Dear Jukebox Author
It's wonderful to see there are people who share my musical loves! I feel like the songs I've picked have lots of story potential, and I can't wait to see what you come up with.
In general, I like female characters (and ships that include at least one of them!), hard-won happy endings, genre-swapping AUs, canon divergence, or just something fun and spooky. I don't like mundane AUs or deathfic (excluding those who die in canon). Any level of sex or lack thereof is fine, non or dubcon is fine, but please no ABO or scat!
Jellon Grame (Broadside Electric)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kcUTpwGExQ
This is a traditional ballad, but most of the versions I've found have the avenging child be a son...except for this one, where it's a daughter. I absolutely love that. There are so many ballads about women dying at the hands of their lovers that this felt like the song I never knew I'd needed. So tell me about this daughter! How did she grow up so fast? Was she a vampire, an angel, a construct? Was the mother a witch? After having killed her father, does the daughter fade away or become some kind of Child Ballad Avenger, striking down other wicked rakes from traditional songs?
Merci Django (Vagabond Opera)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQBeE862Ixs
I love Baba Yaga stories, so naturally I fell head over heels for this song. Tell me about teenage Baba Yaga! Tell me about her relationship with the narrator (friends, enemies, lovers, whatever.) How long ago was it that she was a teenager- the middle ages, prehistoric times, or as recently as the second world war? I've always envisioned Baba Yaga as Chaotic Neutral- she'll help people out when she likes them or when it'll piss off Koschei, but has a very low tolerance towards people who waste her time. How do you envision her?
Man in the Long Black Coat (Joan Osborne)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbytjEDQFYA
I get a very wild west vibe from this song, especially the Joan Osborne cover. I know it was inspired by the ballad "The Demon Lover", but I'm not sure the man is luring the woman to her doom here- it sounds more like a call to adventure to me, but feel free to put your own spin on it. Adventure, horror, romance, western, or any combination of the above work for this song!
Pirate Jenny (The Threepenny Opera)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eENWTA0bs4
There are a couple different translations of this song; I linked to one I like, but don't feel bound to it. Anyway, in the original context of The Threepenny Opera, we hear this as a song Polly sings to entertain her guests...which means that Pirate Jenny herself is an unknown character. Were her plans simply daydreams? Does she really have a pirate ship? What ended up happening to her? Feel free to set the song in whatever time period you want, and depict her however you want. The only thing I specifically don't want is to make her turning point towards violence a rape scene, like Alan Moore did; I think demeaning labor and poverty on their own are rage-inducing enough, and I didn't like the implication that there was only *one* way a woman could be pushed to the breaking point.
Wicked Dickie (Rasputina)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9Ypz3Bzw9w
There's got to be more going on here than meets the eye. The entire Frustration Plantation album gives me this feeling; it's as if there's some story connecting all the songs beyond simply a southern setting, but it's just out of reach. So tell me what's really happening in this song, why it feels and sounds so desperate, what made this farmer 'wicked'...and, as extra credit, maybe how it connects to some of the other songs on the album?
Monster Mash (Misfits)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSN1mcNFBHE
I don't care how much of my cred I destroy, I love this song. The Misfits cover is my favorite, but the story is always the same. So, play into my love of monster movies! Have fun with this whole goofy, spooky setup of mad scientists and creatures partying with each other. Throw in references to Universal Horror movies or make all the mythology your own! Limit it to the classic stable of monsters or invite Godzilla and the Babadook! Just play around with this.
I'd Do Anything for Love (Meat Loaf)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOikQWAL8qc
This is just such a sweeping, romantic fairy tale of a music video, I absolutely adore it. It's over the top and grandiose and spooky with a Beast and magic and vampire-bride-type-ladies, and the sentiment expressed is so beautiful and passionate. I don't have any specific requests here except that you don't make the narrator a liar; I just love the story this video tells and want more.
Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner (Warren Zevon)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvTv-I2Y390
This is a pretty self-contained story as it stands, but you can elaborate or expand upon it. Was their magic involved in his resurrection, or was his ghost simply so monumentally angry that he dragged his headless body upright again? He still fights, though presumably not for pay anymore; is he randomly violent or does he dedicate himself to righteous causes? What on earth was he doing in Berkley? What on earth happened with Patty Hearst?
In general, I like female characters (and ships that include at least one of them!), hard-won happy endings, genre-swapping AUs, canon divergence, or just something fun and spooky. I don't like mundane AUs or deathfic (excluding those who die in canon). Any level of sex or lack thereof is fine, non or dubcon is fine, but please no ABO or scat!
Jellon Grame (Broadside Electric)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kcUTpwGExQ
This is a traditional ballad, but most of the versions I've found have the avenging child be a son...except for this one, where it's a daughter. I absolutely love that. There are so many ballads about women dying at the hands of their lovers that this felt like the song I never knew I'd needed. So tell me about this daughter! How did she grow up so fast? Was she a vampire, an angel, a construct? Was the mother a witch? After having killed her father, does the daughter fade away or become some kind of Child Ballad Avenger, striking down other wicked rakes from traditional songs?
Merci Django (Vagabond Opera)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQBeE862Ixs
I love Baba Yaga stories, so naturally I fell head over heels for this song. Tell me about teenage Baba Yaga! Tell me about her relationship with the narrator (friends, enemies, lovers, whatever.) How long ago was it that she was a teenager- the middle ages, prehistoric times, or as recently as the second world war? I've always envisioned Baba Yaga as Chaotic Neutral- she'll help people out when she likes them or when it'll piss off Koschei, but has a very low tolerance towards people who waste her time. How do you envision her?
Man in the Long Black Coat (Joan Osborne)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbytjEDQFYA
I get a very wild west vibe from this song, especially the Joan Osborne cover. I know it was inspired by the ballad "The Demon Lover", but I'm not sure the man is luring the woman to her doom here- it sounds more like a call to adventure to me, but feel free to put your own spin on it. Adventure, horror, romance, western, or any combination of the above work for this song!
Pirate Jenny (The Threepenny Opera)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eENWTA0bs4
There are a couple different translations of this song; I linked to one I like, but don't feel bound to it. Anyway, in the original context of The Threepenny Opera, we hear this as a song Polly sings to entertain her guests...which means that Pirate Jenny herself is an unknown character. Were her plans simply daydreams? Does she really have a pirate ship? What ended up happening to her? Feel free to set the song in whatever time period you want, and depict her however you want. The only thing I specifically don't want is to make her turning point towards violence a rape scene, like Alan Moore did; I think demeaning labor and poverty on their own are rage-inducing enough, and I didn't like the implication that there was only *one* way a woman could be pushed to the breaking point.
Wicked Dickie (Rasputina)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9Ypz3Bzw9w
There's got to be more going on here than meets the eye. The entire Frustration Plantation album gives me this feeling; it's as if there's some story connecting all the songs beyond simply a southern setting, but it's just out of reach. So tell me what's really happening in this song, why it feels and sounds so desperate, what made this farmer 'wicked'...and, as extra credit, maybe how it connects to some of the other songs on the album?
Monster Mash (Misfits)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSN1mcNFBHE
I don't care how much of my cred I destroy, I love this song. The Misfits cover is my favorite, but the story is always the same. So, play into my love of monster movies! Have fun with this whole goofy, spooky setup of mad scientists and creatures partying with each other. Throw in references to Universal Horror movies or make all the mythology your own! Limit it to the classic stable of monsters or invite Godzilla and the Babadook! Just play around with this.
I'd Do Anything for Love (Meat Loaf)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOikQWAL8qc
This is just such a sweeping, romantic fairy tale of a music video, I absolutely adore it. It's over the top and grandiose and spooky with a Beast and magic and vampire-bride-type-ladies, and the sentiment expressed is so beautiful and passionate. I don't have any specific requests here except that you don't make the narrator a liar; I just love the story this video tells and want more.
Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner (Warren Zevon)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvTv-I2Y390
This is a pretty self-contained story as it stands, but you can elaborate or expand upon it. Was their magic involved in his resurrection, or was his ghost simply so monumentally angry that he dragged his headless body upright again? He still fights, though presumably not for pay anymore; is he randomly violent or does he dedicate himself to righteous causes? What on earth was he doing in Berkley? What on earth happened with Patty Hearst?