frankenstein song

Audio

(It’s A) Monsters’ Holiday

TRACK #245:

(It’s A) Monsters’ Holiday by Buck Owens and The Buckaroos

On Oct. 30th 1973, Hee-Haw co-host and future Country Hall of Fame inductee Buck Owens entered his Bakersfield California studio with his Buckaroos to record this shit-kickin’ country creep-out.

Released the following summer, just ahead of Halloween 1974, (It’s A) Monsters’ Holiday reached #6 on the Billboard Country Charts. Not bad for a silly monster song.

And boy howdy, is this one silly.

Rattling off all kinds of monsters – Frankenstein, The Wolfman, Dracula, The Hunchback, Gremlins, Goblins, Mummies and Zombies – Buck Owens gives shout outs all around in this goofy and upbeat tune.

Now, why all of these Monsters inexplicably appearing in Buck’s bedroom constitutes a “holiday” I couldn’t well say. To me, it just sounds like more work.

Cause for Monsters, scaring people is their job, right? At least, you could say it’s not below their pay-grade. So, if they’re just doing their job, than it sounds like they’re at work. Not much of  a holiday, just doing what you do for a living.

Now, if they were hanging out by the pool, hittin’ the slopes, or yuckin it up down at the local Monster VFW, I could see considering this a nice little reprieve from their everyday responsibilities; a true holiday.

As it stands, this doesn’t sound like much of a vacation to me. But it does sound like one down home, country-fried Shindiggin’ Halloween hoedown if I’ve ever heard one.

Atta boy, Buck!

 

Audio

Don’t Meet Mr. Frankenstein

TRACK #216:

Don’t Meet Mr. Frankenstein by Carlos Casal Jr.

Here’s an interesting Frankenstein song, in that it makes the strange delineation of referring to him as Mr. Frankenstein and not Dr. Frankenstein.

Okay, fair enough. But who the hell is Mr. Frankenstein?

Well, it’s Victor Frankenstein, right? He is a Mr. Frankenstein. But why specify an honorific different then the one typically associated with this classic literary character? Don’t make no sense.

So, does he mean the monster? Could you refer to the monster as Mr. Frankenstein?

Sure, why not, right? Dr. Frankenstein is technically a kind of father, so the surname could carry over. The monster has no medical degree to speak of and is himself not a doctor. So if you were going to make the distinction, you’d make it for that reason, right?

No, no, I’m not talking about Dr. Frankenstein, I’m talking about his monster, Mr. Frankenstein.

Oh, ok then.

Well, how bout the lyrics? Surely they’ll provide some clarification.

Well, at one point this Mr. Frankenstein character (whomever he may be) opens his mouth and bites the head off the singer, thus causing him to die. Does that sound like something Dr. Frankenstein might do, or is even capable of doing? Not in my book.

Honestly, it doesn’t really sound like anything the monster would do either, but c’mon, he is a monster, so he’s probably more liable to do such a thing.

So, this song is either about unnaturally bitey Frankenstein’s Monster, or some cannibalistic jerk named Frankenstein who just happens eat people at local cafes.

Either way, horrifying.