jukebox_fest Sign-Up Letter, 2016
Well, hello dear, lovely creative person who got assigned challenging little me! Aren't you brave?
Seriously, though, I'm not requesting anything too weird or hard to do (I hope!)
A few little things - I tend to prefer slash/femslash to het if you put any romance in there. And I also tend to prefer cute, happy and/or funny to dark and angsty. My last request, to be sure, does have the potential to be horror-themed, which I’m fine with, but even then I would prefer atmospheric and chilling and delightfully spooky to out-and-out gory if you go that route.
My hard and fast do not wants are unhappy endings, excessive angst, non-con and character death (with the possible exception of Request #8 - see below).
A lot of my requests this round are for circus, sideshow and carnival-themed songs. I’m getting well known for my love of such things - especially the old-time freak shows and the darling pinheads (some of the songs are about pinheads, but even for the ones that aren't and have a carnival theme, it would be totally awesome, if appropriate for the story or picture, if a sweet pinhead character was included, even if they were only a side character rather than the protagonist). But of course there’s so much more fun stuff that can be put into these types of stories/artworks as well - the Ferris wheels and merry-go-rounds, the hot dogs and cotton candy, the performers of all kinds - especially the clowns! Happy clowns, funny clowns, melancholy clowns, scary clowns - I love ‘em!!! :)
Not all of the requests have circus themes, however - so if you really can’t do circus, there are other things you can write or draw in there! :)
On to the fandoms and requests! In no particular order!
1) Schlitzie - John Kite
I'd love something celebrating Schlitzie - his life, his career, how beloved and sweet and innocent he was... anything along these lines. More biographical info can be found about Schlitzie here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schlitzie
2) The Carnival Is Over - Dead Can Dance
I’m not so much interested in the lovers told about in the song, I’m more interested in the “fabulous freaks” - the sideshow performers who are getting ready to leave town. What are their daily lives like? How was the show for them, and what went right or wrong? How do they feel as they pack up and move on to the next show?
3) The Carnival Is Over - The Seekers
A totally different song from the one above! In this one, the love story does intrigue me. The lyrics tell of characters who are like “Pierrot and Columbine” - and Pierrot clowns have always struck me as being quite feminine in appearance, so this love story could easily be between two women, one a clown and the other either another carnival performer or worker, or a visitor to the carnival… what caused them to part, and what would happen if they were able to meet again and rekindle their romance? Would they at last get the happy ending they long for?
4) Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves - Cher
The part that I’m interested isn’t really the failed love story told in the song, but about what happens to the narrator’s daughter, the child born in the wagon of the traveling show in the last verse. What is it like for her, growing up as part of a carnival? Is she a sideshow performer, perhaps, or friends with the ones who society calls “freaks”? What is her relationship with her family like, and what adventures does she have on her travels?
5) Pinhead - The Ramones
This song has an autobiographical element, outlined in the link below:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabba_Gabba_Hey
I'd adore something based on either the Ramones themselves and their reaction to the Freaks film, or something about the pinheads in Freaks and how adorably sweet they were, or the adventures of the Ramones and their onstage pinhead... anything that would fit the theme and be cute, basically! :)
6) Palisades Park - The Ramones
As with Dead Can Dance’s “The Carnival Is Over” my main fascination is with the carnival people themselves rather than the lovers in the song. How do they feel about all the funny, odd, annoying or fascinating things that happen during their day, the canoodling couples on the Ferris wheel, the bratty kids throwing tantrums, the heckling drunks, their own everyday loves and hates and working lives?
7) I Wanna Be Sedated - The Ramones
"I Wanna Be Sedated" was written by Joey Ramone. In an interview about the song, Joey explains the chorus:
"It's a road song. I wrote it in 1977, through to 78. Well, Danny Fields was our first manager and he would work us to death. We would be on the road 360 days a year, and we went over to England, and we were there at Christmas time, and in Christmas time, London shuts down. There's nothing to do, nowhere to go. Here we were in London for the first time in our lives, and me and Dee Dee Ramone were sharing a room in the hotel, and we were watching The Guns of Navarone. So there was nothing to do, I mean, here we are in London finally, and this is what we are doing, watching American movies in the hotel room."
This song, too, is autobiographical. How might all this have felt for Joey? Was there a funny side? Did creating the song make the experience all worth it?
8) Tiger - ABBA
Since this song is sung by female vocalists, I imagine the song’s narrator as a powerful, alluring if somewhat terrifying female figure. Is she some sort of were-tiger, a shape-shifter stalking through the city nights, or a female serial killer seeking vengeance on those who have wronged her (this would be the exception to the no-character death rule above, but even then I don't want it too gruesome, thanks)? Is she literally a tiger, a big cat escaped from a circus, zoo or menagerie? Or simply a seductress seeking a lady-love for the night with a huntress’s determination? Let your imagination go wild! :)
Seriously, though, I'm not requesting anything too weird or hard to do (I hope!)
A few little things - I tend to prefer slash/femslash to het if you put any romance in there. And I also tend to prefer cute, happy and/or funny to dark and angsty. My last request, to be sure, does have the potential to be horror-themed, which I’m fine with, but even then I would prefer atmospheric and chilling and delightfully spooky to out-and-out gory if you go that route.
My hard and fast do not wants are unhappy endings, excessive angst, non-con and character death (with the possible exception of Request #8 - see below).
A lot of my requests this round are for circus, sideshow and carnival-themed songs. I’m getting well known for my love of such things - especially the old-time freak shows and the darling pinheads (some of the songs are about pinheads, but even for the ones that aren't and have a carnival theme, it would be totally awesome, if appropriate for the story or picture, if a sweet pinhead character was included, even if they were only a side character rather than the protagonist). But of course there’s so much more fun stuff that can be put into these types of stories/artworks as well - the Ferris wheels and merry-go-rounds, the hot dogs and cotton candy, the performers of all kinds - especially the clowns! Happy clowns, funny clowns, melancholy clowns, scary clowns - I love ‘em!!! :)
Not all of the requests have circus themes, however - so if you really can’t do circus, there are other things you can write or draw in there! :)
On to the fandoms and requests! In no particular order!
1) Schlitzie - John Kite
I'd love something celebrating Schlitzie - his life, his career, how beloved and sweet and innocent he was... anything along these lines. More biographical info can be found about Schlitzie here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schlitzie
2) The Carnival Is Over - Dead Can Dance
I’m not so much interested in the lovers told about in the song, I’m more interested in the “fabulous freaks” - the sideshow performers who are getting ready to leave town. What are their daily lives like? How was the show for them, and what went right or wrong? How do they feel as they pack up and move on to the next show?
3) The Carnival Is Over - The Seekers
A totally different song from the one above! In this one, the love story does intrigue me. The lyrics tell of characters who are like “Pierrot and Columbine” - and Pierrot clowns have always struck me as being quite feminine in appearance, so this love story could easily be between two women, one a clown and the other either another carnival performer or worker, or a visitor to the carnival… what caused them to part, and what would happen if they were able to meet again and rekindle their romance? Would they at last get the happy ending they long for?
4) Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves - Cher
The part that I’m interested isn’t really the failed love story told in the song, but about what happens to the narrator’s daughter, the child born in the wagon of the traveling show in the last verse. What is it like for her, growing up as part of a carnival? Is she a sideshow performer, perhaps, or friends with the ones who society calls “freaks”? What is her relationship with her family like, and what adventures does she have on her travels?
5) Pinhead - The Ramones
This song has an autobiographical element, outlined in the link below:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabba_Gabba_Hey
I'd adore something based on either the Ramones themselves and their reaction to the Freaks film, or something about the pinheads in Freaks and how adorably sweet they were, or the adventures of the Ramones and their onstage pinhead... anything that would fit the theme and be cute, basically! :)
6) Palisades Park - The Ramones
As with Dead Can Dance’s “The Carnival Is Over” my main fascination is with the carnival people themselves rather than the lovers in the song. How do they feel about all the funny, odd, annoying or fascinating things that happen during their day, the canoodling couples on the Ferris wheel, the bratty kids throwing tantrums, the heckling drunks, their own everyday loves and hates and working lives?
7) I Wanna Be Sedated - The Ramones
"I Wanna Be Sedated" was written by Joey Ramone. In an interview about the song, Joey explains the chorus:
"It's a road song. I wrote it in 1977, through to 78. Well, Danny Fields was our first manager and he would work us to death. We would be on the road 360 days a year, and we went over to England, and we were there at Christmas time, and in Christmas time, London shuts down. There's nothing to do, nowhere to go. Here we were in London for the first time in our lives, and me and Dee Dee Ramone were sharing a room in the hotel, and we were watching The Guns of Navarone. So there was nothing to do, I mean, here we are in London finally, and this is what we are doing, watching American movies in the hotel room."
This song, too, is autobiographical. How might all this have felt for Joey? Was there a funny side? Did creating the song make the experience all worth it?
8) Tiger - ABBA
Since this song is sung by female vocalists, I imagine the song’s narrator as a powerful, alluring if somewhat terrifying female figure. Is she some sort of were-tiger, a shape-shifter stalking through the city nights, or a female serial killer seeking vengeance on those who have wronged her (this would be the exception to the no-character death rule above, but even then I don't want it too gruesome, thanks)? Is she literally a tiger, a big cat escaped from a circus, zoo or menagerie? Or simply a seductress seeking a lady-love for the night with a huntress’s determination? Let your imagination go wild! :)