Musical holds so much emotion. With one or two notes, an artist can convey a wealth of information. In the case of the three songs below, the musicians who made them inadvertently created a haunting sound. These classic songs could easily find a place in the soundtrack for a scary movie.
Videos by American Songwriter
“Slow Dancing” (Lindsey Buckingham)
Lindsey Buckingham‘s solo song, “Slow Dancing,” would find a comfortable home in an ’80s scary movie. Picture an eerie scene with whatever nightmare fuel at the center, with this song playing over the top. Oh, the nighttime filled with a cold winter chill / The rain music on my window sill / Oh, I come up fast, I go down slow / So tell me, baby, do you want to go, Buckingham sings in this haunting love song. Though Buckingham wasn’t going for a horror movie score while writing this track, it serves that purpose.
“Slow Dancing” is emblematic of Buckingham’s strong ’80s solo run. While his most famous works are associated with the Fleetwood Mac discography, his keen sense of floor-filling rhythms is evident in this solo pursuit.
“Tainted Love” (Soft Cell)
While Soft Cell’s “Tainted Love” is upbeat, there is something creepy hiding behind the danceable rhythm. This song has something about it that triggers fear receptors, making it a shoo-in for a scary movie soundtrack. You can’t help but feel a little uneasy when this song comes on—no matter how catchy it is.
This song was never meant to have a haunting tone. In fact, it’s a reworked cover of a song initially recorded in the ’60s, which has a much less creepy direction. Though this song is a cover, it’s undoubtedly the most famous version of this song. As this rendition gained popularity in the ’80s, it became associated with the AIDS crisis. Another band, Coil, recorded yet another version of this song, regarded as one of the first AIDS benefit singles. Their cover also kept Soft Cell’s version in the rotation.
“Paint It, Black” (The Rolling Stones)
The Rolling Stones have several songs that lean a little scary. While “Sympathy for the Devil” might have been a good choice for this list, “Paint It, Black” is far creepier sonically. I see a red door / And I want it painted black / No colors anymore / I want them to turn black, Jagger sings in the opening verse. While thematically, this song is dark, the sonic direction they take is far more haunting than the lyrics ever could be.
(Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
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