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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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"

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.