unknown continents

[steppenwolf]

This was a later entry to the field; I just felt bad because it seemed like there were a couple Endurance playlists going in and I needed to do one for the lads. It's…something! I think you can take this as inspired by Ted Tally's Terra Nova, as is everything else in me life.
death

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A note on the type

I feel like you've probably seen this one before, even if you don't know the band; it seems to have become something of a thing in its own right and I sware I've seen a meme of it on tumblr. I love JD, I love the album, I knew I wanted to do something special for My Expedition, I downloaded AI (ILLUSTRATOR not ai skdlflsdf) for this :crylaugh:

The badly drawn ship is based on this picture (inchresting thought I had when doing this – I seem to think of the TN without sails more than with, probably bc of Ponting's more famous photo. Do you think of ships in particular ways too???). Big thanks to this site for identifying the font (I still cheated though I think I used Helvetica Neue). Weird little hobby blogs are the goddamn backbone of our world!

background noise

Probably this would be better as a longer playlist, bc I wanted to give each member of the polar party their own song and that's, uh, more than half. I also wanted to have a song representative of each nationality on the expedition and there wasn't enough space but also at least I'm not going to commit any crimes against Australia by using Waltzing Matilda (I wasn't going to, I swear).

So it becomes a little strange – the first song for the easting down, and then you're whacked by seven songs about the dying bit… would it have made more sense to do one polar party song and spread the songs out over the two years? Yes, but unfortunately I haven't any sense and also I spent SO long listening to UK military marches for Titus so. I think it would have been nice to arrange the party's songs by order of death (lmfao) but Taff's and Bill's go really nicely together, so I've swapped things a little.

thank you for the music

The Pogues,The Leaving of Liverpool

So fare thee well my own true love
When I return united we will be
It's not the leaving of Liverpool that grieves me
But my darling when I think of thee

I can include a song about Liverpool if it's about leaving it, right???? Although they aren't bound for California, I still think it's a lovely tune in the age-old sailor's tradition of farewell till we meet agains, while keeping an upbeatness that befits the journey down. You couldn't tear each other's clothes off in the wardroom to the Grey Funnel Line but you can to this.

Dougie MacLean, Caledonia

But I'm steady thinking my way is clear
And I know what I will do tomorrow
When the hands are shaken and the kisses flow
Then I will disappear

And here the hard swerve… Birdie's song, of course, and a beautiful one about going home. I like to think of this one in that him ghost would have gone home, because he's not the sort to have to be kicking around Antarctica miserably forever, and that's why Caledonia's calling him.

Also, that bit about being afraid he might drift away so he's been telling old stories, singing songs – huge con letter to barrie about the songs they're singing energy haha god fuck damnit

Suo Gân

Sleep, my child, for there is nothing
Here to frighten you.
Smile in peace here on my bosom
At the white angels yonder.

I think a lot of my impression of Taff has been coloured by Ted Tally's Terra Nova (at this point I mean what hasn't been. I live my life by it), so I apologise if it's leaning a little too heavy on that depiction. This is a traditional Welsh lullaby I first heard on the Empire of the Sun soundtrack (hence using that version), & it's very peaceful & very quiet & very lovely. I hope Taff just had to lie down for a little while. It is comfortable here.

The English translation might be a little off; there are a few available and unfortunately I can't speak as to whether it's correct, but I got it from here.

He Who Would Valiant Be

We know we at the end
Shall life inherit.
Then fancies flee away!
I’ll fear not what men say,
I’ll labor night and day
To be a pilgrim.

I don't uh know a lot about Christianity (soz Bill) so I hope desperately that this hymn is the same as To Be A Pilgrim. I knew Bill's song had to be a hymn, but again bad subject knowledge defeated me, and I didn't want something that was too patriotic or overzealously godly. Thankfully Tealin came through with this, and explains in the last para perfectly why it's a Bill song. (It was sung at Cherry's funeral lads! I'm emotional!) Read that instead, and then spend 2 hours trawling through the rest of the tumblr for maximum psychic damage.

Over the Hills and Far Away

Then fall in lads behind the drum
With colours blazing like the sun.
Along the road to come what may
Over the hills and far away.

There's probably a better Titus song out there – there're straight up songs and an album themed around him – but when I picked this I was still trying to stick to folk songs, and I refuse to admit that I've wasted hours of my life listening to playlists with union jacks on them just to find something for the boy.

It's ironic bc I liked Over the Hills pretty quickly BUT did you know that if a big band like Led Zeppelin writes a song with the exact same title it becomes very hard to search for traditional versions. The fact that the best version of it on spotify is Sharpe's Theme is to me inexplicably funny. Obviously this is instrumental, but I've taken John Tams' lyrics here.

We Have Fed Our Sea

We must feed our sea for a thousand years,
For that is our doom and pride

Ah. Con. What can I say. My feelings about him are endlessly complex, as he was endlessly complex… I considered the Royal Navy Hymn at first, but that felt a little too religious for him, and Heart of Oak was a tad bit rah rah let's conquer everybody, juuust a tad. I looked through a lot of folk songs on Mainly Norfolk that had anything to do with ships and sea, and found this one.

The original lyrics are by Kipling, which was a nice connection to the literary side of Con (I don't know if he read the guy, but this postcard exists and also you know who did read him? #pickles). I think the song straddles the doing duty but at what cost line really well, never coming down on one side or the other, always aware of the role these deaths fulfill (If blood be the price of admiralty / Lord God, we have paid in full) which, well, seems like Real Con Hours to me.

Sissel, The Journey

Waves will bring me home to you
If the fate allows

At this point I gave up looking for folk songs…! This is a Norwegian one for Gran, and specifically I think about his bringing Con's skis home to finish the journey. I don't know what else to say about it because if I think about that for too long I start blubbering like a seal.

⚓︎ Stan Rogers, Down the Road

Sun is rising high, burning into the day
I will say goodbye; I'll be going away
Brush away my doubts what tomorrow will hold
Feeling fine for now, going down the road

Canada for Silas! For a while now I've been meaning to write something with the polar party ghosts (never has a more me thing been said) reacting to Silas's discovery of the tent and the subsequent things; I don't know whether I'll ever get around to it, but consider this the party's goodbye. So heavy rain at my back, lazy meadows ahead. Off you go into the sun.

All american rejects

My original idea was to base it around folk songs, but I ran into a couple of problems: a lot of folk songs have understandably complex origins, they're very hard to search for if you don't know what they're called, and I'd have to rely on google translate for songs that weren't in English, which I didn't want to do at risk of getting things wrong. So this is a shoutout to such playlists that I attempted to draw from as Ukranian Folk Music and Bush Ballads.

Another song I'd wanted to use for Con was The Last Farewell, but the music didn't really suit the mood. I also wanted to include James Taylor's Terra Nova just because it's called that… sir I what do you think about the heroic age

one - the narrow road to furthest south || one - 小人物
two - morning || two - will you join the dance?
three - crevasse || three - we die, but we don't
four - ...antics || four - unknown continents || four - going to the match || four - in that final flowing cold
five - dead and gone