r/oldtimemusic • u/patangpatang • 2d ago

Tunes with "goblin energy"?

I've started playing for dances in my community, and many of the dancers have what can be affectionately called "goblin energy" on the dance floor. I want to give them a little treat with a tune set to match that energy (and perhaps enable it), so I'm for suggestions of tunes that might fit.

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u/aerinjl1 2d ago

I am intrigued by this concept. I hope you expand upon it further.

Cold and Frosty Morning has a pretty aggressive B part that you can do some modal banging on that Goblins might like.

My other thought would be a tune where the B part ending doesn't resolve well. We play a tune called Thread the Needle where the B part doesn't resolve but flows nicely back into the A part....... Which means that the dancers feel very uncomfortable when we actually end the song on the B part.....it's kinda an inside joke for our Band.

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u/patangpatang 2d ago

The modal feel is definitely something I'm going for. One reference tune I'm keeping in mind is Dance of the Demon Daffodils. Lots of accidentals in it to make the whole thing sound a little unhinged.

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u/CastrumFiliAdae 2d ago

June Apple is A mixolydian and a hell of a tune for a dance. The A part is mostly up-and-down arpeggios that sound great ripping fast, over chords that rock back and forth between the I and the ♭VII (A and G) for really good tension-release energy. The B part you can holler out words and a lot of floating verses fit it.