Album Articulation #6: Dead Man's Party by Oingo Boingo
Party on, notwithstanding the impending doom behind you.
You worry too much, you make yourself sad
You can’t change fate, but don’t feel so bad
Enjoy it while you can, it’s just like the weather
So quit complaining, brother, no one lives forever
No One Lives Forever - Oingo Boingo
Articulation #6
Artist: Oingo Boingo
Album: Dead Man’s Party
Released: January 1, 1985
Genre: New Wave
Notable Songs
Dead Man’s Party
We’ll all end up at the party…eventually.No One Lives Forever
Spooky, scary, foreboding death is unavoidable, so live!Stay
This is not the life you expect, don’t let me go through it alone.Weird Science
It’s alive!
Personal Note
Happy spooky month of October!
Like many my age that weren’t alive when Oingo Boingo was turning heads with their wacko stunts and sounds, I have come to love their music through learning about Danny Elfman’s scores for Tim Burton films. I was gifted a signed Edward Scissorhand vinyl, scribbed with all the stars names, including Elfman. His antics were one of the early signs to me that being weird is okay and even sometimes socially acceptable.
“Stay” was my introduction to this album, pulling me in with strangely alluring vocals and lyrics, not fully painting a picture for the listener but instead allowing one to come to their own conclusions about this mysterious exchange.
What will happen if we get through one more night?
Vibes
The overall effect moves between mysterious secrets and anxiety-inducing fears.
Most songs have a focus on the vocals and lyrics, with everything accentuating the melody or effect of the words.
Lots of mentions of fear, especially of night, the unknown, and future impending doom.
Heavy use of repetition in lyrics: life can be monotonous and inescapable.
Much of the background vocals are more shouty than harmonious; this life is not smooth and sweet; it’s rough and raw.
The selection of interesting instruments from the New Wave genre accentuate the agitation and frightful lyrics.
Xylophone sounds like the rattling bones of a skeleton.
Many punchy, jumpy interjections of horns, guitar, shouts, etc. bring anxiety and momentum. It feels like someone is jumping out to scare you.
Dirty, distorted guitars give a rough, edgy vibe.
Becoming more popular at the time was the usage of horns, which are very jarring and punchy.
Synth usage feels spooky and eery.
Funky bass stands out at times, jumping from low to high and all over very quickly.
Some irregular, dissonant chord usage can be startling, adding to the sense of panic and anxiety.
Album Cover Connections
Larry Vigon, about the creation of this cover:
I met Danny Elfman in L.A. in 1985. He told me he had just written some theme music for a new tv show and that he had loved the experience and was looking forward to doing more theme music…Jayme Odgers was the photographer and his girlfriend at the time, Celeste Williams, made the clay figures while Jayme and I made the sets and tissue border. That is a real sparkler stuck in the backdrop just over the painting of a volcano. Some of the figures were moved a little during the exposure to add a sense of movement. I’m happy to say that Danny purchased the final set-up for his own collection.
The scene is a Dia de los Muertos party, these skeletons gathering to pay respects and remember friends and family members who have died. (Ironically perhaps.)
Alluding to that you get to party when you're dead; “no one lives forever“ and we'll have a party when we're gone.
Set up to look like a fun celebration, they’re playing music, one seated at the table has his head thrown back with bliss, food strewn about, and the use of the blurred movement feels like they’re dancing.
Color pallet is gently muted, not bright and vivacious.
The title of the album almost feels like an afterthought down small in the bottom, it is a redundant description of the more lively scene.
But behind them is the sudden destruction of the volcano with a crimson sky, already exploding and spewing bright lava.
I love the creation of actual danger on the set because they used a real sparkler.
Ironic that they are already dead, thinking to have escaped the hell of life, unaware of the impending doom encroaching towards them.
End even more so, the back cover shows the carnage and result of the explosion with melted buildings, fallen Oingo Boingo banner; a disheveled party scene with the skeleton dog triumphantly staring at us from the deadly scene.
You can never escape your fears!
Nice