What up, witches! It’s another year and another Halloween. Last year, I was all boo-hoo over the fact that no one comes to our abode to trick or treat. Sure, we buy candy, and sometimes we wait for the kiddies to come by, but they never do. It’s kind of sad, but we’re pretty much over it. So, what to do? Well I guess I have sublimated my desire to give treats to strangers to, well, here. Oh, and my apologies for not putting a “full mix” here. For some reason Garageband was acting up and it kept freezing right at the last part of the mix down process. But, half a loaf is better than nothing at all, right? Okay, let’s get this party started!
”The Killing Jar,” Siouxsie and the Banshees (
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Sometimes with a mixes like these, it starts with music that’s just kind of cool. Siouxsie and the Banshees have really made the topic of a killing jar so catchy, that it doesn’t feel all that weird to be singing along to it.
“I Am Stretched On Your Grave,” SinÁ©ad O’Connor (Download)
Catching lightening in a bottle isn’t easy, but Sinead O’Connor was able to do it on this album. With this song she takes a very old Irish poem and adds a funky beat underneath, but keeps the haunting feeling of the song in tact.
”Psycho Killer,” Talking Heads (
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The studio version of “Psycho Killer” is certainly more creepy, but there’s something really wonderful about this live version. Perhaps it’s the fact that David Byrne has the right idea to lift the song from a more quirky tone to one that brings a bit of soul to it.
”Helter Skelter,” The Beatles (
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Yes, this song has a certain creepiness because of that whole Charles Manson connection, but the lyrics, to me, are based on
a ride at Brighton Beach in England. When I was a kid, I went on the Helter Skelter and, well, it was pretty scary because the ride is right over the beach and it’s pretty high up there — or so it seemed to me when I was 11.
I’ve never really figured out what the hell a devil’s haircut is, but I’ve had some haunting images in my head. The video to the song didn’t help, but I gotta give Beck and his crew credit for coming up with
a pretty imaginative video.
”The Ghost of You Lingers,” Spoon (
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There have been many songs that use the ghost metaphor, but I think Spoon has really captured the haunting quality of what that metaphor entails on ”The Ghost of You Lingers.”
“My Wife And My Dead Wife,” Robyn Hitchcock (Download)
Coffee for three, but only two can drink it. Such are the trials and travails of having a relationship with your wife … and your dead wife. And, in this song, only Robyn can see his dead wife — who is waiting for him at the bottom of the sea. Creepy.
”This House is Haunted,” Alice Cooper (
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Well, do you think you can make a Halloween mix and not have an Alice Cooper song on it? Well, I guess you could, but the mix would suck.
Rush and Halloween? Yes. “The Twilight Zone” — while not one of my favorite in the Rush catalogue, is certainly a good fit when it comes to rocking your Halloween.
”When You Don’t See Me,” Sisters of Mercy (
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Talk about a guy who’s needy. “I don’t exist when you don’t see me?” Wow, now this is one guy you might not want hanging around. But if you’re a needy person yourself, you might find it a-okay.
I think we can all agree that living in a pet “sematary” is not something that’s, uh, all that fun. After all, if you’ve ever read the Stephen King book of the same name, or watched the disappointing film, you know that when you come back from that creepy place where the dead are reanimated, you’re not quite the same. In fact, you’re pretty pissed off, you smell dead, and sometimes you have a desire for human flesh. So yeah, I don’t want to be buried in a pet cemetery — I’ll take cremation.
”Bloodletting (Vampire Song) Concrete Blonde (
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And for all the people who are coo-coo for vampires, this one’s for you!
”Crazy Train,” Ozzy Osbourne (
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Ozzy pretty much rode the Halloween wave 365 days a year with his first two solo albums. With ”Crazy Train,” Ozzy was able to take the groove that Sabbath could lock into and add some tasty pop licks to create was is arguably his best pop song.
”This is Halloween,” Danny Elfman (
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Jesus, what more needs to be said about this song, huh?
They describe themselves as beautiful pop mutants, and on this song, they certainly capture the spirit of Halloween with the aptly named “Pumpkin.
”I Will Possess Your Heart,” Death Cab for Cutie (
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Since this song was released, I’ve found it to be a mesmerizing and hypnotic piece of alt pop. The bass line for one is just classic, the melody solid, but the lyrics are very disturbing in a stalkerish way — and maybe that’s why it make for a good Halloween song.
Before Eminem got all angry and serious, there was a playful (but dark) side to his music. ”Stan” is probably one of his more haunting songs that is even more so with the use of Dido’s ”Thank You.”
”Nightmare on My Street,” DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince (
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I didn’t want to end this mix all morose and the like, so I thought I would add a dash of levity with some Fresh Prince.
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What up, witches! It’s another year and another Halloween. Last year, I was all boo-hoo over the fact that no one comes to our abode to trick or treat. Sure, we buy candy, and sometimes we wait for the kiddies to come by, but they never do. It’s kind of sad, but we’re pretty much over it. So, what to do? Well I guess I have sublimated my desire to give treats to strangers to, well, here. Oh, and my apologies for not putting a “full mix” here. For some reason Garageband was acting up and it kept freezing right at the last part of the mix down process. But, half a loaf is better than nothing at all, right? Okay, let’s get this party started!
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