Prompt: "A non-holiday song for your favorite holiday"
Selected by Pat
"Cease to Exist"
Charles Manson
Lie: The Love and Terror Cult, 1970
Don't ever, ever, ever put me in charge of the Halloween party playlist, because I will definitely include this song. Until I listened to "Ptolemaea" earlier this summer, no other song sent a ripple of horror through me like the original "Cease to Exist." And that feeling (probably) wasn't even the artist's intent. It's all in hindsight. If you've ever seen the footage of Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel, and Leslie Van Houten singing as they walk to their murder trial, the line "Pretty girl, cease to exist" takes on a new, terrifying meaning.
In case you're wondering, this album was made entirely of demos Manson and company had recorded prior to the Tate-LaBianca murders. Manson later sold his writing credit on "Cease to Exist" to the Beach Boys, in exchange for some cash and a motorcycle. They adapted it to "Never Learn Not to Love." Apparently Charlie was outside the booth when they recorded the final cut.
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