Folk songs
From SCross
A collection of various folk songs (mostly filks) applied in the world of southern cross. Feel free to add your own!
Flights in my yard
A sweet love song often heard around capital city. (with apologies to Barenaked Ladies "Light Up My Room")
A mage guild rises in my neighbourhood,
and somehow that always just made me feel good
I can put a crystal ball in my hand,
and levitate my yard.
Late at night when the spells from afar,
thrum in tune with the light of the stars.
I'm conducting the flows while I sleep,
to fly this whole town.
If you question what I would do,
to get over and be with you
lift you up over everything...
to be a new moon.
There's a watermill in the ravine,
the song of the sea always floats through my dreams
Magelight floating orbs of fire,
to light my way home.
There are luxuries we can't afford,
but in our house we never get bored
because we can dance to the song of our magic,
that winds through our hearts.
If you question what I would do,
to get over and be with you.
Lift you up over everything...
to be my new moon.
My moon.
A mage guild rises in my neighbourhood,
and somehow that always just made me feel good
I can put a crystal ball in my hand,
and levitate my yard.
Fly up my yard.
Flights in my yard.
Fly up my yard.
Song of the Winter Festival
A popular folk favorite, sung traditionally at Winter Festival, especially around the northern continents.
Come the night of Shiva, the stars are alight.
The mothers are dancing, and the children's eyes bright.
Come raise your cider, your wine, or your beer.
We'll say fond farewell, to this fond-'membered year.
On through the summer we've toiled and we've hoed.
And on through the autumn we've reaped what we've sowed.
And on through the winter we've huddled up cold.
Break soon again spring, the world's winter's mold.
Our breath steams the sky like clouds on the height;
we look to the ocean for father's boatlight.
For he's coming home to hold close his kin.
And hold Mother close, reunited again.
Come night of Shiva, the stars are alight.
The mothers are dancing, and the children's eyes bright.
Come raise your cider, your wine or your beer...
and we'll say fond farewell this this fond-'membered year.
Yes we'll say fond farewell to this long pleasant year!
The Road to Santa Noche
A very popular song from Valente, a tavern favorite.
The road to Santa Noche, is sweetest in the spring.
When the sound of festival, floats upon the wind.
The lambs play in the fields, and the chocobo's on the wing.
When the sound of festival, floats upon the wind.
And I'm coming home to glowing hearth,
a husband to hold and tell my worth.
And I'll be his love through death and birth.
When the sound of festival, floats upon the wind.
The road to Santa Noche, falls under my feet.
I dance to springtime's rhythm, his soul and my heartbeat.
For I'm a dozen miles away from home, and yet I feel his hand;
Upon my soul, for I'm his wife, and he, my dear husband.
And the road to Santa Noche, is very long I find...
But there's sound of festival upon, floating on the wind.
Smile I Left Behind
Another tavern favorite Gaia-wide, especially for sailors.
I met her there in the springtime fair
under curls of heather and locks of lace,
and I sailed out west for a taste of the best,
and I tell you my lads it's a waste.
For I'm alone three thousand miles from home,
staring at the bottom of my jug of wine.
And I tell you now, nothing can compare,
to her smile I left behind.
Oh I've sailed down south past Leviathan's mouth,
and I've sailed up North through Shiva's frost.
And I've sailed out east past the iron beasts,
of Wutaiin southern cross.
And I've sailed out west, tasted all the best,
of the world's song and women and wine...
but I tell you now, I'd trade it all,
for her smile I left behind.
Now she sees me away on Market Day,
and I'll go to my boat in sorrow.
But in in two months time I'll be sailing fine,
back home on the morrow.
And I'll take her hand, and the name of her clan,
and soon one day we'll twine;
as husband and wife for all our life...
for that smile I left behind.
Seagulls In Her Eyes
Practically the anthem of Valentian expats. (apologies to Great Big Sea's "Seagulls")
She left one day from Valente, Dressed in her holy day worth;
A kind man sat beside her, While she cried her way up North.
She moved in with her cousin, Found a job down in the mines
Her friends at home were jealous, Said they'd hear her when she pines
But you know that she wants to try, never lets you see her cry
You know that she wants to try, for she's got seagulls in her eyes
The people here seem really nice, But the winter's way too long
Her new friends, they don't understand, they just tell her to be strong
She made some decent money, yeah, but nothing comes for free
The icy streets, just can't compete, with the sky, the rocks and sea
But you know that she wants to try, never lets you see her cry
You know that she wants to try, for she's got seagulls in her eyes
Her parents came at holiday-time, they wanted her to stay.
But she went and got a kind old man, who was home on her birthday.
The girls back home all said she couldn't make it on her own.
But now the sky's a little wider, and it starts to feel like home.
And you know that she wants to try, never lets you see her cry.
You know that she wants to try, for she's got seagulls in her eyes.
Out On The Water
Another tavern favorite, Gaia-wide, a song for lovers and fair nights...
Out on the water, the moon's again full.
And I reach to the sky as if I could pull.
That bright glowing moon down to my arms.
To light up my path and be lost in it's charms.
Out 'cross the sky the stars they are bowing;
out on the ocean the waves are a'glowing.
And all pay homage to this bright pure light,
my only companion on this springtime night.
Under my shoulders the grass is as warm,
as a marriage bed back at my farm.
Tonight I am wedded, in the court of the sky,
under her beauty, her one pale eye.
Out on the water, the moon's again new.
And off to my love I bid fond adieu...
A month's time she'll visit, and we'll dance on the waves,
and on through the streets, all through our days.
No lantern's as bright, no dance is as fleet,
no step is as light, no kiss is as sweet.
Under my shoulders my bed it is cold,
but I'll not be unhappy even when I grow old.
For all through the long years, up a'head hanging...
it's her beauty I'll know, forever unchanging.
Recruiting Sergeant
A sad war song from Valente, dry and bitter, about their losses in the Valente war. (apologies to Great Big Sea's "Recruiting Sergeants")
Two recruiting sergeants, came to Costa Del Silles
to the sons of the sailors, 'come join the Blue Bastilles'.
So all hands enlisted, five hundred young men.
Enlist you Valentian men, and come follow me.
They crossed the broad west ocean in the brave Florizelle
And on the sands of Wutaii, they entered into hell.
And on those bloody beaches, the first of them fell.
Enlist you Valentian men, and come follow me.
And it's over the mountains! And over the seas!
Come brave Valentian men, and join the Blue Bastilles!
You'll fight those monsters in Wutaii, and bring them to their knees!
Enlist you brave Valentians, and come follow me!
The call came from Highwind, for the last Ifrit drive,
to the trenches with the regiment: Prepare yourselves to die.
At roll call next morning, just a handfull survived...
enlist you Valentian men and come follow me.
And it's over the mountains! And over the seas!
Come brave Valentian men, and join the Blue Bastilles!
You'll fight those monsters in Wutaii, and bring them to their knees!
Enlist you brave Valentians, and come follow me!
The stone men on Water street still cry for the day,
when the pride of this city, went marching away.
A thousand men slaughtered, to hear Cid Highwind say:
Enlist you Valentian men and come follow me!
And it's over the mountains! And over the seas!
Come brave Valentian men, and join the Blue Bastilles!
You'll fight those monsters in Wutaii, and bring them to their knees!
Enlist you brave Valentians, and come follow me
So it's over the mountains! And over the seas!
Come brave Valentian men, and join the Blue Bastilles!
You'll fight those monsters in Wutaii, and bring them to their knees!
Enlist you brave Valentians, and come follow me
Jolly Butcher
A favorite of taverns everywhere throughout the Empire, a classic song, bawdy, humorous, and with a moral message at the end. (ripped off almost entirely from Great Big Sea's "Jolly Butcher")
Oh won't you come along with me love, Come along with me!
Come for one night, and be my wife, and come along with me!
Well it is of the jolly butcher as you might plainly see
As he rovered out one morning in search of company
He went into a tavern and a fair girl he did see
Ah come for one night, be my wife, oh come along with me
He called for liquor of the best
And he makes such fortune play
Come have a drink, it will make us think
That it is our wedding day
(Chorus)
Well he called for a candle to light their way to bed
And when he had her in the room these words to her he said,
"A ten-gil I will give to you, for to embrace your charms"
And all that night, that fair young maid, lied in the butchers' arms
(Chorus)
Oh, Early the next morning as sure it went his way
He looked unto that fair young maid and unto her did say,
"That ten-gil that I gave to you, do not think me strange,
Well that ten-gil that I gave to you will you give me back me change!"
(Chorus)
Well about a 12 months later he roved out once more
And he went into the tavern where he'd often been before
He wasn't in there very long when his fair maid he did see
And she brought forth a baby three months old and placed it on his knee
When he saw the baby, he began to curse and swear
And he said unto that fair young maid, "Why did you bring him here?!"
"Well he is your own, kind sir", she said, "Do not think me strange,
Well that ten-gil that you gave to me, I gives you back your change!!"
(chorus x 2)
The Southern Cross
An imperial rock favorite by the troubadors 'Captain Chocobo'. (with much love and apologies to Captain Tractor [1] and their excellent song, 'Southern Cross')
You say you never liked airship food
And I say it's just something I gotta go through.
I wanna bask in a new year's summer,
An Ifrit breeze on a Leviathan night.
Feel and see the foreign stars above my head
And I say, I never really liked the airways
But thank Gaia for that complimentary alcohol haze.
And then when my tan will broil and simmer
Rest at the end of a double day
Feel and see foreign stars above my head.
I fly tomorrow, gonna steal that southern sky,
Liberate every point of light!
The Southern Cross will be in my hands
Long before they've ever known
Long before the north star leads my way home
That southern treasure will be my own
I fly tomorrow, gonna steal that southern sky
Liberate every point of light!
The Southern Cross will be in my hands
Long before they've ever known
Long before the north star leads my way home
that southern treasure will be my own.
My own.
The Southern Cross will be in my hands!
Long before they've ever known!
Long before the north star leads my way home
that southern treasure will be my own!
Imperial War Chant
A fairly common Imperial war marching chant sung before battle, taught usually by the seargents to new recruits. Anyone who accompanied the soldiers up the Glacious' keep would have heard this one on the road, and could be easily sung by anyone else who spent any time in the Imperial Army. (Heather Alexander is a minor filking and music goddess, and her Battle of Cambreadth just had to be added, with only a couple words changed too!)
Axes flash, broadswords swing
Shining armors’ piercing ring
Chocobo run with polished shield
Fight those bastards ‘til they yield
Midnight mare, blood red roan
Fight to keep this land your own
Sound the horn and call the cry
How many of them can we make die?
Follow orders as you’re told
Make their yellow blood run cold
Fight until you die or drop
A force like ours is hard to stop
Close your mind to stress and pain
Fight ‘til you’re no longer sane
Let not one damn cur pass by
How many of them can we make die?
Guard your women and children well
Send these bastards back to Hell
We’ll teach them the ways of war
And they won’t come here anymore
Use your shield and use your head
Fight ‘til everyone is dead
Raise the flag up to the sky
How many of them can we make die?
Dawn has broke, the time has come
Move your feet to the marching drum
We’ll win the war and pay the toll
Fight as one in heart and soul
Midnight mare and blood red roan
Fight to keep this land your own
Sound the horn and call the cry
How many of them can we make die?
Axes flash, broadswords swing
Shining armors’ piercing ring
Chocobo run with polished shield
Fight those bastards ‘til they yield
Midnight mare and blood red roan
Fight to keep this land your own
Sound the horn and call the cry
How many of them can we make die?
How many of them can we make die?
How many of them can we make die?
Wine Tasting
A song originating from the Western lands, often sung at celebrations and festivals in which large amounts of alcohol were being served. (Credit to Merecedes Lackey who wrote the original)
Look out your window and what do you spy?
Rain falling out from a sun-shining sky.
It's changing to hailstones that weigh half a ton,
with 7 live frogs hopping out from each one.
It's not the last Judgement stop wailing of sin,
it's only the spirits wine-tasting again!
Chorus
So Drink Drink! Time for all to be merry.
Marvelous doings and marvelous sights!
Drink drink we may as well join them,
the spirits aren't crazy they're higher than kites!
Strange colors flash and dance in the clouds,
best stay under cover for Ramuh is plowed!
Those odd man-like creatures are not dungeon men,
a shape-shifting Kefka is plastered again.
It's not the next Holy it's only a sign,
that this seasons ambrosia truly is fine!
Chorus
Strange cloven hoofprints dance all up and down,
to glow on the streets and the walls of your town.
They're made by some creature which ran on two legs,
plus the sheep are all pregnant and the roosters laid eggs!
Don't gather your family and run to the hills,
it's only Ifrit and he's crocked to the gils!
chorus
The snow's begin falling no clouds in the sky,
best grab for a cloak because Shiva is high.
The oceans are dancing the waves start to talk,
a tipsy Leviathan's out for a walk!
Don't wail to the pope for there's nothing to fear..
just be happy the drink's not this good every year!
chorus repeated twice
The Dragon's Lullabye
A charming lullabye often sung by dragon-kin to their children. With OOC credit to Tom Smith.
"Hush now my baby, the daylight is done.
Your scales catching moonlight, instead of the sun.
So lay down your head till the dawn comes anew.
For here there be dragons, to watch over you."
"Dream now my baby, of life in the clouds.
Your head held so high, your wings spread so proud.
For I know a secret, I promise it's true.
Here there be dragons, and one of them's you."
"Six seasons I grant, was a long time to wait.
But I knew you'd get here, I knew it was fate.
But somtimes a dragon takes longer to birth.
Because to create them it takes the whole earth."
"Within you the fires of Valente glow.
The great western winds and the cold northern snow.
The mountains, the forests, the rivers and skies.
The whole of creation is there in your eyes."
"Hush now my baby, and dream how you will.
You have your whole life, for your dreams to fullfill.
Don't be afraid of the things you dream of,
for here there be dragons below and above.
You're a dragon, you're life. You're a dragon.. you're love."
Gerna's Call
A popular Spring Festival song, commonly part of the bawdy and merry entertainment of the Empire and Valente during the spring festival. All credit to Jason Webley, and his lovely song "May Day", from his album "Only Just Beginning".
You hear that sound? The rain is coming down,
it says there's a ripeness setting in.
The children spin around 'til they crash into the ground,
singing welcome home forever once again.
And when you hear that spirits call there ain't no use to fight.
And if you want to reap tomorrow, you better sow your seed tonight.
You better sow your seed tonight.
You feel that fire lift your body higher, an old old dance is growing here.
Better kiss me soon, while the blossoms are in bloom
or you might just have to wait another year.
And when you hear that spirits call there ain't no use to fight.
And if you want to reap tomorrow, you better sow your seed tonight.
You better sow your seed tonight.
(interlude)
You feel that beat? Come on move your feet,
old man winter's dead and gone.
There'll be wiggling of the toes,
there'll be taking off of clothes,
there'll be silly naked dancing on the lawn.
And when you hear that spirits call, there ain't no use to fight.
And if you want to reap tomorrow, you better sow your seed tonight.
You better sow your seed tonight.
And when you hear that spirits call, there ain't no use to fight.
And if you want to reap tomorrow, you better sow your seed tonight.
You better sow your seed tonight.
And when you hear that spirits call there ain't no wrong or right.
And if you want to reap tomorrow, you better sow your seed tonight.
You better sow your seed tonight.
And when you hear that spirits call there ain't no use to fight.
And if you want to reap tomorrow, you better sow your seed tonight.
You better sow your seed tonight.
Moon Day
A song by Ramdas Sachetan Pramath. OOCly, this lovely song is by Chris Wynters, from the excellent album "Skywriting".
Watching the monsoon from this hotel room start blowin'
and the sunset surf won't live up to it's name tonight.
But we won't call it a liar and Nekura's got the fire glowing.
Through shades of gray and rain, I've never seen a better sight.
And I keep telling myself this is Moon Day,
and where the hell would we be, back at home?
And I'd be sellin' my soul, if one day,
maybe every day could be Moon Day.
This kind of Moon Day.
Nekura would be fine if she could just find a whole sand dollar.
And I'd be alright if I had a gil to my name.
There's my bird in the barn and the world is starting to feel smaller.
Through shades of gray and rain, I'll never be the same.
And I keep telling myself this is Moon Day,
and where the hell would we be, back at home?
And I'd be sellin' my soul, if one day,
maybe every day could be Moon Day.
maybe every day could be Moon Day.
maybe every day could be...
this kind of Moon Day!
I Want To Be In The Cavalry
A popular song amidst both the church Knights and any mounted military force, song often while on the march and heard amongst festivales. (Source is "Corb Lund Band -- I Want To Be In The Cavalry)
I wanna be in the cavalry if they send me off to war
I wanna good steed under me like my forefathers before
I wanna good mount when the bugle sounds and I hear the cannons' roar
I wanna be in the cavalry if they send me off to war
Well, I wanna bird in the volunteer herd that's riding forth at dawn
Please save for me some gallantry that will echo when I'm gone
I beg of you sarge let me lead the charge when the battle lines are drawn
Lemme at least leave a good birds ride they'll remember far and wide.
I'd not a good foot soldier make, I'd be sour and slow at march
And I'd be sick on a navy ship, and the sea would leave me parched
But I'll be first in line if they'll let me ride, by god, you'll see my starch
Lope back o'er the heath with the laurel wreath underneath that vict’ry arch
Oh, I wanna be in the cavalry if they send me off to war
I wanna good steed under me like my forefathers before
I wanna good mount when the bugle sounds and I hear the cannons' roar
I wanna be in the cavalry if they send me off to war
Let me earn my spurs in the battle's blur where the day is lost or won
I'll wield my lance as the chocos dance and the dragoons fire their guns
A sabre keen, and a saddle carbine and an army Matra Gun
Where the hot lead screams with the cold, cold steel let me be a cav’lryman
I wanna be in the cavalry if they send me off to war
I wanna good steed under me like my forefathers before
I wanna good mount when the bugle sounds and I hear the dragons' roar
I wanna be in the cavalry if i must go of to war
Let 'em play their flutes and stirrup my boots and place them back to front
Cause I won’t be back on the rider-less black and I'm finished in my hunt
I wanna be in the cavalry if they send me off to war
I wanna be in the cavalry, but I won't ride home no more
Back to Theme.
