For space is wide and good friends are too few.
But the Lady is faithful, she rides the bright sea
Her bowing is graceful, full of dignity
She speeds ‘cross the water, the wind at her back
And the crew hopes she’ll carry them home
“The Lady,” by Urban Tapestry (Debbie Ridpath Ohi, Allison Durno, and Jodi Krangle) plus Tom Jeffers on bass, Dave Clement on lead guitar, and Kylea Fulton on pennywhistle
An immigration song…about vampires.
So show me the gantry, give me the ship,
Give me the fuel and I’ll go on that trip.
Now if I return you can say I was bold,
But my place is in space as the heavens unfold.
“Starsoul,” a good, old-fashioned space song by Urban Tapestry
"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.
Yesterday I journeyed for half a million miles.
Now I’m stacked up on an aircraft’s back.
This last part takes a while.
“Phoenix,” by Julia Eckar (lyrics), is a heartwrenching song about a futuristic space ship with a soul. “By the Time I Get To…”, by Bob Kanefsky (lyrics), is one of those rare parodies that’s almost as poignant as the original song, this time about very realistic spaceflight, and picking up the pieces after re-entry.
(Series: Filksong Genealogy)
In-universe ballad about the rebellion of Raven’s Roost. Companion piece for my fanfic “The Ballad of Raven’s Roost,” available here on tumblr and here on ao3.
(Download from Bandcamp)
Tune: Rosin the Bow (traditional)
Lyrics (below the cut): scribefindegil/Araxie Haldane
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“Legacy of Legends,” by Mark Horning, written in memorial for Gene Cernan who passed away on Monday 16 January, 2017. The last man on the moon is with us no more.
Another year goes by,
Another hero fades away.
Another Living Legend,
From a brighter future day…
–When hope rose up on flaming wing
–And dreams were forged of steel
–And the men who strode the heavens
–Were very, very, real…
And the tales of our creations never change with what we tell
How we dream of something better than ourselves
“The Collars,” by Escape Key. “We all want a better life for our children” gets tricky when your child is an illegally constructed artificial intelligence. Based on a short story by Matthew Dockrey, the singer’s husband, but the song stands alone well.
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.
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.
Braw and bold, he went a-raiding;
stout and strong, he went to war.
Long his lady will be waiting;
Gilbert’s greatsword strikes no more.
Apparently, there was an SCA contest for best elegy, so Leigh Ann Hussey wrote a song for the “death” of a player in “Steal the Sheep” earlier that day, a game where teams compete to move a stuffed sheepskin across a field.
“Gilbert’s Greatsword,” or “Elegy for Gilbert de Langspee,” by Annwn. The percussion on this is tabla, played by Aditya Gurajada.