All Of The Filkers Are Singing
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| Title: | All Of The Filkers Are Singing |
| Creator: | Bjo Trimble |
| Date(s): | January 1982 |
| Medium: | |
| Fandom: | filk |
| Topic: | |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
All Of The Filkers Are Singing is a 1982 essay/article by Bjo Trimble.
It was printed in Starlog #54.
While the essay briefly describes filking and filk songs, it is mostly a shout-out to various filks, their creators, and relationships/connections among pro writers and fandom. It is thick with BNF in-group, breezy, name-dropping.
The title of the article is a filk with words by Mark Bernstein to the tune of "Banks of Sicily," from The Westerfilk Collection, v.1, copyright 1979 by Mark Bernstein.
Excerpts
The convention has wound down, the scheduled program is over for the day, and bored fans are roaming the hotel halls looking for a party when they pass a door and hear "Young Man Mulligan " being sung. Pause a moment, listen; you've just discovered a 'filksing.' "Filk" is a typographical error (common in fanzines) for "folk" as in "folksinging" and the silly name stuck in fannish usage. With some aid from filker Leslye Wintraub's six pound collection of filksongs, here is an introduction to filking.
There are different kind of filk sessions, depending on who is running them, where special singers may be showcased or where everyone may join in the fun. Never use a filk-room for conversation, partying or other non-musical frivolities. Filkers resent intrusions of discourteous fans, who will be asked to leave in no uncertain terms.
"Massteria! " was published in the Trimble basement, and while we were working on it, a neighbor dropped by. He brought Maco Tojima home from an autograph session, where she'd bought so many copies of his book, Mirror Friend, Mirror Foe, she couldn't carry them alone. So without warning, George "Mr. Sulu" Takei was looking over John's shoulder at the pages coming off the press! George was charmed with the parodies, so the flustered Filkharmonics presented an impromptu 'concert' and he joined in "Brush Up Your S.F." to the amazement and amusement of all.
Many science-fiction authors have contributed to filksongs, either by writing an inspirational piece or by writing the filksongs themselves. Robert Heinlein's books are a constant source of filksongs, with author Theodore Sturgeon scoring "Green Hills of Earth" and several other songs from the story of the same name. Katherine Kurtz' DERNYI Chronicles have inspired filksongs; Darkover fans write songs about their favorite Marion Zimmer Bradley stories. Anne McCaffrey's Pern novels have inspired, among many others, Karen Willson's "Dragon Song" and Mindy Miriam Rheingold's "You're Six Tons, You're Beautiful and You're Mine!" Author Peter Beagle wrote "When I Was a Young Man" from his own book, The Last Unicorn, and Spider Robinson's "Callahan's Bar" stories started Jordin Kare on a narrative to the tune of "Oh' Susannah!"
Tolkien has filksongs, too; beautiful, haunting elven songs, many of them scored by Marion Zimmer Bradley, as well as some kidding, too. "The Epical History of the War of the Rings" or "The Orc's Marching Song" has at least 40 verses and counting.
Some authors personally inspire filksongs; Omni Magazine editor, Ben Bova, once made this comment about Gordon Dickson to "Clementine'.': "...Always chipper, always bright./Always eating, always drinking./ When the hell does Gordy write?"
Naturally, the Good Doctor Asimov has the last word on writing, with his Gilbert and Sullivan takeoff ("Lord Mountararat's Song," Iolanthe) when he laments, "Oh, That Lost Sense of Wonder!": "When spaceships first discovered space/In science fiction's rise,/The authors never felt the need/To sow a psychologic seed/Or socio-o-logize!" (Copyright 1966, Isaac Asimov).
Conventions get filk-comment, too; Poul Anderson made the ultimate retort to mediocre food in "Bouncing Potatoes" while Keith Littlejohn bewailed another lack in "The Junk Food Connection." Doris Beetem took the hotel's viewpoint in Westercon 23 of "The Con-Coordinator's Lament" and Ann Passovoy discusses the hassles of trying to have a filksing in "The Marcon Ballroom."
No filk session, Star Trek or other, would be complete without the hilarious singalong favorite, "Banned From Argo": ". . .just for having a little fun. . . ", original words and music by the talented Leslie Fish. The activities on shore leave of a crew from an unnamed ship are improbable and unprintable in a family magazine!
All of the songs quoted in this article are copy-righted, which means you may not use them without permission of the author. The books listed at the end of this article are projects by fellow fans, whose publications cost them a lot, so play fair and buy their books; don't borrow or copy from friends! One person who calls himself "fan" sells a badly reproduced filksong book, most of the songs having been stolen from the originators; don't support this kind of theft.