Blood, it's the life-force of we mammals. We don't think about it being one of our most cherished possessions and it usually remains out-of-mind until we nearly slice off a piece of our nose while standing drowsily in the bathroom shaving one morning. If you're wondering why I've chosen such a specific example of a self-inflicted, blood-spilling injury, it's because that happened to me a few months back. And it was in that moment, while frantically applying pressure and bloodying every washcloth in the closet thinking I had stopped the flow only to have some more drip down my lip and spatter into the sink, that I came to the realization that I was frighteningly losing a precious commodity. In the back of my mind I envisioned losing consciousness and crumbling to the floor, only to awaken moments later to use the last of my strength to write on the wall a final message to whoever would discover my body using just my finger and the pool of blood surrounding me. I figured the go-to thing to write would be HELP but I quickly realized that by the time the message was found it would be too late for help and besides, it's not like writing it on the interior wall of the bathroom would miraculously summon an ambulance. Perhaps what I needed to scrawl was SHAVING so that the cause of my death would be easily determined or perhaps LOVE YOU ALL so my loved ones would realize that in my final moments I was thinking of them and that I wanted to show one last sign of appreciation. I eventually settled on CROATAN, just like the lost settlers of Jamestown had scrawled on a tree in 1590... that way my simple bleeding-out from a stupid household accident would instead be forever shrouded in mystery! Needless to say, the bleeding stopped and I was fine and before I get any more off topic here let's bring it back around to the Spooktacular.
Up next, is the third track in the 2016 Jamaican Halloween Spooktacular and it's "Blood Gonna Run" by Linval Thompson. Originally produced by Bunny Lee and included on Thompson's album Don't Cut Off Your Dreadlocks in 1976, "Blood Gonna Run" is talking about running blood of a different variety than your average run-of-the-mill shaving mishap. Thompson is addressing social injustices and selfishness and while not exactly pointing fingers at anything supernatural, it is a song about rising up and overcoming society's obstacles by any means necessary. Do I wish this song was about Dracula spilling blood or an evil scientist performing unnecessary brain surgery? Sure. But 11 years into these Halloween mixes you've got to find the appropriate tunes that fit in with the theme regardless of them not directly referencing anything spooky! ;)
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