Song of the Day, 1/6/2004

[Bob Schroeck]

For to see Mad Tom of Bedlam
Ten thousand miles I travel
Mad Maudlin goes on dirty toes
To save her shoes from gravel.
Still I sing bonny boys, bonny mad boys
Bedlam boys are bonny
For they all go bare and they live by the air
And they want no drink nor money.
I went down to Satan's kitchen
To break my fast one morning
And there I got souls piping hot
All on the spit a-turning.
Still I sing bonny boys, bonny mad boys
Bedlam boys are bonny
For they all go bare and they live by the air
And they want no drink nor money.
That of your five sound senses
You never be forsaken,
Nor wander from your selves with Tom
Abroad to beg your bacon.
Still I sing bonny boys, bonny mad boys
Bedlam boys are bonny
For they all go bare and they live by the air
And they want no drink nor money.
The moon's my constant mistress,
And the lonely owl my marrow;
The flaming drake and the night crow make
Me music to my sorrow.
Still I sing bonny boys, bonny mad boys
Bedlam boys are bonny
For they all go bare and they live by the air
And they want no drink nor money.
I know more than Apollo,
For oft when he lies sleeping
I see the stars at mortal wars
In the wounded welkin weeping.
Still I sing bonny boys, bonny mad boys
Bedlam boys are bonny
For they all go bare and they live by the air
And they want no drink nor money.
With a host of furious fancies,
Whereof I am commander,
With a burning spear and a horse of air
To the wilderness I wander.
Still I sing bonny boys, bonny mad boys
Bedlam boys are bonny
For they all go bare and they live by the air
And they want no drink nor money.
By a knight of ghosts and shadows
I summoned am to tourney
Ten leagues beyond the wide world's end-
Methinks it is no journey.
Still I sing bonny boys, bonny mad boys
Bedlam boys are bonny
For they all go bare and they live by the air
And they want no drink nor money.
For to see Mad Tom of Bedlam
Ten thousand years I travel
Mad Maudlin goes on dirty toes
To save her shoes from gravel.
Still I sing bonny boys, bonny mad boys
Bedlam boys are bonny
For they all go bare and they live by the air
And they want no drink nor money.
-- Mad Tom o' Bedlam (aka Bedlam Boys), Traditional
(Edit: Corrected verse selection to reflect the Tempest version.)
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[Bob Schroeck]

Just an additional note. The song actually has almost three times as many verses as I've included here; this selection is my best reconstruction of the version performed by Tempest,
which is what I was listening to when I decided to SOTD it.


-- Bob
---------
And all the girlies say I'm pretty dry for a wet guy...

[classicdrogn]

Egad. From the 'Songs Doug should never, ever play' files, I take it? That's one bloody ballad.
- CD
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows

[Bob Schroeck]

Oh, yeah, it's not a song he'd ever use. But in a weird way, it's almost a theme song for the Walk as a whole. There are some odd and interesting parallels here and there. (No, I won't say what they are.)


-- Bob
---------
And all the girlies say I'm pretty dry for a wet guy...

[Bob Schroeck]

Oh, and in case anyone wonders why this thread just popped up as new, I relistened to the Tempest version and realized I'd left two verses out. So I went back and added them.


-- Bob
---------
And all the girlies say I'm pretty dry for a wet guy...