Slayer Soundtrack Sunday: "Early One Morning"

The English folk song "Early One Morning" plays an important role in Spike's character development, which is ironic given the title and the fact that he is a vampire who sleeps or hides from the rising sun.

Early one morning, just as the sun was rising
I heard a maid sing in the valley below
"Oh don't deceive me, Oh never leave me,
How could you use, a poor maiden so?"

Remember the vows that you made to me truly
Remember how tenderly you nestled close to me
Gay is the garland, fresh are the roses
I've culled from the garden to bind over thee.

Here I now wander alone as I wonder
Why did you leave me to sigh and complain
I ask of the roses, why should I be forsaken,
Why must I here in sorrow remain?



From Songfacts:

This folk song is particularly notable for its use in a number of well known arrangements. In the UK its usage in the opening bars of the "BBC Radio 4 UK Theme" by Fritz Spiegl, which until April 2006 was played every morning at 5.30 am is the best known.
The song has been used in a number of television programs. It was sung by Samantha in the TV series Bewitched, by Pernell Roberts (Adam Cartwright) in "The wooing of Abigail Jones" episode of the TV series Bonanza and was used as a trigger for the Vampire Spike in the seventh season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It was also the theme song for the children's CBC TV show The Friendly Giant, which run from 1958 to 1985. In the UK, it was Frank Spencer's choice of song in the BBC sitcom Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em.
The song has also featured several times in the movies. In Monty Python and the Holy Grail, "Early One Morning" is played in the background at the beginning of the tale of Sir Launcelot, just before his assistant is 'mortally wounded' with an arrow. Also Hayley Mills and Nancy Olson sung this song in the 1960 Disney film Pollyanna.

In "Lies My Parents Told Me" (season 7) Buffy and Giles learn that the song has become a "trigger" put there by the First Evil which makes Spike kill people even though he now has a soul. Through the use of a magical stone, Spike remembers that his beloved mother once sang the song to him when he was a still a rather hapless and poetic mortal named William. When Spike is turned into a vampire by Drusilla he returns to his family home and bites his ailing mother to make her immortal like himself. However things do not turn out the way he expected. Spike forgot that his mother would become half evil demon as a vampire, and when she proceeds to take delight in describing their mother-son relationship as twisted and unnatural, Spike is shocked and realizes he has to kill her. At the last moment his mother returns to her original loving form.


Principal Robin Wood is wrestling with his own mother issues. We learn that he is the son of Nikki Wood, the New York Vampire Slayer whom Spike admits to killing in Fool For Love. In "Lies" Robin Wood and Giles conspire to put a stake in Spike against Buffy's wishes. Giles is thinking of the safety of the potential slayers, while Robin just wants revenge for his mother's death. As a result of their deception, Wood and Giles lose Buffy's trust, and she defends Spike as "the strongest warrior we have." This is foreshadowing for the final episode when Spike becomes Buffy's Champion and he saves the world.



Buffy echoes Nikki Woods advice to her son "The Mission is what Matters." Spoken like the true Slayers they are!

Doc Martin's Fear of Blood

I've been watching the British series Doc Martin on Netflix and Hulu, and it made me wonder if someone who fears blood could ever watch a vampire movie or tv show? I'm surprised it hasn't come up even once on that series.

Maybe having vampires come to Port Wenn, Cornwall, would be too obvious. It makes me wish for a Halloween episode.

The story goes that Doctor Martin Ellingham has to leave his career as a surgeon behind and exile himself to Cornwall when he is stricken with Hemophobia, or fear of blood. Obviously as a General Practitioner (GP), this still causes problems, especially during emergencies. That is one of the major plot points of the series, and something Doc Martin struggles with as he tries to overcome his fear, which causes him to shudder at the sight of a bloody finger or a rare steak.

Like all phobias, this is a problem of overactive imagination. Doc tells people that it all started when he spoke to a family just before an operation, then suddenly couldn't follow through in cutting the patient, perhaps for fear of doing harm or disappointing her family. Or perhaps he has the fear of killing someone, then having to face the family.

Indeed, family issues seem to be at the heart of all Doc Martin's troubles, as he longs for a close-knit family, yet was raised by cold parents, has lost his favorite aunt, and his wife Louisa causes more stress than security for him. Even the blood of his newborn child has him leaping into the bushes to vomit.

I hope before the series ends we find out the root of his problem, whether it's based in childhood trauma or just his psyche warning him to move to Cornwall and find happiness. Hasn't happened yet, just saying.

From FearOfStuff.com

The bright crimson hue of blood is thought to serve as a warning system for the human body. When we are bleeding, we are in danger. While many people have no great fear of blood, in others, it can provoke a phobic reaction known as hemophobia (or hemotophobia).

The queasiness or severe nausea that are common for sufferers of hemophobia may cause fainting and lightheadedness. In fact, in the best-selling novel Twilight, the heroine, Bella, faints when blood is used during a science class project. This modern example of hemophobia is particularly interesting, since Bella goes on to fall in love with a blood-drinking vampire named Edward Cullen.

. . . The smell of blood can also be a source of distress in hemophobics. The coppery, metallic scent of fresh blood can cause great psychological distress in afflicted persons.
Some hemophobics may become vegetarians or vegans in order to remove themselves from the reality of preparing and eating flesh foods. The handling of raw, bloody meat can make them physically ill.

. . . Science and technology have exacerbated this phobia. As we come to understand more about the transmission of diseases through the blood, it becomes easy to fear its harmful qualities. People are more reluctant to touch another person’s blood than ever before, and with good reason.

AIDS and Hepatitis C are just two examples of life-threatening diseases caused through blood transmission. Other examples of terrifying blood-borne pathogens are the Ebola virus, which was featured in the film Outbreak, and the very similar Marburg virus.

Slayer Soundtrack Sunday ~ Trespasser's William

Where did the California band Trespasser's William get their name? From Winnie-the-Pooh of course.

CHAPTER III

IN WHICH POOH AND PIGLET GO HUNTING AND NEARLY CATCH A WOOZLE

THE Piglet lived in a very grand house in the middle of a beech-tree, and the beech-tree was in the middle of the forest, and the Piglet lived in the middle of the house. Next to his house was a piece of broken board which had: "TRESPASSERS W" on it.



When Christopher Robin asked the Piglet what it meant, he said it was his grandfather's name, and had been in the family for a long time. Christopher Robin said you couldn't be called Trespassers W, and Piglet said yes, you could, because his grandfather was, and it was short for Trespassers Will, which was short for Trespassers William. And his grandfather had had two names in case he lost one--Trespassers after an uncle, and William after Trespassers.

"I've got two names," said Christopher Robin carelessly.

"Well, there you are, that proves it," said Piglet.

Piglet and Christopher Robin are too innocent to understand that the entire sign should read "Trespassers Will Be Shot." So there's a hint of danger in this name.

And that fits well with the Buffy theme of various characters named "William." Spike's human name was "William Pratt" - known as "William the Bloody" to others in upper class circles thanks to his "bloody awful poetry." Angel was also originally named "Liam" which is the Irish equivalent of William. Then there are many characters named "Billy" or "Will" in the Buffy series, as listed by SlayerWorld.net

• Billy Fordham: (Buffy’s friend from LA who sold her out to Spike)
• Billy Palmer: (the little boy in the coma who caused nightmares to come to life)
• Billy Crandal: (chained himself to a snack machine in I Only Have Eyes For You)
• Billy (an unclassified demon in Angel, who brought out the worst in men with a touch)
• Willy the Snitch (demon bar tender)
• Wil or Will: the name sometimes given to Willow (yeah, this was a bit of a stretch)

Trespasser's William had two songs in Season Six of Buffy. "I Know" is from the episode "Gone," and "Washes Away" is from "As You Were."

Joss Whedon wins British Film Bloggers Award

Joss Whedon has won an award in Britain:

From Cinemart

At the BFI Southbank’s bar tonight (16th Feb), the BFBC (British Film Bloggers Circle) Awards were announced. . . .

Best Director
Joss Whedon
Best Film
Zero Dark Thirty
Best Actress
Marion Cotillard – Rust and Bone (not The Dark Knight Rises!)
Best Actor
Joaquin Phoenix & Daniel Day-Lewis share the distinction (ironic, really)
Best British Film
Anna Karenina
Best Screenplay
The Master – Paul Thomas Anderson
Best Adapted Screenplay
Cosmopolis – David Cronenberg
Newcomer Award
Matthias Schoenaerts – Rust & Bone/Bullhead

Here is Whedon talking last year about directing The Avengers and creating a "contemporary pop mythology":