Stephen King's the Dark Tower: The Complete Concordance Revised and Updated (125 page)

Pretty-plain, loony-sane

The ways of the world all will change

and all the ways remain the same

but if you’re mad or only sane

the rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain.

We walk in love but fly in chains

And the planes in Spain fall mainly in the rain. (I:71)

**5b. RAIN IN SPAIN (Version #2)

In the 2003 version of
The Gunslinger,
the second verse is replaced by the following:

Time’s a sheet, life’s a stain

All the things we know will change

and all those things remain the same,

but be ye mad or only sane,

the rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain.

6. SEE THE TURTLE OF ENORMOUS GIRTH

This well-known and well-loved Mid-World poem invokes the spirit of the Turtle Guardian. Each region repeats a slightly different version, but despite this, the poem remains essentially the same.
For more information and for page references, see
GUARDIANS OF THE BEAM
,
in
CHARACTERS.

See the Turtle of enormous girth!

On his shell he holds the earth,

His thought is slow but always kind;

He holds us all within his mind.

On his back the truth is carried,

And there are love and duty married.

He loves the earth and loves the sea,

And even loves a child like me.

See the Turtle of enormous girth!

On his shell he holds the earth,

His thought is slow but always kind;

He holds us all within his mind.

On his back all vows are made;

He sees the truth but mayn’t aid.

He loves the earth and loves the sea,

And even loves a child like me.

7. SEMINON RHYME

Seminon
is the name given to the Calla’s late-autumn windstorms, the ones that come just before true winter. Lord Seminon is also the name of a god whom Lady Oriza wanted to marry. However, Lord Seminon preferred Oriza’s sister, and Oriza never forgave him. (V:632)
See
SEMINON, LORD
,
and
ORIZA, LADY
,
under
ORIZA, LADY,
in
CHARACTERS.

Seminon comin’,

warm days go runnin’.

**8. SPARK-A-DARK, WHO’S MY SIRE

Roland repeats this old catechism whenever he sets a campfire alight. In the 2003 version of
The Gunslinger,
he says it before lighting his devil grass fire. (VII:761)

Spark-a-dark, who’s my sire?

Will I lay me?

Will I stay me?

Bless this camp with fire.

Throughout the Dark Tower series, we learn about many of Mid-World’s popular songs. Some of them are versions of songs found in our world (reinforcing the belief that Mid-World is one of our Earth’s many possible futures). However, quite a few have never been heard in our world. Below are listed those songs which appear in the Dark Tower series.

1. ADELINA SAYS SHE’S RANDY-O

We never learn the words to this Mid-World drinking song. (VII:520)

2. A HUNDRED LEAGUES TO BANBERRY CROSS

Roland considers this to be one of Mid-World’s old songs. We never learn the words. (I:120)

3. BUY ME ANOTHER ROUND YOU BOOGER YOU

Pere Callahan sings this song on the night of the Calla’s welcoming fiesta, put on in honor of Roland and his
ka-tet.
We never learn the words. (V:228)

4. CARELESS LOVE

“Careless Love” has special significance, since we associate the song with Roland’s first and only true love, Susan Delgado. Although “Careless Love” is mentioned in the final three books of the Dark Tower series, the extract we have comes from
Wizard and Glass.
(I:86, IV:121)

Love, O love, O careless love,

Can’t you see what careless love has done?

5. CAPTAIN MILLS, YOU BASTARD

We never learn the words to this song. All we know is that Deputy Dave Hollis of Hambry played it very badly. (IV:508)

6. COME ON OVER BABY

Pettie the Trotter, who was an aging whore at Hambry’s Travellers’ Rest, bawled this song out when she was drunk. The lyrics are from “Whole lotta shakin’ going on.” (IV:213–14)

Come on over baby, we got chicken in the barn

What barn, whose barn, my barn!

Come on over, baby, baby

Got the bull by the horns . . .

7. THE COMMALA SONG

The Commala Song is probably one of the most important songs found in Mid-World. It is sung in the Calla, but it was also sung in In-World during Roland’s youth. The Commala Song, and its many variants, can be found in Appendix IX.

8. EASE ON DOWN THE ROAD

This is another one of Mid-World’s old songs. We never learn the words to it, though the title is shared by a song from our world taken from the musical
The Wiz.
(I:120)

9. GOLDEN SLIPPERS

Back when he lived in Mejis, Sheemie Ruiz liked to sing this song. We are never given the words. (IV:244)

10. THE GREEN CORN A-DAYO

We never hear this song, though we do learn that Andy likes to sing all twenty or thirty verses of it. It may be yet another version of the Commala Song. (V:5)

11. HEY JUDE

“Hey Jude” exists in our world too. The major difference between the Mid-World version and the Beatles’ version is that Mid-World’s begins “Hey Jude, I see you, lad.” (I:22–23, I:26, V:39)

12. I AM A MAN OF THE BRIGHT BLUE SEA

Mejis’s fishermen sing this song. (IV:445–46)

I am a man of the bright blue sea,

All I see, all I see,

I am a man of the Barony,

All I see is mine-o!

I am a man of the bright blue bay,

All I say, all I say,

Until my nets are full I stay

All I say is fine-o!

13. IN TIME OF LOSS, MAKE GOD YOUR BOSS

Andy the Messenger Robot (Many Other Terrible Functions) learned this song from the Manni. We never get to hear him sing it. (V:6)

14. THE JIMMY JUICE I DRANK LAST NIGHT

This is an amusing song sung in the Calla. (We never hear it.) Since Andy the Messenger Robot offers to sing it to Eddie not long after Eddie almost wipes his bottom with poison flurry, I can’t help but wonder whether Jimmy juice is a bit like prune juice. (V:141)

15. MAID OF CONSTANT SORROW

This song comes from our world; Susannah Dean sings it at the Calla fiesta. It goes down well. (V:228)

16. ONWARD, CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS

The drunken customers at Sheb’s bar in Tull liked to sing a version of this song. (I:34)

17. PLAY LADIES, PLAY

We never learn the words to this song, though we know the customers of Hattigan’s in the run-down town of Ritzy like to sing it. (IV:268)

18. SHALL WE GATHER AT THE RIVER

The crazed parishioners of Sylvia Pittston’s church in Tull sing this hymn. (I:48)

Shall we gather at the river,

The beautiful, beautiful,

The river;

Shall we gather at the river,

That flows by the Kingdom of God.

19. STREETS OF COMPARA

A pair of nine-year-old twins sings this song at the Calla fiesta. Since the Calla
folken
believe that the better part of one of the girl’s brains is destined to be made into Breaker food, it’s not surprising that the song makes them cry. We never learn the words. (V:227)

20. WE ALL SHINE ON

This is the refrain of John Lennon’s song, “Instant Karma.” Stephen King quotes it in the 1982 edition of
The Gunslinger.
” (I:191)

21. WOMAN I LOVE

The customers at Hattigan’s in Ritzy sing this song. We only learn the following lyrics: “Woman I love . . . is long and tall . . . She moves her body . . . like a cannonball.” In our world, these lyrics come from the song “Come on in my kitchen.” (IV:268)

1.
THE THROCKEN AND THE DRAGON

Roland’s mother read him this book when he was a small boy. The line he remembers best of all is “Hile Sir Throcken.” It was in the pages of this book that Roland first discovered the term
throcken,
which was the ancient word for a billy-bumbler. W:7

2.
MAGIC TALES OF THE ELD
(“The Wind Through the Keyhole”)

When Roland was a child and his mother read him to sleep in his tower bedroom, his favorite book was
Magic Tales of the Eld.
The book contained a dozen hand-colored woodcut illustrations, but Roland’s favorite was of six bumblers, their snouts raised, sitting on a fallen tree in the forest beneath a crescent moon. This illustration belonged to the story “The Wind Through the Keyhole,” from which the Dark Tower novel,
The Wind Through the Keyhole
takes its name. The original story tells the early adventures of Tim Ross, a woodcutter’s son, who identifies his father’s murderer and then goes on a quest into the Endless Forest so that he can find the magician Maerlyn. (He wants the magician to restore his mother’s sight.) Later in life, Tim became a gunslinger. According to some tales, he even made it to the Dark Tower. W:14

1. DEATH PRAYER

Roland translates this prayer for us and recites it over Jake’s grave. (VII:474)

Time flies, knells call, life passes, so hear my prayer.

Birth is nothing but death begun, so hear my prayer.

Death is speechless, so hear my speech.

This is Jake, who served his ka and his tet. Say true.

May the forgiving glance of S’mana heal his heart. Say please.

May the arms of Gan raise him from the darkness of the earth. Say please.

Surround him, Gan, with light.

Fill him, Chloe, with strength.

If he is thirsty, give him water in the clearing.

If he is hungry, give him food in the clearing.

May his life on this earth and the pain of his passing become

as a dream to his waking soul, and let his eyes fall upon

every lovely sight; let him find the friends that were lost to him,

and let every one whose name he calls call his in return.

This is Jake, who lived well, loved his own, and died as ka would have it.

Each man owes a death. This is Jake. Give him peace.

2. GUNSLINGER LITANY

Every gunslinger must learn to recite the following litany. (V:155–56)

I do not aim with my hand; he who aims with his hand has forgotten the face of his father. I aim with my eye. I do not shoot with my hand; he who shoots with his hand has forgotten the face of his father. I shoot with my mind. I do not kill with my gun; he who kills with his gun has forgotten the face of his father. I kill with my heart.

3. MANNI PRAYER (I)

This is the praise-prayer Henchick gives when the Unfound Door opens. We are not given a translation. (VI:42)

Over-sam kammen!

Can-tah, can-kavar kammen!

Over-can-tah!

4. MANNI PRAYER (II)

The Manni repeat this short prayer after Henchick prays to the Over in front of the Unfound Door. Henchick’s prayer to the Over is for safe passage and success of endeavor with no loss of life or sanity. He also begs the Over to enliven their mags and bobs, and for
kaven,
or the persistence of magic. We are not given Henchick’s words, nor are we given a translation of the short prayer, listed below. (VI:26)

Over-sam,

Over-kra,

Over-can-tah.

5. PRAYER AFTER A SUCCESSFUL HUNT

Roland recites this prayer after he and Susannah successfully hunt down deer. The prayer is addressed to the head of a dead deer. (VII:636–37)

We thank you for what we are about to receive.

(Father, we thank thee.)

Guide our hands and guide our hearts as we take life from death.

6. A SHORT PRAYER SAID OVER THE BODIES OF THE DEAD

“Give you peace,” or “I give you the peace of the clearing.” This prayer is accompanied by a benedictory gesture—pronging two fingers of the right hand and drawing them downward in front of the dead person’s face. VII:51

7. A SHORT PRAYER FOR THE ROSE

This short prayer is written on a plaque by the garden of the Rose, located in the lobby of the Tet Corporation’s headquarters:

Cam-a-cam-mal

Pria-Toi,

Gan Delah

The translation is “White over Red, Thus God Wills Ever,” or “Good over evil, this is the will of God.” VII:504

8. WHEN YOU MUST BID SOMEONE A FINAL FAREWELL

“May we meet in the clearing at the end of the path when all worlds end.” VII:801

9. RITUAL TO PREPARE THE DEAD TO ENTER THE CLEARING (NORTH’RD BARONY)

This ritual comes from the village of Tree, located in North’rd Barony. Although most of the folk in Tree preferred to see to their own dead (interring them on their own land with a wooden cross, if they followed the Man Jesus, or a slab of roughly carved stone), the town still had a burying parlor.

The newly dead person was washed and anointed with oils. A piece of birch bark inscribed with the names of the dead man’s family was placed in his right hand. A blue spot was put on his forehead and he was wrapped in a fine linen shroud. Finally, he would be placed in a coffin of ironwood, which would keep his mortal remains very well for a thousand years or more. The body was placed in a little room with forest scenes painted on the walls. The ironwood bier in the center—that open space that represented the clearing at the end of life’s path—was where the coffin was placed. (This was where a person’s
ka
traveled after death.) In Tree, it was customary to wear white for the dead.