Whistler

I retain my Bowie-like obsession with never doing the same thing twice. With that in mind, i endeavored to write this as a country song, but I don't normally listen to country music, which made this one the hardest of my home town quests to write. I think i managed to pull it off though.


Whistler begins playing a country tune.

Whistler plays:
Twang-Twang twang, twangy-plink twang twannnng,
Plink plink plink, plinkey-twannng twang twanng.
Twangey-plink a twangey-plink, twangey-plink a twang,
Plink plink plink, twangey plink a twangey-plink.

Whistler sings:
Once as spring was ending, came a maid to Harpers-dock,
A city girl from Midguard, with bright eyes and golden locks,
But to young and lovelorn Chester, she was all he’d hoped to find,
To him, she was the one he’d always had in mind . . .
He told her Annabelle, you are the one I’ve always dreamed
Would come some day and be the butter to my cream,
I know that we’ve on-ly just met, but I’ve got nothing to hide,
And I was wondering how can I make you my bride . . .

Whistler sings:
She told him: Chester, you’re such a silly sot,
I’ve only come here-to get away from-the summer city’s hot,
I’ll be nice to you while I’m here, but I don’t date men in rags,
I won’t take your hand but you can take my bags.

Whistler sings:
The summer long he held her hand, they took long walks by the river’s sand,
She marveled at the clear blue skies, he marveled at her bright blue eyes,
He told her of the founding of the town:
of how Harper’d put the vile orcs down,
She let him touch the hem of her gown,
But no more as they walked throughout the land,
Still he promised when he found that treasure, he’d take her hand . . .

Whistler plays:
Twang-Twang twang, twangy-plink twang twannnng,
Plink plink plink, plinkey-twannng twang twanng.
Twangey-plink a twangey-plink, twangey-plink a twang,
Plink plink plink, twangey plink a twangey-plink.

Whistler sings:
He searched throughout the orchard, he searched throughout the wood,
He left his dog in her care, she said the dog was good.
He envied then his best friend, whom she soon grew to love,
When he looked down on them from the rooftops above.

Whistler sings:
Then One day when Chester, was chasing after dreams,
His dog came home to Annabelle, and its state brought her to scream,
He’d run into a fighting dog and lost in the worst way,
His blood trail led out of the door and into day.

Whistler sings:
That girl-she tore her skirt for scraps to bind, and hoped he wouldn’t die,
But that hound had to go up, to that doghouse in the sky.
She couldn’t bear to break the news, to Chester to his face,
So she left a note instead and fled home from that place.

Whistler plays:
Twang-Twang twang, twangy-plink twang twannnng,
Plink plink plink, plinkey-twannng twang twanng.
Twangey-plink a twangey-plink, twangey-plink a twang,
Plink plink plink, twangey plink a twangey-plink.

Whistler sings:
she wrote: Dear Chester, my time here has been grand,
but you were just a summer love, so I can’t give you my hand,
I hope you’ll forgive me; I couldn’t save your friend,
But the weather vane is blowing south, and the summers at an end.
I didn’t want to leave like this, (and then she shed a tear,)
She wrote: this good dog’s loss is more than I can bear.

Whistler sings:
Chester looked down at the note, but he had never learned to read,
but he saw his dog’s remains and the tatters of her tweed,
the blood soaked floor and claw marks and he began to seethe,
He left the note there on the floor and into the street he flee’d

Whistler sings:
He cried: Annabelle! The Orcs have taken Annabelle!
He cried: Annabelle! And my dog the Orcs have slain!
He cried: Annabelle! I will find you Annabelle,
And the Orcs, they will know my pain!

Whistler plays:
Twang-Twang twang, twangy-plink twang twannnng,
Plink plink plink, plinkey-twannng twang twanng.
Twangey-plink a twangey-plink, twangey-plink a twang,
Plink plink plink, twangey plink a twangey-plink.

Whistler sings:
He gathered a militia; they scoured all the hills,
To search for Orcs for weeks on end until,
At last he came to realize, as his tears began to pour,
That with such beasts his love could live no more.
He called off the searching. He hewed a marker stone,
By it he buried what she’d left from her home.

Whistler plays:
Twang-Twang twang, twangy-plink twang twannnng,
Plink plink plink, plinkey-twannng twang twanng.
Twangey-plink a twangey-plink, twangey-plink a twang,
Plink plink plink, twangey plink a twangey-plink.

Whistler sings:
Now she’s wooed by a sexton in the Midguard city park
While He stands by her empty grave with his broken aching heart,
She was not the girl he made her, though his love will never end,
And that empty grave he ever more shall tend….

Whistler plays:
Twang-Twang twang, twangy-plink twang twannnng,
Plink plink plink, plinkey-twannng twang twanng.
Twangey-plink a twangey-plink, twangey-plink a twang,
Plink plink plink, twangey plink a twangey-plink.

The bard sniffs and wipes a tear from his eye before bowing.