# Wolfe in music? *The Urth list — 14 messages, 7 voices, 23 May 2011* > Exported from an unofficial mirror of a public mailing list. Copyright > in each message remains with the person who wrote it. > Email addresses are obscured as `user at host`, the form the original > archive published. This file was rebuilt from parsed fields rather than > retained headers, so it is faithful in content but not byte-exact. --- ### Daniel Petersen *23 May 2011, 19:02* Sharing this for the fun of it: there's an image drawn from and a direct quote from Wolfe's short story 'The Detective of Dreams' in the opening lines of a new song from one of my bands: http://doctornobot.blogspot.com/2011/05/6-detective-of-nightmares-and-case-of.html On that note: does anyone know of Wolfe's works being referenced in song anywhere? I think I once saw that there was a metal band called Carnifex. Pretty cool. My stuff's more punk rock than metal, so I'm happy to bring Wolfe into that world - I think he's probably too readily associated with metal or prog rock, especially BotNS. Actually, I saw a comment in a thread once that mentioned that Wolfe was good *despite* being a bit Yngwie Malmsteen. Ha! Of course, the really hilarious thing is that I highly doubt Gene himself is into anything remotely like all that! (Nor was Tolkien, who found his way into Led Zeppelin and others.) -DOJP --- ### hammstu at sbcglobal.net *23 May 2011, 19:04 · in reply to Daniel Petersen* Er Sent from my BlackBerry? smartphone with SprintSpeed -----Original Message----- From: Daniel Petersen Sender: urth-bounces at lists.urth.netDate: Mon, 23 May 2011 20:02:34 To: The Urth Mailing List Reply-To: The Urth Mailing List Subject: (urth) Wolfe in music? --- ### James Wynn *23 May 2011, 19:05 · in reply to Daniel Petersen* > On 5/23/2011 2:02 PM, Daniel Petersen wrote: > Of course, the really hilarious thing is that I highly doubt Gene > himself is into anything remotely like all that! (Nor was Tolkien, > who found his way into Led Zeppelin and others.) And yet I think Wolfe created Severian to appeal to that sort of audience. He has said repeatedly that initial seed to Severian was that he wanted a character fans could easily cosplay at conventions. J. --- ### Lane Haygood *23 May 2011, 19:09 · in reply to James Wynn* Shirtless guy in a mask with a sword sounds more like "how to end up as a sex offender suspect" than "cool costume idea." Sent from my iPhone > On May 23, 2011, at 2:05 PM, James Wynn wrote: > On 5/23/2011 2:02 PM, Daniel Petersen wrote: >> Of course, the really hilarious thing is that I highly doubt Gene himself is into anything remotely like all that! (Nor was Tolkien, who found his way into Led Zeppelin and others.) > And yet I think Wolfe created Severian to appeal to that sort of audience. He has said repeatedly that initial seed to Severian was that he wanted a character fans could easily cosplay at conventions. > > J. > _______________________________________________ --- ### Daniel Petersen *23 May 2011, 19:15 · in reply to James Wynn* > On Mon, May 23, 2011 at 8:05 PM, James Wynn wrote: > On 5/23/2011 2:02 PM, Daniel Petersen wrote: >> Of course, the really hilarious thing is that I highly doubt Gene himself >> is into anything remotely like all that! (Nor was Tolkien, who found his >> way into Led Zeppelin and others.) > And yet I think Wolfe created Severian to appeal to that sort of audience. > He has said repeatedly that initial seed to Severian was that he wanted a > character fans could easily cosplay at conventions. Yeah, I've always heard that too. So yeah, cosplay and so on for sure. Gene seems to definitely have some kind of baroque, gothic taste that overlaps with these subcultures (from costumed convention-goers to metalheads). At times the guy's practically a goth-metal lyricist! Hilarious. But I love how these aspects of Wolfe relate so widely to 'alternative' art-culture. That's one part of why I think more gothy/punky writers like Gaiman and Mieville love him so much. And it just adds to the enigma of the disparate parts he brings together into one man. What a guy. -DOJP --- ### Stuart Hamm *23 May 2011, 19:15 · in reply to Daniel Petersen* Wolfe and Malmsteen...that's rich...I connected Wolfe and Fripp....I thought that was a better mix...but you are correct , I am certain there is no difference between?Yngwie Malmsteen and Robert Fripp to Our Hero ...!!! ???????? ? ? ? ?? --- On Mon, 5/23/11, Daniel Petersen wrote: From: Daniel Petersen Subject: (urth) Wolfe in music? To: "The Urth Mailing List" Date: Monday, May 23, 2011, 12:02 PM Sharing this for the fun of it: ?there's an image drawn from and a direct quote from Wolfe's short story 'The Detective of Dreams' in the opening lines of a new song from one of my bands:? http://doctornobot.blogspot.com/2011/05/6-detective-of-nightmares-and-case-of.html On that note: “does anyone know of Wolfe's works being referenced in song anywhere” ?I think I once saw that there was a metal band called Carnifex. ?Pretty cool. ? My stuff's more punk rock than metal, so I'm happy to bring Wolfe into that world - I think he's probably too readily associated with metal or prog rock, especially BotNS. ?Actually, I saw a comment in a thread once that mentioned that Wolfe was good *despite* being a bit?Yngwie Malmsteen. Ha! Of course, the really hilarious thing is that I highly doubt Gene himself is into anything remotely like all that! ?(Nor was Tolkien, who found his way into Led Zeppelin and others.) -DOJP -----Inline Attachment Follows----- --- ### Craig Brewer *23 May 2011, 19:16 · in reply to Lane Haygood* Fewer clothes = easier costume. It's strange now that I think about it. People who cosplay at cons are often also part of the "filk" scene. (It's basically fan fiction in folk song form, for those who haven't been subjected to ten+ minute renditions on David Eddings plot summaries in three-chord format before, like I have...) Metal and folk don't often go hand in hand, do they? Or do they? I don't know much about metal. What kind of music does Wolfe mention in his books? I'm drawing a blank on whether he describes much of the music in New/Long/Short Sun in particular. ----- Original Message ---- From: Lane Haygood To: The Urth Mailing List Sent: Mon, May 23, 2011 2:09:45 PM Subject: Re: (urth) Wolfe in music? Shirtless guy in a mask with a sword sounds more like "how to end up as a sex offender suspect" than "cool costume idea." Sent from my iPhone > On May 23, 2011, at 2:05 PM, James Wynn wrote: > On 5/23/2011 2:02 PM, Daniel Petersen wrote: >> Of course, the really hilarious thing is that I highly doubt Gene himself is >> into anything remotely like all that! (Nor was Tolkien, who found his way into >> Led Zeppelin and others.) > And yet I think Wolfe created Severian to appeal to that sort of audience. He > has said repeatedly that initial seed to Severian was that he wanted a character > fans could easily cosplay at conventions. > > J. > _______________________________________________ > Urth Mailing List > To post, write urth at urth.net > Subscription/information: http://www.urth.net --- ### Daniel Petersen *23 May 2011, 19:18 · in reply to Lane Haygood* > On Mon, May 23, 2011 at 8:09 PM, Lane Haygood wrote: > Shirtless guy in a mask with a sword sounds more like "how to end up as a > sex offender suspect" than "cool costume idea." Ha! Frankly, there is a large does of S&M undercurrent in Wolfe. I admit it usually makes me fairly uncomfortable. I suspect others enjoy it. -DOJP --- ### Lane Haygood *23 May 2011, 19:20 · in reply to Craig Brewer* Folk metal is a huge genre. It's practically Finland's major source of pop art. Sent from my iPhone > On May 23, 2011, at 2:16 PM, Craig Brewer wrote: > Fewer clothes = easier costume. > > It's strange now that I think about it. People who cosplay at cons are often > also part of the "filk" scene. (It's basically fan fiction in folk song form, > for those who haven't been subjected to ten+ minute renditions on David Eddings > plot summaries in three-chord format before, like I have...) Metal and folk > don't often go hand in hand, do they? Or do they? I don't know much about metal. > > What kind of music does Wolfe mention in his books? I'm drawing a blank on > whether he describes much of the music in New/Long/Short Sun in particular. > > > > ----- Original Message ---- > From: Lane Haygood > To: The Urth Mailing List > Sent: Mon, May 23, 2011 2:09:45 PM > Subject: Re: (urth) Wolfe in music? > > Shirtless guy in a mask with a sword sounds more like "how to end up as a sex > offender suspect" than "cool costume idea." > > Sent from my iPhone > > On May 23, 2011, at 2:05 PM, James Wynn wrote: >> On 5/23/2011 2:02 PM, Daniel Petersen wrote: >>> Of course, the really hilarious thing is that I highly doubt Gene himself is >>> into anything remotely like all that! (Nor was Tolkien, who found his way into >>> Led Zeppelin and others.) >> And yet I think Wolfe created Severian to appeal to that sort of audience. He >> has said repeatedly that initial seed to Severian was that he wanted a character >> fans could easily cosplay at conventions. >> >> J. >> _______________________________________________ --- ### Daniel Petersen *23 May 2011, 19:29 · in reply to Stuart Hamm* > On Mon, May 23, 2011 at 8:15 PM, Stuart Hamm wrote: > Wolfe and Malmsteen...that's rich... > I connected Wolfe and Fripp....I thought that was a better mix...but you > are correct , I am certain there is no difference between Yngwie Malmsteen > and Robert Fripp to Our Hero ...!!! Yeah, like I said, prog and metal. Speaking of which, though, does anyone know what kind of music Gene himself likes to listen to? Craig Brewer to Urth Metal and folk don't often go hand in hand, do they? Or do they? I don't know much about metal. Sometimes, I think. But they share medieval and ancient fantasy and myth themes in common in their lyrics and imagery and even lifestyle often. (That was a hilarious description you gave of 'filk' by the bye.) What kind of music does Wolfe mention in his books? I'm drawing a blank on > whether he describes much of the music in New/Long/Short Sun in particular. Whoah! That's weird, I'm drawing a blank too. Surely there's mention of music! It feels like his Solar worlds are somehow resplendent with music, song, and poetry - even if their never mentioned! Is this another instance of Wolfe's insanely powerful *implied/assumed* world-building? -DOJP --- ### Jerry Friedman *25 May 2011, 14:30 · in reply to Craig Brewer* > From: Craig Brewer > Fewer clothes = easier costume. And it works for guys who have or like to pretend they have builds they can show off. > It's strange now that I think about it. People who cosplay at cons are often > also part of the "filk" scene. (It's basically fan fiction in folk song form, > for those who haven't been subjected to ten+ minute renditions on David > Eddings > > plot summaries in three-chord format before, like I have...) Metal and folk > don't often go hand in hand, do they? Or do they? I don't know much about > metal. > > What kind of music does Wolfe mention in his books? I'm drawing a blank on > whether he describes much of the music in New/Long/Short Sun in particular. I can only think of folk songs--"Born beneath a shooting star" and "Sad experience teaches me" and such. There must be other music, though. "The Tale of the Student and His Son" mentions dancing to celebrate the victory over the Minotaur/Monitor, but says nothing about the music. > On 5/23/2011 2:02 PM, Daniel Petersen wrote: > Of course, the really hilarious thing is that I highly doubt Gene himself is > into anything remotely like all that! (Nor was Tolkien, who found his way into > > Led Zeppelin and others.) ... I vaguely remember reading that he does in fact listen to "headbanging heavy metal", but I can't find it on the Web. Certainly the title /There are Doors/ is from the cover of the Doors' first album, not that that's exactly heavy metal. Jerry Friedman --- ### James Wynn *25 May 2011, 15:02 · in reply to Jerry Friedman* > It's strange now that I think about it. People who cosplay at cons are often > also part of the "filk" scene. (It's basically fan fiction in folk song form, > for those who haven't been subjected to ten+ minute renditions on David > Eddings plot summaries in three-chord format before, like I have...) Either in Castle of the Otter or during his online chat on the SciFi channel, Wolfe says the kind of music he enjoys is Folk and Filk. J. --- ### Marc Aramini *25 May 2011, 15:34 · follows James Wynn* > --- On Wed, 5/25/11, Jerry Friedman wrote: > > And it works for guys who have or like to pretend they have > builds they can show > off. I feel like you've known me all my life. That Bruce Lee Halloween costume was sure easy work for many many years. --- ### hammstu at sbcglobal.net *25 May 2011, 15:40 · in reply to Jerry Friedman* My 1st GW light bulb moment was the first story in Endangered Species about the traffic jam and the blues music was written about quite well imho Sent from my BlackBerry? smartphone with SprintSpeed -----Original Message----- From: Jerry Friedman Sender: urth-bounces at lists.urth.netDate: Wed, 25 May 2011 07:30:58 > To: The Urth Mailing List > Reply-To: The Urth Mailing List > Subject: Re: (urth) Wolfe in music? > From: Craig Brewer > Fewer clothes = easier costume. And it works for guys who have or like to pretend they have builds they can show off. > It's strange now that I think about it. People who cosplay at cons are often > also part of the "filk" scene. (It's basically fan fiction in folk song form, > for those who haven't been subjected to ten+ minute renditions on David > Eddings > > plot summaries in three-chord format before, like I have...) Metal and folk > don't often go hand in hand, do they? Or do they? I don't know much about > metal. > > What kind of music does Wolfe mention in his books? I'm drawing a blank on > whether he describes much of the music in New/Long/Short Sun in particular. I can only think of folk songs--"Born beneath a shooting star" and "Sad experience teaches me" and such. There must be other music, though. "The Tale of the Student and His Son" mentions dancing to celebrate the victory over the Minotaur/Monitor, but says nothing about the music. > On 5/23/2011 2:02 PM, Daniel Petersen wrote: > Of course, the really hilarious thing is that I highly doubt Gene himself is > into anything remotely like all that! (Nor was Tolkien, who found his way into > > Led Zeppelin and others.) ... I vaguely remember reading that he does in fact listen to "headbanging heavy metal", but I can't find it on the Web. Certainly the title /There are Doors/ is from the cover of the Doors' first album, not that that's exactly heavy metal. Jerry Friedman ---