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Track of the Day - 8/28/2007
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Bauhaus - Bela Lugosi's Dead Listen to Bela Lugosi's Dead on Rhapsody This is one of those horror tracks that needs very little introduction.  In fact, it surprises me as much as it probably surprises you that I have not already talked about this song before.  I guess when I get stuck at looking at some of the more obscure and unknown stuff out there that I tend to forget the true classics.  And this one is classic.  Few songs are credited to kick off an entire sub-genre of music like Bela Lugosi's Dead did. This is where I have to be careful.  This is one of those few songs that are surrounded by debate by fans.  While Bauhaus is really more of a rock band, the band and this song in particular are both equally credited for kicking off the whole "gothic rock" movement and Bela Lugosi's Dead is still credited as one of the best Goth songs around.  For this very reason, Bauhaus is typically labeled as "Goth" (and even are on this very Web site also for this very reason).  However, the band has been vocal in the past that they do not like the labeling and prefers the more standard rock label.  Fair enough.  "From the horse's mouth..." and all of that.  However, they are also grouped into other genres like new wave, punk, post-punk, glam, and others. At any rate, Bauhaus has plenty of other material to revisit them multiple times in the future, so for now, let us talk about Bela Lugosi's Dead.  The song was released as a single in 1979 and never cracked the charts in the UK, but continued to sell consistently for many years.  The story goes that the song was actually recorded in the studio with the whole band performing it in one take.  Some state that it was for this very reason that the song was as long as it is, which is around nine and a half minutes long. The bats have left the bell tower The victims have been bled Red velvet lines the black box Bela Lugosi's dead Now there have been many different interpretations of what exactly Bela Lugosi's Dead is supposed to be about.  I have seen everything from the "death of vampirism in popular culture" to the "rise of vampirism in popular culture."  However, the most popular take is that the song is about exactly what it says it is about - the death of Bela Lugosi.  In fact, the lines above are often said to be describing Lugosi's funeral. Lugosi, of course, was the star of the 1931 classic film, Dracula and became a horror fixture from then on out.  He got the role of the Count for his performance in the play adaptation that had recently played on Broadway.  Dracula would be the rise and fall of Lugosi in the long run.  He was forever attached to the role and was ultimately even buried in the cape he wore in the film.  Naturally, it is with a hint of irony that the song Bela Lugosi's Dead forever casts him in the role of the famous vampire. Of course, those are just theories.  The other consistent thing I have heard is that Bauhaus actually wrote the song as something of a joke or spoof.  In the end, it does not really matter because the song has become an enduring classic that often re-emerges every Halloween for another spin.  On one final note, during the first number of Bauhaus' 2005 reunion show, it was said that lead singer, Peter Murphy, was lowered on to the stage while hanging upside down and singing Bela Lugosi's Dead.
Filed under: Music, Track of the Day	August 28, 2007, 2:05 pm | Permalink | 0 Comments
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