Bela Lugosi's Dead

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“Bela Lugosi's Dead”

Single by Bauhaus

Released

August 1979

Recorded

Beck Studios, Wellingborough, 1979

Bauhaus singles chronology

"Bela Lugosi's Dead"
(1979)

"Dark Entries"
(1980)

Bela Lugosi's Dead is an influential gothic rock song written by the band Bauhaus. The song was the band's first single, released in August 1979, which is often considered to be the first gothic rock record released^{[citation needed]}. It did not enter the UK pop charts, but remained on sale for many years thereafter. The B-side features the song "Boys" and some versions also include an early recording of what would be their next single, "Dark Entries". Due to licencing restrictions, the original version of the title track was not made available on any other format until the 1998 album, Crackle - The Best of Bauhaus.

1 Track listing
2 Description
3 Recording Session
4 Lyrical content
5 Personnel
6 Cover versions
7 Printing Info
8 Audio sample
9 External links

[edit] Track listing

"Bela Lugosi's Dead"
"Boys"
"Dark Entries" (demo)

[edit] Description

The song is over nine minutes in length and was recorded "live in the studio" in a single take. David J, the band's bassist, claims on his website to have written the lyrics. By far their most famous work, its minimalist, free-form nature evoked a mixture of The Doors, early Pink Floyd and experimental Krautrock bands such as Can and Neu!, and particularly "The Chain" by Fleetwood Mac^{[citation needed]}. The singing does not start (in the studio version) until several minutes into the track. The distinctive guitar sound was achieved by using partial barre chords and allowing the top E and B strings open, adding to the drone-like quality of the song.

The title references horror film star Bela Lugosi (1882-1956), who did much to establish the modern vampire image as the title character in the 1931 film Dracula. Lugosi was, in fact, buried in his Dracula cape - an event depicted in the film Ed Wood (though reported inaccurately).

The song was featured in the 1983 Tony Scott cult vampire film The Hunger, where it played during the opening credits and introduction. A 7" promotional record featuring an edited version of the song was released to theaters playing the movie. The song was used as the intro music for the late 1990's Saturday Night Live skit "Goth Talk", which had Chris Kattan and Molly Shannon as two goth students. This song was also in an episode in the fifth season of Smallville, the vampire/Halloween-themed "Thirst." It was also played throughout the movie The Curve, and featured in the French movie, Sombre.

[edit] Recording Session

The song "Bela Lugosi's Dead" was recorded during a six hour session at Beck Studios in Wellingborough on 26 January 1979. Four more songs were recorded ("Boys", "Harry", "Dark Entries" and the unreleased "Some Faces") but not used; only "Harry" surfaced in 1982 as a single b-side to "Kick In The Eye".

The song "Boys" was re-recorded at Beck Studios in spring 1979.

[edit] Lyrical content

The song's lyrics describe Bela Lugosi's funeral in terms that suggest an actual vampire's death:

The bats have left the bell tower

The victims have been bled

Red velvet lines the black box

Bela Lugosi's dead

The song seems to deliberately blur the line between Lugosi and his most famous creation:

Alone in a darkened room

The Count

The song ends with Peter Murphy repeating "Bela's undead" - evoking both the supernatural creature Lugosi played and the immortality of the filmic archetype that he created.

[edit] Personnel

Peter Murphy — vocals, guitar
Daniel Ash — guitar
David J — bass
Kevin Haskins — drums

[edit] Cover versions

"Bela Lugosi's Dead" has been covered by many artists including Electric Hellfire Club, Sepultura, Until December, Buzzcocks, Godhead, Dream Disciples, Opera IX, Poison Idea, XIII Stoleti, XPQ21, Nouvelle Vague on their 2006 album Bande à Part, and Acumen Nation.

Truth Decay recorded a parody/homage called The Ballad of Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss is Dead) which referenced many Dr. Seuss characters, particularly the Cat in the Hat.

An excerpt of the song is parodied in Bill Bailey's Cockney Medley, a feature of his Cosmic Jam stand-up routine and also on a studio album of some of his works.

In 2002, Greg Galcik recorded a parody song Abe Vigoda's Dead, in reference to Abe Vigoda being erroneously declared dead in 1982.

In June of 2006, while touring together, Peter Murphy, Trent Reznor and members of TV on the Radio performed the song for a radio and internet broadcast.

The Dirtbombs' cover of the soul song Kung Fu features an instrumental line that is virtually indistinguishable from that of Bela Lugosi's Dead.

Storm Large and the Balls' album Hanging with the Balls features a song titled Deathstomp, which incorporates the chorus and outro of the song.