For space is wide and good friends are too few.
Hey so @choirfly had the best time performing at @housingworksbookstore and we’re happy to share this Chronicles of Narnia parody of Toto’s “Africa” with you! Please subscribe & share if you most likely wouldn’t sell out your sibling for a piece of Turkish delight.
Boots
(Series: Filksong Genealogy)
Above we have Rudyard Kipling’s “Boots”, a poem about the endless slog of a soldiers’ march, set to music by (who else) Leslie Fish.
And below we have Bob Kanefsky’s inevitable parody about a different sort of endless slogging: “Bits,” performed by Leslie Fish.
(Series: Filksong Genealogy)
Above: Leslie Fish’s setting to Rudyard Kipling’s “Danny Deever,” a poem about soldiers having to watch a public hanging, framed as a series of questions from a young inexperienced soldier and answers from an older veteran who has seen all this before.
Below: Bob Kanefsky’s “They’re Singing ‘Banned From Argo’,” a similarly framed series of questions and answers about another dreaded ritual.
If you find yourself confused by the veteran filker’s reaction in Bob’s parody, a look at this Fanlore page may be of some help. And if you’ve never heard the original “Banned From Argo” before, run while you still can here’s your chance!
(Series: Filksong Genealogy)
Firstly, above: Leslie Fish’s setting of Rudyard Kipling’s poem “Dane-Geld,” about the dubious wisdom of paying tribute to avoid being conquered by a neighboring country with less portable wealth but better armies.
Secondly, as previously seen on this blog, a classic filksong to the tune of “Waltzing Matilda”: Lee Gold’s “You Bash the Balrog,” a cheerful little ditty about an ill-fated set of D&D adventurers. (If you’ve never heard “Waltzing Matilda,” have a listen here and maybe check out the wikipedia page.)
And finally, below: Bob Kanefsky’s synthesis “Bashing the Balrog,” performed by Leslie Fish.
(Series: Filksong Genealogy)
Above: another poem by Rudyard Kipling set to music by Leslie Fish: “Song of the Men’s Side,” a mythic story about how humankind rose above its status as prey for wolves by attaining a crucial piece of technology.
Below: Bob Kanefsky’s take on a … loosely related story, which is also about wolves and prey and technological advancements: “Song From the Pig’s Side,” performed by Leslie Fish. (Look at the end of the third verse for a sneaky shoutout to a different Kipling poem entirely – which, yes, has also been set to music by Fish.)
(Series: Filksong Genealogy)
Above we have Seanan McGuire’s “Wicked Girls” (lyrics), performed in concert by the author along with Michelle “Vixy” Dockrey and Tony Fabris, S.J. “Sooj” Tucker, and Amy McNally.
And below, we have Bob Kanefksy’s truly wicked parody, “Save Yourselves!” (lyrics), performed in circle by Vixy and Tony. Yes, that’s Seanan nearby in the circle, and yes, she’s hearing it for the first time.
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)
Who checks the airlocks anyhow?
A million years from now it may reach
Home…
It is a blessing and a curse among filkers, but a lot of our best jokes need…a bit of setting up.
The first of these (lyrics) is a deceptively sweet love song. The second (lyrics), by the same band, is a legitimate criticism of Gene Roddenberry’s visual worldbuilding. The third (lyrics) is Bob Kanefsky’s triumphant combination of the two, in beautiful polyphony by the original band.
(Series: Filksong Genealogy)
And you’ll regret that ever you fed
At the board of Anne Bonny…
A very earnest song about pirates (lyrics) by Annwn, and one to the same tune, performed by the same band, but with lyrics by Bob Kanefesky, which is…earnest in its own way. Take care among pirates, they rarely wash the dishes.
From the liner notes of the Roundworm album: “whey hay (/hwA ‘hA/) n. a fibrous yellow mold (Coloropus yukosporus) commonly found on expired cottage cheese. See also dairy down.”
Content warning, in case the above isn’t enough: the second song is about very, very unsanitary kitchen conditions.
(Series: Filksong Genealogy)
Use your hooves and use your head
Don’t let down the Man in Red
“March of Cambreadth” (lyrics), by Heather Alexander, is a classic battle song about killing as many people as possible. “December of Cambreadth” (lyrics), a parody by Bob Kanefsky, is…also about maximization of output, but the similarities end there. Except that the language is, somehow, equally vicious.
(Series: Filksong Genealogy)