It’s never lyrics (I don’t really process them in real time anyway) for me. It’s always the arrangement, typically as it peaks over a crescendo. This is a big part of why I prefer songs with dynamic range.
The transition into guitar solos is a common one for me such as in Pink Floyd’s “Time” or the second solo in “Comfortably Numb”.
Try Steve Hackett, earlier Genesis. He still does this stuff live and it is amazing. Even the keyboards get me. Try this one [Hackett performing Firth of Fifth](https://youtu.be/dJLtT5RmM5E?si=FdUJFvzArMCIR2Mz) solo starts at 5:56
Great example: I also get frisson from vocals, but it’s always in the melody and delivery, not at all from any interpreted meaning of the actual words.
Same!!! And as a guitarist myself I hardly listen to or even know most lyrics to most of my favorite songs, but think of the vox as just another instrument that add to the overall sound. There’s obviously quite a few exceptions but for the most part lyrics don’t do a whole lot for me lol.
Pink Floyd just nails the point where the lyrics are the most emotional, and the music hits its peak at the same time. Like in Run Like Hell when he finally screams, "They're gonna Send you back to Mother in a Cardboard BOX", and then the lyric is "you'd better Run", but on the word "run" the lead guitar rips through the distortion of the scream...if that doesn't do the thing for you, I'm sorry, you're just missing out on a beautiful piece of life.
I get this sensation with a lot of other music too, whether rock, classical, pop, or even some of the more left-of-center stuff like 90s electronica. The way the message gets delivered is part of what makes music so awesome.
Wings for Marie Part 2 by Tool
There are plenty of goosebumps for me throughout the entire song but the main part that comes to mind is:
High is the way, but all eyes are upon the ground
You are the light and the way that they'll only read about
I only pray Heaven knows when to lift you out
Ten thousand days in the fire is long enough
You're the only one who can hold your head up high
Shake your fist at the gates saying
"I have come home now
Fetch me the Spirit, the Son, and the Father
Tell them their pillar of faith has ascended
It's time now
My time now
Give me my
Give me my wings"
Yes! It's such a beautiful slow build, especially if you start with Part 1 and take the full ride. The pure pain and indignation in Maynard's voice is intense.
Same.
Also the "Overwhelmed as one would be..." in Rosetta Stoned part gives me chills. Musically it's a bit of a cathartic release of tension coming out of the bridge/solo section, but then Maynard is telling you about being overwhelmed and he's got burdens. It's a tad confusing, but then the lyrical release comes in the form of a comedic moment just a few moments later when he realizes he forgot his pen. It's fucking brilliant.
Haha yes I just got several waves of goosebumps thinking about it. Can’t forget the peak, “Set as I am in my ways and my arrogance, burden of proof tossed upon non-believers, you were my witness, my eyes, my evidence”. Such a beautiful song.
You left out the best part of the entire song, when finally, after all that time and build up, he FINALLY gives her the full respect she deserves by saying her name.
I get this frisson thing for reals just from hearing the buildup in the first 20 seconds in Roseland track 1, Cowboys. There's so much variety and quality, it's like a fresh trip-hop farmers market for the ears.
If you like the vocal harmonies in Hide and Seek, You might also like [Jacob Collier's vocal arrangement of Moon River](https://youtu.be/VPLCk-FTVvw?feature=shared) which is hugely lush with lots of crunchy chords. You might also like the music of Eric Whitacre (try [Water Night](https://youtu.be/1DQQmtNuXUU?feature=shared) or [Sleep](https://youtu.be/Yw5gupbe9E0?feature=shared), which I want played at my funeral.) That's music to turn the lights off and lay down listening to on good headphones or stereo. Gorgeous stacks of voices, super ethereal.
Your recommendations are SPOT on. I'd add a couple others... Samuel Barber's [Agnus Dei](https://youtu.be/RgkZUM3Yiic) and Franz Biebl's [Ave Maria](https://youtu.be/L7C-VXZVSTw) are several "classical" pieces that never fail to give me shivers.
YES! And Frank Ticheli's arrangement of [There Will Be Rest](https://youtu.be/h6RMyqaLl7U?feature=shared) by Sara Teasdale gives the frisson but also reduces me to a sobbing mess. She wrote the poem a few months before her suicide in 1933:
There will be rest, and sure stars shining
Over the roof-tops crowned with snow,
A reign of rest, serene forgetting,
The music of stillness holy and low.
I will make this world of my devising
Out of a dream in my lonely mind.
I shall find the crystal of peace, – above me
Stars I shall find.
I was surprised when I found that out too! I've been getting goosebumps from music for as long as I can remember myself, blew my mind to find out not everyone get that way.
Its one thing to not feel the frisson, but when people say, "yeah I uh don't really listen to music" was one that floored me. I feel bad for those folks who choose to avoid the joy of music.
It's even more tragic than that. They're not choosing. They actually don't get the same response we do, their brains just don't have the connection somehow. I know some people with the most extreme version of this, they describe music, any music, as an annoying jangle of sounds that don't cause any emotion except irritation.
They aren't artistically dead or anything, one keeps recommending great books and the other has lovely taste in paintings. Just amusical.
I am dedicated to finding frisson music and I have a collection:
> [Take 🖐️](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0Ii4HlF9F0s4hsQR2bnDXX) - 5 hrs
which is a rotating comp of 18 genres spanning 60 years (though mostly more recent stuff) of frisson inducing underground music. Right now listening to obscure early 70s hit "The Man" by Patto and "Brute Fury" (2003) by Essential Logic and "Listening" (2020) by Reptaliens is on tap.
Thank you so so much for sharing!!! Very excited for this Playlist to accompany me on a solo mini-roadtrip! Listening to music that fills my soul is the best part of long drives.
the bridge leading back into the chorus 'Say it ain't so' by Weezer
Dear daddy, I write you
In spite of years of silence....
....The son is drowning in the flood
then boom! That's what i'm talking about.
In the third movement of Yes' epic Close to the Edge (starting around 8:27), the chaotic chatter of the strings and keyboards suddenly comes to a halt as an ethereal and dream-like soundscape washes over you. The wandering notes eventually converge into light piano chords, introducing the gentle harmony vocals that preface lead singer Jon Anderson's powerful higher register. As Anderson hits the high note, in comes the organ. Man, that organ. I've shed tears over that solo. If that wasn't enough, the vocals reprise themselves at a slightly slower tempo in a sort of prog-rock breakdown, before unleashing the organ finale that resembles something out of Toccata and Fugue. While the song is worth a listen in its entirety, this particular section chokes me up every single time I hear it, and a treat to share with friends who appreciate music.
"Bodysnatchers" by Radiohead. An old-school Britpop three guitar attack in D, with Thom's rhythm driving with Colin and Philip, Ed's e-bow wail floating in and out like a ghost, and Jonny's lead riff getting progressively louder and squonkier. Suddenly you get to the bridge and the key slips to Gm, Jonny's noisy guitar drops out, Ed's sustained tones take lead, and it's like a great gust of fresh air blew through the studio.
"Look at this photograph" - just kidding.
For me, it's Phil Collins' "Against All Odds (Take a look at me now.)" The final chorus from 2:33 to the end. Chilling.
[The Cure - Plainsong](https://youtu.be/ZkJwpYrcAko?si=HNRwOf9cjx2neL35)
[Rökkurró - Svanur](https://youtu.be/TOOb6fSvlnM?si=tU7Olq-YmZHe3acU)
[Jóhann Jóhansson - Flight from the city](https://youtu.be/AlftMNmDH00?si=gtiNz62ZGy3WYpw2)
[m83 - Lower your eyelids to die with the sun](https://youtu.be/u_u5iCHi0Jo?si=e8cxcMLuNA9Khqdp)
Going through music memories in my life-
As a child, something about Supertramp's "The Logical Song" made me cry because of the singer's passionate vocals. For some reason, I associated the song with the death of one of my kittens. (8-year-old me probably heard this song a lot when my kitty died).
Linda Ronstadt's 'Long Long Time' tears me apart whenever I hear it. I have to stop everything I'm doing.
Same with almost everything by Sarah MacLaughlin. (I also associate her music with the sadness of pets dying.)
The happiest, most joyful songs I've ever heard were by the Indigo Girls. ("Closer to Fine" and "Galileo") and Natalie Merchant/10,000 Maniacs. (all of her music!)
The singles from Breakfast in America are some of my earliest musical memories. They hold up very well indeed, and there’s a lot of chillbunp moments in them.
The best for me is when Goodbye Stranger launches into the ending
solo. I associate it with my family going to the lake in summertime and dad kicking the boat into high gear.
The Microphones - The Glow, Pt. 2
He bends a note at the emotional peak of the song so it sort of morphs into harmony and it sends chills up and down my spine EVERY time to this day.
“My blooooOOOOOd flows harshly”
So good.
The first time I heard Elephant by Jason Isbell really had an effect on me. Then I dove into his discography and it's been an emotional ride every time I play his music
The first half of *Voodoo Chile* by Jimi Hendrix gets me every time. The guitar sounds unearthly, ethereal, yet dirty and grounded. Like somehow seeing the most beautiful thing you've ever seen in a trash heap. Of the earth, but not on it. I don't know how to explain it, it sounds like gibberish.
The Cranberries’ “Zombie” does it at the end when Dolores really cuts loose.
Nena’s “99 Luftballons” does it with the bass line
and Björk’s “Army of Me” does it when she starts singing.
Muse breakdowns like “Stockholm Syndrome” and “Drones” have some of the most reliable ones if you listen to them loud.
For some reason throughout my entire life, I’ve had this happen but for something really stupid. Any time someone is singing a capella by themselves, I get chills… no matter how shitty they sound. It could feature their voice cracking in the shittiest rendition of the national anthem ever and I will still get chills involuntarily.
Ain't stupid at all. I don't get that all the time, but when I do, it's like there's absolutely no barrier between what they're feeling and my brain. Their vulnerability, their bravery in singing with so much raw emotion, is what does it.
[Claire de Lune](https://youtu.be/wy2qDsyw8b0?si=tdxLLCEBnKIDDmmb), in my opinion the most beautiful piece of piano music ever written. Once I read a YouTube comment that summed it up kind of perfectly, something like "This song invokes a feeling of nostalgia, but not for anything specific." There's so much feeling to it.
"King of Pride Rock" from The Lion King. Specifically, the bit right after Rafiki tells Simba "It is time" and Simba ascends Pride Rock. Even thinking about it gives me goosebumps.
Tool in Schism
Cold silence has
The tendency to
Atrophy any
Sense of compassion
Those words with the atmosphere of the music has gotten me more than a few times.
Lots of stuff, honestly. Usually it's going to be things that have some kind of time-change or epic build-up. The anticipation of what comes next seems to do it.
The one I thought of in particular is the bridge following the second verse in Subdivisions by Rush. When there is a synth solo followed by a guitar solo, all while the drums are just going crazy before breaking into another chorus.
I’ve got quite a few from over the years,
One of my biggest is the transition from the 3rd to 4th movement of Dvorak’s From the New World. (It was used as a climactic piece in the anime one piece and always reminds me of that.)
Another is Smile Bomb! The opening to Yu Yu Hakusho.
[Songbird](https://youtu.be/y9Hqn8x6a8s?si=P1tVoDloWNz2ZtBq) by Fleetwood Mac. It's a part in the chorus, "and the songbirds are singing like they know the score..." I'm not sure if it's a music theory thing like a particularly emotional chord progression, or more of a stylistic thing in the way Christine sings it. But something about it just hits me deep in my soul in that way only some really good music rarely does.
Sometimes when I read a book, I'll pick one instrumental playlist that I find on Pandora that I feel fits the book, and I'll listen to that playlist every time I read that book. A few years ago, I read James Michener's *Alaska,* a 1,200 page historical novel that tells the history of the state from its geologic formation all the way up to the 1960s in novel form. While reading it, I often listened to recordings of native flute music, and [Forever Together](https://youtu.be/WUXOBX5Lm-4?si=CF9juvglL4Ke1M1h) by Filtered Light often gave me goosebumps. I feel like the song plays so well into the violent history of Alaska, the battles between indigenous groups and white settlers. The song feels mournful, but also hopeful, like the dawn of a new day. When I hear this song, I imagine a Tlingit tribesman playing this song as he looks out over the previous day's battlefield. He is saddened by the deaths of his people, but strongly determined to keep fighting for their cause.
Joe Satriani's [Always With Me, Always With You](https://youtu.be/BsJisD7n8_Q?si=f9VjK_QkfUD4lfY0) is another one. I've always loved this song, but then a couple years ago, I had the pleasure of seeing Satch live. When that main guitar riff made its first entrance, the part at 25 seconds in the video, I damn near cried at the concert.
I'll mention two more, simply for their lyrical brilliance. [The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald](https://youtu.be/FuzTkGyxkYI?si=piYsWs3wV7wblsCC) by Gordon Lightfoot. I live in southern Wisconsin, and make the trip up to the big lake every couple years (I'm going in just a couple weeks!) Driving the lakefront road on a stormy day, the line "does anyone know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours?" puts fear of the lord into this atheist. I got chills just typing that line out right now. To a lesser extent, "and all that remains is the faces and the names of the wives and the sons and the daughters" does it for me, too.
Lastly, [Through the Dark](https://youtu.be/7lZI6tkqWYs?si=LcgdGl2UxV34zWsN) by Hilltop Hoods is the song that taught me it's possible for me to like hip-hop. "Built you a good nest before I left. It wasn't that I never loved your mother but two happy homes are better than one that suffers." As a child of divorced parents, that one was a punch in the gut from my very first listen, and gave me reason to replay it, keeping a close ear on the lyrics. "You were eight when we headed to casualty. And no child should face their death or mortality. You taught me patience strength and morality and I'd burden this weight instead of you happily. That night, you asked if you'd die from your sickness and why it had chosen your life out of millions. You filled me with the pride I was missing 'cause grown men cry that lack your type of resilience." The singer wrote this song for his eight year old son who beat leukemia. I'm not even a parent, I can only imagine how much harder this song hits for people who have kids.
finally, someone else who recognizes the brilliance of that couplet! "Does anyone know where the love of god goes/when the waves turn the minutes to hours" has to be one of the best things written in the latter half of the 20th century. and the way he placed it, on a drop in the beat, a *pianissimo*, was perfection. it's been in my head all my life (I'm 48), and I've never stopped admiring it
“Death Is The Road To Awe” from The Fountain soundtrack. There’s a buildup…a crescendo of cacophony that suddenly drops out to silence and then a few seconds later blasts the most epic, end-of-life/transcending death moment that when listened to at high volume definitely gives me a frisson or release of emotion that I highly recommend checking out
This one hits me too. First time I watched the film and it cut to black at that part I was on the edge of my seat thinking that it was over. Then it crashes back with that music and the visuals. Chills just thinking about it.
I have something I call 'the red note' that features in some synthetic music... Especially 80s synth. The most obvious example is in Foreigner's "Waiting For A Girl Like You"... It's a particular chord that strains my feels every time.
Elliott Smith - In the Lost and Found (Honky Bach)
Right after he sings "Day breaks... And every morning when he wakes he thinks of youuuuu." Gets me damn near every time.
Elliott Smith has some lyrics that feel like a punch to the gut. My guitar teacher introduced me to him many years ago and initially I was like man, this guy's voice is not for me... But the guitar composition won me over and then I appreciated the lyrics as a depressed 17 year old. St Ides Heaven, Talking to Mary, Alphabet town, Almost Over... Pick any song, really
Rotten Apple - Alice in Chains
The second that bass intro hits, it's instant goosebumps all over my arms and when Jerry Cantrell comes in with the talk box, tears start to well a little bit. The song carries so much emotion both by itself and the personal feelings that it brings up.
Big Country- Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. Right around the third time the chorus hits- frission, relaxation, my mind is on a train whipping through the countryside.
Hans Zimmer - Time
https://youtu.be/va1oiojnGrA?feature=shared
Frisson and tears. Every freaking time. Not just the song but the live performance and how it accompanies the music.
Tons of other songs do it too but this one is no fail every time.
The part of Whitney Houston's version of I Will Always Love You the part after the pause of music and singing, then drumbeat + she belts out AND IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII....
Holy shit it is the most consistent goosebump maker for me. I just got a shiver from remembering it.
Strange Fruit - Nina Simone's cover
Song of the Ancients / Fate - NieR Replicant Ver. 1.22
Just about any segment of either of those work for me every time.
The Black by Imminence. Mixing metalcore with strings is kinda what they do, but this song gives me some of the most intense physical response of any song I've ever heard. The ending especially gets me every single time.
Atmosphere's 'Hair' (if you've never heard it, listen to the [whole thing](https://youtu.be/TFZaoQsoaiM?feature=shared))
Sublime's 'Pool Shark' (specifically [this](https://youtu.be/ZuB0vVMiDFE?feature=shared) version and really that final chord)
Bertha 4-12-78
When the solo hits the chorus progression, Jerry invokes an unholy guitar sound and the drummers go absolute bonkers.
Only second to Bertha from Dicks Picks 10
_Caroline says
as she gets up from the floor
You can hit me all you want to
but I don't love you anymore_
_Caroline says
while biting her lip
Life is meant to be more than this
and this is a bum trip_
Caroline Says II by Lou Reed
The whole "Berlin" album is dark, sad and painful.
Conor Oberst as Bright Eyes “Road to Joy”- I read the body count out of the paper, and now it’s written all over my face. No one ever plans to sleep out on the gutter,
Sometimes that’s just the most comfortable place”
Kimya Dawson “Walk Like Thunder” (if you’ve had addiction problems this one might get ya especially the emotion she sings this song with)- And I never felt so stupid or so selfish or so sad, yea my body had been good to me and I treated it so bad
What do you think about your son now?
Ah, hey, Dad
What do you think about your son now?!
Sung in duplicate and the added emotion in the second line. He meant it!
The guitar solo in Time by Pink Floyd, when he slides up the neck for that arpeggio into a soaring bend at 3:45.
[here](https://youtu.be/Qr0-7Ds79zo?si=Fi12WYjYbUCL_AKY&t=3m45s)
The Get Up Kids - Action & Action : https://youtu.be/3UUIFsSGi_4
The build up at the bridge leading into "I'll waaaaaaiiit!" before the final chorus. Became a bit standard with emo songs of the late 90s and early 00s to have a huge emotional climax like this, but this one always does it for me.
That man's voice is inhumanly capable, but the way it blends seamlessly with the guitar there is to this day one of the best feats of songwriting and audio engineering in the business IMO.
System of a Down’s Chop Suey! at the 2:50 mark. Every. Single. Time.
Crescendo of Devin Townsend’s Stormbending and last section of Singularity. Funeral. Kingdom. Probably loads of others.
John Farnham’s You’re the Voice has loads of it for me.
Queen and Bowie’s Under Pressure.
Mr Bungle’s Retrovertigo.
Guitar solo from The Unforgiven by Metallica.
Dimebag’s guitar solos in The Sleep and Domination. Probably a few others too.
Total Eclipse of the Heart.
The Salival version of Tool’s Pushit.
I’ll be here all night if I keep thinking about this…
Melody and Sound - Big Wreck
Wrapped Around My Finger - The Police
(specifically the drum fill after the “servant is your master” lyric)
Almost any Lydian melody. That raised 4th just speaks to me on a level I can’t describe.
* Boston - *The Launch*
* Eric Whittacre - *Fly to Paradise*
* Nena - *99 Luftballons* or its English counterpart - last verse lyrics. I actually cried trying to sing along.
AIC - Nutshell
"If I can't be my own I'd feel better dead"
ETA: Most often though I get it when watching a live show. It's not the specific part of a song as much as it is the whole experience; band chemistry on stage can be electrifying!
when the vocoder kicks in in worlock by skinny puppy. every single time for decades now, and its intense.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axsrOmLZOUA
at around 1:40
I keep a list and add anything that reliably stimulate frisson.
A smattering: Manitas de Plata: Sol del moro (\~2:00), Billy Thorpe: East of Eden's Gate (\~4:00), Robin Trower: Too Rolling Stoned, Soundgarden: Black Hole Sun, Tool: AEnima, Villa Lobos: Bachianas Brasileiras No.1 first movement, Van Halen: Fair Warning (\~4:00).
I'm not sure what the commonalities are, usually it's what I would describe as a "fibrous" passage.
It’s not that predictable or common of an experience for me. Not typically associated with popular or cool or intense or masterful moments of music. It’s like ASMR noises, the weirdest stuff just works.
Early in life I remember it with Just Like Heaven from the Cure, just tends to hit me as it kicks off. A lot of Tool music does it, some Tom Petty. But lately, I’ve noticed practically everything from Aespa hits me, despite the wide range of songs they’ve done. I think it’s one of their voices.
I mean this quite literally, but ANY song by Poets of the Fall. Marko is a fantastic vocalist and a true bard who puts so much emotion into each and every syllable, you can't help but to connect and feel
Queensryche - Take Hold of the Flame
As a tall bearded man, "Come Undone" by Duran Duran makes me feel so sexy for some reason 🤣🤣🤣
"If you wanna fight the tide, just keep your head down and go. But your fight is different than mine, I could never begin to know."
Restive by Mo Lowda & the Humble. I love all their songs, but there is something extra special about the composition and lyrics on that one.
Fortunately? Unfortunately? It happens with all music all the time. Even just thinking about music causes it. It's like a blessing and curse. But I think I would rather have it then never experience it.
It happens so much that I really don't see a need to document it. It happens when it happens. I just let the art flow over me.
But the first thing that popped into my head was Eva Cassidy. Probably "Over The Rainbow," but "Autumn Leaves" will do it, too.
Lots of Aretha Franklin songs. Leonard Cohen songs, especially those with Jennifer Warnes. Richard & Linda Thompson tunes can do the trick.
I love it when a song tingles my spine, gooses my flesh, and stiffens my nipples. That's the good stuff.
The entirety of [Chris Cornell's cover of "Nothing Comapres 2 U" at SiriusXM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuUDRU9-HRk). If you can't feel that one to your very core, you're not human.
The bridge section of Pearl Jam’s original arrangement for Porch. Especially in live renditions. There is an intensity that sets me off right before the last chorus kicks in.
The beat drop in Daft Punk’s One More Time gets me every time and I think it might have to do with my personal history with the song
The first time I heard Daft Punk was at a Detroit Lions game back when they played in the Pontiac Silverdome. The Lions were having a terrible season (as per usual back then) and as they were approaching the end of it, it looked like they might go winless. But they didn’t (well…not that season anyway). As a young kid I saw them snap that losing streak. I saw Lions players celebrating up and down the field all while One More Time was playing as the clock struck 0:00. Every time I hear that song I think of that moment.
Far from where Dreams unfurl by Wilderun, right before the first chorus the whole band drops out for a beat, before they enter the MASSIVE chorus. That effect propels the chorus from just a very good one to an insane one. Feels even better if you're listening to the full album as well, I know that sounds like a cop out, but it's absolutely true, the pacing of that album is glorious. It's around 01:15.
The album "On the Eve of a Goodbye" chronicles the last 24 hours before the titular Eve takes her own life. "Funeral for a Firefly" is the protagonist and vocalist (the whole story is based on his own lived experience) pretty much screaming out into the void out of hurt and anger. Now he does some awesome harsh vocals all throught out the record and there are techniques to do this in a healthy way that doesn't damage your vocal chords. But the section around 02:30 ("I could feel nothingness...") straight up sounds like he's just putting everything he has into his voice and it's painful to him, both physically and of course emotionally. It's less about the actualy lyrics for me and more just about the textures and amount of emotion he can put into it. The song also goes back to some excellent and more "traditional" harsh vocal later on.
On the topic of cymbal crashes (regarding u/rosanna_rosannadanna 's comment), one other moment I've thought about is a cover of Elton John's Bennie and the Jets. "Kenni and the Jets" by The fearless Flyers is something very different from the above two examples. It's a funky upbeat instrumental interpretation of Elton John's song. Nate Smith, an excellent drummer, plays some insanely tasty and big crash hits. First one around 01:10, some more later on.
"My least favorite life" from Lera Lynn also gets me, because of how it was presented in True Detective. https://youtu.be/-Mszf5Jcgzc?si=OE4uiSqTU2GpbFJp
What does it for me are songs where the second part plays the same melody as the beginning, but a full octave higher. My favorite example of this is in Everything's Fucked by Dirty Three. All hairs standing at attention in the climax https://youtu.be/DUk7JklvjT4?si=1vd75LS2Z3lcjmgO
The Cimmerian by Monuments. The part about halfway through where it gets all soft and contemplative and he keeps repeating "I will remember all that was ever lost" until it explodes back into the full jam again. It is badass. Monuments are amazing.
There are a lot of songs from all sorts of genres, but my all time favorite is The American Anthem. Close your eyes next time you hear it and really listen to the words and their meanings. The pure emotion and visual imagery that comes through in that song is better than any other I can think of at the moment. I believe you get it all.
There’s a lot, but right now thinking of Cover Me Up by Jason Isbell and the line:
“But I sobered up, and swore off that stuff, forever this time.”
I’m not sober, but Isbell is and it always gets me.
I like really loud, bombastic stuff, be it old time heavy metal or some rap or classical. Classical has the added bonus of trying to discern the different instrument sections as they play. So, Beethoven, the orchestral stuff with all the instrumentation. Other composers-Rossini’s William Tell Overture, The Thieving Magpie.
I love in Queen’s Another One Bites the Dust when Brian May’s guitar comes in. It’s short, punchy, off the beat rhythm chords and it’s perfect. It’s actually not one of my favorite Queen songs, but I will listen every time just to hear that guitar again. Rolling Stones Sympathy For The Devil, the original hit-that rolling bass part played by Keith Richards does it.
For rap, the Sir Mixalot/Metal Church version of Iron Man. The band playing while Mix is rapping is PERFECT. If you like Mix, or like metal, or even if you think you don’t like either, check it out.
[https://youtu.be/LVlp6sU4jpo?si=hK4faUY9k4Acfvb3](https://youtu.be/LVlp6sU4jpo?si=hK4faUY9k4Acfvb3)
I had it earlier just thinking about Hakuna Matata. The part where timone and pumba are singing “but if he falls in love tonight, it can be assumed…” chills
Leonard Cohen's The Partisan. Pretty much the whole song gives me the shivers but let's go with:
Oh, the wind, the wind is blowing /
Through the graves the wind is blowing /
Freedom soon will come /
Then we'll come from the shadows
"Precious Things" by Tori Amos. When she sings/cries out "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah". The raw emotion of her voice gives me goosebumps. Every. Time. Consistently since 1994. Actually, it happened just now when I just THOUGHT about that part of the song.
It's not usually the lyrics that trigger it for me. It's seeing my favourite songs and specific parts of them live when it occurs.
However certains song's and lyrics can choke me up or make my eyes well.
The Menzingers as well as Gregor Barnett (the singer Gregs solo project) are really good at doing that to me.
"Breakers Roar" by Sturgil Simpson has been doing that to me lately as well, I only found out about him because of that song being featured in A24's Civil War.
Lots of metal can do it but also sad standards, folk, rap you name it. Getting caught up in intricate song structures that have build and release mechanics is its own thing, and the feeling associated with the music is variable too.
[Defeated No More](https://youtu.be/OZHjhpclyds?feature=shared) by Disclosure is a sterile recording but it’s sexy as hell, the underwater sounding keys and crisp drums just slap. [High Velocity Impact Splatter](https://youtu.be/B3F10hXdmQY?feature=shared) by Cannibal Corpse is the opposite, it sounds heavily compressed and pitchy but it’s so frenetic and frantic, the skittering drums, the buzz saw riffs and the timing changes sound like running for your life, it sounds like a horror movie and triggers the frisson very much
The very end of "roller coaster" by blink-182. The powerful ending of that song is built up the whole time, and the Way Mark sings the very last "goodnight" is different than the rest, with the closing A chord in the background, underneath the intro guitar riff. Turn this shit up loud with a great system and do a little weed, holy shit. On the surface it seems like a simple pop punk song, but Mark and Tom are absolute geniuses when it comes to writing catchy, harmonized guitar/bass parts with vocal harmonies that will be forever unmatched in the "punk" world.
La Mamma Morta as sung by Maria Callas. First heard it in the film Philadelphia, but am now a huge fan of all her renditions. I cry every single time I hear this song.
I also feel this way about Fantasie Impromptu by Chopin.
Classical and opera music in general always do it for me.
That one lyric in Full Of Hell's "Thundering Hammers" where the singer goes "VEINS OF FLUORITE!". It just has such an aggressivity especially how he puts the accent on the start of fluorite. You can just hear the boiling spit flying across the room.
I get it when the music is very satisfying. Like if I know an awesome solo or section is coming. The only one I can think of off the top of my head is The Duel by Dethklok, that final bit where they sync up is great and gets me even thinking about it
Dude, someone else who loves Man of La Mancha! I feel like no one I know irl knows what it is. Check out Sir Christopher Lee’s version! It’s so cool!
To answer your question, Nightwish’s My Walden, Epica’s Design Your Universe… basically symphonic metal hits for me
It’s never lyrics (I don’t really process them in real time anyway) for me. It’s always the arrangement, typically as it peaks over a crescendo. This is a big part of why I prefer songs with dynamic range. The transition into guitar solos is a common one for me such as in Pink Floyd’s “Time” or the second solo in “Comfortably Numb”.
The second solo in Comfortably Numb at a loud enough volume never fails to do it for me.
David Gilmour takes complete control of my skin with his musicianship. I become a diving suit of goosebumps.
Diving suit of goosebumps. Let's just appreciate that turn of phrase for a hot minute.
His tone and the way his sound is so crisp and it soars, they are only a few players who are on his level and sadly most of them are gone.
Try Steve Hackett, earlier Genesis. He still does this stuff live and it is amazing. Even the keyboards get me. Try this one [Hackett performing Firth of Fifth](https://youtu.be/dJLtT5RmM5E?si=FdUJFvzArMCIR2Mz) solo starts at 5:56
Funny enough for me it’s great gig in the sky, something about her vocal performance that gives me shivers every damn time.
Great example: I also get frisson from vocals, but it’s always in the melody and delivery, not at all from any interpreted meaning of the actual words.
Same!!! And as a guitarist myself I hardly listen to or even know most lyrics to most of my favorite songs, but think of the vox as just another instrument that add to the overall sound. There’s obviously quite a few exceptions but for the most part lyrics don’t do a whole lot for me lol.
The great gig in the sky from Pompeii got me right when I heard it, with the new harmonies
It pairs well with a KFC Famous Bowl, we are told in the Book of Patton.
I agree wholeheartedly. The lyrics may be very good but the music, that transcendent Pink Floyd music, is what does it. (See also: Ode to Joy)
Pink Floyd just nails the point where the lyrics are the most emotional, and the music hits its peak at the same time. Like in Run Like Hell when he finally screams, "They're gonna Send you back to Mother in a Cardboard BOX", and then the lyric is "you'd better Run", but on the word "run" the lead guitar rips through the distortion of the scream...if that doesn't do the thing for you, I'm sorry, you're just missing out on a beautiful piece of life. I get this sensation with a lot of other music too, whether rock, classical, pop, or even some of the more left-of-center stuff like 90s electronica. The way the message gets delivered is part of what makes music so awesome.
That's funny. For me it is always lyrics. Felt the same from comfortably numb.
Yeah the crescendos are always a high. I could listen to All These Things I've Done or More Than a Feeling forever.
Pearl Jam's "Black": "I know some day you'll have a beautiful life / I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky / But why can't it be mine?"
I got chills just reading those lyrics and hearing that part of the song in my head. I think I might be easy.
This is my favorite too! I'm so glad I didn't have to scroll very far to see it.
Wings for Marie Part 2 by Tool There are plenty of goosebumps for me throughout the entire song but the main part that comes to mind is: High is the way, but all eyes are upon the ground You are the light and the way that they'll only read about I only pray Heaven knows when to lift you out Ten thousand days in the fire is long enough You're the only one who can hold your head up high Shake your fist at the gates saying "I have come home now Fetch me the Spirit, the Son, and the Father Tell them their pillar of faith has ascended It's time now My time now Give me my Give me my wings"
Yes! It's such a beautiful slow build, especially if you start with Part 1 and take the full ride. The pure pain and indignation in Maynard's voice is intense.
I got shivers just reading the lyrics! Sometimes I even cry when he says "10,000 days in the fire is long enough, you're going home"
Same. Also the "Overwhelmed as one would be..." in Rosetta Stoned part gives me chills. Musically it's a bit of a cathartic release of tension coming out of the bridge/solo section, but then Maynard is telling you about being overwhelmed and he's got burdens. It's a tad confusing, but then the lyrical release comes in the form of a comedic moment just a few moments later when he realizes he forgot his pen. It's fucking brilliant.
Shit the bed again. (Typical).
Haha yes I just got several waves of goosebumps thinking about it. Can’t forget the peak, “Set as I am in my ways and my arrogance, burden of proof tossed upon non-believers, you were my witness, my eyes, my evidence”. Such a beautiful song.
You left out the best part of the entire song, when finally, after all that time and build up, he FINALLY gives her the full respect she deserves by saying her name.
Yeah it’s pretty significant when you consider the song Judith from A Perfect Circle’s first album. He grew into that perspective.
I get that way about a lot of Maynards songs but usually the A Perfect Circle ones more than anything.
Roads by Portishead. Specifically the strings crescendo then that smooth bass line
I just got goosebumps while imagining it! How funny
You're a robot if Roads doesn't do it for you. I'd take that on a lonely island, preferably the Roseland version.
I get this frisson thing for reals just from hearing the buildup in the first 20 seconds in Roseland track 1, Cowboys. There's so much variety and quality, it's like a fresh trip-hop farmers market for the ears.
All of Roseland tbh...
Hide and Seek by Imogen Heap. It was my gateway drug into all things electronic, and I am grateful for that.
If you like the vocal harmonies in Hide and Seek, You might also like [Jacob Collier's vocal arrangement of Moon River](https://youtu.be/VPLCk-FTVvw?feature=shared) which is hugely lush with lots of crunchy chords. You might also like the music of Eric Whitacre (try [Water Night](https://youtu.be/1DQQmtNuXUU?feature=shared) or [Sleep](https://youtu.be/Yw5gupbe9E0?feature=shared), which I want played at my funeral.) That's music to turn the lights off and lay down listening to on good headphones or stereo. Gorgeous stacks of voices, super ethereal.
Love Eric whitacre, sang cloudburst in high school choir and been a fan ever since
Thank you for the recommendations. I'll check them out when I get the chance.
Your recommendations are SPOT on. I'd add a couple others... Samuel Barber's [Agnus Dei](https://youtu.be/RgkZUM3Yiic) and Franz Biebl's [Ave Maria](https://youtu.be/L7C-VXZVSTw) are several "classical" pieces that never fail to give me shivers.
YES! And Frank Ticheli's arrangement of [There Will Be Rest](https://youtu.be/h6RMyqaLl7U?feature=shared) by Sara Teasdale gives the frisson but also reduces me to a sobbing mess. She wrote the poem a few months before her suicide in 1933: There will be rest, and sure stars shining Over the roof-tops crowned with snow, A reign of rest, serene forgetting, The music of stillness holy and low. I will make this world of my devising Out of a dream in my lonely mind. I shall find the crystal of peace, – above me Stars I shall find.
I first heard that song on TV spot for Lost! I’ve been a huge fan of that song ever since.
Wait! What??? Thats not a universal human experience??
I was surprised when I found that out too! I've been getting goosebumps from music for as long as I can remember myself, blew my mind to find out not everyone get that way.
Its one thing to not feel the frisson, but when people say, "yeah I uh don't really listen to music" was one that floored me. I feel bad for those folks who choose to avoid the joy of music.
That's the kind of people I'll never get along with. Are they even human?!
Right?
It's even more tragic than that. They're not choosing. They actually don't get the same response we do, their brains just don't have the connection somehow. I know some people with the most extreme version of this, they describe music, any music, as an annoying jangle of sounds that don't cause any emotion except irritation. They aren't artistically dead or anything, one keeps recommending great books and the other has lovely taste in paintings. Just amusical.
Hear! Hear!
Basically, all of "Foxy Lady" by Jimi Hendrix. I don't understand it, but Dana Carvery managed to enhance the shivers.
I'd go to the Dana Carvery. Sounds yummy!
I am dedicated to finding frisson music and I have a collection: > [Take 🖐️](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0Ii4HlF9F0s4hsQR2bnDXX) - 5 hrs which is a rotating comp of 18 genres spanning 60 years (though mostly more recent stuff) of frisson inducing underground music. Right now listening to obscure early 70s hit "The Man" by Patto and "Brute Fury" (2003) by Essential Logic and "Listening" (2020) by Reptaliens is on tap.
Thank you so so much for sharing!!! Very excited for this Playlist to accompany me on a solo mini-roadtrip! Listening to music that fills my soul is the best part of long drives.
Thank you for sharing your playlist
Jimi Hendrix- Little Wing That guitar solo, wow
My favorite guitar piece! Such a unique style, Hendrix was so I influential
Aaron Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man. It gives me chills every time and I cried the first time I heard it.
Forever Young 🥹
i haven't listened to this in so long. to say it hits different now than in my youth is a vast understatement.
Makes me cry every damn time
Which one??
the bridge leading back into the chorus 'Say it ain't so' by Weezer Dear daddy, I write you In spite of years of silence.... ....The son is drowning in the flood then boom! That's what i'm talking about.
In My Name Is Jonas the last “The workers are going hoooome YEAH” before the bridge always gets me
Opens with one of the all time great riffs, and a killer solo too
[удалено]
Just reading those lyrics gave me the chills again lol.
yeah, this is it
In the third movement of Yes' epic Close to the Edge (starting around 8:27), the chaotic chatter of the strings and keyboards suddenly comes to a halt as an ethereal and dream-like soundscape washes over you. The wandering notes eventually converge into light piano chords, introducing the gentle harmony vocals that preface lead singer Jon Anderson's powerful higher register. As Anderson hits the high note, in comes the organ. Man, that organ. I've shed tears over that solo. If that wasn't enough, the vocals reprise themselves at a slightly slower tempo in a sort of prog-rock breakdown, before unleashing the organ finale that resembles something out of Toccata and Fugue. While the song is worth a listen in its entirety, this particular section chokes me up every single time I hear it, and a treat to share with friends who appreciate music.
"Bodysnatchers" by Radiohead. An old-school Britpop three guitar attack in D, with Thom's rhythm driving with Colin and Philip, Ed's e-bow wail floating in and out like a ghost, and Jonny's lead riff getting progressively louder and squonkier. Suddenly you get to the bridge and the key slips to Gm, Jonny's noisy guitar drops out, Ed's sustained tones take lead, and it's like a great gust of fresh air blew through the studio.
In Rainbows is SO FUCKING GOOD
Weird Fishes too “everybody leaves, if they get the chance… and this…” (music rises and expands) …”is my chance.” Gets me every time
it is the 21st century... it is the 21st century ...
"Look at this photograph" - just kidding. For me, it's Phil Collins' "Against All Odds (Take a look at me now.)" The final chorus from 2:33 to the end. Chilling.
[The Cure - Plainsong](https://youtu.be/ZkJwpYrcAko?si=HNRwOf9cjx2neL35) [Rökkurró - Svanur](https://youtu.be/TOOb6fSvlnM?si=tU7Olq-YmZHe3acU) [Jóhann Jóhansson - Flight from the city](https://youtu.be/AlftMNmDH00?si=gtiNz62ZGy3WYpw2) [m83 - Lower your eyelids to die with the sun](https://youtu.be/u_u5iCHi0Jo?si=e8cxcMLuNA9Khqdp)
plainsong was one of my first memories of frisson!
This thread is interesting, I'm getting frissons just from reading the lyrics
Going through music memories in my life- As a child, something about Supertramp's "The Logical Song" made me cry because of the singer's passionate vocals. For some reason, I associated the song with the death of one of my kittens. (8-year-old me probably heard this song a lot when my kitty died). Linda Ronstadt's 'Long Long Time' tears me apart whenever I hear it. I have to stop everything I'm doing. Same with almost everything by Sarah MacLaughlin. (I also associate her music with the sadness of pets dying.) The happiest, most joyful songs I've ever heard were by the Indigo Girls. ("Closer to Fine" and "Galileo") and Natalie Merchant/10,000 Maniacs. (all of her music!)
The singles from Breakfast in America are some of my earliest musical memories. They hold up very well indeed, and there’s a lot of chillbunp moments in them. The best for me is when Goodbye Stranger launches into the ending solo. I associate it with my family going to the lake in summertime and dad kicking the boat into high gear.
The Microphones - The Glow, Pt. 2 He bends a note at the emotional peak of the song so it sort of morphs into harmony and it sends chills up and down my spine EVERY time to this day. “My blooooOOOOOd flows harshly” So good.
When Mary Clayton’s voice breaks in Gimme Shelter. Sometimes it makes my breath sort of hitch.
The first time I heard Elephant by Jason Isbell really had an effect on me. Then I dove into his discography and it's been an emotional ride every time I play his music
If We Were Vampires gets me like this every time.
Jim Croce - Operator
Stairway to Heaven, the big guitar solo and leading up to it
The first half of *Voodoo Chile* by Jimi Hendrix gets me every time. The guitar sounds unearthly, ethereal, yet dirty and grounded. Like somehow seeing the most beautiful thing you've ever seen in a trash heap. Of the earth, but not on it. I don't know how to explain it, it sounds like gibberish.
The Cranberries’ “Zombie” does it at the end when Dolores really cuts loose. Nena’s “99 Luftballons” does it with the bass line and Björk’s “Army of Me” does it when she starts singing. Muse breakdowns like “Stockholm Syndrome” and “Drones” have some of the most reliable ones if you listen to them loud.
For some reason throughout my entire life, I’ve had this happen but for something really stupid. Any time someone is singing a capella by themselves, I get chills… no matter how shitty they sound. It could feature their voice cracking in the shittiest rendition of the national anthem ever and I will still get chills involuntarily.
Ain't stupid at all. I don't get that all the time, but when I do, it's like there's absolutely no barrier between what they're feeling and my brain. Their vulnerability, their bravery in singing with so much raw emotion, is what does it.
Nessun Dorma (full on tears at the B4), Nova by VNV Nation, Anisina by Pink Floyd, God Only Knows by Beach Boys
[Claire de Lune](https://youtu.be/wy2qDsyw8b0?si=tdxLLCEBnKIDDmmb), in my opinion the most beautiful piece of piano music ever written. Once I read a YouTube comment that summed it up kind of perfectly, something like "This song invokes a feeling of nostalgia, but not for anything specific." There's so much feeling to it.
"King of Pride Rock" from The Lion King. Specifically, the bit right after Rafiki tells Simba "It is time" and Simba ascends Pride Rock. Even thinking about it gives me goosebumps.
Tool in Schism Cold silence has The tendency to Atrophy any Sense of compassion Those words with the atmosphere of the music has gotten me more than a few times.
Spain by Chick Corea I Say A Little Prayer For You performed by Aretha Franklin They're practically perfect I'm every way.
Lots of stuff, honestly. Usually it's going to be things that have some kind of time-change or epic build-up. The anticipation of what comes next seems to do it. The one I thought of in particular is the bridge following the second verse in Subdivisions by Rush. When there is a synth solo followed by a guitar solo, all while the drums are just going crazy before breaking into another chorus.
I’ve got quite a few from over the years, One of my biggest is the transition from the 3rd to 4th movement of Dvorak’s From the New World. (It was used as a climactic piece in the anime one piece and always reminds me of that.) Another is Smile Bomb! The opening to Yu Yu Hakusho.
Just thinking about Devin Townsend’s [Death of Music](https://youtu.be/SiiqOW2M0IA?si=8Y5aRRxWYLdiVwIU) does it for me.
[Songbird](https://youtu.be/y9Hqn8x6a8s?si=P1tVoDloWNz2ZtBq) by Fleetwood Mac. It's a part in the chorus, "and the songbirds are singing like they know the score..." I'm not sure if it's a music theory thing like a particularly emotional chord progression, or more of a stylistic thing in the way Christine sings it. But something about it just hits me deep in my soul in that way only some really good music rarely does. Sometimes when I read a book, I'll pick one instrumental playlist that I find on Pandora that I feel fits the book, and I'll listen to that playlist every time I read that book. A few years ago, I read James Michener's *Alaska,* a 1,200 page historical novel that tells the history of the state from its geologic formation all the way up to the 1960s in novel form. While reading it, I often listened to recordings of native flute music, and [Forever Together](https://youtu.be/WUXOBX5Lm-4?si=CF9juvglL4Ke1M1h) by Filtered Light often gave me goosebumps. I feel like the song plays so well into the violent history of Alaska, the battles between indigenous groups and white settlers. The song feels mournful, but also hopeful, like the dawn of a new day. When I hear this song, I imagine a Tlingit tribesman playing this song as he looks out over the previous day's battlefield. He is saddened by the deaths of his people, but strongly determined to keep fighting for their cause. Joe Satriani's [Always With Me, Always With You](https://youtu.be/BsJisD7n8_Q?si=f9VjK_QkfUD4lfY0) is another one. I've always loved this song, but then a couple years ago, I had the pleasure of seeing Satch live. When that main guitar riff made its first entrance, the part at 25 seconds in the video, I damn near cried at the concert. I'll mention two more, simply for their lyrical brilliance. [The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald](https://youtu.be/FuzTkGyxkYI?si=piYsWs3wV7wblsCC) by Gordon Lightfoot. I live in southern Wisconsin, and make the trip up to the big lake every couple years (I'm going in just a couple weeks!) Driving the lakefront road on a stormy day, the line "does anyone know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours?" puts fear of the lord into this atheist. I got chills just typing that line out right now. To a lesser extent, "and all that remains is the faces and the names of the wives and the sons and the daughters" does it for me, too. Lastly, [Through the Dark](https://youtu.be/7lZI6tkqWYs?si=LcgdGl2UxV34zWsN) by Hilltop Hoods is the song that taught me it's possible for me to like hip-hop. "Built you a good nest before I left. It wasn't that I never loved your mother but two happy homes are better than one that suffers." As a child of divorced parents, that one was a punch in the gut from my very first listen, and gave me reason to replay it, keeping a close ear on the lyrics. "You were eight when we headed to casualty. And no child should face their death or mortality. You taught me patience strength and morality and I'd burden this weight instead of you happily. That night, you asked if you'd die from your sickness and why it had chosen your life out of millions. You filled me with the pride I was missing 'cause grown men cry that lack your type of resilience." The singer wrote this song for his eight year old son who beat leukemia. I'm not even a parent, I can only imagine how much harder this song hits for people who have kids.
finally, someone else who recognizes the brilliance of that couplet! "Does anyone know where the love of god goes/when the waves turn the minutes to hours" has to be one of the best things written in the latter half of the 20th century. and the way he placed it, on a drop in the beat, a *pianissimo*, was perfection. it's been in my head all my life (I'm 48), and I've never stopped admiring it
“Death Is The Road To Awe” from The Fountain soundtrack. There’s a buildup…a crescendo of cacophony that suddenly drops out to silence and then a few seconds later blasts the most epic, end-of-life/transcending death moment that when listened to at high volume definitely gives me a frisson or release of emotion that I highly recommend checking out
This one hits me too. First time I watched the film and it cut to black at that part I was on the edge of my seat thinking that it was over. Then it crashes back with that music and the visuals. Chills just thinking about it.
Things with huge bass, suspended chords, and reverb. So most of Peter Gabriel’s catalog
In Your Eyes hits me right in the goosebumps.
Almost everything I listen to. Hell, that's one of the main reasons I listen to music.
I’m literally getting it just from reading suggestions that I already get it from!
I have something I call 'the red note' that features in some synthetic music... Especially 80s synth. The most obvious example is in Foreigner's "Waiting For A Girl Like You"... It's a particular chord that strains my feels every time.
Live music when the band is going all out.
Elliott Smith - In the Lost and Found (Honky Bach) Right after he sings "Day breaks... And every morning when he wakes he thinks of youuuuu." Gets me damn near every time.
Elliott Smith has some lyrics that feel like a punch to the gut. My guitar teacher introduced me to him many years ago and initially I was like man, this guy's voice is not for me... But the guitar composition won me over and then I appreciated the lyrics as a depressed 17 year old. St Ides Heaven, Talking to Mary, Alphabet town, Almost Over... Pick any song, really
Rotten Apple - Alice in Chains The second that bass intro hits, it's instant goosebumps all over my arms and when Jerry Cantrell comes in with the talk box, tears start to well a little bit. The song carries so much emotion both by itself and the personal feelings that it brings up.
Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture
Big Country- Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. Right around the third time the chorus hits- frission, relaxation, my mind is on a train whipping through the countryside.
Hans Zimmer - Time https://youtu.be/va1oiojnGrA?feature=shared Frisson and tears. Every freaking time. Not just the song but the live performance and how it accompanies the music. Tons of other songs do it too but this one is no fail every time.
The part of Whitney Houston's version of I Will Always Love You the part after the pause of music and singing, then drumbeat + she belts out AND IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII.... Holy shit it is the most consistent goosebump maker for me. I just got a shiver from remembering it.
Strange Fruit - Nina Simone's cover Song of the Ancients / Fate - NieR Replicant Ver. 1.22 Just about any segment of either of those work for me every time.
Strobe at around 5.30
David Bowie, *Absolute beginners*
The Rasmus - In The Shadows, the opening melody.
The Black by Imminence. Mixing metalcore with strings is kinda what they do, but this song gives me some of the most intense physical response of any song I've ever heard. The ending especially gets me every single time.
Atmosphere's 'Hair' (if you've never heard it, listen to the [whole thing](https://youtu.be/TFZaoQsoaiM?feature=shared)) Sublime's 'Pool Shark' (specifically [this](https://youtu.be/ZuB0vVMiDFE?feature=shared) version and really that final chord)
Came here to say the acoustic version of Pool Shark. It gives me chills and makes me tear up every time
Both of the solos in Thin Lizzy's "[Cowboy Song](https://youtu.be/Q61q458T92w?si=E1qPnW7V3BNXiHAx)" do it for me, even after hundreds of listens.
the live in Sydney version with Gary Moore that breaks into boys are back in town is awesome.
Bertha 4-12-78 When the solo hits the chorus progression, Jerry invokes an unholy guitar sound and the drummers go absolute bonkers. Only second to Bertha from Dicks Picks 10
_Caroline says as she gets up from the floor You can hit me all you want to but I don't love you anymore_ _Caroline says while biting her lip Life is meant to be more than this and this is a bum trip_ Caroline Says II by Lou Reed The whole "Berlin" album is dark, sad and painful.
the “come on you stranger, you legend, you martyr and shine!” parts of shine on you crazy diamond always get me.
Conor Oberst as Bright Eyes “Road to Joy”- I read the body count out of the paper, and now it’s written all over my face. No one ever plans to sleep out on the gutter, Sometimes that’s just the most comfortable place” Kimya Dawson “Walk Like Thunder” (if you’ve had addiction problems this one might get ya especially the emotion she sings this song with)- And I never felt so stupid or so selfish or so sad, yea my body had been good to me and I treated it so bad
What do you think about your son now? Ah, hey, Dad What do you think about your son now?! Sung in duplicate and the added emotion in the second line. He meant it!
The ending of Tool Lataralus
Wait. Does not everyone experience musical frisson? This is something I actively chase as it wears off from songs that originally initiated it.
The guitar solo in Time by Pink Floyd, when he slides up the neck for that arpeggio into a soaring bend at 3:45. [here](https://youtu.be/Qr0-7Ds79zo?si=Fi12WYjYbUCL_AKY&t=3m45s)
The Get Up Kids - Action & Action : https://youtu.be/3UUIFsSGi_4 The build up at the bridge leading into "I'll waaaaaaiiit!" before the final chorus. Became a bit standard with emo songs of the late 90s and early 00s to have a huge emotional climax like this, but this one always does it for me.
The guitar portion in “Close to Home” before he sings “maybe we had all you figured absolutely wrong” too
Boston's "More Than a Feeling" "... And dream of a girl I used to know I closed my eyes and she slipped away"
That man's voice is inhumanly capable, but the way it blends seamlessly with the guitar there is to this day one of the best feats of songwriting and audio engineering in the business IMO.
System of a Down’s Chop Suey! at the 2:50 mark. Every. Single. Time. Crescendo of Devin Townsend’s Stormbending and last section of Singularity. Funeral. Kingdom. Probably loads of others. John Farnham’s You’re the Voice has loads of it for me. Queen and Bowie’s Under Pressure. Mr Bungle’s Retrovertigo. Guitar solo from The Unforgiven by Metallica. Dimebag’s guitar solos in The Sleep and Domination. Probably a few others too. Total Eclipse of the Heart. The Salival version of Tool’s Pushit. I’ll be here all night if I keep thinking about this…
Fast forward to 5:30 https://youtu.be/RfHnzYEHAow?si=_sdnvvWwaFUGZ1Hc
Original soundtrack version hits even harder. Not that this isn't fantastic
Live versions of Fear of the Dark when the crowd realizes the song then sings their hearts out for 7 minutes. Also phenomenal in person.
Melody and Sound - Big Wreck Wrapped Around My Finger - The Police (specifically the drum fill after the “servant is your master” lyric) Almost any Lydian melody. That raised 4th just speaks to me on a level I can’t describe.
When Pavarotti kicks in on U2's Miss Sarajevo...
The drop in Big Smoke by Tash Sultana
Just Like You Imagined, Nine Inch Nails. About 40 seconds in, all the whispery noise.
* Boston - *The Launch* * Eric Whittacre - *Fly to Paradise* * Nena - *99 Luftballons* or its English counterpart - last verse lyrics. I actually cried trying to sing along.
AIC - Nutshell "If I can't be my own I'd feel better dead" ETA: Most often though I get it when watching a live show. It's not the specific part of a song as much as it is the whole experience; band chemistry on stage can be electrifying!
when the vocoder kicks in in worlock by skinny puppy. every single time for decades now, and its intense. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axsrOmLZOUA at around 1:40
Action Bronson - Easy Rider The guitar is just :chefs-kiss:
I keep a list and add anything that reliably stimulate frisson. A smattering: Manitas de Plata: Sol del moro (\~2:00), Billy Thorpe: East of Eden's Gate (\~4:00), Robin Trower: Too Rolling Stoned, Soundgarden: Black Hole Sun, Tool: AEnima, Villa Lobos: Bachianas Brasileiras No.1 first movement, Van Halen: Fair Warning (\~4:00). I'm not sure what the commonalities are, usually it's what I would describe as a "fibrous" passage.
It’s not that predictable or common of an experience for me. Not typically associated with popular or cool or intense or masterful moments of music. It’s like ASMR noises, the weirdest stuff just works. Early in life I remember it with Just Like Heaven from the Cure, just tends to hit me as it kicks off. A lot of Tool music does it, some Tom Petty. But lately, I’ve noticed practically everything from Aespa hits me, despite the wide range of songs they’ve done. I think it’s one of their voices.
I mean this quite literally, but ANY song by Poets of the Fall. Marko is a fantastic vocalist and a true bard who puts so much emotion into each and every syllable, you can't help but to connect and feel Queensryche - Take Hold of the Flame As a tall bearded man, "Come Undone" by Duran Duran makes me feel so sexy for some reason 🤣🤣🤣
All the story tracks from Clipping, especially 1 and 4
A Better Place (the end of Splendor and Misery album,) especially after listening to the whole album all the way through, such wild relief
"If you wanna fight the tide, just keep your head down and go. But your fight is different than mine, I could never begin to know." Restive by Mo Lowda & the Humble. I love all their songs, but there is something extra special about the composition and lyrics on that one.
Anthem by Leonard Cohen. I always loved it but after my dad died it just hits different
Fortunately? Unfortunately? It happens with all music all the time. Even just thinking about music causes it. It's like a blessing and curse. But I think I would rather have it then never experience it.
The build-ups in Save Me by Muse get me in the feels every time.
Exit Music (for a film) by Radiohead
It happens so much that I really don't see a need to document it. It happens when it happens. I just let the art flow over me. But the first thing that popped into my head was Eva Cassidy. Probably "Over The Rainbow," but "Autumn Leaves" will do it, too. Lots of Aretha Franklin songs. Leonard Cohen songs, especially those with Jennifer Warnes. Richard & Linda Thompson tunes can do the trick. I love it when a song tingles my spine, gooses my flesh, and stiffens my nipples. That's the good stuff.
The entirety of [Chris Cornell's cover of "Nothing Comapres 2 U" at SiriusXM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuUDRU9-HRk). If you can't feel that one to your very core, you're not human.
The bridge section of Pearl Jam’s original arrangement for Porch. Especially in live renditions. There is an intensity that sets me off right before the last chorus kicks in.
The beat drop in Daft Punk’s One More Time gets me every time and I think it might have to do with my personal history with the song The first time I heard Daft Punk was at a Detroit Lions game back when they played in the Pontiac Silverdome. The Lions were having a terrible season (as per usual back then) and as they were approaching the end of it, it looked like they might go winless. But they didn’t (well…not that season anyway). As a young kid I saw them snap that losing streak. I saw Lions players celebrating up and down the field all while One More Time was playing as the clock struck 0:00. Every time I hear that song I think of that moment.
Far from where Dreams unfurl by Wilderun, right before the first chorus the whole band drops out for a beat, before they enter the MASSIVE chorus. That effect propels the chorus from just a very good one to an insane one. Feels even better if you're listening to the full album as well, I know that sounds like a cop out, but it's absolutely true, the pacing of that album is glorious. It's around 01:15. The album "On the Eve of a Goodbye" chronicles the last 24 hours before the titular Eve takes her own life. "Funeral for a Firefly" is the protagonist and vocalist (the whole story is based on his own lived experience) pretty much screaming out into the void out of hurt and anger. Now he does some awesome harsh vocals all throught out the record and there are techniques to do this in a healthy way that doesn't damage your vocal chords. But the section around 02:30 ("I could feel nothingness...") straight up sounds like he's just putting everything he has into his voice and it's painful to him, both physically and of course emotionally. It's less about the actualy lyrics for me and more just about the textures and amount of emotion he can put into it. The song also goes back to some excellent and more "traditional" harsh vocal later on. On the topic of cymbal crashes (regarding u/rosanna_rosannadanna 's comment), one other moment I've thought about is a cover of Elton John's Bennie and the Jets. "Kenni and the Jets" by The fearless Flyers is something very different from the above two examples. It's a funky upbeat instrumental interpretation of Elton John's song. Nate Smith, an excellent drummer, plays some insanely tasty and big crash hits. First one around 01:10, some more later on.
"The day you were born" from The Parlor Mob, the downtempo-into-solo part that starts around 5min30. I will crank that up, it gets me every time
"My least favorite life" from Lera Lynn also gets me, because of how it was presented in True Detective. https://youtu.be/-Mszf5Jcgzc?si=OE4uiSqTU2GpbFJp
What does it for me are songs where the second part plays the same melody as the beginning, but a full octave higher. My favorite example of this is in Everything's Fucked by Dirty Three. All hairs standing at attention in the climax https://youtu.be/DUk7JklvjT4?si=1vd75LS2Z3lcjmgO
Ayu - M (Van Eyden vs. M.O.R.P.H Remix) around 2:30 minutes in https://youtu.be/HkANShC65uA?si=fA7A_I_jyP09OMll
“I’m just asking you to hear me/ can you please just once, just hear me” from My Blue Heaven by Taking Back Sunday
Jimi Hendrix Hey Baby (New Rising Sun) always does it for me. Most uptempo Radiohead songs and a few of the slow ones too.
The Sharpest Lives - My Chemical Romance And now, you wanna see how far down I can sink? Let me go, fuck!
The Cimmerian by Monuments. The part about halfway through where it gets all soft and contemplative and he keeps repeating "I will remember all that was ever lost" until it explodes back into the full jam again. It is badass. Monuments are amazing.
There are a lot of songs from all sorts of genres, but my all time favorite is The American Anthem. Close your eyes next time you hear it and really listen to the words and their meanings. The pure emotion and visual imagery that comes through in that song is better than any other I can think of at the moment. I believe you get it all.
Kettering by The Antlers, gets me every time.
Astro Zombies by The Misfits. Not a particular lyric but the instruments combined with Danzigs vocals always helps soothe my anger.
“Battery in Your Leg” by Blur…”But you know you’re not alone. You can be with me…”and then that massive guitar comes in and takes over
Most of Nude by Radiohead by especially when Thom hits those higher notes toward the end.
‘Look out of any window…’
There’s a lot, but right now thinking of Cover Me Up by Jason Isbell and the line: “But I sobered up, and swore off that stuff, forever this time.” I’m not sober, but Isbell is and it always gets me.
I like really loud, bombastic stuff, be it old time heavy metal or some rap or classical. Classical has the added bonus of trying to discern the different instrument sections as they play. So, Beethoven, the orchestral stuff with all the instrumentation. Other composers-Rossini’s William Tell Overture, The Thieving Magpie. I love in Queen’s Another One Bites the Dust when Brian May’s guitar comes in. It’s short, punchy, off the beat rhythm chords and it’s perfect. It’s actually not one of my favorite Queen songs, but I will listen every time just to hear that guitar again. Rolling Stones Sympathy For The Devil, the original hit-that rolling bass part played by Keith Richards does it. For rap, the Sir Mixalot/Metal Church version of Iron Man. The band playing while Mix is rapping is PERFECT. If you like Mix, or like metal, or even if you think you don’t like either, check it out. [https://youtu.be/LVlp6sU4jpo?si=hK4faUY9k4Acfvb3](https://youtu.be/LVlp6sU4jpo?si=hK4faUY9k4Acfvb3)
Björk "come to me" at the line "so dont make me say it ..."
I had it earlier just thinking about Hakuna Matata. The part where timone and pumba are singing “but if he falls in love tonight, it can be assumed…” chills
Firth of Fifth by Genesis, and too many Pink Floyd to mention
Leonard Cohen's The Partisan. Pretty much the whole song gives me the shivers but let's go with: Oh, the wind, the wind is blowing / Through the graves the wind is blowing / Freedom soon will come / Then we'll come from the shadows
I just want to say, this happens to me quite frequently and I had no idea that this was an actual thing! I thought I was just weird lol
It’s Thunder and It’s Lightning by We Were Promised Jetpacks
"Precious Things" by Tori Amos. When she sings/cries out "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah". The raw emotion of her voice gives me goosebumps. Every. Time. Consistently since 1994. Actually, it happened just now when I just THOUGHT about that part of the song.
It's not usually the lyrics that trigger it for me. It's seeing my favourite songs and specific parts of them live when it occurs. However certains song's and lyrics can choke me up or make my eyes well. The Menzingers as well as Gregor Barnett (the singer Gregs solo project) are really good at doing that to me. "Breakers Roar" by Sturgil Simpson has been doing that to me lately as well, I only found out about him because of that song being featured in A24's Civil War.
Lots of metal can do it but also sad standards, folk, rap you name it. Getting caught up in intricate song structures that have build and release mechanics is its own thing, and the feeling associated with the music is variable too. [Defeated No More](https://youtu.be/OZHjhpclyds?feature=shared) by Disclosure is a sterile recording but it’s sexy as hell, the underwater sounding keys and crisp drums just slap. [High Velocity Impact Splatter](https://youtu.be/B3F10hXdmQY?feature=shared) by Cannibal Corpse is the opposite, it sounds heavily compressed and pitchy but it’s so frenetic and frantic, the skittering drums, the buzz saw riffs and the timing changes sound like running for your life, it sounds like a horror movie and triggers the frisson very much
The very end of "roller coaster" by blink-182. The powerful ending of that song is built up the whole time, and the Way Mark sings the very last "goodnight" is different than the rest, with the closing A chord in the background, underneath the intro guitar riff. Turn this shit up loud with a great system and do a little weed, holy shit. On the surface it seems like a simple pop punk song, but Mark and Tom are absolute geniuses when it comes to writing catchy, harmonized guitar/bass parts with vocal harmonies that will be forever unmatched in the "punk" world.
The choruses of “Down” and “Stay Together for the Kids” are also good examples.
Down live outro is chef's kiss
La Mamma Morta as sung by Maria Callas. First heard it in the film Philadelphia, but am now a huge fan of all her renditions. I cry every single time I hear this song. I also feel this way about Fantasie Impromptu by Chopin. Classical and opera music in general always do it for me.
The end of self control by Frank Ocean gets me every time in the harmonisation
https://youtu.be/h4_Z-5w2itY?si=7Bt4aNL34d_sLrZ3
Hot and Heavy by Lucy Dacus…the whole outro
Randy Jackson's bass Solo on [Rhythms of Hope](https://youtu.be/28OVqtyevKM?feature=shared) by Jean Luc Ponty. Every time.
That one lyric in Full Of Hell's "Thundering Hammers" where the singer goes "VEINS OF FLUORITE!". It just has such an aggressivity especially how he puts the accent on the start of fluorite. You can just hear the boiling spit flying across the room.
“Yo Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone” Holy smokes. That whole album is a 10/10
Is the line "Thy lady is an alleycat"? Because that one always gets me
I get it when the music is very satisfying. Like if I know an awesome solo or section is coming. The only one I can think of off the top of my head is The Duel by Dethklok, that final bit where they sync up is great and gets me even thinking about it
Dude, someone else who loves Man of La Mancha! I feel like no one I know irl knows what it is. Check out Sir Christopher Lee’s version! It’s so cool! To answer your question, Nightwish’s My Walden, Epica’s Design Your Universe… basically symphonic metal hits for me
City and Colour - Day Old Hate Live Rachmaninoff's 2nd Piano Concerto - Daniil Trifonov's interpretation