Friday Five: Songs That Would Fit True Blood

This week’s Friday Five feature songs that would be a good fit on True Blood for next season. Written by the famous, knowledgeable and ever helpful DJ SweetMarie, after I read her top 40 list and challenged her to pick five. She was well up for the challenge and here are her choices and the reasons behind each one. Thanks, DJ SM!

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Five songs??  Hmmmmmm …  Tough choice.  So much good music.  The titles won’t be enough of a clue, in any case — gotta listen to the words and the arrangements.  That said, I’ll skip all the Bob Dylan because he’s already on the True Blood music editors’ radar.

I’d have to start with Irma Thomas.  She’s just a force of nature, a major figure in Louisiana blues and R&B, and this *is* Louisiana we’re talking about in True Blood.  The question then becomes: which song?  For its dark, slightly spooky arrangement, I think “Another Man Done Gone” is the ticket.  We already know there’s a high body count on True Blood, and depending on how much of the Charlaine Harris timeline Alan Ball decides to stick with, there ought to be more bloodyminded dudes dropping soon.  The song would certainly fit.  Then there’s the way Sookie’s love life seems to be unraveling, so more than one meaning here.

I really want Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game” in the mix, especially if Sook starts unwillingly falling for Eric any time soon — but we need a good dance/bar tune in there for Merlotte’s.  No playing favorites, then:  Susan Tedeschi‘s sharp, gritty “Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean” fits the bill (but we still love you, Chris).  More than enough mistreatment in TB to go around, as Tara and Sook can testify.

One for the werewolves:  “Cajun Moon” by J.J. Cale.  It’s swamp blues with a good bass beat from a classic master, and we know that bitch Debbie Pelt has to buy it soon, if the books are any guide and if only to make dear Alcide finally free of her (“That Woman Is Poison” would certainly describe the murderous Debbie, but I’ll go with a tune for any or all of the wolves).  “Cajun Moon” it is.

Now that there’s a brujo in Lafayette’s life, some Santana might be order.  However, as we don’t know if Jesus’s witchy ancestors will make a reappearance or not, it seems safer to forgo “Black Magic Woman” and stick with “Evil Ways.”  There are enough characters on the show with *that.*  Also, Muddy Waters’s “Hoochie Coochie Man” could certainly apply to either of our conjuring gents.  But Alan Ball promises some other witches in Season 4, too, so perhaps we shouldn’t get that specific.  Lots of voodoo/spell tunes to choose from.  I’ll take under-appreciated Louisianan Charles Sheffield and his version of “It’s Your Voodoo Working” over Imelda May’s cover of the same tune.

That leaves one more.  What with the vampire population around Bon Temps and so much of the action taking place after dark, the music should reflect some of that.  A furtive midnight burial brings the soft strains of “Pretty Polly” to mind, but we don’t know if there will be any of those next season.  So I’ll go with the logical choice:  Double Trouble’s “In The Middle Of The Night,” with vocals by Lu Ann Barton and Jimmie Vaughan.  So many potential references there, eh?  And it’s such a good groove, too.

Here’s your five, then, in reverse order:

5.  In The Middle Of The Night — Double Trouble with Lu Ann Barton and Jimmie Vaughan
4.  It’s Your Voodoo Working — Charles Sheffield
3.  Cajun Moon — J.J. Cale
2.  Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean — Susan Tedeschi
1.  Another Man Done Gone — Irma Thomas

A good balance all around.  If we need a bonus tune for the slow dancers, it’s a toss-up between “I Smell Trouble” by Roomful Of Blues and “Mean & Evil Ways” by Morry Sochat and The Special 20s.  But your TB compatriots should check out the rest of the 40, too: it’s a perfect playlist for a Halloween True Blood party!

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