Posted by Civilian Revna Freya McKenzie (Resident) in New Clan New Beginnings

Posted by Civilian Michael ‘Big Mike’ McKenzie (Clan McKenzie Chief) in New Clan New Beginnings

Posted by Civilian Revna Freya McKenzie (Resident) in New Clan New Beginnings
Posted by… suppressed (7) by the Post Ghost! 👻

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As they sat in the living room of the yacht, Mike strummed his guitar as one of the crew drummed softly on a hide drum from her homeworld. It added a deep vibrato to the music of the guitar, and Mike grinned as they jammed. “Yeah… nice.” he said as his fingers danced across the strings. “Ok, ok… let’s see how you do here.” and he changed tempo and was suddenly playing faster and with aggressive music. The drummer began to improvise a little,and soon they were creating a fairly decent improve song.

Mike

Revna had the door open so she could listen. While Mike played, she unpacked and put things away. She hung up clothes, sorted personal items, found those bath salts Mike really liked the scent of. She found all that princess crap and cleaned and polished it - she would need it later. She sorted the medical kit and hypos, and put the one for her lungs near the bed. She put all Mike’s things away too, and slid the now empty bags and crates into the closet. Then she sat, in the middle of the bed and enjoyed the luxury of just listening to him play and have fun with it.

Revna

There was a pause in the music and soon the heavy thud of footsteps was heard and the door to the bedroom was filled with Mike. He looked at her and smiled. “So when you gonna sing? Me and the chef there want to hear ya. She said something about seein’ a vid with us in it? Huh… sounds… familair somehow.”

Mike

Revna looked at him and shook her head, already turning red. That thing was going to follow and haunt her for the rest of her life. “Oh no. No no no. That was a one time thing.” She laughed scooting off the bed. “I sing for you and family. And the entire clan when my husband dare, well tricks, me into it.” She waved past him. “Besides I don’t create, I just do ‘covers.’ What would I sing?”

Revna

“Whatever you want. You pick, we play. C’mon.” and he took her hand and dragged her off the bed and up the stairs. He took a seat and picked up Lilly, and the drummer set the drum in her lap and chuckled. “Oh, this has gotta be the best trip we’ve made yet.” she said and laughed.

Mike

Revna glared at his back the whole way up the stairs. Mike was the performer, not her. Yes Revna was a diplomat, but that didn’t usually entail more than a small group of people and never singing. Music was like breath for her though, and Mike knew that.

By the time they reached the top of the stairs, her smile was in place and as she sat she shared a laugh with the drummer. But what to sing? She had a couple songs in mind, but choose an easier song that was a bit slower. She could breathe, she knew that, but she could take her time.

The song usually was accompanied by a piano, but she was sure Mike could make it work with his guitar. “Better Place.” She turned a bit sideways on the couch so she was watching Mike - served him right making her do this, and took a couple deep breaths as the music started.

I’ll tell the world, I’ll sing a song
It’s a better place since you came along
Since you came along
Your touch is sunlight through the trees
Your kisses are the ocean breeze
Everything’s alright when you’re with me
And ahh, you’re my favorite thing
Ahh, all the love that you bring
Well, it feels like I’ve opened my eyes again
And the colors are golden and bright again
There’s a song in my heart, I feel like I belong
It’s a better place since you came along
It’s a better place since you came along
I see the whole world in your eyes
It’s like I’ve known you all my life
We just feel so right
So I pour my heart into your hands
It’s like you really understand
You love the way I am
And ahh, you’re my favorite thing
Ahh, all the happiness you bring
Well, it feels like I’ve opened my eyes again
And the colors are golden and bright again
And the sun paints the skies and the wind sings our song
It’s a better place since you came along
It’s a better place since you came along
Now I’m alright
Now I’m alright
Everything’s alright
‘Cause it feels like I’ve opened my eyes again
And the colors are golden and bright again
There’s a song in my heart, I feel like I belong
It’s a better place since you came along
It’s a better place since you came along

Revna (special thanks to Rachel Platten. Better Place https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=pvI9PuGorwI&feature=share )

Mike smiled as she sang and he played softly to follow her voice as the drum kept a gentle, low rhythm. When she finished, there was clapping from the door ouf to the aft deck and the door to the bridge, both of which stood open and crew members had been listening. Kris smiled and said “That. Was. AWESOME!”

Mike

Revna blushed, her head ducking slightly, an audience, how…lovely. She stared at Mike a long moment before she turned toward the captain. “Thank you, but really Mike is a much better sing…”

She was cut off by one of the engineers, Joreth, “Sing another!” Which brought rounds of encouragement which included references to a certain vid. Revna turned to Mike with a look that told him he was going to pay for this later. “How about Téir Abhaile Riú?”

Mike smiled broadly and said “You got it, love.” He looked at the drummer and gave her a beat and then he started playing

Revna enjoyed these types of songs, they carried a little old and new to them. She didn’t consider it, but they really brought out the richness in her voice. This song though she thought the crew would enjoy.

Look how the light of the town
The lights of the town are shining now
Tonight I’ll be dancing around
I’m off on the road to Galway now
Look how she’s off on the town
She’s off on a search for sailors though
There’s fine fellas here to be found
She’s never been one to stay at home

Home you’ll go and it’s there you’ll stay
And you’ve work to do in the morning
Give up your dream of going away
Forget your sailors in Galway

Téir abhaile riú, téir abhaile riú
Téir abhaile riú Mhearai
Téir abhail gus fan sa bhaile
Mar tá do mhargadh déanta

Come now and follow me down
Down to the lights of Galway where
There’s fine sailors walking the town
And waiting to meet the ladies there
Watch now he’ll soon be along
He’s finer than any sailor so
Come on now pick up your spoons
He’s waiting to hear you play them WHOOO!

Here today and she’s gone tomorrow
And next she’s going to Galway
Jiggin’ around and off to town
And won’t be back until morning

Téir abhaile riú, téir abhaile riú
Téir abhaile riú Mhearai
Téir abhail gus fan sa bhaile
Mar tá do mhargadh déanta

Off with a spring in my step
The sailors are searching Galway for
A young lady such as myself
For reels and jigs and maybe more
Stay here and never you mind
The lights of the town are blinding you
The sailors they come and they go
But listen to what’s reminding you
Handsome men surrounding you

Dancing a reel around you
Home you’ll go and it’s there you’ll stay
And you’ve work to do in the morning
Give up your dream of going away
Forget your sailors in Galway

Téir abhaile riú, téir abhaile riú
Téir abhaile riú Mhearai
Téir abhail gus fan sa bhaile
Mar tá do mhargadh déanta

Listen to the music flow
I’m falling for the flow of home
I’m home to dance till dawning

Téir abhaile riú, téir abhaile riú
Téir abhaile riú Mhearai
Téir abhail gus fan sa bhaile
Mar tá do mhargadh déanta

Stay a while and we’ll dance together now
As the light is falling
We’ll reel away till the break of day
And dance together till morning

Téir abhaile riú, téir abhaile riú
Téir abhaile riú Mhearai
Téir abhail gus fan sa bhaile
Mar tá do mhargadh déanta

Téir abhaile riú, téir abhaile riú
Téir abhaile riú Mhearai
Téir abhail gus fan sa bhaile
Mar tá do mhargadh déanta
Do Mhargadh de - do mhargadh déanta

Revna (With Special thanks to Celtic Woman https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=Jlq694r6OmA&feature=share )

Mike grinned at Revna and said “Love, you wasted some serious talent being in Star Fleet. You should been a singer for sure.”

Mike

There was lots of agreement which only made Revna embarrassed. She looked at him, eyes full of love, “If I had met you sooner, I probably would have.” Revna grinned and waved before they could say anything else. “How about something more challenging? The Highwayman.” Mostly guitar and soft drums and could be played without the violin. But the piece would also a different sound than what most people were used to Mike playing and showed off his skill. It was also longer and probably not a story most not from Earth would know.

The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees
The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon the cloudy seas
The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moon
A highwayman came riding
Riding, riding
A highwayman came riding, up to the old inn-door
He’d a french cocked hat on his forehead, a bunch of lace at his chin
A coat of glaring velvet, and breeches of brown doe skin
They fitted with never a wrinkle, his boots were up to the thigh
And he rode with a chill and a twinkle
His pistol butts a twinkle
His rapier hilt a twinkle, under the jeweled sky
And over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark of night
And he tapped with his whip on the shutters, but all was locked and barred
He whistled a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there
But the landlord’s black-eyed daughter
Bess, the landlord’s daughter
Plaiting a long dark red love-knot into her long black hair
One kiss, my bonny sweetheart, I’m after a prize tonight
But I shall be back with the yellow gold before the morning light
Yet if they press me sharply, and harry me through the day
Then look for me by the moonlight
Watch for me by the moonlight
I’ll come to thee by the moonlight, though hell should bar the way
He rose upright in the stirrups, he scarce could reach her hand
She loosened her hair in the casement, her face burnt like a brand
As the black cascade of perfume came tumbling over his breast
And he kissed its waves in the moonlight
Oh, sweet waves in the moonlight!
Then he tugged at his rein in the moonlight, and galloped away to the west
He did not come at the dawning, he did not come at noon
And out of the tawny sunset, before the rise of the moon
When the road was a gypsy’s ribbon, looping the purple moon
A red-coat troop came marching
Marching, marching
King George’s men came marching, up to the old inn-door
They said no word to the landlord, they drank his ale instead
But they gagged his daughter and bound her to the foot of her narrow bed
Two of them knelt at the casement, with muskets at their side
There was death at every window
Hell at one dark window
For Bess could see, through the casement
The road that he would ride
They had tied her up to attention, with many a sniggering jest
And they bound a musket beside her, with the barrel beneath her breast
Now keep good watch and they kissed her
She heard the dead man say
“Look for me by the moonlight
Watch for me by the moonlight
I’ll come to thee by the moonlight, though hell should bar the way”
She twisted her hands behind her, but all the knots held good
She writhed her hands ‘til her fingers were wet with sweat or blood!
They stretched and strained in the darkness and the hours crawled on by like years!
‘Til, now, on the stroke of midnight
Cold, on the stroke of midnight
The tip of one finger touched it!
The trigger at least was hers
Tlot-tlot! Had they heard it? The horse-hoofs ringing clear
Tlot-tlot, in the distance, were they deaf that they did not hear?
Down the ribbon of moonlight, over the brow of the hill
The highwayman came riding
Riding, riding
The red-coats looked to their priming
She stood up straight and still
Tlot in the frosty silence, tlot, in the echoing night
Nearer he came and nearer, her face was like a light
Her eyes grew wide for a moment, she drew one last deep breath
Her finger moved in the moonlight
Her musket shot her in the moonlight
Shattered her breast in the moonlight and warned him with her death
He turned, he spurred to the west, he did not know she stood
Bowed, with her head o’er the musket, drenched with her own red blood
Not ‘til the dawn he heard it, his face grew grey to hear
How Bess, the landlord’s daughter
The landlord’s black-eyed daughter
Watched for her love in the moonlight, and died in the darkness there
And back, he spurred like a madman, shrieking a curse to the sky
With a white rope smoking behind him and his rapier brandished high
Blood-red were the spurs inthe golden moon, wine-red was his velvet coat
When they shot him down on the highway
Down like a dog on the highway
And he lay in his blood on the highway, with a bunch of lace at his throat
Still of a winter’s night, they say, when the wind is in the trees
When the moon is a ghostly galleon, tossed upon the cloudy seas
When the road is a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moon
The highwayman comes riding
Riding, riding
The highwayman comes riding, up to the old inn-door

Revna (Special thanks to Lorenna McKennit https://youtu.be/YGFo0xn4JeY )

Mike smiled broadly as the crew clapped, and one of them said “Lord McK- er, Mike, can we hear you do one? But I bet you will pale in comparison to that last one.” and everyone laughed.

Mike smiled and said “Fine… but remember, you asked for it.” He whispered something to the drummer whose eyes lit up and she grinned and nodded her head vigorously. Mike made some adjustments on Lilly and began playing and soon the room was filled with music and Mike began to sing:

It’s a long old time in a hard rock jail
It’s a long old time gone by
It’s a long old time I’ve laid in jail
And I’ve still got ninety-nine

You see I set myself in a gambling game
And I couldn’t have played my hand
I was thinking ‘bout that woman I loved
Run away with another man

Run away with another man
Run away with another man
I was thinking about that woman I loved
Run away with another man

The cards come round the table
Lord, I had such a worried mind
My stack of gold I’ve wasted away
And I lost ‘bout ninety-nine

I lost ‘bout ninety-nine
I lost ‘bout ninety-nine
My stack of gold I’ve wasted away
And I lost ‘bout ninety-nine

I walked into the hock shop boys
I got me a big .44
I was thinking ‘bout that woman I loved
That I’d never see no more

That I’d never see no more
That I’d never see no more
I was thinking ‘bout that woman I loved
That I’d never see no more

It wasn’t long ‘til I’d seen ‘em again
He ran away, left her behind
I’d laid ‘em low with my old .44
And the judge gave me ninety-nine

The judge gave me ninety-nine
The judge gave me ninety-nine
I’d laid ‘em low with my old .44
And the judge gave me ninety-nine

The jury said he’ll have to pay
The clerk he look around at me
No, judge he spoke my number, Lord
Two sixes upside down

Two sixes upside down
Two sixes upside down
The mean old judge, he called my number, Lord
Two sixes upside down

It’s a long old time in a hard rock jail
It’s a long old time gone by
It’s a long old time I’ve laid in jail
And I’ve still got ninety-nine

It’s a long old time in a hard rock jail
It’s a long old time gone by
It’s a long old time I’ve laid in jail
And I’ve still got ninety-nine
Two sixes upside down
Two sixes upside down

Mike Mckenzie (With thanks to The Dropkick Murphys cover of Woody Guthrie’s ‘Two Sixes Upside Down’ https://youtu.be/-5yrNwMWff0 )