Three Bright Jewels (Fëanor's Curse)

[bnewman]

The key turning point that sets off most of the action of the Silmarillion is the terrible oath sworn by the Elf Fëanor and his sons to avenge Morgoth's theft of the Silmarils, magical gems containing some of the first light of creation.

This song has been updated to remove uses of the word "black" as a metonym for "evil".

lyrics and music by Benjamin Newman

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Thorin

[bnewman]

A scion of a proud house, living in exile and disappointment, takes the advice of a friend and stirs up the courage to return.  Of course in Thorin's case he is the rightful heir, the exile is on account of a dragon, the advice to return is good (does Gandalf give bad advice?), and the expedition is ultimately successful — but it still ends with his death.

lyrics by Benjamin Newman

ttto: "Preston Miller" by Dave Carter

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Features of Scheme

[bnewman]

Batya Wittenberg's Creatures of Dream is a haunting rap ballad about Dream, Faery, and the power of Fantasy.  Scheme is a simplified dialect of the LISP programming language, often used in academic settings (at least back when I was in school).  The idea for this parody did come to me just because of the sound of the refrain, but to do it justice I wanted to capture not just the facts about Scheme but my own very real sense of computer programming as a kind of magical gift.

Batya and I have now each parodied the other's best song, but I think her parody of mine isn't posted yet.

lyrics by Benjamin Newman

ttto: "Creatures of Dream" by Batya Wittenberg

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Mithrandir, O Pilgrim Grey

[bnewman]

This song continues the theme of "Starlight Through Woven Branches" of finding Jewish associations in Tolkien.  Gandalf / Mithrandir is a servant of the divine who for long ages wanders the world in a grey cloak, appearing seemingly at random to help people in need.  When facing his enemies he summons divine fire against them.  He heralds the coming of the true King.  And his sometimes cantankerous demeanor hides an inner goodness.  There's only one character in Jewish legend to match him with, and although both of them are worthy of many songs, there was only one possible tune for this one.

lyrics by Benjamin Newman

ttto: "Eliyahu Hanavi", trad. Hebrew

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Voices On the Radio

[bnewman]

I hear voices: mostly those of gods or legendary figures that I'm acquainted with, sometimes those of trees and other plants.  During my year of mental health crisis this got seriously out of hand, but on the whole they have always been gentle, kind, and supportive.  They don't presume to tell me things I don't already know or shouldn't expect to know, and they don't tell me to tell other people what to do.  Typical messages include "I love you," "You got this," "Don't try to listen to me while you're crossing the street," and "Why don't you try [some relatively reasonable devotional practice] today?"

I'm satisfied with this arrangement — more than satisfied, indeed profoundly grateful — and am not trying to "fix" it.  I'm afraid I don't have a lot of concrete advice for people who hear voices that are unkind, at least not out of my own experience... except this: if you need help, get help, and remember that it's the unkindness that's the problem, not the bare experience of having other people in your head.

lyrics by Benjamin Newman

ttto: "Every Little Bit of It" by Carrie Newcomer

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