That song meme that's going around right now

[ng_moonmoth]

A number of people on my reading list have done this one. The goal is, starting with a list of topics, to find (ideally without searching for) a song with a title matching the topic. Everyone who's put out a list has mined their listening habits for songs. Most of those are filled with artists and groups that are familiar to many people.

There are some outliers, though. One I enjoyed was completely filled with arias from well-known operas. I'm another outlier. The music I'm most familiar with comes from the filk community, in which I am an active participant. (Read about it here, and here. Be aware, though, that the first article is twenty-five years old, and the second article reflects to some extent the biases of its author and does not, at least to me, properly acknowledge that the apparent diminuition of the styles of the community's roots is more that the genre is alive, thriving, and expanding well beyond its origins.) Sticking to filk, I only had to cheat a bit on the last topic; there don't seem to be that many songs in the community with days of the week in them, so I searched the catalogs of a couple of friends to find one I liked.

Some people who read me know of, or know, many of these people. It's pretty much a "Who's Who" of filk -- many of the songs and artists are award-winners. For those who would like more information, I have aimed to thoroughly link everything. Links on the title go to the lyrics. A link to a recording, or a place where a recording can be found, follows. Links on the lyricists and composers go to short biographies.

A Place: Falling Down on New Jersey (music) - Mitchell Burnside Clapp/[origin obscure]
A Food: Bouncing Potatoes (no music) - Poul Anderson/James Barr (composer of the tune which became "Waltzing Matilda")
A Drink: Carrot Juice is Murder (music) - The Arrogant Worms
An Animal: Stray Dog Man (music) - Bill Sutton
A Number: Threes (music) - Mercedes Lackey/Leslie Fish
Something to Wear: In a Gown Too Blue (music) - Brenda Sutton
A Color: Emerald Green (music on "Thirteen", available here on their website) - Vixy and Tony
A Boy's Name: Edward (music) - Kathy Mar
A Girl's Name: Joan (music on "Perpetual Gift - free download here) - Heather Dale
A Profession: The Ferryman (music) - Mercedes Lackey/Leslie Fish
A Vehicle: Rocket Ride(music)  - Tom Smith
A Day of the Week: Black Thursday (no music) - Steve Savitzky/J.P. Webster (composer of the tune which became known as "Wildwood Flower")

If you like what you heard, the best thing you can do is support the artists who are bringing it to you by buying their music. Nobody makes any money from filk, and many of the artists featured here are doing it for love. But some of them are professional musicians in other genres, and are hurting for bookings in this pandemic era. Links to Bandcamp pages or personal websites offer options to purchase their music.

Comments

[mdlbear]

Haven't thought about that song in years -- thanks. It was a throw-away; too topical and not good enough to even be performed, let alone recorded.

[ng_moonmoth]

Could be, but filk songs with days of the week in the title are about as scarce as rain is right now in California. Nothing of note came to mind, and the only other one I found checking catalogs of folks I know was a Kanef parody of "Another Saturday Night" -- also old, nothing I've ever heard performed, and to my sense of such, cheaper.

[sulien]

Thank you for doing this meme, I'm enjoying checking out your song list, I love Folk and Filk and wish I could attend conventions where people sing Filk. If they ever get a vaccine for the damn Covid-19 virus, I think I'm going to see about attending Norwescon.

[ng_moonmoth]

You're welcome. And thanks for responding. After you get done, I'd be interested if you wanted to share which songs/artists you liked best.

If you want a more concentrated filk experience, Conflikt is a dedicated filk convention in the PNW. It's normally held in late January, but next year's iteration has been announced to be moving online. This year's Ohio Valley Filk Festival (OVFF) will also be online. And filk conventions going online have been customarily opening their concerts and circles. If you're interested, I can point you at links when they happen.

[sulien]

Thank you for the heads up on the conventions and the links! I will definitely be signing up to watch those, they look like fun, even attending virtually.

As for the artists, I'm very partial to Missy Lackey and Leslie Fish. I've greatly enjoyed the Valdemar books and the Tarma and Kethry stories are definitely my favorites of those, so you can rightly guess that Threes is my favorite of the songs. :) And now that you've got me thinking of Tarma and Kethry, I'm going to go and buy those books on Kindle and do a reread. I do still have my paperbacks, but between vision issues and neck and shoulder issues, reading on a laptop or listening to audio books is my preferred method of enjoying stories these days.

Are you familiar with Ted Nasmith's filking? Besides being an exceptional artist, he's also an excellent singer and songwriter. I was exceedingly lucky to see him at a local Tolkien convention up here in 2004 and I had no idea he was also a filker until then.

[ng_moonmoth]

>> Thank you for the heads up on the conventions and the links! I will definitely be signing up to watch those, they look like fun, even attending virtually. <<

Glad to be of assistance. Listeners are always appreciated, and if you were inspired to become one of those People Who Sing Filk, you would be welcomed. Should you have time to attend, and care to know, I can PM you info I keep out of this blog so you know which of the other attendees I am.

>> Threes is my favorite of the songs. <<

Yeah, no surprise there from your interests. It seemed a bit unfortunate to me that the recording didn't have the punchline at the end of the song that the lyric sheet had, which added to my enjoyment of the song.

>> I'm going to go and buy those books on Kindle and do a reread. <<

Yay for getting inspired to do something enjoyable!

>> Are you familiar with Ted Nasmith's filking? <<

I followed the link to have a look. He reads as much more of a graphic artist than a musician, so it's understandable our paths have not crossed. I'll want to give some of his stuff a listen.

>> I'm very partial to Missy Lackey and Leslie Fish. <<

From what you've mentioned here, I bet you'd also like "Fellowship Going South". If you haven't heard it already, it's another Fish song, on a Tolkien subject.

[sulien]

Hoo boy, my voice would be considered torture under the Geneva Accords, so no singing for me. Seriously, I've got the voice of an old crow with not even a complete octave of range. :-p

Yep, Ted Nasmith is the best Tolkien illustrator out there, at least for me. His style is similar to that of Maxfield Parrish, who is another favorite illustrator/artist. His filking is only a hobby, but he's quite good at that as well.

Thank you for the link to "Fellowship Going South", you're right, that is exactly my kind of thing. I've got Leslie Fish's site bookmarked now, thank you! The Limelighters have always been one of my favorite bands, because of their music, their style and their message, and "Fellowship Going South" is definitely in a similar vein.

Yes, I'd love to meet up with you if I can manage to get to a filk gathering in person, I always enjoy meeting fellow LJ/DW folks. I'm afraid I would just be a listening lurker if I attended virtually, since I'm seriously allergic to cameras and tend not to interact much in a crowded virtual venue.

[ng_moonmoth]

>> Hoo boy, my voice would be considered torture under the Geneva Accords, so no singing for me. Seriously, I've got the voice of an old crow with not even a complete octave of range. :-p
<<

You won't be the only one like that, even among filk convention in-person attendees. And although I can totally get being voice-shy enough to be unwilling to sing in public, I will add that nobody will notice if you join in as best you can on the choruses. And there may well be some of those you can handle. Filkers appreciate anyone who is doing the best they can, no matter how good that is.

>> Yes, I'd love to meet up with you if I can manage to get to a filk gathering in person, I always enjoy meeting fellow LJ/DW folks. I'm afraid I would just be a listening lurker if I attended virtually, since I'm seriously allergic to cameras and tend not to interact much in a crowded virtual venue. <<

Zoom, the usual go-to for online conventions, allows people to join without video. So if you want to come to one of the virtual filk conventions, you don't have to be seen. And there's frequently a lot of side action in the chat stream, which you can read or join in as suits you.

So yeah, drop me a line when you register for an online filk convention, and I'll let you know who to look for. And hope to see you in person some day.