FAWM: "Do the Unexpected(Don't React to the Sight of the Bones)"

Do the Unexpected(Don't React to the Sight of the Bones)

2025 by @nwhosings

Liner Notes

I'm combining challenges with this. Probably my last full song here on FAWM this year. I started the #writebydice challenge, but haven't been very inspired by it, well, that's how it goes sometimes. I did roll and I got Number 35, write about Folklore/Mythology. That lined up with another challenge I've been wanting to do, which is the #intothewoods challenge by @richardmasters. I rolled a 5, which sent me to a page full of North American Indigenous stories, and by fluke I picked a #canadian story, The Boy and The Dragon. A tale of a foundling off to make his fortune, this hero does some unexpected things, which in the end is what awards him his victory over the shapeshifting dragon. I picked out the bits of story that I liked the best, and kept a skeleton of the whole tale as I did number 4 "rewrite the story as if it happened to you" There is a line about being asked to help break a spell on an old woman in a murdery way. I left it in because it is an important moment of the hero trusting the people guiding him on his quest. The story doesn't make it gruesome, or even make it seem like there are any morals associated with the action. The old woman does come back to life, but she exits the story and goes off on her own path. I just felt like it needed to be jazzy and simple, so I played around with the idea (I didn't stay on each chord for 4 bars.....) of 12 bar blues and spoken delivery alongside the singing. I really don't know what to title this song. Could be either choice in the title bar for this or even Follow the Dragon Home (which I'm partial to, as I love dragons). #fuc #acoustic #acousticonetake #personwithukulele #blues #jazz #spoken #filk #folklore #folkjazz

Lyrics

Do the unexpected Follow the dragon home Ask for fried corncakes But don't react to the sight of the bones

Give me a pair of moccasins Some birch bark or maple leaves Let me find my own direction I'm about to take a leap

Do the unexpected Follow the dragon home Ask for fried corncakes But don't react to the sight of the bones

I've lived my whole life on the fringes So magic is easy to see When I'm asked to kill an old lady To break a spell on her, I believe

Do the unexpected Follow the dragon home Ask for fried corncakes But don't react to the sight of the bones

A little grey fish with red fins A toad that answers back? You think you're the only shapeshifter? Is it imagination that you lack?

Watch out for whirlpools They can drown you unawares Oh, clever Dragon, how did you fall Into the oldest trap that legend bears?

Do the unexpected Follow the dragon home Ask for fried corncakes But don't react to the sight of the bones (x2)

Comments

@allaboutgeorge 2025

Yes, it's imagination I lack: I didn't know I'd enjoy a mythological narrative jumped up against ukulele strums and jammed up against a winsome, whimsically joyful vocal.

@janeg 2025

Oh, you got a wonderful keeper song for these challenges! What an unusual story and you tell it so well in song. Who knew dragons made fried corncakes?

@theodamus 2025

I don’t think I’ve ever heard your speaking voice before, what a funny thing to realise with someone I’ve been listening to for years! The spoken intro made me instantly smile, and speaking of your voice I looooove how you’re playing with it in this jazzy style and the different qualities and dynamics - soft and a little smoky, smooth, powerful and technical, and all in contrast with nailing the spoken character delivery - you sound so good!

I was drawn in by the title, the take on it immediately twisted what I thought it would be and the story kept the twists coming with glee. It’s fitting for a dice roll high fantasy/folklore story to tell it like a character in a tavern. Don’t react to the sight of the bones works as the a hook - a catchy warning

@jinx 2025

That's a fantastic title, and your song really does it justice. I feel like this song contains a whole unwritten novel in it!

@richardmasters 2025

This is wonderful - you capture the story well and lift it into higher realms with your delivery. Don't react....is brilliant, as is , you think you're the only shape shifter? Well done for reaching 14, but would be lovely to hear more from you - FAWM comes but once a year 😁, more often, and therefore better, than Brigadoon!