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| Boo! |
Strange that most people think it´s an (North-!)American event because the origin is definetely European. The Mexicans celebrate their Dia de los Muertos, which has certain similarities with the Celtic Samhain. Both believe that the border between life and death is very thin today, so spirits can pass through and you can communticate with the dead. In Mexico it is a happy and colorful celebration, their culture embraces death as a part of life and you don´t have to be afraid of it, death is no taboo like in most other western cultures. The pagan European celebration had a lot to do with harvest and the change of seasons. The word Samhain (originally spelled Samuin) is Old Irish and means roughly "summer´s end". In autumn the light part of the year ends and the dark part begins. Life and death.
Around 1830 the Irish packed their culture, jack-o-lanterns and pumpkins in a bundle and left for America. That´s where it got re-packaged and commercialized to a product that most people know today. I have to admit that I like this product but I liked it so much better when it was still only available in limited quantities in Central Europe. Most people didn´t know it in Germany when I started to celebrate Halloween with a bunch of like-minded friends as a teenager. It gave me the feeling to really be into something special and secret. My link to the whole thing was again music, as almost always. The German metal band Helloween (no misprint) had (and still has) a pumpkin in their logo and I wanted to find out what their name actually meant. What I found out was cool and spooky, so I went with it. Thanks to Helloween for the impulse, although I can hardly listen to their music anymore.
Shortly after this discovery I wanted to find about another thing: What was this strange band on almost every shirt the guys from Metallica were sporting in the 80ties? When I then discovered the Misfits I was taken into another dimension and to this very day it is a love that doesn´t grow cold! I became a horror fanatic and the Misfits provided the perfect soundtrack. Punk + horror = Horrorpunk. Brilliant! I even started my own Misfits inspired punk band in 1996 to somehow fill the void they had left after their demise.
The Noctunes from Flensburg played some shows in Northern Germany, released a demo CD and were featured on a local sampler called "No limits", the second incarnation of the band in Düsseldorf recorded another demo and was part of the "This is Horrorpunk, Vol.1" sampler on Fiend Force Records. Due to problems in the band and my venture with Black Raven I laid the Noctunes to rest in 2004. Every now and then I thought about resurrecting the dead but for quite a while now I´m 138 % sure that this sleep is an eternal one.
You wanna know why? I´m bored beyond belief with what happened to both Halloween and horror punk. What is cool about something that EVERYBODY is doing? This whole horror punk thing took off a couple of years ago and went through the roof all over the world. I could start my thing again, I still have a bag full of songs nobody has ever heard except for close friends. But when I founded the Noctunes there was no trend, no formula and at least I didn´t know any other band doing the same stuff in Germany at the time. And even if there was somebody else, that didn´t make the thing generic like it is today. We were known in only small circles in our heyday, so if I´d do the thing again everybody would think I´m just another copycat. No thanks, I rather pass and leave the field for others. By the way, I came across some lame ass band on the net that took the name. They are from the South of Germany and play some kind of college rock. I can only say that I check potential band names first and see if they are already taken before chosing one that is and trying to be original. Oh, I might want to add one more thing: Fuck you, assholes!
But let´s get back to the initial topic: Halloween. Every American will laugh at my complaints that nowadays accountants and bank clerks are celebrating it because in the US of A, really everybody from kindergarten to retirement home is doing it. I quit going to parties years ago when the trend hit Germany. The parties I went to before that were mostly organized by myself and friends. I miss the intimacy and the uniqueness of it all. Oddly enough I still get a thrill, a restless excitement every year when Halloween arrives and I gotta say that I still celebrate it each time. It´s not a big party anymore and I don´t even leave the house. It has become something personal and I´m back to what I did when I was a teenager: light some candles, spin the Misfits and watch some good old horror flics. Happy Halloween, goddamnit!
SONX FOR THE DAY:
Halloween - Misfits
Halloween - Siouxsie and the Banshees
Halloween - Rob Zombie and The Ghastly Ones
2 comments:
Do you not see the irony here? I'm kinda of puzzled, whether the author of this article a real person or a robot.
This is a clear example of a harmless meaningless post, so why delete it, mr Moderator?
There once was a time when I blogged about this stuff like crazy. Not many people came to my blogs.
This page lacks some funny comments. Know any jokes?
Everything inspires. But some things more than others.
Hey Mr. Nameless,
not sure if I catch your drift, but maybe you know some jokes?
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