Dead Man's Bones: Ryan Gosling Made The Best Halloween Record
In 2005, the actor Ryan Gosling met writer, director, and producer Zach Shields. They were both dating the McAdams sisters, and in my mind, at some point during a nice meal in a nice restaurant, the ladies left the table, and the two men started engaging with one another as artists, finding common ground. This vision is fictitious, I’m sure, but please allow me to complete the fantasy to share this art with you.
During that conversation, the topic of Disneyland came up. Gosling, a former Disney star, remarked that his favorite thing about the theme park was The Haunted Mansion. And Shield’s face lights up with passion; he also loved The Haunted Mansion.
Four years later, the album Dead Man’s Bones is released silently, quietly in a new age of noisy attention seekers. Two actors and visually creative people came together to produce musical art. I am ready to proclaim this record the most excellent Halloween album ever.
A cursory view of the title and flow of these songs hints at the masterpieces contained within them:
Intro
Dead Hearts
In The Room Where You Sleep
Buried In Water
My Body’s A Zombie For You
Pa Pa Power
Young & Tragic
Paper Ships
Lose Your Soul
Werewolf Heart
Dead Man’s Bones
Flowers Grow Out Of My Grave
There are psychological reasons why art operates on a universal scale, even though it germinates from artists' myopic minds and hearts. It’s the most profound mystery of the human species how the magic trick of art can make people feel, think, and behave differently after they engage with it.
Shields was said to have been obsessed with ghosts as a child, requiring therapy to process his complex emotions and passions.
Gosling was likewise obsessed with ghosts and graveyards, death and darkness looming over us all.
As young men with extraordinary talents, they eventually turned their collaboration into expressive art.
Together, they played all the instruments on this album.
No click track.
No more than three takes on any song.
The heavy lifting of the album's emotional tone is done not by these two great artists but by dozens of great little ones. In addition, the Silverlake Conservatory of Music’s Children’s Choir sings throughout the entire album, creating bliss in the middle of darkness.
It is my pleasure to share a record with you that brings me great joy when I bring it out every October. I employ this art for enjoyment and to welcome Fall here in Ohio, preparing myself for All Hallow’s Eve to start bleeding into Christmas.
