If our favorite Deryni were in a band....

[Evie]

OK, so this morning I had a weird dream (which, come to think, is the only sort that I tend to have, but I digress). I dreamed that our favorite Deryni guys were in a band.  So there they were on stage, wearing their riding leathers (yes, essentially the same style of jerkin and chausses that I've recently made for Mini-Duncan and Mini-Joram), except that Alaric's was studded with tiny gold fleurs-de-lys and had a green gryphon embroidered on the back, and he wore it over a dark gray slubbed silk tunic.  Duncan's was embossed with a subtle but lovely chalices and crosses pattern that made it look sort of like a black-on-black brocade, only it was embossed leather, worn with a deep purple tunic.  Kelson's leathers were dyed crimson with the Haldane Lion embroidered on in gold-wrapped silk thread, worn over black.  Denis wore deep purple over white linen.  John Nivard was in his customary cassock, and he was working on the sound board and stage lights.  There wasn't an audience, but it looked like they were going through a dress rehearsal.

The band went up on stage, Duncan joking with Alaric that he was surprised Alaric wasn't planning on singing lead.  Alaric joked back that absolutely no one would want to hear him as lead singer, and that Duncan was better suited for that role.  (Alaric's assessment of his own voice was not true, as it turned out; he had a decent voice, although he only supplied back-up vocals in the dream.)  Besides, Alaric continued, he was not about to pass up the chance to play lead guitar! 

So there they were--Alaric on guitar, Kelson on keyboard, and Denis on drums.  (I wouldn't have pictured Arilan as a percussionist, but he was pretty good.)  Duncan starts belting out some Celtic folk/rock song that was like ... I dunno, Steeleye Span on steroids?  He gets through a few verses of that, doing a pretty good job (although like most dream songs, it faded away from conscious memory once I woke up, so I have no idea what the lyrics were now).  In the meantime, Richenda, Araxie, and Helena enter the room to listen, and they're lingering in the background, whispering something to John Nivard.  I hear a bit of stifled laughter from that corner of the room, but I have no idea what was so amusing, and they weren't telling.

And then the song ends.  Duncan walks over to Kelson, they exchange a few quiet words, then Duncan returns to center stage with his mic.  He smiles at the ladies and begins the next song.  And it's a cover of John Legend's "All of Me"--albeit sung about an octave lower than the original--which is a huge surprise for me since I wasn't expecting to hear him sing anything that modern, much less a love song.  (And lovely though the lyrics are, it is unmistakably a love song to a woman.  It would be too much of a mind stretch to try to put a theological spin on the words and pretend he'd turned it into a hymn!)  But the suppressed laughter from the corner of the room died down as the smooth vocals sang the words quietly but with feeling.  When he finished, Araxie told him, "That was lovely!"

"Yes, you smooth talker; who'd have guessed you had that in you?" joked Alaric, breaking the spell.

"I've never heard that song before," Richenda said.  "Did you write it, or is it a border tune?"

Helena starts laughing.  She shares a smile with Duncan.  "No, we heard it on Evie's troubadour-in-a-box, and Duncan wanted to learn it.  He said it reminded him of Maryse.  So when we got home, I looked up the lyrics in the Magic Book (their laptop) for him."

"Has your son heard it yet?" Denis asked.

"No, he and Mirjana haven't returned from their beach trip," Duncan replied.    (Beach trip?  WHAT beach trip?)

And then I woke up. 

[Elkhound]

Interesting dream.

There has been no mention of keyboard instruments in the Deryniverse, but wouldn't clavichords, virginals, and pipe organs would have been invented by then, wouldn't they?

[Laurna]

we heard it on Evie's troubadour-in-a-box, and Duncan wanted to learn it.  He said it reminded him of Maryse.

Oh, so heart warming.

Yep! I can see Alaric on lead guitar, and sorry, but Dennis on drums seems right to me.  Though I am surprised it wasn't Kelson singing lead. But perhaps he shares the lime light with Duncan.

Now, as to Dhugal and Marjana on a Beach trip? Perhaps they went early to an Atlanta, Georgia beachfront hotel to honeymoon and will meet you at The Dragon later this week.

[Evie]

LOL! If there's a beachfront hotel in Atlanta when I get there, I'm heading straight for the mountains, because that would mean the mother of all tidal waves has hit the East Coast and swallowed up half of Georgia! 

[Elkhound]

Beachfront in Atlanta?  Some people have peculiar ideas of geography.

[Jerusha]

No, I don't see Kelson wanting to sing lead.  On a personal level, he was more reserved, while Dhugal was more outgoing and adventurous with the ladies.  I don't see him putting himself in the limelight as the lead vocalist.

Neat dream, Evie, though I am not surprised it was Duncan singing the love song.  It was your dream, after all. 

[Laurna]

LOL  Goes to show what I know about the east coast. Silly me was thinking about the Atlantic boardwalk being in Atlanta. Which I do know better, now that you mention it.    I stand corrected.

[DesertRose]

LOL, that sounds like a hilarious dream, Evie.  Weird things happen in my dreams too. 

[Aerlys]

... And it's a cover of John Legend's "All of Me"... (And lovely though the lyrics are, it is unmistakably a love song to a woman.  It would be too much of a mind stretch to try to put a theological spin on the words and pretend he'd turned it into a hymn!)

I dunno, parts of it could be construed as a conversation between a soul and God. Certainly not all, but some. Have you ever read some of the poetry of St. John of the Cross? "Dark Night of the Soul" could be taken as a love poem, at first, until one delves into the deeper meaning, the journey of a soul to the perfect union of love with God.

Loreena McKennett did a song using a translation of this poem:
http://www.quinlanroad.com/explorethemusic/maskandmirror.asp?id=91
http://www.quinlanroad.com/audio/maskandmirror/darknight.mp3

OK, so, my point is that Duncan could change things around a bit, omit the "crazy" lyrics, and come up with something more spiritual. _{(Hmmm...do I have time for that? Nah...)} 

I know, I know, it was only a dream. I'm just in a weird mood right now.

[Evie]

Yeah, I know, and some love songs translate well into a more metaphorical/spiritual meaning, but this one would require some pretty substantial rewriting to be about anything besides a human--and fallible--female.  (The song references her "curves" and her "imperfections," among other attributes.     ) One of my favorite praise and worship songs sometimes gets derided for being a "Jesus is my boyfriend" song, because its lyrics could be interpreted in a very romantic sense, although oddly enough what I personally tend to picture whenever I hear it is the trusting love of a young child nestled in her father's arms.  And either way, the metaphorical imagery fits the Divine Love relationship alluded to in the lyrics. 

But since Duncan experienced the earthly pleasures of courtship and marriage, albeit extremely briefly, prior to taking his priestly vows, John Legend's lyrics would still work well as a loving tribute to his former bride.  I very much doubt that Duncan just suddenly stopped caring for Maryse after learning of her death, or even after his ordination.  His relationship with Maryse, brief though it was, was part of what helped shape him into the man he grew up to be, and might well have given him insights that helped him in later years when it came time to give pastoral counsel to others dealing with similar situations (young love, family conflicts, grief, etc.)  Not to mention that she gave him a son to discover and grow close to years after her death, giving him a chance to rediscover the joys of family life in a different sense (which, given the timing, probably also helped ease the pain of losing both of his parents and his brother in those short years before he learned he had a son).  So I can easily imagine him in later years looking back on that relationship fondly, even though his life took a turn from matrimony to celibacy after Maryse's death, and celebrating that brief chapter of his life with a commemorative song.

[Aerlys]

That's why I said "parts" of it. It would take an impossible stretch of the imagination or dropping acid to apply all of it.

[DesertRose]

LOL, Aerlys.  The strikethrough text made that post! 

[Evie]

LOL!  Yeah, dropping acid is not really part of my church's praise and worship music tradition...especially since my church also happens to have a very strong recovery ministry, with quite a number of our parishioners being in various stages of recovery from drug and/or alcohol addictions! 

[Elkhound]

... And it's a cover of John Legend's "All of Me"... (And lovely though the lyrics are, it is unmistakably a love song to a woman.  It would be too much of a mind stretch to try to put a theological spin on the words and pretend he'd turned it into a hymn!)

I dunno, parts of it could be construed as a conversation between a soul and God. Certainly not all, but some. Have you ever read some of the poetry of St. John of the Cross? "Dark Night of the Soul" could be taken as a love poem, at first, until one delves into the deeper meaning, the journey of a soul to the perfect union of love with God.

Or, to confine ourselves to the Anglosphere--for those who can't read Spanish or Latin--look at John Donne.  "Batter My Heart Three-Person God. . . ."

[cynicalmedic]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWf-RgHhhGE

This song brings me to tears each time - perhaps this would have been performed by Maryse, for Duncan. If you haven't heard of Eva, she was absolutely amazing. Sadly, she died young.