But the center is
here, this coal-fired heart
That wants like a factory wants to make war
I want peace, I want
rest, but I’ll have it no more
Just one last dawn
over September
I finished listening to Friends at the Table: COUNTER/Weight just before #15DaysofFatT started, so naturally I went into a fugue state and wrote a 6 minute song about the final battle of the campaign for Day 15: Dawn
I’m not sure if this will mean anything to anyone who hasn’t listened to this podcast, but just close your eyes and think about off-brand Gundam, that should do it. And then consider yourself spoiled for the end of the season, but in the vaguest possible terms. Lyrics under the cut:
What prayers can
stir the gods of space who dwell beyond the stars?
What mortal
words can help or heal an engine without power?
And will we
drift forever lost between the stars? We strive
To find a single
planet with fuel to feed the drive
Cynthia McQuillin’s “Fuel to Feed the Drive” is a “classic” in a very specific filkish way. That way is I heard multiple songs that referenced it before I managed to find a recording, but it’s finally on YouTube!
It also, typical of classic filk of a certain age, has a parody (by Jordin Kare) that’s perhaps even better known than the original – and it is helpfully included in this recording.
Lyrics to both versions and my best stab at the chords under the cut:
Also re: that space shanties/filk post from last night, if you want recs outside of the songs linked there please do let me know because I…. have a lot 👀👀👀
Ahhhh okay so @injygo here are a few recs (that weren’t on that – very good – list in the original post!)
Note: these are some of my faves, but you can find more in this post, especially those that aren’t up on youtube. Also search the tag #filk on my blog! ….Also, I realise with this list I’ve sort of drifted away from the ballad/shanty genre a little in my enthusiasm. But since that was what the original post was about (and because it’s my own favourite filk sub-genre!) I’ve tried to keep these space-themed in some capacity… that said, there’s a fair amount of other filk/folk I love that’s more fantasy/mythology themed, often by some of the same artists as the above, so if you want more recs please let me know!!!
This one required a LOT of squinting at Wookiepedia articles and [gasp] doing actual calculations to figure out Star Wars distances. Please appreciate the fact that this is the first filk I’ve had to pull out a calculator for.
As always, I’m giving blanket permission to anyone with a better voice than I have who wants to record this. Just make sure to tag me so I can go listen to it!
Corellian Spacers
Farewell and adieu to you Twi’lek ladies
Farewell and adieu you Rylothean maids
For we have been recalled all back to Corellia
And in our return we must not be delayed
[CHORUS]:
So we’ll rant and we’ll roar like Corellian spacers
We’ll rant and we’ll roar in the hyperspace glow
Until we make docking at Centerpoint Station
From Ryloth we’ve one-twenty parsecs to go
[CHORUS]
I’m the daughter of smugglers and true merchant traders
The stars call my blood and among them I roam
But I was born by the old Coronet spaceport
And now the Five Brothers are calling me home
[CHORUS]
We’ll head to the core and nudge the ship spinward
Head onward past Christophsis’ crystal green mines
We’ll keep our course coreward and true to the Run lanes
And soon we’ll be passing the Middle Rim line
[CHORUS]
Past Radnor and New Cov and Allanteen’s shipyards
Onwards past Denon’s great city so wide
Through to the Colonies and on to the Core worlds
‘Til betwixt the Twin Worlds our good ship will glide
[CHORUS]
Now let us drink up ‘til our mugs are all empty
Drink up that good whiskey, I’ll spot you a glass
Here’s to the health of all of us spacers
And here’s to the health of my true hearted lass
please listen to this folk song warning you about how a gay space rebel is going to appear out of nowhere and wreck your shit, and also he fought a bear
“Rocket Rider’s Prayer” by
Steve Savitzky, performed by Cecilia Eng, Kristoph Klover, and Ernie Mansfield. Lyrics and chords available here.
As Steve notes on his website:
You have to admire the people who fly the shuttle. There you are, sitting on top of two oversized roman candles and enough hydrogen to make the Hindenberg look like a wienie roast, secure in the knowledge that the whole thing is controlled by a million lines of computer software, and that every component of this complex and dangerous system was made by the lowest bidder.
“Space Hero” by Leslie Fish, a cheerfully grim look at military recruitment in outer space. Sung here by Vic Tyler & Mike Pondsmith with Leslie Fish on guitar. Lyrics available here.
