The Redshirt as hero

[kjn]

I have a bunch of ideas for new filks. Most of them can simmer on in the background, and I know I can finish them given sufficient writing and (sometimes) research time.

But I have one idea for a filk that simply won't let go, that I believe could be an excellent filk that tells something worthwhile, and at the same time I know I will never be able to finish it myself.

The base song is "Balladen om briggen Blue Bird av Hull" from 1929 by Evert Taube. It tells the story of the brigantine Blue Bird of Hull, in two parts. The first part shows it in distress during a storm on Christmas Eve 1872 outside the west coast of Sweden. One in the crew, Karl Stranne, new to the crew but local to the area, is bound to the wheel. He manages to get the ship under control and determine where it is, but also that the ship is doomed. The crew try to set out an anchor and place a boat in the water, but they fail and a series of waves destroy the boat. Karl doesn't lose hope, but believes his father is coming out with his boat to rescue them, and the first part ends with the father's boat reaching Blue Bird and the crew being called to jump into it.

The second part open with Stranne the Elder offering spirits to the stricken crew, and asking for the name of the ship. When he is told the name, he asks in anger and despair if it's Blue Bird out of Hull, and if so, where his son is (he and his wife had just received a letter from Karl in England). He gets no reply, and asks the crew to not mention the name of the ship this night. It ends with the captain, "gray and tired", standing up and saying that Karl Stranne stood bound by the wheel and was forgotten aboard.

(An earlier version of the song has the captain saying "Jesus Christ! There's a man left aboard!".)

So I want to write a truly ose Star Trek filk out of this. And it would become a filk where the redshirt is given a name, saves the crew, dies due to the neglect of the captain, and the captain finally has to own up to the death of a redshirt.

The main trouble would be to bring the extreme realism of the song into space. The story of the song is entirely fictional, but every element of it is true and happened at one time or another. The song tells the story extremely economically, and it's filled with authentic details - Taube was a veteran sailor. I'm simply unable to come up with a suitable scenario in space that could make the story work, and doing justice to it would also go beyond my current skills in English composition.

Comments

[madfilkentist]

The idea is a good one, and considering some of the reckless things Kirk did, it's a plausible one. Perhaps the captain overlooks some natural hazard, such as an explosive plant, and the security person recognizes it and dies saving the captain. Something like that, anyway.

[kjn]

Yeah, but that's too small in magnitude really. Your scenario would more make for an angsty Kirk song, I think.

Which one certainly could write, but I can't see myself doing it.

[zappo.livejournal.com]

Considering the emotional knock-out this song is (no matter how many times I hear it I always cry like someone who cries a lot at the end) - it's brave to try to use it in filk! If it's too jokey the cognitive dissonance between what at least Swedish listeners bring to the song and what the undoubtedly awesome new text might say might jar a bit.

I look forward to your results! Qapla!

[kjn]

Why do you think I want to filk that song? The emotional knock-out is a huge part of it. I want to keep as much as possible of it, preferably losing nothing but the faux sense of authenticity the song carries.

And no, there wouldn't be anything jokey about it, as I envision things. Just translating Taube's story directly onto the Star Trek universe. In English (I see no reason to filk it in Swedish).

[zappo.livejournal.com]

Yay, a formidable challenge :) Awesome!
/z