A Filk Challange

Throwing you all a curve...this is going to be a Filk Challenge.

SO WHAT IS FILK?
To quote Nick Smith of the Los Angeles Filkharmonics, "It is a mixture of song parodies and original music, humorous and serious, about subjects like science fiction, fantasy, computers, cats, politics, the space program, books, movies, TV shows, love, war, death..." In other words, almost anything goes at a filksing. Folk songs are most welcome, and songs by Stan Rogers, Eric Bogle and Fred Small (to name just a few) are often sung.

Stylistically, filk is folk music. Singers usually accompany themselves on acoustic instruments, most often guitars, but filkers plan everything from kazoos to Celtic harps to electric guitars and synthesizers to a collapsible electric cello (proving, once again, there always room for cello!). I've also heard (quiet) rock music, banjo picking and flute solos at filksings, all well-received.

The core of filk is original songs, and particularly original lyrics. Many original filksongs have some SF or fantasy element, but some are purely historical (like "Song of the Shieldwall," subtitled "400 Years of English History in 2:15"), factual, just plain silly ("Overflowin' Catbox Blues"), or... well, whatever. Parodies, whether of "mainstream" folk songs or other filksongs, are well- regarded; indeed, in some circles filking is synonymous with writing parodies. Filkers also share with SF fans in general a distinct fondness for puns. [See the reference to cello in the above paragraph.]

One difference from folk is that many filksongs are based on some shared fictional universe. There are innumerable songs about Star Trek , of course. Ditto Star Wars , and assorted other TV shows including, lately, The X-Files . Some references can be obscure, however, to anyone who is not an avid SF reader: Dorsai songs, for instance, celebrate a planet of mercenary soldiers created by Gordon Dickson, while songs about bronze dragons and firelizard refer to the works of Anne McCaffrey. British have even created the Before the Dawn cycle -- an entire fantasy world of interlocking songs. If you're at a filksing and are baffled by a song, politely asking "What's that based on?" is always in order, and may lead you to some really good reading.

Filkers are, by tradition, extremely bad singers, and many filksongs parody filking itself. The traditional filkish key is Off, and a classic filk chorus starts, "So belt out whatever note suits you / The rest will join in, each one in his own key..."

There are many sites you can get the words to existing songs from...
http://www.suburbanbanshee.net/filk/filklink.html Has a bit of everything

http://home.att.net/~coriolan/hpfilks.htm Is Harry Potter Related

http://www.sccs.swarthmore.edu/org/swil/filks.html Also a General site but WHAT an archive it has.

OK...Find a song...match it with music from our wonderful SingSnap files and show me that I'm not alone in being a Geek who loves to sing.

Edited on July 22, 2008 at 10:39 AM Quote

Going to start this off with one based on Scarborough Fair...

Centauri Fair
http://www.singsnap.com/snap/r/b3d92b28

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Brose wrote:OK I've read the explanation above so what separates filk from any other parody?
Is it the Science Fiction / Fantasy connection or what?

Yes...sorta
Filk can be drawn from ANY source but it is thought of as being based in Scifi , TV, etc...

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Maybe a Dr. Who song will bring those in the UK in...

http://www.singsnap.com/snap/r/be10eb6d4

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What about Space Cowboys...sorta

Sands of Arrakis...instead of Streets of Laredo

http://www.singsnap.com/snap/r/b3b7c0ac

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BUMP...

Come on... anyone?

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Last bump then I'm giving up...sigh

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