folklore & fairytales

Filksong Genealogy: Sealskin

by

filkyeahfilk:

I never thought that I could hold you forever
Always knew deep down you’d have to go home
I can be grateful for these bright years together
And I know you miss the salt sea foam
If you hurry, you can still catch the tide, my love
If you hurry you can still catch the tide.

“Still Catch the Tide” by Talis Kimberley, performed here by Seanan McGuire with Michelle “Vixy” Dockrey, Tony Fabris, S.J. Tucker, and Amy McNally.  Lyrics are available here.

This is one of my favorite songs to sing along to when I want to be Sad About The Sea (a specific emotion that I experience with alarming regularity.)

If you want a selkie song with a happy ending, check out “The Maiden and the Selkie” by Heather Dale or “Glass Half Full of the Sea” by Benjamin Newman.

She puts on sealskin with a steady hand
Beast at sea, woman on land
She puts on sealskin, the color of foam
She knows what’s next: going home

“Sealskin” by Batya Wittenberg, performed here with the able assistance of Gary Ehrlich (guitar) and Joshua Kronengold (vocals), is the story of “Still Catch the Tide” rearranged to the tune of another Talis Kimberley song about a shapeshifting woman with a human lover: “Velvet” (lyrics and audio here).

… and it owes its existence in no small part to Bob Kanefsky’s “Velvet Tide” (lyrics here), which is a comedic song that takes the story of “Velvet” and rearranges it to the tune of “Still Catch the Tide.”

(Series: Filksong Genealogy)

 

Carving Knife – Leslie Hudson

by

I am bitter (I am bitter)
I am bitterness as cold as ice
I am jealous (I am jealous)
I am jealousy as old as night
I want better
I want better than your charming life
I am other (I am other)
I am otherwise a carving knife 

“Carving Knife” by Leslie Hudson, a song for all the villainesses of fairy tales. In the song description, Leslie explains,

Villains are often simply opportunistic. They seize potential in a moment in time and change their fortunes just as their counterparts do, but we’re not meant to root for them. Their function is primarily foil or challenger or catalyst. We don’t delve into their stories or take their circumstances into account.

But that stepmother is a widow with two young girls to care for who’ve lost their father, their station and their future. That succubus will starve if she doesn’t feed on the energy of another. That woman’s love went unrequited though she gave her whole heart, her womb proved unfruitful but she wanted children, her looks never improved with age, she had no magic doll guiding her choices, no wealthy benefactor, she led no charmed life.

Lyrics available on Bandcamp.

Disenchanted – Cheshire Moon

by

You can keep my hair
I don’t need it to feel pretty
You can keep my tower
I don’t need it to be strong
I’m racing out to find the place where the sun and the moon
Have coffee when you can’t see either one at all

“Disenchanted” by Cheshire Moon, a song for all the unwilling Rapunzels out there. Lyrics and chords available here.

King Henry & Faerie Queen – Heather Alexander; He of the Sidhe – Alexander James Adams

by


asdmabel:

borderlineanders:

titleknown:

bisexualcryptkeeper:

titleknown:

bisexualcryptkeeper:

My OTHER favorite Child Ballad is “King Henry,” because it is just… bizarre. A horse and an unspecified number of greyhounds and hawks get murdered in this one, but no humans this time.
Killing your own pets to feed them to a strange giant woman who just barged into your hunting lodge TOTALLY sounds like the sort of thing a king would have to do, doesn’t it?
Wish I knew which King Henry this song was written about, because I unquestionably accept its events as historical fact.
Don’t ever listen to any version of this song other than Heather Alexander’s, because you will inevitably be disappointed. (well, the Steeleye Span version is also acceptable)

@thetygre, @tyrantisterror

Because this post is getting attention again, I would like to append something wonderful that I recently learned. The musician you hear here is trans and now goes by the name of Alexander James Adams. Because of his obsession with fairies n’ shit, he steadfastly maintains the kayfabe story that his previous self, Heather, was a changeling and he, Alexander, was the child she replaced, but won the right to return from fairyland in a “Devil Went Down to Georgia” style fiddle duel with the faerie queen. This is a song he wrote that tells the whole story.

He gives me so much hope

Reblogging because, holy shit, this is amazing, @tyrantisterror, @thetygre, @mortharris look.

@transrevan

i’m sorry i’m adding this after already reblogging but??? the second song is a refilk of his previous song recorded pre-transition!!! which has more of his Epic Fiddle Playing

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

Filksong Genealogy: Save Yourselves!

by


(Series: Filksong Genealogy)
Above we have Seanan McGuire’s “Wicked Girls” (lyrics), performed in concert by the author along with Michelle “Vixy” Dockrey and Tony Fabris, S.J. “Sooj” Tucker, and Amy McNally.
And below, we have Bob Kanefksy’s truly wicked parody, “Save Yourselves!” (lyrics), performed in circle by Vixy and Tony.  Yes, that’s Seanan nearby in the circle, and yes, she’s hearing it for the first time.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

Likho’s Lullabye – Vixy & Tony

by

Sleep, my girl, and dream of home
Of lamps alight and hearth aflame
A china cup, a silver comb
An old grey wolf for you to tame
A rider come who knows your name

“Likho’s Lullabye,” based on a traditional Russian lullabye and the novel Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente, with additional lyrics & melody by Michelle Dockrey, sung by Michelle Dockrey of Vixy & Tony

Queen of Spindles – Talis Kimberley

by

And love will seal my lips to every murmur
For silence was the witch’s best advice
And love will heal my hands of every blister
For that too is a portion of the price,
I am the Queen of Spindles.

“Queen of Spindles,” by Talis Kimberley.  About a fairy tale, but not the one you probably expect.  Lyrics here.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

Dreams of Dragons – Mark Horning

by

And who here has never dreamed of dragons?
Who here has never dreamed of stars?
Well we might be dreaming still, but there’s a fire oe’r the hill
And a red Dragon has set her sights on Mars

Something new, inspired by the SpaceX announcement that they were planning to send a Dragon Capsule to Mars, “Dreams of Dragons,” by Mark Horning