Anansi Boogie - Whimsically Macabre



"Anansi, the spider, is one of the most popular animal tricksters from West African mythology. Tricksters are mischievous figures who often oppose the will of the gods, resulting in some kind of misfortune for humans." ~Info from: http://www.mythencyclopedia.com

Long-legged Spinners - Whimsically Macabre



Snakes with forked tongues,
 And porcupines, don’t be seen.
 Deadly lizards, don’t be mean.
 Don’t come near our fairy queen.

 Philomel, with melody
 Sing in our sweet lullaby.
 Lulla, lulla, lullaby, lulla, lulla, lullaby.
 Never harm
 Nor spell nor charm
 Come our lovely lady nigh.
 So good night, with lullaby.

    Weaving spiders, come not here.
    Hence, you long-legged spinners, hence!

    Snakes with forked tongues,
 And porcupines, don’t be seen.
 Deadly lizards, don’t be mean.
 Don’t come near our fairy queen.

    Nightingale, melodiously
 Sing our sweet lullaby.
 Lulla, lulla, lullaby, lulla, lulla, lullaby.
 Let no harm
 Or spell or charm
 Come near our lovely lady.
 Say good night with a lullaby.

    Spiders with your webs, stay away.
 You long-legged things, begone!
 ~Shakespeare, Fairy Song from A Midsummer Night’s Dream

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Sheet music for many Whimsically Macabre pieces but not necessarily this one (yet): https://pianopronto.com/composers-community/stacy-fahrion/

The Ghost of the Fly - Whimsically Macabre



The Ghost of the Fly, a composition inspired by the poem by Vachel Lindsay, The Spider and the Ghost of the Fly:
Once I loved a spider
When I was born a fly,
A velvet-footed spider 
With a gown of rainbow-dye.
She ate my wings and gloated.
She bound me with a hair.
She drove me to her parlor
Above her winding stair.
To educate young spiders
She took me all apart.
My ghost came back to haunt her.
I saw her eat my heart.

Along Came a Spider


Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet
Eating her curds and whey,
Along came a spider,
Who sat down beside her
And frightened Miss Muffet away.

Review of Walnut Room show!

http://bolderbeat.com/musicnews/2017/6/12/decatur-unleashed-their-dynamic-debut-ep-at-the-walnut-room


"Stacy Fahrion of Whimsically Macabre Music took to the stage first, blowing everyone away with her lightning fast piano compositions and unusual twists to well-known nursery rhymes. Starting off the evening with dark and edgy alt-classical music was as fitting as it was eye-opening."

pianist - a poem by Wayne A. Gilbert

pianist

death popped in this morning
while i was working on a poem
“what a surprise” i exclaimed 
“somebody just not ready?”

death smiled patted my cheek
“i’ll have what you’re having”

i ordered another pot of earl grey
a 2nd vegan cinnamon roll

i was glad to see death but
i knew not to ask too many questions

“oh” death sighed “it’s nice to sit a few minutes”

i gave death a fake wounded look

“with you” death said “of course with you”

we laughed
we ate a few bites of pastry
death poured tea took a sip
looked me in the eye
“so who’s this piano player
you’ve been working with?”

“you mean stacy?”

death nodded “i know about the poems wayne”

“i never tried to hide them” i quickly replied 

“so tell me about stacy”

“why”

“let’s just say i’m curious”

so i told death about my friend stacy
who is an accomplished pianist/composer
and how i wanted her to be part
of the premiere performance 
of these poems

death looked skeptical

“what” i asked defensively

death did not answer

“ok” i said” i get it—
she’s not a jazz musician”

death smiled

i continued “but her music is
haunting and hilarious
familiar and utterly strange
ridiculously fun and bizarrely disturbing
she calls it ‘whimsically macabre’—
it is”

death gulped a mouthful of tea

i added “she’s  not afraid of you”

death made a smacking sound
then smiled “ahhhh”

asked me who i liked in the nba finals

Jabberwocky (Now with more burbles and mimsy!)

Jabberwocky

Related Poem Content Details

’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves 
      Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: 
All mimsy were the borogoves, 
      And the mome raths outgrabe. 

“Beware the Jabberwock, my son! 
      The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! 
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun 
      The frumious Bandersnatch!” 

He took his vorpal sword in hand; 
      Long time the manxome foe he sought— 
So rested he by the Tumtum tree 
      And stood awhile in thought. 

And, as in uffish thought he stood, 
      The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame, 
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood, 
      And burbled as it came! 

One, two! One, two! And through and through 
      The vorpal blade went snicker-snack! 
He left it dead, and with its head 
      He went galumphing back. 

“And hast thou slain the Jabberwock? 
      Come to my arms, my beamish boy! 
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!” 
      He chortled in his joy. 

’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves 
      Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: 
All mimsy were the borogoves, 
      And the mome raths outgrabe.

American Circus




"Entrance of the Gladiators" op. 68 is a military march composed in 1897 by the Czech composer Julius Fučík. He originally titled it "Grande Marche Chromatique," reflecting the use of chromatic scales throughout the piece, but changed the title based on his personal interest in the Roman Empire. In 1901, American publisher Carl Fischer published a version of this march, arranged for American wind bands by Canadian composer Louis-Philippe Laurendeau, under the title "Thunder and Blazes." It was during this period that the song gained lasting popularity as a screamer march for circuses, often used to introduce clowns. Today it is known mainly by this association, even though the title and composer are relatively obscure. ~from Wikipedia

"Batty Batty Batty" A Time-lapse Speed Drawing by Brian A. Bernhard



Thank you to artist Brian A. Bernhard for using my music in this awesome video!

Welcome to my "Batty Batty Batty" time-lapse video.
8 hours of drawing weird looking bats compressed into 1 minute and 42 seconds.

This design will eventually be transformed into some awesome products for my lifestyle brand for weirdos, collect something awesome for yourself or a friend now: www.embracetheweird.design

Please consider joining my weird community, finding behind the scenes extras, unedited drawing videos, my live stream archives and more on Patreon: www.patreon.com/brianabernhard
Find me on Twitch, Twitter, Periscope & Instagram at @BrianABernhard

Music: Tarantula Antidote No. 1 by Whimsically Macabre Music (https://whimsicallymacabre.bandcamp.com) also be sure to subscribe to her YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/WhimsicallyMacabre

What Democrazy Looks Like - Whimsically Macabre (Tiny Desk Contest 2017)



If you look closely, you will see a tiny origami desk. It turned out to be the perfect size for a tiny giraffe head. (Having a desk of some sort in your video is a requirement of the contest.)

What Democrazy Looks Like is primarily a piano solo with singing as an accompaniment. It reflects disappointment about the state of our nation, apprehension, and a tiny sliver of hope. May we musicians, artists, and scientists work together to create a better future. 

Stacy is a composer and pianist who has carefully avoided singing in public before this video. Please feel free to verify this by checking out her other works at WhimsicallyMacabre.bandcamp.com. :)  

Thank you to Stoph Long, who just happens to be a scientist, for his encouragement and help with the recording process.

Thank you to NPR for providing this opportunity. It forced me out of my comfort zone.

Margoton va t'a l'iau


Margoton goes to fetch water with her little jug
The well was hollow and she fell in.
Aïe, Aïe, Aïe, Aïe, se dit Margoton

Margoton goes to fetch water with her little jug
Three handsome young men pass by
Aïe, Aïe, Aïe, Aïe, se dit Margoton

Margoton goes to fetch water with her little jug
What will you give, pretty one, if we pull you out?
Aïe, Aïe, Aïe, Aïe, se dit Margoton

Margoton goes to fetch water with her little jug
Pull me out first, she says, and then we'll see.
Aïe, Aïe, Aïe, Aïe, se dit Margoton

Margoton goes to fetch water with her little jug
When the pretty one was out she struck up a song.
Aïe, Aïe, Aïe, Aïe, se dit Margoton

Margoton goes to fetch water with her little jug
This is not what we want, pretty one.
Aïe, Aïe, Aïe, Aïe, se dit Margoton

Margoton goes to fetch water with her little jug
It is to hold your little heart if we may.
Aïe, Aïe, Aïe, Aïe, se dit Margoton

Margoton goes to fetch water with her little jug
My little heart, sirs, is not for lechers.
Aïe, Aïe, Aïe, Aïe, se dit Margoton

Alouette


Alouette, gentille alouette,
Alouette, je te plumerai.

Je te plumerai la tête,
Je te plumerai la tête,
Et la tête, et la tête,
Alouette, Alouette
A-a-a-ah

Lark, nice lark
Lark, I’ll pluck you.

I’ll pluck your head
I’ll pluck your head
And your head, and your head
Lark, lark. A-a-a-ah

Ethnomusicologist Conrad LaForte points out that, in song, the lark (l'alouette) is the bird of the morning, and that it is the first bird to sing in the morning, hence waking up lovers and causing them to part, and waking up others as well, something which is not always appreciated. In French songs, the lark also has the reputation of being a gossip, a know-it-all, and cannot be relied on to carry a message, as she will tell everyone; she also carries bad news. ~Conrad LaForte, Survivances médiévales dans la chanson folklorique, Université Laval Press, 1981 (from Wikipedia)

Molly Malone

In Dublin's fair city, where the girls are so pretty,
I once met a girl called sweet Molly Malone, 
She wheeled her wheelbarrow through the streets broad and narrow, 
Crying cockles and mussels alive alive oh 

She was a fishmonger and it was no wonder
For so were her father and mother before
And they both wheeled their barrows through streets broad and narrow
Crying cockles and mussels alive alive oh

My love had a fever and no one could save her, 
And that was the end of sweet Molly Malone, 
Now her ghost wheels her barrow 
through the streets broad and narrow 
crying cockles and mussels alive alive oh.

Arachne's Web


 From Greek Mythology.com:  Arachne in Greek mythology was a weaver who challenged Athena and was consequently transformed into a spider. There are three versions of the myth. 
     One version has it that she was a shepherd's daughter that was particularly skilled at weaving. Boasting about her skill, she infuriated Athena, who appeared and contested her. Athena weaved four scenes in which the gods punished those humans that considered themselves equal to gods and committed hubris; Arachne, on the other hand, weaved scenes in which gods abused humans. Arachne's work was clearly better than Athena's; the goddess, even more enraged due to what the weaving depicted, threw Hecate's potion onto Arachne, transforming her into a spider and condemning her to weave for eternity. 
     In a different version, at the challenge, Athena weaved the contest between herself and Poseidon over who the patron saint of Athens would be, while Arachne did a depiction of Zeus' advances to various mortal women. Athena realized how skilled Arachne was, but wanted to teach her to be more humble and respect the gods. Touching Arachne's forehead, the woman was filled with shame and hung herself. Athena brought her back to life and turned her into a spider, in order to let her weave all the time.
     In the final version of the myth, Zeus was the judge in the contest between Arachne and Athena, and whoever lost would not be allowed to touch a spindle or the loom again. Athena won in this version, and Arachne was devastated that she could no longer weave. Out of pity, Athena transformed her into a spider, so she could continue weaving without having to break her oath. 

Pinocchio's Tango

      The Fairy sat looking at him and laughing. "Why do you laugh?" the Marionette asked her, worried now at the sight of his growing nose. "I am laughing at your lies." "How do you know I am lying?" "Lies, my boy, are known in a moment. There are two kinds of lies, lies with short legs and lies with long noses. Yours, just now, happen to have long noses." Pinocchio, not knowing where to hide his shame, tried to escape from the room, but his nose had become so long that he could not get it out of the door.
      Crying as if his heart would break, the Marionette mourned for hours over the length of his nose. No matter how he tried, it would not go through the door. The Fairy showed no pity toward him, as she was trying to teach him a good lesson, so that he would stop telling lies, the worst habit any boy may acquire. But when she saw him, pale with fright and with his eyes half out of his head from terror, she began to feel sorry for him and clapped her hands together. A thousand woodpeckers flew in through the window and settled themselves on Pinocchio's nose. They pecked and pecked so hard at that enormous nose that in a few moments, it was the same size as before.
     "How good you are, my Fairy," said Pinocchio, drying his eyes, "and how much I love you!" ~from The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi, 1883

Jabberwocky

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

Tweedledum and Tweedledee Boogie

Through the Looking-Glass, Lewis Carroll:
"Contrariwise," continued Tweedledee, "if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, 
it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic." 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WhimsicallyMacabreMusic/
Sheet music: https://pianopronto.com/composers-community/stacy-fahrion/
Bandcamp: https://whimsicallymacabre.bandcamp.com/


Rumpelstiltskin


"The name Rumpelstilzchen in German means literally "little rattle stilt". (A stilt is a post or pole which provides support for a structure.) A rumpelstilt or rumpelstilz was the name of a type of goblin, also called a pophart or poppart, that makes noises by rattling posts and rapping on planks. The meaning is similar to rumpelgeist ("rattle ghost") or poltergeist, a mischievous spirit that clatters and moves household objects." (from Wikipedia)