My first experience with the Baba Yaga story came from a tale called Analisa the Brave. In researching Baba Yaga stories, there are certain elements common to many of the tales and that Baba Yaga isn't really an evil character. Instead she represents life's trials. If you are not prepared for them, then life's iron teeth will chew you up and eat you alive. Usually, the stories consist of a teenage girl trying to save a sick parent or a teenage girl with a step-mom. There is a lot of cross over with Hansel and Gretel and Cinderella stories but the Baba Yaga mythology is older and probably the source material those other stories originate from.
Baba Yaga gives good medicine, sometimes it is hard to take but its good.
I had never written in a ballad form before. This song has given me many nights of frustration as I try to weave the story along without altering the rhyme scheme or the melodic content. In end, I am very happy with how it all turned out. Happy ending and all! I hope you enjoy it.
lyrics
Baba Yaga
My father took ill several summers ago
When I had just turned 13
Got worse day by day
Worried I became
But I knew who made the remedy
Through the woods there is a house
On two chicken legs it stands
There lives an old crone
Who’s iron teeth gnaws bones
Of children throughout the land
(Refrain)
I must Go, Follow my nose
On the path to Baba Yaga’s
I’ll be brave, my father I’ll save
With medicine from Baba Yaga’s
My journey begins the following morn
I pack my satchel with care
Bread, butter and cheese
Rabbit bone meat
And a ribbon to tie my hair
I’ll walk till there’s an old rusty Gate
In front of a house like no other
Whose hinges cry
At each passerby
But I grease them with my Butter
A gnarly old Birch stands in the yard
In the branches I am ensnared
It lets me go
When I bestow
It with the ribbon from my hair
A mangy black Dog snarls and sneers
And snaps as I approach its home
I hold up my bag
Tail starts to wag
I give the dog a Bone
(Refrain)
I must Go, Follow my nose
On the path to Baba Yaga’s
I’ll be brave, my father I’ll save
With medicine from Baba Yaga’s
I climb the front steps and knock on the door
Baba Yaga smiles a greeting
At the sight of her teeth
My knees get weak
But I give my best curtsy
“What do I owe this pleasure child?”
My father is very ill
And though I try
I fear he’ll die
Because I don’t have your skill
She opens the door and lets me in
The house seems much larger inside
Though I’m scared
I am prepared
For the deal she will provide
“You’ll cook and clean for me tonight
I’ll give you the medicine you need"
Hands me a vial
Don’t disappoint me child
Payment must be received
(Refrain)
I must Go, Follow my nose
On the path to Baba Yaga’s
I’ll be brave, my father I’ll save
With medicine from Baba Yaga’s
I start the stove and boil the pot
I make her my famous stew
She gulps it all down
While I clean around
“There’s one more thing left to do”
Her hands hold a huge bag of seeds
Find and sort these too
Every last one
Don’t stop till your done
Or I will eat you
The seeds scatter into nooks and crannies
Despair starts to set in
When I see by the wall
Hidden shadows and all
A black cat with a crafty grin
I ask dear cat would you like some cheese?
How can I to complete this task
“Just say the words
And give Bread to the birds
They’ll pick it all up if you ask
(Refrain)
I must Go, Follow my nose
On the path to Baba Yaga’s
I’ll be brave, my father I’ll save
With medicine from Baba Yaga’s
The birds gathered all the seeds that night
While Baba Yaga snored
The cat came to me
And brushed on my knee
It wouldn’t be ignored
“Since you’re so kind and gave me this cheese
I’ll give a piece of advice
Take the towel and comb
When you run home
And throw each behind you alright?”
Before the sun rose I got up and ran
With the Vial, Towel, and Comb
I don’t hesitate
Wave to the Dog, Birch, and Gate
And ran the long miles home
(Instrumental)
Baba Yaga wakes and screams at her guards
“Why’d you let her escape from my snare”
She gave me meat
My hinges grease
And the ribbon from her hair.
She jumps in her mortar and starts to fly
Her pestle hammering hard
She flies like the wind
As the chase begins
To catch the girl who escaped from her yard
(Refrain)
I must Go, Follow my nose
On the path to Baba Yaga’s
I’ll be brave, my father I’ll save
With medicine from Baba Yaga’s
Behind me I hear an unearthly sound
And I remember to throw the towel
Just like a dream
It forms a raging stream
And I hear Baba Yaga howl
Next I throw the simple comb
And a forest of thorns grows behind me
It blocks the way
So I escape
Baba Yaga goes home in defeat
(instrumental)
I reach my house late that night
And my father is barely alive
He drinks from the vial
And he gives me a smile
I know he is going to survive
If you find your self in need of help
I doesn’t hurt to prepare
Bread, butter, and cheese
And Rabbit bone Meat
And tie a Ribbon in your hair.
(Refrain)
If you go follow your nose
on the path to Baba Yaga's
You'll be brave and a life you'll save
with the medicine from Baba Yaga's
I must Go, Follow my nose
On the path to Baba Yaga’s
I’ll be brave, my father I’ll save
With medicine from Baba Yaga’s
credits
from Bread + Roses,
released April 6, 2021
Written, performed, and produced by Joshua Hall
at Jai Studios, LLC. Brownsville, VT
Described as a Zen-Metal-Freak-Jazz Guru, I am a classically trained guitarist whose playing style owes as much to Barrios
and Tarréga as Mustaine and Monk.
I am an Alternative Folk Artist whose songs engage the listener to feel and think deeply, to find the reverence in everyday life, and to question the stories that define so much of the modern world...more
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