Ben's Songs

I'm pagan and have studied magic in the Reclaiming tradition, so I unironically love the song "When You're Magic" by Starhawk and Anne Hill (and I'm pleased to report that the album it's from is back in print after a long hiatus).  However, I'm also bipolar, and I couldn't help but notice how my world became much more magical exactly when I was having a major mental health crisis.  And you only have to change one letter...

lyrics by Starhawk, adapted by Benjamin Newman; music by Anne Hill

Just replace "magic" with "manic" where it appears in the verse and "balance" where it appears in the chorus.

Only a few lines of Paul Simon's "American Tune" needed to be changed to make it about Neil Gaiman's novel.

lyrics and music by Paul Simon, adapted by Benjamin Newman

The stsho are an enigmatic alien race in C. J. Cherryh's Chanur series. They are timid, conniving, decorous, and prone to changing personality and gender under stress. A background presence for most of the series, in Chanur's Legacy we finally get to meet them up close. It's surprising how much of the original Queen song survived this process...

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This classic from The Muppet Movie always makes me think of the Elves sailing into the West, so I updated it a little.