Colton Dixon brings hope to Halloween season with Scripture-inspired ‘Bones’ 

Singer Colton Dixon wants to change the narrative about Halloween, and he’s using Scripture to do it.

This month, Dixon released a single and music video filled with imagery that seems fitting for the season – dust, bones and even death – but with a biblical twist: God brings the dead to life, and good ultimately triumphs.

The song, simply titled Bones, opens with a line seemingly straight out of a horror movie: “I was a dead man walking, barely alive” – before turning to a message of hope: “darkness fades and the skeletons shake when you call upon His name.” The chorus repeatedly declares, “You bring these bones to life.”

“The song is straight from Scripture,” Dixon said during a call with Heartlander News and other media members.

The song’s inspiration, he explained, is the valley of dry bones in Ezekiel 37, where the prophet Ezekiel witnesses God bringing dry bones to life, symbolizing His promise to restore the people of Israel.

The music video shows Dixon standing in a cemetery, singing over his own grave, marked “Here Lies Colton Dixon.”

Dixon is a Christian singer-songwriter who rose to national prominence after finishing seventh on Season 11 of American Idol in 2012. His hits include Build a Boat, More of You and Miracles.

“We picked October for a reason,” he said of the song’s release date. “The Bible says, ‘This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it’ – and that applies to Oct. 31 as well.”

Dixon quickly added that “the song doesn’t mean that we celebrate Halloween,” but it does remind believers of their spiritual authority through Christ.

“You have the authority, the spiritual authority to prophesy over dead things. … It could be a dream, a dead dream, a dead relationship, a dead marriage, dead bank account, whatever it is.”

For Dixon, the seasonal imagery points to God’s power to bring new life where there was once death.

“What’s cool about the imagery of the song is it fits right in line with what most people celebrate this time of year, but God’s not in the business of death. He’s actually in the opposite business of bringing dead things to life,” Dixon said.

“I hope it encourages people to go, ‘Oh, wow – I have just unlocked a new tool for my tool belt. I get to now speak over these things in my life.’ So that’s how I hope it kind of shifts the conversation.”

(Image credit: Screen Grab / YouTube)