It’s spring here. Winter’s back has been broken, and we’re well on our way to a warm, cheerful summer.* Flower are blooming, birds are chirping, young lovers are walking hand in hand through the park. Well, necking, but the principle is the same.
I hate it. Too damn bright and cheerful.
I miss Halloween. Not the holiday itself, but the feeling of Halloween. I miss pumpkins, and bonfires. Crisp, clear nights when the moon is full and the bare trees rise up like the silouetted remains of some incredible monster. Feeling the world slowly brown and die all around you, as the heat of summer is replaced by the chill of winter. Reading October Country on a park bench at sunset. The feeling that you get near midnight, when you can almost swear this world and the supernatural one are mere inches apart, just for this one special time of the year.
Know what I mean?
Lately I’ve been trying to assuage my longing by creating a collection of songs that instill the same feeling in me as autumn does. God knows what I plan on doing with it - probably listen to it over and over until my family and friends tie me down and break my speakers. Let’s see them try.
Anyway, I’m having quite a bit of trouble finding songs of this nature. Here’s what I have so far:
[ul][li]A.F.I. - Halloween (It’s a cover of the Misfits, but I prefer this version)[/li][li]Nightmare Before Christmas - This is Halloween (this is split between the movie version and the Kingdom Hearts OST; one has lyrics, the other is purely melodic goodness)[/li][li]The Who - In the Hall of the Mountain King[/ul][/li]
And that’s all I have. 15 lousy minutes. Seems that for some strange reason singers don’t want to write songs about my favorite holiday. So come on, I know there has to be a few fellow halloweenies here with me. Speak up!
*'Cept for you folks in the Southern Hemisphere. Lucky bastards.
Bauhaus reminds me of Halloween. Their song Rosegarden Funeral of Sores is pretty creepy. I’d also recommend Bela Lugosi’s Dead, In the Flat Field, The Passion of Lovers, well pretty much anything by them.
David Bowie- Scary Monsters and Super Creeps
The Sisters of Mercy- Flood 1 and Lucretia My Reflection
I should also say that to me, tonight feels like an October night. Maybe because I have the window open in a room down the hall and can feel the cool air.
Siouxsie and the Banshees also can have a halloweenish feel.
Maybe the theme song to the Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland.
The theme song from The Lost Boys movie.
Switchblade Symphony’s music.
Any song from Concrete Blonde’s Bloodletting, except “Joey.”
“In the Hanging Garden,” The Cure
“Mechanical Flattery,” Lydia Lunch
“Spooky,” Classics IV (or, if you’re more hardcore, Lydia Lunch’s version)
“Every Day Is Halloween,” Ministry
“Hellhound on My Trail,” Robert Johnson
For a more autumnal, pagany sort of Halloween number, check out XTC’s “Sacrificial Bonfire.”
I live in the Boston area and New England is famous for its Autumn weather, Fall foliage and so on. (Yes, we like Halloween around here too).
Anyway, I’d recommend Donovan’s “Season of the Witch”.
Yes, there are a zillion renditions of ths song but I think Donovan’s is the best and the eeriest.
And of course there’s always “Fire” by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown".
That song was appropriately released in the Fall of 1968.
One song that always reminds me of Halloween is: "Come Together" by the Beatles. For one thing, it does have an eerie quality to it. Also it was released in the Fall of 1969 which also coincided with the “Paul Is Dead” hysteria, adding another level of creepiness to the song. Also, “Come Together” had a ‘clue’ that Paul was ‘dead’ - “One and one and one is three” - 3 Beatles not four.
[ul][li]The Who - In the Hall of the Mountain King[/ul][/li][/QUOTE]
Huh. I’ve always considered myself a pretty knowledgeable fan, but I’ve never even heard of this. Where does it appear?
Any way, as a fellow Halloween junkie, I’d recommend some Rob Zombie (especially “Dragula”) and most of Oingo Boingo’s catalog.
It’s not Halloween-y, but it is Fall-y: “California Dreamin’.”
Rob Zombie’s a decent choice. Pretty much the entire Hellbilly Deluxe album comes across like an old Famous Monsters of Hollywood magazine (right down to the album cover art.)
Alice Cooper ~ It’d be easier to pick out the ones that don’t have a Hallowe’en feel
I Love the Dead
Sick Things
Welcome to my Nightmare
the Steven sequence from that album
Devil’s Food
Cold Ethyl (She’s cool in bed; she oughtta be, ‘cause Ethyl’s dead…)
Black Widow
Former Lee Warmer
Dead Babies
Tag, You’re It
Ballad of Dwight Frye
and so on and so on…
A couple silly ones
Jumpin’ Jean Simmons ~ Haunted House
Sam the Sham ~ Little Red Riding Hood
And another fall-ish, but not Hallowe’en tune
The Bangles cover of Hazy Shade of Winter might work
Ah, that explains it: I only own the older release of this (can’t get the date, as it’s boxed up in the garage, but I probably bought the CD back in 86). I’ve got a couple of tapes and discs of rarieties, but none includes this track.
Thanks for the tip, though. I’ll have to track this down.
