Twelve Months of Music, Part 10: An October MixOct 01 '06 Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line Summer is now just a memory. It's time for the dark, creepy moods of October, and here are the songs to get us ready. No other month sneaks up on us as quickly as October. The spring months always take so long to arrive that we almost give up hope by the time that April rolls around, and the shift from spring to summer comes gradually with all the anticipation and build up of a graduation ceremony after years and years of school. But October sneaks out to blindside us every year in several different ways. One night you go to bed surrounded by lush, verdant trees, and the next morning, thin, papery leaves or red, brown and gold flutter all around you. One day, the temperatures may flirt with the low seventies, and the next day you'll need an ice scraper to safely make it to work. The days lose about five hours of daylight almost in the blink of an eye. Just like that one annoying friend that everyone seems to hang on to, October jumps out at us from around the corner to wave its hands in our faces and yell "boo!" Maybe that's why there are such creepy, spooky vibes associated with October. Jack o'lanters, black cats, Halloween, and political ads are all hallmarks of October that, while they usually don't scare the bejeebers out of us, leave us with an uneasy feeling. It's the kind of uneasy, though, that's still a bit delightfully exhilarating (except for the political ads, of course). The songs that summon up the spirit of October have that same feeling of eerie excitement, reflecting the month's cool chill and startling shocks. And so here are twelve such songs to open up the month just right. Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing by Chris Isaak Between the low, single note guitar picking that opens the song, the guttural growl that lurks over much of the vocals, the haunting "oooooh, oooooh" that skulks behind the bridge, and the sinister reverb that pervades the entire arrangement, there's an inescapable creepiness to Chris Isaak's ode to stalker level enthusiasm. For every dark, shadowy October night bathed in a thick, clammy fog, this is the perfect song. Walking along the deserted city streets on such a night, it feels like there could be a dozen pairs of malicious eyes watching you from beyond the veil of darkness, and they can all be found hiding within Isaak's song. ♬ you ever toss and turn, you're lying awake and thinking about the one you love I didn't think so you ever close your eyes, you're making believe you're holding the one you're dreaming of well if you say so ♬ When I Was Cruel, No. 2 by Elvis Costello The guitar effects may have been borrowed straight from Dick Dale and his fellow surf rock heroes, but the icy chill in Costello's layered arrangement makes it clear that we're miles away from summer beach rock territory. There's something crisp, pristine, and elegant about the song, but it's an overly rehearsed, overly forced perfection, manufacture to hide some terrible secret. Picture an elegant late fall cocktail party at a swanky mansion where the guests are all out on the balcony, their breath condensing around them in puffy little clouds, waiting while the police investigate a sudden, grizzly murder inside. That's what When I Was Cruel sounds like. ♬ she reaches out her arms to me imploring, "another melody?" so she can dance her husband out on the floor the captains of industry just lies there where they fall ♬ Spooky by the Classics IV No one will deny that October is drenched in authentic, organic creepiness ready send chills up our spines, but that doesn't mean that we can't play around with that feeling to have some slick, ironic fun. The Classics IV utilize the best of the eerie musical clichés at their disposal - the echoey guitar effects, the haunting saxophone solo, the theremin in the background, the hushed desperation in the vocals - to turn our feelings of uneasiness into an irony-fueled love song. Think of those college Halloween parties where the line between scary and sexy fades away completely and we've found the vibe captured here. ♬ if you decide some day to stop this little game that you are playing I'm gonna tell you all what my heart's been a-dyin' to be saying just like a ghost you been a-haunting my dreams so I propose on Halloween ♬ They by Jem These day's, incorporating a children's choir into a song has become a sappy cliché aimed at adding some emotional depth, but simply resulting in pretentiousness. Every so often, though, someone does manage the deft touch needed to create something stunning with that sound of children's voices. On They, Jem mixes the baroque sound of an echoey catholic boys choir with occasional outbursts of nonsensical playground chatter into the crisp drum loops and chilly vocals of her electronica music to create a haunting sonic collage. Take a photograph of a stone gargoyle atop a gothic cathedral on an overcast October afternoon, and They is the sound that's meant to be playing softly in the background of that shot. ♬ who made up all the rules, we follow them like fools believe them to be true, don't care to think them through And I'm sorry, so sorry, I'm sorry it's like this I'm sorry, so sorry, I sorry we do this ♬ Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground by The White Stripes Not all songs that embody October need an overtly spooky tone. With its stomping percussion rhythms and brazen electric guitar riffs, Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground is much more a raucous blues rock number than anything else. Nevertheless, the song's raw tone and lyrical themes help it fit right in with the tenth month. Summer's bucolic splendor has begun to fade away, and the fallen leaves and overcast skies of fall let the raw decay of the real world show through. The change in our surroundings isn't a depressing one, but rather one of brutal and uncompromising honesty, just like the music of The White Stripes. ♬ dead leaves and the dirty ground when I know you're not around shiny tops and soda pops when I hear your lips make a sound when I hear your lips make a sound ♬ People Are Strange by The Doors It's not just during Halloween at the end of the month - creepy looking people show up all over the place throughout the whole month of October. It could be the hazy evening fog that surrounds us, blurring our perceptions, or it could be the cooler, darker climates that lure out the pasty-skinned loners who've been hiding away from the sun all summer. Whatever it is, it's a little unnerving, and the Doors, with those languid saloon piano licks, loose guitar riffs, quavering organ fills, and echoey vocals, bring that feeling of unease right up to the forefront of the song and remind us that we, too, are a little strange deep down. ♬ people are strange when you're a stranger faces look ugly when you're alone women seem wicked when you're unwanted streets are uneven, when your down ♬ Mad About You by Sting A straightforward love song simply doesn't fit in with the sinister spirit of October, but Mad About You is no straightforward love song. The song's lyrics are inspired by the biblical story of King David and how he was so obsessed with Bathsheba that he arranged to send her husband off to certain death in battle just to make the royal tryst a little less messy. That theme alone is enough to give the tune a dark, autumnal tone. The song's sweeping minor key orchestral arrangement and the spooky soprano sax solo from Branford Marsalis simple help to highlight that feeling. ♬ and I have never in my life felt more alone than I do now although I hold dominion over all I see it means nothing to me there are no victories in all our histories without love ♬ Moondance by Van Morrison When it comes to love songs, Moondance lands much closer to the straightforward mark, but Van Morrison's light, airy jazz arrangement still gives the music a skewed, almost otherworldly feeling that falls within the October realm. With its shuffle rhythm, its saxophone and flute swing, its plinky piano fills, and its just-a-little-bit-mumbly vocals, the songs captures all the romantic potential lurking around in the fall chill. If ever a song managed to be genuinely romantic, sultry, and haunting at the same time, this is it. ♬ well it's a marvelous night for a moondance with the stars up above in your eyes a fantabulous night to make romance 'neath the cover of October skies ♬ Splatter Splatter by Moxy Früvous Whatever your favorite fall activities may be, no October is complete without a night of gathering together in a friend's basement for a marathon evening of horror movies. Whether it's the old black and white classics or the more modern gore-fests dripping with irony, October's cool chill and early sunsets put us in just the right mood. The lads of Moxy Früvous know their way around such a movie night, filling Splatter Splatter with accordion riffs that mimic the Psycho theme, shrill, echoey guitars, and hushed lyrics full of excitement about all of the guilty pleasures that horror films have to offer. ♬ she's getting cozy the window rattles a few allusions to last summer's episode the windows shatter then splatter splatter what could be more perfect than to see her head explode? ♬ Gravedigger by Dave Matthews Leave it to October to remind us own our own mortality. The bright green leaves that surround us are losing their color and falling to the ground as desiccated husks. The neighborhood birds and mammals make their last appearance before hiding away for the foreseeable future. The days grow downright cold and the darkness of night gets longer and longer. Matthews' song bristles with just the right mixture of introspective acceptance and defiant rage to help guide us through those feelings of dust-to-dust that come back to mind every October. ♬ gravedigger, when you dig my grave can you make it shallow so that I can feel the rain ♬ Superstition by Stevie Wonder That instantly recognizable clavinet lick that opens up the song is almost enough to overpower the dark, creepy tone of the lyrics, but fortunately Wonder keeps the music in a sinister minor key flirting with that hazy line between playful and sinister. There may not be any black cats or full moons mentioned in the lyrics, but everyone can still relate to the broken mirrors and the general unease associated with the number thirteen that Wonder brings up. With its celebrations rooted in pagan traditions, no month can rival October in the way it reminds us of those "things that you don't understand." ♬ very superstitious, writing's on the wall very superstitious, ladders 'bout to fall thirteen month old baby, broke the looking glass seven years of bad luck, the good things in your past ♬ The Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back from the Dead!! Ahhhh! by Sufjan Stevens Set aside for a moment that this song has both the goofiest and the coolest song title ever. The droning, monotone chorus in the background, minor key orchestral flourishes, resonant vibraphone fills, and incessantly plodding, syncopated percussion rhythm lend Stevens' song a truly apocalyptic feel. And as if the spooky feelings stirred up by the music itself weren't enough, the lyrics take us through a tale of survival against the machinations of the undead that would make George Romero proud. Few songs are as fitting for Halloween as this one is. ♬ we are awakened with the axe night of the living dead at last they have begun to shake the dirt wiping their shoulders from the earth ♬ October marks the beginning of the end for the year. We're winding down and starting to come to grips with the end of yet another era. Nevertheless, there are still more than a few surprises, scary or otherwise, waiting for us. These songs make not spare us from any of the shocks of October, but at least they can help to put us in the right mood. Why stop here? Be sure to also have a look at: January February March April May June July August September  |
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