Songs that just leave you dumbstruck?

[Hobo]

Have you ever listened to a song and just gone at the sheer magical beauty or just resonance of it?

John Cale - Frozen Warnings

Loudon Wainwright III - White Winos

Are three prime examples of this for me.

Edited January 2, 2009 by HoboObohHbob

[TheRossWalker]

The Gaslight Anthem - Blue Jeans And White T-Shirts

Yes, it's a wank fan video, but fuck it, I love this song, it's just so great.

Also, Frank Turner - Long Live The Queen

It's the lyrics. They get me every fucking time.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Sure.

Glosoli by Sigur Ros

Saeglopur by Sigur Ros

Gobbledigook by Sigur Ros

Untitled #1 (Vaka) by Sigur Ros

Inní mér syngur vitleysingur by Sigur Ros

Með Blóðnasir by Sigur Ros

Mílanó by Sigur Ros

Getting a theme here?

On top of all that add:

Let Down by Radiohead

Citizen Erased by Muse

Run by Air

Dayvan Cowboy by Boards of Canada (like falling asleep in a meadow on a beautiful summer's day)

Friend Of The Night by Mogwai

Carmina Burana by Carl Orff

All these songs make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up when I listen to them properly.

Edited January 2, 2009 by ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster

[Pesci]

Let Go by Frou Frou.

[Summers]

Have you ever listened to a song and just gone at the sheer magical beauty or just resonance of it?

John Cale - Frozen Warnings

Loudon Wainwright III - White Winos

Are three prime examples of this for me.

What's the fourth one then?

[apsham]

Matthew Good - Weapon

Champions of Nothing.. seriously. Listen.

[Hobo]

Have you ever listened to a song and just gone at the sheer magical beauty or just resonance of it?

John Cale - Frozen Warnings

Loudon Wainwright III - White Winos

Are three prime examples of this for me.

What's the fourth one then?

The one I edited in afterwards.

[Emperor Fuckshit]

Also, Frank Turner - Long Live The Queen

It's the lyrics. They get me every fucking time.

My God. That may be the worst song I've ever heard. Good Lord, Frank. Where did it all go wrong? BAH-BAH-BAHBAHBAH This girl's dying of cancer / No longer anymore will she be a dancer / BAH-BAH-BAHBAHBAH I used to front Million Dead / now I piss about doing bollocks like this instead.

Reminds me of a Chris Morris parody, but god knows what of.

Some suggestions off the top of my head:

'Levi Stubbs Tears' by Billy Bragg.

Incredibly touching lyrics, haunting saxophone bit in the outro. The delivery on the "when the world falls apart / some things stay in place" bit is spine-tingly when heard live (and pretty excellent on record too). Sad story. Presumably if Frank had written it, the lyrics would go "Fucking hell, this bloke killed his wife / And that was the end of her cunting life" and none of it would scan properly.

'Grendel' by Sunny Day Real Estate.

Jeremy Enigk's voice is perfect for songs like these, and SDRE manage the 'quiet/loud/quiet' thing without it seeming cheap. "I WAAAANTED TO BEEEE THEEEEEEEEM"... he just sounds so believably wrought. The other SDRE songs that qualify here are 'The Prophet' for its slow but constant build, weird (if slightly hammy) vocal sample, and the fantastic lyrics/vocal delivery at the end and 'Seven', which for me just IS 2 a.m. walks around the city in winter.

'The Other Side of Mt. Heart Attack' by Liars.

Incredibly fragile and precious. It's like a sonic child, an effect which is helped by the simplicitly of the lyrics.

EDIT: Really, though, I don't think any song leaves me 'dumbfounded': that implies a transcendental / ineffable reaction. Even when I respond to a song on an emotional level, I know why that's happening.

Edited January 3, 2009 by Emperor Fuckshit

[YI]

The Gaslight Anthem - Blue Jeans And White T-Shirts

Seconded.

"Bigfoot" by The Weakerthans [ http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=owk3Wg58jy8 ]...one of those songs...it just...'makes me so sad'...like...seriously...like 'close to crying' sad. Opened their set with it, Samson on his lonesome, when I saw them...was beautiful. John K Samson's easily my favourite lyricist churning stuff out...."The visions that I see, believe in me". COME ON!!! HOW SAD IS THIS SONG

"Couches In Alleys" by Styrofoam (ft. Ben Gibbard) [ http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=JCFFFdzIy2s ]...words can't describe how much I adore this song.

"Tearing In My Heart" by Sunny Day Real Estate [ http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=SGg4bbgCEtY ]...just so beautiful. I'll also second "The Prophet" [ http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=QnlUczcW5G0 ] and put out "Been Here Before" [ http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=TQQydvAjVYI ] from Enigk's 2nd solo album...when the organ comes in and his voice just rides over it...I shake...literally, shake.

"Never Speak Again" by Strung Out [ http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=EHPOsSLicSs ]...the first time I heard it, just fucking epic! The intro, the verse, the massive chorus, then the twiddly guitar bits...the quiet bit...the piano fade out...fuck, the entire thing is amazing.

"Expo '86" by Death Cab For Cutie [ http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=_hydvM78gqI ]...beautiful song...love it...when the crunchy guitar bits come in...yummy. My favourite Death Cab tune.

[Emperor Fuckshit]

I don't mind 'Tearing in My Heart' at all: really, on 'The Rising Tide', I'll take what I can get. It just felt a bit 'put on' to me: here's 'the emotional song' (it's about Dan Hoerner's dead sister don'tcherknow!), to go with 'the political song' ('Snibe'), 'the heavy song' (Killed by an Angel) and 'the natural imagery song' ('Rain Song'). Not bad, or anything, I just prefer the moments of pure emotion in SDRE songs that sound underplayed or aren't lingered over -- the drone of longing that opens 'Theo B' ("what a dream, you still loved me...") or the complete 'calm... storm' dynamic at work in 'Rodeo Jones'.

Thanks a lot for the Enigk solo recommendation, though, I'll check it out when I get five minutes. I've always been unsure about whether or not to dip into his post-SDRE stuff. I was worried it might all continue in the vein of TRT, or otherwise just be full of caterwauling about that goddamned God.

Edited January 3, 2009 by Emperor Fuckshit

[YI]

To be fair, "World Waits" (and the follow up EP) are very much continuing on from where "The Rising Tide" left off, but not particularly in a 'bad' way. His vocal work is great.

[Farmer Reil]

Rhapsody of Fire - Lamento Eroico

Hammerfall - Glory To The Brave - Gotta be the live version, since the studio version is a bit *too* slow, and both videos they made for it were shite.

[Tarheels.]

Lots of Sigur Ros songs do it.

True Love Waits by Radiohead

"I'm not living, I'm just killing time" is one of my favorite lines in any song

Left and Leaving by The Weakerthans did it to me the first time I heard it. Maybe it's because I didn't expect it to be what it was, but it just hit me hard and was from nowhere.

Two Headed Boy Part 2 by Neutral Milk Hotel

The entire song is just beautiful. It's the best closing song on any album in my opinion.

[Emperor Fuckshit]

To be fair, "World Waits" (and the follow up EP) are very much continuing on from where "The Rising Tide" left off, but not particularly in a 'bad' way. His vocal work is great.

Enigk's vocal work is always great, though (except when he does that weird 'jaunty narrator' thing on 'Two Promises'... weird). How about the Fire Theft? I've heard their stuff is quite 'The Rising Tide'-ish, which puts me off. Judging from your sig, you aren't a big Pitchfork fan, but their review of TRT is quite judicious in places (although I disagree with some of the reviewer's take about what SDRE had been 'about' in their first three albums).

Oh, and some stuff I forgot in my original response:

Many, many songs by Keren Ann:

Part of this is due to the level of mystification that occurs when you're listening to an artist who writes her lyrics in a foreign language -- especially French, I suppose. But the simple, so-fucking-easy-I-can-play-it riff on 'On Est Loin', coupled with her fantastically pretty vocals are impossible not to find endearing. 'Peut-Etre' is in much the same vein, and the delivery on "je te dirais, 'je ti'aime'" is one of my favourite musical things ever... just so incredibly tender. There's also the wistful, blustery sax solo on 'By the Cathedral' and the long, meandering mumbles of 'Nolita' ("it's late -- think it's gonna rain / think i'm going to bury you / think i'm going to bury you / or myself"). Some of her stuff falls over the wrong side of twee ('Spanish Song Bird', 'Jardin d'Hiver'), and I suppose you could present her as a dumbed-down Nico (or subtled-up Dido), but I think her stuff manages to be genuinely affecting despite being more simplistic than that weird racist German woman.

'Chance' by Big Country:

Big, sad chorus. Guitars that sound like bagpipes! Touching story. Not a very 'cool' choice, but I'd stick by it.

"In Love This Way" by Descendents:

One of the best songs about unrequited love I've ever heard, and completely out of left field as a jangly pop song from erstwhile comedy pop-punk merchants. Better than equivalent songs by a lot of bands with more 'legit' cred. The Smiths would've been happy to write this song.

Then again, I find 'Up the Junction' to be an emotionally-charged experience, so what the fuck do I know? Actually, I'll say a bit more about this. What's great about 'Up the Junction' is the way that it mostly remains just a 'nice song', but the "the devil came and took me / from bar to street to bookie" line hints at a slightly 'darker' element behind the story, and then the song quickly ends. It reminds me of a conversation between your elders about some slightly odd event in the dark depths of the family history; the moment at which someone makes an illusion that's a bit too literal, and everyone goes quiet.

Edited January 3, 2009 by Emperor Fuckshit

[YI]

Enigk's vocal work is always great, though (except when he does that weird 'jaunty narrator' thing on 'Two Promises'... weird). How about the Fire Theft? I've heard their stuff is quite 'The Rising Tide'-ish, which puts me off. Judging from your sig, you aren't a big Pitchfork fan, but their review of TRT is quite judicious in places (although I disagree with some of the reviewer's take about what SDRE had been 'about' in their first three albums).

Never actually heard The Fire Theft, kept meaning to check them out, but haven't ever got round to it.

As for Pitchfork. They're so far up their own arses that I get the vibe that they feel they're more important than the artists themselves. I mean, I like a bunch of bands Pitchfork wank all over, but I just hate Pitchfork. Plus my hatred grew even more with The Weakerthans review for "Reunion Tour"...I'd hunt it out, but I don't have the time right now...but basically they said it's a good album, and didn't have a bad word to say about it in the entire review (besides that 'musically it's not as good as lyrically', which, well yeah, but because the lyrics are fucking amazing...musically I'd rank it better than fucking "In Rainbows", which was dull as shit) and then at the end just turn around an slap like a 4.3 on it, because it's not 'their kind of indie'.

[Emperor Fuckshit]

Ha, yeah, I agree that Pitchfork certainly has its problems. Most of the reviewers do seem to be of a particular strain of hipster, and you can hazard a good guess at what kind of opinions you'll see expressed about an album before reading the review. Fuck me, did they actually use the 'not our kind of indie' line? That's like the Sun starting a story with "well, of course, we're a bunch of coke-snorting middle-class journo wankers who have trained extensively to fit our stories to the demands and pre-conceptions of the reactionary, white working class, despite knowing much better ourselves, but..."

I do like that a lot of the reviews are at least extensive and well-written (sometimes over-written), though. If you disagree with a review, it tends to be quite easy to pick out why and engage with the thing. Unlike a lot of the popular / print music media which is too reductive to be worth bothering with.

One thing which worries me though -- I kind of assumed that being a bunch of people on the internet, they'd at least have more opportunity to be objective (than, say, the NME). There's a greater degree of seperation between the writers and the 'scene' (I assumed). But apparently they have a quiet policy of 'updating' reviews; apparently 'reconsidering' certain works and offering them new grades. And these 'reappraisals' just so happen to fit in with the way the wind is blowing about the artist/album in question. Hmm.

Edited January 3, 2009 by Emperor Fuckshit

[Skummy]

"Livwe!!" by Boredoms, and "Four Helicopters And A String Quartet" by Karlheinz Stockhausen.

The Stockhausen song just went right through me and genuinely moved me in a way that only SunnO))) live have ever done.

The Boredoms track, though, is the first song that comes to mind with the word "dumbfounded". Like Fuckshit says, the word suggests something somehow transcendental...other songs might come close in terms of hitting me hard, moving me in a particular way...but "Livwe!!" is a "song" that renders me practically speechless.

It's the only track on the EP "Super Roots 9", and it's a mixture of the Boredoms tribal drumming influenced percussion, a pair of CD-J decks, and a 24-piece choir. It's as close to a religious experience as recorded music has ever got.

[Turbo Yannis]

Interpol - 'Untitled' -

[RPS]

Really anything by Antony and the Johnsons, but that goes without saying.

I am not a big fan of Sigur Ros, but there songs are just epic and have this ability to have this emotional affect. It's amazing.

[SRN]

Knights of Cydonia by Muse is the obvious election for me. Otherwise that moniker goes to the entire Elvenfris album, by Lykathea Aflame. Honestly, never before or after has an entire album just left speechless like that. It is nigh unexplainable the awesome and epic and greatness that Elvenfris is made of. There is nothing better. Nothing.