C90: Songs about unrequited love/stalker songs

Bill Callahan i'm sure has written some nice stalker songs, and i'm sure there'll be endless Momus quotations, most likely from the man himself.

i do find Hefner's Hymn for The Alcohol quite heartbreaking, but then i am a sap.

girl from ipanema

Everything But the Girl - "Missing": "The years have proved to offer nothing since you've moved: you're long gone and I can't move on."

Andy Prieboy - "Psycho Ex" and "Cannot Not"

The Wedding Present - "My Favorite Dress," "Dalliance," and pretty much everything else they recorded.

Nine Inch Nails - "That's What I Get," "Something I Can Never Have."

Thank you, Alex -- you have inadvertantly provided the answer to the question I always had about what song the stick-kid was singing about Larry Csonka in MST3K's The Final Sacrifice.

"Now that I have found you,......"

Sort've an obvious one, I guess, but "Every Breath You Take" by....once again....the Police.

The Librarian by Hefner on the other hand is stalkery and about unrequited love. from what i can remember.

there's got to be some great Gary Numan examples of this, but i guess it depends on whether you consider fancying a toaster to be of quite the same emotional gravitas.

From the latter: "In the end it took me a dictionary To find out the meaning of unrequited While she was giving herself for free At a party to which I was never invited?

"so why do you call me, why do you look for me, and why do your eyes follow me the way they do?"

"Everywhere I Go" by The Call: "Keep that promise that you made, I think you ev-reee-whheeerrrreee-ayyyye-gooooo!!!"

and not just for the BV thing, some of the lyrics are pretty damn scary.

but the image of Dennis Hopper reciting: "IN DREAMS. I WALK. WITH YOU. IN DREAMS. I TALK. TO YOU" into Machlachlan's face sort of puts the seal on it.

1.) The Smiths - Never Had No One Ever: "now I'm outside your house, I hate to intrude, oh I'm alone, and I never had no one ever." 2.) Morrissey - The More I Ignore You The Closer I Get 3.) The Smiths - Half A Person: I Spent 6 Long years of My Life Chasing Your Tail 4.) The Smiths - Please Please Please let me get What I Want 5.) The Smiths - Golden Lights 6.) The Smiths - Paint A Vular Picture: At the record company party I daned my legs down to the bone, because me and my true love will never met again 7.) The Smiths - I Want The One I Can't Have 8.) The Smiths - Well I wonder: Well I wonder, Do you see me when we pass ? I half die ... Oh ...

There are like a million more other morrissey and sniths songs that fit into this catagory.

9.) The Police - Every breath you take 10.) The Police - Every little thing you do is Magic I have a whol;e bunch more -e-mail me!

Cracker's new album is pretty stalker-heavy, too. "Guarded by Monkeys" just has a creepy aura: "I heard about you/I got your PGP key/I write you letters every day", while "Superfan" goes all-out, reading much like Sarah's "Possession": "I heard the words, now here I am/you were talking to me, I'm your superfan/I loved you then, I love you still/But if I can't have you, no one will/I will make you understand, I'm your superfan/I know how you like it/I was watching from outside, my love/I saw her leaving/She's not right for you my life, my love/I know what hurts you/Sing it to me again, my life my love/I know what hurts you/I could hurt you..."

"You are in my vision/I can't turn my face/You are in my vision/I can't move my eyes."

"Please keep them away/Don't let them touch me/Please don't let them lie/Don't let them see me."

I like how the two are essentially in opposition.

"You can cry by my window/You can crawl on the floor/You can scream if you want to/But I won't unlock the door."

More about the downside of fame, but still.

He's the one being stalked but he appreciates how much she loves him.

strollin in the park...

I think about you all of the time
I did this,
and I went there,
and I think about you all of the time
The day fades away,
and the night passes over,
and I think about you all of the time
I think about you all of the time
Here come my shoes
Here comes me!
One, two;
One...

And, of course, "Tonight" by the Soft Boys.

He sees you when you're sleeping,
He knows when you're awake,

"Sussudio" by Phil Collins ("now she don't even know my name, but I think she likes me just the same")
"Hello" by Lionel Richie (super creepy)

Arlene I'm sorry for what I've done/I wasn't looking for love until I saw your red hair in the sun/What we had could never be love that was easy to see/but when I saw you at Red's pouring coffee something took a hold of me/ Arlene, you wouldn't even let me hold your hand/When I stopped you in the road you just screamed and ran/ That night I decided I was going to marry you/ My knife went through your screen door and I went away with you / You were singing "Please let me go" all the way down to Miller's Cave/ When I picked a stick up off the ground you cried "I ain't ready for my grave!"/ But Arlene in the dark your hair's just as red/and this long, dark cave will always be our wedding bed

Fun stuff.

But back to more modern days, Men At Work "Who Can It Be Now", Rick Springfield "Jesse's Girl", Proclaimers "500 Miles", Richard Marx "Where Ever You Go", Hall & Oates "Private Eyes".

A few that are up for interpretation with a sick twist: Divinyls "I Touch Myself", Michael Jackon "Thriller", Rolling Stones "Time is On My Side".

So many, it's tough to narrow down to just one CD... Thanks for the ideas!

best stalker song ever!

"just a peeping tom, on my own for far to long, problems with the booze, nothing left to lose..."

I can't believe no one mentioned "Run for your Life" by the Beatles

"Well I'd rather see you dead, little girl, than to be with another man." Freaky.

Actually, I'm really surprised that nobody mentioned "On My Own" from Les Miserables -- I like the song, but it seems that about eleven million fans of bathos in storytelling love it far more than I do. ^_^

I also like two songs from a Japanese direct-to-video series and its song album spinoffs. The first lyrics of "Tsuki no Tragedy" (The Moon's Tragedy) translate to "Even if I am next to you, there is no way that I can reach your heart. We keep going round and round on nonintersecting paths, much like the earth and the moon." "Towa ni Towa ni Hoshi no Yume" (Dream of Stars Forever and Ever) starts out as if it were a woman singing about her dreams coming true, but as the song goes on it reveals that she only has the man of her dreams for a period where they're both denying reality, and sooner or later he's going to come to his senses and go home.

This desire to possess her is a wound
and its naggin at me like a shrew
but, Ah know, that to possess her
Is, therefore, not to desire her.
O o o then ya know, that lil girl would just have to go!
Go! Go-o-o! From her to eternity!

I have a really hard time interpreting songs, so half of these probably don't count.

I keep tracing your steps
Each move that you make
Wish I could read what goes through your mind
Wish you could touch me with the colors of your life

If I was invisible
Then I could just watch you in your room
If I was invincible
I'd make you mine tonight

Ray Parker Jr - "I Just Can't Get Over Loving You"
― Burr, Thursday, December 5, 2002 8:49 PM (12 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Oh my god, I'd been trying to remember this song for the longest time and I finally just heard it again. Most of the song is just about the protagonist coming to terms with his lady moving on. And then in the last thirty seconds or so it becomes an MRA anthem. Such a quick and creepy slide into sociopathy.

Ray Parker Jr has some truly weird songs

My mom had a pile of Roberta Flack albums as a kid.

I was just a tot but I HATED "Killing Me Softly" and thought it was the creepiest thing ever and the dude in the song was a monster.

"And he just looked right through me as if I wasn't there."

Did people really take this as a romantic song, as an appropriate way for a guy to treat a lady?

How did we get this far without anybody mentioning "Superstar"? Carpenters or Sonic Youth version.

Also, Sonic Youth "Stalker"

Belle & Sebastian "Funny Little Frog"

Stevie Wonder - Keep On Running

Did people really take this as a romantic song, as an appropriate way for a guy to treat a lady?

No-one did and nor were they meant to.

No-one's stalking anyone in "Killing Me Softly"?

I'm not sure what the guy is doing inappropriately in "Killing Me Softly". Isn't it a song from the pov of a woman at a concert ("embarrassed by the crowd"), feeling an intense identification with the singer's music and lyrics? Would it be more appropriate if the guy looked straight at her and invited her backstage?

It was originally written about a Don McLean gig, maybe some people would find that offensive.

Christina, I saw you in a magazine-a

This does seem like an odd take to me; I wonder if it's one of those things where you mishear a song as a kid and carry that interpretation into adulthood. Is it possible that you heard the song when you were too young to get the central metaphor and thought that he was actually reading her letters out loud in front of an audience?

WHY? - Simeon’s Dilemma

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HdOqhjuph8

and thought that he was actually reading her letters out loud in front of an audience?

― Lily Dale, Friday, February 11, 2022 8:27 PM

song is way more interesting in this interpretation. like the whole place is just staring at her while he loudly reads these disorganized and intensely personal letters. fits the menacing mood described by Losted perfectly.

i'll propose a hiphop one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgAwhTUNFR0

the roots — "silent treatment" (1993)

more "break up to make up" than properly unrequited, but still a classic in this regard.

this thread has been around for 20 years and no one has mentioned "Take A Chance On Me" by ABBA ???

I Called U (But You weren't There)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=to90wwlr9LY

No mention of "Nights on Broadway"? Sheesh.

Well, I had to follow you
Though you did not want me to
But that won't stop my loving you
I can't stay away

Cat Power's cover of Hank Williams:

Today I passed you on the street
And my heart fell at your feet
I can't help it if I'm still in love with you

Someone else stood by your side
She looked so satisfied
I can't help it, I'm still in love with you

A picture from the past came slowly stealin'
As I brushed your arm and walked so close to you
Then suddenly I got that old-time feelin'
I can't help it, I am still in love with you

It hurts to know another's lips will kiss you
And hold you just the way I used to do
Oh heaven only knows how much I miss you
I can't help it, I'm still in love with you

(her delivery of the last two lines is particularly heartbreaking)

sonia, you'll never stop me from loving you

Even when you're home
You won't pick up your phone
And take my call
When I see you on the street
You stare down at your feet
You won't talk at all

...

When I know that you're alone
I wander to your home
And catch a glimpse or two

"Are You Lonely for Me Baby" by Freddie Scott

Ohh, there's a last train to Jacksonville
I'm gonna get on it, baby, you know I will
Will you try, c'mon and try
To forget all the pain I've brought you?

Go on and cry, go ahead and cry, baby
I know that I'm the one who taught you
To be lonely, baby, lonely and blue
I'm lonely, baby, hey I'm lonely for you

Why can't I get just one kiss?
Why can't I get just one kiss?
Believe me, there'd be some things that I wouldn't miss
But I look at your pants and I need a kiss

Stevie Wonder, The Spencer Davis Group, keep on running from my love/arms.

Johnny Rivers, "Sidewalk Song/27th Street"

Forty-seven cracks in the sidewalk that leads
From my house to yours
How do I know?
I count them every day
While following you
From my house to yours
And though you don't know
I'm with you all the way

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kxoPpcu56M

First thought is "Catherine" by PJ Harvey.

"Weird Al" Yankovic – Melanie