Latest Twitter challenge for the month of October came from @firstnamebob. With Hallloween being associated with the month of October and all things spookiness I thought this would be fun to engage in.
I got my thinking cap on straight away but judging from my picks below which I include with the Spotify link, I tended to go mainly with songs that I knew that had the theme in the title track. I am terrible with lyrics but there are some songs that I do remember bit of the lyrics too. I will add these in below.
Quite a lot of different rock genres here. All of them I think are quite unique and kind of reflect on my tastes in rock music. I had a lot of fun researching and picking theses songs. I hope you like them.
Day 1 Death
Iron Maiden – Dance of Death
Day 2 Weapons
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Six Barrel Shotgun
I kill you all but I need you so
I tear my finger from the trigger baby
I tear my fingers ’cause I’m feeling low and son
Son, Sunday’s sun never shone on me
Son, Sunday’s sun never shone on me
Day 3 A Murder/er
The Clash – Somebody Got Murdered
Day 4 Mystery
U2 – Mysterious Ways
Move you, spirits move you (It’s all right, it’s all right, it’s all right)
Move, spirits move you, oh, yeah (She moves in mysterious ways)
Does it move you, she moves with it (It’s all right, it’s all right, it’s all right)
Lift my days, and light up my nights, oh
Day 5 Darkness
Idlewild – Actually It’s Darkness
It’s darkness, I must be scared of something
You must be scared of something, quite quite special
Day 6 Haunted
Queens of the Stone Age – Head Like a Haunted House
Day 7 Revenge
Nirvana – Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle
The song’s title and lyrics reference the American actress Frances Farmer, a native of the band’s adopted hometown of Seattle, Washington, who struggled with mental health issues and faced involuntary commitment several times in her life, which she claimed led to her suffering from systematic abuse.
Day 8 Blood
Slayer – Raining Blood
Day 9 Monsters
The Automatic – Monster
Day 10 Grief
Foo Fighters – Good Grief
since I’m putting down all of the true things around, but I like it
I handed down the crown, given the jewels and the answers of may
the thought of being ousted comes and goes
comes and goes
when I think about it the wind blows
Written by Dave Grohl during the final years of Nirvana. It could mean anything. Is he writing about Kurt? Who knows? Have a listen and draw your own conclusions.
Day 11 Shake/Shiver
Probot – Shake Your Blood
Day 12 Animals
The Stooges – I Wanna Be Your Dog
Day 13 Devil
Pixies – Monkey Gone To Heaven
And if the devil is six
Then God is seven.
So the devil gets a mention here.
Day 14 Pain
Manic Street Preachers – Archives of Pain
I wonder who do you think you are
Do you devil or do you think you’re God or something
God give life, God taketh it away, not you
I think you are the devil himself
Could easily have fitted in the previous days offering but think the song fits in here.
Day 15 Crime
Queensryche – Operation Mindcrime
Operation Mindcrime
We’re an underground revolution working overtime
Operation Mindcrime
If you come to see the doctor
Yeah, he’ll give you the cure
Day 16 Trapped/Caught
Jane’s Addiction – Been Caught Stealing
I’ve been caught stealing
Once when I was 5
I enjoy stealing
It’s just as simple as that
Well, it’s just a simple fact
When I want something,
I don’t want to pay for it
I walk right through the door
Walk right through the door
Hey all right!
If I get by, it’s mine
Day 17 Poison
Bob Mould – Poison Years
Poison thoughts in my mind
Got to free myself from this bind
I know I’m a reasoning guy
In an act like Jesus Christ
Stare into the sun
You don’t see eye to eye with anyone
I throw it all away (Don’t talk to me no more)
The more I think, the less I’ve got to say (I don’t remember you no more)
About these poison years: it’s just a memory
Day 18 Execution
Mission of Burma – Execution
Day 19 Suicide
Bruce Springsteen – Born to Run
In the day, we sweat it out on the streets
Of a runaway American dream
At night, we ride through mansions of glory
In suicide machines
Sprung from cages out on Highway 9
Lots of Bruce’s songs resonate around cars and the American dream. Probably the safe option than going for a Slayer song!
Day 20 Midnight
Iron Maiden – 2 Minutes to Midnight
2 Minutes to Midnight by Iron Maiden from Powerslave (1984) attacks the commercialisation of war and how it is used to fuel the global economy (“The golden goose is on the loose and never out of season”), how rich politicians profit directly from it (“as the reasons for the carnage cut their meat and lick the gravy”) and how after a war concludes, the world is left in a far worse condition than before the war began, resulting in future wars (“to the tune of starving millions to make a better kind of gun”).
Referencing the Doomsday Clock, which represents a countdown to potential global catastrophe. In September 1953 the clock reached two minutes to midnight, the closest it ever got to midnight in the 20th Century. It was then set at 12 minutes to midnight in 1972, regressed thereafter among US–Soviet tensions, reaching three minutes to midnight in 1984 – the year this track was released – and at that time the most dangerous clock reading since 1953. Scary stuff!
Day 21 Blasphemy
Depeche Mode – Blasphemous Rumours
Day 22 A Mess
Dinosaur Jr. – Freak Scene
Seen enough to eye you
But I’ve seen to much to try you
It’s always weirdness while you
Dig it much too much to fry you
The weirdness flows between us
Anyone can tell to see us
Freak scene just can’t believe us
Why can’t it just be cool and free us?
Day 23 Church
Rage Against The Machine – Vietnow
The lyrics “is all the world jails and churches”, is influenced by the works of American novelist James Baldwin. Baldwin’s 1953 novel Go Tell It on the Mountain includes the character Roy Grimes arguing with his mother and commenting, “You think that’s all that’s in the world is jails and churches?” At least one of James Baldwin’s books is contained on Rage Against the Machine’s Evil Empire liner notes, one of many books used for reference.
Day 24 Breath
Pearl Jam – Breath
Day 25 Candy
Ash – Candy
Oh Candy, my dreams
Oh Candy, my dreams
Candy, my dreams
Oh Candy
Candy, pure as driven snow
Come to me, you are not alone
Oh Candy, you’re everything to me
You and I will always be free
Day 26 Evil
Iron Maiden – The Evil That Men Do
The title of the song is taken from Marcus Antonius’s speech while addressing the crowd of Romans after Caesar’s murder in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar: “The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones.”
Day 27 Party
Refused – The Refuse Party Program
Not quite a Halloween party song but I couldn’t resist picking this one by Refused.
In the wake of our existence, in our parades and in our dances;
touch, see and behold the wisdom of the party program.
Essential in our lifetime and irresistible in our touch,
the great spirits proclaim that
capitalism is indeed organized crime and we are all the victims.
This next one is called Refused Party Program.
This is the pulse, this is the sound
This is the beat of a new generation
Day 28 Insanity
Slayer – Seasons in the Abyss
Close your eyes and forget your name
Step outside yourself and let your thoughts drain
As you go insane, insane
Day 29 Falling
Faith No More – Falling to Pieces
Because I’m somewhere in between
My love and my agony
You see, I’m somewhere in between
My life is falling to pieces
Somebody put me together
Day 30 Magic
Megadeth – Five Magics
Possessed with hellish torment, possessed with hellish torment
I master magics five, I master magics five
Hunting the abyss lord, hunting the abyss lord
Only one will stay alive, only one will stay alive
He who lives by the sword, he who lives by the sword
Will surely also die, will surely also die
He who lives in sin, he who lives in sin
Will surely live the lie
Day 31 Halloween
Sonic Youth – Halloween
The song however is nothing to do with Halloween whatsoever!
Paul’s Gigography 