Hob Gadling traditional folk music collection.
Been thinking about a sort of Hob Gadling character playlist composed entirely of British folk music. Songs he might have listened to throughout his life and resonated with. This is also just a little excuse for me to share some of my favorite folk songs from across the history of the British Isles :) Most of these are British in origin, but a couple are Scottish.
Some of these choices are loosely based on the fic And In The Waking World We Want And Wait by @qqueenofhades because at this point it's basically canon to me and has considerably influenced my perception of the character. Furthermore, I'm writing this with Dreamling in mind because... Well because I want to.
I'm attaching recordings for each piece, but keep in mind that, by the nature of folk music, songs (both melody and lyrics, as well as accompaniment and performance choices) are intrinsically altered in every performance and there is no single correct interpretation of a piece. If you don't like the recordings I picked, I encourage you to seek out your own :)
I am not a music historian, just a classical singer with a love of traditional folk and a cursory education on music history.
Lastly, keep in mind that folk music in the Late Medieval and Early Modern music exists in a much different form than it does today, both in its lyrical and melodic content. Of the songs surviving from that period, the majority are liturgical in nature. Those that aren't are generally about farming, changing seasons, and (of course) drinking. I've done my best, but most of these pieces aren't perfect fits. Still, what character playlist is?
Arranged in rough chronological order.
1200s: "Sumer is icumen in" (composer unknown) (Note: This song is the oldest recorded English language folk song. I think that's pretty neat.)
Sumer is icumen in
Loude sing cuccu (cuckoo)
Groweth sed (seed)
and bloweth (bloometh) med (meadow)
and springeth the worlde new
(Full text)
~1450: "Tappster, Drinker" (unknown composer)
Tappster, Drinker, fill another ale,
Anonn God sende us good sale.
Avale the stake, avale,
here is good ale y founde.
Drynke to me and y to the
and lette the cuppe goe rounde.
(This is, as far as I can tell, the full text)
~1513: "Pastime with Good Company" (King Henry VIII)
Youth must have some dalliance
Of good or ill some pastance
Company methinks then best
All thoughts and fancies to digest.
For idleness
Is chief mistress
Of vices all
Then who can say.
but mirth and play
Is best of all.
(Full text)
1500s: "The Ballad of Tamlin" (composer unknown) (Note: Yes this one is @landwriter 's fault. Go read Oaths. Also, I'm using one of many translations of the original ballad, but there's also an excellent folk punk adaptation by The Forgetmenauts which you should listen to if you like the story. Generally, I'm not doing this ballad any justice with my little 2-line snippet and I encourage you to look into it more yourself.)
"For if my love were an earthly knight as he is an elfin grey,
I'd not change my own true love for any knight you have."
(Full text)
~1580-1650: "Greensleeves" (composer unknown)
Alas, my love you do me wrong
To cast me off discourteously
And I have loved you so long
Delighting in your company
I have been ready at your hand
to grant whatever you would crave;
I have both wagered life and land
Your love and good will for to have
(Full text)
1700s: "A Maid in Bedlam" (composer unknown)
My love he'll not come near me
To hear the moan I make,
And neither would he pity me
If my poor heart should break,
But, though I've suffer'd for his sake,
Contented will I be, For
I love my love
Because I know he first loved me.
(Full Text)
1800s: Black is The Colour of My True Love's Hair (composer unknown) (Note: although the most famous variations of this piece are from 20th century America, the piece is believed to have originated in Scotland some time in the 19th century.)
Black, black, black is the color of my true love's hair,
His lips are something rosy fair,
The fairest face and the gentlest hands
I love the grass wheron he stands.
(Full text)
1813: "The Last Rose of Summer" (Thomas Moore) (Note: I was a bit conflicted about adding this one. The song is about the pain of losing those you love to time, and the loneliness that comes from outlining your companions, both of which are sentiments I feel are very applicable to Hob. However, the song also implies that death is a mercy in the face of such loneliness, which obviously doesn't align with Hob's worldview.)
'Tis the last rose of summer left blooming alone.
All her lovely companions are faded and gone.
No flower of her kindred, no rosebud is nigh,
To reflect back her blushes and give sigh for sigh.
(Full text)
1902: "Whither Must I Wander" (Ralph Vaughan Williams, from the song cycle "Songs Of Travel") (Note: This is technically not a true folk song but shhhhh. This was the song that inspired this whole list because I absolutely adore Vaughan Williams and particularly this cycle.)
Home was home then, my dear, full of kindly faces,
Home was home then, my dear, happy for the child.
Fire and the windows bright glittered on the moorland;
Song, tuneful song, built a palace in the wild.
Now, when day dawns on the brow of the moorland,
Lone stands the house, and the chimney-stone is cold.
Lone let it stand, now the friends are all departed, The kind hearts, the true hearts, that loved the place of old.
(Full text)
1904: "In Dreams" (Ralph Vaughan Williams, from "Songs of Travel") (Note: I will not apologize for using two pieces from the same cycle. Y'all don't understand I'm so autistic about these songs. Also, I had to pick at least one song with "Dream" in the title haha.)
In dreams unhappy, I behold you stand
As heretofore:
The unremember'd tokens in your hand
Avail no more.
[...]
He came and went. Perchance you wept awhile
And then forgot.
Ah me! but he that left you with a smile
Forgets you not.
(Full text)
1946: "Come you not from Newcastle?" (Arr. Benjamin Britten, original composer unknown) (Note: Although the text of the song itself doesn't necessarily have any strong Hob Vibes, the most widely known arrangement of this piece was done by Benjamin Britten, one of the country's most famed composers and also a fairly open homosexual. This, combined with the text of the song and the time that this arrangement was written, gives the song a distinctly queer vibe, at least to me, and so it makes the list. The recording attached is by Britten's life partner, Peter Pears.)
Why should I not love my love?
Why should not my love love me?
Why should I not speed after him,
Since love to all is free?
(Full Text)
And that's all of them! Please let me know if you have any traditional folk songs you know that fit the bill, as I'm always looking for more good traditional folk music. It holds a special place in my heart :)
Consider reblogging if you got anything out of this post, since I did spend quite awhile on it and I'd love it if it got out to the wider Sandman fandom.
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