The Stable Song

When I first decided that I would have a narrator that tells stories outside the direct experiences of the main characters, there were a handful of ideas I wanted to put there. One that was very vague was what became "Land of Goshen." I knew that I wanted to tell a bit about where one specific character came from, how they came to be who and what they are, and how that experience shaped their understanding of the paranormal. The problem is, I didn't actually know what the answer to those questions would be.

I developed a rough idea. I knew I would go with a river spirit, I kind of knew a little about who Joanna would be, I knew it would be in or near Pittsburgh, I knew it would be in the very early twentieth century. But that is not very much to go on.

As I was trying to work out some more details about the story, I came across "The Stable Song" by Gregory Alan Isakov, which I have included in this post. Feel free to take a listen. The song evoked something in me, and I latched onto it immediately. As I learned the lyrics, I found myself imagining situations that would suit the song. I considered the idea of doing a short story called "The Stable Song" and directly translating the story to the world of Tall Tales, if I could secure permission from Isakov. I never actually reached out to him, I don't know how I would have even done that, but as I was thinking through what that would even look like I began to see some ways to fill holes in the plot I had been working on for Joanna.

The story I originally developed based on the lyrics and feel of the song were heavily adapted. Most parts were scrapped entirely. Some were changed so that the general imagery still worked, but it was absolutely not the same details. One detail that remained fairly well intact was the line "ring out those ghosts on the Ohio" which became a silver bell, etched with strange markings, that disturbed a river spirit from its slumber. The end result is a story that doesn't really quite fit with the song, but I think the song's influence can still be felt. They are closely related in my mind, now. I can imagine scenes of Joanna and Aaboukingon when I hear the song, I can hear the song in my head when I'm writing the story. Listen, and read, and see if you can find some of the same connections.