julia ecklar

He’s Dead, Jim – Julia Ecklar

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He’s dead, Jim.
He’s gone and died.
He’s croaked off,
I don’t know why.
Some weird disease we’ve found
Has put him six feet down.
Cremation
Has claimed him.
He’s dead, Jim.

“He’s Dead, Jim,” an early song by Julia Ecklar, which is… pretty much what it says on the tin.

Lyrics, chords, and sheet music are included in the Traveller Songbook, which is available for free download from Prometheus Music as a scanned PDF.

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welcomedmachine:

perchance-rampancy:

attractthecrows:

You know what I want?

Space mythology.

Saints of the starship and angels that take their true form as nebulae, great and fiery amorphous beings that speak the will of the Universe

Nymphs of asteroid fields and planetary rings, sylphs that fly in the tails of comets and solar wind, the gods of the galactic core

Demons that dwell in black holes and eat the hearts of dying stars, spirits of galactic battles that cause engines and shields to fail when you get too close to their graves

Ghost ships, long MIA, drifting in dark space, an inaccessible monument to those lost

Demigods, Herculean beings forged in solar fire surviving alone and unshielded in the vacuum, on an icy rock so far from a star as to never see its light

Heroes and saints ascending to their gods by dissolving into starlight and void

Just…Space mythology.

YES YES YES

@filkyeahfilk there’s people out there haven’t heard Dawson’s Christian or The Phoenix or [many many more song titles go here] and I’m on mobile and can’t fuss with embed code, help?

Ooo, yes, if you want space mythology, there’s lots of filk for you, my friend.

As @welcomedmachine mentioned, Dawson’s Christian by Duane Elms is a great space ghost story:

The Phoenix by Julia Ecklar is about the soul of a spacefarer reincarnated as the soul of a starship:

As far as other good space mythology songs, the only additional ones I can think of right now are Ghost Ship and Starbound Spirit by Cynthia McQuillin. I know there’s loads more, so people should definitely chime in with suggestions!

Filksong Genealogy: Shapes in Shadow

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(Series: Filksong Genealogy)

Above: “Shades of Shadow,” off the album A Wolfrider’s Reflections, based on the ElfQuest comic.  (The official album songbook is here; lyrics to this song are about halfway through.)  Lyrics by Mercedes Lackey, music by Leslie Fish, sung by Julia Ecklar.  The speaker in this song is Winnowill, a powerful magic-worker and master manipulator.

Below: Bob Kanefsky’s “Shapes in Shadow” is one of those filksongs that can’t really be called a parody of the original song, as there’s nothing comedic or satirical about it.  Like the original, it’s about power.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

Filksong Genealogy: By the Time I Get To…

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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)
 

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

The Dark Is Rising – Julia Ecklar

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When the Dark comes rising, Six shall turn it back.
Three from the Circle, three from the Track.
Wood, bronze, iron, water, fire, stone –
Five will return, and one go alone.

“The Dark Is Rising,” adapted by Julia Ecklar from poetry scattered throughout the Dark is Rising series by Susan Cooper.

Lyrics available from Prometheus Music.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

Horsetamer’s Daughter – Julia Ecklar

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“Horsetamer’s Daughter” is set in Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Darkover universe, and is really a fanfic in its own right. It was originally written by Leslie Fish, and is infamous for going on… and on… and on… and…
(Probably apocryphal) legend has it that when presented with the song, Marion Zimmer Bradley told Leslie Fish something along the lines of “That’s nice, dear, but isn’t it a bit long?”
Lyrics are available here.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

Song for Petiron – Julia Ecklar & Anne McCaffrey

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The tears I feel today
I’ll wait to shed tomorrow,
Though I’ll not sleep this night
Nor find surcease from sorrow.

A short but haunting song, music by Julia Ecklar and lyrics by Anne McCaffrey, taken from her Dragonriders of Pern series.

Chords to this version are available here, but there’s a more recent and arguably MORE haunting version by Tania Opland that I also highly recommend.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)