z

Young Writers Society


12+ Mature Content

Traveling Sailor

by TheCrimsonLady


If you PM me, I can send you a recording of what it should sound like, sung by yours truly.
Hey, you there, sailor.

Yes, you there, sailor.

Where ye goin', sailor

Traveling long?

Are ye weary, sailor?

Come and rest, sailor.

Share my bed, sailor.

Come and sleep.

Are ye cold, sailor.

Warm your feet, sailor.

Warm me too, sailor.

By my hearthside.


Are ye hungry, sailor?

Here's a fish, sailor.

Glut yourself, sailor.

Fresh from the sea.

Hey, you there, sailor

Yes, you there, sailor.

Where ye goin' sailor?

Poor lost soul.

Long it's been since you've seen land,

Well there's a remedy for that;

Come to me, sailor.

Right to me, sailor.

My arms are open sailor,

Come to me.

I'm the sea, sailor.

Love the sea, sailor?

Good night, sailor-

Farewell.




Note: You are not logged in, but you can still leave a comment or review. Before it shows up, a moderator will need to approve your comment (this is only a safeguard against spambots). Leave your email if you would like to be notified when your message is approved.







Is this a review?


  

Comments



User avatar
25 Reviews


Points: 491
Reviews: 25

Donate

User avatar
25 Reviews


Points: 491
Reviews: 25

Donate

User avatar


Points: 285
Reviews: 4

Donate
Tue Jun 10, 2014 2:57 pm
Irishchic1234 wrote a review...



Hello there :)

This is really cool!!! It's quite haunting and even thought I don't know the tune of the song, I found myself making one up and humming as I read. I like your lyrics, as they flow very well and are overall very creepy (in a good way, of course :D ) I picture a lone boat on the ocean with a siren singing this song. It's very visual and creates images in the reader's head, which is always good! Keep writing music, because you're good! But just a suggestion, I think you should write a short story or something to go along with this, as you've got the skill too :)

Greatly job! Stay awesome!






Thank you!



User avatar
417 Reviews


Points: 500
Reviews: 417

Donate
Tue Jun 10, 2014 5:45 am
Willard wrote a review...



Hey Aurora99! Strange here and I have a review for you! Pardon me if I'm a bit rusty, but I just got back to reviewing after a break and lyrics confuse me.
Let me get onto the meaning. For the first time, I think I got it. I think that the narrator, or writer, is in love with a sailor, as shown. Basically, the narrator is the sea, and what sailors don't love the sea? Where I'm getting at is that this is a huge huge metaphor. The sailor has spent time away from the land (Can't interpret the land, so let's leave that mystery unsolved), went onto the sea, loved the sea, then eventually parted. I felt that this was a metaphor for love, as that's a common theme to see. One spends time with another for a long time, but then eventually goes back, possibly for another person or a simple fair.
Of course, there is an option as the narrator is the literal sea and the other is a literal sailor.
This poem was utmost satisfying. A little repetitive, with the use of sailor so much, but I like it. I imagine this with a soft piano playing such as "Mad World" cover by Gary Jules, I love that song.
Did I "love" this poem/lyrics, no, but I did enjoy it a lot. That's unusual with me and lyrics.
Overall, satisfying and good job
Strange gives you..
8.8/10
Good job.
Keep writing.
Stay groovy, my friend.




User avatar
806 Reviews


Points: 1883
Reviews: 806

Donate
Tue Jun 10, 2014 5:42 am
Aley wrote a review...



Hello Aurora99

I can imagine this is probably a really slow mellow tone with that haunting sound to it, probably highly instrumental. I can't really think of anything else that it could be when it's a Siren's song.

To me, a Siren needs to be singing about the death and destruction that will happen to the sailors they're luring in. It doesn't really matter what a Siren sings about, the sailor is going to come if he can hear them. I think that's what made them such deadly creatures <3. Totally awesome creatures at that. That being said, I was a little disappointed with the amount of creep in this poem.

Good night, sailor-
Farewell.


Warm me too, sailor.
By my hearthside.

These are really the closest spots you get to going into anything creepy. The first one is kind of creepy because of "farewell" but if you're not aware of Sirens, then you might just think that it's because the sailor got away, and not because they're writhing in pain and getting eaten alive. Same thing with the second one. I can imagine that "warm me too" is some reference to the sailors getting eaten, dismembered, or some other brutal thing, but instead of being obvious about it, you just keep it in the shadows.

Honestly, there are a lot of death and dismemberment songs that are really dark but have a chipper beat or they're such melodious things, they are absolutely horrible if you read the lyrics. You could have gotten away with being a lot more overt about it.

Of course, that being said I do like the sort of mocking approach that the siren is taking with this, "love the sea" is a great line for right before the guy dies, and I think your strongest lines are the ones where you sort of let the siren out to sea and spend more syllables enticing them in without the ending word of "sailor."

To me these are the snapshots of the human element to this idea, the moments when the mask comes down and even though nothing verbose is being said, we get to see the siren's true desire, to have these men with her. Usually these spots occur right before a turn in your poem too, which I liked as well.

Overall, I'd suggest changing up more of the song to be this sort of thing. Maybe instead of maintaining "sailor" use something that has the same beat as "sailor" which is actually a stressed, unstressed two syllable word, so you have a lot of options. If you stick with the same vowel sounds for the two syllables, when it's sung, it's going to be really hard to tell that it's not the same word, especially if it's just a haunting little melody. I hope you give it a try in another song, and see what you can come up with. If you continue writing siren songs, make some of them dark. Let your inner mischief free for a little while and have fun with it.

-Aley





As a writer, I'm more interested in what people tell themselves happened rather than what actually happened.
— Kazuo Ishiguro