Polish off thy mead and call upon the church elders, because the internet’s greatest cover genre has just emerged. Welcome to Bardcore; the lute-filled, ye-olde medieval makeover that modern music didn’t ask for, but definitely needed.
Supposedly emerging from Cornelius Link’s cover of Astronomia, Bardcore has swept every corner of the internet, dragging along all our favourite tracks behind it. There’s truly nothing that can ruin your day more than feasting your ears on the classic harpsichord ballad Bad Romance, or perhaps even fiddled melody Creep?
Hear ye, hear ye! The internet squires have whipped up something truly decadent for us all, remixing our favourite tracks into medieval classics. As I always say, music was truly at its finest in 1301.
Over the past few months, we’ve seen Bardcore ascend from its humble origins into stardom. With over 100 new covers appearing in the last week and a booming sub-reddit with over 600 members, it may not be long before this musical route gains its own Grammy category (we’re obviously joking).
Between Cornelius Link, Hildegard von Blingin’ and countless other users, the genre has delivered a number of true highlights. Numb by Linkin Park (bard style) is defiantly on this illustrious list. Melting the stirring notes of his lute with mellow percussion, Sir Chester of Benning’s Town forges a haven amongst chaos. It’s a song for when you survive the bubonic plague, but in the end it doesn’t even matter.
Next up would have to be Somebody Whom I Used To Know. Hildegard’s angelic lyrics speaks to a pain known by all us commoners, a true Shakespearian tragedy. It’s a tune for all those who’ve watched as their true love moved to another village, and began courting the blacksmith. The lyrics “but thou makes me a stranger and that feels so rough” truly hit different.
If you’re lucky, you may also find the deeply moving melody Mii channel theme – Miidieval style amongst this treasure trove.
Check out thine favourite ballads below:
