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View Full Version : When you think of Bards, what songs or kind of music comes to mind?



Coidzor
2011-08-10, 12:28 AM
So I was writing a reply up to one of the most recent incarnations of the super mount thread, wherein I detailed some of the advantages of getting some bard in there, and then a certain song started playing, and I was like, heh, yeah, Bards.

This one (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKoZMke594A), in case you were wondering.

Took me forever to get the sexual connotation of the song though, haha.

I was a silly child, you see.

Then I was like, huh, I wonder what other people associate with Bards... or that reminds them of Bards, as in my case.

Crossblade
2011-08-10, 01:04 AM
Bards' music? I've always associate it to be a traveling tune, storytelling type of melody... kind of what is found in Disney's (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GouLP2GE1M8&NR=1) Robin Hood (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYU3PN4Sd7w&NR=1) (2 links), to be honest. Could just be the kid in me though.

NikitaDarkstar
2011-08-10, 01:09 AM
Hmm it depends.. a normal Bard and something along the lines of this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYFqvAmPG-M
Dire singer would be more powermetal along the lines of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzaFyUZz1yk okay it obviously works for a normal bard too, but meh. :p

Circle of Life
2011-08-10, 01:18 AM
My Bards are serious business. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCrnF844_ww)

NikitaDarkstar
2011-08-10, 01:38 AM
Oh I almost forgot, this! http://kitsmusic.bandcamp.com/album/like-a-dancer-unstrung defently bard'ish music to me.

GeekGirl
2011-08-10, 10:43 AM
The only bard I have ever wanted to play (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q71RXEckG9s&feature=youtu.be&t=22s)

valadil
2011-08-10, 10:49 AM
My favorite bard song is The Bard's Song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlACR3kLNR8).

Zejety
2011-08-10, 12:21 PM
My favorite bard song is The Bard's Song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlACR3kLNR8).

Can't view the link right now. Blind Guardian? If not: My first association is Blind Guardian's (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_tORtmKIjE) :P
Also, the Ragnarok Online bards (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ppu_LZOLFk).

oball
2011-08-10, 01:26 PM
I reckon this is the most bardy sounding song I know (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4BUkOjxuZo).

PersonMan
2011-08-10, 01:39 PM
Personally, this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25pwBoi94HU) is the only music I listen to that I normally imagine as Bardic Music. It's actually the inspiration for my Singing Blade class.

NikitaDarkstar
2011-08-10, 02:18 PM
Can't view the link right now. Blind Guardian? If not: My first association is Blind Guardian's (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_tORtmKIjE) :P
Also, the Ragnarok Online bards (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ppu_LZOLFk).

I Love you for bringing up RO's bards. One of the few games I know where bards are serious business and painful to mess with. >.<

Zejety
2011-08-10, 02:22 PM
I Love you for bringing up RO's bards. One of the few games I know where bards are serious business and painful to mess with. >.<

I'v erecently learned that iRO is now free to play. I started playing a mage, got bored and dropped the game.
Then I created my bard for an upcoming Pathfinder campaign. When its start was delayed again and again I was anxious to play a bard of some sort.

I started a new RO char again and now I have a level 99 Bard =)

NikitaDarkstar
2011-08-10, 02:32 PM
I'v erecently learned that iRO is now free to play. I started playing a mage, got bored and dropped the game.
Then I created my bard for an upcoming Pathfinder campaign. When its start was delayed again and again I was anxious to play a bard of some sort.

I started a new RO char again and now I have a level 99 Bard =)

Yhea I got an email about it a while ago, but to be honest I don't have the time to sink into RO that's needed to get anywhere sensible, or hunt for the gear a crit build assassin needs. Besides, I get my RO fix through D&D, we've adapted it to work with 3.5 rules, much more fun. XD (Okay so WoE is seriously fun but yhea, time.)

And still I find bards in RO painful. A lvl 99 Lord Knight? Not an issue. A bard? Yep now I'm running.

Cieyrin
2011-08-10, 02:52 PM
My favorite bard song is The Bard's Song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlACR3kLNR8).

Anything by Blind Guardian will do, though Lion's Heart and Skalds and Shadows are very Inspire Courage as well.

Hawkfrost000
2011-08-12, 12:48 AM
i played a savage bard with a +2 spell flaming warhammer so this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZU6eMxeltk)

my healer hated me

DM

Daftendirekt
2011-08-12, 12:52 AM
I picture my bards... pretty much as Loreena McKennitt.

Rogue Shadows
2011-08-12, 12:58 AM
I'm of the belief that, thanks to access to low-level magic spells, music not unlike Rock n' Roll (in all its flavors) is quite common in your typical D&D world.

So I always imagine bards rockin' out to music not unlike Elton John, Journey, Queen, Andrew WK, Ledd Zeppelin, the Eagles, Metallica, and most importantly, Slade (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-edpXPCEyKc)

NikitaDarkstar
2011-08-12, 07:00 AM
I'm of the belief that, thanks to access to low-level magic spells, music not unlike Rock n' Roll (in all its flavors) is quite common in your typical D&D world.

So I always imagine bards rockin' out to music not unlike Elton John, Journey, Queen, Andrew WK, Ledd Zeppelin, the Eagles, Metallica, and most importantly, Slade (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-edpXPCEyKc)

I've always had the same opinion really. Just the themes/lyrics of the songs would be somewhat different, but the basic sound would be pretty much the same.

On that note someone totally needs to make a bard in a pirate based setting playing Alestorm type music. :D http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ta-Z_psXODw

Tyndmyr
2011-08-12, 10:36 AM
DragonForce.

That is all.

Keld Denar
2011-08-12, 10:44 AM
Funny, when I clicked on this thread, Manowar - Warriors of the World was playing. It has kinda a steady, driving kickdrum/snare alternating beat, like many armored feet marching to battle.

Brothers everywhere, raise your hands into the air
We're warriors, warriors of the world
Like thunder from the sky, sworn to fight and die
We're warriors, warriors of the world

lerg2
2011-08-12, 10:49 AM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vQg7TYuq2g&NR=1
It just sounds very suspenseful, like combat is about to start.


Ha! Rickroll'd!!!

PrismCat21
2011-08-12, 11:13 AM
Bravely bold Sir Robin, rode forth from Camelot,
He was not afraid to die, O' brave Sir Robin.
He was not at all afraid, to be killed in nasty ways,
Brave, brave, brave, brave, Sir Robin...

I have a deal with our usual bard-type. Whenever something bad's aboit to show up, I have him play this song. (With multi-headed creatures or dragons he plays the whole thing.) My group has come to dread this song lol
When they retreat, he plays the other half :smalltongue:

Rogue Shadows
2011-08-12, 12:25 PM
DragonForce.

YES.
dotdotdot

Gnaeus
2011-08-12, 07:07 PM
Rap. Especially Lord of the Rhymes and fantasized versions of NWA. Also Tales from the Hood soundtrack and Wu Tang Clan.

Kyuu Himura
2011-08-12, 09:28 PM
When I think Bards, I think of this (http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/443/84399-32202-daredevil_super.png) incarnation of Daredevil.

As for songs, there are few things more inspiring than this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEjgPh4SEmU&feature=mh_lolz&list=PL23F275D6C12D2FD4) or this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSS5dEeMX64&feature=BFa&list=PL23F275D6C12D2FD4&index=6)

Zyoto12
2011-08-12, 09:53 PM
"Skalds and Shadows" by Blind Guardian and "Lament of a Minstrel" by Falconer.

Bluepaw
2011-08-12, 11:12 PM
Never played a bard myself, but have DMed for two bards -- one a homeless, street-busking saxophone player in Eberron, the other a cash-flashing, thrill-seeking dilettante with a knack for dropping ill rhymes in the face of the enemy...

DontEatRawHagis
2011-08-12, 11:21 PM
Two types:
One, ones that make me want to stab them in the face
Two, ones that are subtle hints for a quest that I will use to my advantage after I stab them in the face.

In my opinion what ever instrument they are using dictates the type of music, guitar might have a bit of a country or classic rock vibe, while the lute is ren fairey.

TheThan
2011-08-12, 11:38 PM
I once played a bard that sung all power ballads. Freebird, Dream On, Starway to heaven, etc. Also note, that anything by the scorpions is pretty awesome for bardic music.

I always wanted to form a barbershop quartet for a party, but nobody else thought it’d be fun.

Archpaladin Zousha
2011-08-13, 12:25 AM
I always feel the need to smile when I see D&D bards, ostensibly Middle-Ages characters, somehow looking into the future and playing rock-and-roll tunes. I know since bards can do magic it's not TOO much of a stretch, but does ANYONE attempt to keep their bards historically accurate?

In other news, I find Jethro Tull makes for fine bard music, especially stuff from their Songs From The Wood album. I know, folksy though it may be, they're still a rock band. I'm a bleedin' hypocrite:

Songs From The Wood (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2MgU7PNHgw)

Jack In The Green (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUZSwHXKu0Q&feature=related)

Cup of Wonder (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vs-ZiRs_isM&feature=related)

And the most bardly song of them all, The Whistler (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diOuUYcenW0&feature=related)

I've ALWAYS wanted to play a bard inspired by the stage mannerisms of Ian Anderson. :smallbiggrin:

Daftendirekt
2011-08-13, 01:10 AM
this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSS5dEeMX64&feature=BFa&list=PL23F275D6C12D2FD4&index=6)

Now THAT is Inspire Courage! YES!

DeadManSleeping
2011-08-13, 01:11 AM
I think of English/Irish/Scottish folk music. The sort that's performed by one guy and his stringed instrument. The sort that, y'know, a bard is totally capable of playing by himself out there on the field.

I'd link examples, but I'm a bit tired.

Rogue Shadows
2011-08-13, 01:12 AM
I always feel the need to smile when I see D&D bards, ostensibly Middle-Ages characters, somehow looking into the future and playing rock-and-roll tunes. I know since bards can do magic it's not TOO much of a stretch, but does ANYONE attempt to keep their bards historically accurate?

...

...no.

Not even a little.

Especially seeing as historical accuracy in D&D is largely a joke anyway. Magic and all that. What is magic for if not allowing you to rock out?

Coidzor
2011-08-13, 01:17 AM
Well, the bawdy folksongs that are the origins of the references Sir Pratchett has pepper liberally in any publication that mentions Nanny Ogg seem like they'd be rather fitting, but rather niche.

Also, good luck finding them. :smallmad:

Archpaladin Zousha
2011-08-13, 01:57 PM
What is magic for if not allowing you to rock out?
Um...comedy routines with your party mates by casting Grease in front of them so they do pratfalls and make your grumpy storm giant host laugh so hard he nearly wets himself? That's what I did with my current bard character recently. :smallbiggrin:

Rogue Shadows
2011-08-13, 02:21 PM
Um...comedy routines with your party mates by casting Grease in front of them so they do pratfalls and make your grumpy storm giant host laugh so hard he nearly wets himself? That's what I did with my current bard character recently. :smallbiggrin:

Mmn...fair enough, though I hope that you were playing the right music to go along with any slapstick comedy routine (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MK6TXMsvgQg).

Or for that matter, anything.

Ramza00
2011-08-14, 12:38 AM
Bards are Badass, when a Bard plays Inspire Courage he makes the party more badass and my be the turning point from defeat to victory, or making the victory completely certain.

Thus I always imagine when the bard plays inspire courage it is like hearing the music change in the movie or the tv show. The song where you know the hero is about to kick ass. Thus I think of these three songs when I think of inspire courage.

The Rising Fighting Spirit (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Yub62GshEw)

Strong and Strike (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TsE01qdy5A)

Turn Over (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kQWQiMypjc)

----------------------------

Now for other types of bardic music more traditional songs may be used.

Cerlis
2011-08-14, 01:41 AM
Well the part from 2:59 to 3:47 in Manifesto The City Harmonic always inspires me to play a divine bard. I get this image of a young man in the middle of a war torn medival city, with injured soldiers and citizens everywhere,the light shining down on him, singing that part and it uplifts everyone's spirits and the very song heals them.

I love the idea, of a Bard who helps his allies fight of undead and evil by singing and praying. thankfully aided by those two alternate class features and the spell which duplicates a Hallow spell.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_6JQDsbtlM


-----------------------

Funny you should mention those Ramzai. because when listening to those tracks, It was so easy to imagine a Ninja who uses music to summon elemental attacks (i.e. A Seeker of the Song or Sublime Chord) in the middle of a forest harrying her enemy with spells (of course, she has the feat that allows her to cast spells as part of a perform check)

------------
I also have to thank Circle of Life, had he not linked that cool Warrior Bard music (which i favorited and made me create a Bard Playlist btw) i wouldnt have also found.


THIS!!!!!!!!! The idea of a sorceress using her bard music and mind voilating spells to mold her son into a tool to avenge those who wronged her is just awesome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ny7NZPfl0l4&feature=related

Mordreds Lullaby.

Hush, child
The darkness will rise from the deep
And carry you down into sleep
Child, the darkness will rise from the deep
And carry you down into sleep

Guileless son,
I'll shape your belief
And you'll always know that your father's a thief
And you won't understand the cause of your grief
But you'll always follow the voices beneath

Loyalty loyalty loyalty loyalty
Loyalty loyalty loyalty only to me

Guileless son,
Your spirit will hate her
The flower who married my brother the traitor
And you will expose his puppeteer behavior
For you are the proof of how he betrayed her

Loyalty loyalty loyalty loyalty
Loyalty loyalty loyalty only to me

Hush, child
Darkness will rise from the deep
And carry you down into sleep
Child, the darkness will rise from the deep
And carry you down into sleep

Guileless son,
Each day you grow older
Each moment I'm watching my vengeance unfold
For the child of my body, the flesh of my soul
Will die in returning the birthright he stole

Loyalty loyalty loyalty loyalty
Loyalty loyalty loyalty only to me

Hush, child
The darkness will rise from the deep
And carry you down into sleep
Child, the darkness will rise from the deep
And carry you down into sleep



-----------------
So...i want to play a Warrior bard, a holy bard, a evil enchantress bard, a elementalmaniac rocker bard..... I dont even get to play much and this single class has so many character concepts in it!

---------------
So was listening to another one of her songs and something caught my ear. it was when.....listening to this rather upbeat song i hear oh so casually and (i'd almost say cheerfully) a woman singing "To mow down the men who refuse to repent."

:smalleek: whoa. guess i should pay more attention.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfOeANDsXbA&feature=related

Jubal_Barca
2011-08-14, 11:05 AM
I'm quite the folkster anyway (seriously, I've been known to design entire campaign arcs on the basis of referencing obscure folk songs), and I think folk is absolutely the natural music for a DnD bard. That or more early music, Purcell type stuff.

So...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YH-tihCjYxA&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvt56d6S1ok
Songs with a story to them in particular (Sir Patrick Spens, or Matty Groves would be other good examples).

Terazul
2011-08-14, 02:25 PM
I generally think of this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Geiq0FP13uQ) since the people I play with will usually have Perform (Slam Poetry) or (Beatboxing). Scat counts too, right?

randomhero00
2011-08-14, 02:28 PM
I've thought of it as some banjo toon for whatever reason. maybe with some harmonica or whistling alongside.

Shadowknight12
2011-08-14, 02:33 PM
My Bards are serious business. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCrnF844_ww)

This.


DragonForce.

That is all.

And even better, this.

johnnynomad
2011-08-14, 04:18 PM
Safety dance

Archpaladin Zousha
2011-08-14, 08:19 PM
I actually have a bard character myself (well, Bard/Cavalier, anyway). Here's what he sings when HE inspires courage (though the lyrics are tweaked a bit to match his own name):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vS8rpt1y6lk&list=FL-yL36Idjd10&index=69

KitTheOdd
2011-08-14, 09:42 PM
My Bard/Warblade's Inspire Courage was typically described like this, but with more sword swinging during it:

NZ All Blacks Haka (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_CaSu-fnGg&feature=fvst)

But for the final 20th level climatic battle to save the world at the end of the campaign - I through in some Ghost Sound assistance for this:

Link (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h44LIiaZhHE)


Protecting the ritual to end the planar invasion - it took 4 rounds to take a Titan king down one on one. That was a beautiful and epic finale.

Xerinous
2011-08-15, 11:48 PM
I usually think of Blind Guardian's The Bard's Song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zklqr1xj32Q). And then get it stuck in my head for several days afterward.

I like to think of Valhalla (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZ_VFJn2kJM) as Inspire Courage.

Coidzor
2011-08-16, 12:43 AM
<_< >_>

Is it bad that when I think about Diplomancer Bards using Perform, I think of the Scatman (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Geiq0FP13uQ)?

Archpaladin Zousha
2011-08-16, 12:59 AM
It always comes back to Blind Guardian, don't it?

If anything, I think they are the kings of music that can be put to Inspire Greatness. Observe:

Battlefield (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmu0LMlS8Us)

They also have a host of stuff that I don't know what bard class feature it'd fit with, but seems like the sort of awesome thing a bard would perform when not adventuring for the adulation of kings and commoners.

The Maiden and the Minstrel Knight (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uV_voFfZUf8)

War of the Thrones (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjqxoHDvirs&list=FL-yL36Idjd10&index=12)

Nachtritter
2011-08-16, 10:08 AM
The only bard I have ever wanted to play (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q71RXEckG9s&feature=youtu.be&t=22s)

You, miss, have the right idea, and earn the Nachtritter Prize.

Whenever my other gaming friends make a bard, it's the typical "elf with a mandolin" bard.

When make a bard, you'd better hold on to your hair, because I'm going to blow your head to the back of this auditorium!

Terazul
2011-08-16, 10:24 AM
<_< >_>

Is it bad that when I think about Diplomancer Bards using Perform, I think of the Scatman (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Geiq0FP13uQ)?

No, given I linked the same thing earlier :smalltongue:

Akal Saris
2011-08-16, 12:48 PM
I tend to think of the guy that gets eaten in Monty Python

The Tale of Sir Robin (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZwuTo7zKM8)

DropsonExistanc
2011-08-16, 12:50 PM
Spirit of the West.

I think I need to play a bard now... Fochlucian Lyrist anyone?

Also,

THERE WAS A BEAR! A BEAR! A BEAR! ALL BLACK AND BROWN AND COVERED WITH HAIR!

Greymane
2011-08-17, 10:21 AM
I once played a bard that sung all power ballads. Freebird, Dream On, Starway to heaven, etc. Also note, that anything by the scorpions is pretty awesome for bardic music.

I always wanted to form a barbershop quartet for a party, but nobody else thought it’d be fun.

Oh for the love of Olidammara sign me up!

brann miekka
2011-08-17, 02:31 PM
My friend played a halfling battle bard named fumblez thunderheart the unendable and everytime we were in a tavern he would jump up on a table, kick a beer mug and play http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jM4CDLmDx_Y so that's what I think of.

P.s. The reason it always comes back to blind guardian is because they ARE bards.

Lord.Sorasen
2011-08-17, 05:46 PM
Oh for the love of Olidammara sign me up!

My friends and I tried for a wild to form a barbershop quartet of bards too, actually. Little gnome in the front all soprano, bass all an orc bard.

Out of curiosity, how would a group of all bards handle things? I'm curious what builds would have synergy.. Maybe prestige bard through 3 different classes, all warmage/dread necromancer/beguiler/core bard or something.

On the subject of music... Don't kill me guys, but I always sort of frowned on the idea of bardic music being rock. I feel it creates something really silly, and (least for me) it sort of messes up the others in the party by forcing them to act like your dragonforce is actually increasing their combat potential. I mean, in a silly campaign this is awesome, but I just feel it's limited to that.

I always imagine two types of bardic music. When not in combat, the bard performs something mundane. I personally like my bards a bit more reserved, if that makes any sense: lost in the music, I guess. So I usually want guitar or perhaps flute or recorder, and his music will be slow and soulful. A cheerier bard is going to be more upbeat about it, obviously. But in combat? I don't think of bardic music as just being a really nice song. Naa, this song has an aspect above and beyond typical music. I always imagine it to sound like it's played in a church or other room with reverb qualities, regardless of where the battle takes place. I always have it sort of slow and otherworldly, effecting people in more powerful ways than they would imagine.

Nidogg
2011-08-17, 06:08 PM
Because I heard this just before starting DnD This (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAbZzdalZh4)is what my bards sing.

Coidzor
2011-08-17, 06:19 PM
Out of curiosity, how would a group of all bards handle things? I'm curious what builds would have synergy.. Maybe prestige bard through 3 different classes, all warmage/dread necromancer/beguiler/core bard or something.


There's a few different bardic music effects you can have up, if say you trade inspire courage for inspire awe on one of them, so you're debuffing the enemy while your allies are buffing the group. & stacking 3-4 different flavors of dragonfire inspiration is always fun.

A joke that sometimes comes up is the all kobold bard party called dragonforce. I can't find the actual detailed builds for the members though.

I believe one specializes in song of the white raven and is mostly martial adept, either crusader or warblade, at least one goes into virtuoso > Sublime Chord > More Virtuoso/Heartfire Fanner, and I forget what the other two do in particular, but I think the whole sublime chord thing is used by at least two of them to cover primary arcanist duties.

Leon
2011-08-18, 07:22 AM
Jethro Tull for me is the go to for Bardic music.

Archpaladin Zousha
2011-08-18, 01:35 PM
Jethro Tull for me is the go to for Bardic music.
Finally, someone else who knows! :smallbiggrin:

Lonely Tylenol
2011-08-18, 08:27 PM
I always feel the need to smile when I see D&D bards, ostensibly Middle-Ages characters, somehow looking into the future and playing rock-and-roll tunes. I know since bards can do magic it's not TOO much of a stretch, but does ANYONE attempt to keep their bards historically accurate?

In other news, I find Jethro Tull makes for fine bard music, especially stuff from their Songs From The Wood album. I know, folksy though it may be, they're still a rock band. I'm a bleedin' hypocrite:

Songs From The Wood (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2MgU7PNHgw)

Jack In The Green (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUZSwHXKu0Q&feature=related)

Cup of Wonder (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vs-ZiRs_isM&feature=related)

And the most bardly song of them all, The Whistler (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diOuUYcenW0&feature=related)

I've ALWAYS wanted to play a bard inspired by the stage mannerisms of Ian Anderson. :smallbiggrin:

It's funny--I came here with Jethro Tull in mind as well, though the very first song that came to mind for me was Bouree (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2RNe2jwHE0) (an adaptation of Bach's Lute Suite in Em). This strikes me as the sort of thematic music of a Bard--a wordless anthem, if you will--or perhaps a musical score. This is the song I think about first and foremost when I think of a Bard employing stealth and cunning to undermine his adversaries and dominate the social scene.

However, when I think about what the bard is about, I tend more towards Minstrel in the Gallery (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ljy6PTbX9I); the Bard, as a wandering minstrel, is everybody's critic; as an outsider-looking-in, he looks at the routine of daily life, of the status structure, as a grand comedy, and of authority in parody. He plays a song before a grand audience, but amuses himself greater than anybody else. It is the good-natured, though ultimately self-serving enjoyment of telling a joke at the listener's expense, or a joke that nobody else "gets". This is, perhaps, best represented in the first half of the song, with the first iteration of lyrics being very sporadic, detached, and slightly dark--through the first part of the electric guitar solo, which is very confused, a bunch of different emotions crashing into each other.

The song re-emerging in the reprise sort of struck me as something along the lines of the Bard realizing that he is part of this great comedy that he reviles and mocks, just as an artist himself might be the greatest critic of his own work, and so he is also, at heart, an outsider-looking-in--at himself. I suppose this could be reflected best in the lyric (mentioned only in the reprise) "and he threw away his looking glass / and saw his face in everyone".

The Bard can also be easily thought of as the Teacher (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fNY0JuATpQ).

Archpaladin Zousha
2011-08-18, 08:43 PM
Wait it's "saw his face in everyone?" I always thought it was "threw away his looking glass/saw his face in their wine," like he's standing above them and looking at them feast down below him and seeing his reflection in every liquid surface. :smallconfused:

Lonely Tylenol
2011-08-18, 08:46 PM
Wait it's "saw his face in everyone?" I always thought it was "threw away his looking glass/saw his face in their wine," like he's standing above them and looking at them feast down below him and seeing his reflection in every liquid surface. :smallconfused:

It's "saw his face in everyone". The "minstrel in the gallery" is the minstrel seeing himself, his persona, reflected at him from the members of the gallery (the audience around him).

Archpaladin Zousha
2011-08-18, 08:46 PM
How the hell did I mishear that?! :smallconfused:

Lonely Tylenol
2011-08-18, 08:50 PM
How the hell did I mishear that?! :smallconfused:

That's fine; we all do it from time to time. I myself misheard a different lyric in that song when I was younger--when I first heard the song, I thought the last lyric of the first half of the song was "and he called the band down to the stage / and he looked all afraid to play", which made the transposition into the thundering, crashing drums, sporadic rhythm, and wailing guitar solo that much darker and more frightening. :smallsmile:

EDIT: For reference, the actual lyric is "and he called the band down to the stage / and he looked at all the friends he made".

Archpaladin Zousha
2011-08-18, 08:55 PM
I misheard that line too! I thought it was "and he called the band down to the stage / and he looked at all the friendly faces!"

Coidzor
2011-08-18, 09:05 PM
I must admit, Jethro Tull is a lot different to what I was given to expect. I'd always been told it was mostly instrumental and woodwinds. :smallconfused:

Archpaladin Zousha
2011-08-18, 09:42 PM
Woodwinds are an important component (it's what separates them from other bands of their time), but don't let that fool you. They're a rock band. They earned the enmity of Metallica fans everywhere when they were declared the winners of some award show or other, as opposed to Metallica.

Lonely Tylenol
2011-08-18, 10:10 PM
Woodwinds are an important component (it's what separates them from other bands of their time), but don't let that fool you. They're a rock band. They earned the enmity of Metallica fans everywhere when they were declared the winners of some award show or other, as opposed to Metallica.

For reference: "some award show or other" was the 1989 Grammys, where they beat Metallica for the very first "Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance" award given out.

And yes, Jethro Tull is more than just instrumentals and woodwinds, although as a progressive rock band, instrumentals play a heavy role (and as their lead singer, Ian Anderson, is a flutist, woodwinds do play some role as well). It's worth noting that the song most universally regarded as their most successful--Aqualung (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1xY7Heaqg8) (mods, pull if not safe?)--does not have any woodwinds, is largely electric, and only breaks into instrumentals for the guitar solo (which is about par for the course for every band, ever). It's unusual for an early Jethro Tull song to have no woodwinds (though it has been done in other songs), but otherwise they're a little more varied.

Chilingsworth
2011-08-18, 10:24 PM
When I first heard Magia (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_Npgd6_Hpk&list=FLlE64b2R2UBRfJlERen36mQ&index=63), I felt like making a bard to use Kalafina music.

QuidEst
2011-08-19, 09:49 PM
Well… my Bard makes me think of some rather disparate stuff. She's got two selves, Comedy and Tragedy. Bards do buffing and debuffing, after all! Certainly, I think a Bard should be able to perform well at a funeral if such an occasion arrises.

The sort of thing Tragedy makes a living off of. (http://ocrmirror.org/files/music/remixes/Metal_Gear_Solid_2_BigShellWestBristol_OC_ReMix.mp 3)
Ghost Sound makes good accompaniment and mood music. No words? No problem. (http://ocrmirror.org/files/music/remixes/Max_Payne_Tragedy_of_a_Bullet_OC_ReMix.mp3)
Of course, Comedy needs something, too! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAXgUE6X8KA)

I'll have a look through here… should be fun. :smallsmile:

Bluepaw
2011-08-21, 11:17 PM
I always wanted to form a barbershop quartet for a party, but nobody else thought it’d be fun.

Love it. An all-bard party, hilariously underpowered yet irritatingly versatile and hard to kill with any monsters, and snazzy in their matching duds to boot. Kind of like playing a 4-person Jigglypuff brawl in Super Smash Bros...

Wonton
2011-08-24, 01:37 PM
Inspire Courage: www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fWvub_WBho

(sorry if the link doesn't work, I can't actually check while I'm at work)

begooler
2011-08-24, 11:40 PM
A few days ago I was statting up a modron npc that had gone rogue and become a bard. I thought to myself, hmmm, what music should I load on my computer for this guy to sing in his little droid voice?
After failing to find a midi version (HAS to be midi! It's a modron!) of Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, I ended up with this (http://sglyrics.myrmid.com/silence10.mid).

Now I can't get the damn thing out of my head, and every time I hear or read the word bard it starts playing. The midi version of it mind you.

I can't wait for the PC's to kill this thing.

Hida Reju
2011-08-26, 09:47 PM
Dream Evil - The Chosen ones (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7k4uRKvSa0I)

We are the chosen ones, we sacrifice our blood
We kill for honor
We are the holy ones our armours stained with blood
We killed the dragon
In glory we return, our destination's end
We slayed the dragon!
No more living in fear it's time to raise our king.
We made it happen we're the chosen ones!

Riding through thunder and lighting once again
We slayed the beast we brought an end
Now we have left the kingdom of the damned
Heroes of the day, legends forever!

It seems to me like a journey without end
So many years, too many battles
We've finally arrived, now we're standing at the gates
Heroes of the day, legends forever

Archpaladin Zousha
2011-08-26, 10:42 PM
Another "group" I've found that seems like the kind of thing high level bards would play to do things as potent as transform a weak soldier into an unbreakable hero, or bring a person back from the edge of death. I guarantee you've heard their music at least once, though not in a movie, but BEFORE a movie, in the trailers. Everyone? Meet Two Steps From Hell:

Protectors of the Earth (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9DO1U1U5Rc&list=FLlTt4hQg9ppuA_oIODa5TTQ&index=9&feature=plpp)
Black Blade (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SenbXX0Lkb4&feature=related)
To Glory (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZ1GbBlS9wM&list=FLlTt4hQg9ppuA_oIODa5TTQ&index=11&feature=plpp)
After the Fall (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zq19-WLIFlo&feature=related)

Enjoy. :smallcool:

Leon
2011-08-27, 02:17 AM
Immediate Music/Globus is a Similar one to that group.

I only just discovered Two Steps earlier in the week and actually mistook them for IM due to the similar sounds of some of the tracks.

X-Ray Dog is another.

Madeiner
2011-08-27, 02:04 PM
Another "group" I've found that seems like the kind of thing high level bards would play to do things as potent as transform a weak soldier into an unbreakable hero, or bring a person back from the edge of death. I guarantee you've heard their music at least once, though not in a movie, but BEFORE a movie, in the trailers. Everyone? Meet Two Steps From Hell:

Protectors of the Earth (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9DO1U1U5Rc&list=FLlTt4hQg9ppuA_oIODa5TTQ&index=9&feature=plpp)
Black Blade (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SenbXX0Lkb4&feature=related)
To Glory (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZ1GbBlS9wM&list=FLlTt4hQg9ppuA_oIODa5TTQ&index=11&feature=plpp)
After the Fall (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zq19-WLIFlo&feature=related)

Enjoy. :smallcool:



Wow. Thanks everyone for this thread. Some of the music here is truly incredible. I shall soon make a CD with that :)
And the music is one of the best of the topic i think, together with Blind guardian of course