TRACK #423:

The Witch by The Rattles

While a touch less ambiguous in its witchery than The Sonic’s The Witch, tonight’s The Witch is no less…vague? I dunno. There’s an argument to be made it’s more vague than October Country’s Witch, but I still think we’re dealing with an evil entity.

There’s not much to this one. In fact, the lone entry for it on songmeanings.com is literally someone opining:

“I think this means about someone running from a witch”

which reads like Homer explaining to Bart what he thinks “Gabbo” means. Well, that’s insightful, pal. I really hope that’s just a joke.

In that astute analysts’ defense, this is about all The Rattles are offering up lyrically. But this visceral and spooky Witch song should be no stranger to any Halloween playlist, and I probably should have added it years ago.

But I should preface it by saying this version of the song is visceral and spooky. See, German psych rock band The Rattles originally released this tune in 1968 with Male singer Henner Hoier.

But I much prefer this second version from 1970, with vocals by Edna Bejarano, despite some randos on YouTube claiming the original is clearly superior. One goofball even suggested it’s better with a male singer because it makes more sense for a Witch to be chasing a male protagonist, as if it was utterly nonsensical to depict a Witch attacking a female. Insanity.

But that’s pretty generalized. A couple of commenters actually suggested the song needed Grace Slick, and that Edna Bejarano is no Grace Slick. Jeesh! The internet really is a just place for people’s unfiltered and unsolicited opinions…myself included I suppose.

But honestly, the majority of the commenters, across multiple videos, overwhelmingly praise Edna and prefer this version of the song. I do like the original, don’t get me wrong, but I find this one sounds more raw, and with its creepy strings and all that witch cackling, is clearly the more seasonal choice.

So, let’s continue HalloWitch Week with an eerie and appropriately Halloweeny installment that’s a long time coming. Here’s The Rattles, running from, The Witch!