To kick off the promotion for our NEW VALENTINE’S DAY COURSE, we are jumping right in and giving you guys a playlist all about folklore and L-O-V-E, the good, the bad, and the just plain weird :P. This list, I admit, is a little all over the place, but I also think it’s REALLY fun, unexpected, and an awesome way to rock out to all things folkloric and romantic and folklorically-romantically-murderous (wait what?) in the lead up to both February 14th and our course!

Please find the Spotify playlist here if you’d like to listen!

“The Prince and the Fairy” by Priscilla Hernandez – As I’ve mentioned before, I love to start off playlists with instrumental, mood-setting pieces. This one makes me imagine an (uncharacteristically?) sweet love story between a fairy and a prince. And if you haven’t heard of Priscilla Hernandez before, we totally recommend checking the rest of her fairy-haunted music out asap!

“Fairytale” by Alexander Rybak – Okay, I admit it, this song is BIZARRE. But both of us unabashedly love it :P. The 2009 Eurovision Song Contest winner (and it totally shows), it’s full of violins and, dare we say, it’s own kind of dance-around magic.

“Hunter’s Kiss” by Rasputina – I feel like this song might divide people, Rasputina isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but I love it. Taking it’s inspiration from the tale about a man who falls in love with a forest spirit and unknowingly shoots her when she’s in her deer form, this is a tragic and odd but beautiful song. I love the building beat.

“Beauty and the Beast” by Nightwish – A song fully inspired by Disney’s version of “Beauty and the Beast,” and a lovely example of beauty and the beast-style metal music (with a beautiful female voice and a harsher male voice singing together.) Sadly this one is not on Spotify, but you can listen to it on YouTube here!

“The Highwayman” by Loreena McKennitt – Okay, okay, I know that “The Highwayman” is actually a 1906 poem written by Alfred Noyes and not technically folklore, but it is 100% inspired by folklore and reads so much like a folk legend that I feel like it’s appropriate here. I love McKennitt’s version of this. Only the live version of this one is available on Spotify.

“Rose Red” by Emilie Autumn – Ah, I miss Emilie Autumn’s Enchant phase! The whole album is just awesome, and I haven’t found myself able to get as into her newer stuff. This song, which seems to be inspired by “Snow White and Rose Red” and maybe a bit of “Sleeping Beauty,” is a great song about loving the self first.

“You’ll Be Mine” by The Pierces – Eep, yes, I know I already put this on my “Sleeping Maidens” playlist, but it’s so gooooood! And it fits so well here too! *hides* :).

“Fairytale” by Sara Bareilles – We just couldn’t have a folklore love playlist without including this one!

“Lil’ Red Riding Hood” by Sam the Sham and The Pharaohs – Yep, both of us unapologetically love this one too :P. Yes, it’s cheesy and kinda sexist, but we love howling the howl! And we love the way they repurpose the words of the fairy tale itself.

“The Mermaid” by Great Big Sea – Speaking of kinda sexist…? But dang if this song isn’t fun. The end cracks me up every time (and it’s even better live!) This one starts off a brief interlude of ocean themed folklore love songs! This one isn’t available on Spotify either, but you can listen to it on YouTube here.

“How Much Salt” by Seanan McGuire – Ahhh, we both love this one. A twist on “The Little Mermaid,” the emotion in McGuire’s voice really makes this one. We also love how it’s a traditional back-and-forth-style piece between a mother and a daughter (McGuire frequently reimagines folkloric song styles in awesome ways.) This one isn’t on Spotify, but you can listen to a live version on YouTube here.

“Neptune” by S.J. Tucker – This melancholy love lost song always hits me so strongly. I love the way she uses folklore to express such human emotion. Last in the ocean songs section (though I could have had more… there are a LOT of ocean-themed folkloric love songs out there!)

“The Witch of the Westmorland” by Stan Rogers – Just a really great folk song by one of the greats about a truly awesome witch and the wounded knight she saves. And when we say “truly awesome witch,” we mean it – she first appears as a kind of centaur creature, and is super powerful, wild, and mysterious. She also heals (and seduces) the knight while rocking a blue velvet dress with a silver chain, an outfit I can totally get behind.

“Little Red Riding Hood” by Lily Holbrook – An interesting little gender swapped version of this story!

“That’s All I’ve Got to Say” by America – This song is clearly folk song-inspired, but the real reason I’ve put it on this list is because it’s the love song from one of my favorite folkloric films (and books), The Last Unicorn. I don’t think it’s the best song from the film, but it’s a very sweet love song, and I love that it’s a kind song about a mortal man in love with a supernatural creature. I went ahead and added the Art Garfunkel version of this song to the Spotify playlist, but you can listen to the original America version on YouTube here.

“Snow Queen Dreams” by Seanan McGuire – I thought about taking this one off the list, because I just can’t find any way for you guys to listen to it, but it’s SUCH a cool idea for a love song between the usually apart-by-necessity queen of snow and king of summer, so I decided to keep it and send you all on a quest to find it! You can read the lyrics here.

“Scarborough Fair” by The Hound + The Fox – A gorgeous, GORGEOUS version of this classic song sung by a man and a woman. The harmonies just give me chills.

“Rapunzel” by Emilie Autumn – I know it’s another song from the same artist (and the same album even), but this is also another wonderful song about self-love (and how you have to have that before you can have love with someone else) that I thought was a really perfect ending place for this playlist :).

So there you have it, my folklore love songs playlist! Do you have any folklore-y love songs that you absolutely adore? Let us know in a comment below or in our Facebook group!

P.S. We’ve been blasting it all over Facebook and Twitter and such, but our Valentine’s Day mini-course is officially open for registration as of today, and we would LOVE for you to join us!! It’s going to be PACKED with the legends and superstitions that inspired the holiday, all kinds of discussion on love in actual fairy tales, “fairy-tale weddings,” and so much more. You totally don’t want to miss this one!!

P.P.S. This was on Facebook too, but did you hear that we’re now doing a few EXCLUSIVE videos for the Kaleidocast podcast’s Patreon? We’ll be making videos discussing the folkloric elements in a few of the stories that will feature in Season 3! We are so honored to be a part of this awesome up-and-coming venue for speculative fiction. Please check out their Patreon page and consider supporting them – you’ll get exclusive videos from us and a BUNCH of other bonuses!

Also, THEY MADE US INTO CHIBIS AND WE ARE SO CUTE!

P.P.P.S. There’s also still time to join us on our own Patreon for our first ever book club meeting about Erin Morgenstern’s AMAZING novel The Starless Sea! We’ll be chatting LIVE on February 16th at 7PM!