Music / Dead Man's Party

"Don't run away! It's only me!"

Dead Man's Party is the 4th album by Cult New Wave Music band Oingo Boingo, released in the year 1985.

This album, unlike the earlier albums of the band, has a more poppy and danceable sound and basically downplays the whole Ska influence those three albums had. And even though it drop the Ska-Punk elements to a degree, the album also has the bands three Signature Songs on it: The Title Track, "Stay" and the theme song for Weird Science (the latter of which Danny Elfman regretted since it didn't fit the repertoire).

Tracklist:

1. "Just Another Day" (5:14)
2. "Dead Man's Party" (6:23)
3. "Heard Somebody Cry" (4:39)
4. "No One Lives Forever" (4:16)
5. "Stay" (3:39)
6. "Fool's Paradise" (4:36)
7. "Help Me" (3:47)
8. "Same Man I Was Before" (3:26)
9. "Weird Science" (6:10)

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It's a troper's party! Who could ask for more?:

• Calacas: The album cover was inspired by The Day of The Dead, with all of the skeletons dancing and partying. There is even a skeletal mariachi band.
• Epic Rocking: Apart from the three minute songs, the album has more lenghty tracks then the earlier three. Big example would be the Title Track, which is about six minutes and twenty-three seconds.
• For Science!: "Weird Science", natch.
• Halloween Songs: Basically the whole album, since it does have themes of death and the related things about it, but only more optimistic like "Dead Man's Party" and "No One Lives Forever".
• Mad Scientist: "Weird Science" is sung by one.
• One-Word Title: "Stay".
• Performance Video: "Just Another Day", "Dead Man's Party" and "Stay"'s music videos are these. With "Stay" and "Just Another Day" having some unique touches to make it feel more surreal.
• Video Full of Film Clips: The videos for "Dead Man's Party" and "Weird Science".
• We All Die Someday: "No One Lives Forever" takes the Anti-Nihilist approach, basically throwing a party with the awareness of mortality.
• Word Salad Lyrics / Word-Salad Horror: Even when Oingo Boingo changed their sound to more poppy endeavors, their cryptic lyrics still linger on.
  • "Heard Somebody Cry" for example:
    The shoe is on the other foot—the glove is on the fist
    The first is like a cannonball—but it feels like a kiss
    I got a bed that's real soft—in a room that's always sad
    I thought I heard a window sigh—I though I heard somebody cry

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