In Search of the Halloween Spirit

by Kimberly Lindbergs | October 31, 2008

Categories | Rants & Raves, Serge Gainsbourg, yé-yé

halloween08

This year I found it extremely difficult to get into the holiday spirit. Fall is my favorite time of year and October is a special month for me. My man’s birthday was last week and we also met each other for the first time on a cool October evening so I have a lot of romantic connections to the month. And naturally I always associate Halloween with wonderful things I love like horror films, candy, costumes and hot apple cider. I blame my sour mood this year on the countries current political climate. After living most of life under Republican/conservative rule I’ve grown extremely weary and just plain tired of it. With the strong possibility that the current administration and its cronies will do just about anything to stay in power, I’m finding it damn difficult to enjoy the season. Frankly, I find the idea of a McCain/Palin presidency and 4 more years similar to the last eight a more scary premise than any horror film I can think of at the moment. The election is very distracting and I hope that this nasty feeling of doom and gloom dissipates soon.

In the meantime, here’s a couple of great French pop songs about monsters and their makers from Serge Gainsbourg . . .



Serge Gainsbourg sings Docteur Jeckyll & Mister Hyde (1968)



France Gall sings Frankenstein (1972) written by Serge Gainsbourg

And if you’re looking for some more Halloween fun I recommend visiting last year’s Halloween post that was written when I was in a much more festive mood.

10 Comments »

  1. ARBOGAST says; October 31, 2008 @ 1:20 pm

    Cheer up, Pretty Lady. We are the good earth… and we’re BURSTING with the angry dead.

  2. cinebeats says; October 31, 2008 @ 2:25 pm

    Thanks Arbo! Watching the Lovecraft horror movie marathon on TCM tonight + drinking lots of hard cider should cheer me up. The Haunted Palace and The Shuttered Room are part of the festival and they’re two favorites. Hopefully they’ll help get my mind off Nov. 2

  3. logboy says; November 1, 2008 @ 1:57 am

    …a whole load of gainsbourg albums have been reissued on LP recently…

  4. cinebeats says; November 1, 2008 @ 11:04 am

    Thats interesting news for vinyl collectors so thanks for sharing it, logboy!

  5. Neil says; November 1, 2008 @ 3:08 pm

    Obviously I agree. Completely.

    I can’t wait for this to be over so I can get on with my normal concerns.

  6. Scumbalina says; November 2, 2008 @ 8:06 am

    I think a lot of people have been feeling that way, my usual halloween lovin’ compadres all were feeling down. My halloween was a bust as well. I lost a costume contest as a hot pink Luchadore with toothy grin from ear to ear (I love face painting) and a sombrero to…a guy in a geico caveman mask..wtf?

    I blame it on Palin :-P

    but seriously, you’re right, the whole season has felt completely off. better luck next year…

    thanks for a the gainsbourg videos!! Did you know they’re making a biopic of his life?

  7. cinebeats says; November 2, 2008 @ 11:15 am

    I’m glad I’m not alone, Neil & Scumbalina!

    It’s been rainy and gloomy for days here in Northern CA which hasn’t helped my mood and I didn’t party or bother with a costume this year. Hopefully I’ll be in a more festive mood next year. Tuesday can’t come soon enough.

    Thanks for the info about the Gainsbourg biopic, Scumbalina! I hadn’t heard that news and now I’m curious about it. Hopefully it will use French actors and a good director.

  8. dave s says; November 5, 2008 @ 1:12 pm

    it’s kismet that you and scumbalina would post about the off kind of halloween that has just past. it’s my favourite season too, but halloween 2008 just didn’t do it for me. i’m not sure what it was, but my usual autumnal comfort and anticipation just wasn’t there this year. i’d like to blame it on politics, but i live in canada (re-reading this before posting, i just realized what a stupid comment that was with a prime minister like stephen harper running the country). maybe the good news is that next halloween we’ll be burning with optimism’s flame, with no where to go up up after this year.

  9. Will Kane says; November 11, 2008 @ 11:04 am

    Hello Kimberly,

    Well I hope I find you in a cheerier mood now that the election is over and some kind of sanity may be restored to the World.

    I just thought I’d respond to the gentleman referring to the recent (I believe German) Gainsbourg LP re-issues. They are available, if a little hard to track down.
    I’ve recently purchased “Anna”, “Histoire De Melody Nelson”, “Comic Strip”, “Cannabis” and a compilation called “Les Annees Psychedelic” on vinyl.
    I think there may also be a “Bonnie & clyde” re-issue, but that’s proving a little evasive.

    Also, and I’m sure you already knew this, the ‘Monster’ attempting to do away with Ms Gall in the ‘Frankenstein’ clip is none other than Jacques Dutronc.

  10. cinebeats says; November 11, 2008 @ 1:27 pm

    Thanks for the sharing that info about the Gainsbourg LP re-releases, Will. And I didn’t recognize Jacques Dutronc in the video so thanks for pointing that out too! For such a good looking guy, he looks pretty creepy under all that Frankenstein make-up. It’s a great clip and now I love it more.


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