Tomorrow is Halloween– which means it’s time to eat exorbitant amounts of candy with no remorse, finalize your costume for your Zoom party, visit the Nashville Nightmare Haunted House and binge-watch Alfred Hitchcock movies. While we can’t celebrate Halloween normally this year, we can still do our best to get in the Halloween spirit.
Whether you are celebrating with those you live with or virtually with family and friends, complement your night with these songs from the Life staff’s official Halloween playlist. It’s all here: classics such as “Monster Mash,” modern hits and throwback tunes from the 80s will remind you of simpler times, free of Zoombombing and social distancing.
“Werewolves of London,” Warren Zevon
This rock song was included in Zevon’s third solo album, “Excitable Boy.” The track features Fleetwood Mac’s Mick Fleetwood and John McVie; it eventually reached number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1978, making it the only top 40 hit of Zevon’s career. The song actually began as a joke by Phil Everly to Warren Zevon in 1975, but since its initial release in 1978, it has become a Halloween classic and has accumulated 50 million streams on Spotify to-date.
“Goodbyes,” Post Malone ft. Young Thug
Released in July 2019, this single became Post Malone’s seventh top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song is a part of Post Malone’s album “Hollywood’s Bleeding,” which was released later that September. Much of the song’s success is attributed to its spooky music video, which has been viewed over 180 million times and depicts Post Malone rising from the dead in a graveyard. The eerie story behind this song makes it perfect to listen to in the nights leading up to Halloween.
“Sympathy for the Devil,” The Rolling Stones
Considered one of the best songs of the popular era, “Sympathy for the Devil” by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards is the opening track on the Rolling Stones 1968 album “Beggars Banquet.” Mick Jagger sings in the first-person narrative as the devil, boasting his role in each of several historical atrocities, including the trial and death of Jesus Christ. It’s a lyrical masterpiece because it creates an interesting blend of sinister lyrics with upbeat sounds, and thus should undoubtedly be streamed for extra Halloween spirit.
“Heads Will Roll,” Yeah Yeah Yeahs
American indie rock band Yeah Yeah Yeahs released this upbeat, moderately aggressive track as the second single of their 2009 studio album “It’s Blitz!” “Heads Will Roll” is sung from the viewpoint of the Queen of Hearts in Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” automatically putting it in the running for our Halloween playlist. In 2011, the song was performed as a mash-up with Michael Jackson’s song “Thriller” (another Halloween classic) on an episode of the TV show “Glee.” If that isn’t enough evidence to qualify this unique, electronically-styled song as a Halloween tune, the song’s eerie music video also features a manic werewolf dancing and chasing members of the audience, which definitely sets the tone for a spooky night.
“The Ghost in You,” The Psychedelic Furs
“The Ghost in You” is the second single from the Psychedelic Furs’ fourth studio album, “Mirror Moves.” The song peaked at number 59 on the US Billboard Hot 100 after its initial release in 1984. A melancholic tune about lost love, it was also featured in the soundtrack for the hit Netflix TV series “Stranger Things.” While not necessarily spooky, it compares ghosts to fading memories of a prior love, making it a classic song that reminds us of Eleven, Chief Hopper and simpler times.
