One of these days I’m really going to have to talk about Sting’s 1985 debut album The Dream Of The Blue Turtles because not only is it one of my favorite all-time albums based on the quality of the music alone, it was one of those “Got Me Through High School” records that I ridiculously treasure for purely nostalgic reasons. More on that another time. Let’s get to the plainly obvious reason why I’m including Moon Over Bourbon Street in our Buttkickin’ Halloween Songs collection, and that’s because of its connection to Anne Rice’s celebrated Vampire Chronicles.

Hey does anyone remember when it was just a “Vampire Trilogy”? Sigh…

Anyway, Moon Over Bourbon Street is a first person narrative by the character of Louis, as he either laments or perhaps accepts his fate as a vampire roaming the nighttime streets of New Orleans, a monster with a poetic soul, forced to kill to survive but still pining for salvation. It’s a beautiful number (one which I’ve tried several times to master on my guitar, but jazz chords and I don’t get along all that great) with some haunting orchestrations punctuating the choruses. Sting percetly captures Louis’s wistful torment with simple, direct lyrics draped over a moody jazz background. It’s practically a haunted mansion painting set to music.

The brim of my hat hides the eye of a beast
I’ve the face of a sinner but the hands of a priest
Oh you’ll never see my shade or hear the sound of my feet
While there’s a moon over Bourbon Street…