Mar. 14th, 2020

luzula: a Luzula pilosa, or hairy wood-rush (Default)
Which is a high bar, I know--and I'm counting the Swedish ballad that contains the line "We will fry our grandmother like a fish on hot coals." At least she did something to deserve it.

So I'd been listening to Banks of Red Roses a couple of times, since I liked the arrangement/melody/singing, but I hadn't really listened to the lyrics. La la la, "bridal bed" something, I guess it's a love song. And then when I did, wow. For the first two verses it's a pretty standard love song, with the nice addition of the woman being a rambler and liking to "sport and play" (which hopefully isn't a sign that she deserves her fate).

But then, in the third verse, the man brings the woman to a cave where he's been digging her grave all night. And then comes: Yes, my dearest Jane, that your bridal bed shall be. Which means...he's raping her before killing her? And what's with the "my dearest"?

And then after that comes the last verse, where the man walks home, and every face he saw, he thought it was his dear. Like...now he's sorry or something, and we're supposed to see it from his POV? OMG that is creepy.

What is your contender for "creepiest folk song"?
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