your-dar-ling

[your-dar-ling]

the appalachian murder ballad <3 one of the most interesting elements of americana and american folk, imo!

my wife recently gave me A Look when i had one playing in the car and she was like, "why do all of these old folk songs talk about killing people lmao" and i realized i wanted to Talk About It at length.

nerd shit under the cut, and it's long. y'all been warned

so, as y'all probably know, a lot of appalachian folk music grew its roots in scottish folk (and then was heavily influenced by Black folks once it arrived here, but that's a post for another time).

they existed, as most folk music does, to deliver a narrative--to pass on a story orally, especially in communities where literacy was not widespread. their whole purpose was to get the news out there about current events, and everyone loves a good murder mystery!

as an aside, i saw someone liken the murder ballad to a ye olde true crime podcast and tbh, yeah lol.

the "original" murder ballads started back across the pond as news stories printed on broadsheets and penned in such a way that it was easy to put to melody.

they were meant to be passed on and keep the people informed about the goings-on in town. i imagine that because these songs were left up to their original orators to get them going, this would be why we have sooo many variations of old folk songs.

naturally then, almost always, they were based on real events, either sung from an outside perspective, from the killer's perspective and in some cases, from the victim's. of course, like most things from days of yore, they reek of social dogshit. the particular flavor of dogshit of the OG murder ballad was misogyny.

so, the murder ballad came over when the english and scots-irish settlers did. in fact, a lot of the current murder ballads are still telling stories from centuries ago, and, as is the way of folk, getting rewritten and given new names and melodies and evolving into the modern recordings we hear today.

305 such scottish and english ballads were noted and collected into what is famously known as the Child Ballads collected by a professor named francis james child in the 19th century. they have been reshaped and covered and recorded a million and one times, as is the folk way.

while newer ones continued to largely fit the formula of retelling real events and murder trials (such as one of my favorite ones, little sadie, about a murderer getting chased through the carolinas to have justice handed down), they also evolved into sometimes fictional, (often unfortunately misogynistic) cautionary tales.

perhaps the most famous examples of these are omie wise and pretty polly where the woman's death almost feels justified as if it's her fault (big shocker).

but i digress. in this way, the evolution of the murder ballad came to serve a similar purpose as the spooky legends of appalachia did/do now.

(why do we have those urban legends and oral traditions warning yall out of the woods? to keep babies from gettin lost n dying in them. i know it's a fun tiktok trend rn to tell tale of spooky scary woods like there's really more haints out here than there are anywhere else, but that's a rant for another time too ain't it)

so, the aforementioned little sadie (also known as "bad lee brown" in some cases) was first recorded in the 1920s. i'm also plugging my favorite female-vocaist cover of it there because it's superior when a woman does it, sorry.

it is a pretty straightforward murder ballad in its content--in the original version, the guy kills a woman, a stranger or his girlfriend sometimes depending on who is covering it.

but instead of it being a cautionary 'be careful and don't get pregnant or it's your fault' tale like omie wise and pretty polly, the guy doesn't get away with it, and he's not portrayed as sympathetic like the murderer is in so many ballads.

a few decades after, women started saying fuck you and writing their own murder ballads.

in the 40s, the femme fatale trope was in full swing with women flipping the script and killing their male lovers for slights against them instead.

men began to enter the "find out" phase in these songs and paid up for being abusive partners. women regained their agency and humanity by actually giving themselves an active voice instead of just being essentially 'fridged in the ballads of old.

her majesty dolly parton even covered plenty of old ballads herself but then went on to write the bridge, telling the pregnant-woman-in-the-murder-ballad's side of things for once. love her.

as a listener, i realized that i personally prefer these modern covers of appalachian murder ballads sung by women-led acts like dolly and gillian welch and even the super-recent crooked still especially, because there is a sense of reclamation, subverting its roots by giving it a woman's voice instead.

meaning that, like a lot else from the problematic past, the appalachian murder ballad is something to be enjoyed with critical ears. violence against women is an evergreen issue, of course, and you're going to encounter a lot of that in this branch of historical music.

but with folk songs, and especially the murder ballad, being such a foundational element of appalachian history and culture and fitting squarely into the appalachian gothic, i still find them important and so, so interesting

i do feel it's worth mentioning that there are "tamer" ones. with traditional and modern murder ballads alike, some of them are just for "fun," like a murder mystery novel is enjoyable to read; not all have a message or retell a historical trial.

(for instance, i'd even argue ultra-modern, popular americana songs like hell's comin' with me is a contemporary americana murder ballad--being sung by a male vocalist and having evolved from being at the expense of a woman to instead being directed at a harmful and corrupt church. that kind of thing)

in short: it continues to evolve, and i continue to eat that shit up.

anyway, to leave off, lemme share with yall my personal favorite murder ballad which fits squarely into murder mystery/horror novel territory imo.

it's the 10th child ballad and was originally known as "the twa sisters." it's been covered to hell n back and named and renamed.

but! if you listen to any flavor of americana, chances are high you already know it; popular names are "the dreadful wind and rain" and sometimes just "wind and rain."

in it, a jealous older sister pushes her other sister into a river (or stream, or sea, depending on who's covering it) over a dumbass man. the little sister's body floats away and a fiddle maker come upon her and took parts of her body to make a fiddle of his own. the only song the new fiddle plays is the tale about how it came to be, and it is the same song you have been listening to until then.

how's that for genuinely spooky-scary appalachia, y'all?

[your-dar-ling]

tiktok stunt haha funny. please talk about the ice raids

[your-dar-ling]

Today is Saturday, December 28, at 12:00 AM.

At this time, as winter sets in, the weather here is extremely cold, and the fierce winds have torn apart thousands of tents. We lack even the most basic means of warmth — no winter clothing, no blankets to shield us from the bitter cold. The adults shiver from the freezing temperatures; imagine what the children endure.

While families gather during these moments around dining tables filled with delicious food, sharing conversations and laughter, we are suffering here. And while others sit by heaters telling stories to their children, we are simply struggling to survive, desperately trying to keep our children and ourselves warm.

Do not forget Gaza, do not forget us.

Every donation, no matter how small, can save a family from perishing due to hunger and cold. Please, help us survive.

We are approaching our short-term goal of 70,000 before the end of this year, so I ask everyone who will participate to donate I really need your full help this time so donate as much as you can.

Donate here.

[your-dar-ling]

Your tip was out of network

Look, I know some people are mad at the McDonald's employee who called in the tip about the Claims Adjuster, but TBH I can understand how the possibility of $50-60K would be a good incentive, especially if you have a shitty job with shitty wages and shitty customers.

HOWEVER. When the original "up to $10K" offer was made by the cops, I pointed out that it only said "up to," which meant there was no guarantee of getting any money. Same with the follow-up offer of "up to" $50K.

Now we're finding out that the guy might not get anything at all for all his trouble (and likely threats and such). Unilad reports that actually claiming the reward money is a long and complicated process. Much like insurance claims, eh??

If he called the crime stoppers tip line, he'll have been given a reference number. If he called 911, lol, good luck pal. And the bigger reward apparently can only be claimed if he's nominated/approved by one of the investigating agencies like the cops or FBI. Otherwise, he's once again SOL. Additionally the payout may also hinge on whether or not the alleged shooter gets convicted. They put in as many steps, stipulations, and loopholes as they can to make sure they don't have to pay a dime. Or maybe only a dime. Basically, this guy is very likely fucked and would have made more money working an extra shift than calling the cops.

[your-dar-ling]

"don't go grocery shopping when hungry" doesn't work for me because Not Hungry Me cannot conceive of a universe in which food is needed so she buys like a cup of pomegranate seeds and some fancy cheese and thinks that'll get us through the week.

[your-dar-ling]

You know what's wild?

Your body- like, the one you're existing as? Your mind prison?- it's not a wholly independant entity. It's an ecosystem. You're a bog that's self-aware

[your-dar-ling]

Ok so my kid had an ear infection, right? As kids often do.

The doctor scraped out a bit of earwax to have a better look inside.

I was sent a bill for $200 PER EAR for this 5 second procedure which I did not give permission for them to do.

That was key- they did not ASK me if they could do this "procedure". And, as I OWN a medical practice (it's me. The medical practice is me, sitting in my house on video calls) I knew to call them when this bill came in to be like "You did not obtain informed consent for this procedure, and it was not en emergency procedure. You had full ability to gain my consent and didn't. I'm not paying."

And the massive hospital who owned the bill said "yuh-huh you do have to pay."

And I said "I own a practice. I know these laws. I do not owe you money for this."

And they conducted an "internal review" and SURPRISE! Decided I totally owed them money and they had never done anything wrong ever.

And so I called my state's Attorney General office, and explained the situation because, as I mentioned, I know the law. The AG got in touch within a couple days to say they were taking the case and would send the massive hospital conglomerate a knock it off, guys letter.

Lo and Behold, today I have a letter where said hospital graciously has agreed to forfeit the payment.

"How not to get screwed over by companies" should be part of civics class.

Know your rights and know who to call when they're infringed on. This whole process cost me $0 and honestly less effort than I would have expected.

May this knowledge find its way to someone else who can use it.

[your-dar-ling]

Luca & Hatsune Miku!!

[your-dar-ling]

dystopia

[your-dar-ling]

art history nerd here! when the notre dame burned a few years ago, the most damaged area was the roof. y'know who has a very extensive 3D model of the roof? ubisoft, for assassin's creed! ubisoft has been very involved in the restoration of the notre dame, pledging over half a million euros in support. so yep, that is most likely an assassin's creed dude carrying the olympic torch!

[your-dar-ling]

[your-dar-ling]

IM LOSING MY FUCKING MIND

I ALWAYS THOUGHT THIS WAS A FUCKING EDITED GIF OF STREAMER JERMA985. ITS NOT. ITS JUST STRAIGHT FROM THE TV SHOW “LEGION” UNEDITED. WHAT THE FUCK

[your-dar-ling]

if you don't do anything else today,

Please have a moment of silence for the people who were killed instead of freed when news of emancipation finally reached the furthest corners of the american south.

have another moment for the ledgers, catalogs, and records that were burned and the homes that were destroyed to hide the presence of very much alive and still enslaved people on dozens of plantations and homesteads across the south for decades after emancipation.

and have a third moment for those who were hunted and killed while fleeing the south to find safety across the border, overseas, in the north and to the west.

black people. light a candle, write a note to those who have passed telling them what you have achieved in spite of the racist and intolerant conditions of this world, feel the warmth of the flame under your hand, say a prayer of rememberance if you are religious, place the note under the candle, and then blow it out.

if you have children, sit them down and tell them anything you know about the life of oldest black person you've ever met. it doesn't have to be your own family. tell them what you know about what life was like for us in the days, years, decades after emancipation. if you don't know much, look it up and learn about it together.

This is Juneteenth.

white people CAN interact with this post. share it, spread it.

[your-dar-ling]

[your-dar-ling]

That nb kid that got beaten to death in OK looks so much like a long time friend of mine that when I first saw the picture I was like "whoa that's [redacted] as a teenager" and then when I sent it to my friend her reaction was also "whoa that's me as a teenager???"

And that's the problem, isn't it. That kid looked identical to a cis friend of mine who is barely, barely, BARELY any amount of GNC. She's not hyper fem but she's also not particularly masculine any more than a typical rural Alabaman woman with too much shit to do to spend all day dolling herself up would be.

And that kid got beaten to death.

And buried under dead name and pronouns.

And I'm just kinda. Wondering where the safety and privilege is in that.

As I've said many times, I'm perfectly willing to talk about the areas in my life that have become safer as I pass with lore and more regularity. Now when are we going to talk about those who can't, or those whose gender expression isn't in passing, or those who have just begun their journey and haven't yet been able to do anything about it.

This kid looked just like my cis friend. They're dead now. If "looking cis" doesn't save you, what does?

[your-dar-ling]

keep seeing Temu ads on here so just to share cause idk if people are widely aware