For space is wide and good friends are too few.
But trust is the color of a dark seed growing.
Trust is the color of a heart’s blood flowing.
Trust is the color of a soul’s last breath.
Trust is the color of death.
“The Color of Trust” by The Chamber Pots, a song for Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series. Lyrics available on Bandcamp.
Though I’ve been laid low
And my lifeblood spilled
Though my body be shattered, undaunted I rise
My will unbroken
“Unbroken,” song for an injured knight, by Michael Kelly. Sort of like “The Mary Ellen Carter,” but with more jousting. Full lyrics and chords are on the his YouTube page!
In the time of rising mountains
In the age when life was new,
The trees were the rulers of life on earth
And the world as a forest grew.
I posted an old recording of this a while ago, and I’m so happy to find one now that’s not a grainy cassette rip – and with some new instruments and harmonies that give this song some truly magical depth. “Caretakers,” written by Bill Sutton, performed by Bill and Brenda Sutton. It’s the kind of song that shifts between realism and fantasy in a beautiful way…and the kind of song that makes me cry.
We dig too deep
Trying to rival the deeds of our fathers
We dig too deep
The children of giants, trying to stand on their shoulders
“Legacy,” by Michael Kelly. He mostly does SCA events and the like, but I (dog mod) met him at a post-apocalyptic event, and he’s not only an amazing singer, but incredibly supportive and encouraging. He got me to sing into a microphone alone for the first time (in the desert, for people wearing only leather and spikes), which took some coaxing, so I feel obligated to plug his Patreon, where he releases new recordings regularly for donors.
This one’s for the dwarves of Middle Earth, hence the beard. But don’t let the beard fool you! It’s a beautiful song. Lyrics and chords under the cut.
Say it once, say it
twice, say it so you won’t forget
Live a life, live it
hard, live each day without regret
“Molly’s Wake Song,” written and performed by Drake Meed (@makingcosplay on Twitter) at the Hour of Honor Critical Role meetup at GenCon 2019. A touching tribute to a fallen friend, and Drake left an equally poignant comment on the video:
“Thank you all, so incredibly much, for listening and allowing me to
share this. And, more importantly, sing this. Share it. Pass it forward
with anyone who will listen, if you feel so compelled. It was written as
a bardic and in the spirit of being carried on.”
In the spirit of that, full lyrics are under the cut, as are the chords Alvaro Alemparte figured out and put in the YouTube comments. The transcription is mine, so take it with some salt.
Moss Bliss did a great presentation of “A Flower and a Hufflepuff” at the recent GAFilk.
The lyrics are by Karl-Johan Norén, and the song is inspired by and to the tune of “En spelmans jordafärd” by Dan Andersson.
My local Faire’s season just wrapped up this weekend, and our Shakespeare sang this song. That version doesn’t seem to be online yet, but this is probably a higher quality recording anyway. Is there a specific word of “End-of-the-performance-run-ose?”
Child of promise, burning bright
The village wept for you that night
Your parents held you, let you go
Sent you away to learn and growI wrote a song about a sad wizard for Critical Role reasons, full lyrics under the cut
Ballad from the collection of a bard in Miwith Shili, who claims she got the story first-hand from a survivor of the Devil’s Dirge.
Lyrics below the cut!
“The Wrath of Achilles,” which weaves lines from The Iliad with Vanessa Cardui’s own interpretation of Achilles’ grief for Patroclus.
The song can be purchased on Bandcamp. Vanessa Cardui doesn’t have the lyrics up, but Google informs me that she takes the quoted parts from Fitzgerald’s translation.