Spooky season is among us. The dark, eeriness of Nashville night’s are taking over the days. What comes with this, though, is music that perfectly fits this time of year! Each of us have assembled a couple of our favorite Halloween vibed songs, and have put together our very own Halloween playlist.
Rich’s Picks:
“End of the Night” by The Doors
“High Noon” by Tex Ritter
There is so much music that reminds me of not just Halloween time, but just the late fall in general. As I started going up grades, I started expanding my music taste, and dove deep into the world of 60s and 70s rock. There’s no shortage of songs from this period that are eerie and spooky, but if there’s one group that embodies this time period, it’s The Doors.
The Doors. Straight from Venice Beach, California, their music has never given the vibe of a warm, California beach. Generally speaking, their music is almost glued to darkness. There are a good handful of songs I could’ve picked from them, however I feel “End of the Night” takes the cake. I don’t think there is a song I know of that could come close to the perfect backdrop of a chilly, 11 pm October neighborhood stroll. Every little bit of this song is eerie, from Jim Morrison’s ghost-like vocals, to Ray Manzarek’s simple yet mysterious organ. There is not a hint of light in this song, just the murkiness of a Halloween like night.
“High Noon” was a song I listened to a lot growing up, as my dad and grandfather loved it. When picking songs, I remembered this song, and only at 20 realized how haunting it is. The informality of the song, with marching drums, an ominous guitar, and Tex’s almost conversationally demanding vocals, feels like it could be either old voicemail or a haunted house song. The tense build up just makes the song feel like the impending doom of something, in this case being the winter, coming.
Addie’s Picks:
“I’m The Slime” by Frank Zappa
“Season of the Witch” by Lana Del Rey
For me, Halloween has always carried a sense of nostalgia through its music. I’ve always found myself turning to the old-school classics I would hear in my morning car-pool on the way to school. Each year, Mrs. Jones, our fearless driver of kids hyped up on the promise of candy after dinner, would que up the same playlist for us: “Purple People Eater,” “Monster Mash,” and “Somebody’s Watching Me,” leading the charge. And every year that playlist felt equally important as Trick-or-Treating because, to me, it’s what marked that Halloween had officially arrived.
As an adult, my taste in Halloween music has shifted but still holds onto that nostalgic theme. I have chosen to highlight “I’m The Slime” by Frank Zappa and “Season of The Witch” by Lana Del Rey. While not necessarily designed to be a “Halloween song” Zappa’s track creates this creepy almost watchful character, making you feel like there’s a person in the corner of your room or under the bed.
In Lana Del Rey’s cover of Donavan’s “Season Of The Witch,” Del Rey blends her soulful sound with Donavan’s original folk-track, pumping the song with new life. To me this song feels complimentary to almost any halloween movie, party, walk around the block, or pumpkin carving session. It perfectly encapsulates Halloween time while also carrying a level of eeriness that many popular halloween songs don’t have.
Jayden’s Picks:
“Casket” by Geneva Jacuzzi
“Night Boat” by Duran Duran
Although I am a huge Christmas music fan and the number one advocate for Christmas creep, I don’t really listen to a lot of Halloween-themed music. If I do, it’s mostly in an ambient context, usually at a party. That’s where I heard “Casket” by Geneva Jacuzzi, at an acquaintance’s Halloween party last year. It has a very analog feel not only from its synth, but from the interpolated telephone snippets in the track. The song almost feels undead.
The highlight “Night Boat” by Duran Duran is its first half, which is purely instrumental. The synths and the drums do a great job at creating the image of a foggy harbor, or maybe a dark presence at a shadowy quay. To me, this song sounds like 1 A.M. in a strange place, It elicits a feeling of staying somewhere you shouldn’t be for maybe half an hour too long.
Happy Halloween everybody!
