The most Haunting song ever written?

Klaus Nomi singing Henry Purcell's Cold Song, lyrics below

What Power art thou,
Who from below,
Hast made me rise,
Unwillingly and slow,
From beds of everlasting snow!

See'st thou not how stiff,
And wondrous old,
Far unfit to bear the bitter cold.

I can scarcely move,
Or draw my breath,
I can scarcely move,
Or draw my breath.

Let me, let me,
Let me, let me,
Freeze again...
Let me, let me,
Freeze again to death!

[edit on 4-4-2008 by OSSkyWatcher]

[edit on 4-4-2008 by OSSkyWatcher]

reply to post by golddragnet


Fields of France reminded me of this John McCutcheon song Christmas in the Trenches. John relates a story about meeting some veterans in Denmark who were involved in the Christmas truce (of 1914)and wanted to hear him sing the song.

I heard that after this truce which was kind of a spontaneous event on the battlefield the troups were forbidden to ever do that again. Bad for moral? How can you shoot your enemy when you were buddies the night before??



[edit on 4/4/08 by plumranch]

If you mean hauting as in being able to stir emotions I'd say:

Taps
Dixie
Danny boy
Shenandoah(without the lyrics being soung, and played by an orchestra)
Scotland the Brave
Amazing Grace(played with bagpipes it really IS hauting)

And any Native American drumming/chanting like you'd see if you went to one of their pow wows. They always make me feel weird, like I'm having an out-of-body experience. Its so weird.

Speaking of Pink Floyd, I think one of their most haunting songs is On The Turning Away.

On The Turning Away

Another extremely haunting song for me is from a Christian artist named Gary Chapman (former husband of Amy Grant). He's got a song called Sweet Jesus about a bridge collapsing with people on it. A mother and a child fall into the river below. The mother doesn't make it, but an old man rescues the child. Amazing song. I'm not even a Christian, but this is definitely haunting.

Here's a live version of it that's decent. The audio isn't that great. The studio version is better.

Sweet Jesus

Here's a link to the lyrics if you have trouble making them out. There is an interesting twist at the end of the song that you might not expect.

Lyrics

[edit on 5-4-2008 by Neiby]

reply to post by seeker83


Holy cow...nothing is worse than Taps at a military funeral, followed by a rifle salute. I saw that at my grandfather's funeral. Someone played Taps and then they did that rifle salute. All the while I was watching the face of one of his WWII buddies cry like a baby. It was unbelievably sad.

This is my all time favorite haunting song/video:





Lyrics:

MASSIVE ATTACK LYRICS

"Safe From Harm"

[Shara Nelson]

Midnight ronkers
City slickers
Gunmen and maniacs
All will feature on the freakshow
And I can't do nothing 'bout that, no
But if you hurt what's mine
I'll sure as hell retaliate

You can free the world you can free my mind
Just as long as my baby's safe from harm tonight

You can free the world you can free my mind
Just as long as my baby's safe from harm tonight

[3d]

I was lookin' back to see if you were lookin' back at me
To see me lookin' back at you

[Shara Nelson]

Lucky dippers
Crazy chancers
Seems to be moving fast
What happened to the nicities
Of my childhood days
Well i can't do nothing 'bout that, no
But if you hurt what's mine
I'll sure as hell retaliate

[3d]

I was lookin' back to see if you were
I was lookin I was
I was lookin' back to see if you were lookin' back at me
To see me lookin' back at you

[Shara Nelson]

You can free the world you can free my mind
Just as long as my baby's safe from harm tonight

You can free the world you can free my mind
Just as long as my baby's safe from harm tonight

[3d]

Tell us what it is dangerous
Friends and enemies I find it's contagerous
And they're spreading through your system like a virus
Yes the trouble in the end it makes you anxious

I was lookin' back to see if you were lookin back at me
To see me lookin back at you

I was lookin' back to see if you were lookin back at me
To see me lookin back at you

[Shara Nelson]

But if you hurt what's mine
I'll sure as hell retaliate
You can free the world you can free my mind
Just as long as my baby's safe from harm tonight [x2]


The last image/scene on the video is extremely creepy!!!!

[edit on 5-4-2008 by dk3000]

I think my favorite would be "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" as performed by the late brother IZ. (on his Ukeleli)

Check it out on Utube. It makes my skin crawl!

Hears a song I consider to be beautiful and haunting.

reply to post by spacedoubt


Hey spacedoubt I had to flag and star your thread. I have watched some of the greatest hauntings of music!

Very cool idea you came up with

now i got ya'lls beat top this i dare you

This is an old recording, but I really think that no one can compare to Maria Callas.

Maria Callas - Ebben? Ne andrò lontana - La Wally




Angela GHEORGHIU - Ebben? Ne andrò lontana - La Wally



Sarah Brightman - Ebben? Ne andrò lontana - La Wally




[edit on 2008/4/6 by GradyPhilpott]

i'm not gonna post the lyrics, you are gonna have to listen from now on

i'd say a very haunting song is The Gunners Dream - Pink Floyd
the sax solo is very stirring, and the words aint so cherry either

Herman Brood - My Way

Teh haunting:

Ave Verum Corpus--Leonard Burnstein



Ave Verum Corpus - Oxford Cathedral Choir

Laudate Dominum (Mozart K339) - Hayley Westenra



Lucia Popp: Laudate Dominum (Mozart)



Laudate Dominum (Vienna Boys Choir)



LauDate Dominum (Mozart K339) - Hayley Westenra




[edit on 2008/4/6 by GradyPhilpott]

i love this girls voice and this song really hits home everytime i hear it

Wilhelm Kempff plays Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata mvt. 1

Beethoven - Piano Concerto No.5 "Emperor" - Second Movement



[edit on 2008/4/6 by GradyPhilpott]