Buttkickin’ Halloween Songs: “Hell” — Squirrel Nut Zippers (1996)

This is a place where eternally
Fire is applied to the body
Teeth are extruded and bones are ground
Then baked into cakes which are passed around…

I don’t think there are too many things more terrifying than the Swing revival of the mid/late 90s…

Not the music, I mean. That stuff was mostly pretty keen, as exemplified by the Squirrel Nut Zippers, and their spooky samba sensation Hell. The signature track from their 1996 album Hot, it was the right track at the right time to really leave a lasting sensation on pop culture at large.

And why not? It’s a heck of a number. Filled with swinging jazzy rhythms, exotic percussive beats, retro vocal styling, and a throbbing drive of dark, mischievous fun, the song itself is completely infectious from note one.

And of course, it’s all about the terror of eternal damnation of the soul, so there you have it. Perfect Halloween material.

The way I see it, if you’re strutting down the Road to Perdition anyhow, you might as well shake your ass a bit during your descent into Hellfire and Brimstone and nothing to eat but Arby’s. Just sayin’…

(There go my Arby’s sponsorship aspirations…)

Now the D and the A and the M 
And the N and the A 
And the T and the I-O-N 
Lose your face, lose your name 
Then get fitted for a suit of flame…

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