The Collars – Escape Key

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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.

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What I don’t see much of is kids in college or just out of college doing it. Maybe they’ve moved on to anime.

Frank Hayes, interviewed about filk music by Alanna Nash
This is hilarious to me (despite being one of the sad truths of Filk These Days), because on one hand I think the (to my mind, at this point artificial) divide between science fiction and anime actually has distanced older fans from younger ones, and on the other hand it recalls the joke that never gets old, pointing at any given thing and saying “is that anime”

Wait for the Sun to Be Born – Benjamin Newman

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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.
 

Starseer – Benjamin Newman

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Out in the dark at the edge of the system,
Drifting along where the comets spin cold,
One frozen planetoid, one lonely victim;
Try to remember the lies you were told…
“If you wish on a star you shall never grow old…”

A cryptic space song on the level of “Ship of Stone,” “Starseer,” by Ben Newman, downloaded from his website, with lyrics and chords available here.

A Long Way From Home – Benjamin Newman

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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.
 

Go Forth By Night – Benjamin Newman

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Step out your door
When darkness falls
Don’t ask what for
Don’t ask who calls

“Go Forth By Night” by Ben Newman, downloaded from his website, with lyrics and chords available here.  A little bit eerie, in the most inspiring way possible.

In This Cup – Benjamin Newman

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Every autumn, every spring
Her touch changes everything
She knows the way down, and the way back up
Come taste Her secret in this cup

“In This Cup,” a neopagan song by Ben Newman, downloaded from his website, with lyrics and chords available here

This song is just…charming.  I don’t have another word for it.  I love Ben’s style, always unassuming but poignant.

Naming – Beth Kinderman and the Player Characters

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I am the flame that sparks the ember
I am the thunder in the deep
I am a broken tree upon a far hill
a song to make minstrels weep

“Naming,” by Beth Kinderman and the Player Characters, about Kvothe, from Patrick Rothfuss’ trilogy The Kingkiller Chronicle