Sea Changeling
Sea Changeling
Lyrics: Elizabeth Kirwin
Electronic Music Composition: LiamSchkot
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Faeries, by their very nature, are problematic to humankind. The changeling of Celtic literature is a faery who replaces a human child. The faery child never fully matures, and often becomes sickly or dies, while the real child is left to wander among the faery folk. The mother is left heartbroken.
My sea changeling begins and ends quite differently than the changelings found in Celtic mythology. She is the two spirit of Native American tradition, a transgendered person by today’s terms. She is mainly a water faery and conjured from the sea.
This magical transgendered creature emerges from the underworld only to be feared by the townsfolk – with the exception of one courageous woman. Once landed, and a resident of the town, the sea changeling brings tragedy and disruption to the maiden’s life. The sea changeling is well loved, feared, and misunderstood by her as well. The sea changeling is disturbing and dangerous and awakens us to the power of faery. The townsfolk continue to fear the changeling’s power: the ability to shapeshift into masculine or feminine form.
I have been attempting to record voice and instrumental tracks of Sea Changeling since February of 2008, and it is now November. Many musicians have worked on this poem, including C. Hill, Zen, and Sarah Benoit. Every voice and instrumental recording I attempted to capture was filled with static. One evening, two microphones failed. The entity let me know it was there and it did not want to be recorded. But it was time for the Sea Changeling to finally emerge from the ocean, and live upon the land, among us.
With LiamSchkot composing, I was finally able to make a digital track of ‘the monster.’ I guess there really are times when you just need a wizard.
