Favor of a Dance | West Side Story Meets Firefly
PUB SONGS & STORIES (Atlanta, Georgia) · Sep 5, 2022 · 13:57
PUB SONGS & STORIES (Atlanta, Georgia)
PUB SONGS & STORIES (Atlanta, Georgia) · Sep 5, 2022 · 13:57
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West Side Story meets the TV show Firefly. We're digging into fake gallantry, a duel with swords, and fighting back against those who feel the need to control others.
It's all on Pub Songs & Stories #257.
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I am Marc Gunn. This is the audio liner notes for the songs I record and play.
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0:59 - WHAT'S NEW?My pizza stone cracked yesterday. I'm not really surprised. But I'm really sad.
This is my first pizza stone. I didn't know how to cook with it when I started, let alone take care of it. And to be completely honest, I'm also a bit negligent on a lot of things.
As I took the broken stone out of the oven, I carefully cleaned off the burnt cornmeal that remains after making pizza. I learned through trial and error that if you have cornmeal on the stone, the pizza slides off it easier.
A lot of that cornmeal falls onto the bottom of the oven.
What do I usually do with that cornmeal? I leave it there. I don't finish the job.
It's sort of like the twisty tie that came off the finished loaf of bread. I saw it lying by the back door on the floor. Usually, I leave it where it lies in my home. I don't clean it up. But I picked it up yesterday.
I'm still learning about personal responsibility. It's been haunting me a lot more as time goes by and our world becomes more partisan. It's the first stepping stone for communal responsibility. Something just as important, yet just as ignored.
I understand better now. Picking up that twisty or cleaning up the stove is essential for the health of our home. It also means I have less time doing things I WANT to do.
However, it could mean that the pizza stone that I loved might not crack. I wouldn't have wasted good money and added waste to our environment.
Hm… I just finished re-reading Shepherd's Tale, the story behind Shepherd Book of Firefly. I feel this whole thought process is relevant. I'll let you know more when we publish the new episode of In the 'Verse.
In the meantime, I have a new Firefly song to talk about in today's show. But first, let's talk about upcoming shows.
2:50 - UPCOMING SHOWS"Favor of a Dance" is a single I released at the end of June. It features the music of Vicki Swan & Jonny Dyer, with backing vocals by Jamie Haeuser.
I love the instrumentation that Vicki and Jonny added to the song. Jonny's guitar takes a big lead on it. And Vicki's flute playing adds a joyful, touch of brilliance. I liked the song before. But I love it so much more with those two playing along.
The song is based on the episode Shindig, the 4th episode of Firefly. I originally wrote the song for the 4th episode of In the 'Verse. That's a podcast I make with my friend Mikey Mason. I recommend you check out that TV and podcast episodes too, or at least the synopsis, if you want context for the song, but I'll share a shortened version for those who don't do that.
I love the story of my song. "Favor of a Dance" is based on the episode "Shindig". It's a love triangle about respect, rules, and kindness.
In the episode, Malcolm Reynolds runs into Inara at a ball. She and her customer, Atherton Wing, are dancing. But despite his fake gallantry, Atherton proves himself to be the kind of man who believes in controlling women.
Malcolm picks up on that and picks a fight with Atherton by asking Inara for a dance. This leads to a punch in the face and eventually a duel with swords.
I feel like my story does a good job following the storyline of the episode. The first verse talks about the "social event of the season". It talks about Mal's and Inara's joy of dancing, and ends with the hostile, controlling nature of Atherton.
Verse two digs into that hostility. "His hand is tight around your arm". I love that line. I have trouble coming up with good metaphors when I'm writing songs. Especially the initial drafts. I frequently add those in later, like I did here. I feel like this is a great line to show the mean nature of the antagonist.
The last lines of the second verse dig into the rules aspect of the episode and how sometimes you have to break the rules to bring kindness to a situation.
Each chorus has a slightly different phrase in it. "Give me the favor of a dance" was a line that Mal respectfully uses to ask if he can dance with Atherton's guest. And it's all done from the perspective of Mal.
The third verse again continues
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