Some music for all you trick-or-treaters out there. Oh wait… you’re out and about and not sitting at the computer looking for Halloween music. Damn. Well then this post is for next year! Let the preparations begin!
Organ music is frequently associated with Gothic music (what with organs being very popular in Gothic cathedrals). Even playing a “light” piece of music can result in the song coming across as very foreboding and heavy. In a cathedral the power of the organ helps convey that sense of an immense power all around you (AKA God). Very clever I think.
I listened to many organ pieces in search of the best one I could find for Halloween. This piece by French composer Louis Victor Jules Vierne and performed by Olivier Latry struck me as heavy, dark and perfect!
Halloween is finally here! For breakfast I drank some blood (orange juice) and for a snack I am surly to eat some brains (made of butter cream on cupcakes). Perhaps aftewards I will finish carving out faces and spilling guts (on pumpkins) while listening to the screams of small children (trick or treating). I do like the sounds of screaming children. Don’t you!?
And of course I will be dancing the Monster Mash, though some may object…
Out from his coffin Drac’s voice did ring,
It seems he was troubled by just one thing,
He opened the lid and shook his fist and said,
“Whatever happened to my Transylvania twist”?
While searching for creepy songs, I came across this little music box song by Sir FiNiX (and originally posted to newgrounds.com). It is just what one would want from a Halloween music box.
To add to the creepy, this afternoon G and I did purchase 2 rolls streamers and a bag of balloons and the total as $6.66. From the receipt…
1 BALLOONS 9IN ROUNDS 2.59
1 PARTY FAV BRT OR CRP-81 F 1.79
1 PRTY FV SCHBUS YW CRP-81F 1.79
3 Items
Subtotal 6.17
Tax .49
Total 6.66
We bought them to make paper-mâché jack-o-lanterns. How appropriate, right?! I’m sure we’ll have a devilish good time with them too!
I was querying G what songs she enjoyed for Halloween and she referenced the theme to Beetlejuice. I admitted it was indeed a good choice. Her response was naturally “I’m brilliant.” What can I say?! She is right. It is quite possible most of Danny Elfman’s works would qualify for they mostly have that perky creepiness that oh so appropriate for Halloween!
Now Carlton Draught beer … maybe I’ll cut you some slack. But only because the men are all in medieval style gowns in a giant valley, and it appears as though there might actually be a battle. However part of me is disappointed about the lyrics. It just cheapens the original, though I suppose it is funny. Ok, I forgive you, but only because I like beer!
The MP3 (of the version by Leonard Slatkin with Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, which I believe is the same one as above) may be purchased here:
One of the creepier (and best) movies I’ve watched this year is Coraline. I’ve been itching to watch it again because it is perfect for Halloween. The music also has an eerie tone, as large children’s choirs frequently do. Perhaps there is just something creepy about a large group of children all doing the same thing at the same time. Unnatural perhaps?
Written by French composer Bruno Coulais, the song is sung by “The Children’s Choir of Nice”. Can you hear the French? I was straining to understand the lyrics until I learned all the lyrics were intentionally gibberish, some actual words mixed in but no meaning behind the phrases:
Creaking Van Iddli Fla Lu Va
Pretty Sah Lu Feh Iddli Twu Ki Padi
Trelly Goilly Doilly Seli Pretty Chedi
Emi Swalin Gwoh
Seri Ferin Dorin Greh
Fairy Seiry Don
Sweedes Machin Twinky Doo
Fweeden Soreti
Oosi An Tweeban Retiso
Neh-Neh Fehreeden
Sindwee Bin Doh
Swin Ting Lan Twenty Some Dring Doli
Sweet Lan Bih City Tran Dolinda
Pretty Leheleni Switi Kull
Meli Swimmin So
…in the 1970s, there was a group of Protestants in Belfast who targeted the Catholics in the city, actually chose to use, as weapons, butcher knives and cleavers. Really, they weren’t necessarily, you know, obviously, political or religious activists. They were really, you know, cold-blooded murders, really. And they would go out at night killing Catholics essentially and, you know, gruesomely filet them alive and things like that.
…
The parents at the time would actually use it as a cautionary tale and would tell children, you know, if they didn’t do what they were told, the Shankill butchers would come and get them. And it just seemed so bizarre and so horrific to me that it almost – it’s one of those moments in history when, you know, human events actually take on the scope of fairytale, and I thought it would – so the song is essentially me imagining what sort of dialogue that would be, the mother telling the child to go to sleep or the Shankill butchers would come and get them.
A gruesome tale indeed, wrought with horror and perhaps one to many “you know”s (Oh I kid Colin… I only noticed it when I saw it in writing. Also, for the record, I love The Decemberists or else I would not have driven hours to see them in concert last year!). Seriously though, an excellent song for the Halloween song list. I wonder if my Catholic Irish mother knows the tale and if perhaps she might have had more control over my siblings and me if she had told the tale.
The opening to this song caught my attention and conjures images of monsters coming to get you. Though the song is not about that, it is disgusting and creepy on it’s own. Read the lyrics here.
I recall a scene it’s Halloween,
And I am dressed as a drag queen,
Peaking to the point of no return,
I met a man, I shook his hand,
He spoke I could not understand,
He was covered in flies and afterbirth
Gross. The flies wouldn’t be so bad, but anyone covered in afterbirth is definitely gross.
Disney’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas” set a new standard for Halloween songs when it came out, and I am still awaiting a collection of songs to match it. “This Is Halloween” is hard to beat on its own. The soundtrack is jam packed with Halloween imagery and uses tons of musical devices related to the holiday. Many artists have covered various songs from the soundtrack too e.g. Marilyn Manson’s excellent version of “This Is Halloween”:
This album (and movie) are a “must have” in my book. It may just be the pinnacle of Halloween culture in both film and sound. With the Christmas references, it makes an excellent soundtrack and movie all through the months of October and November, and is sure to delight anyone who likes Halloween, young and old alike. It even has a love story wrapped into it, if you’re into the whole Franken-Babe – Dead Guy romance thing.
Here are my 5 favorites from the album, with “This is Halloween” being my favorite.
Some dissonance and distorted lyrics… and a beat to boot. This song is totally what I am calling “Zombie Rock”. It has a certain ghostly quality at times too, so I think it fits in well with my Halloween lineup. Good for that kind of mindlessness we will all require as good zombie citizens. Please pass the brains now!
Oh also, Vitalic’s album “Flashmob” is not released until November 3rd so put some brains on ice and save them for the release date.
Space is fun. They sound like vampires trying to do britpop lounge singing. The lyrics are a good time too…
in number 18 there lives a big butch queen
he’s bigger than Tyson and he’s twice as mean
in 666 there lives a Mr. Miller
he’s our local vicar and a serial killer
I do wonder if the fluffy white thing the lead singer is wearing was the best choice for the video. It is actually kind of distracting. I’ve been listening to this album for 13 years and I only just saw the video today. I can’t help but feel they could’ve done a lot more with it.
Listen on Blip.fm!
