Dear Jukebox Operator....
May. 1st, 2014 10:51 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
measured_wordsI thought that would be a good name for a jukebox writer, but now mu brain is providing helpful coin slot entendres, so maybe not. Whatever, I'm going with it!
So, Dear Jukebox Operator:
Thank you very much for writing something for me. I want to say first of all that if you have a strong idea about what you want to write, please feel free to run with it! I have tried to give some general ideas of things that I think might be cool for the stories, but for the most part I'm pretty open to interpretations. I'm okay with any rating, I don't have any real squicks or triggers. I like things that are scary and creepy, but I also like things that a cute or funny or fluffy (though I'm not sure if any of the songs I picked really lean that way). I don't need happy endings, but I do enjoy them. If you have different ideas though, lemme have 'em! I like character introspection, I like world building, I like plot. I like porn, but I prefer plot to go with it. Really, go wild! I'm pretty easy to please!
I am really excited for this fest, possibly more than is rational. I have a longstanding love of folk music and other forms of ballads and song-stories, and I like thinking about what we don't know as much as what we do. The canons we have to work with here are mostly pretty loose, and I'm excited to see where people go with them. I recognize that this is a lot closer to original fic than most fandom-fests, and I appreciate that it can be harder to make things up whole cloth, so really, thank you! Write what you want, what inspires you, and hopefully what is below has some good ideas if you're feeling lost!
7 (Prince and the New Power Generation
Video link
All 7 and we'll watch them fall
They stand in the way of love and we will smoke them all
With an intellect and a savoir-faire
No one in the whole universe will ever compare
I am yours now and you are mine
And together we'll love through
All space and time, so don't cry
One day all 7 will die
Please feel free to disregard the intro story on the video - I personally feel like the song is far more epic than the implied corporate murder shenanigans. But who are the seven? Why do they need to die? Is ti a revenge thing? Was there an actual angel? Does it have a real religious element, or is that a metaphor for something else? It this revolution that is being called for righteous or not? Is there a real actual war with armies? Who is the singer - a charismatic cult leader promising false hope? is what he is preaching what he really believes or is he mounting a force under false pretenses to serve his own ends? Or is he some chosen holy figure heralding some kind of Revelations-style apocalypse, after which whose who stand with him will ascend to a new city of gold? I am very interested in this epic struggle against the forces of (perceived) evil, and I would love to see something more of it that gives any kind of insight into its complexities.
The Green Valley (Puscifer)
Hello stranger,
Can you tell us where you've been?
More importantly,
How ever did you come to be here?
Though a stranger,
You can rest here for a while.
But save your energy,
Your journey here is far from over.
Come the sunrise,
We'll descend through Judgement Valley
And weigh your worth
Before her majesty, the Verde River.
What is the river, what is its power to judge? Who is the traveler, and where are they going that they need to pass this obstacle? Who is the singer, and what is their role as regards the river - a gatekeeper? A priest? Just a local person who has seen this all before? Does the river have real power - is it some kind of spirit or god? Or at least does the the singer believe so, and how does one go addressing the river? What happens if the traveler is not judged worthy? What happens if they try to cross without being judged? I think there is a lot to work with here, and I wold be happy to hear about any aspect of it!
Invisible Light (Scissor Sisters)
Babylon,
Where bricks of mortared diamonds tower,
Sailor's lust and swagger lazing in moon's beams,
Whose laser gaze penetrates this sparkling theater of excess and strobed lights,
Painted whores, sexual gladiators, fiercely old party children,
All wake from their slumber to debut the Bacchanal.
This song is so suggestive to me, and I can listen to it over and over and over. It's very trance-y. what is the invisible light? Who is the audience here? Is this just all about drugs? Some metaphysical trancendence (through drugs/music?)? What about the monologue by Sir Ian McKellen (yes really) - what's that about? If you just want to take a piece of this and run with it, that would be awesome. If you want to watch the crazy... B-grade/exploitation/cult-movie like video and tell me anything about that, I'm also totally game.
King Henry (Steeleye Span)
And darkness covered all the hall
Where they sat at their meat
The gray dogs, yowling, left their food
And crept to Henry's feet
And louder howled the rising wind
And burst the fastened door
And in there came a grisly ghost
Stamping on the floor
I want to know about the ghooooost! Who is she? Is this something she has been cursed with - to find a man who is "courteous" enough to comply with her demands? Or is it a test of her own devising? Either way - what is she after - is her transformation permanent? Is she still a ghost, though now a beautiful woman? I think 'ghost' here is not a traditional term as she has obviously corporal desires - Henry calls her a fiend from hell. Is this true? But what does she want, either going in to this as a terrifying ghostly monster woman, or coming out of it afterwards? Was Henry a means to an end, or now that they are 'married', does she intent to stay with him? What does his courteousness amount to in the morning? And really, what kind of basis for a relationship is this :V How do the politics fall out? I am happy for stories set before or after the song itself, but I really would like to see a focus on the lady/ghost/fiend :)
No Death (Mirel Wagner)
My baby has a swollen face
Long stiff limbs
Them eyes are black pits
Of a place where I've been
Her hair is long
Still smells like mud
She answered to my kiss
With a rotten tongue
So, yes, this is a creepy very haunting song. Is this about lovers? About a very twisted mother/child relationship? What state, exactly is the dead person in- are they just a corpse, are they animated somehow? How did the singers 'baby' die? Was the singer responsible? Is this about the madness of grief? What all has the singer done to try and stave off Death - and what *is* Death? Is it a grim reaper or similar? Is it whatever was responsible for that death in the first place? Has it only come for the 'baby' or is it here for both, so that they will not be kept apart? What happens next? Anything that can capture the atmosphere of the song would be lovely.
Mama Loi, Papa Loi (Exuma)
I'll spit my spit,
In your spit.
Then let seven snakes,
Come up from the pit.
I'll stand under this mango tree.
Till you come, come to me.
This is a song by a Bahamian group from the 70's. This is a song about Obeah, a Caribbean spiritual practice informed by African traditions. The artist has a bunch of other songs about it, claiming to be an Obeah man - a practitioner who creates potions and amulets to summon and control the spirits. And Of course... make zombies. Not the flesh eating brainless kind, but the dead who are enslaved to perform service to the living. I love this song, I'm fascinated by it, and I would kill to see a story spun from it.
Thanks so much, author/operator!
So, Dear Jukebox Operator:
Thank you very much for writing something for me. I want to say first of all that if you have a strong idea about what you want to write, please feel free to run with it! I have tried to give some general ideas of things that I think might be cool for the stories, but for the most part I'm pretty open to interpretations. I'm okay with any rating, I don't have any real squicks or triggers. I like things that are scary and creepy, but I also like things that a cute or funny or fluffy (though I'm not sure if any of the songs I picked really lean that way). I don't need happy endings, but I do enjoy them. If you have different ideas though, lemme have 'em! I like character introspection, I like world building, I like plot. I like porn, but I prefer plot to go with it. Really, go wild! I'm pretty easy to please!
I am really excited for this fest, possibly more than is rational. I have a longstanding love of folk music and other forms of ballads and song-stories, and I like thinking about what we don't know as much as what we do. The canons we have to work with here are mostly pretty loose, and I'm excited to see where people go with them. I recognize that this is a lot closer to original fic than most fandom-fests, and I appreciate that it can be harder to make things up whole cloth, so really, thank you! Write what you want, what inspires you, and hopefully what is below has some good ideas if you're feeling lost!
7 (Prince and the New Power Generation
Video link
All 7 and we'll watch them fall
They stand in the way of love and we will smoke them all
With an intellect and a savoir-faire
No one in the whole universe will ever compare
I am yours now and you are mine
And together we'll love through
All space and time, so don't cry
One day all 7 will die
Please feel free to disregard the intro story on the video - I personally feel like the song is far more epic than the implied corporate murder shenanigans. But who are the seven? Why do they need to die? Is ti a revenge thing? Was there an actual angel? Does it have a real religious element, or is that a metaphor for something else? It this revolution that is being called for righteous or not? Is there a real actual war with armies? Who is the singer - a charismatic cult leader promising false hope? is what he is preaching what he really believes or is he mounting a force under false pretenses to serve his own ends? Or is he some chosen holy figure heralding some kind of Revelations-style apocalypse, after which whose who stand with him will ascend to a new city of gold? I am very interested in this epic struggle against the forces of (perceived) evil, and I would love to see something more of it that gives any kind of insight into its complexities.
The Green Valley (Puscifer)
Hello stranger,
Can you tell us where you've been?
More importantly,
How ever did you come to be here?
Though a stranger,
You can rest here for a while.
But save your energy,
Your journey here is far from over.
Come the sunrise,
We'll descend through Judgement Valley
And weigh your worth
Before her majesty, the Verde River.
What is the river, what is its power to judge? Who is the traveler, and where are they going that they need to pass this obstacle? Who is the singer, and what is their role as regards the river - a gatekeeper? A priest? Just a local person who has seen this all before? Does the river have real power - is it some kind of spirit or god? Or at least does the the singer believe so, and how does one go addressing the river? What happens if the traveler is not judged worthy? What happens if they try to cross without being judged? I think there is a lot to work with here, and I wold be happy to hear about any aspect of it!
Invisible Light (Scissor Sisters)
Babylon,
Where bricks of mortared diamonds tower,
Sailor's lust and swagger lazing in moon's beams,
Whose laser gaze penetrates this sparkling theater of excess and strobed lights,
Painted whores, sexual gladiators, fiercely old party children,
All wake from their slumber to debut the Bacchanal.
This song is so suggestive to me, and I can listen to it over and over and over. It's very trance-y. what is the invisible light? Who is the audience here? Is this just all about drugs? Some metaphysical trancendence (through drugs/music?)? What about the monologue by Sir Ian McKellen (yes really) - what's that about? If you just want to take a piece of this and run with it, that would be awesome. If you want to watch the crazy... B-grade/exploitation/cult-movie like video and tell me anything about that, I'm also totally game.
King Henry (Steeleye Span)
And darkness covered all the hall
Where they sat at their meat
The gray dogs, yowling, left their food
And crept to Henry's feet
And louder howled the rising wind
And burst the fastened door
And in there came a grisly ghost
Stamping on the floor
I want to know about the ghooooost! Who is she? Is this something she has been cursed with - to find a man who is "courteous" enough to comply with her demands? Or is it a test of her own devising? Either way - what is she after - is her transformation permanent? Is she still a ghost, though now a beautiful woman? I think 'ghost' here is not a traditional term as she has obviously corporal desires - Henry calls her a fiend from hell. Is this true? But what does she want, either going in to this as a terrifying ghostly monster woman, or coming out of it afterwards? Was Henry a means to an end, or now that they are 'married', does she intent to stay with him? What does his courteousness amount to in the morning? And really, what kind of basis for a relationship is this :V How do the politics fall out? I am happy for stories set before or after the song itself, but I really would like to see a focus on the lady/ghost/fiend :)
No Death (Mirel Wagner)
My baby has a swollen face
Long stiff limbs
Them eyes are black pits
Of a place where I've been
Her hair is long
Still smells like mud
She answered to my kiss
With a rotten tongue
So, yes, this is a creepy very haunting song. Is this about lovers? About a very twisted mother/child relationship? What state, exactly is the dead person in- are they just a corpse, are they animated somehow? How did the singers 'baby' die? Was the singer responsible? Is this about the madness of grief? What all has the singer done to try and stave off Death - and what *is* Death? Is it a grim reaper or similar? Is it whatever was responsible for that death in the first place? Has it only come for the 'baby' or is it here for both, so that they will not be kept apart? What happens next? Anything that can capture the atmosphere of the song would be lovely.
Mama Loi, Papa Loi (Exuma)
I'll spit my spit,
In your spit.
Then let seven snakes,
Come up from the pit.
I'll stand under this mango tree.
Till you come, come to me.
This is a song by a Bahamian group from the 70's. This is a song about Obeah, a Caribbean spiritual practice informed by African traditions. The artist has a bunch of other songs about it, claiming to be an Obeah man - a practitioner who creates potions and amulets to summon and control the spirits. And Of course... make zombies. Not the flesh eating brainless kind, but the dead who are enslaved to perform service to the living. I love this song, I'm fascinated by it, and I would kill to see a story spun from it.
Thanks so much, author/operator!
