The best day of the year is tomorrow and to help everyone get in the mood I thought I’d post this countdown. Little can evoke a certain mood or feeling like music can, and songs suited for Halloween are no exception. Obviously, this list was put together by me and is nothing more than my personal opinion. Enjoy:
5. “Wolf Like Me” – TV On the Radio
“Got a curse I cannot lift, shines when the sunset shifts.” Off of the band’s 2006 album, Return to Cookie Mountain, “Wolf Like Me” is a song about a guy who turns into a wolf every full moon. There’s some great imagery in the song that could be straight out of a Horror film. Plus, the video is awesome.
4. “Psycho Killer” – Talking Heads
The name says it all. Such a fun song, plus David Byrne really looks and sounds crazy in this video. This song plays during the awesome credits scene for Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (the last review I posted, if you haven’t read it yet you should).
3. “Cry Little Sister” – Gerard McMann
If you’ve seen Lost Boys (shame on you if you haven’t) then you’ve heard this song, close to 400 times. You could watch the movie one time and it would be impossible to hear this song and ever think of anything else. I wouldn’t have it any other way, though, it’s definitely one of those mood evoking songs I was talking about. “Cry Little Sister” and Lost Boys were made for each other, and they compliment Halloween pretty well.
2. “Thriller” – Michael Jackson
“No mere mortal can resist the evil of.. The Thriller!” I’m aware that 99.9% of people who’d make this list would put “Thriller” at #1, and I almost did, but I just really think my #1 “sounds” more like Halloween. That said, “Thriller” is a classic. Full Moons, Werewolves, Zombies, Ghouls.. Most would say “Thriller” IS Halloween, and you really can’t disagree with them. It doesn’t hurt that the video was revolutionary, either.
1. “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” – Bauhaus
Like I said, it was tough to put this one over “Thriller.” However, while most might listen to MJ’s classic and hear Halloween, I hear it when I listen to Bauhaus’ nine and a half-minute escapade. The atmosphere of this song is incredible. And spooky. Take a drive at night in late October with leaves falling across your windshield and this song playing through your speakers and try to tell me it doesn’t just feel right. If the atmosphere weren’t enough, the fact that the entire song is about Bela Lugosi (the guy you probably picture when you think of Dracula) transcending both death and identity and becoming one-in-the-same with Dracula (“Bella’s un-dead”) certainly should be.
There you have it, my top 5. I know I’ll have them on repeat all day tomorrow, and I hope you will too. Feel free to let me know what you think. Agree/disagree, tell me what I missed, what should go where, whatever.. Comment and let me know! And while you’re at it, check out my newest post over at Benevolentstreet.com: http://www.benevolentstreet.com/?p=6599. Thanks for reading!
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