Filk

Filk is a musical culture, genre, and community tied to science fiction/fantasy fandom. The genre has been active since the early 1950s, and played primarily since the mid-1970s. An early mention of filk songs can be seen in the zine Day Star.
It's commonly described casually as "science-fiction folk music" -- and in fact, the word "filk" comes from a typo for "folk" in a 1950s essayhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filk#History, accessed October 20, 2008 -- but that falls short of the full range of music that's considered filk. The exact definition is controversial; like the definition of "fanfiction," fans do not agree on the boundaries of the genre.http://www.filking.net/filkfaq/what-is-filk/, accessed September 29, 2008. 
It has been defined as the folk music of the science fiction community, and to a lesser extent, of fans in general. The Interfilk website has a good set of links to a variety of definitions. 
Some definitions focus on the location of the activity ("filk is what happens in a filk circle"), and some focus on the content of the lyrics ("Filk includes songs about every science fiction or fantasy subject you could imagine: outer space (both real and fictional), books, movies, TV shows, dragons, magic, unicorns, vampires, and aliens of every sort. It also includes songs about things of interest to the Science Fiction and Fantasy community (usually referred to as 'fandom') and strongly resembles contemporary folk music"http://www.massfilc.org/filkdefined.html, accessed April 26, 2009). 
 
Gary McGath has offered the following definition: "filk music is a musical movement among fans of science fiction and fantasy fandom and closely related activities, emphasizing content which is related to the genre or its fans, and promoting broad participation. Filkers are people who participate in this movement."http://www.mcgath.com/filkdef.html, accessed April 25, 2009
In her 1993 article about filking, Karen Ann Yost described how filk cassettes were becoming more professional sounding: 
Filk seems to have fallen out of fashion in the 21st century, with the folk music style also fading. Instead, fan songs - which don't limit themselves to any particular topic or style - are recorded and posted online, either as audio or video, or as a set of lyrics to be sung to a specified tune.
==Filk in Different Forms==
Filk songs were often printed in print zines which contained many other forms of fanworks, such as fiction, art, articles, and poetry. It can be difficult to identify a filk if it is not labeled as such, or is not accompanied by the phrase to the tune of, along with the song being utilized. Filks could easily be mistaken for poetry without these markers. 
Filks are also performed by single fans, or groups of fans, as a presentation. Many con reports have descriptions of being in the presence of fans who filked for the entertainment of others. 
Filks are also performed as a group activity at cons and other fan gatherings:
Some fans prefer to listen to filks as a sound recordings which were distributed by sites listed on or below at the Filk Production/Sales Companies section.
Homestuck's unofficial songs have been called filk.Adam Harper (2014-11-08) System Focus: Fandom Music Is As Underground As It Gets, The FADER. Accessed Sep 28, 2023.
==Filk Hall of Fame==
Since 1995, the Filk Hall of Fame,Earlier version of the site an award for lifetime and ongoing achievement in the filk community, has been presented every year at FilKONtario. It was conceived of as a way to recognise the closeness of the filk community and honour those who have made substantial contributions to it.FHOF – History, FilKONtario. Published March 2001 (Accessed November 9, 2020).
In 27 years of the award (between 1995 and 2021), 79 filkers have been inducted into the Hall of Fame.FHOF – Inductees by Year, FilKONtario. Accessed May 13, 2021.
==Common Traits==
;Filk music is often characterized by : Science-fiction- or fantasy-themed lyrics,
: Acoustic instruments, most commonly guitar,
: Creativity being as respected as musical talent, 
: Community-participatory gatherings rather than concerts. (Concerts do exist, but are less common and less emphasized than informal, social filksings.)
; Tunes can be : Traditional folk tunes with new sci-fi or high-tech words, 
: Popular tunes with re-written lyrics of fannish topics,
: Poems or passages from written work set to music,
: Original tunes with lyrics addressing some aspect of fandom.
In some cases, a traditional or popular song is "adopted" by a filk community as a popular song at filksings, regardless of origin or authorial intent. These are generally referred to as "found filk" and examples include Weird Al Yankovic's "Yoda," Nigel Russell's "White Collar Holler," and the children's song "The Cat Came Back" (although for the latter, additional verses involving nuclear war or alien invasion are common).
==Characteristics of a Filksing==
From a 1987 handout:
==Filk and Conventions==
Thanks in part to Juanita Coulson's efforts in the 1950s and 1960s, filk takes place primarily at conventions, although house filks are also common. Filking overlaps with both SFF and media fandom, and is often included as part of those conventions. At conventions, filk usually occurs in the evening hours after regular convention programming has concluded, although many conventions will also offer filk panels, and conventions with a significant filk presence (such as FenCon) may also offer concerts. 
Filking also has its own conventions and an annual awards ceremony (the Pegasus Awards), which are part of the Ohio Valley Filk Fest). Other major filk conventions include GAFilk, FilKONtario, and ConChord.
The filk community in Britain, while active for many years before in corners and stairwells, emerged blinking into the light after Follycon, the 1988 Eastercon, when Gytha North and a few other enthusiasts laid the foundations for what would, the following year, become the regular annual British Filk Convention. Peripatetic for its first decade or so, this has in recent years settled, first in Grantham in Lincolnshire, and then in Marks Tey, near Colchester in Essex. The Sams or UK Filk Awards, presented at the convention and named after the filking anthem "Sam's Song," are justly coveted. 
Filk culture in Europe is strongest in Germany, where they have 2 annual conventions. FilkContinental has been held for many years in a number of impressive venues, including castles. Das Frühlingsfest der Filksmusik, or D.F.D.F. has been held since 2009 and is more of a relaxacon.
==Common Tropes/Genres==
Filk is often grouped into categories in filkbooks. This list includes at least one example of each category.
* Science Fiction, Fandom (Born Again Trek), 
* Science Fiction, Original (Dawson's Christian), 
* Space Exploration (Hope Eyrie)
* Science Fact (The Designer, Out of a Clear Blue Sky, The Elements)
* Fantasy, Fandom (Moreta's Ride) 
* Fantasy, Original (Threes), 
* Fantasy, Fairy Tales/Mythology (I'll Be Your Victim, Death Danced at my Party, Captain Jack & the Mermaid)
* Computers/Internet (S-100 Bus), 
* Filk tunes to classic poetry/songs (Jabberwocky-as-greensleeves, Kipling-by-Fish)
* Media, not specifically SF/F (Velveteen, Come Ye Droids, Desert Storm, A-Ramboing)
* Fannish Activities—cosplay, SCA, zinemaking, fanfic etc: (Isn't it the Pits, True Story, The Press, I Love Slash)
* Fannish interests: Gaming, comics (You Bash the Balrog, Lois Lane Boogie)
* (meta)Fandom, General or Specific (At the Worldcon, Gordy Dickson), 
* Metafilk, General or Specific (Song At the Ready, Singing Banned from Argo), 
* Reading/Literature (X Libris, Baby Got Book)
* Creatures (Overflowin' Catbox Blues, Kraken, Monster Lullaby)
* Ballads of Daily Life (Song of the Middle Manager, Two Lawyers, Send It To The Moon)
==Notable Examples==
Leslie Fish is famous for her original filk and her performances of these filks. She's written and performed hundreds of filksongs, and set to music many of Kipling's poems, which are sung in fannish settings. Other well-known filk writers or performers include Mercedes Lackey, Tom Smith, Frank Hayes, Jeff and Maya Bonhoff, Dr. Jane Robinson, Seanan McGuire, Bob Kanefsky, Jordin Kare, Meg Davis, Kathy Mar, Bill and Brenda Sutton, Dr. Mary Crowell, Roberta Rogow, Jane Mailander, and Brooke Lunderville. 
Julia Ecklar is another famous fan and filker who recorded numerous filk albums in the early 1980s, including Minus Ten and Counting, Horse-Tamer's Daughter, and Genesis. Many of her songs were used for songvids in the '80s and '90s, especially by Caren Parnes and Mary Van Deusen.
The NESFA (New England Science Fiction Association) Hymnal, first published in 1976, had over 150 songs about various aspects of fandom, including 17 songs about Tolkien's works and seven about Star Trek. 
Diane Duane's licensed Star Trek novel, The Wounded Sky (Pocket Books, 1983), includes several scenes in the U.S.S. Enterprise's recreation room, one of which quotes a Star Trek filk song based on John Denver's Calypso.
Well-known and popular filksongs include:Fish's "Hope Eyrie" and her "Banned From Argo,"Banned From Argo lyrics Accessed November 17, 2008. a parody with an original tune, about Star Trek characters who have partied so hard on shore leave they've been banned from the planet"You Bash the Balrog" by Lee Gold, to the tune of "Waltzing Matilda," about a party of adventurers in a Dungeons and Dragons-esque setting"What Shall We Do With A Drunken Hobbit?", with variable verses and no known originthe fannish version of "Old Time Religion,"That Real Old Time Religion, a an extensive but not complete collection of verses. accessed November 17, 2008. , originated by Victor Anderson, with several hundred verses devoted to various deities of history, myth, fiction and occasionally science, often with new ones made up on the spot"Velveteen" by Kathy Mar, about the story "The Velveteen Rabbit," winner of the 1991 Pegasus Award for best love songJordin Kare's "Fire in the Sky" about space exploration, with a verse added in 1986 to mourn the Challenger shuttle crashGregory Baker's Zaphod Beeblebrox and MeZanda Myrande and Soren Nyrond's "Sam's Song"Sam's Song, which is traditionally sung at the end of UK Filk ConventionsTrek Hillbillies - a mystery filk found among Katharine Scarritt's papers after she passed. 
===Filksongs that have appeared in songvids===
* Temper of Revenge
* Weary World
* Terminus Est
* Needs of the One
* Survivor's Song
* Born Again Trek here
* 39 Julia Ecklar fanvids on YouTube by Mary Van Deusen
* LiveJournal Shanty
* Many others
===Filk collections on tape or CD===
*Alive and Filking
*The Best of Filkcon West
*Come Filking
*Down to Earth, also a zine
*Dragon's Jedi Filk Tapes
*Filking Wild!!! (1988)
*Frank Hayes Live! (1991)
*Highlights of Filkcon 4.2 (1983)
*In Space, No One Can Hear You Sing (1986)
*Live from New York
*Mind the Stopgap
*No Sheep Aloud
*One Filk, Two Filk, Old Filk, New Filk
*People and Places (1987)
*Rat Mastersongs
*Recycled Rogow
*Scaring the Sheep
*Sing More Songs of SETI
*Some Dreams Are Worth Having (also as zine)
*The Trek Goes On (1987)
*Wackademia (1989)
===Filk songbooks as zines===
*A New Settlement of Old Scores (1983)
*Blake's Seven Christmas Filksongbook
*Blake's Seven Christmas Filksongs
*The Book of Common Filk (1992)
*The Barbecued Songbook (1987)
*The Colors of Love (1977, slash)
*Crystal Memories
*Dreamer
*Dream of Light Horses (1990)
*Drunken Rabble Project (gen)
*Escape from Mundania!
*Fan-tastic (1981, gen)
*The Federation Troopers' Glee Club Filk Book (1995)
*Filk from a Developing Country
*Filks from Under the Rowan Tree
*Filkindex
*Filthy Pierre's Microfilk
*Friends & Strangers, Near & Far
*The George Lincoln Prichard Memorial Songbook & Taxidermy Guide
*Holmesian Limericks & A Sherlock Sing-a-Long
*The Homebrewed Book of Pagan Carols
*Howlin' All the Time!
*If I Had a Filksong
*I Feel a Filksong Coming On
*I've Got Trek In My Heart
*Kantele: A Filksing Fanzine (1978-)
*Trek Side Story filking supplement in each issue of Kiron III (1989-91)
*Let's Filk About
*Major and Minor Magic: The Magicon Filk Book (1992)
*Matt G. Leger's Book of Demented, Deranged and Degenerate Filksongs (1983-1985)
*Melody Pirates (1991)
*Musical Chas
*Na Mele O Na Hoku
*N.E.S.F.A. Hymnal
*The Pegasus Winners (1994)
*Philly Philk
*Rec-Room Rhymes
*September Party Filksong Book (1985)
*Sing a Song of Trekkin' (1979)
*The Singing Starship 
*Songbook Pusher (1988)
*Songs of the Seven (1988)
*Songworm: Segment One (1988)
*Strawberry Filks Forever
*Star Trek Songs and Ballads
*Stewartfest Songbook
*Sysex Dump! (1994)
*This Side of Parodize
*Under the Golden Arches
*Ye Olde M*T Songee Booke
*Whovita 
*Xenofilkia (1988-present, gen)
== Miscellaneous Songbooks ==
see :Category:Filk Songbooks
==Filk Production/Sales Companies==
*Off Centaur Publications, later Firebird Arts & Music
*Wail Songs
*Dandelion Digital
*Pegasus Music
*Random Factors
*Southern Fried Filk
*Quicksilver Fantasies
*Thor Records
*Dodeka Records
*DAG Productions
*Unlikely Publications
*Prometheus Music
== Further Reading==
===Links===
* Filk, at Wikipedia
* filk @ FanWorksFinder.Com
* The Pegasus Awards
* The Virtual Filksing
* history of filk and personal testimonies at Filk Archive
* Filk Archive
* Interfilk
* Filk.com
* Debbie's Filk FAQ at The Dandelion Report
* The Filk Book Index
* Filk yeah filk Wordpress site and Tumblr
* Filk.de
* 
* Tatum, Melissa L. 2009. Identity and authenticity in the filk community. Transformative Works and Cultures, no. 3.
* Bursztynski, Sue, 2006. ""Filk Music - Remember When...?", Great Raven (blog recalling filking)
===Meta===
* The Great Raven - Remember When
*An Egocentric and Convoluted History of Early "Filk" and Filking by Lee Gold (1997)
* Links To Darn Near All the Filk on the Web. By Subject. By Maureen (use archived link below for dead links) WayBack Link.
*Beccon publications publish numerous Filk books
* 
* 
* Copyright and Filk Songs, archive link page one, archive link page two, archive link page three, archive link page four, March 2001 discussion at rec.arts.sf.written
* (1993)
*
* All Of The Filkers Are Singing by Bjo Trimble (1982)
* Amateur Folk Singers in Space by Bret Dawson and Clive Thompson (1996)
==References==
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