The floor shakes, the inn quakes, and the audience gasps fer air. It can only be the Bywater Bouncing Song!
No Friday in Bywater without it. Sometimes it is even played twice, like last night. One day, one day, I’ll play it all night long and see how long the audience lasts!
Eh? Bouncing?
First of all, in real-life, the song is called Orange Blossom Special, here in a quick and nice version by Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs. So how did this tune end up being a staple ingredient during Green Dragon Fridays, not ter mention in any setlist by them Songburrow Strollers?
Well, let me take yer back to times past… to the early days in the autumn of 2010, I believe it was. I had been looking fer a lively song ter perform at the Green Dragon, and Orange Blossom Special seemed ter fit the bill good and well. I had played it a time or two without giving it a name, it seemed ter move the crowd nicely, but there was no special significance to the tune in them early performances.
One Friday, I was about ter play a couple of songs. Them hobbits at the Dragon must have been drinking heavily or somet, because I never saw such a lazy crowd. There was no spark in them, they just stood around, chatting with each other, not moving at all.
Them say that the sight of an angry northern lass can scare even wicked goblins. At least it can make hobbits move. I started yelling and cursing and demanding that them locals better bounce to the next tune, or I’d have their hides!
That sure woke them up.
Some even took me threats to heart and jumped around merrily to the song. It spread, and soon the room was full of bouncing hobbits. And them hobbits have been bouncing ever since. Some called it the hopping song, some the jumping song. But fer me, it’ll always be the Bywater Bouncing song.
Bouncing Trivia
- Song phases:
Five – three fast ones with bouncing, and two quiet phases (“sway, sway”) where them dancers can take a breather - Typical statements during the song:
“Reach fer the pie in the sky”, “Think Frogmorton thoughts”, “Gently, like grass in the evening breeze”, “Hop hop hop”, “Here we gooo!”, “Vertical displacements only!” - First GDF performance:
Autumn 2010 - First Songburrow Strollers performance:
Grand Order yule party, December 2010 - Number of times performed public by The Songburrow Strollers:
17 (per November 17 2012) - Largest number of Strollers playing it together:
Six, at the Strollers 4th anniversary concert, August 2012 - First time the song made a server wobble, shake and quake:
During the Strollers’ Weatherstock performance, June 2011 - Strollers who have bounced along with the audience during a performance:
Simbo and Sevelda - Strollers who have performed the song lying on their back:
Rowana and Lina, Archet Aid 2012
@LinaWillowwood always a huge favourite, boing boing
@Keligamer I’d love ter be able ter play it on a fiddle in #LOTRO, though *orders new in-game instruments*