Skeleton Fred is a pop-punk friendship anthem, and it is one of the funniest things on the album, partly by accident. Fast palm-muted verses, a wide-open singalong chorus, gang vocals, handclaps, electric zaps and crackle, and low zombie groans under the second verse. It is about a skeleton with lightning hands and his best friend, a zombie, who sticks around even when everybody else runs away.
Let me tell you the story of the best joke on the record, because it is a perfect example of the fun we have writing these. When we were finishing the lyrics, we hit a snag. One chorus called the friend Skeleton Fred, and the next called him Zombie Fred. Same character, two different names, and the track title picked the wrong one. We had three ways to untangle it. We could rename the friend, rewrite half the song, or lean all the way in. We leaned in. They are both named Fred. There is a line in the bridge now where they figure it out. Wait, you’re Fred? I’m Fred too. Guess that’s why I trusted you. A continuity slip became the single best moment in the song. Kids absolutely lose it, and it is the kind of joke that only shows up if you stay loose and let the song surprise you.
Under all the goofiness it is a real friendship song, and that matters to me. Nobody else would walk with us, so let them run and let them scream. One’s got bolts and one’s got bones, and neither one of them walks alone. I will take a message like that, hiding inside a scrappy pop-punk singalong, every single time.
This is also just not a sound you hear in Halloween music. Pop-punk, gang vocals, a mosh-friendly friendship anthem about a skeleton and a zombie. Halloween has been stuck in one or two genres for decades. Part of the joy of making a whole album was getting to bring in every style I love, and letting a farting-goblin record sit next to a gothic opera sit next to a pop-punk banger.
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Coming next: my Christmas album, A Folklore Christmas. Pre-save it on Spotify and it drops straight into your library on release day.
