There have been popular songs with creepy or spooky lyrics since the beginning of rock music. Sure, entire subgenres are intentionally dark and scary, but when you filter out songs by shock-rockers, heavy metal bands and gothic groups, we are still left with plenty of songs that seem a little "off" in disturbing ways.
8. "Wildfire,"Michael Martin Murphy (1975) This gentle-sounding '70s soft-rock tune is a weird one for sure. The lyrics:
She comes down from Yellow Mountain On a dark, flat land she ride On a pony she named Wildfire With a whirlwind by her side On a cold Nebraska night
Oh, they say she died one winter When there came a killing frost And the pony she named Wildfire Busted down its stall In a blizzard he was lost
She ran calling 'Wildfire!' [x3] By the dark of the moon I planted But there came an early snow There's been a hoot-owl howling by my window now For six nights in a row She's coming for me, I know And on Wildfire we're both gonna go The rest of the lyrics
If I read this right, "Wildfire" is about some spooky ghost and her undead pony, coming down off a mountain in Nebraska to claim the soul of a hard-working farmer. The farmer appears to long for the sweet embrace of death, so it seems as if the spectral killer is something he's welcoming. That's pretty scary subject matter for a lilting '70s tune. Great song to listen to right before bed.
7. "D.O.A.," Bloodrock (1971) This is one example of a song that was written by a band that was probably trying to be spooky. I include it here because as far as I know, it was Bloodrock's only truly scary song, and the band itself is still a relatively obscure one that scored a hit with this creepy oddity. They were a Texas band from the Dallas area, so a lot of radio stations will play this tune around Halloween in our neck of the woods.
I remember, we were flying low, And hit something in the air
Laying here, looking at the ceiling, Someone lays a sheet across my chest. Something warm is flowing down my fingers Pain is flowing all through my back.
I try to move my arm and there's no feeling And when I look, I see there's nothing there. A face beside me stopped the totally bleeding The girl I knew has such a distant stare. The rest of the lyrics
Cool, I'll remember that stuff about flying low and hitting something in the air the next time I board a plane. Thanks, Bloodrock!
6. "Obsession," Siouxsie and the Banshees (1982) This is another case where some people might cry foul and say that Siouxsie and the Banshees were a gothic band and it makes sense that their songs are creepy. However, they carved out their own identity and were never really cookie-cutter "spooky" goths. They don't have a lot of songs specifically about death or vampires, or any of the cornier themes that many gothic bands seemed to gravitate towards.
No, what makes this song creepy is that it describes a person obsessed with another. Anyone who used to date within his or her local gothic scene would probably find a lot to relate to and to be creeped out by in this song.
Do you hear this, breath it's an obsessive breath Can you feel this beat? It's an obsessive heart beat Waiting to be joined with its obsession
I close my eyes but I can't sleep The thin membrane can't veil The branded picture of you
The signs and signals show, the traffic lights say, go Again you baffle me, pretending not to see, oh, me
I broke into your room, I broke down in my room Touched your belongings there and left a lock of my hair Another sign for you
You screamed into my face, get the hell out of my place Another sign for me, can you forgive me? For not understanding your ways The rest of the lyrics
Yeah... shiver.
5. "Can't Stand Losing You," the Police (1978) The Police started out as a relatively edgy band, but there's something incongruous about the generally nonthreatening and happy image of the band and this dark song about some guy about to kill himself to guilt-trip his recent ex.
I've called you so many times today And I guess it's all true what your girl-friends say That you don't ever want to see me again And your brother's gonna kill me and he's six feet ten
I guess you'd call it cowardice But I'm not prepared to go on like this
I can't, I can't, I can't stand losing I can't, I can't, I can't stand losing I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't stand losing you
I can't stand losing you I can't stand losing you I can't stand losing you
I see you sent my letters back And my L.P. records and they're all scratched I can't see the point in another day When nobody listens to a word I say
You can call it lack of confidence But to carry on living doesn't make no sense The rest of the lyrics
Yep, that's some pretty dark subject matter, and particularly dark delivered in the context of a catchy pop song.
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