Alright, Students! Heads off your desks! Eyes forward! We’re going back to high school English class! Marty! Get your tongue out of Alice’s ear!!! Joe! Get up here right now and spit that tobacco out!!!
I don’t know how a bunch of dim-witted, low-born numbskulls like you did it, but at least a couple of you were able to identify some similarities between my original song “King’s Forest” and two pieces of literature. First, a big shoutout to Robbie! Yes, Rob “Knucklehead” Johnson noticed that “King’s Forest” shares some details with Frost. Yes, good old Robert Frost!
America’s poet!
1) In “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” the horse “gives his harness bells a shake, to ask if there is some mistake.” Similarly, in “King’s Forest” the horse “shook his mane as if to say, Don’t go! We shouldn’t go there.” 2) For effect, Frost chose to repeat the last line of “Stopping by Woods…”.
”And miles to go before I sleep
And miles to go before I sleep”
I don’t suppose any of you hairbrains would like to enlighten us as to the particular “effect” Frost creates with that repetition? I didn’t think so. Johnny! Remove that wad of paper from your mouth! This instant!!! Somebody wake Robin up please.
Now, back to the lesson. Comparably, for effect, in “King’s Forest” I chose to repeat the last line of verses 2,4,6, and 8.
Let’s all be songwriters for a minute! As it stands, “King’s Forest” is over four-minutes long. Some would say that’s too long. One quick way to shorten it would be to cut the repeated lines at the ends of lines 2,4,6, and 8. Here’s the dilemma—Does the effect created by that repetition make those four lines too important to cut? Would there be any change at all if those lines were omitted? Be thinking about that writer’s dilemma for tomorrow’s lesson.
Now, our next shoutout goes to Conner “Tomfool” Raymond. Knowing his family lineage, I never would have thought he had it in him, but he did. He noticed the melody of “King’s Forest” bears some semblance to “Down in the Willow Garden.”
I noticed that, too, when I started writing it, and being someone who doesn’t toe the mark, I made enough changes to the melody and chord progression to feel I could call it my own. It’s probably fair to say, however, that there aren’t any new melodies to be owned.
Class, did you know songwriters have used the same melodies over and over throughout history? In fact, “Willow Garden,” which comes from 1800’s Ireland, borrowed it, too! That’s right! Whoever wrote “Willow Garden” borrowed the melody from “Old Rosin the Bow,” which itself was borrowed from “Eoghan Coir,” a song from the late 1700’s. Here’s a link to a YouTube video of “Old Rosin the Bow,” so you can hear the melody:
Did Riocard Bairead the writer of “Eoghan Coir” borrow it from an even older song? Class, I’m sorry to say—I surely do not know. However, I do know Rosine-native son Charlie Monroe was the artist who made “Willow Garden” popular when he recorded and released it in 1947.
So, Class, now we come to homework. Due on the day you enter the Pearly Gates! Give them directly to St. Peter. Do not give to St. Thomas; he will doubt the authenticity of your work. Choose one of the following six prompts to write an essay. Follow standard MLA format. Ten, double-spaced typewritten pages. 12-pt Times New Roman font.
1) View the following YouTube video:
Evaluate Kody Norris’ performance of “Willow Garden” in the “Down in the Willow Garden with Charlie Monroe’s Hat” YouTube video. Incorporate at least three criteria.
2) Read the book The Poetry of Robert Frost.
Explicate one of his poems (NOT “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”).
3) Write a compare/contrast essay incorporating at least three similarities and three differences between “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” and “King’s Forest.”
4) Write a compare/contrast essay incorporating at least three similarities and three differences of songs vs poems.
5) Use internet research (No Wikipedia or Google AI allowed) to write a biography of Charlie Monroe.
6) Use internet research (No Wikipedia or Google AI allowed) to write an informative essay about a historical melody (NOT the melody in “Eoghan Coir,” “Old Rosin the Bow,” “Willow Garden,” and “King’s Forest”).
BONUS ROUND!!!
1) Identify and explain a similarity “King’s Forest” shares with ANOTHER piece of famous, American literature. None of you puddinheads will get this one, so you might as well not even try!!!
2) Persuade someone to Follow NOTES OF BLUE on Facebook. Verifiable proof required.
3) Identify and explain the example of ALLUSION used in today’s lesson.
CLASS DISMISSED!!!
