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Songs that truly made you feel something the first time you heard 'em

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0dd1 Just awesome like that from Nowhere Land Since: Sep, 2009
Just awesome like that
#1: Jan 3rd 2012 at 8:41:22 AM

TL;DR: What music/songs really affect you in any way?

What I'm specifically talking about is if you got something out of a song the first time you actually took the time to sit down and listen to it. Doesn't need to be the actual first time you heard a song (e.g.: for me, I'd heard Billy Joel's "Piano Man" my whole life, but when I actually listened to the words for the first time it depressed me greatly).

I've got a few. The Velvet Underground song "Heroin", when I first heard it, actually kinda gave me a head trip (and partially made me swear I'm never doing heroin period). It was probably those damn bongoes beating like a heartbeat.

The Beatles' "Revolution 9" completely freaked me out the first time I listened to it (though that could probably be attributed to the fact that I was listening to it in the middle of night partially sleep-deprived).

And pretty much every Simon And Garfunkel song makes me feel depressed, but "A Most Peculiar Man" (a man who has no friends and more or less just lives within himself ends up killing himself by plugging up his car's exhaust and asphyxiating himself with the gas), "Richard Cory" (rich guy who has everything anyone could ask for kills himself to everyone's shock), and most of the Bookends album (most of the album reflects on mortality and dying or dead relationships between friends and lovers and one song that ends with a boy killing himself—actually, this is the first song proper on the album, also this album has 'Mrs. Robinson' on it) especially get me in a funk. Of course, they're among my favorite music, so, yeah, what does that say about me.

TL;DR: What music/songs really affect you in any way?

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ImipolexG frozen in time from all our yesterdays Since: Jan, 2001
frozen in time
#2: Jan 3rd 2012 at 9:06:02 AM

The Beatles' "I Am the Walrus", as it was the first time I realized that music could be "weird". Before that I thought all pop music was Silly Love Songs. I was 11 at the time, and suddenly music in general became a good deal more interesting.

no one will notice that I changed this
inane242 Anwalt der Verdammten from A B-Movie Bildungsroman Since: Nov, 2010
Anwalt der Verdammten
Wicked223 from Death Star in the forest Since: Apr, 2009
#4: Jan 3rd 2012 at 9:45:46 AM

The Beatles' "I Am the Walrus", as it was the first time I realized that music could be "weird".

I had pretty much the same reaction with My Bloody Valentine's "Only Shallow", and the rest of Loveless by extension. That album went a long way toward expanding my musical tastes, even if I don't listen to it very much anymore.

You can't even write racist abuse in excrement on somebody's car without the politically correct brigade jumping down your throat!
0dd1 Just awesome like that from Nowhere Land Since: Sep, 2009
Just awesome like that
#5: Jan 3rd 2012 at 9:51:56 AM

Burial. Full stop
…something good, bad, happy, sad?

[up]I think it was just The Beatles in general that did it for me.

edited 3rd Jan '12 9:55:40 AM by 0dd1

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inane242 Anwalt der Verdammten from A B-Movie Bildungsroman Since: Nov, 2010
Anwalt der Verdammten
#6: Jan 3rd 2012 at 9:56:25 AM

Wistful, perhaps? Nostalgic? Euphoric? It's very emotive music, but hard to put a finger on.

The 5 geek social fallacies. Know them well.
MetaFour AXTE INCAL AXTUCE MUN from a place (Old Master) Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
AXTE INCAL AXTUCE MUN
#7: Jan 3rd 2012 at 11:05:46 AM

"Black and White Rainbow" by A Hawk And A Hacksaw made me feel like a door opened up in the back of my brain, and I stepped through and suddenly I was flying over mountains.

I didn't write any of that.
0dd1 Just awesome like that from Nowhere Land Since: Sep, 2009
Just awesome like that
#8: Jan 3rd 2012 at 11:48:42 AM

[up][up]I getcha there. Makes sense.

Also, the logo on that album cover looks like a swastika.

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drunkscriblerian Street Writing Man from Castle Geekhaven Since: Oct, 2010 Relationship Status: In season
Street Writing Man
#9: Jan 3rd 2012 at 12:33:10 PM

Too many to list or remember, but recently I heard Adele's "Someone Like You"...she really gets what its like to try and be friends with an ex.

If I were to write some of the strange things that come under my eyes they would not be believed. ~Cora M. Strayer~
randomguy321 Since: Nov, 2011
#10: Jan 3rd 2012 at 8:40:04 PM

"Letter To Me" by Brad Paisley. Usually I'm not a fan of country music, but that one just fricking hit me. Also, "Miserable At Best" by Mayday Parade. Basically describes my relationship with a friend. Except the first 2 syllables would be "K, Dee" instead of "Katie."

Completion oldtimeytropey from Space Since: Apr, 2012
oldtimeytropey
#11: Jan 3rd 2012 at 9:09:50 PM

"Take Pills" by Panda Bear. I was on something when I watched the video (I don't know if it was an official video); it scared the shit out of me.

edited 3rd Jan '12 9:10:02 PM by Completion

Alucard Lazy? from Vancouver, BC Since: Jan, 2011 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
Lazy?
#12: Jan 3rd 2012 at 9:29:09 PM

"Motorcycle Emptiness" by the Manic Street Preachers. Something about the way the vocals and guitar sound together in it.

BlixtySlycat |like a boss| from Driving the Rad Hazard Since: Aug, 2011
|like a boss|
#13: Jan 3rd 2012 at 10:13:35 PM

"Tha Crossroads" by Bone Thugs-n-Harmony and "Whisper to a Scream (Birds Fly)" by The Icicleworks both make me very, very sad. I have no idea why these two specifically since they've got virtually nothing in common.

go ahead and do every stupid thing you can imagine
karasu91 SYMBOLISM!!!! from Sol 3 (Gaia), Milky Way Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: You cannot grasp the true form
SYMBOLISM!!!!
#14: Jan 5th 2012 at 6:29:39 PM

Change, my dear, and not a moment too soon.
MidnightRambler Ich bin nicht schuld! 's ist Gottes Plan! from Germania Inferior Since: Mar, 2011
Ich bin nicht schuld! 's ist Gottes Plan!
#15: Jan 7th 2012 at 3:34:37 PM

"Like A Rolling Stone" by Bob Dylan. Years ago (I think I was 13 or so), I read Rolling Stone's list of 'Greatest Songs EVAR!!!1!!' and saw this was at number 1, so I looked it up, and thought, 'What the hell is this crap?!'

A few months ago, I listened to the song again, and was struck by a feeling of 'Oh my Hendrix, this is AWESOME!' Now, you'll find me yelling along 'HOW DOES IT FEEEEEEEEL! HOW DOES IT FEEL!' every damn time.

edited 7th Jan '12 3:34:49 PM by MidnightRambler

Mache dich, mein Herze, rein...
ImipolexG frozen in time from all our yesterdays Since: Jan, 2001
frozen in time
#16: Jan 7th 2012 at 5:33:16 PM

"Like a Rolling Stone" had an immediate effect on me, at age 11 just like "Walrus". I just liked the vibe of it, somehow. The organ playing, in particular.

no one will notice that I changed this
wuggles Since: Jul, 2009
#17: Jan 7th 2012 at 7:42:47 PM

"Dance With My Father" by Luther Vandross.

Also "I Used to Love Him" by Lauryn Hill.

PancakeMckennz Rainbows hurt. from Michigan Since: Jul, 2011
Rainbows hurt.
#18: Jan 7th 2012 at 9:02:59 PM

"Omoide ni Dekinai" by Younha.

My family was going through some serious crap in 2007 and the first time I heard that song, I nearly cried. It was like the first time I had almost cried since I was a kid and I felt like a total p-word for being moved by some song from the Bleach soundtrack of all things, but the emotion in that song just really got me for some reason. It was like a feeling captured in the melody—not even the vocals—and the arrangement just expressed how up and down I was feeling.

edited 7th Jan '12 9:03:44 PM by PancakeMckennz

(屮≖益≖)屮 彡 ┻━┻ F*ck yo' table; Go read my book! —> http://goo.gl/mtXkm
0dd1 Just awesome like that from Nowhere Land Since: Sep, 2009
Just awesome like that
#19: Jan 7th 2012 at 10:15:31 PM

[up][up]My mom loves that song. She says it reminds her of her father.

[up] Apologies for possibly ruining the moment, but p-word?

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SeizureFerret There can never be enough Jo Jo. from Right Behind You Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Complex: I'm real, they are imaginary
There can never be enough Jo Jo.
#20: Feb 13th 2013 at 4:04:40 PM

Heart of Life It's just so... hopeful and yet bittersweet at the same time.

"Everyone in this damned place has lost their minds..."
chihuahua0 Since: Jul, 2010
#21: Feb 13th 2013 at 5:13:18 PM

"Cosmic Love" by Florence + the Machine is one of the songs that ignites my imagination the most. At its core, it's a love song about being in unrequited love...until the bridge reveals that he loved her back, but neither realized it until she got over it. It's a tragedy. The metaphoric lyrics also work with the singing. Also, the instruments go from subdued to powerful.

I also have been swept up by "Never Let Me Go". It's a progression of Florence's voice, and her singing about wanting to drown is wrenching at the climax.

It took a while, but "Dark Paradise" by Lana Del Rey hit me in a few listens. It has similar melodrama, but one line pops out:

"I'm scared that you won't be waiting on the other side."

It's simple by itself, but the way it's sung, and the context...works. Lana captures the longing behind not being able to get over a relationship—especially when the subtext-verging-on-text implies that he's dead. "Dark paradise", indeed. *

Lastly, more from an interesting viewpoint than an emotional one, the second verse of "Summertime Sadness" (which I think Lana had said is her favorite song off Born To Die):

I'm feelin' electric tonight
Cruising down the coast goin' 'bout 99
Got my bad baby by my heavenly side
I know if I go, I'll die happy tonight

It's grim. I'm not sure if it's implying Driven to Suicide, but Lana sure packs in the implications.

Twentington Since: Apr, 2009 Relationship Status: Desperate
#22: Feb 13th 2013 at 11:30:27 PM

I refused to listen to anything but country for the longest time, and I think I was hampered greatly by Asperger's. But I must've had good psychiatrists, because I show a lot more emotion now — when I was a kid, my mom's friend's son asked her why I never smile or laugh.

Brad Paisley's "Letter to Me" was also a big one for me. I wasted most of the past 8 years expecting that life would just fall into place, only to realize far too late that doing nothing gets you nothing. I was also incredibly sheltered and unaware of what good things were around me, again due to Asperger's. For those reasons, and the overall "it'll get better" message, I would love to send a letter to my past self.

Also, there are some hymns that just really hit me every time I play them at church. Among them are "How Great Thou Art" (one of the few I can play and sing entirely from memory) and "My Tribute" by Andraé Crouch. (Thankfully, the hymnal we use has the full song — for some reason, most tend to omit the opening verse. I really don't get that.)

Also, nostalgic songs really get me, and make me think of what good things were around me even with Asperger's crippling me so much. One that really hit me recently was "Back" by Colt Ford and Jake Owen. Sure, it's Country Rap, but I feel that he nailed that one.

JHM Apparition in the Woods from Niemandswasser Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: Hounds of love are hunting
Apparition in the Woods
#23: Feb 14th 2013 at 6:44:23 AM

A lot of music has made me feel something deep on the first listen. That's why I love music.

I could give a few concrete examples of music that really surprised me with their impact on the first listen:

  • Coil, "Blood from the Air"
  • Sufjan Stevens, "Chicago"
  • Swans, "Telepathy" and "Her"
  • Wire, "Map Ref. 41°N 93°W"

I'll hide your name inside a word and paint your eyes with false perception.
KylerThatch literary masochist Since: Jan, 2001
literary masochist
#24: Feb 14th 2013 at 7:51:27 AM

Off the top of my head, "Fast Car" by Tracy Chapman. When all you can make out is the chorus, it sounds like an escapist fantasy.

And then I decided to pay attention to the lyrics. Good lord, it turns out it's actually a tragic love story with a cruel downer ending.

This "faculty lot" you speak of sounds like a place of great power...
JHM Apparition in the Woods from Niemandswasser Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: Hounds of love are hunting
Apparition in the Woods
#25: Feb 14th 2013 at 11:24:56 AM

[up] That song. Dear gods, that song. Beautiful, but unbelievably sad.

Strangely, this is apropos of another song that truly jolted me when I first heard it—or, rather, an album: Xiu Xiu's A Promise, particularly "Brooklyn Dodgers".

Actually, pretty much everything by Xiu Xiu from Knife Play through La Forêt hit me like a brick when I first heard it. Their work is just... it is massively over-the-top and should be silly for that, but instead—moments of black comedy and catchy melody aside—it is simply harrowing for the most part. And in a weird way, I really like that.

I'll hide your name inside a word and paint your eyes with false perception.

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