haunting me softly with a song?

Guitars strummed softly, harmonized voices, violin strings, deep voices, soft lyrics, unfinished lyrics and songs attached to memories = some recipes for songs that haunt me...

Abida Parveen Le Chala Jaan: I don't claim to know much about ghazals and sufiana , but take it from an illiterate expert on music that this one is a sure winner. I don't like the accompanying instruments (the percussion is ok but there is some really shaadi shehnai-harmonium type thing happening that almost threatens to spoil the song but ..)
The perfect blend of nasal but throaty voice, I got hooked on to Parveen thanks to A's Ipod collection. I am sure he hasn't heard it as many times as I have by now!

Beth Orton's Pass in Time: Very predictably the next in this list is my undisputed queen of music (for the moment!). This one has Terry Callier adding to the haunting-ness.

Joan Baez's What have they done to the Rain: This song makes me want to howl - written about atomic bombing in the 1950s , the song was originally written by Malvina reynolds but sung by Baez in her usual plaintive voice.

Just a little boy standing in the rain

The gentle rain that falls for years
And the grass is gone, the boy disappears
And rain keeps falling like helpless tears
And what have they done to the rain?

Dylan's Lay Lady Lay, not one of my favorite Dylan songs but somehow it has the haunting quality we are looking for in this post! maybe it has the nostalgia element to it, maybe it's just the echoing guitars...

Stay, lady, stay, stay with your man awhile

Until the break of day, let me see you make him smile

His clothes are dirty but his hands are clean

And you're the best thing that he's ever seen

That sure brings back memories from long time ago!

Lennon's Jealous Guy: I have no idea why I love this one so much - mmm, actually I do. Apart from the fact that I am from the wrong gender, I feel Johny's exact emotions very often in my relationships! And the nice planned break in his voice at

"I was shivering insiiide" and at

"I was swallowing my paaaiin"

does the trick for me ...

And finally, these two Floyd classics mostly because of memories of the person it evokes in me. The rickshaw ride from Kamala nagar to his house, the snippets of the few converstaions we had at that shack we called a restaurant, hysterical interpretation of his latest glass painting and the frenzied catching up on the years we hadn't known each other on the day of my 21st birthday. I haven't thought of him for the longest time - but most of it was a conscious effort.