# Songs with medieval imagery **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 9, 2008, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-medieval-imagery/455809 "2008-07-09T07:21:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2008, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-medieval-imagery/455809/21 "2008-07-09T19:22:15Z")
Here’s one I forgot to mention in my last post: “In the Court of the Crimson King” by King Crimson. ---
**Author:** ![Satellite\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Satellite\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satellite_Guy)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-medieval-imagery/455809/22 "2008-07-10T01:53:20Z")
If you’re in the mood for a little classic metal, there’s always Iron Maiden, with Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner… ? S^G ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-medieval-imagery/455809/23 "2008-07-10T02:15:01Z")
(Video:) [Emotional Rescue](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZY028fOQdM) - **Rolling Stones** _I wanna be your knight in shining armour Riding across the desert on a fine Arab charger…_ ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-medieval-imagery/455809/24 "2008-07-10T02:17:39Z")
[Scarborough Fair](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dau2_Lt8pbM)- doesn’t mention knights and queens and dragons, but does have a medieval feel and refers to going to a medieval fair. Kenny Rogers’ _Lady_ (“I’m your knight in shining armor and I love you…”) [Tonight is What it Means to be Young](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyOKnQNU6Q4) from the movie _Streets of Fire_ (angel in the forest- boy in a castle ‘dancing like a cat on the stairs’, etc.) Most of _Spamalot_ 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-medieval-imagery/455809/25 "2008-07-10T02:23:12Z")
[QUOTE=burundi] Robert Earl Keen’s “Christabel” manages to be both medieval and country. Bizarre, but good. [/QUOTE] That kind of makes sense. A lot of Appalachian songs are adaptations of medieval (or slightly later) Scots, Welsh or English ballads; one of the roots of American country music. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-medieval-imagery/455809/26 "2008-07-10T02:28:10Z")
[QUOTE=Baldwin] That kind of makes sense. A lot of Appalachian songs are adaptations of medieval (or slightly later) Scots, Welsh or English ballads; one of the roots of American country music. [/QUOTE] A [movie](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uByyj2Yy38Y) on that exact subject (very loosely inspired by a true story and with some creative input [no appearance by] Dolly Parton). It’s about a folklorist and music historian who is stunned to find the “missing verses” to songs she’s studied academically while visiting a friend who’s a missionary in Appalachia. ([Conversation With Death](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWTEwlygpkM&feature=related), featured in that movie, will send _chills_ up your spine when sung acapella by hillbillies and has its roots in a medeival morality play.) ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-medieval-imagery/455809/27 "2008-07-10T02:31:09Z")
[Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaEcUMrsBhU) - Squeeze (Mostly a modern beach setting for this song, but it mentions Maid Marian and William Tell.) [Catapult](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puohQRgpmJg) - R.E.M. ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-medieval-imagery/455809/28 "2008-07-10T02:42:18Z")
Van Morrison, “Tupelo Honey,” has the lines “You can’t stop us on the road to freedom/ You can’t keep us 'cause our eyes can see/ Men with insight, men in granite/ Knights in armor bent on chivalry.” Awesome song, too. Tori Amos’ [“Song for Eric”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QprBWv4zn0c) (link is to a video of her singing it live) has that classical imagery, and it sounds medieval, performed a capella. ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-medieval-imagery/455809/29 "2008-07-10T02:46:02Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] Fairport Convention - a particularly good example being the (shivers-up-the-spine thanks to Sandy Denny’s extraordinary voice and phrasing) traditional ballad [Matty Groves](http://www.lyricsdownload.com/fairport-convention-matty-groves-lyrics.html). [/QUOTE] IIRC, Dave Pegg played for both Fairport Convention and the oddly overlooked band Jethro Tull. I’m kind of surprised no one has mentioned them, as the album “Songs From the Woods” is swimming in medieval imagery, as is part of Broadsword as well as some others. “Minstrel in the Gallery”, despite its name, is not. Then there’s “Kings and Queens” by Aerosmith. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-medieval-imagery/455809/30 "2008-07-10T02:58:50Z")
[One Tin Soldier](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-nS1WD5v3s) - The Original Caste (as featured in the _Billy Jack_ soundtrack) [If You Could Read My Mind](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yk1md5IikWk) - Gordon Lightfoot: _In a castle dark or a fortress strong with chains upon my feet_ And as for songs with a medieval _vibe_, there’s also [Lady Jane](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgbdYtzJi3k) - The Rolling Stones ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-medieval-imagery/455809/31 "2008-07-10T03:26:55Z")
“Lucky Man” (Emerson, Lake & Palmer) conjures up medieval imagery for me. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-medieval-imagery/455809/32 "2008-07-10T04:26:38Z")
Al Stewart, [Merlin’s Time.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Emi6havZvg) Give it a listen. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-medieval-imagery/455809/33 "2008-07-10T07:28:02Z")
Since nobody’s mentioned it, might I add Jethro Tull’s album Songs from the Wood? ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-medieval-imagery/455809/34 "2008-07-10T07:29:27Z")
[QUOTE=Justin Credible] Rush has a few songs like this on their early albums. Check out the album A Farewell to Kings. It’s a great album, and most of the songs have a sort of midievel feel to them…except Cygnus X-1, which is about a voyage into a black hole. 🙂 [/QUOTE] That album had Closer to the Heart, doesn’t it? Which is another song I thought of when reading the OP but forgot to include in my post. ---
**Author:** ![DfrntBreign](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f6c823/32.png) [@DfrntBreign](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DfrntBreign)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-medieval-imagery/455809/35 "2008-07-10T10:24:09Z")
I don’t know if it’s what you’re looking for, but **Return To Forever** ’s \*Romantic Warrior \* seems intended to evoke medieval imagery. Also, you might like some **Camel** especially “Nimrodel\>The Procession\>The White Rider” and “Lady Fantasy”. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-medieval-imagery/455809/36 "2008-07-10T10:36:06Z")
**Days of Love and Innocence** [http://www.jacquelynbrown.com/days.html](http://www.jacquelynbrown.com/days.html) > [@](#): > > Days of love and innocence > when princes ruled the land. > You placed wild roses in my hair > and kisses in my hand. > [@](#): > > You said four hundred years ago > when we had lived before. > I was your minstrel maiden > a wandering troubadour. ---
**Author:** ![Bravo\_Romeo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e8c25b/32.png) [@Bravo\_Romeo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bravo_Romeo)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-medieval-imagery/455809/37 "2008-07-10T12:03:16Z")
Thanks a lot everyone 🙂 This thread has given me much iPod food and also soul food. I’ve listened to about 5 of these and they’re exactly what I was looking for, will listen to more and post some comments. Thanks again. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-medieval-imagery/455809/38 "2008-07-10T12:16:33Z")
The entire cast recording of [Blondel](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blondel_(musical)). ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-medieval-imagery/455809/39 "2008-07-10T12:59:51Z")
“Raconteur, troubadour” by Gentle Giant. Much of their catalog, in fact, contains gregorian harmonies, medieval instruments etc. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-medieval-imagery/455809/40 "2008-07-10T13:12:30Z")
Let’s not forget Spinal Tap: \*Stonehenge! Where the demons dwell Where the banshees live and they do live well Stonehenge! Where a man’s a man And the children dance to the Pipes of Pan Hey!\* [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-medieval-imagery/455809.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-medieval-imagery/455809.md?page=3)