Aphelion

I could SWEAR that this was covered in a thread in the old, pre-YaBB lettercol ...<br><br>'Filk' is the sf fandom term for music (often 'to the tune of' popular songs) with sf- or fantasy- related lyrics. Actually, I think Dan had a filk lyric based on the Ringworld books in this (YaBB) lettercol -- can't remember if it had an original melody or if he fit the lyrics to an existing tune.<br><br>Spider Robinson (the expatriate American (now a Nova Scotia resident, if I recall correctly) author of the Callahan's Crosstime Saloon books) is a well-known filker, his fondness for awful puns being a great help in devising sly sf-alluding lyrics ...<br><br>Robert M.

The way I understand it then, is that filk music is sort of like the off-color parodies of pop music that we used to sing in the army.  Or am I still off base?

Donald

<br>Off base?  Well, if you are, I hope you got your leave approved.   (Being AWOL is serious business in Dubya's America, what with there being whole countries he hasn't even invaded yet.)<br><br>What you have described (off-color parodies ...) sounds more like 'filth' music! ;)<br><br>But seriously, in a science fiction / fantasy context, 'filk' would definitely be as I and Dan have described it.  No doubt a lot of filk lyrics are off-color, but they don't have to be.  (If you go to any major 'con'(vention), you can probably find people performing filk music; there may even be contests.  Not that I've been to any since Torcon 2 back in the '70s!)<br><br>Robert M.

The way I understand it then, is that filk music is sort of like the off-color parodies of pop music that we used to sing in the army. Or am I still off base?

Donald

<br><br><br>That would be an incomplete definition of filk music. Here is the definition I have on my songbook page:<br><br>

Filk is music about SF and Fantasy, about the people who create it, and the people who enjoy it. It is the folk music of science fiction fandom, and includes everything from song parodies on SF themes to original musical works. It has a variety of styles, from folk to rock to show tunes. But it is, at its root, the music of a particular culture, that being SF fandom, and essentially music about the things that people of that culture embrace is filk.

<br><br>If you'd like more information, check out Interfilk's "What Is Filk Music?" page at http://www.interfilk.org/interfilk/filk.htm<br><br>Many SF/F cons will have filking activity, and there are filk-only cons. The next filkcon is Jun 24-26 in the New York area. I'm on the comittee of Georgia's filkcon, GaFilk, held each year in January.<br><br>Hope this helps.