Dedicated to all the great lost and little-heard Halloween songs that get swept under the "Monster Mash" tide every October. Crawl out of that radio man's dungeon and listen!
Friday, October 18, 2019
Nice pumpkins!
I'll be traveling to my homeland of southern Appalachia over the next week and unable to do any posts, so in honor of my birthplace, today's song is by Appalachia's patron saint, Dolly Parton. Dolly is by far my favorite musician, but sadly she hasn't done a lot spooky songs that fit our purposes here. The closest we've come is when her former TV singing partner, Porter Wagoner, showed up the first year of this blog with his unsettling madhouse ode "The Rubber Room." Dolly has done a few creepy numbers, like her ghostly dead child ballad "Jeannie's Afraid of the Dark," her beautiful woman-gone-mad epic "Mountain Angel," and her rendition of the classic murder ballad "Banks of the Ohio."
But my favorite Halloween-worthy Dolly composition isn't a song but a recitation of a scary story her mother used to tell her and her siblings to make them get in bed at night. "Bloody Bones and Scratch Eyes" comes from Dolly's first live album, 1970's A Real Live Dolly. It was recorded in the auditorium of her alma mater, Sevier County High School in Sevierville Tennessee, so Dolly's mother was probably sitting there in the audience when Dolly admitted this story used to make her wet the bed. She says that now that she's grown, she's still not sure if there's not a real Boogerman, Scratch Eyes, and Rawhead Bloody Bones lurking the hills and forests of Appalachia. Who knows, maybe I'll encounter one of those creatures while I'm home. If so, I hope my bladder isn't full...
I'll be traveling to my homeland of southern Appalachia over the next week and unable to do any posts, so in honor of my birthplace, today's song is by Appalachia's patron saint, Dolly Parton. Dolly is by far my favorite musician, but sadly she hasn't done a lot spooky songs that fit our purposes here. The closest we've come is when her former TV singing partner, Porter Wagoner, showed up the first year of this blog with his unsettling madhouse ode "The Rubber Room." Dolly has done a few creepy numbers, like her ghostly dead child ballad "Jeannie's Afraid of the Dark," her beautiful woman-gone-mad epic "Mountain Angel," and her rendition of the classic murder ballad "Banks of the Ohio."
But my favorite Halloween-worthy Dolly composition isn't a song but a recitation of a scary story her mother used to tell her and her siblings to make them get in bed at night. "Bloody Bones and Scratch Eyes" comes from Dolly's first live album, 1970's A Real Live Dolly. It was recorded in the auditorium of her alma mater, Sevier County High School in Sevierville Tennessee, so Dolly's mother was probably sitting there in the audience when Dolly admitted this story used to make her wet the bed. She says that now that she's grown, she's still not sure if there's not a real Boogerman, Scratch Eyes, and Rawhead Bloody Bones lurking the hills and forests of Appalachia. Who knows, maybe I'll encounter one of those creatures while I'm home. If so, I hope my bladder isn't full...
I never heard that before! I love Dolly, too. She is an amazing songwriter and singer and musician and businesswoman! Thanks so much for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI only heard it for the first time last year! I love hearing her talk almost as much as hearing her sing.
DeleteOh, me too. She is a great storyteller. Did you ever hear her song "These Old Bones"? Another good one with a little bit of a Halloween-y vibe.
DeleteYes, I love that one too! Her old lady voice is great!
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