Alfie Purl, Christopher, Ruby and Zack;
Move the sheep and the fences around!
Take the ones from the front and put these in the back
Move the sheep and the fences around.
Why would you write a shanty about sheep? Why not. Sung, appropriately, in a field, by Talis Kimberley and Chantelle Smith. Featuring the names of real sheep!
There are women I’ve been who you would not have liked
Very much – and I can’t say I’d blame you for that;
but I had to be them before I could be me
They are threads on the loom of the woman you see And they’re all – here – sewn in the lining of me
In the seam-folds and the small mended corners
Tucked into collar and sleeves in the lining of me
“Small Mended Corners,” by Talis Kimberley, a song about identity and sewing – which, as someone who has struggled with both, I appreciate.
It was only a matter of time before I wrote a filk inspired by The Last Mabelcorn. Don’t let the unicorns get you down.
Lyrics:
The unicorn smiled when she saw you approaching her fountain
“Just one little test” she demanded and shot you a grin
“Just prove that your heart is as pure as the dew on the snowdrops
You’ll foul my glade if you’re wicked and tainted with sin.”
CHORUS: Don’t fall for the lies of those cruel unicorns
You’ve been messy and mortal since the day you were born
If you try to be perfect it’s just gonna tear you apart.
They want you to break yourself down till you shatter
They’ll say that you’re selfish for knowing you matter
So be brave and tenacious and loving and joyful and smart
But forget pure of heart.
“My lady,” you said, “I can’t claim that my spirit is blameless,
But I try to do good and to help in the ways I know how
My heart’s filled with love for myself and the people around me
And I’ll strive to do more and be better and stronger, I vow!”
CHORUS
The unicorn scoffed and she drew back her head with a shudder.
“I knew it! You arrogant mortals have never been pure!
Perhaps if you’re humble enough you may gain some forgiveness
But you’ll never be perfect. You’re sullied, and I have no cure!”
CHORUS
“Well, what have you done then?” you said as you stood up and faced her
“Just sit in this glade telling people the things they can’t do.
There isn’t a deed or a person who’s ever been perfect
And I may not be pure but I’ve damn well done more good than you!”
CHORUS
If you’re careful you’ll notice that unicorns live all around us
You can tell by the smugly superior look in their eyes.
They’ll enumerate each of your flaws with distain in their voices.
They’ll all tell you you have to be perfect; they’ll all tell you lies!
Don’t fall for the lies of those cruel unicorns
We’ve been messy and mortal since the day we were born
If we try to be perfect it’s just gonna tear us apart.
I won’t let the world break me down till I shatter
I’d rather be selfish than think I don’t matter!
I’m brave and tenacious and loving and joyful and smart
But I’m not pure of heart.
Hold the line – don’t retreat and don’t surrender
Hold the line – though around you others fall
We will give our last full measure
May the fates all treat us kind
So hold the line, my boys, just hold the line
“Holy the Line,” by Terence Chua, a war song applicable to real life or to a dozen sci-fi and fantasy universes, as ones’ predilections direct.
Teacher, dear teacher
We live in trying times
These days it seems that nowhere’s safe
No refuge can we find
The terror’s tainted Freedom’s shores
Stained it with crimson hues
And that’s the reason why my paper’s
Two weeks overdue
Relatable, politically relevant content from Terence Chua
So @omniship-armada wanted to hear the story of how this song scared my uncle.
For those of you who’ve never heard this song, it’s a song about how sooner or later the downtrodden always get pissed off and overthrow the bourgeoisie, and push gotta come to shove, the lawyer and the lawbook only go so far so go out there and kill rich people, fuck the church, and make sure to stand in solidarity with the other downtrodden. It actually specifically mentions antisemitism. Which is cool.
Pretty rivetting stuff.
Now, if you’ve never heard anything by Leslie Fish, here’s what you should know: She’s most known for fantasy and really, really hating the police. See above. Only, she’s a filk artist. She’s one of the more folky filk artists, actually. So her music, while saying things like “fuck the police” and “unions are great” does so through the lens of “after the apocalypse the SCA became a band of heroes and killed police, it was awesome” and “man starfleet ensigns are treated like crap, they need a union”. With matching folky or silly tunes.
This one is actually one of her less folky ones, but it’s followed by two more in the same album that are much more folky sounding, “Weapon Shops of Isher” and “Old Issue”. As you may have guessed, this album has a theme. That theme is guns.
So I’m sitting down, listening to my music which is keeping me grounded. Specifically, I am listening to this song, No High Ground. Which, again, is about inciting revolution.
My uncle asks me what I’m listening to.
Now, I have a split second decision to make before he asks me again, thinking I didn’t hear him: I can take out my earphones and go through the lengthy explanation of what filk is, or I can give him a one sentence answer. Naturally, I decide on the one sentence answer. I’m sitting there. I’ve got black clothes and a black denim jacket on. I don’t move an inch. I give my answer.
“songs about guns.”
Naturally, he asks me why. Again, not wanting to explain, not thinking, I answer.
“They relax me.”
Preeeetty sure my uncle is terrified of me and/or thinks I’m Ron Swanson.
So sounds like I have a new artist to listen to…
Leslie Fish has some very fun stuff. A lot of it is on youtube
I know not everyone can afford to buy CDs, and not everyone wants to mess with physical discs any more, but for those who are interested, Leslie Fish has an official website where people can buy her albums.
A parody of “Look at Me, I’m Sandra Dee” from Grease, inspired by a protest sign. (Some of the lyrics may still see some tweaking, but it gets the idea across.)
Shoutout to Merav, who helped unstick me with an awesome lyric suggestion. ❤️
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
And now you know why your daddy drank
And why his hair turned gray
And why your mum so seldom laughed
And why they could not play
“Soul Stealers,” by the Dehorn Crew. This was attributed to Leslie Fish by the uploader on YouTube, but a comment corrected it. This is Fish’s band, but the lead singer, writer, and banjo is Kathleen Taylor, with Carol Shuttleworth on high harmony.
A rough demo of the hope song I’ve been trying to write since November 8th.
Lyrics:
So here we are. It’s come to this.
The darkest timeline’s where we’re living.
I know it’s hard to carry on
And take the world that we’ve been given.
But we’re still here. And we’re still fighting
With our hands, our words, our hearts
In little ways, through darkened days.
This is where the future starts.
So make this timeline brighter. Make this timeline brighter. Make this timeline brighter. From today.
I know that I can’t save the world
But I will save the things I can.
In start and fits, the timeline splits
Every time we take a stand.
We make this timeline brighter. Make this timeline brighter. Make this timeline brighter. From today.
So help the ones who need your helping
Lend your voices to their song
And small and slow the world starts changing
Though the work is hard and long
We’ll make this timeline brighter. Make this timeline brighter. Make this timeline brighter. From today.
