Highjacking song lyrics.

[wizturbo]

I'm contemplating playing a bard character in the future...but there is one problem, I dont think I can write very cool songs.  So....whats the general feeling from the player base about highjacking lyrics from RL songs, probably ones most have never heard....and using them in ARM?

Just curious.

[UnderSeven]

Better to hijack them from songs already in game.  a LOT of people have written songs for arm, you can just as well steal THEIR'S.

[Tamarin]

You could always hire someone OOCly to write for you...

[The7DeadlyVenomz]

Text is unlimitless enough that the song does not really have to be good. It can meander along on its way as it pleases, and with the right emotes behind it, it will succeed. You don't really need to highjack a song.

[wizturbo]

I know I dont -need- to Hijack a song....but the lyrics would be a whole lot better.  The emotes of coarse would all be my own creation, and i'd have to tailor the song lyrics considerably to fit the world.  Im just wondering if your reaction would be  "uwww I know that song its by So and So, what a lame thing to do".

My personal feelings, is I wouldn't care....but I'm curious for other opinion.

[sacac]

You could ask my OOCly to make you songs
I will make original, spin-offs, remixes, Anything you want.
Gotta give me time though..
And I would love to do it.. give me something todo during work.
but you could also hire me to do it
And I do all my own Zalanthafying..  

[Sanura]

I've seen this done a lot with...varying degrees of success. Normally, the more recognizable the song is, the more jarring it's going to be for anyone watching. If I see someone obviously ripping off "Stairway to Heaven", the whole suspension of disbelief thing breaks down. Also, some genres of music are just really unsuited to the setting. In particular, angst-filled pseudo-alternative songs probably aren't going to work no matter -how- talented you are at altering it; you don't tend to see that many historical "angst-ballads" in popular folk culture.

That said, though, I've also seen people have a great deal of success adapting older folk songs, or at the very least drawing inspiration from them. Again, the more obscure a song is, the better. Adapting "She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain" to "She'll Be Comin' Round the Shield Wall" probably isn't going to fool anyone. There are some great resources online for folk songs (and folk stories, if you're so inclined) that can easily be adapted to be more appropriate. All it takes is a little time and a little more creativity; once you get started adapting, chances are you'll start to have some ideas for creations of your own.

[sarahjc]

I've seen this done once, terribly..and I really wanted to take out my bone longsword and kill the PC right there in the tavern, I don't think anyone would have minded either.

It took me right out of the game.. If your going to do that, please make sure it's some forgotten album of folk songs that nobody has ever heard of or maybe something from one of those chirstain rock albums. I'd just stay away from anything mainstream..

[Angela Christine]

A while back someone posted a Zalanthanized song "I've been to the desert on a kank with no name" that I thought was pretty good.  I don't know if it was ever used in game though.  Since it was about an escaped slave I doubt it would be sung in either major city, but it might get some play in Red Storm or Luir's.

I think that songs that can be sung as sing-a-longs work well, they usually have a simplicity and strong lyrical rythym that translates well into soundless-music.

The wheels on the cart go round and round,
Round and round, round and round,
The wheels on the cart go round and round, all around the town.

I can almost hear it.  In fact, I can almost feel my brain melting already!

Nintynine bottles of beer on the wall,
Nintynine bottles of beer,
Take one down, pass it around,
Nintyeight bottles of beer on the wall.

Hey, that one doesn't even need Zalanthanizing, because Zalanthas has beer bottles!  Having half-giant guards trying to count backwards from 99 during a long wagon ride could be fun, or possibly dangerous.

Anyway, a good text song should sound good when sung by one guy with an acoustic guitar, a half-deaf granny or a troop of drunken sailors.  If the orginal song relies on fancy dance moves or electronic nonsense to carry it, then it will not translate well.  So no, your favorite Brittny Spears, N'Sync, or Metallica song probably won't work.

Angsty "nobody understands me" songs usually won't work either, because you don't get around to worrying about other people understanding you until your basic physical survial needs are met.  Likewise, commoners may enjoy the occasional romantic love ballad, but not an entire repetoir of them.  Nobody really cares that you can't live without your one true love, and you can find any number of people willing to releave you of that burden in the nearest dark alley.

Basically, any music written for teenagers is out.  Western culture creates adolecents by artificially extending the period when one is niether a child nor an adult.  If you spend years and years waiting for your life to really start, then sure, you're bound to get angsty.  We tacitly agknowledge this when we say things like "when you get out of highschool/college/university and into the real world...."  If school is not part of the real world, what is it?  Don't answer that, it isn't important to this discussion.    My point is that a Zalanthan commoner will know they are in the "real world" by the time they are around 10 years old.  By 10 years old they won't be screwing around with 6 hours of school a day, and "tough" chores like taking out the garbage, making the bed and walking the dog.  10 year olds usually won't be looking for a mate and having children yet, but they will be expected to have a real job or working apprenticeship and contribuiting to the family's welfare in a meaningful way.  They aren't waiting for the time they finish school or move out on their own for their real life to start, because it's already here.  They still have some time for fun and games, but they don't have much time to spare for feeling sorry for themselves, and they probably won't think songs about other people feeling sorry for themselves are particularily deep and meaningful.

If you are in Allanak, go to the Bard's Barrel and get the bard there to sing for you.  He knows a bunch of songs, and listening to all of them will give you a feel for what music commoners are already listening to, and also ways that emotes and sings can be combined to make the song more lively.  I don't think there is anything automated like that in the other towns, but I hear there are plenty of bards in Tuluk, so hooking up with them might give you some inspiration too.

Angela Christine

[Anonymous]

Without fail I'ver preferred the bad but original songs to real world songs.  If you really don't want to then just get a song from one of the taverns that an NPC sings, like in the barrel.

[naatok]

Personally, I try to avoid using lyrics from an existing song RL, although I have done this in the past.
When I have, the song has been VERY obscure.

Another thing I've done is take an existing song and, using the same meter, write my own, Zalanthasized lyrics.

Mostly, I just make up meter and lyrics.

Depends, really, on how much time I have to play around with my PC's song writing.  *shrug*

[Carnage]

Just try to change it. Otherwise it's going to de-evolve into everyone spouting out lyrics at the next Tuluki bard fest. I, for one, don't want to have to listen to Backstreet Boys, Ice Cube, and Britney Spears while waiting for my turn.

The closest I've ever come to that is rewriting the lyrics to "House of the Rising Sun". With a careful eye you could still catch it, but almost every single word is changed.

[Jacques]

I'm *generally* in agreement with the "make them up" camp (and plan to do so with a future character). However, I also already know a lot of obscure fantasy-based songs that would work extremely well in Zalanthas, and see no problem in using them, so long as they're fairly obscure and fit in the genre. A song about an old swordsman making his way through treachery, not skill, would fit in Zal just fine. One about missing your childhood friend, who happened to be a unicorn... well, that wouldn't do so well. I think a LOT would depend on the song.

[Zacharai]

Luckily, there is a list of wonderful, Zalanthanized songs right here.

To make a successful bard, you don't need to write your own, new songs.  I'd like to see these songs more in circulation.  And hey, when you get hit by a random burst of inspiration at 3am when high on coffee, write your own.  Make it up, don't go with adaptations of Earth folksongs.  Might as well be original.

--Zach

[ShaLeah]

I once heard a lovely rendition of "Somewhere over the rainbow" in Tuluk.

[Tamarin]

I wrote a song once about Desert Training in the Byn...

[John]

I hijack Armageddon songs and change the lyrics to them

[Tamarin]

"You are my Suk-Krath,
My Only Suk-Krath,
You make me happy,
When skies are silty...
You'll never know dear,
How much I love you,
So don't take My Suk-Krath away.