ParadesNo. 7470 · The 2026 edition
Halloween Parade
Step into a world of spooky spectacles and creative costumes at our annual Halloween Parade!
Our own summary of the original — the full post and photos live at loureed.it.
The Halloween Parade is a thrilling community event where participants and spectators enjoy a procession of creatively decorated floats, eerie music, and an array of imaginative costumes. It's a family-friendly celebration that brings the spirit of Halloween to life with a festive and slightly spooky atmosphere.
About this
A complete fan transcription of Lou Reed's 1989 song "Halloween Parade" from the album New York. The page presents the full lyric alongside chord charts for every section in four keys, note-by-note guitar tablature, and the closing coda. It also credits the guitar riff to Mike Rathke and the transcription to Shiroh Kouchi, with a key to the tablature symbols.
Tips
- Tab symbols: h = hammer on, p = pull off, b = bend string up, r = release bend, / = slide up, \ = slide down, v = vibrato, ^ = harmonics.
- The A-section tab includes a low-E figure written as -(-0h2p0h2p0-)- and a second guitar part marked "left: Lou."
- Each tabbed figure is marked to be played twice (x 2) within its section.
- The song shifts keys across its parts: A, D, G, and C, with the coda in the F/A#/C area.
Facts from the original
- "Halloween Parade" is a Lou Reed song from the 1989 album New York.
- The song was written by Lou Reed.
- The lyric depicts a downtown New York Halloween parade of costumed characters on and around Christopher Street.
- The repeating refrain is "This Halloween is something to be sure, especially to be here without you."
- The narrator's mood darkens as the song goes on, largely because an absent person is not around.
- Two later sections name parade figures who will never be seen again, including Johnny Rio and Rotten Rita.
- A key line reveals the singer's private fear about the missing person: "I was afraid that they meant you."
- The page provides chord charts for the A, D, G, and C sections of the song.
- The A section progression is A A D D / Bm Bm G G.
- The D section progression is D D G G / Em Em C C.
- The G section progression is G G C C / Am Am F F.
- The C section progression is C C F F / Dm Dm A# A#.
- The coda progression is F F A# C, repeated, and includes background vocals.
- The guitar riff is credited to Mike Rathke on the right channel.
- The transcription is credited to Shiroh Kouchi.
- The tablature legend explains h as hammer-on, p as pull-off, b as bend, r as release bend, / as slide up, \ as slide down, v as vibrato, and ^ as harmonics.
From the original
The page is built around the lyrics and chord structure of Lou Reed's "Halloween Parade," a song from his 1989 album New York. The lyric paints a raucous downtown Halloween parade filled with costumed figures — drag queens, celebrity impersonators, neighborhood kids, and street characters — parading through Christopher Street and the surrounding avenues. Against this noisy, celebratory backdrop, the narrator repeats a mournful refrain: this Halloween is something to be sure, especially to be here without you. The parade becomes a frame for grief, as the singer notices the faces and voices that have vanished — people like Johnny Rio and Rotten Rita — and admits a private fear that the missing person is gone for good. The page continues past the lyric into the musical scaffolding: chord progressions for each part of the song in the keys of A, D, G, and C, tablature for the guitar parts, and a repetition of the coda, "See you next year, at the Halloween Parade." A credit line identifies the right-channel riff as Mike Rathke's and the transcription as the work of Shiroh Kouchi.
