The Accidental Terrorist: Scary Songs Which Aren’t Meant To Be Scary

Idea by Matt Keeley
With contributions by. . .

In our last Halloween issue, we discussed morbid melodies and the music of the scares. But what of songs which horrify us accidentally? Some argue that songwriters who pair dark lyrics and bright melodies know exactly what they’re doing, but what about words and music which cause fright when they were only intended to delight?

For example, a few of our readers noted that “Mama” by Genesis was a bit squicky, but it’s unclear whether that creepiness was intentional or not. However, I think we can all assume that “Beep Beep” by The Playmates was probably not meant to panic small children, although it obviously has, judging on some of the replies we received.

Here are some examples of the various tunes that terrify. . .

“Art Lover” by The Kinks
Ann Clarke, Popshifter

“Leader of the Pack” by The Shangri-Las. I couldn’t listen to it as a kid because it made me cry. HE DIED!
Christian Lipski, Popshifter

Celine Dion in a less-photogenic moment.

The only time a song is scary to me is when it’s so awful it can’t be redeemed, such as any song by Britney Spears or Celine Dion. All that gothic horror stuff never really scares me, and songs that have that Halloween/gothic flavor are more funny than scary.
James Thurston Davis, Popshifter

“Mahogany” by Diana Ross scares my bandmate Ronnie. As for me, I always got woken up at 6:45 for school by that creepy blingy guitar intro of “Roundabout” by Yes and it used to scare the shapoopy out of me.
Kim Shattuck, Los Angeles, CA

So many songs from the 70s fit this category: “Seasons in the Sun,” “All By Myself,” and “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” always made my stomach queasy. “That’s How Much I Feel” and “Even Now” made me feel like all relationships were doomed. It explains a lot!
Deborah Lipski, Portland, OR

As a kid, Gary Wright’s “Dreamweaver” sounded so damn creepy that I could hardly stand to hear it. He probably intended it to be ethereal in quality, but to me it felt more like “Nightmare-weaver.” Ditto his 1981 hit “Really Wanna Know You.” They both just felt. . . wrong.

Steve Miller is usually associated with party rock or “the music you heard blasting from college dorm windows in the late 80s.” Yet, “Fly Like An Eagle,” specifically the album version with the hallucinogenic intro/outro, was practically unbearable to me. There was a rumor spreading through my grade school at the time that Miller was a Satanist and that the song was some sort of “secret code” for witchcraft or something. I’m not sure if the rumor or my fear came first, but either way, the song scared me shitless for years.

Possibly the most disturbing of all songs to me was the ironic “I’m Not In Love” by 10CC. I realize it was meant to be some sort of stab at love songs, but the spooky, whispered “big boys don’t cry” repeated throughout the instrumental break sounded like voices from beyond taunting me. Of all these songs, the only one I actually love now is “I’m Not In Love.” More irony!
Less Lee Moore, Popshifter

Big boys don’t cry. . .

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