Sunday, December 1, 2013

Come On Down And Meet Your Maker: Songs about Stephen King's The Stand

The connections one can make across the spectrum of popular culture are fascinating. Stories make us who we are, and whether they come from a song, a book, a movie, or any other kind of entertainment, it is always a pleasant surprise when one artist is so influenced by another that they must pay tribute.

Such is the case with Stephen King's epic brick of a novel, The Stand. I knew of two instances - songs by rock bands, in both cases - before I got the idea to research this topic and share my findings with you, fellow music lovers.

Those instances would be:

Among The Living, by thrash metal heroes, Anthrax...

...and obvious by the title, The Stand, by 80's alternative rockers, The Alarm.

Both songs kick boatloads of ass in their own respective ways, and have long been put on my mixtapes and playlists. While there are several songs about many different King stories, the only other one I was able to come up with in relation to The Stand was this:

New Jersey symphonic progressive rockers, Shadow Circus, devoted not just one song to The Stand, but SEVEN. Yes, you read that right. An epic tale like The Stand does deserve an equally epic tribute in song form, and I believe Shadow Circus may have achieved just that! Sadly, YouTube is devoid of all parts except 4, so to experience the full effect, you'll need Spotify.