Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire) wrote,
Seanan McGuire
seanan_mcguire
  • Mood: accomplished
  • Music: Bits of melody, at the moment.

Song lyrics: Not Our Own.

Some of you ask me why I don't write many Toby songs. It's because they are, innately, rife with spoilers. This is a song I wrote about certain events in One Salt Sea.

***

Not Our Own..

Come sit with me daughter,
Here down by the water,
Come sit, and I'll tell you the tale.
It's a story of thieving,
Of greed and of grieving,
Against which our tragedies pale.

For we'll each pay the penance for how we were made,
For the bright copper blood on the sharp silver blade,
Guilt is more than skin-deep; it's the blood, and the bone,
And the price we must pay for a crime not our own.

Come sit with me daughter,
Come down to the water,
Come quick, for my time is not long.
There is much that's been hidden,
Now do as you're bidden,
My daughter, my dearest, be strong.

For you soon will be gowned in the skin that was mine,
And you'll dart through the waves like an arrow so fine,
But the cost of this grace is far more than you've known;
It's the price we must pay for a crime not our own.

Come sit with me daughter,
We're sworn to the water,
Come now, where the bitter waves sigh.
Have you never once wondered
How we could be sundered
Immortal, yet destined to die?

For we once made a bargain, we once made a plea,
And what's sworn to the waves is both captive and free,
But the bargain was made, and all chances have flown,
There's a price we must pay for a crime not our own.

Come sit with me daughter,
The child of the slaughter,
My sins on your shoulders will fall.
I am sorry, my dear one,
This choice was a clear one,
Each child bears the guilt for us all...

Still, you may yet be spared from the penance we'll pay;
Have a child of your own, bring her down to the bay.
Guilt is passed hand to hand, though each bears it alone...
Please forgive me the price for a crime not your own.
Tags: i make music, one salt sea, song lyrics, toby daye
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damedini

November 7 2011, 20:47:00 UTC 5 years ago

It's lovely.

seanan_mcguire

November 7 2011, 20:49:46 UTC 5 years ago

Yet? ALL THE SPOILERS.

damedini

5 years ago

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keristor

5 years ago

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museclio

November 7 2011, 21:04:46 UTC 5 years ago

Wow, both cause pretty, and with the spoilers.

seanan_mcguire

November 7 2011, 22:24:54 UTC 5 years ago

Yeah. And thank you!

briargrey

November 7 2011, 21:08:36 UTC 5 years ago

It is incredibly beautiful (no surprise given who wrote it). thank you for sharing!

seanan_mcguire

November 7 2011, 22:25:08 UTC 5 years ago

Very welcome. :)

weasel_of_d00m

November 7 2011, 21:09:50 UTC 5 years ago

Thank you! It's lovely...

seanan_mcguire

November 7 2011, 22:25:14 UTC 5 years ago

Yay.

madfilkentist

November 7 2011, 21:10:21 UTC 5 years ago

I haven't read any of the Toby books, but I like the song quite a lot.

seanan_mcguire

November 7 2011, 22:25:21 UTC 5 years ago

I am glad.

herefox

November 7 2011, 21:17:33 UTC 5 years ago

Oooh...very lovely.

That particular revelation at the end of the book was wonderful in a terribly sad way...nice to see it in song form.

seanan_mcguire

November 7 2011, 22:25:36 UTC 5 years ago

I look forward to destroying the Selkie race.

loree

5 years ago

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liret

5 years ago

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yellowblackhaze

November 7 2011, 21:21:19 UTC 5 years ago

I've got chills. I hope to hear this put to music and sung one day.

seanan_mcguire

November 7 2011, 22:25:45 UTC 5 years ago

It's in the queue!

sheistheweather

November 7 2011, 21:22:43 UTC 5 years ago

Oh, yes. Lovely, heartbreaking, spoilery, and wonderful.

trialia

November 7 2011, 21:34:34 UTC 5 years ago

Mmm, honestly I wouldn't have got any spoilers from that.

seanan_mcguire

November 7 2011, 22:26:12 UTC 5 years ago

I'm VERY CAREFUL when it's me, because I will just casually and accidentally spoil book eight if I don't overcompensate.

catsittingstill

November 7 2011, 21:44:21 UTC 5 years ago

1) the book has been out for a while.

2) you hid the spoilers behind a cut with an appropriate warning.

These are not the problems you're looking for. Move along....

(I like this song a lot. As the last verse of _One Salt Sea_ may have made clear I was really moved by the dilemma of the selkies.)

seanan_mcguire

November 7 2011, 22:26:58 UTC 5 years ago

Thanks. :) I try to be overly-cautious when it comes to me + spoilers, because I have spoilers for things that don't exist yet inside my head, and that seems unfair to do to people without warning them first.

I feel bad for the Selkies. I feel worse for the Roane.

keristor

5 years ago

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catsittingstill

5 years ago

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mac_arthur_park

November 7 2011, 21:45:25 UTC 5 years ago

Really fine. I didn't get any spoilers out of it, nor did Kent and he's only about halfway through the book.

Music related flail: Emilie Autumn is coming here in Februrary!!!!!! If it weren't for you, I wouldn't know that I must sell a kidney if necessary to buy tickets. :)

seanan_mcguire

November 7 2011, 22:27:21 UTC 5 years ago

OMG THANK YOU!!!!! I went and looked up tour dates because of your comment, and now I'm going to take my little sister to see her.

ladymondegreen

5 years ago

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dragonsally

November 7 2011, 21:49:34 UTC 5 years ago

That really is gorgeous.

seanan_mcguire

November 7 2011, 22:27:27 UTC 5 years ago

Thank you.

pola_bear

November 7 2011, 22:17:07 UTC 5 years ago

This is amazing. I am having an EMOTION day, but that made me choke up with it's amazingness.

seanan_mcguire

November 7 2011, 22:27:36 UTC 5 years ago

Aw. Thanks, sweetie.

archangelbeth

November 7 2011, 22:40:39 UTC 5 years ago

Eeeee, I likes. (I would also be intrigued by the idea of the spoilers for things that don't exist yet. I wonder if I would go, "oh, darn," or if it would be more like, "OH! So THAT'S what that's about? EEEEE!")

seanan_mcguire

November 8 2011, 03:57:03 UTC 5 years ago

I avoid pre-spoilers when I can, regardless.

antinomic

5 years ago

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amazon_syren

November 7 2011, 22:55:06 UTC 5 years ago

Uhm... Okay, yes, spoilers. But (maybe I'm just dreadfully dense?) I don't think they're all that spoilery unless you've already read One Salt Sea.

If I hadn't read OSS, I... would guess and speculate and wonder where everything lined up. But it wouldn't outright spoil anything for me. :-)

seanan_mcguire

November 8 2011, 03:57:27 UTC 5 years ago

Some people would be really upset, and so I try to cater to them, just because it's easier not to do than it is to do, you know?

amazon_syren

5 years ago

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druidspell

November 7 2011, 23:34:58 UTC 5 years ago

So gorgeous, so heartrending. Spoilers or no spoilers, this is one of my favorite songs now (and oddly appropriate to my NaNoWriMo novel; my main character is a big fan of yours ;) [as am I. Your words helped prod my dear, sweet, crazy Bridget into helping me get my words out--Bridget being my analogue to your Jane]). If you ever do an album of your water songs, I hope this makes the cut; until then, I'm committing this to memory.

seanan_mcguire

November 8 2011, 03:57:40 UTC 5 years ago

Aw, yay. :)

And I love your icon.

cleothyla

November 7 2011, 23:41:48 UTC 5 years ago

It's beautiful. And sometimes spoilers help promote interest in a story. I read spoilers all the time and it hasn't stopped me from reading the stories. A good book(like yours)can be enhances sometimes by a few tidbits of info.

seanan_mcguire

November 8 2011, 03:57:50 UTC 5 years ago

Yay!

celticdragonfly

November 7 2011, 23:53:11 UTC 5 years ago

I like it.

I think it's safe to post this here, since you have it behind spoilers. My read of the end of One Salt Sea was that it was Toby's mother who was the firstborn that caused the death of the Roane.

ravenclawed

November 8 2011, 00:26:07 UTC 5 years ago

I was thinking the exact same thing. All she said was that it was one of her sisters. But then, who could pull this sort of thing off besides Amandine?

Listening to the audiobook version, I have a completely nonrelevant theory about Walther, but that's another thread altogether.

celticdragonfly

5 years ago

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seanan_mcguire

5 years ago

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jenk

5 years ago

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ravenclawed

November 8 2011, 00:27:25 UTC 5 years ago

Lovely! I would love it if you did a song about Tybalt.

celticdragonfly

November 8 2011, 01:06:37 UTC 5 years ago

THIS!

seanan_mcguire

5 years ago

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ravenclawed

5 years ago

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deakat

November 8 2011, 01:09:01 UTC 5 years ago

So beautiful and heart-wrenching. Thank you for sharing it!

seanan_mcguire

November 8 2011, 03:58:26 UTC 5 years ago

Very welcome!

archangelsmom

November 8 2011, 02:42:22 UTC 5 years ago

I have ALWAYS loved 'The Selkie' ("An earthly nurse, she sits and sings..."
This is right up there with it, MAYBE a bit higher!

seanan_mcguire

November 8 2011, 03:58:50 UTC 5 years ago

Squee!

amanda_nye

November 8 2011, 03:17:47 UTC 5 years ago

oh, that is beautiful...

seanan_mcguire

November 8 2011, 03:58:56 UTC 5 years ago

Thank you.

soundingsea

November 8 2011, 03:18:40 UTC 5 years ago

*sniffles*

seanan_mcguire

November 8 2011, 03:59:23 UTC 5 years ago

*hugs*

aerrin

November 8 2011, 04:27:45 UTC 5 years ago

Wow, this is just wonderful. I finished One Salt Sea again today for the second time (as part of a reread of the whole series - wow, the number of things that click into place once you know other things!) and it makes me all teary-eyed.

What a fantastic story, and what fantastic cadence!

seanan_mcguire

November 8 2011, 16:02:18 UTC 5 years ago

Thank you!

And yeah, the series is very much a jigsaw puzzle in some ways. I've had to be so scrupulously careful.

themysteriousg

November 8 2011, 05:08:42 UTC 5 years ago

I like this:) I'm not usually that moved by such things--it's a flaw in my world view--but this just fits so perfectly. I have to say that if it's spoiler-y it's the good kind that makes you want to go Read The Book NOW.

seanan_mcguire

November 8 2011, 16:02:54 UTC 5 years ago

I actually like spoilers, when I seek them out, but some people hate them, and I try to be considerate, y'know?
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