The Playlist: 10 Songs for Trick or Treating
Updated: Mar. 20, 2019
While lil’ ghosts and goblins are going door to door this Halloween armed with their plastic pumpkin buckets, you should arm your iPhone with some toe-tappin’ tunes! Here are ten tracks to keep you groovin’ during your candy hunt.
For Hershey’s Kisses
“Passionate Kisses” by Lucinda Williams (Click Here to Listen)
This entrancing tune, made famous by Mary Chapin Carpenter in 1993, is especially divine as sung by its songwriter, alt-country spitfire Williams.
For Tootsie Roll Pops
“Stuck in the Middle With You” by Stealers Wheel (Click Here to Listen)
Keep gnawing through that gleaming lollipop shell and you (and your teeth) will finally make it to the chewy centre. Candy on the outside, Tootsie Roll within-there you are, stuck in the middle with goo.
For Rockets
“Rockets” by Simple Minds (Click Here to Listen)
Filled with U2-calibre guitars and swaggering vocals, this muscular anthem about the complexities of love seems to have very little in common with the humble tablets-in-tube candy. But then comes the irresistible refrain: “You’re sending me rockets.”
For Molasses-Taffy Kisses
“Disappointed” by The Roches (Click Here To Listen)
“I’m disappointed, disappointed,” sigh sister-singers The Roches in this confection of a song. “I didn’t get what I wanted.” It could be the anthem for any hopeful Halloweener who’s ever reached into her bag hoping for something good, only to come up with a tooth-cracking taffy gob wrapped in wax paper.
For Good & Plentys
“Pretty in Pink” by The Psychedelic Furs (Click Here To Listen)
This Molly Ringwald-approved ’80s classic is a perfect accompaniment to the pink-and-white licorice treats that appear far more appealing than they taste.
For Candy Corn
“The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth” by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (Click Here To Listen)
If you know anyone who can chow down on candy corn without thinking, “Whoa, these totally look like nasty jack-o’-lantern teeth,” we commend them for their strong stomach and ability to compartmentalize.
For Fun-Size Chocolate Bars
“Mini Bar Blues” by Brian Setzer & the Nashvillains (Click Here To Listen)
There’s nothing wrong with a pint-sized 3 Musketeers or a microscopic Snickers, except that one is never enough. You’re caught in a tiny bind: you’re left longing for more or you overindulge. Either way, Setzer’s playing your song.
For Licorice Whips
“Whip-Smart” by Liz Phair (Click Here To Listen)
A classic of bouncy, witty, deadpan, sweet indie-rock, courtesy of riot grrl Phair. Also a classic: Twizzlers, Red Vines or any other licorice candy in whip form.
For Candy Apples
“Candy Apple Red” by Tom Waits (Click Here To Listen)
Few parents would let their kid eat a stranger’s unwrapped, menacingly shiny fruit these days, so this tune by Cookie Monster-voiced troubadour Waits is appropriately ominous.
For Toothbrushes
“Cruel to Be Kind” by Nick Lowe (Click Here to Listen)
Those neighbours who drop a new soft-bristle number in kids’ loot sacks in lieu of a sugary confection surely mean well. As the song says, “You gotta be cruel to be kind, in the right measure.” We’re just not sure a toothbrush counts as the right measure.
