Star Shanties and Space-Songs

Fallen London
1

There was once a Courier in dark sunless space
Who was bored of their lightnings and shapeful disgrace
She soared through the currents, aloof and alone
Till an old yellow star she did stumble upon

And a hey-ho she’s boinking the Sun
Who cares about Law, amalgamy is fun!
A messenger crab and a star fused as one
And a hey-ho she’s boinking the Sun

They boinked with great gusto and cosmic delight
In full view of thrones of the Red, Gold and White
But before Sun could claim her as his lawful bride
They gave birth to child known as Mountain of Light

And a hey-ho she’s boinking the Sun
Who cares about Law, amalgamy is fun!
From Judgmental sight to the Neath they did run
And a hey-ho she’s boinking the Sun

After five stolen cities Sun wanted to quit
It got tired of her bats and her cold lacre pits
The Courier gave Empress the keys to the skies…
And the stars of the Reach started dropping like flies!

And a hey-ho she was boinking the Sun
The Great Chain of Being has no room for such fun!
Their love story over before it begun
Because hey-ho she was boinking the Sun!

url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCAFD8mMqls[/url]
edited by Passionario on 2/14/2017

2

…gods.

I love it!

3

Old London Town

 (To the tune of “Blow the Man Down”)

Come, all you old salts that remember the zee
Oh, we came all this way from Old London Town
Gaze out at the stars and sing this with me
And still we go further from Old London Town

We’re freed from the dark and we’re freed from the earth
Oh, we came all this way from Old London Town
We’re eager to prove both our mettle and worth
And still we go further from Old London Town

We made a new Blighty for country and queen
Oh, we came all this way from Old London Town
Guarded from Law by the Devils’ machine
And still we go further from Old London Town

Well, Victoria reigns from the great Throne of Hours
Oh, we came all this way from Old London Town
And in aid of the Empire we made the space ours
And still we go further from Old London Town

Now we soar on our ships down the Isambard Line
Oh, we came all this way from Old London Town
Fearing no Judgement or omen or sign
And still we go further from Old London Town

For with Leadbeater’s engines to keep us on course
Oh, we came all this way from Old London Town
And Cotterell’s weapons of shattering force
And still we go further from Old London Town

We have nothing to fear from pirate nor fluke
Oh, we came all this way from Old London Town
No, we’ll fend them all off with a British rebuke!
And Victoria’s Empire will never go down!

(It got a bit worryingly Colonial, which wasn’t my intention when I started, but I guess it fits with the Victorian attitude towards exploration. It’s tempting to keep writing couplets forever, but I thought I’d better draw the line somewhere.)
edited by Barselaar on 2/14/2017

4

[quote=Barselaar]Old London Town
(To the tune of “Blow the Man Down” - it got a bit worryingly Colonial, which wasn’t my intention when I started, but I guess it fits with the Victorian attitude towards exploration.)

Come, all you old salts that remember the zee
Oh, we came all this way from Old London Town
Gaze out at the stars and sing this with me
And still we go further from Old London Town

We’re freed from the dark and we’re freed from the earth
Oh, we came all this way from Old London Town
We’re eager to prove both our mettle and worth
And still we go further from Old London Town

We made a new Blighty for country and queen
Oh, we came all this way from Old London Town
Guarded from Law by the Devils’ machine
And still we go further from Old London Town

Well, Victoria reigns from the great Throne of Hours
Oh, we came all this way from Old London Town
And in aid of the Empire we made the space ours
And still we go further from Old London Town

Now we soar on our ships down the Isambard Line
Oh, we came all this way from Old London Town
Fearing no Judgement or omen or sign
And still we go further from Old London Town

For with Leadbeater’s engines to keep us on course
Oh, we came all this way from Old London Town
And Cotterell’s weapons’ shattering force
And still we go further from Old London Town

We have nothing to fear from pirate nor fluke
Oh, we came all this way from Old London Town
No, we’ll fend them all off with a British rebuke!
And Victoria’s Empire will never go down![/quote]

Wow. I like this one even better than Passionario’s!

5

I thought, for my shanty, rather than the nautical meter, I’d take inspiration from the tradition of railway songs. So, here is the first verse and chorus of a piece that follows the tune of &quotRailroading on the Great Divide.&quot

[i]'twas nineteen-hundred I started to roam
Out from New London, no echoes, no home
Took a ride on the Isambard Line
To see for myself the Wild’ness High

Railroading on the Wild’ness High
Nothing around me but that great Sunless Sky
It’s there you’ll find me as year-mines run dry
Railroading on the Wild’ness High[/i]

6

(to the tune of &quotSloop John B&quot)

I been on this train for years
Same ol’ Isambard Line
Roamin’ through the blackness between stars
The emptiness and the void
Have got into my head (into my head)
I feel so broke up, I just want to go home

So stoke up the engines 'gain
See how the chimneys steam
Call for the captain, please
Let me go home (let me go home)
I want to go home (yeah, yeah)
I feel so broke up, will I ever go home?

Albion’s not so bad
But the Far Reaches are mad
I’ll never forget those Scrive-Spinsters we fought
Scorn-Flukes and much worse
How am I still alive? (am I alive?)
I feel so broke up, I just want to go home

So stoke up the engines 'gain
See how the chimneys steam
Call for the captain, please
Let me go home (let me go home)
I want to go home (yeah, yeah)
I feel so broke up, will I ever go home?

We call Port Prosper our home
But how ever we might pretend
It’s not the same as Old London Town
That’s why I’ve been drinkin’ all night
Sure got into a fight (drinkin’ all night)
I feel so broke up, I just want to go home

So stoke up the engines 'gain
See how the chimneys steam
Call for the captain, please
Let me go home (let me go home)
I want to go home (yeah, yeah)
I feel so broke up, will I ever go home?

The chief engineer got drunk
And broke in the cap’n’s trunk
What she saw there changed her so much
She’s never been the same
Now she won’t leave me alone (leave me alone)
Please give me a break gal, I want to go home

So stoke up the engines 'gain
See how the chimneys steam
Call for the captain, please
Let me go home (let me go home)
I want to go home (yeah, yeah)
I feel so broke up, will I ever go home?

The poor cook he caught the fits
From some bad batch of Murgatroyd’s Grits
And then he tried to eat up all of the crew
Now how will we go home?
He even ate our owl scout (and the rabbit too)
This is the worst trip I’ve ever been on!

So stoke up the engines 'gain
See how the chimneys steam
Call for the captain, please
Let me go home (let me go home)
I want to go home (yeah, yeah)
I feel so broke up, will I ever go home?

–
edited by phryne on 2/14/2017

7

To the tune of &quotThe Saga of Molly’s Revenge&quot (sh, it’s definitely a shanty):

We’ve left behind husbands
We’ve left behind wives
We may never see home for the rest of our lives
But some things still follow wherever we go…
the Barnets are everywhere, mid, high, and low
the Barnets are everywhere, mid, high, and low

Low Barnet was whimsy,
The old captain said
Naught but a thought that passed through his head
But who carved &quotBlue Barnet&quot on Fathomking’s Hold
And why do the letters look terrible old?
All cross the damn Unterzee, terrible old

Cross through Avid Barnet
Get out of the damp
Stop at Sky Barnet for a better lamp
By Barnabet’s orders, the first mate commands
Fly past Furthest Barnet to unexplored lands!
Fly past Furthest Barnet to unexplored lands!

Six weeks off the tracks
The train stinks like a barn
When Barnold the cabin boy hears a strange horn
We rush to the roof for the wonders to see…
And read the words &quotBarnet four hundred and three&quot
Yes, we read the words &quotBarnet four hundred and three&quot!

8

(tune of Sloop John B - this is the official 70-words entry)

Been on this train for years
Same ol’ Isambard Line
Roamin’ through the blackness between stars
The emptiness and the void
Got into my head
I feel so broke up, I just wanna go home
[i]
So stoke up the engines 'gain
See how the chimneys steam
Call for the captain, please
Let me go home
I want to go home
I feel so broke up, will I ever go home?

–
[/i]
edited by phryne on 2/14/2017

9

Here’s my entry:

In the land of endless day,
through the black we’ll sail away.
Strange things prowl beyond our light,
crews go mad, beset with fright.
Risk the shoals, where pirates hide,
our faith in our strong broadside.
Though time’s our cargo, new coin’d when,
we’ll not soon see our homes again.

I’m not completely happy with this, but I may edit it later.

10

I posted mine to the tumblr tag, but here it is here!

The Empress has her throne, the anarchists have their devices
The devils have their souls, the bohemians have their vices

The rubberies have their amber, the constables have their cycles
The urchins have their mischief, the army has their rifles

The dead have their bandages, the fingerkings have their dreams
The seekers have their hunger, and the masters have their schemes

We have made this Sunless Sky ours
A new home among the stars

But as the heavens burns,
the Chain breaks,
and the blood of Judgements flow

All of us will have wished we
had stayed down below

11

To the winds, to the skies!
To that ragged old rhyme!
From the dust, from the spores,
From the deep, raise your eyes!
Ah, that smoke! Ah, that light!
Ah, that darling of mine!
Will you wait, will you sigh,
Will you search for my sign?
To your arms I’ll return,
With pearls and wine,
So abide, dear, abide!
I’ll return, when it’s time!

12

[quote=Bibliophael]To the winds, to the skies!
To that ragged old rhyme!
From the dust, from the spores,
From the deep, raise your eyes!
[/quote]

I thought this was a very, very different song.

13

Curious. I’m afraid your implication eludes me.

14

Mine’s on Tumblr and Tweeted, but here’s a repost. This meets the 70-word mark, if you don’t count the transcriber’s commentary.

Message Found In A Bound-Shark’s Guts

We’re outward bound from Albion’s shore
(Ho for the depthless sky!)
Lovers and friends we shall never see more
(Drink to the last to die!)

There’s [smear] and [smear] in the Farthest Reach
(Ho for the depthless sky!)
But never a sun nor never a beach
(Drink to the last to die!)

The bosun’s crazed as a [smear]
(Hey for the depthless sky!)
We’re all going mad but he got there faster
(Drink


The remainder of the Mss. is entirely obscured by acetabulum marks.

15

I don’t have a social media account. Perhaps someone would like to steal this and do the tagging magic whatever?

(The rhymes are only slightly worse than the much mocked/beloved original…)

I cross the void that burns at minds
the treacheries of space and time
the stars seen only by the blind
'fore Londoners reached out to find
An Empire much magnified
Defy the Judgements!

Through cosmic waste the White plays games
Bohemians go scribe on trains
While Watchful folk make silly claims
Of monsters never to be tamed
And loves that someday will be vain
Defy the Judgements!

The revolution dissects all law,
“Quite so?” you say
“But is it right?”
Yet riches come from bleeding maws
Who knows? This singular scrimshaw
May make a fortune - or guffaws.
Defy the Judgements!

16

You can also send your entry via email to make sure FB notice it! :)
But note that it doesn’t meet the 70-word mark yet…

17

?

That’s a hundred words.

18

Sorry for the misunderstanding, but 70 words is the maximum allowed, unless I’m completely mistaken!?

:edit: Here’s the original announcement: &quotWrite us a space shanty verse of no more than 70 words&quot
edited by phryne on 2/28/2017

19

Well, er, that’s most of the other posts in this thread invalidated if that’s so…

20

update: you are right, phryne.

Seems needlessly over complicated, but never mind - anyone who wants to post it can chop off a verse and then it’s under the limit.