Despite the temptation to include songs where blood is only mentioned in a line or a brief refrain, I have tried to choose music that is actually about blood or where the lyrics are saturated with it.
This is potentially a sombre and depressing theme, so I'm starting the playlist on a lighter note with a cowboy song and a delightful scientific description of the physiological function of blood, Blood On the Saddle.
The mood grows darker with a murder ballad by Sam Amidon, an old song given a very 20th-century treatment and Duke Ellington's Blood Count, where the corpuscle count denotes terminal illness. Blood is also a potent symbol in religious mysticism and David Tibet's oddly touching All The World Makes Great Blood conveys this.
Suzanne Vega sings that Blood Makes Noise. John Cage's 4'33" is frequently mocked but is actually about the impossibility of silence, as even in a sonically dead environment, you will still be able to hear your own blood. Smog's Bloodflow is typically enigmatic but filled with angst and terror. Sufjan Stevens does a lovely cover version of the Castanets' You Are the Blood, where blood symbolises life force; and Joan Baez speaks over an orchestral backing to a similar theme.
Blood is also used to convey horror and disgust. Sunn 0)))'s Báthory Erzsébet is about a notorious Hungarian queen who preserved her youth by bathing in the blood of virgins and, along with vampire bats, is probably the origin of many vampire legends. Meanwhile, Anaal Nathrakh wants to vomit blood all over you. In contrast, and to send you off without nightmares, Gavin Bryars uses a loop of a homeless man singing about the redemptive power of Christ's blood. It's hard to imagine keeping such faith in his circumstances.
The playlist
Tex Ritter – Blood On the Saddle
They Might Be Giants – The Bloodmobile
Sam Amidon – How Come That Blood
Duke Ellington – Blood Count
Current 93 – All the World Makes Great Blood
Suzanne Vega – Blood Makes Noise
Smog – Blood Flow
Sufjan Stevens – You Are the Blood
Joan Baez – Song in the Blood
Sunn 0))) – Báthory Erzsébet
Anaal Nathrakh – I Wish I Could Vomit Blood On You People
Gavin Bryars – Jesus Blood Never Failed Me Yet
• Listen to these songs on a YouTube playlist.
• See all the readers' recommendations on last week's blog, from which Mnemonic selected the songs above.
• Here's a Spotify playlist containing readers' recommendations on this theme.
