An intriguing thought strikes me, as I near the completion of the first draft of a new song. To the extent that form follows content (yes, Mr. Sondheim, to the best of my ability), it feels right now as if process follows form. My recollection of getting my handful of Bardic songs to date on the page, the process of working through each one feels as if it mirrored the nature of the song. “The Bastard’s Tale” came out quickly, rushing to the page, hot, angry, and urgent, impatient to get to the point. “My Thirst” lurched drunkenly to and fro during the writing, staggering for a day through the wrong tune, which had to be rewritten, shortening every line by a couple of syllables–this had the effect of tightening the jokes and making the song easier to sing as if inebriated, but at the time the rework was a touch like a hangover. “Call Me Will”, whose concept had eluded me for over a year, was coy and required stalking for a few weeks even after it took shape. It took patience and guile to lure it into place, but once I had it pinned, I was surprised at how little rewriting it actually required–it more or less sank right into the page in the end.
Month: October 2012
I’m a little excited…for the first time since I started doing Bardic seriously, I have a second song percolating in the same year (the first one was “Call Me Will” back in May). I’m hoping to have a completed set of verses to take with me if I get the chance to attend the monthly Bardic workshop up in Concordia next month. I guess we’ll see.
I spent Saturday at Concordia of the Snows up near Albany, NY, for their Winter Nights event. It was and incredible day dedicated to performance and (according to Toki Redbeard, the autocrat) very relaxed competition. This was my first time entering a Bardic competition, if you don’t count the Depressing Song contest from last Pennsic, which was wonderful (and where I tied for first place), but a different animal: an entry level contest for new bards, who only needed to perform one song, with only the stipulation that it be depressing. Winter Nights, by contrast, would be an all-day competition for Bards at various experience levels, with head-to-head performances, topic challenges, and multiple rounds of performing. For those who are intrigued but unfamiliar with such things, as I had been, or who have been to other Bardic competitions and are curious how Winter Nights is structured, I offer some details of my (joyous!) experience there.
Drake Oranwood 