Song: "Old Tom's Restless Bones"
Quote:
Old Tom on the front porch smoked his cigarette,
And when he was done, another one he lit.
"Hey, now," Old Tom said,
"You're the reason that I'm dead."
Listen to the performance of David Norris...
Song: "Ghost of Norma Jean"
Quote:
When you see another cross by the road where she is lost,
You'll know that she has some company.
Listen to the Steep Canyon Rangers' performance...
Song: "Little Margaret"
Quote:
Is Little Margaret in her room
Or is she in the hall?
Little Margaret's in her coal-black coffin
With her face turned toward the wall.
There are many variations of this traditional song. These lyrics are a close match to the one performed here.
Listen to the performance of Sheila Kay Adams...
Song: "Pretty Polly"
Quote:
Polly, Pretty Polly, your guess is about right:
I dug on your grave the biggest part of last night.
Listen to the performance of Ralph Stanley & Patty Loveless:
Song: "The Ghost of Eli Renfro"
Quote:
Can't you hear? Can't you hear?
When the moon is bright and clear
From time to time,
It's old Eli dragging chains
And moaning people's names.
I just hope and pray he never thinks of mine.
Listen to The Nashville Bluegrass Band's performance...
Song: "Long Black Veil"
Quote:
Oh, the scaffold is high and eternity's near.
She stood in the crowd and shed not a tear.
But late at night, when the north wind blows,
In a long black veil, she cries o'er my bones.
She walks these hills in a long black veil.
She visits my grave when the night winds wail.
Nobody knows. Nobody sees.
Nobody knows but me.
Listen to Gillian Welch's performance...
Song: "Murder of the Lawson Family"
Quote:
It was on last Christmas Evening,
A snow was on the ground,
His home in North Carolina
Where this murderer he was found.
His name was Charlie Lawson
And he had a loving wife,
But we'll never know what caused him
To take his family's life.
Listen to The Carolina Buddies' performance...
Part 1:
Song: "Bringing Mary Home"
Quote:
But 13 years ago today in a wreck just down the road
Our darling Mary lost her life, and we still miss her so.
So thank you for your trouble and the kindness you have shown;
You're the 13th one who's been here bringing Mary home.
Listen to The Country Gentlemen's performance...
Part 2:
Song: "I've Come to Take You Home"
(Note: This song is a direct response to the song I posted above, "Bringing Mary Home.")
Quote:
Though his life is swiftly fading, a memory remains
Of that chilly, ghostly evening while driving in the rain.
Listen to Seldom Scene's performance...
Song: "Knoxville Boy"
Quote:
When the moon is high the Knoxville boy
Goes prowling out to kill.
We don't know why so many die
To give that boy a thrill.
A handsome lad with a wealthy dad
And eyes of bluebird blue,
He's killed before, he'll kill some more,
And the next one could be you.
When the fog rolls into Knoxville
And the river's on the rise,
Don't go near the Knoxville boy
There's murder in his eyes.
Listen to Larry Stephenson's performance...
October is here! This year for my Halloween countdown, with the invaluable assistance of my husband (and resident expert on all things Appalachian), I will be bringing you a spooky, Halloween-appropriate song with a twist of mountain flavor. I've chosen one version of each of these songs to share, but some have been recorded and reinterpreted many, many times.
If you like "Boograss" (or Spooky Bluegrass), Southern Gothic tales, traditional murder ballads, ghost stories, and/or Halloween chills, I hope you will enjoy each day's post!
Song: "O Death"
Quote:
O Death, O Death in the morning,
O Death, spare me over 'til another year.
Listen to Rhiannon Giddens' performance...
Here is the official description of the episode:
Having spent the bulk of 2020 locked in my crypt, hiding from the Red Death, I've set stockpiled a great deal of material for this year's Halloween episode -- a GREAT, great deal. So, buckle up, boils and ghouls. We may not be able to party like we want to, but in an attempt to make up for that, we're driving this hearse into FOUR blood-soaked hours of Halloween Hymns this year! That's right, it's (quite possibly) the biggest coffin ever to be crammed through the internet and into your ears: It's The 2020 ‘Out ov the Coffin’ HALLOWEEN SPECIAL!!!!
Featuring: NEW, current, classic, and obscure FULL-SIZE songs from the most morbid realms of goth, post-punk, deathrock, horror punk, darkwave, damnbient, metal, and MORE, riddled with hundreds of fun-sized bites of cvlt movie dialogue, sound effects, trailers, TV spots, novelties, and, of corpse, horror film and television soundtracks, all assembled in ritual formation, and (g)hosted by yours truly, DJ Ichabod.
Listen to or download the special here!
Pssst! Scroll through earlier shows to find past Halloween specials. Last year’s was brilliant! If you really want to party on (or like it’s) Halloween, you can play several Halloween specials back to back! DJ Ichabod’s regular shows also make for perfectly splendid spooky listening.
‘Tis the season for specials, and the latest special episode is the podcast version of the Out ov the Coffin: Compilation for the Dead 2017. What’s that? Well, the “Compilation for the Dead” is actually a mixtape-style version of the podcast.
“I made you a mixtape….” See? Not creepy at all! Right?
Each year Ichabod chooses just under 80 minutes of strictly new and current music to represent this podcast, his DJing style, and, most importantly, the current state of the goth & dark music scene as he sees it.
Listen now to the Compilation for the Dead 2017 here!
Surely no song says Halloween like Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.”
Here is the “Thriller” rap performed by Vincent Price, including the “lost” second verse that doesn’t appear in the song.
Darkness falls across the land.
The midnight hour is close at hand.
Creatures crawl in search of blood
To terrorize y'all’s neighborhood.
And whosoever shall be found
Without the soul for getting down
Must stand and face the hounds of hell
And rot inside a corpses shell!
The demons squeal in sheer delight.
Its you they spy: so plump, so right.
For though the groove is hard to beat,
Yet still you stand with frozen feet!
You try to run, you try to scream,
But no more sun you’ll ever see,
For evil reaches from the crypt
To crush you with its icy grip!
The foulest stench is in the air,
The funk of forty-thousand years,
And grizzly ghouls from every tomb
Are closing in to seal your doom.
And though you fight to stay alive,
Your body starts to shiver!
For no mere mortal can resist
The evil of the Thriller!
Can you dig it?
*Evil Laughter*
For your spooky listening pleasure, here is that legendary “Thriller” voice-over session with Vincent Price in full…
Inspired by a walk among the tombstones of The Old Burying Ground in Jaffrey, New Hampshire, this orchestral song cycle weaves together epitaphs from two historic cemeteries with compelling new poems by Irish and American poets. Featuring the GRAMMY Award winning University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Kenneth Kiesler, The Old Burying Ground has guest performances by folksinger, Tim Eriksen, soprano, Anne-Carolyn Bird, and tenor, Nicholas Phan.
Here is “And Pass From Hence Away.”
Here is “O Say Grim Death.”
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karmaku is getting married on Halloween day! Woohoo!!!! CONGRATULATIONS on the happy occasion!!!karmaku is looking for the perfect Halloween party play list. Let's help out!
karmaku!
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