Music

What are you favourite songs, Imgur? To get us started, I want to share some of mine.
I'm into folk music and am learning to sing some of these songs. I constantly have to explain to my singing teacher that I am not a psychopath!

Queen of Elvan's Nouricce (rearranged by Rachel Newton)

You've heard of changelings, right? In some stories the fairies steal away a mother instead of a baby. This song is based on an old ballad about a mother who was stolen and wants to go home. Rachel Newton reckons the stories were allegorically about post-natal depression which really comes across in her version.

Alison Cross by Malinky

Alison Cross is an ugly old witch who tries to seduce a young man, the narrator of the song. Three times she asks him to sleep with her, three times he says he'd rather be a toadstool under a tree - can you guess what she does to him?

Long Lankin (no known recordings)

This is a gruesome Scottish ballad. The ballad starts with the Laird telling his wife to lock up when he's away in case Long Lankin comes. The story (outside the ballad) is that the Laird owed Long Lankin money but refused to pay. The lady locks everything well but Lankin sneaks in and, with the help of the false nurse, murders the lady and her baby.
Favourite line: "there's blood in the kitchen, there's blood in the hall, there's blood in the parlour where my lady did fall." I sing this every time I get my period.

Lord Gregory (no known recordings)

Again, the story is outside of the ballad. Lord Gregory courted and won a young lady and returned to his island home to prepare the wedding. When the lady arrives, pregnant and dishevelled, Gregory's mother tells her that he is marrying someone else. The ballad is the song she sings on the boat back to land, during which journey she slowly freezes to death. She prays for forgiveness for her false love.

Cruel mother (e.g. as on Elizabeth Stewart's Binorrie album)

There are countless versions of this song, and some people claim it was the inspiration behind Wordsworth's poem The Thorn.
In the ballad, a mother either kills her unborn children or her very young babies (depending on the version). Later, she grows ill and sees two children playing. She says she wishes they were hers and they turn round and say that they were hers but now she will burn in hell. I think this song is more about guilt than condemnation though.

The Bonny Swans (Loreena McKennit)

I assume this song is based on an folk legend where one sister murders another in order to steal her fiance and inheritance. A harpist finds the bones and uses them to make a new harp. When he arrives at the wedding hall the harp starts singing and tells the story of her murder. This version is a bit garbled and has lines like: "Of father, oh daddy, here swims a swan... It's very like a gentle woman." However, the music is great - I also do some bellydancing to it for fun!

Siuil a Ruin (e.g. by Anuna)

Popular Irish song about a woman missing her lover. She decides to wander the world looking for him.
Art by: http://flyingphoenixfire.deviantart.com/art/Siuil-A-Ruin-213933623

Angel in Disguise by Jennifer Crook

A gentle little song about the people in our lives who do small things which end up making a big difference.

Holmgard and Beyond by Turisas

I think this is technically Viking Metal. The whole album is great but the title song is the best (in my humble opinion). It's about Varangians setting out for adventure (also, one of my favourite books is about Varangians so I like listening/reading together).