Non-Renaissance Songs That Would Make Great Faire Songs

[Duke of Remington]

I don't know if it has been mentioned yet, but any Mumford and Sons song instantly gets me into my renfaire mood!!

[RenStarr]

Robert Earl Keen
CD - What I Really Mean
Song - The Traveling Storm

I enjoy the disc, but that particular song would be a good Faire song (IMHO).

Update:  Here's the words

In a year that is not now
From a place unknown
I travel on the mountain roads
Looking for someone

Sewn inside my vest, a letter
Tells me where and when
In my purse a sacred dagger
On my horse I run

Restless girl beside the water
Tending to a fire
Kissed a boy and then another
Suiting up for war

Heard a broken band of gypsies
Singing ancient songs
Gave all my silver to a beggar
Still he wanted more

Oh the town of stone and timber
Celebration reigned
No one there seems to remember
Why they carry on

Crowded 'round a man of marble
Speaking foreign tongues
There the stone began to crumble
And the crowd did moan

In the unforgiving morning
Caravans of shame
Turn south to the dry land highway
I turn to the sea

Like a snake so quick and deadly
Sleepless, coiled and cool
The one I seek is making ready
Waiting patiently

Pity not the weary traveler
He lives in his mind
He is friend of wind and weather
And from fire is born

Pity then the cool betrayer
Waiting patiently
No precaution made will save him
From the traveling storm

[Alphena Brennafax]

I don't know if it has been mentioned yet, but any Mumford and Sons song instantly gets me into my renfaire mood!!

I love them!
The Decemberists are my go to band- especially Mariner's Revenge

"The Mariner's Revenge Song"

We are two mariners
Our ship's sole survivors
In this belly of a whale
It's ribs are ceiling beams
It's guts are carpeting
I guess we have some time to kill

You may not remember me
I was a child of three
And you, a lad of eighteen
But, I remember you
And I will relate to you
How our histories interweave
At the time you were
A rake and a roustabout
Spending all your money
On the whores and hounds
(oh, oh)

You had a charming air
All cheap and debonair
My widowed mother found so sweet
And so she took you in
Her sheets still warm with him
Now filled with filth and foul disease
As time wore on you proved
A debt-ridden drunken mess
Leaving my mother
A poor consumptive wretch
(oh, oh)

And then you disappeared
Your gambling arrears
The only thing you left behind
And then the magistrate
Reclaimed our small estate
And my poor mother lost her mind
Then, one day in spring
My dear sweet mother died
But, before she did
I took her hand as she, dying, cried:
(oh, oh)

"Find him, Bind him
Tie him to a pole and break
His fingers to splinters
Drag him to a hole until he
Wakes up naked
Clawing at the ceiling
Of his grave"

It took me fifteen years
To swallow all my tears
Among the urchins in the street
Until a priory
Took pity and hired me
To keep their vestry nice and neat
But, never once in the employ
Of these holy men
Did I ever, once turn my mind
From the thought of revenge
(oh, oh)

One night I overheard
The prior exchanging words
With a penitent whaler from the sea
The captain of his ship
Who matched you toe to tip
Was known for wanton cruelty
The following day
I shipped to sea
With a privateer
And in the whistle
Of the wind
I could almost hear
(oh, oh)

"Find him, Bind him
Tie him to a pole and break
His fingers to splinters
Drag him to a hole until he
Wakes up naked
Clawing at the ceiling
Of his grave

There is one thing I must say to you
As you sail across the sea
Always, your mother will watch over you
As you avenge this wicked deed"

And then, that fateful night
We had you in our sight
After twenty months at sea
Your starboard flank abeam
I was getting my muskets clean
When came this rumbling from beneath
The ocean shook
The sky went black
And the captain quailed
And before us grew
The angry jaws
Of a giant whale

(oh..)

Don't know how I survived
The crew all was chewed alive
I must have slipped between his teeth
But, oh, what providence
What divine intelligence
That you should survive
As well as me
It gives my heart great joy
To see your eyes fill with fear
So lean in close
And I will whisper
The last words you'll hear
(oh, oh)

[Poldugarian Warrior]

For Whom The Bell Tolls by Metallica, if done in a Celtic style it would sound good.

[BubbleWright]

One of my favorite groups is Riders in the Sky , cowboys who sing great harmony and occasionally have their tongues planted firmly in cheek. My candidate for Faire Song is their Salting of the Slug. In the following YouTube segment, the song does not start until the 2:45 minute mark but it is worthwhile to listen to the prologue for the set up of the song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXedVshZyCI

[sloth]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXFvSE7GBbs

On Trees and Birds and Fire by I Am Oak

Definitely recommend giving this one a listen.  It always makes me think of faire, because of the drums and just the fluid sound.  The lyrics are simplistic; its about the sound.

[Poldugarian Warrior]

Children of the Sea by Dio

[The Lady Mercedes]

ITunes Essentials has one called British Folk that I'm sure rennie bands can use as inspiration if they haven't already

[groomporter]

Queen's song ''39" always had a bit of a folk song sound.

'39

In the year of thirty-nine
Assembled here the volunteers
In the days when lands were few
Here the ship sailed out into the blue and sunny morn
The sweetest sight ever seen
And the night followed day
And the story tellers say
That the score brave souls inside
For many a lonely day
Sailed across the milky seas
Ne'er looked back never feared never cried

Don't you hear my call
Though you're many years away
Don't you hear me calling you
Write your letters in the sand
For the day I'll take your hand
In the land that our grand-children knew

In the year of thirty-nine
Came a ship in from the blue
The volunteers came home that day
And they bring good news
Of a world so newly born
Though their hearts so heavily weigh
For the earth is old and grey
to a new home we'll away
But my love this cannot be
Oh so many years have gone
Though i'm older but a year
Your mother's eyes from your eyes cry to me

Don't you hear my call
Though you're many years away
Don't you hear me calling you
Write your letters in the sand
For the day I'll take your hand
In the land that our grand-children knew

[metalcelt]

16 Tons sounds like it would fit in the Ren Period..

[Poldugarian Warrior]

Archer's Dream by Heart, I also heard a couple others that sound good if translated to ren/celtic music will dig those titles up.

[Jon Hanslow]

One of my favorite Emmylou Harris songs that I pull out every once and awhile:

"The Ship on His Arm"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmA0K2POQnk

"Where are you now"
She writes, "Where are you now, my love?
Do you have food to eat, shoes for your tired feet
Am I the one you're dreaming of?"

"Do you know how I miss you
How I long to kiss you
Pray for the day you will come
Back to me, my darling one"

He thinks about her
All through the long watches of night
The bullets are flying, young men are dying
He prays for the first crack of light

And when he can finally slip into his dream
She'll sweep on the sweet web she has woven
And for a while they are one

When she kisses the ship on his arm
All of his sorrows unravel
He knows he will come to another one
Over all of the miles he has traveled

Her love is an anchor
Her love is forever
It's true now her love is the charm
When she kisses the ship on his arm

Blessed are they, these fearless young lovers
Their lives are just barely begun
Blessed is the day they return to each other
After all of the battles are done
And finally they are one

When she kisses the ship on his arm
And all of their sorrows unravel
They've come through the eye of the storm
Unafraid of the miles left to travel

Their love is an anchor
Love is forever
It's true now that love is the truth
When she kisses the ship on his arm

[Jon Hanslow]

"I and Love and You" by The Avett Brothers.

I use this one every once and awhile as well, I've changed a few of the lyrics to make it more faire-friendly.

Load the cart and write the note
Grab your bag and grab your coat
Tell the ones that need to know
We are headed north

One foot in and one foot back
But it don't pay, to live like that
So i cut the ties and i jumped the tracks
For never to return

Ah Shire, Shire take me in
Are you aware the shape I'm in
My hands they shake my head it spins
Ah Shire, Shire take me in

When at first I learned to speak
I used all my words to fight
With him and her and you and me
Oh but its just a waste of time
Yeah its such a waste of time

That woman shes got eyes that shine
Like a pair of stolen polished dimes
She asked to dance I said it's fine
I'll see you in the morning time

Ah Shire, Shire take me in
Are you aware the shape im in
My hands they shake my head it spins
Ah Shire, Shire take me in

Three words that became hard to say
I and love and you
What you were then, I am today
Look at the things I do

Ah Shire, Shire take me in
Are you aware the shape I'm in
My hands they shake my head it spins
Ah Shire, Shire take me in

Dumbed down and numbed by time and age
Your dreams to catch the world, the cage
The highway sets the travelers stage
All exits look the same

Three words that became hard to say
I and love and you
I and love and you
I and love and you

[Poldugarian Warrior]

Cinnamon Girl by Neil Young unfortunately some might find offensive sorry don't mean to just like the song

Heaven and Hell by Black Sabbath

Seasons of Wither by Aerosmith

Sunshine of Your Love by Cream

Iron Butterfly's Ina Gadda Da Vida organ parts can be playe don concertina/harmonia

These may have been mentioned before, but this is what I pulled off the top of my head today.

[Jon Hanslow]

Helpless by Neil Young is another good one I've found myself playing lately. With a town change (from Ontario to something more period appropriate) it could work really well for someone wanting to do a "sad" song