@seananmcguire‘s Wicked Girls is a favorite of mine, and though it’s not explicitly about the lgbt community, for a while I’ve been thinking about it as such. But hey, filk is all about adaptation and the meanings the audience gets from a song – so a few days ago I decided to write my own version.
My Wicked Girls is dedicated to all of the fictional wlw who deserved better than their narratives gave them, and to all the real wlw who deserve the world.
Lyrics under the cut:
Willow and Tara were witches whose spells sang with power
Resurrection, enjoining, and memories bound to a flower
But power’s corrupting, and magic can mar,
And Willow’s spellweaving took sorcery too far
When Tara was taken, no magic could ease Willow’s pain
So she chose to give up and give in to the dark that remained.Lexa was Heda in a world that violence left reeling
Revenge and survival left no room for mercy and feeling
But Clarke became more than a means to an end
Though ties could be broken, broken ties could still mend
She could fight for her people, show duty and also forgive –
She learned that life was about more, but did not get to live.CHORUS:
Harley Quinn, Korra, and Lexa and Cain,
Willow and Tara, we’re calling your names
All the lost girls who came out of the rain
And chose to go back on the shelf.
Jadzia says, and I find I agree,
You have to break rules if you want to break free.
So do as you like – we’re determined to be
Wicked girls saving ourselves.Harley went mad, and I guess that we really can’t blame her
Betrayed both by villains and writers that wanted to shame her
She left her vocation as doctor behind
And found a new partner with ivy entwined
Now with poison and pistols they’re pushing away from their past
And those who abused her will see who will get to laugh last.Korra trained hard to live up to the world’s expectations
She struggled to bend, then she broke as her powers were taken
A poison infected her body and mind
Her legacy shattered, the past left behind
But when fate called upon her she faced both her foes and her fright
And found peace in a hand holding hers, walking into the light.CHORUS
Xena’s a warrior, Gabrielle writes down her glory
Undyne and Alphys lead monsters into a new story
Cosima’s a clone, and Nomi’s a we,
Gems Ruby and Sapphire fight to be free
And the rules that we live by are simple and clear
Be wicked and lovely and don’t live in fear.CHORUS
For we will be wicked and we will be fair
And they’ll call us such names and we really won’t care
So go tell your Harleys, your Willows, your Cains
There’s a place they can go if they’re tired of chains
And our roads may be golden or broken or lost
But we’ll walk on them willingly knowing the cost
We won’t take our place on the shelves –
It’s better to care, and it’s better to dare
Say the wicked girls saving ourselves.
We’re wicked girls saving ourselves.