# 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:** 3
**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:** [July 10, 2008, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-medieval-imagery/455809/41 "2008-07-10T16:13:33Z")
Cat Steven’s _My Lady D’arbanville_. Bauhaus’ _Hollow Hills_ deals with faerie imagery in a Spenserian way. ---
**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:** [July 10, 2008, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-medieval-imagery/455809/42 "2008-07-10T16:23:21Z")
…And of course, Dead Can Dance does well here, but I’d especially mention _Song of the Sybil_ and _Fortune Presets Gifts Not According To The Book_, because those are both powerful **authentic** Medieval imagery ([Apocalypse prophecy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Song_of_the_Sybil) and the [Wheel of Fortune](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rota_Fortunae)). ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-medieval-imagery/455809/43 "2008-07-10T19:11:21Z")
[QUOTE=BrotherCadfael] How about “Knights in White Satin”? I only recently found out that isn’t how it’s spelled. [/QUOTE] I, too, used to wonder what a reference to hooded Klansmen were doing in a love song. I decided it was an internal dialogue of a good-at-heart KKK member coming to terms with what it all really meant. _Some try to tell me thoughts they cannot defend, Just what you want to be – you will be in the end And I love you, yes, I love you …_ At some level I think it makes the song better to think of it that way! Other songs with (real) medieval imagery: King Crimson, _The Court of the Crimson King_ Spin Doctors, _Two Princes_ (sort of) Crash Test Dummies, _Two Knights And Ladies_ (more so) Bob Dylan, _Queen Jane Approximately_ ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-medieval-imagery/455809/44 "2008-07-10T21:06:54Z")
[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] And it’s my favorite album. Also check out The Necromancer from Caress of Steel. Blatantly Tolkienesque. ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-medieval-imagery/455809/45 "2008-07-10T21:50:25Z")
Dire Straits - [Iron Hand](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/d/dire+straits/iron+hand_20040752.html) At first, without any research, it would seem like it accurately describes an English battle taking place back in the Middle Ages when England and Scottish clans were engaged in countless battles. But then after a little Googling and Wiki action, it was describing something fairly recent… [Battle of Orgreave - 1984.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Orgreave) Hence, the final verse… _Well alas weve seen it all before Knights in armour, days of yore The same old fears and the same old crimes We havent changed since ancient times_ Great song… ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/59ef9b/32.png) [@FlyingRat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRat)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-medieval-imagery/455809/46 "2008-07-11T15:25:13Z")
[QUOTE=Sampiro] 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.) [/QUOTE] Oh, that’s gorgeous! Thank you. The lyrics are almost identical to “O Death” from _O Brother, Where Art Thou?_ We have _Songcatcher_ on DVD from Netflix, but haven’t watched it yet. I’ll put it on the top of our list for this weekend. ETA: In the vein of the rest of this thread, Real World released a great album called \*[The Imagined Village](http://www.amazon.com/Imagined-Village/dp/B000T4F0J8/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1215790063&sr=8-1) \* last year-- reworkings of traditional English ballads. It’s really, really good, especially their renditions of “John Barleycorn” and “Cold Hailey Rainy Night”. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-medieval-imagery/455809/47 "2008-07-11T17:55:23Z")
“Kiss From a Rose” Seal “Pretty Penny” Stone Temple Pilots ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-medieval-imagery/455809/48 "2008-07-11T18:10:53Z")
The Lady of Shallot A poem, a song, and painted images. It’s a very popular subject. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-medieval-imagery/455809/49 "2008-07-11T18:13:32Z")
“Dream of the Archer,” from Heart’s “Little Queen” album. ---
**Author:** ![Cornelius\_Tuggerson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Cornelius\_Tuggerson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cornelius_Tuggerson)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-medieval-imagery/455809/50 "2008-07-11T18:40:08Z")
Don’t forget the band [Manowar](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manowar). Most of their songs are extremely metal and medieval. On the European side there is [E-type](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-Type_%28musician%29) who has a technoish sound and a decent number of songs about the period. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Nader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2008, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-medieval-imagery/455809/51 "2008-07-12T00:47:18Z")
[QUOTE=FlyingRat] Oh, that’s gorgeous! Thank you. The lyrics are almost identical to “O Death” from _O Brother, Where Art Thou?_ [/QUOTE] You might want to check out **Camper Van Beethoven’s** recording of “O Death” too. [Live 12/27/07](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVmrJJZQ2Vw), but they’ve been playing it for 20 years or so. To the OP: Check out **The Legendary Pink Dots**. A good place to start is the cd “_Crushed Velvet Apocalypse_”. Songs like “Just a Lifetime”: “And dragons walked the earth again; parrafin was free. A fire-eater went insane and torched the final tree.” Or “[Princess Coldheart](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ugcyoq-1uM)”: “Then, one October night The humble village fool caught sight of Coldheart and he fell He smashed a rock against her throne He snatched her hand and took her home” ---
**Author:** ![Plynck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Plynck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plynck)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2008, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-medieval-imagery/455809/52 "2008-07-12T13:55:55Z")
[QUOTE=Harmonious Discord] The Lady of Shallot A poem, a song, and painted images. It’s a very popular subject. [/QUOTE] By Loreena McKennit, setting Tennyson’s Arthurian tale to music. Just beautiful. I prefer the live version. Or Buskin and Batteau’s take on the same tale, “_Guinevere_”. Lucy Kaplansky does a nice version. One of Sandy Denny’s side projects, _Fotheringay_, a CD with a lot of medieval imagery. And there’s a little known recording with the name “_Songs from the Wood_”. I forget the artist, however… ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2008, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-medieval-imagery/455809/53 "2008-07-12T14:02:04Z")
My lady D’Arbanville by Cat Stevens,a little bit disturbing as I’m SURE its about necrophilia. ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2008, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-medieval-imagery/455809/54 "2008-07-12T15:46:18Z")
[QUOTE=Plynck] And there’s a little known recording with the name “_Songs from the Wood_”. I forget the artist, however… [/QUOTE] Jethro Toe. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Charger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df788c/32.png) [@Charger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charger)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2008, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-medieval-imagery/455809/55 "2008-07-12T22:39:49Z")
Such imagery is evoked in the bridge of one of my favorite songs, “Glory of Love,” by Peter Cetera. _“Just like a knight in shining armor from a long time ago, just in time I will save the day, take you to may castle far away.”_ ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2008, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-medieval-imagery/455809/56 "2008-07-16T20:09:58Z")
There are bands that do nothing but these songs in the power metal genre. They typically do NOT feature the “cookie monster” vocals that turn most people off to metal. Check out: [Dragonforce](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jgrCKhxE1s) [Avantasia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avantasia_(story)) - really cool concept album with a good fantasy story [Rhapsody](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhapsody_of_Fire) - their albums are very derivative of Tolkein - elves, dwarves, etc, - and Christopher Lee (of Star Wars, LotR, and old horror movie fame) narrates them! And if you’re into anything a little bit heavier, check out: [Ensiferum](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ensiferum) - They have some great melodies and mostly sing about vikings, but some of their vocals border on Cookie Monster. ---
**Author:** ![racingfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bc79bd/32.png) [@racingfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racingfan)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2008, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-medieval-imagery/455809/57 "2008-08-29T12:15:40Z")
I’m looking for a love song with medieval, knights, castles, etc. imagery for the first dance at my wedding. Can you guys give me some specific song suggestions? Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2008, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-medieval-imagery/455809/58 "2008-08-29T12:49:48Z")
The lyrics make no sense at all, but \*[Storybook Love](http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/theprincessbride/storybooklove.htm) \* by Willy DeVille, from the Princess Bride soundtrack? It was even nominated for an Oscar, and it shouldn’t be hard to find. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2008, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-medieval-imagery/455809/59 "2008-08-29T13:13:44Z")
The Lady of Shalott is a topic and title for poem, painting, and song. I first heard it by Loreena McKennitt. The Baron of Brackley by Connie Dover is one song like you asked for. She has many like it, and has a beautiful voice. The song is on the album Somebody. ---
**Author:** ![racingfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bc79bd/32.png) [@racingfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racingfan)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2008, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-medieval-imagery/455809/60 "2008-08-29T13:43:58Z")
I don’t know what it is, but I just can’t get into that song Storybook Love. You’re right, the lyrics make no sense and the melody just doesn’t appeal to me. But thanks! I’m hoping to find something kind of dramatic – not sure if a group like Rhapsody or Manowar ever did a romantic ballad in their albums, but that would be cool. Or something along the lines of Glory of Love by Peter Cetera. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-medieval-imagery/455809.md?page=2)