Here’s a lute song by Renaissance artist Thomas Campion (died 1620). I’ve been messing about with this song for ages and am still not sure I’m onto something—I suspect it may even be truly terrible! Anyway, I wanted to post this in case any of it is useful. I was trying to get a kind of weird or ghostly edge to the usual enrequited love theme. Well, I’ll add the “live” stems and the VST drum track. The groove was cooked up in my MIDI editor using iDrum, Jamstix and Rapture; and then I added live guitar and voices. The lyrics are:

Shall I come sweet love to thee,
When the evening beams are set?
Shall I not excluded be?
Will you find no feigned let*?
Let me not for pity more
Tell* the long, long hours,
Tell the long hours at your door.

Who can tell what thief or foe
In the cover of the night,
For his prey will work my woe,
Or through wicked soul despite?
So may I die unredressed*
Ere my long, long love,
Ere my long love be possessed.

But to let such dangers pass
Which a lover’s thoughts disdain,
Tis enough in such a place
To attend love’s joys in vain.
Do not mock me in thy bed,
While these cold, cold nights
While these cold nights freeze me dead.

* “Let” = “Obstruction” or “Hindrance”
* “Tell” = “Count”
* “Unredressed” = “Wronged” or “Aggrieved”