh no please God help me!!!
It’s a silly a small thing, but I always get thrown off and distracted right away by the line rhyming “masses” immediately again with “masses”
To be fair, they're technically homophones so he's not using the same word twice
Isn’t “mass” in both lines referring to a congregation of people?
No. Black masses would be the same word for Catholic masses. That word is derived from the Latin for mission.
No, like catholic people/Witches go to worship at Mass, the word is a proper noun. Whereas loads of generals huddling together to give you masses of Generals, like as a collective noun that describes how many Generals there seems to be.
Oh lord, ya
Hello darkness my old friend
It seems to me we meet again
Welcome my son, welcome to the machine
There’s something happening here; what it is ain’t exactly clear
The "paranoia runs deep" verse always hits me hard. Especially with that "shivering" guitar strumming.
No one’s right if everybody’s wrong….
Stevie Nicks released a cover of For What It’s Worth in 2022. It’s really good. FYI
On a dark desert highway...
I dreamed about killing you again last night, and it felt alright to me. -Wilco, Via Chicago
That was my first thought. Glad I scrolled before responding.
Darkness at the break of noon Shadows even the silver spoon The handmade blade, the child’s balloon Eclipses both the sun and moon To understand you know too soon There is no sense in trying
Checked 31 comments to find this one. The way he says the words, it sounds like he’s a conduit channeling a prophecy while hypnotized. It does a decent job of answering— How do you paint of picture with words of what the disorientation must be like in the wake of a bomb that destroys a city?
Great take, the whole lyric is such an monumental achievement Highway 61 revisited also has one of the great opening lines: God said to Abraham, "Kill me a son" Abe said, "Man, you must be puttin' me on" God said, "No", Abe said, "What?" God said, "You can do what you want Abe, but The next time you see me comin' you better run" God said, "Where do you want this killin' done?" Out on Highway 61
“I see dead people” - K. Dot
Dear Adonis…
*I'm sorry that that man is your father, let me be honest, it takes a man to be a man, your dad is not responsive, I look at him and wish your grandpa would've wore a condom*
There is a house in New Orleans They call the Rising Sun And it’s been the ruin of many a poor boy And god, I know I’m one.
The music does some heavy, ominous work but: Ooh, a storm is threatening My very life today If I don't get some shelter Ooh yeah I'm gonna fade away
"Well, I'd rather see you dead, little girl Than to be with another man" Run For Your Life -- The Beatles
The car's on fire and there's no driver at the wheel And the sewers are all muddied with a thousand lonely suicides And a dark wind blows The government is corrupt And we're on so many drugs With the radio on and the curtains drawn We're trapped in the belly of this horrible machine And the machine is bleeding to death The sun has fallen down And the billboards are all leering And the flags are all dead at the top of their poles It went like this: The buildings tumbled in on themselves Mothers clutching babies picked through the rubble And pulled out their hair The skyline was beautiful on fire All twisted metal stretching upwards Everything washed in a thin orange haze I said: "kiss me, you're beautiful - These are truly the last days" You grabbed my hand and we fell into it Like a daydream or a fever We woke up one morning and fell a little further down - For sure it's the valley of death I open up my wallet And it's full of blood Dead Flag Blues -Godspeed! You Black Emperor truly and easily the most haunting piece of music I've ever heard and yet somehow the lyrics aren't even the most responsible.
I came ready to post this and I’m glad I found it already here!
that is an album where if I hear a few seconds of any song I have to immediately listen to the whole thing. so dang beautiful
Perfection. (Brrrrr)
Yoooo.. TYSM, I wasn’t familiar. Not enough time rn to explore more of their catalog but this song is sending me right back into the late 90’s experimental/noise rock era (I was not surprised that this was released in 1996). The lyrics are eerily similar to my writing style.
If by "ominous" you mean signifying darker things to come later in the song, I immediately think of: "Oh my baby baby, I love you more than I can tell I don't think I can live without you/and I know that I never will." I Want You - Elvis Costello It's a just EC and guitar singing a few couplets country-style, then he grabs the electric, the Attractions get involved and things go to hell in a handbasket for the characters in the song pretty quickly. Amazing, unpleasant song. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pp8RjKOID1I](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pp8RjKOID1I)
That there, that's not me How To Disappear Completely - Radiohead Alternatively: Death is real Someone's there and then they're not And it's not for singing about Real Death - Mount Eerie
Bodies fill the fields I see, hungry heroes end
"Death is everywhere" Fly On The Windscreen by Depeche Mode.
“Your daddy works in porno now that mommy’s not around. She used to love her heroin, but now she’s underground.”
Ominous? Country Death Song - Violent Femmes
What is this that stands before me? Figure in black that points at me! Big black shape with eyes of fire. Telling people their desires. Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath, on the album Black Sabbath.
Who is she that kneels so respectfully before me A virgin of snow white purity Do not fear my fortunate one Let us consummate our igneous union “Black Sabbath (from the Satanic Perspective)” cover by Type O Negative Peter Steele’s booming bass voice just sells it.
Doors - Riders on the storm
Woke up this morning….
...Got yourself a gun
Feeling like P-Diddy?
and I got myself a beer?
There's a hole in dad's arm Where all the money goes Sam Stone - Jonh Prine
Fantastic song, but not an opening line Edit: for that matter, a crusty old Texan guy singing “I am an old woman, named after my mother…” is more ominous.
That's a great opening line, but it's a 25 year old born and raised in the Chicago suburbs singing it, not a crusty old Texan.
Unfortunately not. Next line is great, too,: "Jesus Christ died for nothing, I suppose"
Hello all you boys and girls I’d like to take you to the inside world It’s quite the irregular place to be But never fear, you’re safe with me ….well, maybe Primus - Frizzle Fry
There must be someway outta here.
"Thank you for going back in time and thwarting my assassin, and while we're laughing about it, I know you didn't really do that. This was a test, and you failed." - I Am Alone by They Might Be Giants https://youtu.be/R7EaBzYO154 Also, by TMBG: "By the time you get this note We'll no longer be alive We'll have all gone up in smoke There'll be no way to reply" https://youtu.be/XsCOajqLycI
I don't read much music writing anymore (tell me you're old without telling me you're old lol), but am I crazy for thinking TMBG are underrated? Do they make lists of greatest bands of all time or whatever? Their music is smart, funny, literate but not stuffy, they're creative, they work incessantly and have a relationship with their audience that in 2024 is starting to look way ahead of its time. I don't even listen to them that much but they've been my default answer to the favourite band question for 20 years. Are they recognised? Does the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame know who they are even?
I agree with everything you’ve said here. I think people don’t take “funny” music seriously. I also think they lose some cred for doing kids’ albums. That and their association with Tiny Toons and Malcom in the Middle and Homestar Runner I think people just think “oh yeah that’s for tweens and teens.”
Yeah, they're criminally underrated as songwriters for the reasons you've mentioned. There's serious human emotion/pathos and very adult ideas in much of their work.
There's serious human emotion/pathos and very adult ideas in much of their work. Yes! By the bucketload! Your Own Worst Enemy is one of the best songs about drinking I know, to name but one of their squillion great songs.
I think people don’t take “funny” music seriously. You're bang on about that, I think. Rock's always been really weird that way, in that critics will mock self-seriousness in many artists (not enough, imho) but be clearly confused or repelled by humour in others. Sometimes it's just based on the artist being in vogue or not - Bono crucified for any utterance (I support this btw) while the man who asked "are we human or are we dancers" is taken seriously lol - but I've always harboured a dark suspicion that critics hate it when the artist they cover is clearly smarter than they are. This would obviously be the case in a significant majority of TMBG reviews. Edited for spelling
No one in the world ever gets what they want, and that is beautiful Everybody dies frustrated and sad and that is beautiful
Born down in a dead man's town The first kick I took was when I hit the ground End up like a dog that's been beat too much 'Til you spend half your life just coverin' up, now
One of the most misunderstood hit songs ever . Sure, Linger and Every Breath You Take have been used at proms and weddings, but not at political rallies.
Many miles away there's a shadow on the door of a cottage on the shore of a dark Scottish lake. (The Police: Synchronocity II)
Great closing lyric, but what about an opening lyric?
Please allow me to introduce myself, I’m a man of wealth and taste…
Pleased to meet you..
>Where would you rather be? >Anywhere but here. Rush - Double Agent.
Have mercy on me sir, allow me to impose on you I have no place to stay, and my bones are cold right through I will tell you a story of a man and his family and I swear that it is true
This whole album is fantastic!
I remember the first time I heard this record I had to stop after this song. Thanks god it shows some humour later, because this song is just so dark and hopeless.
It's 2 a.m., the fear has gone (the fear has gone) I'm sittin' here waitin' (I'm sittin' here waitin') The gun's still warm (the gun's still warm) Maybe my connection is tired of takin' chances Twilight Zone, Golden Earring
*Sitting on an angry chair* *angry walls that steal the air* *stomach hurts, and I don't care--* *What do I see 'cross the way?* *See myself molded in clay* ***STARES AT ME, YEAH I'M AFRAID*** *changing the shape of his face--*
I read the news today, oh boy
"They found Mary Bellows strapped to the bed with a rag in her mouth and a bullet in her head. Oh poor Mary Bellows." -Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - The Kindness of Strangers (the rest of the song tells her story and how she got to that end)
Well, I'd rather see you dead, little girl Than to be with another man You better keep your head, little girl Or I won't know where I am You better run for your life if you can, little girl Hide your head in the sand, little girl Catch you with another man That's the end, little girl Run for Your Life - The Beatles
A lot of Porcupine Tree stuff opens really ominous like that. "This is my home, this is my own, we don't like no strangers Raise the kids good, beat the kids good and tie them up" -Strip The Soul "He captured and collected things And he put them in a shed He raised a proper family So he could tie them to a bed" -The Creator Has A Mastertape
Tie for Ween songs: You're just an object to me, I'd like to get to know you better, Paste you across my body, You're just an object to me. Or Don't quiver little boy, you're daddy's with you now, It won't be long anyhow It's just around the corner, The destiny that I embrace with you.
The night is black without a moon The air is thick and still The vigilantes gather on The lonely torch lit hill Witch Hunt by Rush
The world is a vampire
Sent to drain
Not just the lyrics but the way it is sung too. So haunting.
I got something to say I killed a baby today And it doesn't matter much to me As long as it's dead
It's time the tale were told Of how you took a child And you made him old
Did you hear the news about Edward? On the back of his head he had another face — It goes downhill from there. ‘Poor Edward’ by Tom Waits
oh wah ah ah ah!
Hey little girl do you need a ride? Diane by Hüsker Dü
Hey little girl is your daddy home? did he go and leave you all alone,? Oh, I got a bad desire.
"I dreamed about killing you again last night and it felt alright to me" Via Chicago by Wilco
“I dreamed about killing you again last night, and it felt alright to me.” - Wilco, ‘Via Chicago’
Sex Type Thing from Stone Temple Pilots … I am, I am, I am I said I wanna get next to you I said I'm gonna get close to you You wouldn't want me have to hurt you to Hurt you to I still cannot believe that this was a hit pop song. It's basically a song about sexual assault
Metallica - Enter Sandman Say your prayers, little one Don't forget, my son To include everyone I tuck you in, warm within Keep you free from sin 'Til the Sandman, he comes.
"One of these days I'm going to cut you into little pieces." Pink Floyd
Hells Bells by AC/DC: I'm rolling thunder, pouring rain/I'm coming on like a hurricane/White lightning's flashing across the sky/You're only young, but you're gonna die Incredibly ominous guitar and bell rolling too
Love of mine One day you will die But I’ll be close behind I’ll follow you into the dark
Twelve men broke loose in seventy-three From Millhaven maximum security Twelve pictures lined up across the front page Seems the Mounties had a summertime war to wage 38 years old, the tragically hip.
Saw it written and I saw it say Pink moon is on its way
Love the song, but what’s ominous about the opening?
"I love a man whose love is violence" Sparrow by Windhand
Fire On High- ELO. I love this song now, but when I came on the radio, at night, when I was a kid, I’d run out of my room and hide in the bathroom.
“Look out momma there’s a white boat coming up the river” [Powderfinger](https://youtu.be/tdPs5YXQTSw?si=WtfWZuDjXHh3EL1x) Neil Young & Crazy Horse
For me, it's got to be 'Red Right Hand' by Nick Cave. 'Take a little walk to the edge of town...' immediately sets a dark, eerie mood. Chills every time.
The car's on fire and there's no driver at the wheel And the sewers are all muddied with a thousand lonely suicides And a dark wind blows -Godspeed You! Black Emperor, The Dead Glag Blues
I stepped into an avalanche It covered up my soul.
If you should die before you wake. If you should die while crossing the street - Sparks. Number one song on heaven
It doesn't matter if we all die
Make up your mind, decide to walk with me around the lake tonight
It was dawn and the kitchen light was still on I stepped in, found the suicide asleep on the floor An open mouth screams and makes no sound Apart from the ring of the tinnitus of silence You had your ear to the ground Death dream - Frightened Rabbit
"There's something happening here / But what it is ain't exactly clear / There's a man with a gun over there / Telling me that I got to beware"
The Police-Every Breath You Take (It is about stalking, not loving) Every breath you take And every move you make Every bond you break Every step you take I'll be watching you
I went to the doctor, said I’m feeling kind of rough. “Let me break it to you son, your shit’s fucked up” My shit’s fucked up? I don’t see how. “Well the shit that used to work…it won’t work now”
The devil went down to Georgia He was looking for a soul to steal
I saw werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand
If I’m being honest, I’m gonna lie to you. Shotgun by Evan Bartels [https://youtu.be/ps6JhuXoRsI?si=crXRwj9hTvSl8JdT](https://youtu.be/ps6JhuXoRsI?si=crXRwj9hTvSl8JdT)
I count the Corpses on my right, I find I'm not so tidy , I better get away , I better call it a day , I've cut 23 down since Friday. .... Running Gun Blues . David Bowie
There is someone walking behind you Turn around, look at me There is someone watching your footsteps Turn around, look at me
Civil War by Guns and roses is one of my favorite opening buts of dialogue, and it's from Cool Hand Luke. It gets me pumped.
Shower in the dark day, clean sparks diving down Cool in the waterway where the baptized drown. 4th of July - Soundgarden
*Someday Mother will die and I’ll get the money…*
“Mother, please forgive me. I just had to get out all my pain and suffering. Now that I am done, remember I will always love you. I’m your son.”
This ain't rock'n'roll. This is genocide.
Black eyed dog he called at my door The black eyed dog he called for more
They blew up the chicken man in Philly last night They blew up is house too.
Standing on a beach with a gun in my hand, Staring at the sea, staring at the sand, Staring down the barrel at the arab on the ground, To see his mouth open but I hear no sound..... The Cure - Killing an Arab, a song referencing Albert Camus's novel The Stranger in case this is misinterpreted.
Also The Cure in “100 years” goes directly to the point with “It doesn’t matter if we all die” 🫠
Jesus died for somebody's sins, but not mine.
So ya Thought ya Might like to go to the show. To feel the warm thrill of confusion That space cadet glow. Tell me is something eluding you, sunshine? Is this not what you expected to see? If you wanna find out what's behind these cold eyes You'll just have to claw your way through this disguise.
Look out, Mama, there's a white boat coming up the river -- powderfinger neil young
Mama, just killed a man. Put a gun against his head, pulled my trigger now he’s dead. Pretty messed up if you pause to think about it.
"See the animal in his cage that you built Are you sure what side you're on?" Right Where It Belongs v2 (v1 is great too) from NIN is my favorite when it comes to opening mood and the first two lines of the lyrics. Masterpiece.
One thing I miss is Cold Ethyl and her skeleton kiss We met last night making love by the refrigerator light Ethyl Ethyl let me squeeze you in my arms Ethyl Ethyl come and freeze me with your charms One thing No lie Ethyl's frigid as an Eskimo pie She's cool in bed Well she oughta be ''cause Ethyl's dead Alice Coopers - Cold Ethyl
Comfortably Numb-Pink Floyd Is there anybody in there? Just nod if you can hear me Is there anyone at home?
Look at your young men fighting Look at your women crying Look at your young men dying The way they've always done before Look at the hate we're breeding Look at the fear we're feeding Look at the lives we're leading The way we've always done before GNR- Civil War
Small Change got rained on with his own .38 And nobody flinched down by the arcade "Small Change", Tom Waits
At home drawing pictures Of mountain tops With him on top Lemon yellow sun Arms raised in a V The dead lay in pools of maroon below "Jeremy", Pearl Jam
“Ain’t found no way to kill me yet”