My final Hildegard Von Blingen’ bardcore selection tackles yet another genre: country. Here’s her take on the Dolly Parton classic ‘Jolene.’
One of the charms of these bardcore songs is the way Hildegard transforms the lyrics. So “I’m beggin’ you, please don’t take my man” becomes “I beg of thee, pray take not my lord.” No contractions, lots of -eths.
One of the great things about bardcore is it seems to work with just about any genre. So far this week I’ve shared 60s folk and rock and 00s electro-pop, and today we have a 90s alternative grunge track… and they all sound just beautiful.
Of course, most of the credit goes to Hildegard Von Blingen’, whose ethereal vocals bring an otherworldly majesty to any melody. I particularly like her take on Radiohead’s ‘Creep,’ a great song in any form that has never sounded this lovely.
Bardcore got its start in early 2020, and quickly became popular with the same crowd that took to sea shanties and cottage core.
In an interview from that year, Hildegard Von Blingen’ tied her blossoming success to the Covid pandemic. “Mediaevalism has played such a big role in popular culture for many years, but for this year I feel like we’re feeling a certain kinship with the people of the middle ages given they went through plagues and wars.”
My second bardcore selection is a cover of a much more contemporary song — Lady Gaga’s ‘Bad Romance.’
In her early posts, Hildegard Von Blingen’ added vocals over other people’s instrumental tracks, but on this one she created the whole thing from scratch, using a Celtic harp and wooden recorders to achieve the distinctive sound.
My kids recently introduced me to one of those projects that makes the internet seem like a good idea. Ladies and gentlemen, it’s bardcore!
This genre finds well-known songs covered in the Renaissance style, with traditional instruments and styling recreating modern melodies. The lyrics, too, get an era-appropriate makeover, with the inclusion of lots of thees and thys.
Meet Me In Montauk 