comedy

Mademoiselle (Twist and shout, baroque style)

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The Beatles has been a popular source for Swedish filk songs. Back in the early 70s the fan Bertil Mårtensson had grandiose plans on filking all of the songs on The White Album, and a few of the songs were later recorded into an ish of his cassette fanzine OGRE. Other fans, like Jan Risheden and Erik Andersson, later filked other Beatles songs during the 80s. Often this was done by the practice of translating the English text into nonsensical or absurd Swedish, mixing word-for-word translations with translations based on sound similarities and straight up nonsense.

(This practice is popular in Sweden outside fandom as well, but the results are seldom written down or documented, and often only relates to fragments of the songs.)

But it is Staffan Mossige-Norheim who arguably has made the most ambitious translation-filking of a Beatles song in Swedish fandom. Staffan was one of the few Swedish fen who can be said to have been primarily a filker in their fanac, and his Mademoiselle is both a quite decent (but with a twist!) translation of “Twist and Shout” and a reimaging of the song in baroque style.

Staffan is presented more closely by Wolf von Witting in CounterClock #17, which he wrote the soundtrack for. Staffan has also quite a few of his songs and compositions on Soundcloud.

Mademoiselle (Twist and shout, baroque style)

When the Starcats Come – Kari Maaren

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“This song was inspired partly by Sandra Kasturi’s deliberately terrible poem, “Starcats!” (written for ChiZine’s twisted tribute to National Poetry Month, Shitty Poetry Month), and partly by my memories of being bullied and ostracized all through my childhood. If only I had had some Starcats to come rescue me. Ah well. At least I have the satisfaction of knowing that all my bullies likely now have prosperous families and careers, while I live in a box and must reapply for my job every four months! Er, wait…”

 “When the Starcats Come,” by Kari Maaren
I love this song because I had a shockingly similar coping mechanism in elementary school, except it involved dragons and sometimes shapeshifting and because I’ve been watching Voltron

Someone On The Internet is Wrong

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Someone on the internet is wrong
And the urge to set the world to rights is really rather strong
There’s a gravitational force
That pulls me off my course
When someone on the internet is wrong

There are filk songs based on books, and there are filk songs based on TV shows, and then there are filk songs based on xkcd comics.  “Someone On The Internet Is Wrong,” by Playing Rapunzel (Mich Sampson and
Marilisa Valtazanou)

Someone On The Internet is Wrong

Jag vill bo i rymden

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“Jag vill bo i rymden”, a filk song that appeared right when Sweden left the chaotic and feuding fhaaandom of the 80’s behind itself and became extremely serconnish (and abandoned filk). Instead, it became a classic in some Swedish student circles. Its origin as a filk song was rediscovered after 25 years. Original text and music by Martin Q Larson, who later went on to become the president of the Society of Swedish Composers. Here is a (for some values of) singable English translation/version:
My mother often asks me like this:
What will you do when you grow up?
How do you plan to support yourself,
you’re playing all the time!
But then I always answer like this:
I’m really training hard you know,
I’m going to be an astronaut
fly space craft all the time!
Space craft space craft space craft
I wanna fly a space craft
Travel in a space rocket
Discover another planet
Space craft space craft space craft
I wanna fly a space craft
Shoot with little laser guns
Visit some big black holes!
I’m flying among the asteroids
and hunting the evil villains
then I build myself a star rocket
and go to a new galaxy
Space craft space craft space craft…
And if a space monster appears
then I will shoot it to pieces
so I’m saving the universe
becomin’ ev’ryone’s friend
Space craft space craft space craft… :||:
A German translation was done in the 90’s (“Welt Raum Welt Raum Welt Raum” in the chorus), but it has sadly been lost in the vastness of space.
The introduction is “an old polska from space” (polska is a traditional Swedish style of dances and music in ¾ beat).
(mod note: the original video link was giving me issues, so I got a new one from youtube, so…I hope it’s the same.  Oh, and for people like me who are basically children and don’t speak Old Fannish, “serconnish” means serious, but in a way that can imply either brilliant fan literary criticism, or like…weaboo serious.)

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Valdemar – Mark Heiman

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Some people were around at the height of Mercedes’ Lackey’s career and read her books as they were coming out.  For the rest of us, with some catching up to do, there’s “A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Valdemar, Or The How To Write Your Own Mercedes Lackey Novel Song.”  Necessary background information, since she, Leslie Fish, and Kipling seem to have written 90% of filk.

Written and performed by Mark Heiman, meant to be sung to the tune of your favorite Mercedes Lackey song.

be prepared (for the undead gay apocalypse)

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dalisrhinoceros:

auber-jean:

i blame @rabbittmouth’s brilliant poem and @dog-of-ulthar’s terrible influence.
to be sung to the tune of the tom lehrer march of the same(ish) name

be prepared,
for the gays are coming back!
be prepared,
to face their gay and undead wrath!

be prepared to face the monsters that you made
when you said our love would send us to our grave.

be prepared,
for every tragic story told
there’s a corpse
ready to come back for your soul.

you thought “oh what a plot twist!” when you killed her for the grief
of her girlfriend’s watching horror, or his husband’s disbelief…
now for each gay who had to die, it’s eye for eye,
so be prepared!

be prepared,
for the gays are gonna rise!
be prepared,
‘cause now they’re coming for your lives!

when we’re dead make sure to bury us real deep,
or we’ll come back up to catch you when you sleep!

you couldn’t bear
to keep the queers around,
but don’t bur-
-y what you can’t keep underground.

is it too much to ask for, for a story we survive?
is it too much to ask for, for the queer kid not to die?
“apparently” the undead hordes declare,
well, be prepared!

@animatedamerican, @filkyeahfilk

The Good Ship Bodacious – Mark Heiman

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Well let me tell you all the story of the Good Ship Bodacious
And its wonderful journey into space
It took off in a tornado over Parsons, Kansas
And it vanished with never a trace

“The Good Ship Bodacious,” by Suzette Haden Elgin, performed by Mark Heiman, to the tune of “The Ship That Never Returned”…or “The Wreck of the Old ‘97″…or maybe that one song about the MTA

The Paper Feed Is Broken

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The filk song of Swedish fandom, “Pappersframmatningen är trasig” written by David Nessle (ttto “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head”) and performed by Erik Andersson in a recording from 1980.

Rough translation:

The paper feed is broken
The papers are squished into small small balls
Oh, the fanzine will come out too late
(Cause) the paper feed is broken, so broken

The subscribers will be angry
If the fanzine isn’t out by Friday
Oh, then I will get lots of hate mail
(Cause) the paper feed is broken, so broken

That I don’t know how I
Can get the fanzine out on time
Before it gets far too late
Cause my mimeo is far too weak

The paper feed is broken
The papers are squished into small small balls
Oh, the fanzine will come out too late
(Cause) the paper feed is broken, so broken
That I cannot stand it no more
I think I want to gafiate

(mod note: this is the best day of my life, also I’m a little ashamed I had no idea what “gafiate” meant and thought it might have been mistranslated)

The Paper Feed Is Broken