Nowadays, which band, musician or music give you goosebumps or made you cry?

This is a tough thread for me, am old dude who loves music but I don't recognize 3/4 of what others have posted. I'll have to check out some of it but it has been hard for me to find new bands I like. Songs Ohia is an example, but lots of them are too twangy, too folksy, or overuse auto tune.

Anyways, to the question:

• Cranberries - Zombie

• Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Poor song

• Simon and Garfunkel - The sound of silence

• NIN - Hurt

• Jose Gonzalez - Heartbeats

• Dolly Parton - Jolene

• Annie Lennox - Don't let it bring you down

Radiohead - How to Disappear Completely

Radiohead - Exit Music (For a Film)

Led Zeppelin - Rain Song

Pink Floyd - Great Gig in the Sky

The Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter

Pearl Jam - Black (especially the MTV Unplugged version)

Nirvana - Where Did You Sleep Last Night (MTV Unplugged)

This isn't every song I could put forth, but it's a good short list off the top of my head. They're breathtaking, emotional art when actively listened to with good headphones or speaker setup with volume up and no distractions. Even if you know these songs already, I encourage you to have a focused, active listening session. I think other than Rain Song which is probably like 7 or 8 minutes, all of these songs are only like 4 or 5 minutes long. We should all be able to take 5 minutes out of our day to enjoy some good art. If that 5 minutes is really precious, then I specifically recommend How to Disappear Completely because I interpret it to be about dissociating from anxieties and expectations and responsibilities for just a moment of peace, almost wishing for failure because what success you've found is contributing to the lack of time and peace that you so crave, and feeling guilty for that when you know that people would give anything to have what you have. That song didn't mean anything to me until I put it on in the shower (I love my waterproof Bluetooth speaker) after a rough stretch of work, and it slammed into me harder than any song ever has. It was the exact right time and place for me to be listening, and it allowed me to let go of much more than I even knew I was holding onto. It was like an emotional enema, flushing things out that I didn't even know were there. It wasn't fun, but it was what I needed, and it might be what somebody else reading through these is looking for... Have a good cry!

A bunch of Sia’s music really sparks something in my soul and gets me emotional.

I can't remember the last time I've had a good cry to some music but goosebumps come easier. Crying is hard haha. But here's some sad stuff that runs an equal risk of giving me goosebumps or ruining my mood for the day:

Lingua Ignota - All Bitches Die (album)

Uboa - The Origin of My Depression (album)

Joy Division - Closer (album)

The Antlers - Hospice (album)

Giles Corey - Giles Corey (album)

Black Country, New Road - Ants From Up There (album)

Modest Mouse - Edit the Sad Parts (song)

The Tallest Man on Earth - Shallow Grave (album)

Songs: Ohia - Magnolia Electric co. (album)

Two Gallants - What the Toll Tells (album)

The Mountain Goats - Tallahassee (album)

Might come back an add more later!

Joe Hisaishi. It just hits different.

Heilung hits me really hard. It's become my annual "cleansing" seeing them live. It's transformative to me.

Green Bird by SEATBELTS/Gabriela Robin is a fantastic example of music that's a bit inherently moody but nearly everyone familiar with it has a strong emotional tie...

Julia...

I think your question is a difficult one - the common answers are likely to be tied to shared media moments as a multimedia experience creates a much stronger memory than sound alone.

Did the radio happen to be playing "Little Green Bag" as you pulled into the parking lot of the church for your father's funeral? Well then "Little Green Bag" might make you break out in tears. When my partner's mother was passing away she was listening to Dancing Queen on loop by request... my partner has difficulty listening to Abba now.

So we've got three ways (maybe) songs can get emotional - they can be inherently emotional, they can have a curated multimedia experience or they could have a personal multimedia experience. The last factor is absolutely where you'll find the strongest emotional ties - the middle factor inherently produces softer associations but ones that are more likely to be shared experiences (and dip into personal experiences... i.e. I was watching Cowboy Bebop when my girlfriend was growing more distant and I associate it really strongly with loneliness)... as for inherently moody music, I'd argue that's just a more vague form of a curated experience. We have cultural associations with instruments and chords and those "written to invoke X emotion" songs are playing into those associations.

Anyways, I did want to clarify that it's still super interesting to see other people's emotional associations. That dive wasn't meant to lessen the question or be dismissive in anyway - I just find the why extremely interesting.

I don’t cry just when listening to music but when it appears in certain movie scenes it can happen. Like a few times in CODA (don’t click if you haven’t seen the movie) or when „What was I made for“ began in the Barbie movie.

Goosebumps:

• This Mortal Coil - Song to the Sirens
• Anne Clark & Murat Parlak - Be Drunk
• Samuel Barber - Adagio for strings
• Jean Sibelius - Violin Concerto in D minor - I. Allegro moderato
• Antonio Vivaldi - Four Seasons - Summer III. Presto
• and a few other classic songs

Also just in general

• Hania Rani
• Eva Cassidy
• Scala & Kolacny Brothers
• Dead Can Dance
• Rokia Traoré

Live musicians give me goosebumps more easily than my HiFi headphones

Certain anime opening and ending themes

He's hardly modern, having died nearly 30 years ago, but Kevin Gilbert's Song for a Dead Friend still brings tears to my eyes every time.

John Prine and Bonnie Raitt: Angel From Montgomery.

Streetlight Manifesto gives me goosebumps, especially With Any Sort of Certainty and The Littlest Things.

If You Wanna Start Again by The Trews makes me cry, especially watching the video, because it brings back bad feelings from a horrible breakup I had back in December.

Steampowered Giraffe reminds me of a friend who died a couple years back because she really loved them.

Tool

The song that ends Call Me By Your Name, as Elio sits staring into the fire always tugs at my heart strings. It's "Visions of Gideon" by Sufjan Stevens. But "Leaves From The Vine" from Avatar: The Last Airbender always rips out my heart, hearing the anguish of a man who lost his only son to a war he regrets ever fighting in.

I don't have any musicians that consistently make me feel that way, so have a list of songs instead:

• The Price of a Mile (Sabaton)
• Doomed (I Prevail)
• Let Me Be Sad (I Prevail)
• Soon You'll Get Better (Taylor Swift ft. The Chicks)
• Wildest Dreams (Taylor Swift)
• Tess-Timony (Ice Nine Kills)
• When the Party's Over (Billie Eilish)

Patience, sung by Chris Cornell. Makes me want to cry that I'll never hear anything new from this incredible singer even again.

Also, Johnny Cash's cover of NIN's Hurt.

As cheesy as it may seem, travelin soldier, by the chicks (when they were still the Dixie chicks) gets me every time.

Aurora.

• The River
• Everything Matters
• The Seed

Not the newest songs but Eric Bogle's "And the band played waltzing Matilda" and "No Man's Land" are very powerfully emotional songs. I also do enjoy Mike and the Mechanics "The living years" and some songs by the German singer/songwriter Reinhard Mey like "Viertel vor sieben" and "Zeugnistag" among others but all of them share that the lyrics are what matters.

Sigur Ros.

For current songs in the past month.

Mareux - Roses

Twin Tribes - Cauldron of Thorns

Elvis singing Unchained Melody close to the end of his life: https://youtu.be/61-RycNKdJk?si=F3qiMGhfhyCLSX_M

À vava inouva from Idir.

https://youtu.be/8qcSdqc7QYo?si=eJanMl8wtRZIPwyb

There is something in the music and the soft voice that always makes me cry. Beautiful song.

Ween - Fluffy (live)

Maybe cliché but Lewis capaldis live music pierces my soul in a way no other musician ever has.

Since there are so many bands and music that made me cry, I'll share a recent one that made an impression and was the album of the year 2023 on me was Blue Rev by Alvvays. Give it a shot if you love indie rock

Emmylou by First Aid Kit

A song called “Paper Wings and Halo” by Lori McKenna always makes me teary-eyed. I hadn’t heard it for years - just played it. Still works.

Also, “The Circle Game” by Joni Mitchell. Apparently, songs about years and life passing by are what really choke me up.

Portishead - SOS

I open this to mention Fred again, but you already did.

Quite a few.. First that comes to mind is Skinshape - I didn't know. Also Tame Impala has a few, like Feels like we only go backwards

Not sure how far back we can go..

Citizen Soldier is a rock band that has a lot of songs about mental health issues. A lot of the songs have hit me hard and made me bawl because someone finally put how I've been feeling into words.

My favorite of theirs so far is Scarecrow and I highly recommend it.

Permanently Deleted

Thomas Tallis Fantasia on a Theme. Lots of emotional connections with that one

New Genesis by Ado

Papadosio, Dave Tipper, Erothyme

That Tracy Chapman Fast Car duet with Luke Combs on the Grammys got me. I remember listening to Fast Car when it came out and relating to it in a big way. Mainly because I was very young, married with a child, broke, and scared to death I wouldn't be able to give my family a good life. All these years later, it was great to see that Tracy is ok, and so are we.

Off the to of my head

Vance Gilbert - Unfamiliar Moon / Goodbye Pluto

Todd Snider - Long Year / Sunshine

There is so much music they moves us, so it's hard to pick one, especially for me. Because of that, I'll choose one that I haven't seen yet but deeply hits me hard: John Coltrrane's "A Love Supreme". It came at the peak of his career. The first three parts were supple, mysterious, joyful sparkles of light, like dragonflies and butterflies dashing and fluttering on a beautiful summer day. Pure smiles, floating heart stuff. Then the final act hits. It's a prayer of gratitude and reverence, a reflection of the magesty of existence. It gripped my head and heart, leaving me vulnerable and open, crying in awe.

I love this album with all my heart. And yes, it makes me weep in rapture every time I hear it.

Acknowledgement Resolution Pursuance Psalm

Kae Tempest The Book of Traps and Lessons A fantastic album all the way through

I don't think I've ever cried because of a song but I love pg.lost's album "oscillate"

Simon Phillips and Protocol V - The Long Road Home

I always get goosebumps toward the end of Hurry, Hurry by Air Traffic Controller (Spotify link). I love the song and even though it's upbeat the message is poignant.

The tear-jerker songs? Brandi Carlile has a few, The Joke, and the opening track on the Highwomen album (that album has a few). And every single time, the Julie Miller track Rachel makes me cry, also Red Dirt Girl by Emmylou Harris.

Feeling music deeply in general though? No you are not alone. It varies among people, most of us do some of the time, some of us do most of the time.

Motion City Soundtrack - Everything is Alright

"The chicken" by Bo Burnham. Don't be fooled by that title.

Caligula's Horse. I saw them live for the first time recently. I am left speechless, probably the closest thing to a religious experience I'll ever have.

for me it is Nightwish:

• While Your Lips Are Still Red
• Islander
• Amaranth

Pantera, Disturbed, Five Finger Death Punch, Skillet

Nothing will hit you within as hard as these. And its a rollercoaster.

I should mention that listening these on very specific musical type of audio gear helps a lot, for which I picked Tangzu Fudu I. You could pick (in order of price) HBB Khan, Blon BL03, Tin T3+, Hidizs MP145, Fatfreq Maestro SE or similar few and rare sets. There are not many musical sets out there for non fatiguing/headache enjoyment.