(no subject)

[beccaelizabeth]

I think I need to make up a fictional song (or, since it's in writing, poem that is song shaped)
one of my characters has announced it was him that inspired a song celebrating the contribution of one person to a famous victory
so now I'm wondering what sorts of things go into such a song.

anyone know any sea ship songs? with fighting and maybe rebels and a hero?
space ship songs? I know at the moment they're going to be mostly fiction stuff but they do exist already.

I'll probably just ignore it and leave it as background, but if I had an idea of a typical form I could do a bad copy of it. which, as it happens, is what the character deems the song to be. so that would work out.




I reckon the conditions that make singing a part of ship culture, like not being able to bring much stuff with you and having long stretches of boredom surrounded by the same damn people, are going to apply for a spaceship too. And it's all very well the Enterprise D being full of string quartets and all that, but any smaller ship isn't going to lug a cello around without causing Issues. Especially if you're sharing your bunk. Keyboard and electronic instruments are an easy one though, I've already got touchscreen display surfaces being ubiquitous and you just tell them to be keys or like a stylophone or whatever. But you can't do that while you work with your hands, so, singing.

I'm trying to decide if the display surfaces should be limited to staying flat. Well, bendy paper origami versions of flat. But future tech could do pop up keyboards or whatever. If I tell it to.

I don't know, I already feel like I'm spending too much time saying about basic security measures and display surfaces. I'm avoiding the silly words school of IT IS THE FUTUR!!! but I might be overbalancing, sort of thing.


.... aaaand the amount of time I can spend on mumbling about writing instead of writing is an ever expanding thing... *sigh*

Comments

[legionseagle]

It isn't a song but you might want to consider How Horatius Kept The Bridge from the Lays of Ancient Rome, which is the only one I could think of where a) the action was successful and the hero survives. All the Nelson songs concentrate on his death at the point of victory and more evocative songs tend to be written about defeats, anyway: see Tennyson's Revenge , Cavafy's Thermopylae and Wolfe Burial of Sir John Moore at Corunna.

[beccaelizabeth]

huh. singing about defeats and dead people does bring a lot more to mind. I hadn't thought of that.
thanks for the links, interesting things. *reads*