I live way out in Kansas where the prairie is so pretty
I found myself at Gaea which is down near Kansas City
Some folks were singing round a fire, and man, it made me mad
‘Cause every time they sang a song, it sounded awful sad.

So I found this little problem in my personality.
I lay too much emotion on what’s mere modality.
But, I’ve got a question.  Someone please explain to me - 
Why must pagan music always be in a minor key?

So I sing….

Let’s do the PAGAN POLKA
It’s gonna win you over!
Dance from dusk ‘til dawn
Or ‘til the mead’s all gone.

First you take your clothes off, get as naked as you dare.
Prance around the fire, throw your arms up in the air!
Do the PAGAN POLKA ‘til you see the rising sun.
Happy pagans (PAGAN POLKA-happy) having fun!

(chorus)

This crazy polka beat will give you happy feet
Dance ‘til the break of day - dance all your cares away!

Now, we do the PAGAN POLKA down upon the farm
The cows and chickens watch us as we dance and wave our arms.
The neighbors think we’re crazy, and our children think they’re right!
But we still do the PAGAN POLKA every single night!

This crazy polka beat will give you happy feet
Dance ‘til the break of dawn - dance ‘til you can’t go on!

Now, we do the PAGAN POLKA down upon the farm.
The cows and chickens watch us as we dance an wave our arms.
The neighbors think we’re crazy and, by George, they may be right,
But we still do the PAGAN POLKA every single night!

(chorus)

And the mead’s still going strong!
  

I.

This is a kind of protest song about how pagan music can seem so dreary. Call me crazy, but I think the cows and chickens dig it.

II.

This is the first song I ever wrote and performed in front of other people. It all happened at 1999 Heartland Pagan Festival. I had met Griffin at a wholesale show in Kansas City in March. He convinced me that I should go to festival. It was a real eye-opener.

Elvendrums were performing at that particular festival. They blew me away, especially when they came back to the bardic circle and jammed into the wee hours with anybody who wanted to play. (I am still in awe of this amazing band. Look them up if you never heard their music)

One thing I noticed with both Elvendrums and the various pagan musicians who played that night was that almost all if not all of their music was in minor keys. I like minor keys at least as much as the next guy, but a steady musical diet of anything is unhealthy in my humble opinion, so I set out to write a pagan song that was unmistakably happy.

It’s also the first song that Joe and I really played together. He had just joined me in time to go to Heartland in 2000, and I played the song for him and the bardic circle there.