Sci Fi Songs
August 12, 2009 2:47 PM Subscribe
John Anealio records songs inspired by science fiction and fantasy. Sing along about Cylons, Summer Glau (Firefly/Serenity), Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, and about how "George R.R. Martin is not your bitch" (previously).
The word for this genre of music is filk.
And yes... that is indeed a terrible pun, but so is "The Beatles" and "U2." Think about it. On second thought, don't.
posted by Kattullus at 2:56 PM on August 12, 2009
And yes... that is indeed a terrible pun, but so is "The Beatles" and "U2." Think about it. On second thought, don't.
posted by Kattullus at 2:56 PM on August 12, 2009
/points at gemmy, Invasion of the Body Snatchers style
FIIIIIIIIIILK!
posted by Artw at 4:00 PM on August 12, 2009
FIIIIIIIIIILK!
posted by Artw at 4:00 PM on August 12, 2009
The word for this genre of music is filk.
And yes... that is indeed a terrible pun
Do you mean the word filk is a terrible pun? If so, "filk" isn't a pun at all.
posted by Justinian at 5:15 PM on August 12, 2009
This man should be dragged out into the streets, flogged, and then clapped roundly into stocks in the town square with a sign hanging around his neck reading "FILK".
And then it should happen all over again just for his lyrics.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 5:35 PM on August 12, 2009 [1 favorite]
And then it should happen all over again just for his lyrics.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 5:35 PM on August 12, 2009 [1 favorite]
>The word for this genre of music is filk.
I don't think John self-describes as filk, which is the real prerequisite for that label. (C.f. the way Wizard Rockers aren't normally identified as filkers.)
And man, tough crowd tonight. Listen to the Transformers theme and chill out.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 5:55 PM on August 12, 2009
I don't think John self-describes as filk, which is the real prerequisite for that label. (C.f. the way Wizard Rockers aren't normally identified as filkers.)
And man, tough crowd tonight. Listen to the Transformers theme and chill out.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 5:55 PM on August 12, 2009
This is better. That's not saying much, though.
posted by Huck500 at 6:05 PM on August 12, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by Huck500 at 6:05 PM on August 12, 2009 [1 favorite]
Basically, I took the lyrics of Mr. Roboto and wrote a completely different melody and chord progression.
holy jesus christ.
posted by Huck500 at 6:08 PM on August 12, 2009 [1 favorite]
holy jesus christ.
posted by Huck500 at 6:08 PM on August 12, 2009 [1 favorite]
Justinian: If so, "filk" isn't a pun at all.
Uh... play on words? I mean, I know that it's supposed to have originated as a typo but I've always found that story somewhat suspect.
posted by Kattullus at 9:11 PM on August 12, 2009
Uh... play on words? I mean, I know that it's supposed to have originated as a typo but I've always found that story somewhat suspect.
posted by Kattullus at 9:11 PM on August 12, 2009
I mean, I know that it's supposed to have originated as a typo but I've always found that story somewhat suspect.
How so? It's from an article titled "The Influence of Science Fiction on Modern
American Folk Music" by a (long ago) L.A. fan named Lee Jacobs. Except that he typoed the title and it said "Filk Music" instead of "Folk Music". The "o" key and the "i" key are right next to eachother.
Remember, this would have been with a typewriter.
posted by Justinian at 9:21 PM on August 12, 2009
How so? It's from an article titled "The Influence of Science Fiction on Modern
American Folk Music" by a (long ago) L.A. fan named Lee Jacobs. Except that he typoed the title and it said "Filk Music" instead of "Folk Music". The "o" key and the "i" key are right next to eachother.
Remember, this would have been with a typewriter.
posted by Justinian at 9:21 PM on August 12, 2009
What would the pun of "filk" be based on? Folk and... Milk? Silk?
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 11:34 PM on August 12, 2009
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 11:34 PM on August 12, 2009
DEATH TO FILK!
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 2:13 AM on August 13, 2009
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 2:13 AM on August 13, 2009
On the other hand filkers do give furries someone to look down on.
posted by Artw at 6:35 AM on August 13, 2009
posted by Artw at 6:35 AM on August 13, 2009
Oh noes... there's Furry Filk! The horror! The horror!
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 7:10 AM on August 13, 2009
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 7:10 AM on August 13, 2009
Justinian: How so? It's from an article titled "The Influence of Science Fiction on Modern American Folk Music" by a (long ago) L.A. fan named Lee Jacobs. Except that he typoed the title and it said "Filk Music" instead of "Folk Music". The "o" key and the "i" key are right next to eachother."
Yup, it is the foundational myth of filk, already present a year and a half after the first appearance of the term in pring. The first recorded use of the word "filk" is in 1953 (probably, god knows that fanzines didn't always come out when their publication dates said they did) in a song written by Poul Anderson. The 1955 essay "How to Write a Filk Song" by Poul Anderson (writing under his pseudonym P. A. Kingsley) is the first time the Lee Jacobs story appears. My main objection to the story is that no copy of the essay has ever appeared and every iteration of the story I've found is second-hand, Lee Jacobs never seems to have taken credit for it himself. The earliest cites of the word are by Poul Anderson or his wife Karen.
That said, it may well have originated as a typo, but the record isn't clear. The first song that the term "filk song" was used for was Poul Anderson's Barbarous Allen (a version of Barbara Allen). A lot of the humor in the song comes from word play (e.g. rhyming "che-ered" with "be-ard," substituing "gall" for "gal" and the progression "bopped," "bonked," "barfed"). "Filk song" seems to me to be of the same ilk.
The pun in filk is the same as the pun in "sci fi" (itself coined at around the same time, it's first apperance in print being 1954). Science Fiction, science filk music.
Anyway... I may be horribly wrong about all this, but that's how it appears to me.
posted by Kattullus at 7:32 AM on August 13, 2009 [1 favorite]
Yup, it is the foundational myth of filk, already present a year and a half after the first appearance of the term in pring. The first recorded use of the word "filk" is in 1953 (probably, god knows that fanzines didn't always come out when their publication dates said they did) in a song written by Poul Anderson. The 1955 essay "How to Write a Filk Song" by Poul Anderson (writing under his pseudonym P. A. Kingsley) is the first time the Lee Jacobs story appears. My main objection to the story is that no copy of the essay has ever appeared and every iteration of the story I've found is second-hand, Lee Jacobs never seems to have taken credit for it himself. The earliest cites of the word are by Poul Anderson or his wife Karen.
That said, it may well have originated as a typo, but the record isn't clear. The first song that the term "filk song" was used for was Poul Anderson's Barbarous Allen (a version of Barbara Allen). A lot of the humor in the song comes from word play (e.g. rhyming "che-ered" with "be-ard," substituing "gall" for "gal" and the progression "bopped," "bonked," "barfed"). "Filk song" seems to me to be of the same ilk.
The pun in filk is the same as the pun in "sci fi" (itself coined at around the same time, it's first apperance in print being 1954). Science Fiction, science filk music.
Anyway... I may be horribly wrong about all this, but that's how it appears to me.
posted by Kattullus at 7:32 AM on August 13, 2009 [1 favorite]
On the other hand filkers do give furries someone to look down on.
Not possible. A furry's personal value and pecking-order ranking is always X-1, where X is "everything else ever".
posted by FatherDagon at 8:56 AM on August 13, 2009
Not possible. A furry's personal value and pecking-order ranking is always X-1, where X is "everything else ever".
posted by FatherDagon at 8:56 AM on August 13, 2009
>How so? It's from an article titled "The Influence of Science Fiction on Modern
American Folk Music" by a (long ago) L.A. fan named Lee Jacobs. Except that he typoed the title and it said "Filk Music" instead of "Folk Music".
The way I recall it, it was a typo in an early convention schedule. I think I got that from a Bjo Trimble column in Starlog in the late seventies/early eighties. Unfortunately, I have no way to look that up. (And either I or Bjo may have just gotten a mangled translation of the above version.)
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 5:20 PM on August 13, 2009
American Folk Music" by a (long ago) L.A. fan named Lee Jacobs. Except that he typoed the title and it said "Filk Music" instead of "Folk Music".
The way I recall it, it was a typo in an early convention schedule. I think I got that from a Bjo Trimble column in Starlog in the late seventies/early eighties. Unfortunately, I have no way to look that up. (And either I or Bjo may have just gotten a mangled translation of the above version.)
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 5:20 PM on August 13, 2009
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posted by ford and the prefects at 2:50 PM on August 12, 2009