This month I’ll be featuring some of the songs from my “Falloween” playlist, which currently has 518 songs. I listen to it most of the month, so I do hear all the songs several times, but I realize this isn’t a good playlist for sharing. Just a few songs throughout the month is acceptable, I think. 🎃

We’re starting with one of my favorites, Kenshi Yonezu (米津玄師). The song is “Shinigami” (死神) which is basically like a grim reaper situation. The lyrics are inspired by a famous folk story that I’ve come across in several ghost story collections and is also a common Rakugo (落語). For a very quick summary, the story is about a man who is down on his luck, a Shinigami helps him out, and then he tries to cheat death when he gets too greedy. There are consequences. The Rakugo version is what Yonezu is really pulling inspiration from, his lyrics are a Rakugo performance more or less, so I’ve also included a video of an actual Rakugo performance that I found in case you’re interested. It’s a great story, a great Rakugo performance, and a great song. Enjoy!

The song (sorry exexalien, this video won’t play for you, but this one will):

Yonezu’s video (not the full song, unfortunately, but it’s worth watching):

Rakugo performance:

Have a nice day/night! 🐺💎🌙