| "Halloween" | ||||||||||||||
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| Song by Dave Matthews Band | ||||||||||||||
| Album | Before These Crowded Streets | |||||||||||||
| Released | April 28 1998 | |||||||||||||
| Recorded | The Plant Studios, Sausalito, CA & Electric Lady Studios, New York, NY | |||||||||||||
| Genre | Rock | |||||||||||||
| Length | 5:07 (6:30 on Recently) | |||||||||||||
| Label | RCA | |||||||||||||
| Writer | David J. Matthews | |||||||||||||
| Composer | Dave Matthews Band | |||||||||||||
| Producer | Steve Lillywhite | |||||||||||||
| Before These Crowded Streets track listing | ||||||||||||||
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"Halloween" is a song by Dave Matthews Band from the 1998 album Before These Crowded Streets. The song was originally released as a live track on their EP Recently in 1992. "Halloween" was the only song frequently played live by the band before its LP album release. The song debuted live on Halloween of 1992 (10/31/1992) and was originally titled, "The Halloween Song." It opened the show, and features Kristen Asbury. The debut is quite different from new versions of Halloween, and it also comes is the longest version of the song (12:07). This song was written by Dave Matthews about an ex-girlfriend of his who turned down his proposal of marriage three times. "Halloween" is the only track on Before These Crowded Streets not to have lyrics included in the CD cover. Additionally, live versions of this song feature Matthews singing different and sometimes nonsensical lyrics that do not correspond with the studio version. Matthews claimed that he chose not to include the lyrics in the cover because he did not want his mother reading the offensive words. However, the song was copyrighted with the lyrics "Love... love... love..." The track on Before These Crowded Streets features orchestral arrangements by John D'earth with D'earth on the trumpet and The Kronos Quartet on strings, and segues directly into the following track, "The Stone."
In Concert
As stated above, the lyrics of Halloween vary from the "official" lyrics of the song when it is performed live. Also, the song frequently features a short drum intro by Carter Beauford. The end of the song also differs from the studio version; it tends to go into a drum solo by Beauford with the band playing a two note "melody" on top. Sometimes, at the end of the song, the tempo will increase greatly. Among dedicated fans, it is one of the most sought-after songs at live shows. This is attributed not only to the impassioned performance of every band member involved, but its status as an absolute rarity; it has been performed only seven times in the past seven years. Nearly every performance since 2002 has been saved for a "special" occasion pertaining to the concerts' placement in the tour; three performances have taken place near the end of a tour, and two have occurred at Madison Square Garden. With the exception of 12/10/05, all of these performances have been officially released.
Live releases
- Recently (original EP release)
- Live at Luther College — Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds acoustic
- Warehouse 5 Vol. 3
- The Gorge (Special Edition)
- Weekend on the Rocks
- Live Trax Vol. 9
