Songs you were afraid of

[dlsterner]

"Dueling Banjos" while on a camping trip?

[Mark68]

I never liked Hotel California by The Eagles, although I liked their other songs. The interludes in the song just sounded so sad and although the place was figurative, I always got this picture of some old hotel in the middle of nowhere and wondered if they ever got out. lol

For some reason I always envisioned "the dark desert highway"  as CA 190 East of US 395.  I get that the "beast"  is a metaphor for addiction but it's hard not to get the mental image of people attempting to use their "steely"  eyes via some sort of telepathy trying to "stab"  some monster in the basement of the Hotel California. 

Not the only song on the album that deals with drugs. "Life in the Fast Lane" is overtly about drugs and the excesses of the Hollywood lifestyle.

[TheGrassGuy]

Sabre Dance by Aram Khachaturian

[hbelkins]

This song got mentioned upthread.

[kenarmy]

Mercy- Kanye West (I found out that the intro was really really dark so..)

My Heart Will Go On
A lot of MJ songs used to scare me, but strangely not Thriller
Earth Song (that key change was terrifying)
Money
Sunset Rider
Ghosts (ngl im still kinda scared of this)
Blood On The Dance Floor
Speed Demon

[jakeroot]

I can't say I'm afraid of any songs. The only ones that might qualify are those that make me cry because of a bad memory or something.

The Police's Every Breath You Take is nothing compared to Oingo Boingo's Little Girls. Silly comparison since neither song is based in reality. Still...

https://youtu.be/H2LQMElLoLs

[Scott5114]

It wasn't the song itself, but the music video for Madonna's "Take A Bow" has a shot where someones finger suddenly gets stabbed and it bleeds a bit. I was 5 when it first came out, and one of our family friends had MTV on and it showed up. It wigged me out enough that every time I heard the song (which usually happened at night, as I listened to the radio to go to sleep) I thought about it and got little-kid afraid of someone stabbing my finger.

[keithvh]

The I-Beam music on Sesame Street!  Scared me as a kid!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49FBci5D7Ik

Also as a kid, the ABC affiliate in Detroit had music they played on the news when showing the lottery numbers.  Music sounded like something that previewed an alien invasion.  9:27 mark.

https://youtu.be/4VP62OfrlkQ?t=582

[Ned Weasel]

This creeped me out so much as a kid that even the music became mildly horrifying:

https://youtu.be/KUSwocntUMY

[CapeCodder]

This iconic song; more specifically the video. When the "heat map" effect happens, he turns into a "rainbow." I was 5 when I first saw the video and thought "Why is a rainbow so angry?"

I was afraid of the backing vocals on Bonnie Raitt's Something to Talk About and Phil Collins' Something Happened on the Way to Heaven.

This next song, however takes the cake. Again I was 5/6 and I found her vocals grating. Today however, I love this song.

[SectorZ]

I know I said earlier I wasn't scared of any songs, but I realized one that irks me.

People have brought up "Every Breath You Take" by the Police. I was listening to the CD (as a passenger) and was involved in a pretty serious car accident that I thankfully walked out of unscathed. It wasn't that song, but the final track, "Murder by Numbers". If that comes on while driving it gets a skip.

Same with "Stacked Actors" by the Foo Fighters, since I nailed a deer that totaled my car 20-odd years ago when that song was on.

[DandyDan]

When Marilyn Manson was new, anything he did scared me. Of course, he has turned out to be a scary creep.

[kenarmy]

The I-Beam music on Sesame Street!  Scared me as a kid!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49FBci5D7Ik

help I can't get this out of my head!

[bandit957]

I remember seeing the I-beam segment on 'Sesame Street' when I was about 5, and I had no idea what it was. I didn't know it was a piece of metal back then. I used to think it was a giant dog bone that had been held over a fire or something.

[bandit957]

Another scary sound was the sound that used to accompany an old radio announcement for Sohio or Boron. On some cold winter days - I'm talking really, really cold - the DJ would be talking, and all of a sudden you'd hear this creepy synth sound, and the DJ would do an announcement for Sohio and say, "You go or Sohio pays your tow."

It was sort of like the creepy sound in the TV Guide commercials in the '70s.

[Rothman]

The I-Beam music on Sesame Street!  Scared me as a kid!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49FBci5D7Ik

help I can't get this out of my head!

Such a short section of I-beam, too.

I remember my father telling that it was hot and I always thought it was a challenge to keep that it mind.

[tolbs17]

Wrecking Ball (Hope you don't get killed!).

[capt.ron]

Pink Floyd's "On the run" always made me feel uneasy in a dark environment.
Red Rider's "Lunatic Fringe" starts out sounding like it belongs in a suspense thriller movie or something. Again, unsettling in a dark environment.
The Who's "Won't get fooled again" was another one that kinda freaked me out when I first heard it. The organ through the LFO filter was kinda creepy to me back then.
Pink Floyd: "Careful with that axe, Eugene!" Ummm yeah, not in a dark room, especially if you never heard the number before!

[formulanone]

When I was five, I was freaked out by The Love Boat theme, because that stupid anchor scared me for about three weeks. It appeared to be falling on everyone, and I had a dream that the anchor was then walking through the hallway of my house, looking for its next victim.

https://youtu.be/AB7f26dGGzI

This might explain why I'm into cars.

But I don't think any song has really creeped me out since, except for occasional uncanny placement of music.

[CoreySamson]

I do not like "Fly Like An Eagle" by Steve Miller Band. The electronic sounds in the song sound like a creepy old video game.

[TheGrassGuy]

Justice - Stress

[Takumi]

Not the song itself, but I found the video for Soundgarden's Black Hole Sun disturbing when I was a kid.

[GCrites]

Another scary sound was the sound that used to accompany an old radio announcement for Sohio or Boron. On some cold winter days - I'm talking really, really cold - the DJ would be talking, and all of a sudden you'd hear this creepy synth sound, and the DJ would do an announcement for Sohio and say, "You go or Sohio pays your tow."

It was sort of like the creepy sound in the TV Guide commercials in the '70s.

This one? Yeah I hated it too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVOJ2RqNYzg

[ethanhopkin14]

Maneater by Hall and Oats scared me when I was young because I thought it was about a Venus fly trap eating people (men).

[kevinb1994]

Maneater by Hall and Oats scared me when I was young because I thought it was about a Venus fly trap eating people (men).

Haha, it seems like that one has scared many of us.