Nothing new here (in fact, quite a few years old). But ended up discussing today with a friend how many musicians I listen to have explored telling horror stories in their music (no big shock, given my love for the genre). Among them include Concrete Blonde, Kirsty Maccoll, Kate Bush (arguably the master of it). and They Might be Giants, among many others. But not many have gone as far as Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, whose Murder Ballads album devoted 9 of its 10 songs to fleshed-out stories. Many of you will know his brilliant duet with Kylie Minogue, “Where the Wild Roses Grow” but for those of you that haven’t seen the equally wild video — well, enjoy.
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Paul S. Kemp
You should give a listen to the album “Who Will Survive and What Will Be Left of Them” by a band called Murder by Death.
I’m sure you realize that the album title is a Night of the Living Dead reference, and if you get the movie reference in the band name, mad props.
The album tells the story of the devil exacting revenge on a tiny town in Mexico after one of the inhabitants shoots him in the back at a bar. There’s zombie children, demon possessed bums, and a reluctant hero who finally decides to face down the devil at the end of the album.
As far as the horror music genre goes, this is my all time favorite.
Sounds totally up my alley! I’ve atually never seen “Murder by Death” though I know it — I’m just not the biggest Neil Simon fan. But I’m definitely going to check out this album.
Any other horror story-in-music suggestions?
I absolutely love Nick Cave; saw him live once in a small club in San Francisco and during the entire show, he affected the persona of an itinerant tent preacher from the 30s, clutching a big leather Bible while he was singing and every once in a while calling someone up on stage to “drive the devil out” of them. It was an unforgettable show.
His music for the soundtrack of Wings of Desire was also amazing.
Hmmm… I think Murder by Death and Nick Cave just about covers my knowledge of good horror music. There are a lot of good instrumental bands that I think would make great horror movie soundtracks, but of course, with no lyrics, that is completely open to interpretation.
Two of my favorites:
Godspeed You Black Emperor
Beast, Please Be Still
Other than that, I can recommend Murder by Death’s latest album, Red of Tooth and Claw. It’s not a concept album like the previous one I mentioned, but the songs do tell good stories of love, death and betrayal, especially the song “‘52 Ford”, which tells the story of a man who sets out to kill the girl whom he accidentally impregnated. Perhaps the most interesting thing about the album, though, to me, is that after the last song, you can hear, very quietly hidden at the end of the album, the opening melody of “Who Will Survive…”, which leads me to believe that the story told in that last song may be the prequel to that earlier album.
I’m a total geek over this sort of crap, if you couldn’t tell.
I thoroughly enjoyed that video/song – thanks so much for sharing!