you star love hearing you at songs n storys x

Empire

By far the most musical theatre of any song I've ever written. Make of that what you will. This was a rare occurrence of the chords and the melody coming together with surprising ease and then the words taking months of frustration. In the end it was a collaborative piece with my wife Emma (Malhann to those of you in the field), without whom I would still be banging my head against a wall.

The Moments In Between

Malhann of Ashenhall is my larp character for Empire. She's a bard and any songs here by 'her' are songs I've created to be sung around a fire, often with multiple voices joining in. 
With thanks to Andrew Ruddick for his amazing guitar addition
--
This one is more a trance than a song :D

The wind of fortune (Malhann)

Yeah, I know. This one is early. 
Usually a remaster is one that I do after 1000 plays, but hearing the other recording the other day made me feel a bit crap. But it also showed me how far I had come in doing these songs, and that made me feel good.
Hopefully this will hold up for you as well as I hope it does.

Bones In The Ocean (Remastered)

Charity

make mine laughs

Second attempt at recording one of my first ever songs. Still not entirely happy with the mix, but it makes for a fuller sound than the original "singing into my phone" version.

Nowhere I'd Rather Be (v2)

Wrote this one bloody ages ago, but it made its proper Anvil debut at E3 2023 during the Virtue's Roar performance. The recording lacks a certain something compared to the live performance (such as another 15 bards all playing along).

This is another one that started off as an idea for a filk that I couldn't actually make work, but i liked some of the lyrics i had and so I just rewrote the music around it. 

The sharp eyed/eared may hear the ghost of the original inspiration in the lyrics of the second verse, especially if they are of a musical theatre persuasion. ;) 

My thanks to Emma for providing the epic backing vocals for this one (and for the gift of the portable studio device it was recorded on).

I still suspect that the scream at the end is too much, but it continues to make me smile and so I'll continue doing it in the field whenever I have the voice to belt it out. 

FUN FACT: The final vocals for this were recorded in my car after I drove to the middle of a building site with my porta-studio as I was too self conscious to the shouty-screamy vocals at home where the entire neighbourhood would hear.

What We Came For

A song for star-crossed lovers, will-they wont-theys and passing ships in the night.

LYRICS

I met with a cambion
Was she Marcher or a Freeborn?
I don't know.

She looked in disguise,
But still her eyes invited me,
To see her show.

She told me she was leaving then she'd gone
If don't find the words to say then I would sing this song:

Come my love let's away together,
Dance all night for the world to see,
Tip our tankards in every bar,
So come, come and run away with me!

We'll up Highguard, down to Wintermark,
Then hit Navarr where the drink's on me
Take my hand 'cause the night's not over,
Come, come and run away with me!

I asked her "what's your poison?"
She said "Something with a taste you can't ignore"

I asked her what's her fancy
She said "Something that'll leave me wanting more"

She told she me was leaving then she'd gone
If I don't tell her how I feel, I'll never live this down.

Come my love let's away together,
Dance all night for the world to see,
Tip our tankards in every bar,
So come, come and run away with me!

We'll up Highguard, down to Wintermark,
Then hit Navarr where the drink's on me
Take my hand 'cause the night's not over,
Come, come and run away with me!

I'll never live this down...

Come my love let's away together,
Dance all night for the world to see,
Tip our tankards in every bar,
So come, come and run away with me!

We'll up Highguard, down to Wintermark
Then hit Navarr where the drink's on me
Take my hand 'cause the night's not over,
Come, come and run away with me!

Journey On

Come And Run Away With Me

A special song commissioned for the best dressed Leaguers you'll ever meet - as impressive as the Sun and the Moon themselves.

LYRICS

There once was a bravo from Sarvos,
Bold Aloysius his name
He longed to be famed as a merchant prince,
But lacked both the style grace

But he was told of a person in Anvil,
Who dressed in gold and did gleam like sun,
With a snap his finger you’d blaze with style,
So he asked at his door and he said:

My name is Giustiniano,
The last of your thrones I will take,
And a swan of this squab I shall make,

At the Atelier di sola E Luna
You’ll get a mask you can put on your face
We’ll dress you with power and deep persona
A warm and a sumptuous embrace.
A mask I will make you with promise to take you to new heights beyond debonair
I’m Giustiniano!
A mask of your soul I will make,

And so our bravo took off into twilight,
Where there’s a ball that’s awaiting his name,
His mask made him bold but his candour too cold
His manners still need to be tamed

Then came a voice that was wreathed in the moonlight
And our dear bravo was made to return,
“Your mask is but part of the beauty we craft,
Let me give you style that you yearn”

I am Vespera de Luna
I’ll will refine you I swear,
With luxuries twinkling and rare

At the Atelier di sola E Luna
You’ll get a mask you can put on your face
We’ll dress you with power and deep persona
A warm and a sumptuous embrace.
I’ll spin you in moonlight and teach you to pose right, I’ll paint you in umbra and flair.
I am Vespera,
Now show them you’ve got what it takes

So our bravo went into the ball,
With all the grace of sun and moon,
The heads did turn, the eyes did spy,
Who is this person I desire?
Where are you from? I don’t believe,
I’ve ever seen one quite like thee
The mask so fine, the clothes so sleek
Please tell me where

At the Atelier di sola E Luna
You’ll get a mask you can put on your face
They’ll dress you with power and deep persona
A warm and a sumptuous embrace.
You’ll leave dressed in threads that were made for the legends,
you needn’t be looking elsewhere!
From Sola E Luna
No other Atelier compares!

Atelier Di Sola e Luna

My Upload of a song filked from Ye Banished Privateers.

Sparro 'Trifoot' Oakenheart - Annabel

Recorded on my phone because my PC was being a dick. Very basic recordings which I hope to replace at some point soon. All lyrics and melodies are my own, but the chords, rhythm structure and rhythm for Rise Up was heavily inspired by 'Believer' by Imagine Dragons. It's not a direct filk, exactly, but I certainly can't claim it as completely original.  More songs will follow as I complete the songbook. 

From an RP perspective, there is a reasonable chance that you could have heard these performed as Tarik wanders the trods and performs in taverns to pay his way.

Rise Up (Ambition)

Ambient recordings from the larp Empire, by Profound Decisions

Empire 22

Smash

A song of Vigilance. As of the end of E1, it has not yet been performed at Anvil due to a loss of voice on Friday night.

Although my softest song, it is also possibly the most barbaric in terms of musical stylings as I still find writing to style hard.

I See You (vigilance)

A song about Navarri oath tradition, including one of my own oaths.

Painted

A song now beloved by all. Updated lyrics with the help* of Redhand Kazza and Warlord Gezzar. This is the tale of a night out gone bad (or good depending on point of view) with an orc who definitely has hair but doesnt have a bathroom in a tent.
*help being threat of severe beating
The Remastered version is a celebration of the original getting 1000 plays!

Orc Named Kazza (Remastered)

A song about Idwyn Splitroot's Past Life Vision

Rise and Build

"Wear your tattoos, your scars with pride; they're proof that you've come this far and survived."
Life as a Navarri is not always easy, dangerous moments can spiral quickly and leave us beaten and broken. But we are never ones to give up.

A song written for and dedicated to my bestest friend and the strongest person I know.

Rise Up (Ambition)

Andrew Ruddick

Recent comments

Nuala Barczak

Related tracks