Obsession Song: Difference between revisions

Particularly pathetic [[Unrequited Love]] songs often fall into the passive category, while the aggressive variety sometimes overlaps with the [[Murder Ballad]] or [[Villain Love Song]].

 

 

Needless to say, this trope can be a potent source of [[Paranoia Fuel]].

{{examples}}

 

* [[Massive Attack]] - "Angel". The song was originally done by constant collaborator/quasi-band member Horace Andy as a [[The Cover Changes the Meaning|Reggae love song]], but the harsh, [[Alternative Rock]] riffing and pounding drums just illustrate how the instrumental backing can drastically change a song's context.

* Mono - "Madhouse"

All I hold is a photograph of my magnificent obsession }}

 

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UUKREIK8yg "I Put A Spell On You"] by Screamin' Jay Hawkins is classic example. Originally supposed to be a passive example, but then one of the recording crew brought in booze, turning it into one of the most famous aggressive examples ever.

** Made [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Y99tXNxV5s strangely sexy] by Nina Simone (then again, it ''is'' Nina Simone...).

*** And then made predictably terrifying by [[Marilyn Manson]].

**** Arguably kicked up a creepy notch by [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAFbYN_8e7g "Diamanda Galas]

** Probably the most famous one you'll ever [[Isn't It Ironic?|dance to at homecoming]].

** "Can't Stand Losing You" is another. A classic case of [[Lyrical Dissonance]].

** Don't forget ''No Pussy Blues'', complete with it's own kind of [[Madness Mantra]] ("''she just didn't want to''")

* Portishead - "All Mine"

** Which features an ''actual 911 call.''

* Pretty much any line from Animotion's "[[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|Obsession]]" could work as a page quote for this trope.

* [[Ludo]] - "Go-Getter Greg."

** As well as "The Horror Of Our Love" for the 'wearing your skin like a sweater' variety.

* Death Cab For Cutie's "I Will Possess Your Heart." It lasts 8 minutes (on the album).

* Even [[The Beatles]] did one, [http://www.beatleslyricsarchive.com/viewSong.php?songID=92 and it's pretty aggressive, too.] "Run For Your Life" - ''Rubber Soul'', 1965. [[Old Shame|John Lennon came to hate this song.]]

I'll pile high to the sky

The bodies of my ex-lover's lovers.'' }}

{{quote|''I saw you with him, you looked so happy.

That will never change because I know myself

And only there will I see them die.'' }}

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LKcjsRkgs0 "True Love"] by ThouShaltNot is of the "[[If I Can't Have You]], no one will" variety.

{{quote|''"I'll steal you, Johanna, I'll steal you. Do they think that walls could hide you? Even now, I'm at your window. I am in the dark beside you, buried sweetly in your yellow hair! I feel you, Johanna, and one day I'll steal you!"''}}

** But it's nothing compared to the "Johanna" sung by Judge Turpin, which makes the above guy look positively heroic by comparison. Which may be the intention.

You're shying away, ''I'll be coming for you anyway!'' }}

 

* [[Elvis Costello]]'s "I Want You", which contains heavy doses of both passive and aggressive.

* Morrissey also likes this trope, with quite a few of his songs (both solo and with [[The Smiths]]) falling into the passive category, although he has some more aggressive ones as well, most notably "The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get."

* [[Garbage|Garbage's]] "#1 Crush" is a perfect example of the passive variety.

** Only at first. It becomes increasingly aggressive over the course of the song.

* Several comedy bands have variations on this including "Stalker Song" by Tripod and the reversed trope "Stalker Girl" by The Arrogant Worms.

* The [[Dark Reprise]] of "All I Ask of You" at the end of the first act of ''[[The Phantom of the Opera]]'' ends with: "You will curse the day you did not do/All that the Phantom asked of you!" The Phantom proves as good as his word when he causes the chandelier to fall immediately afterward.

* "[[Goldeneye]]" by Tina Turner, for the eponymous [[James Bond (film)|James Bond]] movie.

* The appropriately titled "[[Obsesi Ã]]³n", by bachata group Aventura, is a kind of verbal confrontation between a [[Stalker with a Crush]] (male singer) and the object of his affection (female voice, chorus), where the boy believes that his increasingly invasive, controlling ways are acceptable forms of showing love, and isn't clued by the fact that the girl has been avoiding him as he becoming creepier, and that she's saying quite directly in the chorus that whatever he feels, isn't truly related with love...

* [[Depeche Mode]] - "It's No Good".

* [[Devo]]'s "I Desire" comes off as one (if you don't miss it due to [[Lyrical Dissonance]]) even ''without'' the knowledge that it's based on a poem written by real life [[Stalker with a Crush]] [[wikipedia:John Hinckley Jr|John Hinckley Jr]].

* "It's a Dangerous Game" from ''Jekyll and Hyde: The Musical'' almost sounds like a romantic duet, except that it's about a psychotic killer stalking a prostitute who's too terrified of/fascinated by him to make a run for it.

* Siouxsie and the Banshees have a song entitled, what else, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAs54ITlmvs Obsession]

** The accompanying music video in which he follows her into the [[Brian Blessed|BATHROOM]] and proceeds to make out with her. Obsession INDEED!!!

*** Much Fromage, a yearly awards comparable to the Rapsberrys for music videos, awarded the music video for ''Escape'' as "Creepiest Music Video of the Year".

* [[Sonata Arctica]] has a few. "The End of This Chapter" and "Don't Say a Word" are possibly the most obvious of them.

* [[Tech N9ne]]'s "Psycho Bitch" features an actual answering message from the titular stalker.

I don't know your timetable, I don't know your face off by heart

But I must admit there is a part of me that thinks we <s> might</s> <s> could</s> ''should'' get on. }}

* [[Jack's Mannequin]] gives us "What Gets You Off" and "Miss California".

* 'I Touch Myself' by Divinyls. Not only is it about some uhh [[A Date with Rosie Palms|"quality time with oneself",]] it's also about being incredibly obsessed/devoted to them.

{{quote|''Forget about fate and just hold me''}}

* [[Evanescence]]: ''Surrender, Farther Away'' and ''Anything For You'' fall into both catagories.

* 'Love the Way You Lie' by Eminem and Rihanna has shades of both.

{{quote|'''Passive:''' Just gonna stand there and watch me burn/ well that's alright because I like the way it hurts/ Just gonna stand there and see me cry/ well that's alright because I love the way you lie