My mama told me I should never venture into space. But I did, I did, I did.

June 10, 2011 12:40 PM

Space Girl

My mama told me I should never venture into space.
But I did, I did, I did.
She said no Terran girl could trust the Martian race.
But I did, I did, I did.
A rocket pilot asked me on a voyage to go.
And I was so romantic I couldn't say no.
That he was just a servo robot how was I to know?
So I did, I did, I did.

A multisource fanvid by Charmax, music by Imagined Village.

Other excellent multisource vids by Charmax: I've been to marvelous party // I'm your man // Unnatural selection.

posted by severiina (27 comments total)

This is an amazing vid! Thank you!
posted by strixus at 12:51 PM on June 10, 2011

This is pretty badass.
posted by clockworkjoe at 12:51 PM on June 10, 2011

Love the Space Girl song. It was first recorded by Shirley Collins in 1952. Apparently it was written by Ewan MacColl as a parody on "The Ghost Soldier Song," popular with American soldiers during the First World War.

Shirley Collins released another version in 1960. Highly recommend her version, don't have a link handy.
posted by StickyCarpet at 12:56 PM on June 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

Dang it severiina this was on my list of things to maybe share soon. Good stuff.
posted by kipmanley at 12:57 PM on June 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

Here's a direct link to the original as mp3.
posted by StickyCarpet at 1:06 PM on June 10, 2011 [2 favorites]

That is some tight mandolin work.
posted by boo_radley at 1:12 PM on June 10, 2011

I need the future to show up already so that this can be standard pop music.

Also: try and identify all the shows that come up. I saw both Space: Above and Beyond and Earth^2 in there, surprisingly.
posted by curious nu at 1:16 PM on June 10, 2011

Oh wow, the whole channel is amazing.
posted by boo_radley at 1:19 PM on June 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

So I asked the chick with the feelers hey are you from outer space?
[No, but you might have seen me there. It's just my kind of place.]
So where do you come from anyhow? Are there any more at home like you?
[What's wrong with me, I'd like to know?]
You're small. I wanna get two.
posted by jfuller at 1:26 PM on June 10, 2011

I love you Metafilter. And I love this song.

Also, kipmanley, wtf? It seems impossible to me that two people would know about something this obscure at the same time. Are you and severiina roommates?
posted by doteatop at 1:27 PM on June 10, 2011

Deserves a spot in my shoebox labeled "Why Space"
posted by jnrussell at 1:50 PM on June 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

Huh, charmax on mefi. Excellent. She's been making great vids for years and years, it's always nice when one appears seemingly from outside vidding fandom.
posted by AbsoluteDestiny at 2:35 PM on June 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

boo_radley: "Oh wow, the whole channel is amazing."

Yeah, I really recommend the whole channel. Charmax seems to have a gift for choosing really interesting and appropriate songs.

doteatop: "Also, kipmanley, wtf? It seems impossible to me that two people would know about something this obscure at the same time. Are you and severiina roommates?"

:) We aren't. Charmax isn't really that obscure, if you are interested in vidding. I'm not really that into vidding, but from time to time I peek in to see if anything new and awesome has cropped up.

Also, thanks StickyCarpet for linking to the original. I think one of the funnest things about this song is the combination of folksy and futuristic. The structure of the lyrics feels very traditional and folk songy to me. It even reminded me vaguely of some Finnish folk songs where children ignore their mother's warnings (and end up dead/pregnant/outcast etc.)
posted by severiina at 2:45 PM on June 10, 2011 [3 favorites]

The author of "Space Girl", Ewan MacColl, seems to have also written "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", a #1 hit in 1972 for Roberta Flack. He was married to Pete Seeger's half-sister.
posted by StickyCarpet at 2:52 PM on June 10, 2011

And the father of Kirsty MacColl
posted by Grangousier at 3:01 PM on June 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

I just checked the recording carefully, and the lyrics are mis-transcibed, thank god, because I thought I'd mis-heard my favorite lyric.

She said I'd need a blaster and a needle freezer gun,
And I did, I did, I did.

(Not: ..and I'd need a freezer gun.)
posted by StickyCarpet at 3:22 PM on June 10, 2011

@doteatop: I dunno about severiina, but I follow all the right people on Dreamwidth. Well, a subset of them, anyway.
posted by kipmanley at 3:44 PM on June 10, 2011

Thanks for this post! Not only did it introduce me to Charmax, but it reminded me of the wonderful Lucia Pamela, who not only recorded an album on the moon, but made a spiffy coloring book (3.8MB pdf) to go with it!
posted by trip and a half at 4:08 PM on June 10, 2011

... and now I see Lucia was even featured on the Blue a while back.
posted by trip and a half at 4:14 PM on June 10, 2011

I love Charmax's vids. Her Don't Stop Me Now serves as my go-to motivational video.
posted by asperity at 5:12 PM on June 10, 2011

It's all converging, everyone's one degree away from fandom (modern version) and we're one brony away from the singularity.
posted by whump at 6:56 PM on June 10, 2011

Well, isn't this interesting. I always did reckon that there was a live action counterpart to AMVs and MADs.

There's a fascinating appreciation for pure image in these. The decision to juxtapose shared elements without regard for a unified narrative calls to mind the writing of Hiroki Azuma- in particular his assertion in Database Animals that the appreciation of familiar elements, not the merits of a work as a whole, drive media consumption and appeal.

Which, I suppose is an overblown way of saying that I've seen other works reminiscent of this before in other contexts; in particular the impeccably edited creations of the (in)famous AMV auteur Nostromo.

(Previously.)
posted by fifthrider at 7:23 PM on June 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

To be honest, I'm both pleased and surprised to see the vid here. Pleased because it's always good to see good work recognized, and surprised because my understanding of vidding culture is that many of them shy away from publicity for many complex reasons.

Well, isn't this interesting. I always did reckon that there was a live action counterpart to AMVs and MADs.

This branch of fanvids or vidding dates back to seminal work done in the 1970s by Star Trek fans (See also the paper "Women, Star Trek, and the early development of fannish vidding"). At one time, there were vidders making vids with 2 VCRs, a stereo source, and stopwatches. A large part of this has always been dominated by women, which has had interesting ramifications over the decades.
posted by ZeusHumms at 9:38 PM on June 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

Charmax isn't really that obscure, if you are interested in vidding. I'm not really that into vidding, but from time to time I peek in to see if anything new and awesome has cropped up.

Vidding has been a relatively secretive culture for many decades. It's gotten more publicity in recent years, such as the 300 fanvid set to Madonna's Vogue which made a New York Mag list in 2007.
posted by ZeusHumms at 9:57 PM on June 10, 2011

I can't believe this is the first time I've heard this song, brilliant gem of science-fiction that it is. Love the lyrics, love the minor key and ominously sultry tones. More people oughta hear this song and the fanvid is a damn fine gateway as anything. Not only is it impressively edited, but its scope of characters and references just blows my mind.

The only problem is that the more you go back and try to identify everyone, the more the song burrows into your brain like those nasty critters from Star Trek II. At least for me it did, it did, it did.
posted by Spatch at 12:55 AM on June 11, 2011

Heh. I downloaded StickyCarpet's Shirley Collins version straight into my music folder without trying to bother to sort it somewhere, and it landed right on top of Beautiful Zelda.
posted by taz at 4:11 AM on June 12, 2011

I love this video. The synchronisation is really cute, like the glissando when Carmen slides down the banister in Starship Troopers, and the ping when the bullet hits the T-1000 in Terminator 2. Really great work.
posted by das1969 at 9:25 AM on June 12, 2011