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Althjof the Miner
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re: Deep Toad Blues (Moria meets the 60s)

Hi friends,
Wasn't quite sure where to put this since I'm definitely a newcomer. I had a fairly memorable experience among the exploding mushrooms and psychedelic toads down in the Moria Waterworks, and thought I'd write a few lines to commemorate the occasion. I picked a 60's song to spoof (naturally!), Tombstone Blues by Bob Dylan. If you haven't heard it, you can check it out on Youtube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPy3Vj7H9jk
The sound quality on the video isn't as good as it is on the album (Highway 61 Revisited). You can also see the original lyrics here (I've cut a few verses): http://www.bobdylan.com/us/songs/tombstone-blues

Special thanks to Aegthil, whom I haven't had the pleasure of meeting yet, for some of the, er, inspiration...

Mostly just fun and nonsense. Enjoy!

Deep Toad Blues

The plump, rosy Hobbits are in bed now of course
The old men in Bree-town they’re trying to endorse
A bill to enslave a Dwarven workforce
But the wood-elves are pelting them with lembas

The slim ghost of Luthien she glides through the door
And trips over Arwen who sleeps on the floor
The black raven cackles and quoth ‘Nevermore’
But the elf-girls paint flowers on his feathers

Gollum’s in the Shire
He ain’t got no shoes
Bombur’s lost in Mirkwood
He’s looking for food
I’m in the Cellar
With the Deep Toad Blues


The respectable Mr Baggins after being called a thief
Goes running up to Gandalf the Wizard-in-Chief
Saying, “Tell me, O Gandalf, but please make it brief
Is there a hole for me to throw this Ring in?

The Wizard-in-Chief answers him while poking Sauron’s Eye
Saying, “Death to the Ringwraiths who make grown men cry.”
And tossing the Ring back he points to the sky
Saying, “I’m late for a gig with the Eagles.”

Gollum’s in the Shire
He ain’t got no shoes
Bombur’s lost in Mirkwood
He’s looking for food
I’m in the Cellar
With the Deep Toad Blues


The Chieftain of the Druedain his people to save
Mass-produces pink hot pants that are everyone’s fave
Then Aegthil the Minstrel rides in with a wave
Saying, “I appreciate these flowers on my pockets.”

In the Forest Tom Bombadil has trimmed all his lamps
With his faithful Goldberry beside him he tramps
The barrow-wights start running but fall down with cramps
While the Hobbits blow smoke-rings with Old Toby

Gollum’s in the Shire
He ain’t got no shoes
Bombur’s lost in Mirkwood
He’s looking for food
I’m in the cellar
With the Deep Toad Blues


The geometry of innocent flesh on bone
Causes Master Elrond’s lorebooks to get thrown
At Celebrian who’s sitting worthlessly alone
But the tears on her cheeks are from laughter

Now I wish I could give Pony Bill his great thrill
I’d set him on a stage at the top of the Hill
With five million apples and ten tons of meal
He could graze happily ever after

Gollum’s in the Shire
He ain’t got no shoes
Bombur’s lost in Mirkwood
He’s looking for food
I’m in the cellar
With the Deep Toad Blues
Keli
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re: Deep Toad Blues (Moria meets the 60s)

Great stuff. Have BBB got an abc for this?


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Althjof the Miner
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re: Deep Toad Blues (Moria meets the 60s)

Thanks Keli!

Not sure on the ABC file. I looked in a few different places before I posted, and there were some Dylan songs here and there, but I didn't see Tombstone Blues in the lists. If anyone wants to use this in-game though, they're more than welcome to do so.
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re: Deep Toad Blues (Moria meets the 60s)

Hahaha!! This is fabulous!


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re: Deep Toad Blues (Moria meets the 60s)

This is great! I love the lyrics! lol I sure hope you'll be writing more! =D

I found a midi called Tombstone Blues in my giant collection of midis so I tried turning it into an ABC but I'm not sure if it will work with the lyrics. This version seems to be shorter so maybe all verses won't fit, and I'm not skilled enough to make it longer blushing
https://www.dropbox.com/s/w8ggb24uft5z1eu/7-%28Coru%29BobDylan-TombstoneBlues.abc


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re: Deep Toad Blues (Moria meets the 60s)

I enjoyed this very much. Thanks for sharing!


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re: Deep Toad Blues (Moria meets the 60s)

Wonderfully hilarious lyrics *cheers!*
Althjof the Miner
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re: Deep Toad Blues (Moria meets the 60s)

Thanks for all the encouragement!

Corulin, thanks for that! I gave the ABC file a shot. I'm very new to music in LOTRO--just realized what player music could be when I went to A&T a few times. Anyway, I can't tell whether that one will work or not. The original's just a two-chord song with a couple riffs, but there are some other versions out there (you can see them here: http://dylanchords.info/06_hwy61/tombstone_blues.htm

I'm not sure yet what can be done in the LOTRO system, but I'm guessing that it would need at least a 'rhythm' instrument playing the chords and keeping the beat. Variety could come in through a 'bass' (which is actually doing a few things on the song) or even another instrument playing the notes he sings. Not sure if that's possible or not, like I said, I'm a noob in this department :)
Corulin
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re: Deep Toad Blues (Moria meets the 60s)

I know almost nothing about making ABC's which is why Maestro is such a good program! It's very easy to use and easy to understand so even people like me can make ABC's :D But if something needs to be changed more that Maestro can do, then I'm in trouble, but it's still fun to make ABC's :D

Also, since Maestro comes with an ABC Player it's a good way to listen to the nice music I have downloaded from others. I do that a lot :) I like being able to listen to the ABC's whenever I want to without having to log in and force a bunch of people to stand around all day playing music while I do other stuff envy

Try playing only the Lute, Theorbo and Bagpipe1 in the file. Might sound a little less crowded perhaps? :)
If only I knew how to copy and paste a part of the song to make it longer... I think two verses and a refrain (or whatever it's called in English) won't fit :o
I mean, of course I can copy and paste a part, but not the right part! It's only a bunch of random letters and numbers to me, and Maestro can't help with stuff like that lol


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Althjof the Miner
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re: Deep Toad Blues (Moria meets the 60s)

Corulin, thanks for the tips! Maestro was just what I needed to start figuring this out. I still haven't mastered ABC notation by any stretch, but I could at least see where the measures were ending.

Anyway, I've modded the file a bit so it has all four verses and choruses/refrains. It looks like there is a bit of a riff (bridge) after the third refrain and then a bit after the fourth refrain (before the song ends) in case anyone decides to try this out.

Here's the link to the modded file:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4xp2D8G_IATbjZEVjUyUXBrR2c/edit?usp=sharing

I didn't clean up the measure markers within the file (e.g., %Bar 60, etc.), so it's a bit messy, but it seems to play fine in Maestro (I'm assuming it would be okay in the game). My guess was that the % symbol basically just comments out the line, so it wouldn't mess things up if they were off. If anyone tests this out and notices any problems, I'd be glad to work on it some more.

Thanks again for the advice and encouraging words!
Corulin
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re: Deep Toad Blues (Moria meets the 60s)

Oooh, that's great! Thank you! Now it should be long enough for those awesome lyrics! =D

I edited the song duration notes to make it show the actual length of the song instead of the old length, and I also changed the file name to add your name too :D

Link:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/bd5tdx8fphzzn60/7-%28Coru-Alth%29TombstoneBlues.abc

I didn't know if you wanted your name shortened to Alt or Alth, so I went with Alth due to the other one reminding me of "main characters" vs "alt characters", and I think Alth looks better :) But maybe you prefer Alt? I can change it if you want :)
I was going to submit it to the LMB abc library but it needs to have the right file name to fit the rest of the collection first so I'm waiting until I know if you want me to change your name or not :)


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Althjof the Miner
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re: Deep Toad Blues (Moria meets the 60s)

Alth works for me! Thanks for changing the length, too--I forgot all about that :)
Keli
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re: Deep Toad Blues (Moria meets the 60s)

Nice!


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