For space is wide and good friends are too few.
There’s a noise coming out of the dog park
And I think it means me harm
There are lights up over the Arby’s
And I wish I’d never left the farm
There’s a glow shining out of the canyon
And I hope it’s gonna get better
From the noise coming out of the dog park
I take you to… the weather
“The Weather” by the PDX Broadsides, the first Night Vale filk I think I’ve ever encountered.
I just re-watched “The Day of the Doctor” for the first time in years and found that I really liked the War Doctor on a second watch.
I noticed there really hasn’t been much fan work about this sad old soldier since the 50th Anniversary special so here’s a filk song dedicated to Captain Grumpy set to the tune of “I Ain’t Marching Anymore”.
Lyrics under the cut:
Brothers, I am coming
Will you call me on?
What are you becoming every dawn?
Mother, you have cursed them
Eleven feathered sons
Beneath the shadow of their wingspans
I will run
“Eleven Feathered Sons” by Leslie Hudson, based on the fairy tale The Wild Swans. Lyrics available on Bandcamp.
For another neat (and tonally very different!) interpretation of a closely related folktale, check out Queen of Spindles by Talis Kimberley.
I’ve kept meaning to post this and forgetting – if anyone’s interested, I’ve put together a playlist of all Filk music I’ve found thus far on Spotify. There’s actually a ton of Filk albums you can listen to for free, and I find new stuff all the time. Feel free to contribute if there’s anything I’ve missed or as new music is added 🙂
( @axonsandsynapses mentioned that The Boxer was secretly a song about Clint Barton, so then of course I had to remake it to not-so-secretly be about Clint Barton.)
to the tune of Paul Simon’s The Boxer:
I am just a poor boy,
though my story’s seldom told.
I have squandered my resistance
for a pocket full of mumbles such are promises,
all lies and jest.
Still, a man hears what he wants to hear
and disregards the rest.When my father left us orphans
I was no more than a boy.
Left in the homes of strangers,
my brother and I fighting back
and running scared.
Laying low,
stumbling in the carnies’ quarters
where the lost and wandering go,
learning all the secrets only they would know.Lie-la-lie…
With but my bow and wits about me,
I went looking for a job.
The work was dirty,
so much blood shed in the name of
power and greed.
Yet, as soon I’d see,
arrows shot for a man’s country
make the blood flow just as free.Lie-la-lie…
Now the years are rolling by me,
Filled with anger, fear and glee.
I am less dead than I once was,
and more dead than I’ll be,
but that’s not unusual.
No it isn’t strange.
After changes upon changes
we are more or less the same.
After changes we are more or less the same.Lie-la-lie…
Then I’m laying out my weapons
and wishing I was gone.
Going home,
where the New York City battles
aren’t bleeding me,
leading me, going home.In the clearing stands the archer
and a fighter by his trade.
And he carries the reminders
of every fight that laid him down,
or cut him till he cried out
in his anger and his shame,
“I am leaving, I am leaving!”
But the archer still remains.Lie-la-lie…
Damn ‘em all – I create my own perfection
Damn ’em all in the face of their rejection
Damn ’em all – well, this dog will have its day
My garden’s full of pretty men who couldn’t stay away
“Medusa” by Heather Dale, with incredible sign language interpretation by Mana Bijandgoodarz.
This is part of a really neat project that Heather Dale is collaborating on with Deaf storytellers. For more videos from the series, check out Heather’s YouTube Channel.
“Födelsedagsfesten” is filk song about a birthday party, with a convoluted history. It was first written by Swedish fan, sf author, translator, sf publisher etc Sam J. Lundwall. It was recorded a few times in the 70s by various artists but then languished undiscovered by anyone until Swedish folk trio Triakel did a cover in 1998. It is their version which is linked above.
From there it received a couple more covers, and also was discovered by Swedish LARPers, among which it became very popular. They have also written new lyrics to the tune, both minor changes and full rewrites.
Triakel commissioned English lyrics by Alistair Cochrane when releasing their CD, that is fully singable as far as I know:
THE BIRTHDAY PARTY
There once was a farmer who lived in the north,
He was now half a century old
And his guests came a-travelling the long, winding road,
One hundred or more all told.
He had laid in enough of the finest of food
For a three week feast, so it seemed,
And deep in the larder, in row upon row,
The bottles of booze stood and gleamed.
(Chrous: Faddy doo dum day, faddy dee and faddy da,
Drink up and fight with your friends.
For it’s laughter and song the whole night long
Till the birthday party comes to an end.)
Well the feasting began and the strong liquor ran
In and out of every glass,
With brandy and whisky and strong ale and rum,
The first hours of evening passed.
And they ate and they drank and they talked and they joked,
There was singing and laughter and fun,
Till the first of the quarrelling and fighting broke out
And the party had really begun.
(Chorus)
With their knives in their hands they shouted and swore
As they challenged each other to fight,
And the womenfolk lamented and cried by the door,
As usual on a party night.
Then the farmer decided to join in the fray,
And he looked both furious and grim,
Till Johnny the Ripper appeared in his way –
And that was the end of him.
(Chorus)
The farmer’s wife grew as angry as a bee
And she started to curse and to yell,
Till the men picked her up and carried her away,
And flung her into the well.
And then they went back to get on with their fun,
Smashing lamps in the heat of the fight,
And the fire slowly spread from the floor to the walls
Till the whole of the house was alight.
(Chrous)
At the dawn of the day the sun cast its rays
On the tops of the hills and the trees.
It shone on the scene where the farmhouse had been
And the smoke drifting by on the breeze.
The farmer’s wife still clung for her life
To the edge of the deep, dark well,
And the last brief noise was the echo of her voice
And a splash from the depths as she fell.
(Chorus)
Redshirt
by Rob Wynne
TTTO: “Blackbird” by Paul McCartney and John LennonRedshirt beaming down to planetside
Doesn’t have a name to know him by
That poor guy
He will only be here ’til somebody has to dieRedshirt beaming down to planetsideIt don’t matter what steps that you takeIt’s for sureYou will not survive beyond the first commercial breakRedshirts die, Redshirts dieOn every world that we’re stopping by…Redshirts die, Redshirts dieOn every world that we’re stopping by…Redshirt beaming down to planetsideDoesn’t have a name to know him byThat poor guyHe will only be here ’til somebody has to dieHe will only be here ’til somebody has to dieHe will only be here ’til somebody has to die
I wrote this one a couple of months ago. My friend Marcos Duran had posted his filk about Star Trek redshirts (to the tune of “Roxanne”, and the idea for this parody popped into my head.
There are stories of the Dutchman, the Celeste and Barnham’s Pride
There are stories of the Horseman and the Lady at his side
But the tale that makes my blood run cold, the more because it’s true
Is the tale of Jayme Dawson and his crew
Yes, the tale of Dawson’s Christian and her crewA newer recording of one of my favorite classic filk songs, “Dawson’s Christian,” a space opera ghost story, originally Duane Elms.
Reblogging one of my favorite ghost stories in honor of Halloween 🙂
Tonight’s the night of Halloween,
and the fairy court will ride;
And she that would her true love win
at Miles Cross must bide.
Happy Halloween (or Hallowe’en, depending on your spelling preference)!
In celebration, have some filkers performing everyone’s favorite traditional ballad about getting knocked up by a weird guy in the woods and having to go rescue him on Halloween before the Faerie can sacrifice him to the Devil 🙂
This version of Tam Lin is performed by Tricky Pixie, aka S.J. Tucker, Alexander James Adams, and Betsy Tinney. Lyrics are available on bandcamp.
