Below are various rewordings of other people's songs, with the new words somehow relating to either one or more of our specific games or - as in the first one below - the greater gaming world and goings-on therein.

Enjoy!
 
This rewords Neil Young's "Rocking In the Free World" and is in somewhat unimpressed reaction to the summer 2007 announcement and fall 2007 development of D+D's 4th edition. Rewording by Keith P., Oct 20 2007.


KEEP ON PLAYING IN THE NEW GAME

Well colour me a fool
That's how this feels
While they're shuffling the rules
Wot-C's sleeping at the wheel
'Cause here's a warning sign for the years ahead
If they keep it up like this the game'll soon be dead
Don't feel like Satan but I am to them
When I hold to tradition any way I can

      ( Keep on playing in the new game
*    ( Keep on playing in the new game
      ( Keep on playing in the new game
      ( Keep on playing in the new game

There's a player here tonight
A stack of rulebooks in his hand
And a worn old die (and a worn old die)
And a new Dew can (and a new Dew can)
Now he puts the books away and he tries to roll a hit
He hates this game and what they've done to it
There's no more Bards no more Druids no more Gnomes
No Illusionists or Monks, might as well have stayed home

   *
And now they tell us points of light
Is the grand new plan
The game is kinder gentler it holds your hand
It comes with death effects made so much tamer
Got a level each minute for the power gamer
And a whole bunch of people saying go with the flow
Got Orcs to kill, got dice to roll

   *
This rewords the Crash Test Dummies song "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" and is in reference to three characters - in order Gandalf from Dafan, Lorithen from Telenet, and Riveria's Perry - and things they accomplished (?) in the game. Rewording by Keith P., March 20 2008


            FRIENDS LIKE THESE

Once there was this guy who
Couldn't seem to stop himself from blowing up his friends but
When they fin'lly killed him
They found
He'd just come back only stronger
Nobody could explain how he always just di-id that
      Mmm mmm mmm mmm
      Mmm mmm mmm mmm
Once there was this girl who
Didn't know she had a sword until it really mattered
But when she fin'lly found it
She took
One swing and killed three companions
Nobody could explain why she thought it was so mu-uch fun
      Mmm mmm mmm mmm
      Mmm mmm mmm mmm

      All this points to a dire trend
      Who needs foes when you've got friends
      It wasn't always like this…
Once there was this guy who
Got sent away to spy on some assassins in a swamp and
When they fin'lly found him
He'd lost
All of his blood 'cept the last drop
Nobody could explain what it was that made him ta-asty
Mmm mmm mmm mmm
Mmm mmm mmm mmm
Mmm mmm mmm mmm
Mmm mmm mmm mmm
This rewords Midnight Oil's "New Day" to reflect a time when the Riveria game had about run its long and chequered course. A new game - New Dafan - loomed on the horizon, and couldn't arrive fast enough. Rewording by Keith P., Jan. 8 2007


            NEW WORLD

In my world
In my world
There's been so much angst and anger
There's been so much death and danger
      Oh
Wake up
Shake my head
From adventures repetition
River rising expectations
Time to move
To a new world

      I
      Feel it starting to go
      What was warm has gone cold
      In this game that we live
      New world, new world, new world, new world
In my world
In my world
I am king and god and pauper
I'm left helpless at the altar
      Oh
Balefire
Rescue this
Burn a path beyond the fences
Burn a hole into the future
      Take me there

      'Cause it's starting to go
      And the blood's running cold
      In this game that we live
      New world, new world, new world, new world

(and it's been) Longer than death
And larger than life
We got to find a new world to play
Here comes the referee

New world, new world, new world, new world
New world, new world, new world, new world
This rewords Cyndi Lauper's wonderful "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" and about sums up Riverian superstar Pearl in a nutshell. It was presented to Randie, Pearl's player, as a Yule gift. Rewording by Keith P., Dec. 25 2005


      PEARL JUST WANTS TO HAVE FUN

The team rides through the morning light
There's wrongs in the world they're gonna set them all right
A noble cause perhaps for all except one
That's Pearl, she wants to have fun
Oh, Pearl just wants to have fun

The fireball where the aim isn't right
The fighters yell hey you klutz we value our lives
Oh what's the problem boys, she only cast one
And Pearl just wants to have fun
Oh, Pearl just wants to have fun
      / That's all she really wants
    /   Is fu-un
  *    In the dark a ray of sun
    \   When Pearl, she wants to have fun
      \ Oh that Pearl just wants to have fun

Some guys once adventured with Pearl
And ended up saving this side of the world
She'll let the heroes have their day in the sun
'Cause Pearl just wants to have fun
Oh Pearl just wants to have fun
      *
Pearl just wants to have fun
Pearl just wants to have fun …

This rewords "High Hopes" by Pink Floyd, and comes from too many years of watching our beloved pastime become an industry, dominated by profit instead of passion. Rewording by Keith P., May 26 2009

            EDITION LIST

Beyond the horizons of the game we played when we were young
Lay a world of money and malcontents
Their thoughts strayed down the page and found the bottom line
The roll call of the edition list was begun
Before our pastime was turned into an industry
We took the game and made it ours
There were a ragged few who followed in our footsteps
Who knew the better change was none at all
We've watched the new developments so hopeful but none any good
The greater game divided round us falls
      The nights were endless
      The tales were glory
      With friends surrounded
      The game was wonder
Looking round the game store at the new things trying to tempt us
Not a glimpse of the magic found in the early days
While victims of edition wars lie strewn across the battleground
Many come but rare is the one who stays
With a better attitude we made our choice
Few and far away though for so long a silent voice

Encumbered forever by desire and ambition
Theirs a greed that can't be satisfied
Our tearful eyes turn back toward the table
There'll always be a game here true and tried
      Where nights are endless
      Where tales are glory
      With friends surrounded
      The game is wonder
      The taste of magic
      The rain is falling
      Adventures calling
      The sound of laughter

      Forever and after
This rewords the vastly under-noticed Icehouse song "A Man of Colours" into a theme song for overachieving Beory illusionist Appppil Pagey. Rewording by Keith P., May 13 2004

A GIRL OF COLOURS (APPPPIL'S THEME)

There's a noise out back of the farmhouse
Of a spell going wrong again
By herself she remains undaunted
There's no if, there is only when (she'll say)

/       I
/       I am a girl
/       A simple girl
*      A girl of colours
\       And I can make
\       Make you believe
\       Believe a girl
\       A girl of colours

And her spells dance bright in the danger zone
While emotions run fast and free
Empty heart worn on a naked sleeve
What you get isn't what you see (when she says)
      *
There's a tale writ long in that spellbook
Of this life that she finds her in
Words of woe reward and adventure
Much to lose but so much more to win (and she says)
      *

      She says I
      I am a girl
      A simple girl
      A girl of colours
      And I can make
      Make you believe
      Believe in me
      Me and my colours
      A girl of colours.
 
 
What follow here are lyrics to various original game- and character-related songs written and (in most cases) recorded by the Friends of Gravity over the years.
 
This original song talks of an aging Fighter who - despite advancing years and declining skills - heads out into the field one last time.
Written March 27 2000. Words and music © 2000 Friends of Gravity.

            FAR AWAY

Cold dawns one morning after
Night filled with endless laughter
Leaves fall the seasons turn and
Once more my heart is yearning
Away
Far away

Life lived yet barely tasted
Pain's hard-won lessons wasted
Gold, glory all I see
Through rose-coloured memory
Away
Far away

Once more ignore the wise ones
Set off for far horizons
Pack full and staff in hand
Most folk don't understand
Away
Far away

Well met with those of like mind
Blind trust in what we might find
Still farther than we have gone
This road goes ever on
Away
Far away
Away...
This original song is the theme for Dafan illusionist Skyboot "Skibbles" Sharlineriel. The tune is from 1985, lyrics written October 1988.
Words and music © 1985-2008 Friends of Gravity.

            SKYBOOT

Here I am again - hey, it's only me
Somebody you thought - you'd never see
Maybe I'll explain - tricky is the light
Now that you I've caught - it feels so right

Who am I, what can I do
Ask you this, I'll answer too
There you are, lost in my spell
And here I am.

In love with everyone - forests and the rain
Anybody cries - I feel the pain
Always on the run - from shadows no-one knows
Dreaming never dies - where I go

Who am I, what can I do
Ask you this, I'll answer too
There you are, lost in my spell
Here I am - I'm Skyboot

Images in mind - nothing's really real
Still I can affect the way you feel
Leave you all behind - when I start to fly
What can you expect from such as I

Who am I, what can I do
Ask you this, I'll answer too
There you are, lost in my spell
And here I am, I'm Skyboot Sharlineriel

Here I am again, hey it's only me
Somebody you thought you'd never see.
Perhaps the most tragic and futile love these games have seen was that between Dafan superstar Bree and sometimes-running-mate Astacoe. After they met in the field and went on a short few adventures together, Astacoe died adventuring; Bree spent most of the rest of her career trying to bring him back to life. She at last succeeded, only to have him almost immediately die again; so once more she repeated the process. With this, Astacoe retired while Bree went into the field one last time…and died. So he returned the favour she had shown him, and ensured she was returned to life. Shortly after this, they were married; but got to spend a mere 6 months together before both perishing in Dafan's great cataclysm. This original song takes things from Astacoe's viewpoint, partway through their sorry tale. Lyrics written Jan 5 2001.
Words and music © 2001 Friends of Gravity.

I WAS A HERO (ASTACOE'S LAMENT)

west the wind blows softly
west the wind I cannot feel
memories of life so fleeting
what is now and what is real
west the wind blows softly
west the wind I cannot touch
once I had a dream upon it
once I thought it meant so much
      I was a hero then
      long open roads
      I made my fame and fortune
      that life I chose
yeah I was a madman
so my friends said like they knew
you made me that madman
and I fell when I fell I fell for you
      I was a hero then
      who knows me now
      now I've these chains upon me
      who knows me now
once I was a loved man
but my heart was far away
till she made me see me
didn't know the price I'd pay
      I was a hero then
      who knows me now
      now I've these chains upon me
      who knows me now
once I was a loved man
but she was so far away
till she came and freed me
didn't know the price she'd pay
      she was a hero then
      who knows her now
      she's gone and still I stand here
      who knows her now
This original song is an invocation for Riveria's water goddess Arevane (pron. Ar-ev-a-nay), written April 5 2006.
Words and music © 2006 Friends of Gravity and Brigid Skelton.

AREVANE INVOKATION (WATER DANCE 2)

I am the river the lake and the sea
I am the rain from the sky
I am Arevane, water and mist
I am the tear in your eye

I am the river that speeds to the ocean
I am the sea and the rain
I am Arevane, goddess of waters
I am and will be again

Arevane, Arevane, goddess of oceans
Arevane, Arevane, mistress of the waves
Arevane, Arevane, rain upon the mountains
Arevane, Arevane, flowing to the sea.