{"id":2050,"date":"2015-10-16T08:32:12","date_gmt":"2015-10-16T12:32:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.graymanwrites.com\/blog\/?p=2050"},"modified":"2015-10-16T08:32:12","modified_gmt":"2015-10-16T12:32:12","slug":"blogging-the-new-cd-m-is-for-mercenary-maxims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.grayrinehart.com\/blog\/blogging-the-new-cd-m-is-for-mercenary-maxims\/","title":{"rendered":"Blogging the New CD: M is for Mercenary Maxims"},"content":{"rendered":"

Eighth in a series of blog posts about the songs on my new CD, Distorted Vision<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

So, do you read Schlock Mercenary<\/em>?<\/p>\n

If not, some background: Schlock Mercenary<\/a><\/em> is a space opera webcomic by Howard Tayler about the exploits of a 31st-century band of mercenaries known as “Tagon’s Toughs,” of whom the most dangerous — and arguably the most entertaining — is the nearly indestructible carbosilicate amorph, Sergeant Schlock.*<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nSergeant Schlock with a guitar! Howard’s caption: “I suppose this means Schlock knows how to look like he knows how to play the guitar.” I can relate! (2012 image from Howard Tayler’s blog<\/a>.)<\/em><\/p>\n

One of the references that the Toughs use in the series is a collection of aphorisms known as the The Seventy Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries<\/em>. When I decided that I wanted to write a Schlock Mercenary<\/em>-based filk song, the maxims seemed like the perfect source material. I enjoyed the challenge of incorporating, sometimes paraphrasing, and arranging different maxims into verses so they could be sung and also still make sense.<\/p>\n

Here’s verse one:<\/p>\n

The maxims are better far than doctrine
\nThey make more sense and are easier to learn
\nThey’re all about fighting smart instead of harder
\nAnd they start with the simplest: Pillage, then burn<\/p>\n

You know that any Sergeant who’s in motion
\nOutranks a Lieutenant who doesn’t know what’s going on
\nBut an ordnance technician moving at a dead run
\nShould be followed because he outranks everyone<\/p>\n

— “The Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries”<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That first verse has only 3 maxims in it (numbers 1, 2, and 3, to be precise), but in the succeeding verses I fit in 13 more. That’s one reason why the song is called “The Maxims …” and not “The Seventy Maxims …” — because there was no way to fit in any more and keep the song a reasonable length!<\/p>\n

Before I recorded the song, I sent the draft lyrics to Howard and his wife Sandra (whom I have known longer since we are both\u00a0members of the Codex<\/a> online writing group), and I was pleased that they accepted my tribute in good humor. You can listen to the final version<\/a> and see if you think it’s a fitting tribute to the webcomic.<\/p>\n