AN ENCORE MUSICAL MUSING, 30 October 2025: Devilish Songs for a Boogie (Man) Night.

Here it is, Halloween. It’s that special once-a-year day of “ghoulies and ghosties and three-legged beasties and things that go boomp in the night.”  Who knows what these devilish days we’re living through will bring to us, but I do believe that we will survive. We’ll see.

When I was growing up in our small town, we always knew which households would hand out homemade candy apples or popcorn balls.  Or which houses gave out bags of homegrown roasted peanuts or home baked cookies. Or those high livers who gave out those ten-cent Hershey bars WITH ALMONDS! We frowned a bit but still visited the porches of those neighbors that gave us only fresh apples (alas, sugar or salt free) off their backyard tree.

Ah, the sweet old unsealed goodie days and the warnings about tipped over outhouses! Didn’t kids (not me, of course!) in those days have fun?

Being a bit of a history buff, I’ve offered a special treat for several years now for any of the kids who might darken our doorstep on Halloween evening. Here’s my lawn sign poster.

Alas, I have observed that each year the number of kids waiting in the yard dwindles as they scarily scurry back to their candies, screens, and other neighbors’ houses.  I must be getting old. Or grumpy. Go figure.

Moving on, gentle readers. When it comes to songs of goblins, ghosts, witches, black cats, devils, and Jack O’Lanterns, the proverbial old piano bench is chock full of demonic sheet music of the past eras. 

To me, however, the graphics of most sheet music covers are almost more intriguing than the tunes.  Yet, every once in a while, a song catches my ear.  So, let’s take a look and see what we can (ahem) SCARE UP! Mwaa haa ha hah!

There are so many good songs out there that for this year’s Halloween musical musing I thought I would focus just on tunes about Devils and Deviltry, Hobgoblins and Boogiemen. As a disclaimer, this is NOT a political choice on my part! Oh, well. Maybe.

Moving on–as we must–push out those horns, grab those pitchforks, and DOWN WE GO! Repeat: Mwaa haa ha hah!

And let’s join the . . .

Click or tap on the triangle in the next image for a cartoon version of this devilish 1913 tune by Irving Berlin.

There are even a few songs that are more romantic than scary–in a devilish sense, so to speak!

Here’s an early recording of this 1918 Music Hall tune. Click or tap on the triangle in the next image for a listen to this Gallic heartthrob of his day.

Here’s a quite danceable version of this Roaring Twenties number. Click or tap on the triangle in the next image and put on your dancing shoes!

Cliff “Ukulele Ike” Edwards put the horns into a recording of this number back in 1928. Click or tap on the triangle in the next image to hear him play and sing.

Moving on to those devilish cohorts–hobgoblins and boogiemen. Mwaa ha ha ha!

Here’s a good introduction to a rare musical instrument called an “American Fotoplayer.” This is a mechanical player-piano with built-in sound effects and organlike tones that made this a favorite of silent movie pianists for those monster films of the past. You don’t hear one of these that often! Click or tap on the triangle in the next image or link to watch it at work. Don’t be scared! Mwaa haa haa hah!

Now, I would be a bit remiss if I failed to include at least a couple of tunes a tad more recent than ragtime. I won’t go so far as to include devilish songs by The Beatles or The Grateful Dead, however. Those are a bit too, shall we say, satanically modern. Here are a couple a bit easier to listen to.

Click on the triangle in the next image to hear Frank Sinatra with this devilish song from the 1947 Broadway musical “Finian’s Rainbow.”

Now, click on the triangle in the next image for a song that has become a jazz standard. From the 1936 movie “Follow the Fleet” here’s Ella Fitzgerald’s take on this torchy oldie.

After all that devilishness, here’s a way for we musical musers to fight back! Who knew?

Whew! Now I’m sufficiently motivated to go off to polish my power-point lecture on the history of Halloween for all the lovely, tasty children out there waiting patiently in the yard! Mwa haa haa hah ha ha ha ha!

So, on this scariest of evenings—in this scariest of times—remember the good 0ld days. Try to understand the good ( I guess . . .) new days.

Understand how others must live.

Keep looking forward to good times to come with friends and family.

And for a devilish eternity, STAY TUNED!