“Tribbles” by Julia Ecklar, a heartfelt lament from our dear Captain of the Enterprise.
Lyrics, chords, and sheet music are included in the Traveller Songbook, which is available for free download from Prometheus Music as a scanned PDF.
chords
Livejournal Shanty – Brooke vs. John
And it’s way hey, me lads, click on refresh again
There might be a new posting by one of your friends
Yes it’s way hey, me boys, leave a comment or two
It’s not like you’ve got something better to do
“Livejournal Shanty” by Brooke Abbey with John Caspell. Because as Brooke puts it, “I wanted to write a sea shanty. But I don’t exactly spend all day working on the sea. Or working on anything, really. ‘Gee,’ I thought to myself, ‘what DO I do all day?’ Oh. Oh yeah.”
And as the lyrics prove, while many of us have migrated away from Livejournal, it’s not like things have changed that much.
He’s Dead, Jim – Julia Ecklar
He’s dead, Jim.
He’s gone and died.
He’s croaked off,
I don’t know why.
Some weird disease we’ve found
Has put him six feet down.
Cremation
Has claimed him.
He’s dead, Jim.
“He’s Dead, Jim,” an early song by Julia Ecklar, which is… pretty much what it says on the tin.
Lyrics, chords, and sheet music are included in the Traveller Songbook, which is available for free download from Prometheus Music as a scanned PDF.
Yehudi Mind Tricks – Benjamin Newman
I was raised in a desert country
Where the sun burns double and it seldom rains,
So we drew our water from the meager trickle
In the narrow places that became our chains.Then a cry for rescue was heard in the wasteland,
In the plain disguise of a restless stray,
And this revelation at the edge of freedom:
You have to lose your bearings to find your way.
“Yehudi Mind Tricks” by Benjamin Newman, a gorgeous Jewish interpretation of Luke’s narrative in Star Wars.
Chords, lyrics, and mp3 are all available on Ben Newman’s website.
Persephone – Cheshire Moon
I am the herald of the winter
Guiding the autumn from the summer sun
For I am the maid
They thought was stole away
But they forget I had a choice
“Persephone” by Cheshire Moon, because we can never have enough feminist reinterpretations of Greek mythology.
Lyrics and chords available here.
Disenchanted – Cheshire Moon
You can keep my hair
I don’t need it to feel pretty
You can keep my tower
I don’t need it to be strong
I’m racing out to find the place where the sun and the moon
Have coffee when you can’t see either one at all
“Disenchanted” by Cheshire Moon, a song for all the unwilling Rapunzels out there. Lyrics and chords available here.
Broken Dreams of Uplift – Benjamin Newman
Crawl out of the mud, ongoing but slow
For the path that is easy ain’t the one that lets us grow
Climb the ladder rung by rung and never looking back
On this track we walk alone
Composed after Andy Eigel’s “Uplift”, and may be sung against it (as in this recording). Lyrics and chords available here. Words by Ben Newman, to the tune of…you’ll figure it out.
Uplift – Andy Eigel
Ballade of the Blue Rose – Clarsa McElhaney
"I know the secret longings hidden deep within the songs you sing, "and though I've never loved I must now for the sake of the rising Spring. "I will fulfill your secret dream from now until the next sunrise "if you'll consent to let me have, the fire, from your eyes."
If there’s one thing filkers can’t seem to get enough of, besides puns, it’s weird and ominous songs about musicians. “Ballade of the Blue Rose,” by Coral de Chauncey (Wendy Murphy) and Brad of Cambria (Brad Banyan), sung by Clarsa McElhaney. Lyrics and chords available here.
(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)
Mandolin Holy Man -S. J. Tucker
METRO into Washington
Gonna rock the national phallus down
Drumming at the White House in the rain
And we won’t let up until they let us in
Me and the mandolin holy man
“Mandolin Holy Man,” a protest song by S.J. Tucker. Not about the most recent march, but in the same vein.
Lyrics and chords available here
(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)
Wait for the Sun to Be Born – Benjamin Newman
Dark and cold, dark and cold
The Sun he has perished as ever of old,
And here in the darkness that never knows morn,
We wait for the sun to be born.
“Wait for the Sun to Be Born,” by Ben Newman, downloaded from his website, with lyrics and chords available here.
Starseer – Benjamin Newman
Out in the dark at the edge of the system,
Drifting along where the comets spin cold,
One frozen planetoid, one lonely victim;
Try to remember the lies you were told…
“If you wish on a star you shall never grow old…”
A cryptic space song on the level of “Ship of Stone,” “Starseer,” by Ben Newman, downloaded from his website, with lyrics and chords available here.
A Long Way From Home – Benjamin Newman
You’re a long way from home, such a long road you’ve traveled,
And while you were away, many years went by…
So feel free to roam, for the world cannot hold you.
Maybe you’ll be the one who will teach us to fly…
“A Long Way From Home,” an oddly cheerful song about temporal distortion by Ben Newman, downloaded from his website, with lyrics and chords available here.
Go Forth By Night – Benjamin Newman
Step out your door
When darkness falls
Don’t ask what for
Don’t ask who calls
“Go Forth By Night” by Ben Newman, downloaded from his website, with lyrics and chords available here. A little bit eerie, in the most inspiring way possible.
In This Cup – Benjamin Newman
Every autumn, every spring
Her touch changes everything
She knows the way down, and the way back up
Come taste Her secret in this cup
“In This Cup,” a neopagan song by Ben Newman, downloaded from his website, with lyrics and chords available here
This song is just…charming. I don’t have another word for it. I love Ben’s style, always unassuming but poignant.
