You favourite Empire songs

#1

What are your favourite songs from the various music traditions of the Empire?

(If you’re new to the game, yes, each nation has its own aspirational musical brief just like it has a costume brief).

This is really really my thing so I’ve got a bit carried away below (sorry/not sorry) but which songs have you sung at Empire that you love? What do you think really carries the spirit of your nation?

I’ve played characters in four nations so I only really know songs from those, but I have soft spots for:

Highguard

https://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Virtue_Never_Falter
This one appears in both the Freeborn and Highborn musical briefs as that lovely sweet spot where one musical brief springs from the other (the Freeborn brief has roots in the Highborn one but developed separately once the Sisters left and founded their own nation). It’s religious, it’s bouncy and it’s fun.

https://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Hymn_to_Vigilance
A proper bit of Highborn plainsong which I love very much and sing whenever I get the opportunity (not as often as I’d like!). A quiet endorsement of the status quo and the smug sense of duty to defending The Way against heresy.

https://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/All_Come_Listen
All Come Listen is best sung in a bathhouse in a round (https://soundcloud.com/laura-hoskison/all-come-listen). Obviously this is difficult to achieve at Anvil but having done it once at a real bathhouse in Harrogate last year I can attest it’s glorious. It’s still pretty good in a field. Pairs up well with https://soundcloud.com/laura-hoskison/by-the-waters-of-catazar

I filked this original Shapenote tune and it’s straight out of the brief: robust and fun and I’m pretty proud of it. At the end of the day, there’s no place like home. https://soundcloud.com/laura-hoskison/chalcis-yonder

Dawn

https://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Sir_Isobel
Sir Isobel is a valiant knight, and this never fails to cheer me up when I break it out. :slight_smile: So happy and trips along and Dawnish to the core.

https://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/When_I_Am_Laid
Dawnish heartbreak. I tweaked it from the original because who would ask to be forgotten when one could be remembered in all of one’s glory!

Brass Coast

https://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Riqueza's_Dream is a Freeborn standard and even has a proper dance that can be taught on the field by the dancing bard herself (for a small fee!).

https://soundcloud.com/laura-hoskison/lictor-song Sing it in a round, quietly and with a lot of energy. It’s creepy and brilliant.

https://soundcloud.com/laura-hoskison/give-him-a-gale has the energy I love about the Coast, you can practically see the boat skipping through the waves. Up there with https://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Sail_Away_Across_the_Sea as two of my favourites about the sea.

https://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Without_You remains one of the songs closest to my heart and I’ll sing it at any time I’m feeling sad and lonely and lost. It’s gorgeous.

Varushka

https://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Mother_Varushka_Goes_to_War Just… yeeaaaahhhh, all dark and Varushkan and I love it. https://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Marching_song as well for solidarity.

https://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/The_Brewer's_Lesson This reminds me, I need to get this song out of my Varushkan song book and start singing this again. A delight to perform and amusing to listen to.

https://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Song_to_Keep_the_Dark_Away Has the oom paas in it and you can’t help be caught up in the enthusiasm of it.

https://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Feast_of_the_Loom isn’t just a great Empire song, the original is great too and I sing it every year come Hallowe’en.

Everywhere else

https://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/The_Good_Old_Way is my favourite ‘generic Empire standard’. I sing a slightly different version (so sorry if that causes any confusion on the field) but but it’s a solid hymn for anyone to get their teeth into.

https://soundcloud.com/laura-hoskison/virtue-be-my-wings-four-parts is a very gentle filk of a modern folk song and speaks powerfully about being a refugee coming home. It was written by Renata about both the Seguran and Reikos refugees, but applies to most of the nations. We have all lost greatly in the history of our Empire.

https://soundcloud.com/laura-hoskison/good-cake The Cake Song went down very well before Renata died, and I still sing it now as a easy-to-join-in fireside song, same as https://soundcloud.com/laura-hoskison/well-sing-our-cares-away.

#2

I remember hearing a song when I was around a brass coast fire. It was something about being part of a crew who had fallen apart because the captain was terrible. I can’t remember what it was called but it was good fun joining in.

I’ve personally sung the wild rover around the Navarr camp fire. I thought people would join in during the chorus, especially because there was clapping involved. Strangely none of them did. Even so, I enjoyed doing it and it is one of my favourite songs to sing that is appropriate for empire (with modification)

I also was looking into writing a few songs for empire. The first one managed to finish and I tried out during a league competition but I got so nervous that I forgot most of the words. I was sort of supposed to be a one of song because if you knew the punch line then it ruined it. The music also didn’t really fit with my nation but the words did. The second one I just have the words. It has nothing to do with my nation but I like what I have. I was thinking of maybe becoming a bard to make a bit of money but I’m not sure.

#3

Urizen has had the great luck to have a brilliant Bard and General in Nicassia and as such have some great songs.

A few Highlights among many:
The Black Plateau- https://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Black_Plateau - A Brilliant marching song.

The Stargazer’s Song- https://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/The_Stargazer’s_Song - a haunting tune.

The Ritual on the Black Plateau- https://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/The_Ritual_On_The_Black_Plateau -a recounting of a turning point in Urizen’s recent History.

Urizen Memorial Song- https://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Urizen_Memorial_Song - haunting for our lost.

The Comical Dreamer- https://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/The_Comical_Dreamer - Because Urizen are better than you at everything, including innuendo.

#4

Navarr: Jamie wake fields On the Wall

https://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/On_the_Wall

THE song as far as empire goes by the guy who created the navarr musical brief. infarct anything of his soundcloud

is solid gold and works as and awesome jumping board into several other empire attending musicians.

#5

My favourites off the archive:

From Dawn:
https://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/Britta's_Glory

https://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/empire-wiki/His_Banner's_Not_Mine

From Highguard:

“March of Cambreadth” (which I knew well before it popped up in Empire)

And of course, the Imperial Battle Hymn :slight_smile:

Another favourite that I liked, but am unsure who claims it: “Feed the Raven, feed the Crow!” which is a wonderfully murderous song.

#6

Urizen/Phoenix Reach songs: The Black Plateau song, Pride Soldier Pride, Xeno’s Rest by Nicassia, I Found The Reach, Steel & Wine and Wine More Wine by Ioseph.
Others: On the Black Plateau by Constanza i Kalamar i Guerra is awesome, Folk of Navarr (not sure if Idwyn Splitroot filked it but it’s squiffily euphoric) at Song & Story Time, there’s another one called (I think) Ghosts of the Labyrinth by Idwyn that was used for the Highguard part of the Anvil soundscapes YouTube video, I can’t get that one out of my head.