The Song Fight Bulletin Board

The Jester King
by Mandibles

Feast of Fools, it lasts a day
At least that’s what they always say
But when you’re ruler of the land
You can change the rules at hand

Long live the jester king
Long live the jester king

What a joke to be a king
Don’t require much of anything
Talk real nice and give real work
To the city guard and the county clerk

But winds will change, and on them come
The arrows of the fearsome Hun
With just a prayer, without a plan
Cometh the hour, cometh the man

You don’t understand
The dangers close at hand
But you’re the one wearing the crown;
The scepter laid aside,
The sword will be your guide
Gotta step up if you’re gonna throw down

The farmers fields are filled with horses
Taken from Atilla’s forces
The Huns at last have shown their backs
We’ve repelled their best attacks

Long live the jester king
Long live the jester king

Murder on the Greyhound - Night Sky

Drove my greyhound blind in a blizzard
Lonely souls sat quiet and shivered
On the midnight route out of Toledo

Got a man up front twirling his mustache
A sleeper in the back behind a mask
Twelve poor wretches staring into the dark

If you got a score to settle or forget
This old dog can keep a secret
Hound’s a haven for tramps and thieves

Storm shut us down outside of Laramie
Howlin’ scream that you wouldn’t believe
Cell tower’s down no way to call for help

I put my hand out to the sleeper
Man I called out for a preacher
Blood all down his chest, death in his eyes

Someone had a score to settle but don’t forget
This old dog can keep a secret
Hound’s the site of murder intrigue

We had six hundred miles to go
Mustache man called himself Poirot
Bowed and said he’d find the miscreant

He pored over clues the whole night long
Twelve cuts and the name Armstrong
Twelve wounded souls hiding behind their eyes

They had planned an unlikely conspiracy
Vengeance for the wicked man’s misdeeds
Vigilante justice indeed

We are all running from something
Pain or fear or a guilty conscience
When the jury you get ain’t the one you need
You might just find your volunteer peers

There were no strangers on the bus you see
This man was the killer of beloved Daisy
One by one they plunged the knife into his heart

Mustache man spoke gravely
Rough justice on this cursed plain
Your verdict I accept, but can’t approve

We are all running from something
Pain or fear or a guilty conscience
When the jury you get ain’t the one you need
You might just find your volunteer peers

Ellie
by See-Man-Ski

in November 91
there formed a perfect storm
with strong high pressure
over Nova Scotia

there was a state of emergency
we knew that we couldn't leave
so we held on to one another

Ellie, this house is gonna fly
and take us both to paradise
yeah this house is gonna rise
and you'll see my promises realised

the impact was nothing more
than the force of natures law
crashing waves
30 feet tall

in the middle of the wreck
is an image that I dread
as the pulsing sounds
lift me off the ground

Ellie, this time I'm gonna fly
and say goodbye to paradise
yeah this time I'm gonna rise
and you'll see my promises left behind

there's no place like home

Ellie, in time I'm gonna try
to go back to paradise
yeah this house is gonna rise
and we'll see our promises realised

The Soldier's Song by Sober
Today I pack my rifle, 5.56 and all my gear
Yesterday I had an Enfield 30 rounds in a bandolier
Last week I marched with Sherman, fixed a bayonet
If there’s a war to end all wars, I haven’t seen it yet

I’ve stood in the shield wall, been cut down by cavalry
I was first over the transom when we lost Gallipoli
You can call me eleven bravo, legs, or infantry
My story’s just the same throughout all of history

I have died a million deaths
I’ve been slashed and torn asunder
Taken many of my last breaths
As the riptide pulled me under

The story has been told before and will be told again
So long as there are poor young men

I have been on both sides of a crumbling palisade
Too often I’m a child, untrained and afraid
I sang carols in the trenches on a quiet Christmas eve
And now I am a mother fighting in the streets of Kyiv

Rarely have I volunteered for duty or for pride
It’s a job and my employer chooses when and how I die
The terrors I have seen, the awful tools of hell
By and by I’ll get my due for using them myself

Sometimes I survive and see my sons grow old
Old enough to take my place in this eternal role

Going Really Far, Hot Pink Halo

Liner notes:

Phar Lap is Australia's most famous racehorse.

Regardless of their opinion on racing, every Australian grows up knowing Phar Lap's story. He came from good lineage but humble beginnings in New Zealand, and was brought to Australia in 1928. He looked terrible and didn't have a lot going for him on paper, but ended up winning 37 races from 51 starts including Australia's most prestigious horse race, the Melbourne Cup. During the Great Depression, Phar Lap brought joy and hope to the Australian public. His name derived from the Zhuang and Thai word for lightning, literally "sky flash".

In 1932, Phar Lap travelled to Tijuana, Mexico, to race in the Agua Caliente handicap, which was the richest race in the world at the time. He won the race by several lengths, but died unexpectedly in mysterious circumstances 16 days later in San Francisco, on April 5 1932. In Australia, his death was (and still is) seen as a tragedy, especially in such turbulent times.

Phar Lap's remains were sent to three different institutions. His skeleton is part of the collection at the National Museum of New Zealand in Wellington, his mounted hide went to the Melbourne Museum in Victoria, Australia, and his heart, which turned out to be around twice the size of an average racehorse's heart, was sent to the National Museum of Australia in Canberra.

Something else that gave people hope during difficult years was the Space Race, and I decided to combine these two events. This type of space travel, where a horse travels to Saturn for an inter-solar-system race is unlikely to be viable for quite some time (or ever), so the time period probably classifies as "indeterminate future", but the Phar Lap loving Australian in me wanted to give him a home forever in the stars.

***
Phar Lap links:

National Museum of Australia: www.nma.gov.au/explore/collection/highl ... collection

National Film and Sound Archive of Australia:
www.nfsa.gov.au/tags/phar-lap

Farewell Phar Lap, 1932 film obituary: www.nfsa.gov.au/collection/curated/farewell-phar-lap

***

Lyrics:

Born under a long white cloud
Three planets from the sun
You travelled to a wide brown land
Ran rings round everyone

And you’re going really far
You’re going really far Phar Lap
You’re going really far

We cheered you from the stands
You raced across our screens
We watched as you prepared to fly
Through barriers on worlds unseen

And you’re going really far
You’re going really far Phar Lap
You’re going really far

You pulled through from behind
To win on Saturn’s track
A victory in a flash of light
But you never did come back

And you’re going really far
You’re going really far Phar Lap
You’re going really far

You had the biggest heart Phar Lap
You’re shooting for the stars Phar Lap
Hope shining in the dark Phar Lap
You’re going really far Phar Lap
You’re going really far