Vampire Music

Halloween is sneaking up on us preparing to pounce. It's waiting, crouched in the bushes, just a few weeks down the street and if you're not careful, it's going to GET YOU!!!

You'll be covered in candy corn before you know it.

In honor of this, I thought I'd share my chapter on vampire-inspired music from my book Vampires' Music Wanted (2011 Potomac Publishers) for the next couple of days. As with most of my work I wanted to have a little fun, so I  picked and chose from a variety of styles to indicate that the vampire can infiltrate everywhere. Mwwwwhahaaaaaa!!!!

 We'll start backward with numbers 10 and 9:

10. Beware of Drifters Carrying Sticks

“Vlad the Impaler” by Kasabian is notable not only for the mind thumping music but also for the video, directed by Richard Ayoade and starring Noel Fielding of “Mighty Boosh” fame as Vlad, or a vampire, or a serial killer, or all three.  The song can be found on the British indie rock band’s 2009 album “West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum” but the lyrics seem to have no connection to Vlad or impalement.  Which is fitting since the video is left ambiguous as to who Vlad is and why he spends his time alternating between impaling and staking people for judging by his demeanor while doing it, it seems more a duty than a pleasure.  Never the less, the song is perfect for the video; or the video is perfect for the song.  The video has the look of a trailer for a 1960s Italian horror flick (or a Quentin Tarantino homage to a 1960s Italian horror flick) in which a mysterious man in black (aside from the white boots) travels the countryside, walking softly but carrying a big stick.  A distorted bass and drums slam into each other as Vlad marches with fixed determination down the road.  Dressed in a black cape with long hair and a thick mustache he even resembles the historical Vlad as he chases down people at a tennis court and a nighttime campsite the music swelling wildly as he chases women across a field.  Impalement may not be easy, but someone has to do it.

9.  The Rasta and the Vampire

For such a sunny sound, reggae has a surprising amount of vampires lurking in its songs, but Jamaica certainly has suffered its share of “vampires” from Columbus on through the years.

“Vampire” by Lee “Scratch” Perry is a catchy song telling the tale of a vampire hunter, “Obadiah Obadiah, Jah Jah sent us here to catch vampire,” later informing the listeners of what a true Rasta man would do so they can better recognize the vampire posing as the Rasta.  Perry, a producer and songwriter and one of the big names in reggae has been in the business since the 1950s.  In 2005, Sinead O’Connor, backed by some respected reggae artists, released “Throw Down Your Arms” a CD of Reggae covers.  Her version of Perry’s “Vampire” has a slightly faster tempo than the original and her malleable voice with its gentle brogue captures the spirit of the song nicely.  Her voice, as powerful at a whisper as it is at a scream, is well suited to this style of music.

            

“Vampire” by Black Uhuru has an almost joyful sound to it, its opening pronouncement “Oh what a sight to see/a goddamned vampire” sounding a bit like a tall tale told around a camp fire.  Black Uhuru has been around since 1972 when it was just called Uhuru.  The band found some of its greatest success in the 1980s, Rolling Stone ranking their album “Red” 23^rd of the 100 best albums of the 1980s.  The song is infectious the vampire slightly cocky when he insists, “You be man/you have no control over I and I.”  In the end, however, the singer vows that, “I and I gonna drive a stake through the heart of the bloodsucker.”  The righteous will ultimately triumph.

            

The third song was released by a band that started out a long way from Jamaica.  The Tribal Seeds have their roots in San Diego but seem drawn to the spiritual side of reggae and count among their influences Bob Marley and Midnite.  Their “Vampire” has a bit more urgency to it, starting off more dramatically with an almost regal blast of orchestral synth that falls into the steady rhythm of melody.  It’s a defiant cry, a charge to fight the hypnotic power of the vampires prowling everyday life.  These aren’t supernatural blood suckers, however but rather soul suckers in society.  “Beware of the system that preys ruthlessly upon you/It’s a corrupt authority claiming they represent you/Guilty of dishonesty, lacking all integrity/They come and try to suck our blood while we are sleeping.”  Vampires come in many guises and all are deadly in their own right.



Next time: Love and The Horror Hostess and Dracula's Wedding

Feel free to tell me some of your favorite songs featuring allusions to the children of the night.