In starlit nights I saw you
So cruelly you kissed me
Your lips a magic world
Your sky all hung with jewels
The killing moon
Will come too soon
The Killing Moon, Echo and The Bunnymen, 1984
Kelly, a member of the Are You There, God? It’s Me, Generation X. Facebook page sent me this awesome Halloween poster featuring 80s music. What songs are most familiar to you? I must admit, I don’t recognize very many, but I was a big Echo and The Bunnymen fan, so props to the person who included The Killing Moon.
80s Halloween Mixtape. Brilliant! (Source)
Back in 1987, Lisa* and I danced to Echo and the Bunnymen at Eldon Lyon Park in Oklahoma City. Lisa glided like Ally Sheedy in The Breakfast Club, while I moved a bit more like Veronica from The Archie Show. Ridiculous parodies, we were. But, we both loved the English post-punk, alternative rock band so much, especially since we were devout Nazarenes, and they sang about Jesus.
Well past dusk, I played that cassette tape on a gigantic silver boom box until the heavy D-cell batteries ran out of juice and Ian McCulloch‘s voice faded to slow moan. We loved Ian and wanted to marry him.
Did I mention that Lisa and I also imitated Andi from Pretty in Pink? We shopped at thrift stores and together we cut up many old velvet dresses just below the armpits and turned them into long skirts. We believed we were quite original even though we borrowed our style from Gen-X movie stars. It’s hilarious to me, but also a bit sad. We were all so completely lost in a dozen different ways.
Speaking of lost, Lisa left Bethany and was basically never heard from again. I only recently heard that she was the principal of an elite school in North Texas. Since she left and did not want to be found, I decided not to use her real name in this post, but my friend Debbie will know exactly who I am talking about. Even though we aren’t friends with Lisa anymore, I’m glad I had those Echo and The Bunnymen moments with her. I’m glad she left the pain she endured in Oklahoma behind and found the love and life she always wanted.
Anyway, I love this poster so much. It’s great fun, right? It’s ain’t your mother or your daughter’s Halloween playlist. No, friends it belongs to a generation whose youth has come and gone; whose music now lives on YouTube and real mixtapes in my basement. If only I had a jam box. Unfortunately, the D-cell batteries became corroded. I showed the white fluffy substance to my father and he said, “Don’t touch it.”
Finally, The Killing Moon is a great title for a Halloween playlist, however the song is actually about Jesus in The Garden of Gethsemane. There was a full moon that fateful night and it foretold His death.
What’s on your October mixtape?
Some of those are definitely from the obscure side of the early ’80s punk scene. Although the Concrete Blonde album is actually from 1990, so there may need to be an edit. 😉
Nick Cave is also an artist who has at times written from a Christian perspective, although a decidedly different one. The number on this mixtape is probably not one of those songs, though. Tibet of Current 93 identifies himself as a Christian, but I’d want to have a long conversation with him about what he thinks that means to be sure I understood what he meant.
I loved it the minute I saw it! Glad you did too.