This forum was closed on October 1st, 2010. However, the archives are open to the public and filled with vast amounts of good reading and information for you to enjoy. If you wish to meet some Wardrobians, please visit the Into the Wardrobe Facebook group.

Communal lyric effort?

Plato to MacDonald to Chesterton, Tolkien and the Boys in the Pub.
Forum rules
Please keep all discussion on topic and in line with our code of conduct.

Communal lyric effort?

Postby Stanley Anderson » July 28th, 2005, 4:52 pm

Well, I've been trying to come up with a meaty thread topic for this Tolkien forum, and haven't thought of any yet, but perhaps some silliness can do in the meantime. I thought we could try doing a "communal" parody of Don McLean's classic American Pie (not unlike Weird Al's Star Wars version).

It would be constructed by various contributors line-by-line with meandering lyrics (in the fanciful manner of the original), but instead relating to all things Middle-Earth-ian. I imagine it as a sort of farewell salute and reminiscence by Frodo as he sails off into the west from the Grey Havens. I'm thinking the chorus would go something like this :

So bye-bye, Middle Earth and the Shire.
I went wand'ring with the Ring
And threw it into the fire.
Them good ol' hobbits that I love and admire
Just can't mend the many wounds I've acquired
Sailing west will heal my desire.

The rest of the lines in all the verses could just randomly mention various aspects of Middle Earth and events in the quest of the Ring and the fellowship. An exact adherence to the original lyrics is not required, but the general feel of the meter and rhyme scheme would make it fun to try and sing in one's head. And any lines that also somehow mimic the feel of the original lyrics would be gravy. For instance, one of the best few lines of lyrics ever written (at least in my opinion, if only for its near perfection of "flow" and memorable imagery), are "And the three men I admire most/the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost, they caught the last train for the coast/The day the music died". I'm thinking perhaps something along this line (sorry to grab the best section of the whole song, but it's my idea and I get first dibs!:-).

And the three friends that I know so well
A wizard, Bilbo, Galadriel
We caught the last ship, said farewell,
And sailed into the West.

Well, it doesn't flow as smoothly as the original, but this thread isn't meant to generate a classic and lasting work of art – only to be a fun exercise in silliness and LotR references. I suggest going in lyrical order verse-by-verse rather than jumping around (as I did, hypocritically, with the chorus and "three men I admire most" section mentioned above. My excuse is that I was trying to explain and illustrate the idea mainly). If you have a go at adding as line or two, it will probably help to copy and paste the part already completed and then add on your own bit to the end so that readers can see how the thing is developing as a whole more easily. I'll start it off with the first line in a separate post to keep these "instructions" separate from the song itself.

Also, I'm posting the original song lyrics below for reference so that at least an attempt can be made to follow its general meter and style and rhyme scheme. But don't worry about being too picky. Again, it's meant to be fun.

--Stanley

Original lyrics to American Pie by Don McLean

A long, long time ago...
I can still remember
How that music used to make me smile.
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And, maybe, they’d be happy for a while.

But february made me shiver
With every paper I’d deliver.
Bad news on the doorstep;
I couldn’t take one more step.

I can’t remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride,
But something touched me deep inside
The day the music died.

So bye-bye, miss american pie.
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
And them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
Singin’, "this’ll be the day that I die.
"this’ll be the day that I die."

Did you write the book of love,
And do you have faith in God above,
If the Bible tells you so?
Do you believe in rock ’n roll,
Can music save your mortal soul,
And can you teach me how to dance real slow?

Well, I know that you’re in love with him
`cause I saw you dancin’ in the gym.
You both kicked off your shoes.
Man, I dig those rhythm and blues.

I was a lonely teenage broncin’ buck
With a pink carnation and a pickup truck,
But I knew I was out of luck
The day the music died.

I started singin’,
"bye-bye, miss american pie."
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
And singin’, "this’ll be the day that I die.
"this’ll be the day that I die."

Now for ten years we’ve been on our own
And moss grows fat on a rollin’ stone,
But that’s not how it used to be.
When the jester sang for the king and queen,
In a coat he borrowed from james dean
And a voice that came from you and me,

Oh, and while the king was looking down,
The jester stole his thorny crown.
The courtroom was adjourned;
No verdict was returned.
And while lennon read a book of marx,
The quartet practiced in the park,
And we sang dirges in the dark
The day the music died.

We were singing,
"bye-bye, miss american pie."
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
And singin’, "this’ll be the day that I die.
"this’ll be the day that I die."

Helter skelter in a summer swelter.
The birds flew off with a fallout shelter,
Eight miles high and falling fast.
It landed foul on the grass.
The players tried for a forward pass,
With the jester on the sidelines in a cast.

Now the half-time air was sweet perfume
While the sergeants played a marching tune.
We all got up to dance,
Oh, but we never got the chance!
`cause the players tried to take the field;
The marching band refused to yield.
Do you recall what was revealed
The day the music died?

We started singing,
"bye-bye, miss american pie."
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
And singin’, "this’ll be the day that I die.
"this’ll be the day that I die."

Oh, and there we were all in one place,
A generation lost in space
With no time left to start again.
So come on: jack be nimble, jack be quick!
Jack flash sat on a candlestick
Cause fire is the devil’s only friend.

Oh, and as I watched him on the stage
My hands were clenched in fists of rage.
No angel born in hell
Could break that satan’s spell.
And as the flames climbed high into the night
To light the sacrificial rite,
I saw satan laughing with delight
The day the music died

He was singing,
"bye-bye, miss american pie."
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
And singin’, "this’ll be the day that I die.
"this’ll be the day that I die."

I met a girl who sang the blues
And I asked her for some happy news,
But she just smiled and turned away.
I went down to the sacred store
Where I’d heard the music years before,
But the man there said the music wouldn’t play.

And in the streets: the children screamed,
The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed.
But not a word was spoken;
The church bells all were broken.
And the three men I admire most:
The father, son, and the holy ghost,
They caught the last train for the coast
The day the music died.

And they were singing,
"bye-bye, miss american pie."
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
And them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
Singin’, "this’ll be the day that I die.
"this’ll be the day that I die."

They were singing,
"bye-bye, miss american pie."
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
Singin’, "this’ll be the day that I die."
…on a night of rain Frodo smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that came over the water. And then it seemed to him that as in his dream in the house of Bombadil, the grey rain-curtain turned all to silver glass and was rolled back, and he beheld white shores and beyond them a fair green country under a swift sunrise.
User avatar
Stanley Anderson
Wardrobian
 
Posts: 3251
Joined: Aug 1996
Location: Southern California

Re: Communal lyric effort?

Postby Stanley Anderson » July 28th, 2005, 4:53 pm

…on a night of rain Frodo smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that came over the water. And then it seemed to him that as in his dream in the house of Bombadil, the grey rain-curtain turned all to silver glass and was rolled back, and he beheld white shores and beyond them a fair green country under a swift sunrise.
User avatar
Stanley Anderson
Wardrobian
 
Posts: 3251
Joined: Aug 1996
Location: Southern California

Re: Communal lyric effort?

Postby Stanley Anderson » July 29th, 2005, 2:47 pm

…on a night of rain Frodo smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that came over the water. And then it seemed to him that as in his dream in the house of Bombadil, the grey rain-curtain turned all to silver glass and was rolled back, and he beheld white shores and beyond them a fair green country under a swift sunrise.
User avatar
Stanley Anderson
Wardrobian
 
Posts: 3251
Joined: Aug 1996
Location: Southern California

Re: Communal lyric effort?

Postby Guest » August 1st, 2005, 5:40 am

Guest
 

Re: Communal lyric effort?

Postby Stanley Anderson » August 2nd, 2005, 2:53 pm

…on a night of rain Frodo smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that came over the water. And then it seemed to him that as in his dream in the house of Bombadil, the grey rain-curtain turned all to silver glass and was rolled back, and he beheld white shores and beyond them a fair green country under a swift sunrise.
User avatar
Stanley Anderson
Wardrobian
 
Posts: 3251
Joined: Aug 1996
Location: Southern California

Re: Communal lyric effort?

Postby Guest » August 2nd, 2005, 3:40 pm

Guest
 

Re: Communal lyric effort?

Postby Stanley Anderson » August 2nd, 2005, 10:10 pm

…on a night of rain Frodo smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that came over the water. And then it seemed to him that as in his dream in the house of Bombadil, the grey rain-curtain turned all to silver glass and was rolled back, and he beheld white shores and beyond them a fair green country under a swift sunrise.
User avatar
Stanley Anderson
Wardrobian
 
Posts: 3251
Joined: Aug 1996
Location: Southern California

Any original lyrics we can retain?

Postby Steve » August 20th, 2005, 1:30 pm

Great, guys.

I'm wondering if we can keep any of the original lyrics.

Maybe


"I can't remember if I cried,
when I read about his widowed bride,
But Arwen kept her elvish pride,
Long after the Third Age died."
User avatar
Steve
Wardrobian
 
Posts: 730
Joined: Aug 1999
Location: Waxhaw, North Carolina, USA


Return to Inklings & Influences

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered members and 12 guests

cron