October has always been my favorite month. The weather finally settles on a manageable spectrum, the Pumpkin Spiced McBurrito is available at every Kentucky Microwaved Chicken, and it all leads up to the holiday season's opening act of Halloween; that one day out of the year where death is cordially invited to the masquerade.
If you've ever hosted any kind of social gathering at this time of year, you've inevitably had to deal with mixing a CD of Thriller, The Monster Mash, Ghostbusters, and then a bunch of songs that just barely qualify for the theme to fill out the remaining 68 minutes. You can tack on the Vienna Yodeling Choir's rendition of Toccata Fugue in D Minor or Tommy Shaw's version of The Munsters, but it's really going to be a stretch to make the tracks last all night.
Why is it so hard to find decent Halloween music? You'd think the demand for it would really compel artists to pull out the A-material and try to knock Michael Jackson out of that sole anthem spot. When I was in elementary school, we sang a LOT of Halloween songs, in English and in French (something about a phantom delivering a package I believe). We had professional records and we had song sheets of alternate lyrics to Christmas Carols. We even wrote a few ourselves. It was an exciting time of the year.
But maybe the problem is in how one markets Halloween songs. If the music is geared towards children, the fiends are more likely going to be up to mischief instead of ripping the flesh off of bystanders; with the possible exception of a Shel Silverstein album. And considering the appeal of Halloween still taps into our collective inner child, the really dark stuff doesn't necessarily play well the innocent side.
Another problem is the nature of music, it tends to be reassuring even in minor keys. Dick Smothers once described a hypothetical situation of staring down a darkened alleyway and seeing shadowy figures moving around; correctly identifying it as an unsafe place. But then changing the situation so the figures were all singing together, and suddenly the alleyway takes on a warm, inviting feel. Basically it's hard to be scary and harmonious at the same time.
But then again we're not talking about fear, we're talking about Halloween. And while fear is certainly associated with the holiday, the core of Halloween is about stepping out of one's comfort zone and experiencing something one doesn't ordinarily get to experience. There's a general mentality of unease about what the world could do to you, but a trust that you'll still get home safe and happy. It's kind of the roller coaster of the holiday fair.
So with all that in mind, I've combed through my memories of the past 41 Halloweens to dig up a few of the songs I've encountered that somehow manage to capture the musical feel of the holiday and have some lyrical connection to the world of the spooks. I'm making it a point to only find one song per artist/writer while avoiding musical soundtracks (The Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Nightmare Before Christmas, etc.) as well as 'goes without saying' songs like Rockwell's Somebody's Watching Me. Here they are in alphabetical order.
1. Black Sabbath, 1970 (artist: Black Sabbath, album: Black Sabbath)
What are the odds of three Black Sabbaths on one project? It must have been a pretty common name in the seventies. Okay, when parental groups talk about heavy metal corrupting young minds and turning them to the occult, this is probably the song they are referring to. Now I'm not a fan of Ozzy Osbourne, but this song captures the mood of sheer horror probably better than anything since. Unlike most heavy metal in which the singer usually assumes the role of the force in power, Osbourne takes on the role of the prey. The fright of the song comes from Osbourne's vocalization and how easy it is to believe that he believes it's really happening.
2. Feed My Frankenstein, 1991 (artist: Alice Cooper, album: Hey Stoopid)
It takes Ozzy Osbourne to make Alice Cooper seem toned down. Cooper's whole career has been about embracing the darkness of the human soul presumably because it's undefeatable any other way. You could probably pop in his whole Welcome to My Nightmare album on Halloween and be covered. This song is more about the fun side of darkness with Frankenstein serving as the metaphor for the Mr. Hyde inside Cooper's Dr. Jekyll.
3. Fright Night, 1985 (artist: The J. Geils Band, album: Fright Night Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Yeah, I said no soundtracks but this awesome movie (which trumps everything about its pathetic remake) wasn't a musical, with each song working just as well out of context. Good luck finding it though. It's never been released on CD. It's one of the few songs I know of that's literally about a vampire while being club danceable.
4. Ghost of a Chance, 1987 (artist: Cris Franco, album: none-Square One Television)
I would NEVER directly encourage anyone to take advantage of the many convenient ways to transfer an otherwise unobtainable song off the internet into one's personal collection, BUT if you're looking for a nice obscure Halloween song for your collection I'm happy to submit this catchy little gem. It's a kid's song teaching them the basics of probability, set to the plot of a pizza delivery guy who gets trapped in a haunted house with a poltergeist, some snakes and a mummy. His fate is unspecified.
5. The Monster is Loose, 2006 (artist: Meat Loaf, album: Bat out of Hell III: The Monster is Loose)
It's a similar concept to Feed My Frankenstein, except Meat Loaf's monster is loose because he's fed up with being contained while Cooper's Frankenstein is out because it's the way it is. Writer/producer Desmond Child does his best Jim Steinman imitation to mixed results. The lyrics on this song are silly, but the gothic music more than makes up for them.
6. Mr. Death, 1995 (artist: George "The Fat Man" Sanger, album: none-The 11th Hour)
Another hard to find track; go to Youtube and search for "I can't take a breath without seeing mr. death" (okay, I guess that wasn't so hard). If Black Sabbath is the most inherently frightening song on this list, Mr. Death is easily the eeriest. Between what sounds like a backwards drum track and lyrics that could almost have been improvised, the singer's resignation to his fate is haunting and oddly engaging.
7. Nature Trail to Hell, 1984 (artist: "Weird Al" Yankovic, album: "Weird Al" Yankovic in 3-D)
I thoroughly explicated this song during my blog series on Weird Al last June/July, but the thing that makes this one is the heavy chord progression. There is a fun factor to the more popular slasher films (otherwise people wouldn't watch them) and Nature Trail to Hell accurately celebrates the gladiatorial spirit of the masked maniac.
8. Original Sin, 1989 (artist: Pandora's Box, album: Original Sin)
This one is a bit of a cheat I suppose, but give it a listen and tell me it doesn't feel like you're in a dark chasm surrounded by other lost souls screaming to feel anything. There have been a few covers to this song, but the (no pun intended) original contains the most powerful use of the We Will Rock You drum beat in music history.
9. Queen of Spades, 1978 (artist: Styx, album: Pieces of Eight)
I don't know if this song is emulating the classic Alexander Pushkin story or if it's just about a really intense game of Old Maid but this song really nails the fortune teller/witch/sorceress archetype. The lesson here is: don't gamble. You'll lose. Probably die if you're lucky. Maybe get trapped forever to the sound of that diabolical laugh straight out of nightmares. Based on Tommy Shaw's guitar outro this one doesn't have a happy ending.
10. Those Meddlin' Kids, 1999 (artist: The Hex Girls, album: Scooby Doo & the Witch's Ghost)
But let's wind down on a note of hope and innocence, shall we? Damn right we shall. The soundtrack to Scooby Doo & the Witch's Ghost has quite a few solid tracks including an awesome instrumental version of the classic theme song. But Those Meddlin' Kids by fictional eco-goth band The Hex Girls is my absolute favorite. Poor grammar notwithstanding, the song sums up the timeless quality of the 45 year old animated series perfectly; some monster needs to be overcome, enter 'the gang' like the handsome stranger of the old tales of the west. What better way to wish the world a happy Halloween?
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