5 October: "Good Morning, Captain"

It’s 5 October, and by my watch -- and Cinematic Void’s 31 Days of Voidoween -- that makes it time to talk “Seaside Horror.” My past two entries have switched it up a bit. Voidoween was meant to be a movie watching challenge during the month of October, but ‘round these parts Halloween is much more than movies. There’s TV shows and books and short stories and radio programs and, like today’s choice, music. Let’s take a listen to one of the scariest songs I’ve ever heard: Slint’s “Good Morning, Captain” from their 1991 album Spiderland.

I’ll be honest, I don’t know how seaside-y “Good Morning, Captain” really is. The lyrics are pretty cryptic. There’s mention of a shipwreck and death in the first verse: “Scattered remnants of the ship could be seen in the distance/Blood stained the icy wall of the shore.” There’s someone named “the captain” who is perhaps the lone survivor of the wreck? There’s a child who haunts the captain in some way:

From behind the edge of the windowsill,

There appeared the delicate hand of a child.

His face was flush and timid.

He stared at the captain through frightened eyes.

The captain reached for something to hold on to,

“Help me,” he whispered, as he rose slowly to his feet...

As I say, it’s all pretty cryptic and weird.

Adding to the feelings of weirdness is the music itself. Considered by many to to be one the earliest post-rock records, Spiderland is filled to overflowing with odd syncopation, whispered vocals, and guitarwork that runs from quietly plucked chords to screeching, distorted runs. On “Good Morning, Captain,” the post-rock machine is running on all cylinders: Britt Walford’s drum playing is more akin to a guitar riff, while David Pajo’s guitar and Todd Brashear’s bass lay down a driving, hypnotic rhythm. Behind this, Brian McMahan sing-speaks his vocals, delivering the story of the captain as though it were a campfire tale. At the end, his screams of “I miss you!” are haunting and chilling.

Listen to “Good Morning, Captain” at night by candlelight on a good pair of headphones and you’ll see why I included it in this year’s Voidoween. Heck, listen to the whole Spiderland record from start to finish if you have the time...and the nerve. It’s as good as any spooky Edgar Allan Poe short story collection.