“It just made me feel alive”: the only song John Carpenter called “perfect”
We’re all familiar with that iconic theme song that defined Halloween, the fast-paced piano and synth notes creating an atmosphere of anxiety that perfectly suits the image of Michael Myers stalking Laurie through the neighbourhood.
In fact, you can’t imagine any other piece of music as the theme song, and the reason for that is it was made by the director, John Carpenter.
Creating the whole soundtrack himself, Carpenter was perfectly able to capture the sonic atmosphere he needed to bring his terrifying slasher to life, which ripped through the comfort of suburbia with a knife and no apparent motive other than mental instability. Myers began killing as a child, slicing his sister to death while dressed as a clown, and as an adult escapee from the psychiatric hospital he was relegated to ever since, he decides to act on his urges again.
Halloween solidified Carpenter as an exciting new director come to dominate the horror and sci-fi genres, and what made him stand out was his penchant for a great synth-laden soundtrack, with the filmmaker saving on hiring a composer in favour of sitting down and writing a score that perfectly matched the scenes he had written and directed.
Sure, it might take some extra work, but it’s evidently worth it, especially when music really can make or break a film. Carpenter’s deep love of music has aided his career and deeply inspired him, but his music taste is a lot more eclectic than you might expect. When he spoke to Rolling Stone about some of the defining tracks of his life, you’d perhaps expect some deep-cut synthesiser tracks, but he opted for the safer, more accessible side of his taste.
One of these songs, a classic that we all know and have probably belted from the top of our drunken lungs before, Carpenter called “perfect” was ‘Africa’ by Toto. I personally wouldn’t go that far, as I don’t think a song that is predominantly played at weddings and karaoke nights can really earn the title of being “perfect,” but who am I to judge? Carpenter is the synth expert here, not me, and as far as synth-based pop songs go, he thinks ‘Africa’ is pretty spot on.
The 1982 track is painfully of the era, sitting somewhere between yacht rock and synth-pop, and it’s the kind of song you associate with a simpler time for music. Love it or hate it, ‘Africa’ was a hit, and it continues to receive significant airplay as one of the 1980s’ most popular cuts. I’d rather it remained a relic of the past, but we can’t get everything we want.
The filmmaker certainly would disagree, telling Rolling Stone, “When I first heard this song, I thought, ‘my God!’ The studio production is perfect. It’s an achingly beautiful song, and I had it at home on vinyl. It just made me feel alive—get up in the morning, have some coffee, let’s hear Toto. This was 1983, and my son was born the next year.” That line puts a pretty unwanted image in your head, doesn’t it? I guess we now know what kind of music gets Carpenter in the mood.
