The metronomic tick-tock of a clock introduces this adult nursery rhyme of a single. How can a clock sound so familiarly sinister and comfortingly familiar at the same time? The constant ticking is mirrored by the chiming chords of the staccato guitar throughout Peter Adams’ homage to Halloween and signals the introduction of…
The Boogie Man is a mythical creature who depending on the particular culture is employed to scare and frighten children who misbehave. Adams, has however, employed a more modern twist and the Boogie Man is used to frame the phenomenon that a lot of adults have to endure.
Endearingly, the single explores The Boogie Man for an adult audience; as we “twist and turn” chasing the ever elusive sleep at night as our anxieties come crashing in? Highlighting our realised anxieties in the darkness the singer narrates – “What was that behind the door?” – as our minds scan, fidget and race. Then concluding, rather sinisterly in his casually monotone voice: “We all know there is nothing we can do.”
The flat-lining voice of Adams reflects the monotony of “twisting and turning” whilst haunted and awake at night. As, uninvited, the Boogie Man in all his spiteful aliases pays you a visit in the form of : mounting bills, relationship failings, divisive politics, lack of money, Building Back Batter & health issues etc. The precise use of the word “you” subtly employed in the lyrics ensures we are all drawn into this modern day nightmare. Or is Adams just teasing us with his well-known humorous slant on life? Treating us to a trick or two…
Either way, this modern day folk-devil of a single is as hypnotic as a viral routine on tiktok.
The BoogieMan is released on all relevant platforms on the 22nd of October 2021.
By: The Swilgate Scuttler