Powerful Songs That Make You Uneasy? (closed)

Subject: Uneasy? Never! ;-)
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 20 Feb 01 - 01:06 PM

House of Orange... what a great song... I play it every chance I get... especially when I get requests for 'rebel' songs!! Terrorism is such a fucking waste!!

Cold Missouri Waters may have been record by Cry Cry Cry, but to set the record straight, it's a James Keelaghan song... lots of the songs he's written are that powerful... Captain Torrez, Kiri's Piano, Rebecca's Lament, just to name a few...

Stephen Fearing, Corryanna, or Turn Out The Lights, or The Life

Garnet Rogers has a bunch!! Row Of Small Trees, At A High Window, Small Victory, All That Is, 11:11, Phone Booth, NIGHT DRIVE!!!

Mary Chapin Carpenters This Shirt, gets me every time... especially the bit about that frigg'n cat!! LOL!

that's just what I can think of right now...

;-)

Subject: RE: POWERFUL SONGS THAT MAKE YOU UNEASY?
From: catspaw49
Date: 20 Feb 01 - 12:56 PM

Many have already been mentioned oddly enough, but the two that hit me hardest come from separate ends of the folk spectrum. "Bob Dylan's Dream" is virtually undoable for me. How did a kid so young ever know and be able to put into words the feelings you have of looking at youth from middle age? At the other end is an old chestnut as it were, "When You and I Were Young." Lovely song and a wonderful sentiment......

Spaw

Subject: RE: POWERFUL SONGS THAT MAKE YOU UNEASY?
From: Melani
Date: 20 Feb 01 - 12:50 PM

"Mothers, Daughters, Wives" by Judy Small.

Subject: RE: POWERFUL SONGS THAT MAKE YOU UNEASY?
From: annamill
Date: 20 Feb 01 - 12:44 PM

Any song about war. I must have very strong motherly instincts. For some strange reason, I just can't stand to hear about the death of young men for no apparent reason. Maybe I'm just overly sensitive.

SARCASM...

Love, annamill

Subject: RE: POWERFUL SONGS THAT MAKE YOU UNEASY?
From: SINSULL
Date: 20 Feb 01 - 12:26 PM

"The Band Played Waltzing Mathilda". War is such a fucking waste!

Subject: RE: POWERFUL SONGS THAT MAKE YOU UNEASY?
From: nutty
Date: 20 Feb 01 - 12:19 PM

Numerous Eric Bogle songs - that man has such a way with words but particularly " Martin don't go out tonight" and "They told all the fine young men"

Subject: RE: POWERFUL SONGS THAT MAKE YOU UNEASY?
From: Kim C
Date: 20 Feb 01 - 12:16 PM

I forgot to mention Christmas in the Trenches. It's not one that we perform but it gets me every time.

Subject: RE: POWERFUL SONGS THAT MAKE YOU UNEASY?
From: Mr Red
Date: 20 Feb 01 - 12:05 PM

Jay Turner - & Kath Mundy - the title is unimportant - the subject is about poverty in a central american region where mothers choose to limit the size of the family by culling. A powereful fitting arrangement but you just cannot be unmoved. The title - erm sorry - I just got lost in the moment when I heard it - and was too skint to buy the CD. (No reddies ha)

Subject: RE: POWERFUL SONGS THAT MAKE YOU UNEASY?
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 20 Feb 01 - 11:57 AM

Ooooo - too many to mention. All the deep meaningful lyrics of the pop charts I guess.

Hot Love by T-Rex (She ain't no witch and I love the way she twitch ahaha..) must be up there. So deep and meningful that they go above most people...

Same for Agadoo, Chirpy-chirpy cheep cheep and anything by the Bay City Rollers..

They all send shivers down my spine anyway. And I could never sing them.....

DtG

Subject: RE: POWERFUL SONGS THAT MAKE YOU UNEASY?
From: wdyat12
Date: 20 Feb 01 - 11:47 AM

A more contemporary song that does it for me everytime I hear it is Ohio by CSNY. The song brings back all the anger and frustration I felt while working for the student strike after the Kent State masacre.

wdyat12

Subject: RE: POWERFUL SONGS THAT MAKE YOU UNEASY?
From: Katcina
Date: 20 Feb 01 - 11:38 AM

The most recent I can think of is Joan Osborne's "What If God...". It aroused much controversy and was mightily comdemned by those that didn't take the time to actually listen to the words of the song. It has been a personal favorite of mine since the first time I heard it. I pay close attention to the words being sung.

Subject: RE: POWERFUL SONGS THAT MAKE YOU UNEASY?
From:
Date: 20 Feb 01 - 11:26 AM

Okay I have to add just one more.

Right here and now--I confess that I have filked.

If you're a fan of Jim Henson, you should hear Tom Smith's song "A boy and his frog" about the relationship between Henson and Kermit.

Subject: RE: POWERFUL SONGS THAT MAKE YOU UNEASY?
From: Troll
Date: 20 Feb 01 - 11:25 AM

" All Quiet Along The Potomac" or "The Kennesaw Line" does it for me."Papirosen" is another although you need to understand Yiddish to REALLY get it.

troll

Subject: RE: POWERFUL SONGS THAT MAKE YOU UNEASY?
From:
Date: 20 Feb 01 - 11:22 AM

I usually don't post, but this just brought to mind a list.

I definitely agree with Tabor's "He Fades Away." I don't know how you can sing it let alone listen. But, in my opinion, Tabor is one of the most powerful singers around. For example, I cannot listen to her "Green FIelds of France" without tearing up, but I can listen to others.

"Cold Missouri Waters" of late by Cry Cry Cry had me standing at a listening station in the bookstore for nearly an hour.

"Any Mick'll DO" by Brian McNeill which I had the great priviledge to hear LIVE at the Arlington Highland games, is fabulous. Of course, McNeill is one of my new favorite musicians---"Muir and the Master Builder", "Prince of Darkness" are two more of his more powerful songs.

"On the Other Side" which is the second song on the Janis Ian comeback CD also makes my hair stand on end.

That's it for me. Sorry for going on so long.

Subject: RE: POWERFUL SONGS THAT MAKE YOU UNEASY?
From: Kim C
Date: 20 Feb 01 - 11:20 AM

Annie Laurie... because just before the Confederate charge at the Battle of Franklin in 1864, one of their bands was playing this song. We still play it, but I can't sing it without thinking it was the last song some of those boys ever heard. We can barely introduce this song anymore without getting choked up, so we just start playing.

Subject: RE: POWERFUL SONGS THAT MAKE YOU UNEASY?
From: Bagpuss
Date: 20 Feb 01 - 11:09 AM

"He Fades Away" sung by June Tabor always chokes me a little when I sing it.

Bagpuss

Subject: RE: POWERFUL SONGS THAT MAKE YOU UNEASY?
From: RichM
Date: 20 Feb 01 - 10:56 AM

Yes, Peter, that's the kind of song I mean. House of Orange arouses strong emotion in some listeners.

Rich

Subject: RE: POWERFUL SONGS THAT MAKE YOU UNEASY?
From: SINSULL
Date: 20 Feb 01 - 10:47 AM

InObu's "Amadou" left me feeling completely helpless. A terrible loss and more than likely it will happen again.

Subject: RE: POWERFUL SONGS THAT MAKE YOU UNEASY?
From: Midchuck
Date: 20 Feb 01 - 10:42 AM

Stan Rogers' The House of Orange will get you beaten up in any Irish bar in the US.

Or was that not exactly what you had in mind?

Peter.

Subject: POWERFUL SONGS THAT MAKE YOU UNEASY?
From: RichM
Date: 20 Feb 01 - 10:26 AM

POWERFUL SONGS THAT MAKE YOU UNEASY? ...that is, you LIKE them but they arouse strong emotion in you or in listeners...

In another thread ( Origins of 'Strange Fruit') Tinker said something that struck me.
He quoted Pete Seeger: "I've sung(Strange Fruit) from time to time. You have to be careful to surround it with some other songs: it's so powerful it brings an audience to a dead stop."

Once , during my own songwriter phase, I wrote a song about the powerful effect of unreciprocated love. It was strong and bitter, but I thought it was a good song.
However,I stopped playing it AFTER each of two close friends approached me separately and asked if it was about his recent ended relationship. It wasn't but it gave me some insight into the power of music.
I haven't sung the song since.

My question to you is: What similarly powerful songs have brought out strong emotions in you?
Which ones do you sing?
Are there any you won't sing because they do affect you strongly?

Rich