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Folkswitch: The Romantic Poets Meet Wyrd Folk

The romantic poets set to music and video, traditional folk songs through the looking glass

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Poe’s poetry brought to musical and visual life: The Conqueror Worm by Folkswitch

Folkswitch Album Cover The Conqueror Worm, Edgar Allan Poe's poetry

Like the tales that made him famous, Edgar Allan Poe’s poetry is richly dark, exploring those same themes of love, loss, death and evil. His short stories were his bread and butter, and he was the quintessential craftsman in their writing. But Poe’s poetry was his art, personal and seeping with emotion.

The Conqueror Work brings Poe’s poems together with acid rock, traces of heavy metals, European cabaret music and and a feel of the theatrical, to give his emotional discourses new settings for a new age.

Poe’s life was scarred by loss, his father to abandonment, his mother to death – an event which seemed to overtake many of the women who were instrumental Poe’s life. Poe’s poetry reflects that loss, from the obvious paean to the departed, Spirits of the Dead, to his last poem, Annabel Lee, where heroine succumbs to illness and her love continues to visit and lie with her nightly, in the grave.

Poe’s poetry explore unflinchingly death, as in the Conqueror Worm the key lines which close out the poem read “That the play is the tragedy, ‘Man’  And its hero, the Conqueror Worm.” Even Poe’s idea of angels, usually thought of as bringing relief and hope, in his poetry only affirm the futility of it all. In Annabel Lee, they conspire with demons to keep the lovers apart.

There is no bright spot in this collection of Poe’s poetry. The music which accompanies veers from intense, pounding drums and overdriven guitars, washes of feedback stain the palette upon which the author’s words rest, to the gentle strains of the broken hearted. It’s amazing how easily Poe’s poetry can be sung, as though the author hummed along as he penned the stanzas. Phrases such as “Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before” roll lightly off the tongue, while others long to be screamed in anguish, “Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!’ Quoth the Raven, ‘Nevermore.’”

A Dream Within A Dream finds Poe exploring the structure of life, reality and the loss of all you know and care about it. In the end Poe believed we lost all, because that was his experience and it inundates Poe’s poetry. The City In The Sea is an apocalyptic vision – a glorious city ruled over by the figure of Death, who is only preparing the way for the return of Satan and the unleashing of Hell on earth. In Poe’s poetry, that glorious city, as well as all things of beauty in the end succumb to the conqueror worm.

There are many version of The Raven out there in musical form, but seldom is there a conscious attempt to actually sing the damn thing. Lou Reed even settled for narration over the top of Metal Machine type music, rather than find the rhythm of Poe’s poetry. Here Folkswitch keeps the words intact, presenting the poem much as a high school musical drama performance, breaking it into sections to follow the story arc, from the longing for lost Lenore, to the appearance of the raven, to the narrator’s descent into madness.

Poe’s poetry, like his more famous tales explore madness, as Poe explored it in real life, the inevitable result of a life of hardship and loss. It can be argued that madness is the proper response to the human condition. This collection of poems and music takes that exploration further and brings it into the modern age, while trying to keep touch with its nineteenth century roots.

It was a time and a place where death was always a heartbeat away, the world was growing more dangerous and after Poe’s death, the wholesale slaughter of great swatches of the human race began in earnest. Perhaps Poe saw the future and gave us a blueprint for dealing with inevitable loss, death and pain. His words still echo down to us today.

The videos of Poe’s Poetry

Each interpretation of Poe’s Poetry on The Conqueror Worm has been given a visual treatment, resulting in nine stand alone videos as well as one extended length, 60 minute compilation. Dark and menacing, the videos draw from the German Expressionists as well as more modern artists who have explored the dark side through music and video. Not a horror film per se, the treatment of Poe’s poetry does result in a feeling of unease, and we humbly submit brings the music, and the lyrics a new perspective.

All the videos can be found on this site, as well as the Folkswitch YouTube channel.

The Conqueror Worm
To One In Paradise
A Dream Within A Dream
Annabel Lee
Interlude: The Hearse Song (The Worms Crawl In The Worms Crawl Out)
Deep In Earth (My Love Is Lying)
Spirits Of The Dead
City In The Sea
The Raven

Personnel:

Teelin Atteberry: Drums, Percussion, Violin
Todd Atteberry: Vocals, Guitars, Keyboards, Percussion
Todd Lane: Vocals, Guitar, Keyboards, Percussion

Edgar Allan Poe’s The Conqueror Worm: The play is the tragedy, ‘Man’  And its hero, the Conqueror Worm

July 3, 2018 by folkswitch_rvicps

Harry Clark Poe The Conqueror Worm

Poe's The Conqueror Worm can be found in his tale Ligeia, a story of death, resurrection, opium abuse, more death and madness. The poem depicts a performance of mimes, controlled by vast, shapeless forms offstage. High above angels watch and weep, and at last an evil, formless shape crawls center stage and eats the hapless mimes, and as the curtain comes down, the title of the play, Man is … [Read more...] about Edgar Allan Poe’s The Conqueror Worm: The play is the tragedy, ‘Man’  And its hero, the Conqueror Worm

Filed Under: Journal, Poe's Poetry

Edgar Allan Poe’s To One In Paradise: For, alas! alas! with me The light of Life is o’er!

July 3, 2018 by folkswitch_rvicps

Harry Clark Poe Spirits of the Dead

Poe's To One In Paradise tells of the sorrow felt when you lose the connection to the one you love, essentially being shut out of paradise. Poe creates an almost Biblical tone, comparisons to the Garden of Eden and man's fall from God's grace are inevitable. Has his love left this life to go to paradise, or is he simply deprived of her company, Poe's To One In Paradise is vague on the matter? … [Read more...] about Edgar Allan Poe’s To One In Paradise: For, alas! alas! with me The light of Life is o’er!

Filed Under: Journal, Poe's Poetry

Edgar Allan Poe’s A Dream Within a Dream: You are not wrong, who deem, That my days have been a dream

July 3, 2018 by folkswitch_rvicps

Dream Within A Dream, Harry Clark, Illustrator

Analyzing Poe's A Dream Within A Dream is an exercise in futility. Poe's intentions can't be known, but it doesn't stop people from trying. Read straightforward you get a sense that Poe is on the verge of loss, he's kissing his loved one goodbye, and if there's a sense that he's accepted it, it's because accepted the reality, or unreality of life. You can't live a dream for long, because it's … [Read more...] about Edgar Allan Poe’s A Dream Within a Dream: You are not wrong, who deem, That my days have been a dream

Filed Under: Journal, Poe's Poetry

Edgar Allan Poe’s Annabel Lee: But we loved with a love that was more than love

July 3, 2018 by folkswitch_rvicps

Harry Clark's illustration for Annabel Lee

Annabel Lee was Poe's last poem. Legends abound that it's based on a story from Charleston, South Carolina, but that's unlikely. In reality he wrote it about his wife, recently deceased. It's the story of a man haunted by love, and follows love into the grave. It's an exploration of obsessive love, doomed love that keep the mind busy for some time, working it out for ourselves. Holding onto … [Read more...] about Edgar Allan Poe’s Annabel Lee: But we loved with a love that was more than love

Filed Under: Journal, Poe's Poetry

Interlude: The Hearse Song, a.k.a. The Worms Crawl In The Worms Crawl Out

July 3, 2018 by folkswitch_rvicps

Featured Image for the Hearse Song, from Irish illustrator Harry Clark's Poe illustrations

The Hearse Song is one of the first songs I ever learned, albeit in a shortened version" The worms crawl in, The worms crawl out. The worms play pinochle on your snout. You spread it on  a piece of bread, And that's what you eat when you are dead. Now a keen eye will instantly recognize that there's something missing. What the hell are you eating on a piece of bread? I learned The Hearse … [Read more...] about Interlude: The Hearse Song, a.k.a. The Worms Crawl In The Worms Crawl Out

Filed Under: Journal, Poe's Poetry

Edgar Allan Poe’s Deep In Earth: And I must weep alone

July 3, 2018 by folkswitch_rvicps

Illustration for Deep In Earth, from Harry Clark's illustrations from Poe's 1923 illustrations of Edgar Allan Poe’s Tales of Mystery and Imagination

Poe's Deep in Earth is a curious couplet. It was found pencilled in on a copy of the manuscript to Eulalie, which speaks of the joy of his marriage. Perhaps that scribbling is Poe thinking out loud, taking a note to remind himself of a couplet which he might use later. Perhaps he was adding a postscript to Eulalie, what happens after the ending. His wife had died earlier that year and Poe … [Read more...] about Edgar Allan Poe’s Deep In Earth: And I must weep alone

Filed Under: Journal, Poe's Poetry

Edgar Allan Poe’s Spirits of the Dead: Thy soul shall find itself alone, ’Mid dark thoughts of the gray tombstone …

July 3, 2018 by folkswitch_rvicps

Harry Clark Spirits of the Dead

Poe's Spirits of the Dead is a walk through the graveyard, a treatise on death by one in mourning. The spirits of the dead live on in Poe's poem, and surround you as you walk the alleys of tombstones. The feeling of loneliness one gets as you wander the graves, Poe reasons is without merit, for the dead all around you. The time for spirits of the dead to walk again is the night, but night … [Read more...] about Edgar Allan Poe’s Spirits of the Dead: Thy soul shall find itself alone, ’Mid dark thoughts of the gray tombstone …

Filed Under: Journal, Poe's Poetry

Edgar Allan Poe’s A City In The Sea: Hell, rising from a thousand thrones, Shall do it reverence.

July 3, 2018 by folkswitch_rvicps

Death by Harry Clark for City In Sea

Poe's A City In The Sea is an apocalyptic vision, a conspiracy of evil set to rise up and usher in Hell on Earth. The city in question lies unnamed and without location, somewhere in the west. It's a peaceful city, not unlike the Atlantis legend, but it would be more apt to describe a progressive Sodom and Gomorrah. Poe describes towers, shrines, turrets, domes and spires, yet the light of … [Read more...] about Edgar Allan Poe’s A City In The Sea: Hell, rising from a thousand thrones, Shall do it reverence.

Filed Under: Journal, Poe's Poetry

Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven: Get thee back into the tempest and the Night’s Plutonian shore!

July 2, 2018 by folkswitch_rvicps

Harry Clark Poe Raven

Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven represented the pinnacle of the author's success. Though most of his fame was brought on by his macabre tales and stories, Poe's The Raven took off and brought him national, as well as world-wide acclaim. Unfortunately it didn't bring him much in the way of income, when he desperately needed as he tried to make a life in New York City, accompanied by his wife ill … [Read more...] about Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven: Get thee back into the tempest and the Night’s Plutonian shore!

Filed Under: Journal, Poe's Poetry

On the Poe videos that accompany The Conqueror Worm, The Poetry of Edgar Allan Poe

July 1, 2018 by folkswitch_rvicps

Still from the Poe video The Raven

We’ve played with video for a while, and all along we hoped to make Poe videos for each of the songs on The Conqueror Worm. Since most people find our music typically find it through YouTube, and YouTube is a video platform, why not make the most of it? The original guidelines for the Poe videos were simple, shoot it on a phone or iPad, and use iMovie to edit. I wanted these videos to be … [Read more...] about On the Poe videos that accompany The Conqueror Worm, The Poetry of Edgar Allan Poe

Filed Under: Journal, Poe's Poetry

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