Songs About Witchcraft

    I was driving home to Austin this past weekend with the Eagles discography on shuffle, when the song "Witchy Woman" came on. This got me thinking - how are witches typically portrayed in songs? 

    Though there are countless songs that mention or are about witches, for the sake of my research and analysis, I decided to focus on a few from household names: "Witchy Woman" by the Eagles, "Witchcraft: by Frank Sinatra, "Waking the Witch" by Kate Bush, and "Rhiannon" by Fleetwood Mac.

Witchy Woman: The Eagles

    Similar to many popular songs about witches, in "Witchy Woman", the Eagles depict the witchy woman as an object of desire. The first verse begins, "Raven hair and ruby lips. Sparks fly from her fingertips." These specific lines not only describe her appearance as leaning towards a darker, more gothic vibe, but it also ties in the long standing associations with ravens in spirituality and as dark omens. The song later says, "She held me spellbound in the night (woo-ooh). Dancing shadows and firelight." This imagery resembles the Sabbaths we have discussed in class, and also that the witchy woman is dancing at night in the firelight illustrates the idea that witches do things backwards. The next verse says, "Well, I know you want a lover, let me tell you, brother. She's been sleeping in the Devil's bed." Throughout history, accusers have claimed that witches sleep with the devil, and this has been used against the accused in witch trials. The song also says "She can rock you in the nighttime 'til your skin turns red." This line continues the songs presentation  of a "witchy" woman as a seductive and risqué woman who is able to enchant men. The Eagles' depiction is very similar to various stories of witches and female demons, such as succubus, using their magic or sexuality to lure and enchant men. In addition, the chorus repeats a line about how high the woman can fly, which ties in stereotypes of witches riding into the night on their brooms. The overall tone of the song is eerier than other songs by the band. Even the guitar cords used in playing this song are ones that are typically used to create an edgier, more mysterious sound. Upon research, I found that Don Henley described part of his inspiration for the song from “the roommate of a girl I was seeing in the early 1970s. All things occult were popular in those days. Ouija boards, séances, palm reading, etc.”

  Witchcraft: Frank Sinatra

    Though this song has a very romantic feel on the surface, upon deep diving into the words, it uses witchcraft as a means to justify a potentially questionable attraction. In "Witchcraft", Frank Sinatra compares his desire to being under a witch's spell. He describes himself as being bewitched and enchanted, and powerless against the effects of this woman. One verse says, "When you arouse the need in my, My heart says yes indeed in me, Proceed with what your leading me to." This verse and how it conveys that due to the spell he is under he would follow her anywhere she is leading him, ties into ideas of female demons luring men into danger, such as stories of sirens leading sailers to their deaths. In the first verse, Sinatra says, "That sly come-hither stare, That strips my conscience bare, It's witchcraft." These lines aligns with the depiction of witches being able to charm men beyond reason, and the adjective "sly" aligns with the common view of witches as being cunning and deceptive. He later describes feeling helpless against the magical allure of the woman by saying "And I’ve got no defense for it". Overall, the song plays into the idea of witchcraft being used as a luring and seductive force.

Waking the Witch: Kate Bush

    Personally, I find that this song leaves me with an anxious and eerie feeling, however, this is intended. Throughout the song, the voices chant and threaten to get a confession. The voices in the song attempt to get a confession out by promising "You won't burn (red, red roses), You won't bleed (pinks and posies), Confess to me, girl (red, red roses, go down)." This is very similar to the witch trials we discussed in class in which the accused would be tortured into a confession, or knew that confessing to being a witch is their only chance of survival. Throughout the song, there is imagery of a blackbird with its wings submerged in water. The song ends with the lines "Wake up the witch, Get out of the waves, Get out of the water." These lines made me think of the water test and how the accused who were not witches would drown and die, and the only way to survive was to be or say you were a witch. This song is different from many popular songs that involve witches or witchcraft which typically surround a man singing about an enchanting woman, as this song seems to be from the perspective of an accused witch. 

Rhiannon: Fleetwood Mac

    I would argue that "Rhiannon" is probably the most well-known song of the ones I have analyzed, and definitely illustrates the conventional image of a witch. Every line in this song has a tie to witchcraft. Throughout the song it repeats how Rhiannon is taken by the sky/wind and "Takes to the sky like a bird in flight." This brings to mind the image of a witch flying into the night on a broom that is repeated throughout a lot of popular media and stories, and was testified by "witnesses" during witch trials. The song also has a few lines that tie into love/lust such as "And wouldn't you love to love her?". This is similar to the theme I discussed in "Witchy Woman" and Witchcraft" of the witch as being seductive and desirable. The song also brings up the slyness that many associate with witches through the line "She is like a cat in the dark." This also ties in the stereotypical familiar of witches, the black cat. In addition, the song also references elements of nature such as the sky, wind, and stars. There has often been a tie associated between the occult and nature, which this line demonstrates. Also, it alludes to imagery of witches' Sabbaths at night. In researching the history of this song, I found that it involved a chance encounter through bibliomancy, as Nicks saw the name Rhiannon (a welsh witch) in a book and was drawn to it. "Rhiannon" portrays witchcraft as mysterious, yet also captivating.

Final thoughts: Artists have long been playing with society's fascination with the occult and its ability to draw people's interest, good or bad. This is apparent through the above songs. While the songs I analyzed by male artists/bands depicted witches and witchcraft solely as seductive and enchanting, the songs that were written by female artists seemed to offer a more holistic view, with Kate Bush's song even taking on the perspective of an accused witch. In conclusion, it seems that while men are able to profit off of depicting witches as risqué and alluring, female songwriters are able to get more in the perspective of a witch, potentially because a majority of those accused of witchcraft have historically been women.