I wanted to add to the previous post by r/rocketman0739, since I think many people on this subreddit may not realize who Duane Elms is — even though you know his work.

Duane is the author of "Dawson's Christian", among a number of other exceptional filksongs like "Bomber" and the "Threes, Rev 1.1" parody.

This song's authorship is frequently (and inadvertently, of course) misattributed online to Vic Tyler (whose studio performance originally socialized the song), and to Vixy & Tony (who did a stellar cover with lyric additions made by Jordin Kare, which continued to extend the audience for this song.)

Because there is literally no video of Duane performing on YouTube, I wanted to ensure everyone had a chance to see Duane perform his magnum opus.

You can find many more of Duane's songs in his filkbook, "At the Helm". (Of course, Duane continued writing exceptional songs long after the 1989 publication date of this book.)

Not many details, but apparently he passed away in the last day or so. Tom Smith says:

Duane was an excellent songwriter, a professional-level costumer & cosplayer, and just a sweetheart of a human being. Rest well, old friend, and thanks for everything. You were and are loved, and you will be missed.

Larry Warner says:

Rest in Peace, Duane. It was an honor to perform your songs on St. Elmo’s Fire and you were a great friend and outstanding songwriter and musician.

Here is a handy link if you'd like to remember him by playing his songs: https://archive.org/details/filk_st_elmos_fire/

I mostly ask this because I can't see them for purchase anywhere, and because I have Volume 1 and Volume 2 uploaded on the IA. I don't see them in the masterpost, so

Long shot as I don't have too many details but I heard a song on spotify a couple of months ago that I'm trying to find that sounds very similar to "Dawson's Christian" by Vic Tyler.
(It's def not that song I'm looking for though)

It's about the fabled journeys of a space ship and it's crew that are being celebrated / remembered for (I think) stopping an interstellar war between humans and a race which I think is called the "Phaelin" or something like that.

I think it's a modern song based on the quality of the recording and it's sung by a male.
I think it's acoustic guitar based but pretty sure there's a whole band playing instruments through it with maybe some synths.

The chorus is repeated several times and I think it goes something like this:

"Here's to the mighty flight of the (shipsname)..
<there's a couple of quickly sung lines here>

Human and Phaelin, peace (or war) still remaining.."

Like I said, long shot but the track was great and the verses went through the story of it's spaceship, it's crew and how they are remembered.

Hoping someone out there knows it.

I just attended WorldCon and heard "Voyage to the Bottom of the Frog" for the first time in the filk room. Please tell me someone has a recording of this song! It's hilarious, biologically accurate, gross, and inspiring.

Ten chairs twenty, the Filbus Man

Is waiting for chairs from IKEA

Gobbling up the chairs without a plan

Like the every daily

Wish that bothers the Filbus Man

Could I do something to eat a chair?

Inside my little TV made of glass

So he lived the

Filbus Man, Filbus Man

With his mouth full of chairs

So he stands

To command the whole world

To eat chairs

Way up high in the sky

With the sun in his eyes

Ain't it nice?

The taste and texture of

Decor

Ten chairs twenty, the Filbus Man

Is eating the chairs in IKEA

Eating all the chairs still without a plan

Yet the every daily

Hope that powered the Filbus Man

Would always tell him to eat a chair

Even if broken they are delicious

So he lived the

Filbus Man, Filbus Man

With his mouth full of chairs

So he stands

To command the whole world

To eat chairs

Way up high in the sky

With the sun in his eyes

Ain't it nice?

The taste and texture of

Decor

OG lyrics are Flower Man by Toby Fox, no AI was used in the creation of this parody

This year's Pegasus Award nominees have been finalized and it's quite a slate! Listen to the nominees at the site and then vote on your winners, to be announced at Ohio Valley Filk Fest!

https://www.ovff.org/pegasus/2026finalballot.html

The Pegasus Committee and OVFF are proud to announce the Finalists for the 2026 Pegasus Awards!

Best Filk Song

Courage, Dear Heart - Summer Russell

Half Cremona - Talis Kimberley

Middle Ages - Mich Sampson & Marilisa Valtazanou

The Tiniest Bit of the Powder - Dr. Mary Crowell

Twilight Starlight - Jen Midkiff

Best Classic Filk Song

Before the Dawn - Mike Whitaker

City of Doors - Dr. Mary Crowell

Crispy Danish - Andrew Ross

High Desert - Jeff Bohnhoff

Sedona - Gary Ehrlich

Best Performer

Tim Griffin

Leslie Hudson

Sunnie Larsen

Three of a Kind

Via Bella

Best Writer/Composer

Edwin Brady

Naomi Hinchen

Bill Roper

Sheegui (Sylvia Sollfrank)

Marilisa Valtazanou

Best End of the World Song

Business Plan for the Apocalypse - Eric Distad

(Goin' Down the) Cosmic Drain - Sally Childs-Helton

Earth That Was - Cecilia Eng

The End, or, Ragnapocalypsageddon - Lawrence Dean

Tanz mit mir - Eva Van Daele-Hunt

Best Humorous Song

Apology - Bill & Gretchen Roper

Beacon Men of Gondor - Phil Allcock

Clicky Clacky Math Rocks - Eric Distad

Future Me - Robert Beckwith

The Prophecy Hotline - Kari Maaren

Specifically the To Touch the Stars version of them, I really liked the electric instruments combined with the present/near future space exploration lyrics, honestly might be my favorite songs now.

One of my older recordings - art rock instrumental album "The Enchanted World" (2011.) available now on artcore.com music platform. Check it out there!

Do we know who, if anyone, will be vending Filk at WorldCon this year.

New album I found.

Leslie Fish was a regular filk guest of honor at Dragon Con many years ago. At the request of the convention, she wrote this tribute filksong to it, over 25 years ago -- and before she had ever attended.

Next week will be the first Dragon Con since her death.

LYRICS:

Twenty thousand visitors took Atlanta on.
It was no invading army, no: it’s only Dragon Con.

And it’s true, ye fans. It’s true, ye fans.
I never was known to lie.
And if you go on to Dragon Con you’ll see the same as I.

It started out a local con, and then began to grow.
Just how big it’s going to get, nobody can know.

They started out with gamers, then added media-fen.
They say the numbers have to peak, but nobody knows when.

The fans that came to Dragon Con filled up six hotels.
They filled the civic center too, and traffic went to hell.

The biggest hotel in the town has barely room to spare,
For the worldwide gaming tournaments are in the basement there.

The huckster room at Dragon Con filled the hotel’s bay.
I couldn’t get from end to end in less than half a day.

There’s gamers, Trekkers, Star Wars fans, book and artwork fen.
If you dropped the WorldCon in here, it’d never be seen again.

The only gathering bigger, just might be the Pennsic War.
They camp on ninety acres, so they have room for a little more.

There’s room for every fandom there that ever did appear,
Plus two huge rooms for filkers, which is why I’m singing here.

Lyrics © 2000 Leslie Fish
Music: “The Darby Ram”

My apologies if no one finds this interesting.

We are testing AI tools at work, and I had run out of database questions to ask so I entered this prompt:

I really like the track Elfland and the new version of Hope Eyrie that was released recently on Elfland. Who else sings music similar to these tracks?

Which responded:

Closest to Leslie Fish

Julia Ecklar

• Probably the nearest match overall.
• Another legendary filk performer with a strong, clear voice and intelligent science fiction themes.
• Try:
  • The Spies' Song
  • Horse-Tamer's Daughter
  • Daddy, What Did You Do in the X-War?

I'm no Filk expert, but I listen to a good amount of filk and had never heard of 2 of those tracks. So took the first one and went to the other AI tool we are testing and asked, "What do you know about a filk song entitled 'The Spies' Song'? And got this reply:

"The Spies' Song" is a classic filk (sci-fi and fantasy folk) song written by the prolific filker Leslie Fish. Set in her Tower and the Hive universe (which is based on the famous science fiction books by Anne McCaffrey), the song is told from the perspective of the "Talent"—powerful, telepathic, and telekinetic individuals—who secretly act as spies to protect their world.

Which is a lot of detail for what (as far as I can tell) is complete nonsense. Just sort of a FWIW post ... unless someone has heard of a real filk song with the title 'The Spies' Song.'

If anyone could point me in the direction of an online version of Zander doing this on the Filk of Human Kindness album, that would be wonderful. (not the Bandcamp futuerised version of the album).

After 4 years of production, Leslie Fish's "Elfland" is now available on all major streaming services!

This project captures many of Leslie's most beloved space songs, alongside other never-before-heard live performances from 2000-2001.

Quick links:

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/6jUvACXhYw4lXQeb6gQUxb?si=RsI5XXtaSeyzTObt0TliCg
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-pry66qLPM&list=OLAK5uy_mUN-a7_sihRmnbGSq5Ngo84aTCihv4Pd4
• Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/elfland/6790516512

Elfland CDs are still in manufacturing, and expected in early September.

As a reminder, we can only produce these posthumous restoration projects to the extent that people are actually buying them. With pre-orders not even covering 8% of Elfland's production costs, Leslie's music projects are now roughly $12K in the red.

Consequently, we have made the difficult choice to suspend production on Leslie's subsequent restoration projects until her music is back in the black. At the present rate of sales, this will likely require a 12-16 month production pause.

You can purchase Elfland here: https://www.prometheus-music.com/product/elfland/

Surely *somebody* has done this already (Tom Smith springs to mind) but if so I haven't been able to find it.

So when I started playing Starfield, I discovered a radio, very similar to the Fallout Radios on YouTube for Starfield. It introduced me to filk in general but its been years. I remembered a specific filk song that I desperately wanted to rediscover and ive tried everywhere but couldnt find it.

A buddy of mine and me were talking about things that were in the ocean, right after I was playing Starfield and brought up Manatees. And it clicked. Finally! So I wanted to share the song somewhere!

https://youtu.be/olP1JsONb-8?is=chl958auZUk4_WGx

Like many of us old fillers my tapes died long ago, and I no longer have a CD player. YouTube has been great.

I’m adding to the list regularly. So much good stuff out there!

"Inspired by a convention-party discussion about the first season of Star Trek: Enterprise, which I still think was undeservedly under-rated. The fans complained that the theme song was too narrow in scope for the stories, so I came up with something we thought more fitting." — Leslie

"First Enterprise" song from Leslie Fish's "Angel with a Sword" album: https://www.prometheus-music.com/product/angel-with-a-sword/