Tonight Gordon and I celebrated Halloween on the show. In celebration of all things spooky, we explored a sinister selection of eerie ear-worms, creepy chords, and hair-raising harmonies. Every lyric in our selection this week is a ghost story!
(Ghost) Riders in the Sky tells the story of a young cowboy who has a vision of doomed “ghost riders” eternally chasing cattle (“red-eyed cows”) across the sky; he is warned that if he does not change his ways, he will be doomed to join them, forever “trying to catch the Devil’s herd across these endless skies”. The song was written in 1948 by Stan Jones and recorded by Johnny Cash in 1979 – there are also notable versions by The Shadows, Burl Ives, Debbie Harry, Roy Clark, and Willie Nelson. The lyrics have been linked to European myths of “Wild Hunt”, and are set to a melody based on the Civil War-era popular song When Johnny Comes Marching Home.
Of Monsters and Men‘s debut single Little Talks details an ambiguous exchange between two people, one alive and one possibly dead, who struggle to communicate and work through painful memories and past anxieties. The song was reportedly inspired by an old house that songwriter Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir moved into, and reached number 12 in the UK charts, after being featured in a UK TV ad for Philadelphia cheese. I’ve included the video below – there are some exquisitely beautiful animated sections.
And not all ghost stories have to be scary; Dracula’s Wedding from OutKast‘s 2003 double album Speakerboxxx/The Love Below sees André 3000 take on the role of the archetypal bloodsucker, with tongues (and fangs) firmly in cheek. As Dracula, André 3000 wrestles with the fear of commitment as he faces the prospect of an eternal union with his chosen queen, played by singer Kelis; “I wait my whole life to bite the right one/Then you come along and that freaks me out…”. Presumably Kelis’s double life as a chef saved on the wedding catering…
In keeping with Halloween’s reported Celtic origins in the Gaelic festival of Samhain, we listened to Luke Kelly‘s rendition of The Unquiet Grave, recorded with The Dubliners in 1981. The song was collected in 1868 by Francis James Child as “Child Ballad number 78”, and finds a grieving lover disturbing his beloved’s eternal rest; she warns him that too much mourning binds the dead to the living and keeps them from peace, and that instead he should simply enjoy being alive.
Kate Bush brings Emily Brontë’s ghostly tale to life with Wuthering Heights, the lead single from her debut album The Kick Inside (1978). Inspired at 18 after watching a BBC adaptation of the novel (the 1967 one with Ian Mcshane), Bush wrote the song in a single evening, channeling Catherine Earnshaw’s spirit as she pleads at Heathcliff’s window with lines like “I’m so cold” and “let me in.” Musically, Bush mirrors Cathy’s haunting presence in C# major, contrasting Heathcliff’s earthly reality in A major – that chord loop | A | F | E | C# | is, as far as I know, uniquely specific to this song. The track ruled the UK chart for 14 weeks, making Bush the first woman to reach No. 1 with a self-written single.
David Allen Coe‘s The Ride is about a hitchhiker who is picked up by the ghost of Hank Williams, who – “dressed like 1950, half drunk and hollow-eyed” – questions his talent for and commitment to country music. Coe released the song in February 1983 as the lead single from the album Castles in the Sand, and was later covered by Hank Williams Jr. (of course…).
Last on the bill this evening was Long Black Veil by Lefty Frizzell (1959). The song’s narrator is a ghost, who has been convicted and executed for a crime he didn’t commit. Though the judge gave him a chance to provide an alibi, he declined. Why? On the night in question, he had been in the arms of his best friend’s wife.
Our soundslike this week concentrates on Rod Stewart’s 1978 hit “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?”, which sparked a copyright dispute when Brazilian artist Jorge Ben claimed it borrowed from his 1972 song “Taj Mahal.” Stewart later admitted possible subconscious borrowing after hearing “Taj Mahal” in Rio. Instead of a legal battle, Stewart redirected the song’s royalties to UNICEF, supporting the International Year of the Child in 1979. This case became a well-known example of alleged “cryptomnesia,” where creators unknowingly replicate others’ work.
For our quiz this week you had to identify six songs that were UK number one singles on the 31st of October. We gave you a short excerpt from each song’s chorus, backwards!
As always, find the show and blog at joebennett.net/5live, with occasional Instagram extras at @joebennettmusicology. And you can find our Spotify mega-playlist, which contains all songs ever featured on the show, here:
- Words: Joe Bennett, John Pierce O’Reilly
- Audio production: Joe Bennett, Rafi Waters
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