Songs for Saturday: The Rambling Silver Rose

I mentioned yesterday that the minivan we sold yesterday was named Rosie, from the character in my song "The Rambling Silver Rose" [ogg] [mp3], which in turn was about Rosie's relationship with the eponymous spacecraft. That, in turn, was the name Colleen and I chose for our first minivan, a silver Mercury Villager. This post is about the song.

The story the it tells was loosely inspired by the some of Cynthia McQuillin and Leslie Fish's songs about spaceships, spaceport bars, and tough, hard-drinking, independent-minded women. The song doesn't say much about the Rose, and my view of her didn't really come together until I tried to write a backstory, but she's sentient. A bit of Helva in there, obviously, though computer not cyborg. I'm not sure why I tend to write love stories between AIs and humans, but there you go. C.f. "Silk and Steel", "Demon Lover", and "Besties". (BTW Lady Melody and Rose inhabit the same timeline about 250 years apart.)

I don't remember much about the writing process -- it was nearly 30 years ago -- but obviously the title came first; the first verse and last two lines of chorus probably came next, but I don't remember the order. The change from "in" to "she's" in the final repeat was suggested by N while we were scripting it for Lookingglass Folk.

I've mentioned elsewhere that I don't usually know whether the song I'm writing is any good until I get to a line that gives me a physical reaction. (My little bear-like brain isn't all that good at identifying emotions, so I have to go by what my body is telling me.) In this song the line was -- and still is -- As she drifts out in the darkness, sleeping wrapped in shining stars.

( lyrics, if you don't want to click through: )

NaBloPoMo stats:
  12235 words in 23 posts this month (average 531/post)
    688 words in 1 post today