I wanna hurt you just to hear you screaming my name

August 22, 2007 9:57 AM

Suggest some 'love' songs with an uneasy obsessional edge to them?

In other words, complete this set:

1- Ava Adore / Smashing Pumpkins
2- Closer / Nine Inch Nails
3- Possession / Sarah McLachlan
4- #1 Crush / Garbage ("I will burn for you, feel pain for you, I will crawl on hands and knees until you see, you're just like me.")

(Bonus points for an urgent/pulsing musical backdrop like this one.)

posted by Firas to media & arts (103 answers total)

Every breath you take by the Police?
posted by billysumday at 10:00 AM on August 22, 2007

I always thought there was something creepy about "If I was invisible" by Clay Aiken:

If I was invisible
Then I could just watch you in your room
posted by Comrade_robot at 10:01 AM on August 22, 2007 [2 favorites]

Nerf Herder, "Sorry"
posted by inigo2 at 10:02 AM on August 22, 2007

"More Than I Can Do" : Steve Earle
posted by essexjan at 10:02 AM on August 22, 2007

Nellie McKay: "Won't U Please Be Nice?" and "Baby Watch Your Back".
posted by hermitosis at 10:04 AM on August 22, 2007

Nothing quite so Stalky as I Want You by Elvis Costello.
posted by Toekneesan at 10:05 AM on August 22, 2007

Fleetwood Mac - I Got It In For You
Animotion - Obsession
Cinerama - Dance, Girl, Dance
Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf (?)
Hall and Oates - Private Eyes
Tony Orlando and Dawn - Knock Three Times (Now and Then)
Little Peggy March - I Will Follow Him
Randy Newman - Suzanne
Steve Earle - More Than I Can Do
The Beatles - Run For Your Life (!)
Diana Ross & The Supremes - I'm Gonna Make You Love Me
posted by irregardless at 10:05 AM on August 22, 2007

Lots of stuff by the Toadies probably fits the bill, their somewhat creepy lyrics are part of what I liked about them. I'm thinking especially of Jigsaw Girl. Lyrics.
posted by misskaz at 10:06 AM on August 22, 2007

Also, this from MeFi.
posted by hermitosis at 10:08 AM on August 22, 2007

Run For Your Life by The Beatles
posted by The World Famous at 10:09 AM on August 22, 2007

Also, a similar thread previously.
posted by irregardless at 10:11 AM on August 22, 2007

From the Stephen Sondheim musical, Assassins, the song "Unworthy of Your Love" - it's a duet between John Hinckley (singing to a photo of Jodie Foster) and Squeaky Fromme (singing of her love for Charles Manson). [lyrics]
posted by Zephyrial at 10:11 AM on August 22, 2007

I Want You by Elvis Costello

Oh my baby baby I love you more than I can tell
I don't think I can live without you
And I know that I never will
Oh my baby baby I want you so it scares me to death
I can't say anymore than "I love you"
Everything else is a waste of breath

I want you
You've had your fun you don't get well no more
I want you
Your fingernails go dragging down the wall
Be careful darling you might fall
I want you
I woke up and one of us was crying
I want you
You said "Young man I do believe you're dying"
I want you
If you need a second opinion as you seem to do these days
I want you
You can look in my eyes and you can count the ways
I want you
Did you mean to tell me but seem to forget
I want you
Since when were you so generous and inarticulate
I want you
It's the stupid details that my heart is breaking for
It's the way your shoulders shake and what they're shaking for
I want you
it's knowing that he knows you now after only guessing
It's the thought of him undressing you or you undressing
I want you
He tossed some tatty compliment your way
I want you
And you were fool enough to love it when he said
"I want you"
I want you
The truth can't hurt you it's just like the dark
It scares you witless
But in time you see things clear and stark
I want you
Go on and hurt me then we'll let it drop
I want you
I'm afraid I won't know where to stop
I want you
I'm not ashamed to say I cried for you
I want you
I want to know the things you did that we do too
I want you
I want to hear he pleases you more than I do
I want you
I might as well be useless for all it means to you
I want you
Did you call his name out as he held you down
I want you
Oh no my darling not with that clown
I want you
I want you
You've had your fun you don't get well no more
I want you
No-one who wants you could want you more
I want you
I want you
I want you
Every night when I go off to bed and when I wake up
I want you
I'm going to say it once again 'til I instill it
I know I'm going to feel this way until you kill it
I want you
I want you
posted by dawdle at 10:16 AM on August 22, 2007

"Why Can't I Be You" -the Cure
"Jeepster" -T.Rex (well, maybe, kinda sorta)
posted by kellyblah at 10:21 AM on August 22, 2007

Stephen Colbert, in character on the Colbert Report, showed an eighties-style video for a song sung by him called Charlene (Right Behind You). I suspect that it was meant as a direct parody of Every Breath You Take, but it's actually quite good by itself.

YouTube had it back before the Comedy Central purge; you could probably still find it somewhere through Google.
posted by The Confessor at 10:21 AM on August 22, 2007

Seconding Costello's "I want you". Fiona Apple's cover is brilliant--almost creepier than Elvis'. (YouTube link)
posted by QueSeraSera at 10:21 AM on August 22, 2007 [1 favorite]

Oops, I meant Elvis' original version, not that his is a cover.
posted by QueSeraSera at 10:23 AM on August 22, 2007

Bright Eyes - The Calendar Hung Itself. Always gave me the creepy obsessed feeling.

"Does he walk around all day at school
his feet inside your shoes?
Looking down every few steps to pretend
he walks with you.
Oh, does he know that place below your neck
that is your favorite to be touched?
And does he cry through broken sentences
like 'I love you far too much?'"
posted by sephira at 10:27 AM on August 22, 2007

Nothing beats "My Personal Possession" by Nat King Cole. It's an anthem of obsession:

You are my personal possession,
You're mine alone
You are my personal possession,
My very own.

Nobody else must kiss you but me,
Nobody else must miss you but me.
Nobody must dream of you but me,
And nobody else must love you but me.

You're my personal possession,
That's what you are.
You're my magnificent obsession,
My lucky star.

I own you exclusively,
Darling, you belong to me.
You're my personal possession,
My precious love!
posted by Durhey at 10:31 AM on August 22, 2007

"I Drove All Night," Cyndi Lauper (with covers by Roy Orbison and Celine Dion)
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 10:32 AM on August 22, 2007

Barenaked Ladies, Straw Hat & Old Dirty Hank (YouTube) is a stalker song (Anne Murray, under Other Trivia), not sure if it fits with your request.
posted by shinynewnick at 10:34 AM on August 22, 2007

Gotta go with PJ Harvey on this one:
Rid of Me
To Bring You My Love
This Is Love
posted by otolith at 10:35 AM on August 22, 2007 [2 favorites]

"Into the Night" by Benny Mardones. Perv.
posted by peep at 10:39 AM on August 22, 2007

I always thought the Ronettes 'Be My Baby' was kinda creepy in that obsessive way.

Also, 'I'm Her Slave' by the Afghan Whigs
'Missguided Angel' by Hank Williams (I think, but also Cowboy Junkies)
'Nothing Better' by Postal Service
'Hope' by the Descendents
'Mr. Brightside' by the Killers (kinda)
And didn't Mark Antony record a song with a creepy-as-hell refrain of "you can run, you can hide, but you can't escape my love"?

*shiver*
posted by Pecinpah at 10:39 AM on August 22, 2007

I would kill myself for you. I would kill you for myself.
posted by fake at 10:40 AM on August 22, 2007

someone already mentioned it, and the only creepy thing is the eyebrow, but weren't the 80s wonderful?
posted by andrew cooke at 10:40 AM on August 22, 2007

Pretty much anything by She Wants Revenge

Some samples:
Red Flags and longs nights:
Sick of trying to find a way inside
Sick and tired of all the after
Sick of trying ot find a way to slide
Even though it always ends in laughter
Its never hard to tell when things are done
She looked into my eyes and a voice said RUN
She says that im a mess but its alright
Whether its 2 weeks, 2 years or just tonight

You can occupy my every sigh,
You can rent a space inside my mind
At least untill the price becomes too? HIGH

Tear You Apart:
It's cute in a way, till you cannot speak
And you leave to have a cigarette, knees get weak
escape was just a nod and a casual wave
Obsess about it, heavy for the next two days

It's only just a crush, it'll go away
It's just like all the others it'll go away
Or maybe this is danger and you just don't know
You pray it all away but it continues to grow

I want to hold you close
Skin pressed against me tight
Lie still, and close your eyes girl
So lovely, it feels so right

I want to hold you close
Soft breath, beating heart
As I whisper in your ear
I want to fucking tear you apart
posted by jaded at 10:43 AM on August 22, 2007

Girlfriend in a Coma by the Smiths.

Stan by Eminem.
posted by blaneyphoto at 10:50 AM on August 22, 2007

Obsession by The Human League.
posted by sephira at 10:52 AM on August 22, 2007

Losing My Religion by REM
posted by martinX's bellbottoms at 10:55 AM on August 22, 2007

Offspring, I Want You.
posted by letahl at 10:57 AM on August 22, 2007

Porcelain by Better Than Ezra
posted by AlisonM at 11:05 AM on August 22, 2007

Pecinaph -- Not Marc Anthony, but Enrique Iglesias, Escape.
posted by whitneykitty at 11:07 AM on August 22, 2007

I'd say "Jenny was a friend of mine" by the Killers fits the bill, too. Implications of the singer having killed his girlfriend when she wanted to leave him, etc.
posted by Phire at 11:13 AM on August 22, 2007

At Last - Etta James
Your House - Alanis Morrissette
White Flag - Dido
It's Gonna Be Me - NSync
If I Were Your Woman - Gladys Knight
Aint Too Proud to Beg - Temptations
Something About Us - Daft Punk
The Beautiful Ones - Prince

Thanks for the link to Fiona Apple's cover of I Want You. It is incredibly awesome.
posted by nooneyouknow at 11:16 AM on August 22, 2007

I'd suggest rather a lot of songs by the Handsome Family, but as the creepy love part usually turns into death in their hands, I'm not that's what you're looking for.

Still, In The Air (as an example) has a couple of pretty nifty morbid songs in the spirit of the question;

Poor, Poor Lenore. "He kissed, he kissed her so hard, her mouth filled with blood.."

and

My Beautiful Bride. "I loved so much my beautiful bride, I gave her up to the cool night sky.."

Great stuff.
posted by elendil71 at 11:26 AM on August 22, 2007

They Yayhoos' Baby I Love You.

A love song for realists if ever there was one.
posted by subajestad at 11:31 AM on August 22, 2007

The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get - Morrissey
One Way or Another - Blondie
I'm Your Boyfriend Now - tmbg
Yeah! Oh Yeah! - Magnetic Fields

Practically all of Fiona Apple's second album. Or at least I was in the right frame of mind to obsess over it as such... last track: "I Know"

So for the time being, Im being patient
And amidst this bitterness
If youll just consider this-even if it dont make sense
All the time-give it time
And when the crowd becomes your burden
And youve early closed your curtains,
Ill wait by the backstage door
While you try to find the lines to speak your mind
And pry it open, hoping for an encore
And if it gets too late, for me to wait
For you to find you love me, and tell me so
Its ok, dont need to say it.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 12:46 PM on August 22, 2007

Bleu - Watching You Sleep

I confess
I looked up your work address
It wasn't fate
That bumped into you that day

About a million different songs by The Smiths. "I Know It's Over" and "Handsome Devil" come to mind (both are obsessive, but quite different tonewise.).

"Absolutely Cuckoo" by the Magnetic Fields might work. It straddles the line between creepy and adorable:

know now that i'm on the make
and if you make a mistake
my heart wil certainly break
i'll have to jump in a lake
and all my friends will blame you
there's no telling what they'll do
it's only fair to tell you
i'm absolutely cuckoo

"Father Figure" by George Michael" and "Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover" by Sophie B. Hawkins aren't exactly creepy, just very very intense.
posted by granted at 12:47 PM on August 22, 2007

"Goodnight and Go" by Imogen Heap features the singer surreptitiously following her crush home and watching him undress through the window.
posted by fermion at 1:03 PM on August 22, 2007

Everybody's Stalking by Badly Drawn Boy
posted by somanyamys at 1:06 PM on August 22, 2007

"All Mine" by Portishead. Almost anything by PJ Harvey.
posted by jamesonandwater at 1:12 PM on August 22, 2007

The final hidden track from Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill, 'Your House', is very stalkery and creepy.
posted by goo at 1:23 PM on August 22, 2007

+/- - No one sees you like I do now (Yt)
posted by kickingtheground at 1:31 PM on August 22, 2007

Walk Away Renee comes off as a bit obsessive once you know the story behind it.
posted by Afroblanco at 1:36 PM on August 22, 2007

If I Was Invisible, by Clay Aiken. Stalker song!
posted by Xere at 1:47 PM on August 22, 2007

Not so much "creepy" as "abusive" is the Watchmen's "Run and Hide":

I hate to see you lying there curled up in a ball
I hate to smash your pretty face against the fucking wall
But I'm a desperate man, girl, I'm down on my knees

Also, Weezer's "No One Else" has always struck me as controlling:

I want a girl who will laugh for no one else
When I'm away she puts her makeup on the shelf
When I'm away she never leaves the house
I want a girl who laughs for no one else

posted by Johnny Assay at 1:50 PM on August 22, 2007

'Melanie' by Weird Al Yankovic. It's an original, not a parody.
posted by andraste at 1:55 PM on August 22, 2007

Roy Orbison, You May Feel Me Crying -- creepiest song evar.

When we make love, you know we're making love
To everyone we've ever made love to
So when you take him down inside
Just know I'm there with you

And you may feel me crying
And oh, I hope you do
I'm out there somehow all alone
With memories of you

And you may feel me crying
While you're reaching for more
I just hope someday I see you
Standing at my door
Its something I live for

They'll fill you up, I know, with shining dreams
To touch your heart, because you thrill them so
But there's a place they'll never touch
Just you and I can know

And you may feel me crying
And oh, I hope you do
I'm out there somehow all alone
With memories of you

You may feel me crying
While you're reaching for more
I just hope someday I see you
Standing at my door
It's something I live for

There are stronger men than me
And they'll take you on a mountain
And give you all you see
And you'll do what they desire
You were born to see how long
Your hand can stand the fire

You may feel me crying
And oh, I hope you do
I'm out there somehow all alone
With memories of you

You may feel me crying
While you're reaching for more
I just hope someday I see you
Standing at my door
It's something I live for
posted by blueshammer at 1:56 PM on August 22, 2007

Falco - Jeanny (it was boycotted in the Netherlands)
Nick Cave & Kylie Minogue - Where the wild roses grow. I've wondered wether this video clip was inspired by Millais' Ophelia. But I'm too lazy to google for the answer to that question.
posted by jouke at 1:57 PM on August 22, 2007

Biggest Mistake by the Meat Purveyors
posted by Seamus at 1:58 PM on August 22, 2007

Kate Bush - "Watching You Without Me"
Garbage - "You Look So Fine"
posted by Evangeline at 1:59 PM on August 22, 2007

Until You Come Back To Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)
posted by splendid animal at 2:03 PM on August 22, 2007

The Donnas did REO Speedwagon's previously bland and unremarkable "Keep On Loving You" for the Drive Me Crazy soundtrack. I haven't seen the movie, so I don't know what use they made of it there, but I can tell you that when I listen to it, all I an think of is a zombie-eyed chick pursuing some terrified boy, despite restraining orders and firearms. Then, when he's wounded, lying on the ground, at her mercy, she begins with..

You should've seen by the look in my eyes, baby
There was somethin missin
You should've known by the tone of my voice, maybe
But you didn't listen
You played dead
But you never bled
Instead you lay still in the grass
All coiled up and hissin

I'm telling you, it's creepier than fuck.
posted by Clay201 at 2:11 PM on August 22, 2007

"Happy Together" by the Turtles
"Aint No Sunshine" by Bill Withers
"The Old Apartment" by Barenaked Ladies
Many (most?) songs by Violent Femmes

A great many (most?) of those innocent-sounding fifties love songs are expressing great devotion to either someone that the singer hasn't even approached yet or someone they've broken up with. And many of these have contemporary cover versions.

"You Are My Sunshine" is actually one of the most obsessive songs. It's been recorded hundreds of times -- I'm sure someone's got the style you like.

Partial lyrics:

The other night, dear,
As I lay sleeping
I dreamt I held you in my arms.
When I awoke, dear,
I was mistaken
And I hung my head and cried.

You are my sunshine,
My only sunshine.
You make me happy
When skies are grey.
You'll never know, dear,
How much I love you.
Please don't take my sunshine away.

I'll always love you
And make you happy
If you will only say the same,
But if you leave me
To love another
You'll regret it all some day.

You are my sunshine,
My only sunshine.
You make me happy
When skies are grey.
You'll never know, dear,
How much I love you.
Please don't take my sunshine away.

You told me once, dear
You really loved me
And no one else could come between
But now you've left me
And love another
You have shattered all my dreams;

You are my sunshine,
My only sunshine.
You make me happy
When skies are grey.
You'll never know, dear,
How much I love you.
Please don't take my sunshine away.
posted by winston at 2:16 PM on August 22, 2007

"Creepin' Up On You" by Darren Hayes.
posted by divabat at 2:16 PM on August 22, 2007

The Cure - "Close to You"
posted by crookedneighbor at 2:22 PM on August 22, 2007

Virtually the entire output of Pulp and Jarvis Cocker. Nobody has catalogued the myriad varieties of slightly creepy romantic obsession better than Jarvis.

Some highlights, off the top of my head:

Babies (from His'N'Hers) Classic tale of teenage voyeurism.
"We listened to your sister when she came home from school
'Cos she was two years older and she had boys in her room.
We listened outside and heard her. Alright.
Well that was alright for a while but soon I wanted more.
I want to see as well as hear and so I hid inside her wardrobe."

I Spy (from Different Class) Infidelity as class war.
"You see you should take me seriously. Very seriously indeed. Cause I've been sleeping with your wife for the past sixteen weeks... Smoking your cigarettes, drinking your brandy, messing up the bed you chose together. And in all that time I just wanted you to come home unexpectedly one afternoon and catch us at it in the front room. You see I spy for a living, and I specialise in revenge, in taking the things I know will cause you pain."

This Is Hardcore (from This Is Hardcore) Cinematic ode to obsessions with nasty porn, done as a love song.
"This is the eye of the storm.
It's what men in stained raincoats pay for... but in here it is pure.
Yeah. This is the end of the line.
I've seen the storyline played out so many times before.
Oh that goes in there.
Then that goes in there.
Then that goes in there.
Then that goes in there. And then it's over."

See also: very funny Charlie Brooker column about terrifyingly disturbing lyrics lurking in pop classics. He highlights Tom Jones' Delilah as being the greatest stalker song that nobody realises is about stalking.
posted by flashboy at 3:17 PM on August 22, 2007

"You Belong to Me" by (among others) Patsy Cline
posted by dmo at 3:17 PM on August 22, 2007

n'thing Elvis Costello's I Want You

n'thing PJ Harvey - specifically O My Lover
posted by tim_in_oz at 3:20 PM on August 22, 2007

I'm amazed no one has mentioned Radiohead's Creep yet.

Perhaps because it's so obvious.
posted by winna at 3:26 PM on August 22, 2007

So Cruel, U2

We crossed the line
Who pushed who over?
It doesn't matter to you
It matters to me
We're cut adrift
We're still floating
I'm only hanging on
To watch you go down
My love
posted by The Deej at 3:27 PM on August 22, 2007

The Kinks "All Day and All of the Night" gives me the creeps in that sort of constant co-dependent way.

I'm not content to be with you in the daytime
Girl I want to be with you all of the time
The only time I feel alright is by your side
Girl I want to be with you all of the time
All day and all of the night
All day and all of the night
All day and all of the night

I believe that you and me last forever
Oh yea, all day and nighttime yours, leave me never
The only time I feel alright is by your side
Girl I want to be with you all of the time
All day and all of the night
All day and all of the night
Oh, come on...
posted by booknerd at 3:35 PM on August 22, 2007

Husker Du -- Diane
posted by M.C. Lo-Carb! at 3:39 PM on August 22, 2007

One of my favorite spookier examples, and urgent as you request: I Got You, by Split Enz.

Another favorite, spookier still, but slow: Neko Case's version of I'll Be Around.
posted by melissa may at 3:39 PM on August 22, 2007

Cole Porter - "Night and Day". I think U2's cover of this song is super creepy.
posted by Evangeline at 4:03 PM on August 22, 2007

"Bad As They Seem" by Hayden. More about the (brilliant, in my opinion) characterization of a sad loser than about obsessive love, though it has that element to it:

Girl of my dreams...
Things are as bad as they seem
She is only sixteen
That's why she's only a dream
Woman of my dreams...
Lives right down my street
Has a daughter who's sixteen
That's why she's only a dream
posted by granted at 4:09 PM on August 22, 2007

Paula Cole--Feelin' Love she sings this song as if she is cumming (sorry to be so blunt)

You make me feel like a sticky pistil
Leaning into her stamen.
You make me feel like Mr. Sunshine himself.
You make me feel like splendor in the grass where we're rolling
Damn skippy baby
you make me feel like the Amazon's running between my thighs.

You make me feel love

You make me feel like a candy apple all red and horny
You make me feel like I want to be dumb blonde
In a centerfold, the girl next door.
And I would open the door and I'd be all wet
With my tits soaking through this tiny little t-shirt
That I'm wearing and you would open the door
And tie me up to the bed.

You make me feel love

Lover I don't know who I am.
Am I Barry White - am I Isis?
Lover I'm laced with your unconscious,
I will be your Desdemona

Melissa Etheridge--

"I'm the Only One"

Please baby can't you see
My minds a burnin' hell
I got razors a rippin' and tearin' and strippin'
My heart apart as well
Tonight you told me
That you ache for something new
And some other woman is lookin' like something
That might be good for you

Go on and hold her till the screaming is gone
Go on believe her when she tells you
Nothings wrong

(chorus)
But I'm the only one
Who'll walk across the fire for you
I'm the only one
Who'll drown in my desire for you
Its only fear that makes you run
The demons that you're hiding from
When all your promises are gone
I'm the only one

Please baby can't you see
I'm trying to explain
Ive been here before and Im locking the door
And I'm not going back again
Her eyes and arms and skin wont make
It go away
You'll wake up tomorrow and wrestle the sorrow
That holds you down today

Go on and hold her till the screaming is gone
Go on believe her when she tells you
Nothing's wrong

(repeat chorus)

"Come to My Window"

(chorus)
Come to my window
Crawl inside, wait by the light
Of the moon
Come to my window
I'll be home soon

I would dial the numbers
Just to listen to your breath
I would stand inside my hell
And hold the hand of death
You don't know how far Id go
To ease this precious ache
You don't know how much Id give
Or how much I can take

Just to reach you
Just to reach you
Just to reach you

(chorus)

Keeping my eyes open
I cannot afford to sleep
Giving away promises
I know that I can't keep
Nothing fills the blackness
That has seeped into my chest
I need you in my blood
I am forsaking all the rest
Just to reach you
Just to reach you
Oh to reach you

(chorus)

I don't care what they think
I don't care what they say
What do they know about this
Love anyway?

(chorus)

Bruce Springsteen--"I'm on Fire"

Hey little girl is your daddy home
did he go away and leave you all alone?
Mm hm, I got a bad desire.
Oh oh oh, I'm on fire.

Tell me now baby is he good to you
Can he do to you the things I can't do?
Oh no, I can take you higher.
Oh oh oh, I'm on fire.

Sometimes it's like someone took a knife baby, edgy and dull
'n' cut a six-inch valley through the middle of my skull.
At night I wake up with the sheets soakin' wet
And a freight train running through the middle of my head
I need you to cool my desire.
Oh oh oh, I'm on fire.

Meredith Brooks--

What Would Happen if We Kissed?

Electricity
eye to eye
Hey do I know you?
I can't speak
Stripped my senses
on the spot
I've never been defenseless
I can't even make sense of this
You speak and I don't hear a word

(chorus)
What would happen if we kissed?
Would your tongue slip past my lips?
Would you run away?
Would you stay?
Or would I melt into you?
Mouth to mouth
lust to lust
Spontaneously combust

Room is spinning
out of control
You act like you didn't notice
brushed my hand
Forbidden fruit
ring on my finger
Your such a moral, moral man
Would you throw it away?-- A question
Will I pretend I'm innocent?

(chorus)

I struggle with myself again
Quickly the walls are crumblin'
Don't know if I can turn away

(chorus)
posted by misha at 4:20 PM on August 22, 2007

Valerie Loves Me, by Material Issue.
posted by oneirodynia at 4:52 PM on August 22, 2007

"I Burn For You" by The Police.

You can find it in the Police box.

It plays in the background of the movie Brimstone and Treacle when Sting is raping a disabled person (who, of course, can speak after having sex with Sting, because, after all, he's Sting!).

disclaimer: I haven't seen the movie in 20 years. It may actually play some other time in the movie. It's still very creepy.
posted by wittgenstein at 4:57 PM on August 22, 2007

Omg, jouke, Jeanny is super creepy. I haven't thought of that song in ages, but it's the only German I remember by heart... Sie kommen!, Sie kommen dich zu holen. Sie werden dich nicht finden. Niemand wird dich finden! Du bist bei mir!

How about Hello by Lionel Richie. Or is that just creepy because of the video? (recently on the blue)
posted by gemmy at 4:59 PM on August 22, 2007

Greensleeves
Wrapped Around Your Finger - the Police
Dig It Up - the Hoodo Gurus
posted by Tixylix at 5:07 PM on August 22, 2007

"strange & beautiful" - aqualung
posted by gursky at 5:37 PM on August 22, 2007

Eleni Mandell - "Meant To Be In Love"

We were meant to be lovers
I know the truth
Just one more kiss for me
Another kiss for you

We were meant to be strangers
I'll never tell
You may just look away
But I know you so well

I know my husband cares for me
I know my darling does
But when I bear his son
He'll look like you because
We were meant to be in love

... and so on.
posted by grabbingsand at 5:43 PM on August 22, 2007

Possum Kingdom, Toadies
Hello, Lionel Ritchie
posted by zackola at 7:37 PM on August 22, 2007

Weird Al - Do I Creep You Out

I know that you
Don't know me very well
We've barely met
But I can surely tell
No one will ever
Love you like I do

I like to feel
The warm spot on your chair
Sometimes I drool
And usually I stare
My precious one
I saved that gum
That you threw in the garbage

You're the one I dream about
But the only question with me now
Is "Do I creep you out?"
Every time I shake your hand now
Wanna stick your fingers in my mouth
Do I creep you out?

Call you every night and hang up
Gonna carve your name in my leg
In my leg, oh-oh!

Somethin' I should ask about
Can I sniff the pit-stains on your blouse?
And do I creep you,
Do I creep you out?
(Your restraining order's out)
(Still the only question with me now)
Oh the only question
(Is "Do I creep you out?")
Is "Do I creep you out?"
Know exactly where you live now
Follow you from work right to your house
Well, do I creep you out?
Do I creep you out?
posted by flod logic at 7:53 PM on August 22, 2007

Urinals - "Dead Flowers"
Jad Fair/Half Japanese version of "Starry Eyes"
Hash Palace - "It's Always Me"
posted by mds35 at 7:55 PM on August 22, 2007

"Eye in the Sky" by the Alan Parsons Project.

I am the eye in the sky
Looking at you
I can read your mind
I am the maker of rules
posted by orange swan at 8:21 PM on August 22, 2007

There is an Aussie folk/rock guy called Darren Hanlon who has done several of these, all quite witty as well.
"She cuts hair": - stalking and working up the courage to ask a hairdresser on a date, including the immortal line "I prefer to worship her from the car."
"Elbows" - about a literal brush with fame
and a couple of others.
posted by bystander at 8:22 PM on August 22, 2007

Du Hast by Rammstein.
posted by blaneyphoto at 9:06 PM on August 22, 2007

Total Eclipse of the Heart
posted by salvia at 9:49 PM on August 22, 2007

Heh, gemmy, I could make girls in middle school shudder by repeating those lines.
Teasing girls was fun.
posted by jouke at 11:00 PM on August 22, 2007

"Walking After You" by Foo Fighters? (Two versions: the album cut from The Colour and the Shape, and an arguably superior remake done for the X-Files movie soundtrack album.

It has an "Every Breath You Take" vibe to it... It can be seen as a love song at first glance, but it's really about creepy obsession.
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 12:29 AM on August 23, 2007

English singer/songwriter Thea Gilmore's Holding Your Hand is as uneasy and obsessional as the best of them (great tune also, but no performance online that I can find):

I'm gonna haunt you
I'm gonna haunt you
Through the playgrounds
Through the fires
You'll be saluting at the stars
And I'll be holding your hand

I'm gonna haunt you
I'm gonna haunt you
Out on the other side of luck
Where every business deal is struck
I'll be holding your hand

Yeah Yeah
I'll be holding your hand

I'm gonna haunt you
I'm gonna haunt you
In your ashes and your smoke
Like the punch line to a joke
I'll be holding your hand

I'm gonna haunt you
I'm gonna haunt you
On every knife edge
Every trip
And on every needle tip
I'll be holding your hand

Yeah yeah
I'll be holding your hand
posted by unless I'm very much mistaken at 3:27 AM on August 23, 2007

"Fell Out of the Sky," by my brother, Jordan Yaruss!

When I wake up in my bed
And you’re here with me
I guess you fell out of the sky
And I have to sing

If I want to keep you here
I’ll have to clip your wing
I guess you fell out of the sky
And I have to sing

You’re going nowhere
Without me, ever again
You’re stuck on the ground
Won’t be flying away

You can bite, kick, scratch and squeal
But you just can’t leave
I guess you fell out of the sky
And I have to sing

If I have to tie you up
That’s okay by me
I guess you fell out of the sky
And I have to sing

We’ll be together
Forever, whatever you say
You’ll learn to love me
And you won’t fly away

Oh little bird, I have to sing
posted by daisyace at 4:37 AM on August 23, 2007

I'm here to nth PJ Harvey. Check out any of her first three albums for somewhat demented but incredibly fun songs which might scare off a boyfriend. BUT. My personal favourite is 4 Track demos. A few cheery little ditties called Reeling and Goodnight are amongst my favourites. Really, PJ Harvey singing "fly me to the moon" is like nothing else.
posted by eponymouse at 5:40 AM on August 23, 2007

Well, since Possession (IMHO the best example of the obsessed lover mentality yet) already got mentioned, allow me to suggest Sarah's "Captive", which is a bit obsessive, but from the other side of the coin. It's not urgent or fast, but hey it's obscure and worth a look.

Changing gears a little, Type O Negative's Blood & Fire is obsessed, but mourning. Louder, though. Anyway, about half their catalog fits the general "creepy, obsessed" category.

There's always Ray Stevens' It's Me Again, Margaret. You can even watch the video, in which Stevens himself plays several parts.

I keep thinking Stabbing Westward should have something to offer here, but I don't know much of their catalog.

Kudos to Misha for all the Etheridge. Stole half my post, ya did, ya did. ;)
posted by Myself at 6:50 AM on August 23, 2007

"Ominous Man" by The Verve Pipe

I should be half a mile from here

I will go anywhere she goes
shoulder the bags of a previous lover
I will go anywhere she goes
sleep on the pillow that reeks of another

A will of mine to be impressive
I'm an amorous man

I will go anywhere she goes
travel whenever, whatever the distance

The court deemed me to be offensive
I'm an ominous man

Once love is unanimous
no order demands

Jury reject the alibi's seemingly watertight
for the ominous man
posted by shannonm at 7:44 AM on August 23, 2007

Extreme's "More Than Words".

Which is not just creepystalkery, but also 'you'd sleep with me if you really loved me'.

Which just makes it that much creepier.
posted by mephron at 7:46 AM on August 23, 2007

Let me just say that if this intended to be used as a mixtape for a love interest, BAD IDEA.
posted by sephira at 8:08 AM on August 23, 2007

Ha ha! No.
posted by Firas at 8:18 AM on August 23, 2007

I am not sure about this one, but maybe Cheers Darlin' by Damien Rice.
posted by howiamdifferent at 8:21 AM on August 23, 2007

jaded, that song's lyrics are just perfect! ("I want to hold you close, soft breath, beating heart—as I whisper in your ear, I want to fucking tear you apart!")

Needs an industrial or gothic rock cover version though :) I guess I was subconsciously looking more for the intersection of "love/lust/obsession/divinity/pain/death"—think La Belle Dame Sans Merci—than "I'm gonna follow you home" type stuff but in terms of what I asked you guys hit the nail on the head, this has been a very fulfilling thread. Will check all the tracks out and maybe come back and list which ones I liked!
posted by Firas at 8:23 AM on August 23, 2007

I am listening to Boys of Summer and realized that was kind of stalkery and obsessive.
posted by nooneyouknow at 11:14 AM on August 23, 2007

"So Into You" as covered by Shudder to Think
posted by 100watts at 12:53 PM on August 23, 2007 [1 favorite]

The Crystals (with Phil Spector) in 1962:

He hit me and it felt like a kiss
He hit me but it didn't hurt me
He couldn't stand to hear me say
That I'd been with someone new
And when I told him I had been untrue
He hit me and it felt like a kiss
He hit me and I knew he loved me
Cause if he didn't care for me
I could have never made him mad
He hit me and I was glad
Baby won't you stay...
He hit me and it felt like a kiss
He hit me and I knew I loved him
Cause when he took me in his arms
With all the tenderness there is
He hit me and he made me feel
Baby won't you stay...
posted by ericost at 7:05 PM on August 23, 2007

Lyle Lovett, "L.A. County"

She left Dallas for California
With an old friend by her side
Well he did not say much
But one year later
He'd ask her to be his wife

And the lights of L.A. County
Look like diamonds in the sky
When you're driving through the hours
With an old friend at your side

One year later I left Houston
With an old friend by my side
Well it did not say much
But it was a beauty
Of a coal black .45 ...
posted by sacre_bleu at 7:47 PM on August 23, 2007

All Her Favorite Fruit by Camper Van Beethoven

Late at night I call her
But I never say a word
And I can see her squeeze the phone between her chin and shoulder
And I can almost smell her breath faint with a sweet scent of decay
She serves him mashed potatoes
And she serves him peppered steak, with corn
Pulls her dress up over her head
Lets it fall to the floor
And does she ever whisper in his ear all her favorite fruit
And all the most exotic places they are cultivated
And I'd like to take her there, rather than this train

The music's a little slow, but it's definitely a creepy song played straight.
posted by sleepy pete at 8:56 AM on August 24, 2007

Ooh, if we're talking Camper Van Beethoven, did anyone mention Tania yet? "Oh, my beloved Tania / How I long to see your face / Photographed in fifteen second intervals." (I think it's actually, in the end, not a love song so much as a song about a celebrity, but the most legible lyrics give the impression of obsessive love.)
posted by salvia at 11:33 AM on August 24, 2007

I'm late to the party but the entire canon of the prolific Daniel Johnston fits this bill pretty well. He's a remarkably talented singer/songwriter who's been in and out of mental institutions, and whose songs focus largely on his obsession with Laurie Allen, a childhood acquaintance who was nice to him growing up. "The Devil and Daniel Johnston" is a film about his life and work.
posted by contraption at 10:48 PM on August 25, 2007

"Anything, anything" by Dramarama
posted by murphy slaw at 12:58 PM on August 27, 2007

I think "If you go away" tops my obsessive/creepy charts, especially the Emiliana Torrini version. (youtube, live) I love her transition from sweet to desperate to resolved as the song progresses.

Lyrics:
If you go away
On this summer day
Then you might as well
Take the sun away
All the birds that flew
In the summer sky
When our love was new
And our hearts were high
And the day was young
And the nights were long
And the moon stood still
For the night bird's song

If you go away
If you go away
If you go away...

But if you stay
I'll make you a day
Like no day has been
Or will be again
We'll sail on the sun
We'll ride on the rain
And talk to the trees
And worship the wind

But if you go
I'll understand
Leave me just enough love
To fill up my hand


If you go away
If you go away
If you go away...

If you go away
As I know you will
You must tell the world
To stop turning
'til you return again
If you ever do
For what good is love
Without loving you?
Can I tell you now
As you turn to go
I'll be dying slowly
'til the next hello

If you go away
If you go away
If you go away...

But if you stay
I'll make you a night
Like no night has been
Or will be again
I'll sail on your smile
I'll ride on your touch
I'll talk to your eyes
That I love so much

But if you go
I won't cry
Though the good is gone
From the word goodbye

If you go away
If you go away
If you go away...

If you go away
As I know you must
There is be nothing left
In this world to trust
Just an empty room
Full of empty space
Like the empty look
I see on your face
And I'd been the shadow
Of your shadow
If you might have kept me
By your side

If you go away
If you go away
If you go away...

If you go away
If you go away
If you go away...
posted by the_royal_we at 10:29 AM on September 1, 2007

Boyzvoice (Norwegian spoof boy-band, circa 2000) did the sadly rare 'Library Girl':

(help me turn this page, baby)

I had never read a book before
when I saw you through the windows of the
Dikemann library
(the Dikemann library).
I went inside, through the door,
and you whispered, 'Can I help you find
the book you're thinking of?'
(The book you're thinking of?)
And that's how I fell in love
with my

Mmm, mmm ... library girl. You're my
mmm, mmm ... library girl.
I ain't like those crooks;
I'll deliver my books
to you -- my library girl.

And now I just can't help myself.
Every day I want to borrow
story books from you
(story books from you).
Just to see your face among the shelves
I read a thousand books about
a girl called Nancy Drew.
(A girl called Nancy Drew.)
And that's how much I love you!
--You're my

Mmm, mmm ... library girl. You're my
mmm, mmm ... library girl.
I ain't like those crooks;
I'll deliver my books
to you -- my library girl.
posted by eritain at 3:28 PM on September 12, 2007