"Dance Macabre" is a song by Swedish

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

Ghost In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...

. It was their second single from their fourth studio album ''

Prequelle ''Prequelle'' is the fourth studio album by the Swedish rock band Ghost. It was released on 1 June 2018 and produced by Tom Dalgety. The album's first single, "Rats", was released ahead of the album on 13 April, and as of 28 July, had peaked at n ...

''. It topped the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Mainstream Rock Songs Mainstream Rock is a music chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States. It is an administrative category that combines the " active rock" and " heritage rock" fo ...

chart for two weeks in February 2019.

Background

"Dance Macabre" is a song from Ghost's fourth studio album, ''Prequelle''. The song was debuted in a live setting, being played live at a surprise live show on May 5, 2018. The studio version was previewed via the band's Instagram story on May 17, a day prior to being officially released. Additionally, a separate version of the song, a

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

remix version, was released on August 24, 2018, done by

synthwave Synthwave (also called retrowave, or futuresynth) is an electronic music microgenre that is based predominantly on the music associated with the Film score, film soundtracks of action films, science fiction films, and horror films of the 1980s. ...

musician

Carpenter Brut Franck Hueso, better known by his stage name Carpenter Brut, is a French darksynth artist from Poitiers, France. He has released three EPs, ''EP I'' (2012), ''EP II'' (2013) and ''EP III'' (2015), which were collected and released together as t ...

. The remix had been requested by Ghost frontman

Tobias Forge Tobias Jens Forge (; born 3 March 1981) is a Swedish musician. He is the frontman, leader, primary songwriter, and sole continuous member of the masked rock band Ghost, performing live as their vocalist under the stage names Papa Emeritus, Cardi ...

in April 2018, after Brut had opened for Ghost on tour in 2016. The song was later released as the second single from ''Prequelle'', after "

Rats Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents. Species of rats are found throughout the order Rodentia, but stereotypical rats are found in the genus ''Rattus''. Other rat genera include ''Neotoma'' (pack rats), '' Bandicota'' (bandicoot ...

". In February 2019, the song topped the ''

chart for two weeks. It was the band's third consecutive song to top the chart, after "Rats" and " Square Hammer".

Music video

A music video was released on October 17, 2018. It was described by ''

Consequence of Sound ''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television. History ''Consequence of Sound'' was founded in Septem ...

'' as "a homage to ''

The Rocky Horror Picture Show ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' is a 1975 independent musical comedy horror film produced by Lou Adler and Michael White, directed by Jim Sharman, and distributed by 20th Century Fox. The screenplay was written by Sharman and Richard O ...

.''" The song's music video features two men arriving at a house seeking entry to a party. One of the men is unsure, while the other is excited for the night ahead. They are questioned by a spooky man in facepaint, and then are promptly let in the house. As the video progresses, the party grows more and more eventful while everyone is dancing. Meanwhile, one of the earlier men is seen dancing with a woman, who then bestows upon him the signature facepaint of Papa Emeritus. She then punches him in the left eye, giving him the iconic white eye as seen in the band's numerous vocalists.

Composition and themes

Musically, the song was noted as having more of a "dance music" vibe than most of their work. Forge noted that when he originally wrote the song, he didn't envision it as a Ghost song, but once he started writing lyrics, he felt he could make it work as part of the album. Forge also shared the track with some "songwriter friends" of his, who encouraged him to use it as a Ghost song. Forge was inspired by the music diversity that

Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

would have with their albums, feeling that Ghost could similarly use some diversity. Lyrically, the song is about the

Black Plague The Black Death was a bubonic plague pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the list of epidemics, most fatal pandemics in human history; as many as people perished, perhaps 50% of Europe's 14th century population. ...

– a theme across the entire ''Prequelle'' album – specifically about how people would literally dance and party until they died to cope with the illness.

Reception

''Metal Injection'' identified the song as the standout track on ''Prequelle''.

Track listing

May 2018 release

August 2018 release

In Prequelle Exalted box set

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes. *

– vocals (credited as "Cardinal Copia") *A Group of Nameless Ghouls – lead guitar, rhythm guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, drums

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control Songs about diseases and disorders 2018 songs 2018 singles Ghost (Swedish band) songs Loma Vista Recordings singles Songs written by Tobias Forge Songs written by Salem Al Fakir Songs written by Vincent Pontare Song recordings produced by Tom Dalgety