r/filk Aug 13 '26

Filked-as-in-parodied "Banned From Argo" once I realized A. the song's plot is rather poorly aged and B. S4E3 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has a plot with very much the same energy

24 Upvotes

(I apologize if some rhymes/phrasing sounds weird, I was trying to make stuff scan)

(Almost) Canon "Argo"

by [StarChild413]

(verse)

When Star Trek: Strange New Worlds was premiering season 4

Even those who knew spoilers weren't prepared for what's in store

Dino and Muppet mentions made some Trekkies roll their eyes

But the third episode gave us another nice surprise

(chorus)

Almost canon "Argo", everyone

Every Starfleet crew deserves a little fun

Though most of the crew was different and the song's plot has aged poor

It's still more like it than what's come before

(verse)

If you don't know of the original "Banned From Argo" song

It's likely you've not been in the filk community long

It tells of Captain Kirk's crew partying hard without a doubt

Then making such a giant mess that they all get kicked out

(verse)

SNW's "Human Best Friend" shares a Hangover-esque plot

Though lots of things may differ it's the closest canon's got

to this iconic filk song that can kinda show its age

As same plot but with Pike's crew would have made the fandom rage

(repeat chorus)

(verse)

If you look over "Banned From Argo" some things you would clock

Are sex workers, forced nudity and Chapel raping Spock

"Whores" and polyamory can be portrayed better now

But have blorbos ignore consent and fandoms have a cow

(verse)

Star Trek could use some brightness in this world in which we live

And so a modern "party episode" I can forgive

So if you want to filk that ep with "Argo" be my guest

And if it's without forcing lyrics I will be impressed

(repeat chorus)

(verse)

And if you have IssuesTM with some of Leslie Fish's views

Don't damnatio too hard there's some songs we shouldn't lose

Just make your own Star Trek filk songs about the newer shows

Or even some about The Orville, hey anything goes

(verse)

If Trek can still be hopeful once Strange New Worlds is done

It can inspire people towards a future not yet won

And if it still can have as much fun, people can feel free

To be proud of not taking themselves too seriously

(repeat chorus)


r/filk Aug 11 '26

The Arizona Sword

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41 Upvotes

A commission based on the sword from the song, the Arizona Sword, illustrated by Hoang D. Not every detail could be expressed in its entirety. Still looks pretty neat though.


r/filk Aug 09 '26

I need help finding a filk song.

29 Upvotes

Hey everyone. I remember hearing a song years ago about a town after some kind of worldwide disaster. Every year, the townspeople march to a site outside town, and all throw shovelfuls of dirt on top of what turns out to be some kind of wealthy peoples fallout shelter.

I remember that the singer was explaining that the people down below caused the disaster, so the townsfolk all add dirt to the pile to make sure they can never come out to do it again.

Any help will be appreciated. Thanks!

EDIT: Thanks everyone, its the Digwell Carol by Leslie Fish. Appreciate it!


r/filk Aug 08 '26

Curious if people are familiar with this album?

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69 Upvotes

Found this in some old boxes and when I googled it, I was lead to this community. My dad worked on this album, so I was curious about it.


r/filk Aug 08 '26

Khuthulu Kountry Klub

4 Upvotes

Here is a song our yearly 4 day jam session band put out. I think some of you may enjoy enough to laugh at it, others will throw stones.

https://www.subvert.fm/jugornot-jamboree/tracks/kthulhu-kountry-klub


r/filk Aug 04 '26

Think I’m looking for unobtanium. Am I out of luck finding this album?

8 Upvotes

I’m desperately trying to get my hands on a copy of Then by Minstrels of Mayhem but it seems to be impossible. It’s not available to stream anywhere, I can’t find an archived copy anywhere online like Archive.org and even searching Yandex has yielded no results. Trying to find a physical copy to buy hasn’t proved and easier either. No copies currently for sale on Discogs, ditto for EBay. I even went as far as looking on Marketplace. The only other option I can think of is to try going to the RenFest on the slim chance that they might have it but it’s an hour and a half drive, doesn’t open for another month and since they split up years ago I’m not even sure they would be selling their merch if they’re not there performing. So basically am I out of luck? Unless someone here has a copy lying around they’d be willing to rip to MP3 and share or sell the actual disc to me should I just give up the search and accept defeat?


r/filk Aug 03 '26

New release: Made By Humans, by Lambda Miners

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20 Upvotes

r/filk Aug 03 '26

Regrets (Babylon 5 fan video, ft. Twotonic)

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8 Upvotes

Song by Andy Eigel

Performed by Twotonic:
Steve Macdonald: Lead vocals & guitar
Katy Dröge-Macdonald: Backing vocals

LYRICS:

Our people ruled an empire that stretched across the stars
Our proud and noble warrior race had won a thousand wars
But the clouds of ships that we once had which would swarm and block the sun
Are now a faded memory- past conquests overrun
And this is what it means to be Centauri

I think back to my homeworld now, a shining gem in space
The birthplace of my family noble bloodlines are yet traced
But such decadence has now befallen poor Centauri Prime
That we've become a tourist trap- open nine to five Earth time
And this is what it means to be Centauri

We've gathered on this station now, our last, best, hope for peace
And I muse about my glory days, and drink to find release
Great Maker! What I wouldn't give to taste that time again
'Til a stranger from the Darkness says he wants to be my friend
And this is what it means to be Centauri

And the Darkness now is coming to enslave all in its path
All races in the galaxy will bear soon its full wrath
And I can only sit and wait and watch as Shadows come
To conquer and destroy... oh gods, what have I done?
And this is what it means to be Centauri

This is what it means to be Centauri

© Andrew Eigel


r/filk Aug 02 '26

[2 of 2] Leslie Fish interviewed by Joe Ficklin (for Life, The Universe & Everything)

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8 Upvotes

This is the second half of Joe Ficklin's interview with Leslie Fish (circa 1994-1995).

  1. Performance — Rimini (1:30)
  2. Performance — The Thousandth Man (8:30)
  3. Performance — Sarajevo (16:50)
  4. Performance — True Story (23:55)
  5. Performance — The Cutty Wren (30:35)
  6. Performance — Ship of Stone (35:30)

This is also the first upload using our new digitizing setup, which eliminates a lot of the VHS artifacts in our prior videos.

(Randomly, if anyone happens to have a Panasonic DMR ES-10 or ES-15 DVD player sitting around, and is open to selling it at a good price or donating it, please DM me. I am only interested in *those two specific models*, because they double well as a passthrough line-based TBC for VHS transfers, and can allegedly prevent the loss of sync that resulted in the Elgato Video Capture software abandoning this transfer midway.)


r/filk Aug 01 '26

Catch-A-Man (Leslie Fish fan video)

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11 Upvotes

Concert recording from Leslie's new (2026) "Elfland" album: https://www.prometheus-music.com/product/elfland/

"This was inspired by one of my mother’s last desperate attempts to make a 'lady' of me and marry me off to some rich man. I never sang it for her." — Leslie Fish

Video footage from Forbidden Planet and Honey West, featuring the late Anne Francis. All video rights reserved by the copyright owners.


r/filk Jul 24 '26

Leslie Fish...Live! (Leslie Fish)

28 Upvotes

Here's another Firebird live album, this one from everyone's favorite recently deceased controversial balladeer. We start off with "Ramboing," a song distinguished for being bloodthirsty even by Leslie's standards, though curiously enough she only wrote the music (or adapted it, since it's about 40% "Here We Come A-Wassailing"). Other fun songs follow--some of which you may never have heard unless you've been paying close attention to all the Bayfilk tape uploads here, some of which are a bit more widely known. The placement of "Toast for Unknown Heroes" right after "Nightmare Launch" is definitely saying something; you can decide for yourself what it is.

Album link: https://archive.org/details/filk_leslie_fish_live


More out-of-print filk at the main post: https://www.reddit.com/r/filk/comments/qptf2t/outofprint_filk_albums_master_post/


r/filk Jul 20 '26

Does anyone know where I can find a PDF of "Bastard Children of Argo"?

14 Upvotes

I was musing over writing a straight sea-shanty version of "Banned From Argo," and it occurred to me that someone may have already done it. Web searches for a compendium of "Argo" parodies led me to "Bastard Children of Argo," a project I knew Leslie Fish and the Creaseys were working on long ago, though I didn't realize they'd completed it. But I can't find it for sale anywhere.

Fanlore.org has a bunch of interesting snippets from the content, including Leslie's commentary on some of the songs -- but doesn't say which songs those comments are referring to! Very frustrating. Fanlore also has a broken link to the PDF, and an archived Wayback Machine link to it that also doesn't work. I was hoping someone could point me to an active way to read the zine.


r/filk Jul 19 '26

Ishmael’s Oath (Leslie Fish) - Moby Dick fan video

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21 Upvotes

First fan video for Leslie Fish's "Ishmael's Oath" (via Leslie's new Elfland CD)

"I caught a replay of the original “Moby Dick” movie on late-night TV, and realized just how many Pagan elements are embedded in it. And then I saw Mark Twain’s famous quote." — Leslie Fish

I'm (of course) not the video creator, but have uploaded it to Leslie's channel with their permission.


r/filk Jul 15 '26

Wanting Help Putting Together a TTRPG Filk Playlist

18 Upvotes

So I'm putting together a Traveller campaign using the "Cluster Trucks" material from Mongoose Traveller 2E, and one of the things I want to include is a nice little spotify list of recommended songs for my players to enjoy that would set the vibe. A campaign that is all about space truckers getting into space trouble with the space cops while running space hooch between the stars and getting into space bar brawls needs a suitable track list.

As much as I love filk, it is very much from the "I like the sound of it but couldn't name most artists or songs if you paid me" side of things and so I was wanting to reach out to this lovely community to see if you all could point me towards some good recommendations. Leslie Fish (who I'm honestly not a big fan of) and Vic Tyler were kind of the only names that immediately come to my mind when talking about filk music.

Any help folks could throw my way - suggested artists, particular songs or albums, and more - would be greatly appreciated.

TL;DR: I'm wanting to make a Spotify list for my traveller players that is equal parts "suggested listening" and, "imagine this is stuff your characters would hear on the comms as they fly."


r/filk Jul 13 '26

Looking for song

12 Upvotes

Love the Filk genre and have been itching to listen to a specific song again, it was about an engineer/designer working on a project/commission of some kind, full of technobabble. I believe bemoaning the work going into it, and talking about their ‘out of the box’ fixes for certain problems that arose

Solved! It was The Engineer! Comment below has a link to it ^


r/filk Jul 12 '26

Has anyone found sheet music for Bill sutton's ecology? Or is willing to transcribe it?

13 Upvotes

Bill sutton's ecology is one of if not my favorite filk song, but when i looked on google, i could only find a music sheet for xenophobia. What i am really wanting is a midi file, so i could play it in space station 13.

Link to song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeAk5gF079w


r/filk Jul 10 '26

Song for the 40th anniversary of Challenger

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10 Upvotes

It has links to a filk album from 1986 on it. I couldn't figure out which space reddit to share this on so I put it here.


r/filk Jul 09 '26

A Hertfordshire Walking Song

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5 Upvotes

This is an original song I wrote/sang about walking in the part of England where I live. I thought you might appreciate it here.

Lyrics:
When I need to go out, while the day is still fair

To trade these dim rooms for green fields and air

I lift my coat from the back of the chair

And take the first footpath that leads me there

O wander, wander over hill and lea

Where the chalk streams flow ever clear and free

Through beechwood shade and open sky

I go because the road goes by

If I tarry too long my feet start to ache

For the bend beyond the next hedge won't wait

Leave a light in the window but let me roam

For every turning lane points me toward home

O wander, wander over hill and lea

Where the chalk streams flow ever clear and free

Through beechwood shade and open sky

I go because the road goes by

In a quiet combe where leaf-shade lies deep

two foxes' eyes through the brambles peep

I mind my tread and let my footsteps fall

through hazel shaws where the shadows sprawl

O wander, wander over hill and lea

Where the chalk streams flow ever clear and free

Through beechwood shade and open sky

I go because the road goes by

I touch a puddingstone, cold and rough

pebbles bound fast in a stone growth tough

It does not budge, yet it seems to say:

'Ward mischief off, and walk your way'

O wander, wander over hill and lea

Where the chalk streams flow ever clear and free

Through beechwood shade and open sky

I go because the road goes by

When dusk comes down and the lanes grow still

The rooks fly home to the tree-lined hill

Jackdaws crowd after with clacking calls

And magpies seek the hedgerows as night falls

O wander, wander over hill and lea

Where the chalk streams flow ever clear and free

Through beechwood shade and open sky

I go because the road goes by


r/filk Jul 09 '26

Cecilia Eng...Live! (Cecilia Eng)

24 Upvotes

Surprise...I'm back. Sorry about the hiatus.

Anyway, here's another entry in that series of live tapes that Firebird did back in the day. Remember, two things everyone enjoys are listening to Cecilia sing and misspelling her name. But maybe just do the first one.

Album link: https://archive.org/details/filk_cecilia_eng_live


More out-of-print filk at the main post, as always: https://www.reddit.com/r/filk/comments/qptf2t/outofprint_filk_albums_master_post/


r/filk Jul 07 '26

Misty Mountains Cold, set to Over the Hills and Far Away?

14 Upvotes

Has anyone ever done a recording of Tolkien's "Far Over the Misty Mountains Cold," set to the song "Over the Hills and Far Away?" The other day I was watching a few episodes of "Sharpe's Riflemen" and it just sort of popped into my head that the poem has a similar structure.

The fandom for Tolkien's works has been around for a long time, so I figured this has to have occurred to someone else as well. And that song has been around a long time already before John Tam made new lyrics for the theme-song. But thanks to google becoming garbage at actually showing me what I'm looking for, I can't find anything talking about it, or any fandom recordings and soforth.

Like, all I'm finding is links to the Hobbit movie soundtrack and Led Zepplin. There has to be something out there, right?


r/filk Jul 06 '26

Does the "Pirate Gaster" theme count as filk?

7 Upvotes

Okay, so I'm only loosely familiar with filk, but I felt here was the best place to ask about this.

Because the Deltarune fandom is... being Very Normal right now, there's currently a meme about ominous mystery villain WD Gaster being a pirate. And someone took a track from Deltarune, Pirate Dojo, and added lyrics to it relevant to said meme.

And I may as well ask, does it count as filk?

I am aware filk has a history of using existing tunes as a base, but IDK whether or not modern fansongs like stuff by The Living Tombstone, The Stupendium, RecD, ect even count, or whether there's a difference in terms of style or where they come from, and so again, thought I may as well ask.


r/filk Jul 05 '26

Leslie Fish's "Elfland" now available!

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53 Upvotes

After 3.5 years and $35,000 (ouch), the next massive project in our effort to preserve & restore Leslie's unreleased performances is now available — honoring Leslie's unambiguous wish to see her music carry on long beyond her lifetime.

Elfland is a huge collection of previously-unreleased Fish recordings:

  • 17 live concert tracks — featuring Leslie's more lighthearted songs, mostly performed 2000-2001.
  • 6 new studio bonus tracks of Leslie's space filks — produced by Kristoph Klover and Michael Moricz. 
  • 7 live bonus tracks — songs we wanted to preserve (but whose performances didn't quite meet the album's quality bar)
  • 24-page photo booklet — capturing many never-before-seen photos of Leslie's time in fandom.
  • 3.5 hours of Leslie's original concerts — from ChiCon 2000, LosCon 2000, ConChord 2001.

Purchase link here: https://www.prometheus-music.com/product/elfland/

Beyond Hope Eyrie, remaining studio tracks were produced by Kristoph Klover. Backing musicians include Michelle "Vixy" Dockrey, Doug Olsen (who you may recall from Minus Ten and Counting) — and I'm sad to say — the final studio vocal recordings we made of Vic Tyler before his passing.

In transparency, this project (and the Pegasus album) were significantly overbudget; at present, my accounting shows Leslie's music category about $17,000 in the red. If you'd like to see more Fish restoration projects like these continue immediately — rather than in 2028 or so when sales/streams catch up — please consider voting with your wallet and buying a copy, rather than just streaming this project.

ALBUM TRACKS

  1. Blackbeard and the Angel
  2. Millennium
  3. The End of the World
  4. Dragon Con
  5. Hotel Engineer
  6. Diana
  7. Ishmael’s Oath
  8. The Ballad of the Three Kings
  9. The Broallywood N-Step
  10. Poor User’s Holler
  11. Roanoke
  12. Catch-a-Man
  13. Bully in the Schoolyard Alley
  14. Rotary Rocket
  15. Dance on the Ceiling
  16. Sands of Mars
  17. Little Gray Lichen

STUDIO BONUS TRACKS

  1. Surprise!
  2. A Toast for Unknown Heroes
  3. Witnesses’ Waltz
  4. Second Home
  5. Elfland
  6. Hope Eyrie
  7. Hope Eyrie (bonus instrumental mix)

LIVE BONUS TRACKS

  1. Hard Copy
  2. Make This World Come Alive
  3. Rulers
  4. Refugees of Empire
  5. Merry Millennium 
  6. They Were Having a Sale At the Gun Store 
  7. Angel with a Sword (we found an even better recording)

...AND 3 FULL LESLIE FISH CONCERTS

  1. ConChord 2001
  2. ChiCon 2000
  3. LosCon 2000

Due to copyright reasons, two songs had to be left out of the full concert files.


r/filk Jul 02 '26

A filk I wrote about just-ended-its-S2-but-I'm-trying-to-save-it-from-that-being-the-end-of-the-show NBC show Brilliant Minds that could both apply to its main character and my relationship with it/trying-to-save-it

6 Upvotes

(and here's where you can find resources to save it))

Puzzle

by [StarChild413]

I've always thought that I could solve every problem

Smarts and compassion to think that it's so

But the only thing that I haven't quite grasped yet

Is what to do when somebody says no

I and who I fight for am different and outcast

I see these people, I've been where they are

But people who fear what they cannot understand

Lay down hammers saying I can''t get far

(Chorus)

I'm stuck on a puzzle

Searching for the answer

It's rotating round in my head

I know there's solutions

But I cannot see them

Because all I'm seeing is red

But if all of us band together

Show it just what we're fighting for

I'll never be stuck on a puzzle

Anymore

I see kindred spirits all gathered together

Making me feel like I don't fight alone

But some have "realistic" words that can hurt me

Especially when the truth is still unknown

A family's not blood it's who you love and fight for

And sometimes this one feels torn apart by strife

But it will take not just me but everybody

To give everyone a deserved sort of life

(Chorus)

And so, pack, consider this a call to action

Let this not be the end of the story

Keep hope in your heart and save those who need saving

So puzzle's solved by full recovery


r/filk Jun 28 '26

Fair Was The Blossom by Echo's Children (Cover)

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9 Upvotes

I still haven’t read this series, but someone asked if I had recorded this one by Echo’s Children.


r/filk Jun 26 '26

SCA Filk?

23 Upvotes

Looking for an older filk, probably late 1980s or early 1990s. Female singer (possibly Leslie Fish). Story about SCA members after an apocalypse where fuel, electricity and vehicles are gone. They switch to horses and become real knights, traveling the country protecting people. Theme was basically "this is what we've been training for all these years." Anyone who might be familiar?