Intermission, with Orff

For nearly half my life, I've wondered what song is being sung in the intro movie to the original Quake mod Team Fortress. Specifically, I've wondered since said movie was released as part of version 2.0 of said mod, released 22 December 1996.



I always found it delightfully punchy and suggestive, liable to spark the imagination. It's stuck with me, even over a decade after I had last played the game. And many times over the years, I've tried to find out just what the hell it is.  I've pored over the manuals and readmes, scoured the internet, sent emails to the developers, even hummed it to music buffs.  Failure!  Ignominy!

Now, thanks to a commenter in the above youtube video, THE SEARCH HAS ENDED.   I humbly present: from Carl Orff's Carmina Burana, Ecce Gratum.

The lyrics are all about spring and the growing of green things.  The repetition of the theme is suggestive in it's own way.  It makes me think of the triple-repetitions of fairy tales, or maybe a generational cycle of blood-streaked revenge amongst the pealing peaks of goat-specked mountains.

This is no doubt not Mr. Orff's fault!

-Nick