Ghost Frontman Explains How “Hunter’s Moon” Was Written for Halloween Film
Spooky retro rockers Ghost delivered a new song last week, “Hunter’s Moon,” their first piece of new music in two years (the Seven Inches of Satanic Panic EP arrived in September of 2019 following their last full-length, Prequelle, in 2018). The band had been teasing the arrival of new music so its existence wasn’t a huge surprise, but it’s amazing how tightly under wraps they were able to keep the fact that the song appears in the upcoming movie Halloween Kills, the latest entry into the vaunted Halloween franchise.
So just how did that collaboration come to be? And how was the song written with the film in mind? Band mastermind Tobias Forge explained all that to to Spotify’s Volume Sweden, saying:
“The background to this song, specifically this song being associated with the film ‘Halloween Kills’, was that Ryan Turek, who is one of the producers of the film, asked me if I was interested in writing a song for a film and specifically this film. I said that I already have a few songs that might work, and specifically one song that I think could work very well within the concepts of the film.
“The seed for that song that I had in mind was originally [just the] title [‘Hunter’s Moon’]. Years ago, I was looking up the meaning of ‘Harvest Moon’, as in the Neil Young record, and within the context of ‘Harvest Moon’, which is essentially… It was, I guess, an article about farming and the moon cycles of farming. And in September, there’s ‘Harvest Moon,’ and in October, after Harvest Moon, around Halloween, it’s ‘Hunter’s Moon.’ And immediately upon seeing that, I thought that, well, if I were to ever write a song about Halloween, as you must do as a gothic rock band, I’m gonna use that title.
“When I knew that there was gonna be a song called ‘Hunter’s Moon’ in a ‘Halloween’ film, it was pretty easy to come up with a theme that would simplify the lyrical content. So I wanted the lyrics to be sort of nostalgic, longing back but also semi-romantic and also have a slight sort of ‘siblings love’, ‘friendship love’ question mark. So that is what I wrote.
“Sometimes when you write songs, especially if it’s meant to be in a bigger, broader sort of album format, sometimes you can get locked into details, and you’re writing too much into each song — it has to have too much of a purpose — whereas this was pretty simple; it was gonna go hand in hand with ‘Halloween’.”
So, in conclusion: 1) it pays to have friends in high places, and 2) Forge is a highly skilled songwriter. There, I simplified it for everyone!
“Hunter’s Moon” seems like a one-off for now despite the fact that it’s time for a new Ghost album and Forge said he’d planned to spend 2021 working on such. We’ll see, though. In the meantime, you can catch Ghost on tour with Volbeat this winter… dates:
Jan. 25 – Reno, NV – Reno Events Center [tickets]
Jan. 27 – Seattle, WA – Climate Pledge Arena [tickets]
Jan. 28 – Nampa, ID – Ford Idaho Center Arena [tickets]
Jan. 29 – Portland, OR – Veterans Memorial Coliseum [tickets]
Jan. 31 – West Valley City, UT – Maverik Center [tickets]
Feb. 02 – Denver, CO – Ball Arena [tickets]
Feb. 04 – Lincoln, NE – Pinnacle Bank Arena [tickets]
Feb. 05 – Minneapolis, MN – Target Center [tickets]
Feb. 07 – Columbus, OH – Nationwide Arena [tickets]
Feb. 08 – Hershey, PA – GIANT Center [tickets]
Feb. 10 – Newark, NJ – Prudential Center [tickets]
Feb. 11 – Worcester, MA – DCU Center [tickets]
Feb. 12 – Camden, NJ – BB&T Pavilion [tickets]
Feb. 14 – Pittsburgh, PA – Petersen Events Center [tickets]
Feb. 15 – Toledo, OH – Huntington Center [tickets]
Feb. 16 – Grand Rapids, MI – Van Andel Arena [tickets]
Feb. 18 – Chicago, IL – Allstate Arena [tickets]
Feb. 19 – Cincinnati, OH – Heritage Bank Center [tickets]
Feb. 20 – Milwaukee, WI – Fiserv Forum [tickets]
Feb. 21 – St. Louis, MO – Chaifetz Arena [tickets]
Feb. 23 – Independence, MO – Cable Dahmer Arena [tickets]
Feb. 25 – Houston, TX – Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land [tickets]
Feb. 26 – Dallas, TX – Fair Park Coliseum [tickets]
Feb. 28 – El Paso, TX – Don Haskins Center [tickets]
Mar. 01 – Phoenix, AZ – Footprint Center [tickets]
Mar. 03 – Anaheim, CA – Honda Center [tickets]
