Spirit summoning: Where the Wild Roses Grow by Nick Cave & Kylie Minogue

[classicdrogn]

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Where the Wild Roses Grow / Kylie Minogue

They call me The Wild Rose
But my name was Elisa Day
Why they call me it I do not know
For my name was Elisa Day

From the first day I saw her I knew she was the one
She stared in my eyes and smiled
For her lips were the colour of the roses
That grew down the river, all bloody and wild

When he knocked on my door and entered the room
My trembling subsided in his sure embrace
He would be my first man, and with a careful hand
He wiped at the tears that ran down my face

They call me The Wild Rose
But my name was Elisa Day
Why they call me that I do not know
For my name was Elisa Day

On the second day I brought her a flower
She was more beautiful than any woman I'd seen
I said, "Do you know where the wild roses grow
So sweet and scarlet and free?"

On the second day he came with a single red rose
He said "Will you give me your loss and your sorrow"
I nodded my head, as I lay on the bed
"If I show you the roses, will you follow?"

They call me The Wild Rose
But my name was Elisa Day
Why they call me that I do not know
For my name was Elisa Day

On the third day he took me to the river
He showed me the roses and we kissed
And the last thing I heard was a muttered word
As he knelt above me with a rock in his fist

On the last day I took her where the wild roses grow
And she lay on the bank, the wind light as a thief
And I kissed her goodbye, said, "All beauty must die"
And I lent down and planted a rose 'tween her teeth

They call me The Wild Rose
But my name was Elisa Day
Why they call me that I do not know
For my name was Elisa Day
My name was Elisa Day
For my name was Elisa Day

Effect: Summons the ghost of Elisa Day. She's just a normal person, and mostly intangible despite having a fully formed body, but her rose is solid. While not particularly combative she can do a decent Tuxedo Mask impression with it if needed, with extra effect against evil spirits or humans who have committed murder. More generally usefully, if she places it in the mouth of a corpse, their ghost will also be summoned, to speak to grieving friends or relatives, about how they died or other things they knew in life. Details about any and all afterlife experiences are not available; awareness of events that happened since their death is variable - pretty much standard spirit medium rules there.

Elisa remembers each time Doug summons her (and was very confused and traumatized at first) has a loose idea of what he's been up to in between and why he's summoning her without needing to take time to explain, and is generally willing to help as much as she can, while other spirits have a muted emotional response and a varying range of attitudes, even if almost any of them are at least willing to talk with people they knew and/or help catch and prosecute/punish anyone responsible for their death. They remain intangible, glowing, partial manifestations unless a more powerful necromantic effect is used before the song ends.

[Bob Schroeck]

Wow. That is one creepy song.

I like the effect that you suggest -- I can sort of see an immediate use for it in the chapter of DW8 I'm currently working on, but the rose theme really leans into the Utena Step, too... although again, I'm not entirely sure how I'd use it.

Thanks.

[classicdrogn]

Yeah, Youtube seems to be feeding me a bunch of creepy music lately - why, I don't know, but they keep popping up amid the various metal and hair and occasional pop or comedy tracks I usually go for. This one started playing and sounded good enough I switched over to run it back and listen more closely, after which I realized "Holy shit, that's dark!" Like the video for Possum Kingdom by The Toadies except the twist is there's no twist, it's straight up murder.

Anyway, glad I could help!

[classicdrogn]

Oh, and for the story played the other direction, try this one. Lyrics in the description, not that they're all that hard to hear.

[classicdrogn]

And in another late note, according to wikipedia it's not only rather older than I thought, first being released in 1995, but got gold record certified in Australia and Germany, and hung out in the low to middle region of the music charts for a while as well. I don't recall, is '95 old enough to have been part of Doug's library before getting sent on the Walk?

[classicdrogn]

An odd thought for this one-- Just how old of a ghost can Eliza Day summon? We've found som pretty old skeletons with the skull and jaw intact enough to have a rose put between them, and older still if reconstructed fragments count too. Of course, communication becomes a major issue well before that point (unless you count that included as a required secondary effect of a power to let the dead tell their tale) but I doubt you'd find a single archaeologist that would not at the least put you up for a few nights at their camp and throw in meals and a contemporary outfit in exchange for getting a few minutes a day of the actual appearance and interaction with their subject, even if the spoken language is completely incomprehensible, even if they can never publish the details directly because no one who wasn't present will believe them.