Music Suggestions for a heavy scene

Well, you can't get much heavier than this...

Oh - what? Emotionally heavy?

Sorry, misread the post title... never mind...

@Blinnk Wow... that's some hardcore s**t.

Lol, that was indeed heavy.

A list of some emotionally heavy songs from my own playlist (which does include some My Chemical Romance, but I'll leave those off, as I suspect you'll have found them). Some stuff that's pretty old on this list (because I'm old), while other stuff from this century at least.

Time of Dying by Three Days Grace
Last Resort by Papa Roach
Dark Arts by Man Man
Breathe by Darkwater
Black Blade by Blue Oyster Cult
Unknown Tongue by Blue Oyster Cult
Eclipse and Brain Damage by Pink Floyd
Echoes by Pink Floyd
I Wish I Was by Gamma
Locomotive Breath by Jethro Tull
Throw Down a Line by Jeff Beck
Paranoid Android by Radiohead
Numb by Linkin Park
Paint it Black by The Rolling Stones
This big Hush by Shriekback
Dream On by Depeche Mode
The Thrill is Gone by B.B. King

Many different styles here, so take or leave as per your tastes, of course

"Fat" -- Weird Al Yankovic

caw

Perhaps some U2? Especially something like Pride (In the Name of Love) or Bad?

Another band rec is The Killers, especially ones like A Dustland Fairytale, Change Your Mind and Read My Mind

Some other suggestions:
Level Up by Vienna Teng
I Fall Apart by Julianna Gianni
Guardian by Alanis Morissette
King and Lionheart by Of Monsters and Men
The Last Worthless Evening by Don Henley
Let It Be Me by the Indigo Girls

All links go to Youtube, FYI.

I would suggest caution when writing to music. I find that when I listen to an emotionally heavy song, it makes my writing seem much more profound than it actually is. Readers aren't going to have the same soundtrack, and without the good ol' emotional manipulation that is music, your writing might just come off as melodramatic.

That said, if you're going to do it, you're going to do it and my recommendation is Sentimental by Porcupine Tree.

My suggestion would be to either go post-rock: Russian Circles, Explosions in the Sky, Red Sparrowes; or old school orchestral. Rachmaninoff is my man when it comes to moving pieces.

Sunshine by John Murphy

Into the Fray (The Grey soundtrack)

Snow Angel by Mike Patton (The Place Behind the Pines soundtrack)

If I play music while I write, it's going to be a TV or movie soundtrack, or else classical music. I don't listen to music with lyrics because it's too distracting. I don't want to be thinking about another story (and every song tells a story, that's what lyrics are). That's why film soundtracks are so great for writing. They can put you in the right mood, help you imagine the scene. And they can help dissociate your mind, unlocking your creativity and muse, so you can write without over-analyzing the scene. (I don't listen to music while editing or revising. That requires a different part of your brain, so music doesn't help much.)

Here's the soundtracks I listen to most often. Which one I pick will depend on the kind of scene I'm writing. Some are soft and romantic, others feel more sci-fi or fantasy. Some are action-packed, others are dark and edgy. Pretty much any scene I want to write, I can find a suitable score to go along with it.

• Titanic
• The Village
• The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers
  [*]The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
  [*]Doctor Who, Series 1-4
• Torchwood
• The Phantom of the Opera (Violin/cello/piano renditions, no singing.)
• Star Wars Episode II: The Clone Wars
• Beauty and the Beast (A 1980s TV show with amazing music)
• Firefly & Serenity
• Star Trek (Lots to choose from here!)
• Somewhere in Time

There's plenty of others, but those are my favorites. There are soundtracks for many, many movies and TV shows, so if you like the music, do a search and see if a soundtrack was produced.

I don't write to music and it depends what sort of emotion you're after, but I love Kate Bush's This Woman's Work for getting me into a tragic sort of mood.

I don't usually write with music on because I tend to end up howling along to the lyrics, but when I was in the throes of NaNo this year, I sometimes turned to movie and game soundtracks to keep me going. My favorites are soundtracks from:

Skyrim (seriously, I can't listen to the "rah rah rah" without wanting to spill some blood in my MS )
Cloud Atlas Sextet (this one still gets me teary-eyed)
Yiruma (just what I need for the soppy scenes)
Halo 4
Dragon Age 2

Oh, and latest addition: the Interstellar theme. Guhhh, so much feels!

Putputt said:

I don't usually write with music on because I tend to end up howling along to the lyrics, but when I was in the throes of NaNo this year, I sometimes turned to movie and game soundtracks to keep me going. My favorites are soundtracks from:

Skyrim (seriously, I can't listen to the "rah rah rah" without wanting to spill some blood in my MS )
Cloud Atlas Sextet (this one still gets me teary-eyed)
Yiruma (just what I need for the soppy scenes)
Halo 4
Dragon Age 2

Oh, and latest addition: the Interstellar theme. Guhhh, so much feels!

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thepicpic approves (+10)

The Halo 4 soundtrack is one of the best I've ever heard. Revival pretty much has my major antagonist written all over it. But I'm also partial to bits of Mass Effect 2 (Suicide Mission makes even the most mundane actions seem mighty), Avengers Assemble and, at the moment, the Dragon Age Inquisition theme.

HUH! HAH! HUH!

^^^ Soundtracks are my life. XD Mostly video games and random songs. I love JRPG battle themes.

I never write to music, though it's not intentional.

Unsavory said:

I would suggest caution when writing to music. I find that when I listen to an emotionally heavy song, it makes my writing seem much more profound than it actually is. Readers aren't going to have the same soundtrack, and without the good ol' emotional manipulation that is music, your writing might just come off as melodramatic.

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I would guess that writing to music is more about the writing than about the reader.

Muse. Their music is meant for battle! And sex! And for those mysteries in between. I'm a huge fan and their music is my inspiration.

I try and listen to them mostly before I write since I can't help but sing and daydream when I hear their songs.

Here are some listen-worthy tracks for epic scenes:

1) Newborn
2) Take a Bow
3) Butterflies & Hurricanes
4) Megalomania
5) Uprising
6) Supremacy
7) Sing for Absolution
8) Stockholm Syndrome
9) United States of Eurasia
10) Resistance
11) MK Ultra
12) Unnatural Selection
13) Knights of Cydonia
14) Muscle Museum
15) Microcuts

Lhowling said:

Muse. ...
5) Uprising

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Off-topic, but am I the only one who hears that song and wants to write an old-school, 80's/90's sci-fi "young rebels overthrow dystopia" movie, just to use it in the soundtrack?

Though they're nothing like what you're asking for, I thought the classic suggestions for heavy scenes were "Adagio for Strings" and "Lux Aeternia", though those may have been used in parody so often that they're hard to take seriously anymore.

As far as emotionally raw music goes, do you have any themes in mind or does it matter?

Nightwish can have some very emotional (and dramatic!!) music. This song is heavily inspired by Poe it's called 'The Poet and the Pendulum'. It's about everything from writer's block & the break up of a band to both struggling with & even longing for death.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q03eIQPA-Wo

Enjoy. It's from an album called 'Dark Passion Play'. A 'passion play' is a play about the crucifixion so I'm guessing a 'dark' one is something more godless or a death without hope/salvation??

I don't really know the songs you mentioned, but I've recently gotten into the band Kamelot, and quite a few of their songs are dark and emotionally heavy.

One that really gets to me is Love You to Death.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9BwQGYDLXg&list=PLCeHQ5NOEXNbWzPTesClRbFFORjP9kwCH&index=3

Also: The Haunting, Ghost Opera, and many others.

I'm not sure exactly what kind of metal they are, but it's very listenable. It's not crazy heavy or full of screams or anything like that.

Unsavory said:

I would suggest caution when writing to music. I find that when I listen to an emotionally heavy song, it makes my writing seem much more profound than it actually is. Readers aren't going to have the same soundtrack, and without the good ol' emotional manipulation that is music, your writing might just come off as melodramatic.

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So does it work the opposite way, in if I'm listening to something decidedly not intense at all (I'm thinking like Tycho or something) while writing something intense, it will actually come off as more profound than when I'm writing it?

Is it too late to suggest "I Want You (She's so Heavy)" by the Beatles?

Blinkk said:

Wow guys, thanks. These are all sweet suggestions. I'm going to have a badass playlist now. And for those of you suggesting movie/videogame sound tracks, bring it on. I like that stuff too.

Unsavory, I hear what you're saying. But it's only the first draft, and there's no way I'd let a first draft out into the world. That's where editing comes in. I never use music when I edit.

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I'll suggest the soundtrack from attack on titan. It has anything you could ever wish for, sad, dramatic, powerful, epic, badass and all those other fancy words.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-xXspUh1ro&list=PLjF1HjKekCE4jD47y9E3tTtZ_OotiIYg4&index=20