Do the Unexpected(Don't React to the Sight of the Bones)
by @nwhosings
Liner Notes
I'm combining challenges with this. Probably my last full song here on FAWM this year.
I started the #writebydice challenge, but haven't been very inspired by it, well, that's how it goes sometimes.
I did roll and I got Number 35, write about Folklore/Mythology. That lined up with another challenge I've been wanting to do, which is the #intothewoods challenge by @richardmasters.
I rolled a 5, which sent me to a page full of North American Indigenous stories, and by fluke I picked a #canadian story, The Boy and The Dragon. A tale of a foundling off to make his fortune, this hero does some unexpected things, which in the end is what awards him his victory over the shapeshifting dragon.
I picked out the bits of story that I liked the best, and kept a skeleton of the whole tale as I did number 4 "rewrite the story as if it happened to you"
There is a line about being asked to help break a spell on an old woman in a murdery way. I left it in because it is an important moment of the hero trusting the people guiding him on his quest. The story doesn't make it gruesome, or even make it seem like there are any morals associated with the action. The old woman does come back to life, but she exits the story and goes off on her own path.
I just felt like it needed to be jazzy and simple, so I played around with the idea (I didn't stay on each chord for 4 bars.....) of 12 bar blues and spoken delivery alongside the singing.
I really don't know what to title this song. Could be either choice in the title bar for this or even Follow the Dragon Home (which I'm partial to, as I love dragons).
#fuc #acoustic #acousticonetake #personwithukulele #blues #jazz #spoken #filk #folklore #folkjazz
Lyrics
Do the unexpected
Follow the dragon home
Ask for fried corncakes
But don't react to the sight of the bones
Give me a pair of moccasins
Some birch bark or maple leaves
Let me find my own direction
I'm about to take a leap
Do the unexpected
Follow the dragon home
Ask for fried corncakes
But don't react to the sight of the bones
I've lived my whole life on the fringes
So magic is easy to see
When I'm asked to kill an old lady
To break a spell on her, I believe
Do the unexpected
Follow the dragon home
Ask for fried corncakes
But don't react to the sight of the bones
A little grey fish with red fins
A toad that answers back?
You think you're the only shapeshifter?
Is it imagination that you lack?
Watch out for whirlpools
They can drown you unawares
Oh, clever Dragon, how did you fall
Into the oldest trap that legend bears?
Do the unexpected
Follow the dragon home
Ask for fried corncakes
But don't react to the sight of the bones (x2)
Comments
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I was drawn in by the title, the take on it immediately twisted what I thought it would be and the story kept the twists coming with glee. It’s fitting for a dice roll high fantasy/folklore story to tell it like a character in a tavern. Don’t react to the sight of the bones works as the a hook - a catchy warning