The Summer of A.S. 9

The Summer of A.S. Nine

This was the second filk to emerge from the session that inspired Blue Passant Tiger. The original, Summer of 69 by Bryan Adams, is one of my favorites (though I don't actually agree with the sentiment: I have no nostalgia for my youth). Like Adams, I wasn't actually old enough to do the things in the song in AS IX. I finished this on January 18, 2008.

This song emerged from a desire to do a song about change (my wife suggested it on the way back from the session). I was looking for a piece that talked about getting older. Unfortunately, most songs about getting older are “Dang, I'm old and my life was so good back when.” My life isn't perfect, but there's no time I want to go back to. Put another way: Would you really go back, if you knew that you'd have to go through it all again? (Now going back knowing what you know now...that's different. And another song)

Some historical notes: My first attempt at fighting was long after freon helms, but before siege engines and youth combat. The hot debate was whether or not to permit face thrusts and combat archery (they had them in some areas, but not in the East Kingdom).

This is another song that morphed from its original conception. I wasn't sure how to handle the romantic aspect of the song. The idea of making it about a heraldic badge (and its failure to pass) occurred while walking with my kids.

Finally: gotta love YouTube. Finding the lyrics is easy. Finding an audio file for the music itself is difficult, unless you want to pay for it (and I'll admit to being cheap here). But there's YouTube, where the next filk genre is being created: the video filk (vilk?). That's taking an existing music video and changing the images, so we have Eye of the Tiger with clips of Spike or Aragon, and I'll have to admit that I can see in my mind's eye what a music video for Fighter Jock or Blue Passant Tiger looks like. However, I have neither the time or equipment to make one, so anyone who decides to do such a heinous thing will have to just send me a link afterwards...

In the meantime, for those who aren't familiar with the song, I've embedded a video (top) and a karaoke version (bottom) of the original. So if you want to know what the song sounds like...click play and listen to the original. And if you want to sing the song...well, that's a risk you'll just have to take.

I got my first real pot helm From behind the five and dime Popped the valve, the freon bled Was the summer of A.S. Nine Me and some guys from school Had a clan and we tried real hard Jimmy quit, Jodi got laureled Should've known we'd never get far Oh when I look back now That summer seemed to last forever And if I had the choice Yeah, I'd always want to be there Those were the best days of my life. Ain't no use in complaining When you're beaten black and blue Spent my evenings down on the list field And that's where I made you, yeah Drawn up at the Herald's tent A blazon that would last forever Just a symbol for my clan I didn't think they'd pass you never Those were the best days of my life Yeah we were swinging sticks We were young and restless We needed to unwind I guess nothing can last forever, Forever, no...yeah... And now the rules keep changing Look at everything that's come and gone Siege engines, archers, and youth fighting I think about you, wonder what went wrong Drawn up at the Herald's tent A blazon that would last forever Just a symbol for my clan I didn't think they'd pass you never Those were the best days of my life Oh yeah Back in the summer of '69..

Notes

- While researching the next statement, I came across a note that suggests 69 was not a reference to the year...and now you know why I rarely do bawdy.
- The A.S. dating system begins on May 1, 1966, so the summer of A.S. IX would have been the summer of 1974.
- The names Jimmy and Jody are from the original song, but can (and should!) be replaced with any names you think appropriate.
- Originally I had: Standing in the Herald's tent He told me you'd be mine forever Oh and when I drew you up I didn't think I'd see you never Those were the best days of my life However, I decided that it would be too difficult having two variations of the stanza (the original song repeats this stanza). I was tempted to keep the preceding, especially after discovering that the 69 was not intended as a reference to the year; in fact, if you want to keep the song as ambiguous as possible, I suggest:
  - Did you in the Herald's tent I knew that you'd be mine forever Oh and when I set you down I didn't think I'd see you never Those were the best days of my life