It’s funny, this year I didn’t hear a single one of my summer songs. Maybe that is why it never really felt like summer to me. Oh sure, there were other reasons, but I’m choosing to believe it was because I never heard my summer anthems. Oddly enough, I did hear quite a few of my October favorites. I heard Werewolves of London several times. I heard Van Morrison’s Moondance and even Thriller during the dog days of summer. It was weird.
When people think of holiday music the first thing they
think about is always Christmas. I don’t blame them. I think the same thing.
Most people know that I love October/Halloween/Fall and say, oh if only there
were Halloween songs you’d be pretty happy. So I get all excited and start to
tell them that there are and begin listing them, then their eyes glaze over and
they go “huh?” I mean, October songs don’t always give you the warm fuzzies
like Christmas songs, but then again I find some Christmas songs downright
scary or depressing so I don’t think they have any call criticizing my holiday
music choices.
Have you ever actually listened to the lyrics in Christmas
music? Santa is a straight up creeper in Santa Claus is Coming to Town. The
best Halloween monster wishes he was that creepy. Santa knows when you’ve been
sleeping and he knows when you’ve been awake. Say what? Then there are flying
reindeer. What kind of mutant freaks are those? Deck the Halls talks about
costumes, and We Wish You a Merry Christmas straight up talks about Trick or
Treating as the singers go door to door asking for figgy pudding and refusing
to leave if they don’t get any. That is frightening. If trick or treaters don’t
get candy we just egg or TP your house, but we certainly leave. I mean there
are other houses to visit and candy to get, and who wants to die on the hill of
figgy pudding?
Halloween songs tell it like it is. Superstition, Bad Moons
on the Rise, Moondances, Monster Mashes, pipe organ serenades, October music is
fun and instructional. Little Red Riding Hood tells a cautionary tale, as does
Enter Sandman and Kid Cudi’s No One Believes Me. But my favorite will always be
Thriller. As an elementary school tot I would zoom up and down the neighborhood
with my Care Bear boom box listening to Thriller on my cassette tape. I’m
pretty sure I was the only 6 year old who had the Vincent Price monologue down
pat. I’m also sure I was the only 6 year old who had a crush on Vincent Price. I
get really, really angry when they cut off his laugh when they play it on the
radio. No one cuts off Vincent Price. NO. ONE!
I have always loved words, but Thriller is marvelous. I know it is music, and therefore already lyrical, but the wordplay makes me swoon. “the funk of forty thousand years” “grisly ghouls” “you see a sight that almost stops your heart” you can feel the song. It draws you in and you are there feeling that cold hand. Feeling your heart start to race. At least mine does. For the longest time the song confused me. Was the Thriller itself a monster? Or was it talking about movie thrillers? I think it’s about movie thrillers. I can convince myself of it either way and finally I just stopped caring and went back to enjoying the song. The music video doesn’t make it any clearer and it makes me laugh. Zombies doing a flash mob. Michael Jackson turning into a were-bunny or something. I feel bad for that poor girl. She truly looks terrified.
Yup, I love my Halloween music. Do you have any favorites?
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