Song title: Lullaby
Artist: The Cure
Year: 1989
Why I like this song:
And now, to round out this run down of Halloween-themed songs, another stab at the obvious. Funny how the longer this rundown went, the more submissions I made to the obvious....
Well you can't have discussion of nightmare-inducing music without mentioning the Cure so here we are, at their most sinister (yet strangely seductive...).
Song title: Dragula
Artist: Rob Zombie
Year: 1998
Why I like this song:
It's industrial enough for the metal heads and goth enough for the goths....
....but personally this always struck me as a mainstay for computer nerds. Seriously: if you were a computer nerd in the late nineties you had this song on the hard-drive - or you knew someone who did.
Certainly a mark of the power of this song that it unites such disparate groups....
Song title: Sympathy For the Devil
Artist: The Rolling Stones
Year: 1968
Why I like this song:
This song may sound tame when compared to countless Black metal bands that followed in it's wake but it still has it's own brand of evil. Must be down to the congas and Mick's gleefully warped performance.
Song title: Whatever Leads Me to You
Artist: Geoffrey O'Connor
Year: 2011
Why I like this song:
No doubt this is going join the ranks of 'love songs that are actually sinister' but it's in good company (Every Breath You Take anyone?)
But still, the production on this is top notch, with some striking elements all coming together to make a solid whole (the violin solo being of particular note)
Song title: Time Warp
Artist: Original cast of Rocky Horror Picture Show
Year: 1975
Why I like this song:
Another obvious choice but admit it: You can't deny the sense of fun this song provides. After all, it's just a jump to the left...Song title: Thriller
Artist: Michael Jackson
Year: 1982
Why I like this song:
With this blog I have vowed to make a committed effort to eschew the obvious.
So would excluding Thriller from a collection of Halloween-themed songs would be a surprise but including it loop it around again. Meaning we have reached some sort of singularity here.
Song title: I am the Resurrection
Artist: Stone Roses
Year: 1989
Why I like this song:
Well the Stone Roses have reformed so I encourage you all to click the play button to this video, turn it up real loud and jump around the room to this now rather aptly titled song
Song title: Up Jumped the Devil
Artist: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Year: 1988
Why I like this song:
Seems you can't have a collection of Halloween-themed songs without mentioning the king of goths himself.
As for this, it sounds bonkers, sinister and comical all at once.
"And down we go.."
Song title: Army of Me
Artist: Bjork
Year: 1995
Why I like this song:
Another slice of nightmare fuel - and that's even without that bonkers video. The pounding beats, the thick bass and Bjork's detached vocals make for something that will but the fear in anyone.
Funny how metal bands try to freak people out but they get upstaged by an exercise in mood.
I wonder how many teenage girls went goth upon hearing this song?
Song title: The Trial
Artist: Pink Floyd
Year: 1979
Why I like this song:
It may come at the climax of the Wall but this doesn't sound out of place on a Halloween-themed playlist. Must be the ghoulish-sounding voices throughout.
Song title: Turkish Song of the Damned
Artist: The Pogues
Year: 1988
Why I like this song:
It sounds like a full blown nightmare - at least by Pogues standards - but this is still a Pogues songs so the Dancing a Song of the Damned still sounds like a lot of fun.
Song title: Don't Fear the Reaper
Artist: Blue Oyster Cult
Year: 1976
Why I like this song:
I came to this song through a friend and, as I recall, I came away not knowing to make of it. But in time, I came around to it. Its spooky in its sound, the guitars are great and, remarkably, there is an undercurrent the lyrics of living life to the fullest....
Song title: Hell
Artist: Squirrel Nut Zippers
Year: 1996
Why I like this song:
A truly demented swing revamp with some snappy lines ("All the things you try to hide / Will be revealed on the other side!") and screams.
Welcome to Hell indeed
Song title: Come to Daddy
Artist: Aphex Twin
Year: 1997
Why I like this song:
Fitting for Halloween: Demented song accompanied by a nightmare fuel video
Song title: Little Ghost
Artist: The White Stripes
Year: 2005
Why I like this song:
Its October and with October comes Halloween. So from now until November, I'm going to ramble about suitable songs for a spooky time.
So lets start with a curveball: This is a strange opener and an equally strange song but it's kinda cute.
It may sound like it's written for kids (I can imagine this being sung in a kindergarten class.....albeit a very strange kindergarten class) but hey, it's a singalong and damn good one at that
Song title: No.1 Crush
Artist: Garbage
Year: 1995
Why I like this song:
I didn't think much of this song when it first came up but within time, as well as some life experience, I came around to it. It's moody, it's frightening and Shirley Manson is delivering a performance akin to a zombie that won't lay down and die.