urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:seanan_mcguire The Journal of Seanan McGuire Seanan McGuire 2009-04-22T18:43:26Z urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:seanan_mcguire:102962 2009-04-22T18:42:17Z 2009-04-22T18:43:26Z Any number of 1950s teen death ballads. First, thank you to everyone who chimed in. I heard some versions of the legend that I'd never encountered before&mdash;including one from my own backyard!&mdash;and since the hitchhiking ghost is one of my favorite urban legends, this was <i>awesome</i>. Several people cited songs about hitchhiking ghosts, which I thought was even cooler, since I have what is essentially a song <i>cycle</i> about a hitchhiking ghost named Rose.<br /><br />For the curious, and those who've always, let me tell you about Rose Marshall:<br /><br /><ul><li><a href="http://seananmcguire.com/songbook.php?id=63">"Pretty Little Dead Girl."</a> This is the title song of my first album, <i>Pretty Little Dead Girl</i>, and appears on <i>Stars Fall Home</i>. I consider this the "urban legend" version of Rose's story, as well as the "filthy libel" version.</li><br /><li><a href="http://seananmcguire.com/songbook.php?id=79">"Graveyard Rose."</a> The other side of Rose's legend. This is the one they tell in truck stops all across the country, at least inside my head.</li><br /><li><a href="http://seananmcguire.com/songbook.php?id=307">"Waxen Wings."</a> She was a girl with hopes and dreams and prayers of her own, once upon a time. Things didn't turn out well. Things so often don't, for girls like Rose.</li><br /><li><a href="http://seananmcguire.com/songbook.php?id=300">"When I Drive."</a> I've never been sure exactly how Rose died, except that she did it on the road, and she did it in a way that left her stranded. I think she was trying to get away.</li><br /><li><a href="http://seananmcguire.com/songbook.php?id=143">"Counting Crows."</a> When you're eternally sixteen, and eternally trying to hitchhike your way to home, you sometimes get a little lost along the way.</li><br /><li><a href="http://seananmcguire.com/songbook.php?id=182">"Hanging Tree."</a> Rose falls in love over and over, and they always grow up, and leave her. She's like a dead Peter Pan that way.</li><br /><li><a href="http://seananmcguire.com/songbook.php?id=314">"On Dead Man's Hill."</a> But before they leave her, they love her, at least for a little while; at least until they outgrow her. Someday, maybe one of them will get her home.</li></ul><br /><br />I do love my pretty little dead girl. Which brings us to today's special bonus! You may remember that I've occasionally posted <a href="http://seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com/49042.html">really awesome artwork</a> <a href="http://seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com/45846.html">done by the remarkable</a> <a href="http://www.mimisgrotto.com/">Amy Mebberson</a>. Amy isn't currently taking private commissions, since she's busy doing art for the official Pixar comic books, but I am equipped with many, many secret hidden goodies. And today, I bring you...<br /><br />...Rose Marshall.<br /><br /><img src="http://pics.livejournal.com/seanan_mcguire/pic/00046qcy" height="600"><br /><br />She never had a chance.