# Fairytale(ish) Songs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 29, 2012, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fairytale-ish-songs/620304 "2012-04-29T06:17:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fairytale-ish-songs/620304/21 "2012-04-29T22:56:08Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > a few other bands have stuff along these lines as well, even Led Zeppelin does, and [Tyr](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C3%BDr_%28band%29) is heavy metal with a ragnarok bent. > > Many bands in 1968- about 1974ish frequently did unusual things with music, and there was a fashion for fantasy perhaps because of the popularity of Tolkein At that, I’m not sure it’s possible to get more explicit than **Ramble On** : _“years ago, in days of old, when magic filled the air, 'twas in the darkest depths of Mordor, I met a girl so fair. But Gollum and the evil one crept up…”_ ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fairytale-ish-songs/620304/22 "2012-04-30T00:23:57Z")
Neko Case has said in interviews that a few of the songs on her album _Fox Confessor Brings the Flood_ were inspired by fairy tales ([wiki cite](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_Confessor_Brings_the_Flood#Inspiration)). I’d say the title track [Fox Confessor Brings the Flood](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihONUt99utg), [Dirty Knife](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zO3OnpMPdA), and [Maybe Sparrow](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qclxx4uO0ac) most closely fit what the OP’s after. My Brightest Diamond has a boatload of songs reminiscent of fairy tales, a good example being [From the Top of the World](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYkXi67IRTo), which was inspired by George Macdonald’s “At the Back of the North Wind.” ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fairytale-ish-songs/620304/23 "2012-04-30T00:33:09Z")
[Once Upon A Time (aka “The Tale of Princess Trampolina”)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Es9P_mg_gg)\* Risqué, but safe for work unless your boss is a prude. \*From _Can Heironymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness?_. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fairytale-ish-songs/620304/24 "2012-04-30T00:37:21Z")
Also [Beyond The Fields We Know](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjTkGLGi1nM&feature=BFa&list=PL675B04C087B988FF) by a couple of ex Steeleye Span people doing a concept album based on _The King Of Elfland’s Daughter_ (the whole album is fairy-tale-y) ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fairytale-ish-songs/620304/25 "2012-04-30T04:34:30Z")
Cruxshadows - Eurydice Pretty self explanatory it is a song about Orpheus and Eurydice which is kind of a fairytale. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fairytale-ish-songs/620304/26 "2012-04-30T05:18:31Z")
[Six Ribbons](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HcyS8DZOyw), Jon English ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fairytale-ish-songs/620304/27 "2012-04-30T07:20:37Z")
_Cuéntame un cuento_, by Celtas Cortos (“tell me a tale”); [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6S8LTU6Vo0) is the bilingual version they recorded with Willy DeVille. I still want to know whether one of Willy’s relatives was the model for Disney’s Captain Hook… Mecano’s [Ana y Miguel](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-SDAvWi7es) is more legend-like, it’s a tweak on a zillion legends about the Lady Sea as a jealous lover and about women turned into salt or rocks waiting for their sailors to come back from her embrace (in their story, the sea is male and kills Miguel due to jealousy over Ana; the usual story is the Lady Sea taking the sailors for herself, unwilling to share them with their wives). ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fairytale-ish-songs/620304/28 "2012-04-30T15:04:17Z")
Oh, yeah, I forgot: The Decemberists’ entire [Crane Wife](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3cp8LERM70) album. Old Japanese fairy tale. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fairytale-ish-songs/620304/29 "2012-04-30T15:30:11Z")
“[Legend of a Girl Child Linda](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AddC2Fw1r1U)” by Donovan Also, a lot of his album _For Little Ones,_ which was Album 2 of _A Gift From A Flower To A Garden_… especially “[Enchanted Gypsy](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkcatAuuYnc)” and “Lay of the Last Tinker”. (You’ll note that these are based on old folk songs, which is where you’ll find a lot of fairytale-ish imagery. Example: “[The Silkie of Sule Skerry](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zZy2Q3QY0Q)” or “[Cruel Sister](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3S2brPXjEM)”.) ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fairytale-ish-songs/620304/30 "2012-05-01T03:01:36Z")
[Into White](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJNH6l9APJU) - Cat Stevens [The Queen and the Soldier](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukbzD88W2DA) - Suzanne Vega [Always](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFQW4ZMtHKU) - The Story (this one’s awesome) And the classic… [Guinnevere](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ez9bXTY35eY&feature=related) - Crosby, Stills, and Nash [QUOTE=The Other Waldo Pepper] At that, I’m not sure it’s possible to get more explicit than Ramble On: “years ago, in days of old, when magic filled the air, 'twas in the darkest depths of Mordor, I met a girl so fair. But Gollum and the evil one crept up…” [/QUOTE] [“The queen of light took her bow, and then she turned to go…”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHJH0ETi8D4) The Battle of Evermore - Led Zeppelin Ocean Gypsy is beautiful. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fairytale-ish-songs/620304.md?page=1)