I Couldn't Sleep At All Last Night, A Compendium Of Disturbing Songs

I'll have to find that Guardian article & read it for myself, hinge.
It is certainly the most powerful protest song I've ever heard.
Extremely confronting.

Aussie equivalent?

Close indeed, hinge.
<sigh>

Jimmy Sharman's Boxers

From the red dust north of Dalmore Downs
Sharman's tents roll into town
Twelve will face the auctioneer
Sharman's Boxers stand their ground
Their days are darker than your nights
But they won't be the first to fall
Children broken from their dreams
But they won't be the first to fall

Fighting in the spotlight
Eye's turn blacker than their skin
For Jimmy Sharman's boxers
It's no better if you win
Standing in the darkness
Lined up waiting for the bell
The days are wasted drinking
At the first and last hotel

Why are we fighting for this?
Why are you paying for this?
You pay to see me fall like shrapnel
To the floor
What is the reason for this?
There is a reason for this?
What is the reason they keep coming back for more?

The blows now bring him to his knees
But still the crowd calls out for more
The drums are burning in his ears
The man keeps counting out the score

(Hirst/Moginie)

some cannibalism from WPA



We left Macquarie Harbour it was in the pouring rain
none of us quite sure if we would see England again
some fool muttered death or liberty
there was six of us together a jolly hungry crew
and as the days went by you know our hunger quickly grew
some fool muttered death or liberty

So that night we made fires out of twigs and out of bark
and our stomachs they were grumbling all through the night so dark
we were only trying to keep ourselves alive
but when the sun came up next morning well the six had turned to five

And I said, right there’s another one, don’t you frown,
Chew the meat and hold it down, It’s a tale they won’t believe,
When I get down to Hobart town

All five of us were nervous and I'll tell you that’s a fact
bu you should have seen the bastard who was carrying the axe
He was a sick man he had murder in his heart

And then we reached the Franklin River, and it took two days to cross
we were wet and almost starvin’ and for food were at a loss
we were hungry men with murder on our minds.

So that night we made a fire out of twigs and out of bark
and our stomachs they were rumbling all through the night so dark,
And they were making noises the dead could not ignore
and when the sun came up next morning,
the five had turned to four!

And I said, right there’s another one, don’t you frown,
Chew the meat and hold it down, It’s a tale they won’t believe,
When I get down to Hobart town

Well the four of us kept marching to a place called Western Teirs
A country full of tasty game but for us it held no cheer
we had no guns we were traveling without hope.
But the axe it loomed so ominous and God's hand was at play
a sick man is a type of game which can not run away
so stay easy, my poor man, your time's at hand.

So that night we made fires out of twigs and out of bark
and our stomachs they were grumbling all through the night so dark
I can't say I feel guilty, after all it wasn't me
but when the sun came up next morning the four had turned to three

And I said, right there’s another one, don’t you frown,
Chew the meat and hold it down, It’s a tale they won’t believe,
When I get down to Hobart town

well the three of us kept moving but one was fading fast
he had been bitten by a snake and you could see he would not last
stay easy my good man your time is at hand
and when he could last no longer his days were fading fast
we were far to weak to carry him subsistency comes first
stay easy my good man your time is at hand

So that night we made fires out of twigs and out of bark
and our stomachs they were grumbling all through the night so dark
It was a messy job but it was one we had to do
but when the sun came up next morning the three had turned to two

And I said, right there’s another one, don’t you frown,
Chew the meat and hold it down, It’s a tale they won’t believe,
When I get down to Hobart town

Now he had been looking at me funny, sort of eyeing me for days,
And you would not need to be too bright to know that bastard’s ways:
He was a sick man, he had murder in his heart.
But even bastards have to rest, and even bastards have to sleep,
And when he was in the land of Nod straight over I did creep,
and the axe that he had wielded now was mine.

So that night, I made the fire, out of twigs and out of bark,
and my stomach it kept rumbling all through the night so dark.
I can’t say that I enjoyed it, and it wasn’t exactly fun,
but when the sun came up next morning, the two had turned to one!

And I said, right there’s another one, don’t you frown,
Chew the meat and hold it down, It’s a tale they won’t believe,
When I get down to Hobart town

Well now history is a pack of lies, as any fool can tell,
So when I got down to Hobart town I told my story well,
But do you think they would believe one word I said?
For they thought that I was covering for my mates still at large,
Said they’d be roaming in the bush so wild and free,
And back to old Macquarie Harbour they sent me

But I remember the fires made out of twigs and made of bark
and my stomach it was grumbling all through the night so dark
And this young fool he just said to me it's liberty or death
and he looked a rather tasty one, I just could not help it singing

And I said, right there’s another one, don’t you frown,
Chew the meat and hold it down, It’s a tale they won’t believe
When I get down to Hobart town

More lyrics: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/w/weddings_parties_anything/#share

OK, definitely disturbing.

Goodbye Horses, by Q. Lazzarus:

even more disturbing, Fez, the cohost of the Ron & Fez show pays off a radio bet with his own Silence of the Lambs dance (not for the faint of heart, maybe NSFW))

There this one particular Everly Brothers song "Ebony Eyes". It gives me the shivers everytime i listen to it.

Ebony Eyes always makes me laugh - as do a lot of maudlin death discs (I know, I'm sick) I just crack up every time the PA system at the airport says 'could all relatives of people on flight X go to the chapel across the street' and the narrator is thinking, 'What could this be about?' D'uh.

Bobby Goldsboro's 'Honey' makes me giggle too, the tortured rhyme of 'what the heck' and 'hugged my neck' makes me spit wheeties every time.

I recently came across this one:




I had me a wife, I had me some daughters.
I tried so hard, I never knew still waters.
Nothing to eat and nothing to drink.
Nothing for a man to do but sit around and think.
Nothing for a man to do but sit around and think.

Well, I'm a thinkin' and thinkin', till there's nothin' I ain't thunk.
Breathing in the stink, till finally I stunk.
It was at that time, I swear I lost my mind.
I started making plans to kill my own kind.
I started making plans to kill my own kind.

Come little daughter," I said to the youngest one,
Put your coat on, we'll have some fun.
We'll go out to mountains, the one to explore.
Her face then lit up, I was standing by the door.
Her face then lit up, I was standing by the door.

Come little daughter, I will carry the lanterns.
We'll go out tonight, we'll go to the caverns.
We'll go out tonight, we'll go to the caves.
Kiss your mother goodnight and remember that God saves.
Kiss your mother goodnight and remember that God saves.

A led her to a hole, a deep black well.
I said "make a wish, make sure and not tell and
Close you're eyes dear, and count to seven.
You know your papa loves you, good children go to heaven.
You know your papa loves you, good children go to heaven.

I gave her a push, I gave her a shove.
I pushed with all my might, I pushed with all my love.
I through my child into a bottomless pit.
She was screaming as she fell, but I never heard her hit.
She was screaming as she fell, but I never heard her hit.

Gather round boys to this tale that I tell.
You wanna know how to take a short trip to hell?
It's guarenteed to get your own place in hell.
Just take your lovely daughter and push her in the well.
Take your lovely daughter and throw her in the well.

Don't speak to me of lovers, with a broken heart.
You wanna know what can really tear you apart?
I'm going out to the barn, will I never stop in pain?
I'm going out to the barn, to hang myself in shame.

I can't believe i missed this thread all this time. There are some classics, such as St. James Infirmary. The earliest printed versions are an English folksong almost three hundred years ag0--but the song has to be much, much older, because the original St. James Hospital in London was torn down by Henry VIII in the 16th century to build St. James Palace. Long included in many singers' songbooks, it was made famous by Louis Armstrong who recorded it in 1928. It is performed here by Eric Clapton and Dr. John:



I went down to St. James Infirmary,
Saw my baby there,
Stretched out on a long white table,
So cold, so sweet, so fair.
Let her go, let her go, God bless her,
Wherever she may be,
She can look this wide world over,
But she'll never find a sweet man like me.

This song has long been thought to be an old American folk song, but, in fact, it was written in 1959. The author (don't recall his name) called it "an instant folk song." Here it is performed by the Chieftains with Mick Jagger singing:

Here's a charming little number which made Bloodrock a one hit wonder:

Patsy Cline would be spinning in, then rising from, her grave - searching for human flesh...

I originally thought Rihanna's Russian Roulette was metaphorical. Reading the lyrics, however, it seems like she is singing about a literal game of russian roulette.

And then I get
A scary thought
That he's here
Means he's never lost

I'd forgotten about this one - musically disturbing - and the subject is too, although I think you'll have hunt the story down on the web.

Tom Waits is Mr Ominous to me.
There's nothing specific in this song , just an aura.



Edna Million in a drop dead suit
Dutch Pink on a downtown train
Two-dollar pistol but the gun won't shoot
I'm in the corner on the pouring rain
Sixteen men on a dead man's chest
And I've been drinking from a broken cup
Two pairs of pants and a mohair vest
I'm full of bourbon, I can't stand up

Hey little bird, fly away home
Your house is on fire, children are alone
Hey little bird, fly away home
Your house is on fire, your children are alone

Schiffer broke a bottle on Morgan's head
And I'm stepping on the devil's tail
Across the stripes of a full moon's head
And through the bars of a Cuban jail
Bloody fingers on a purple knife
Flamingo drinking from a cocktail glass
I'm on the lawn with someone else's wife
Admire the view from up on top of the mast

chorus

Yellow sheets on a Hong Kong bed
Stazybo horn and a Slingerland ride
"To the carnival" is what she said
A hundred dollars makes it dark inside
Edna Million in a drop dead suit
Dutch Pink on a downtown train
Two-dollar pistol but the gun won't shoot
I'm in the corner on the pouring rain

Hey little bird, fly away home
Your house is on fire, your children are alone
Hey little bird, fly away home
Your house is on fire, your children are alone