Fortune Spinner

Orignal tune

She was a fortune spinner,
I was a noble lord,
But that was in the time That's long gone by,
She showed me wonders never seen,
With stones upon a board,
And told me that my life
Had been a lie.

Chorus:

For you are not a king's son,
Nor yet a noble lord,
You are the get of a bard,
And the music it will chase you,
Down your path,
she said,
The rest of your days will be hard.

She revealed my fortune then,
Dishonor and then shame,
And then a countless age,
Upon the road,
I felt five-fingered dread creep in,
The flight of fleeting fame,
And her words ran behind
Me like a goad.

Chorus

Returning to my father,
I tried to find the words,
To properly explain
My plight to him,
He laughed and called it fancies,
'Tis just a young man's whims.
I turned from him and ran
Out to the road.

Chorus

I went then to my mother,
To ask about my birth,
She paled and turned so wan
And could not speak.
'Tis not a young man’s fancy
The wheels turned in my mind,
She spoke my father’s name
Through parted teeth.

Chorus

And in the years that followed,
I struck out on the road,
I learned the tunes of all
The common men.
But my father hid from me,
In obscurity or death.
So at last I turned back
Homeward again.

Chorus

On the road to castle's gate,
I passed the fortune shop,
I was struck by my reflection
In her mirror.
"There is the father that you sought"
Her voice was loud and clear
"Thank heavens, the curse
went for naught."

Final Chorus:

For though you’re not a king's son,
Nor yet a noble lord,
You are now fully a bard,
And the music that has chased you,
Down your path, she said,
Will never let your heart be hard.

January 13, 1999

Cyclical bard songs seem to be a recurring thing. Coincidence? I think not.