[Bards] Filking

Ken Theriot kentheriot at ravenboymusic.com
Sun Apr 27 13:38:53 PDT 2008


< I, personally, dislike blatantly modern tunes, but as Saint-Saëns
demonstrated in his "Carnival of Animals"  He took two spritely tunes,
transposed them down, slowed them down, and gave them to the double bassoon
and called it "The Elephant"  The original pieces are almost unrecognizable
so even a modern tune suitably re-worked might be made to be appropriate, so
the question is, at this point in time what are you comfortable with?>

 

Svetlana, that is an awesome example!  Amen sister!!  I have to share this.
We got a little silly after one of our Bardic Nights down here, and someone
asked if we knew about “The Llama Song,” which we didn’t.  It is this really
hilarious, extremely modern, YouTube staple of rapid-fire non-sequitur that
had us rolling on the floor after we all gathered around the laptop on the
kitchen table where folks are always looking stuff up if they forget lyrics,
etc.  Anyway, we were talking with one of our new bards (she was very new at
the time) about filk.  Our rule of thumb (Christianna
.this is NOT in any
way universal
just something my lady came up with) is that there are two
good tests for “good filk” and (for lack of a better term) “not as good
filk.”  1.  If you can just look at the lyrics, without hearing it sung, and
instantly know what tune was used to filk it (usually because many of the
original words were used), then it is NOT in the “good filk” category.  2.
If you use a blatantly modern tune when performing the song (hence running
the risk of harshing someone’s dream), it is also not in the “good filk”
category (at least not for official SCA performances
.see all previous
mentions of “it depends”).  So armed with those two “litmus tests,” Lady
Sophia came to the next Bardic Night and said she had written a filk, and
challenged us to name the original tune.  Nobody could!  She had written
original lyrics about Ragnarök (from Norse mythology), and sung it slowly
and beautifully.  She said that on her next turn, she would sing the actual
song from which she took the tune.  When she revealed it, we could NOT
believe it.  It was from the Llama song!  All she did was slow it down, and
write COMPLETELY ORIGINAL lyrics.  THAT is one example of what we (Adelaide
and I) consider “good filk.”  Now if her lyrics had been something like the
following (which I just now filked to the Llama song), it would have been,
um, less good, shall we say?  But unfortunately, it is how a lot of filk is
done.  It’s still kinda funny, but I would never perform it at a Bardic
Circle, and certainly not at a competition.  In fact I have no plans ever to
perform it!   
 
Here's a Viking 
There's a Viking 
And another little Viking
Fuzzy Viking
Funny Viking
Viking Viking rune
 
Viking Viking 
Kipper Viking
Tablet, beards, tomato, Viking
Viking Viking mushroom Viking 
Viking Viking rune
 
I was once a mead hall 
I lived in the past
But I never saw the way
The apple slayed the mast
I was only three years dead
But it told a tale
And now listen little child 
To the empty pail
 
Did you ever see a Viking
Kiss a Viking
On the Viking
Viking’s Viking 
Tastes of Viking
Viking Viking rune
 
Half a Viking
Twice a Viking 
Not a Viking
Farmer Viking 
Viking row bench
Splinter in a Viking 
Viking rune
 
Is that how it’s told now
Is it oh so old
Is it made of kipper juice
Long-ship, ankle, cold
Now my song is getting thin
I can’t sing in tune
Time for me to retire now
And become a rune
 
 
I believe I’m going to hell for that.
 
I will post what her actual lyrics are as soon as we get them from her.
Last Bardic Night she had forgotten some of her own words (this never
happens, right Gerald?...shyaa).  
 
Kenneth   

 

  _____  

From: T'Star [mailto:bedlamandmayhem at gmail.com] 
Sent: Sunday, April 27, 2008 1:25 PM
To: Ansteorran Bardic list
Subject: Re: [Bards] Filking

 

Then you must consider that many modern songs are filk, the tunes are much
older than the songs.  Many common hymns, and protest songs are actually
filks (Even The Star Spangled Banner is technically a filk, Francis Scott
Key's words were set to the tune of "The Anacreontic Song
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Anacreontic_Song> " a popular drinking
song.)  The song "Green Fields of France" (also called "Flowers of the
Forest") Which was a protest song is set to a traditional Irish melody.
While I would not recomend filking the Anacreontic Song unless you want to
confuse your audience, the melody is only about 100 years post period.  In
my opinion, worry about the feel more than anything else.  What mood is
being created?  What mood do you want to create?  Is the audience going to
throw things at you for performing THAT song (whatever that song is) at a
serious competition?  It's the same guiding principle as governs any other
peice, you likely wouldn't sing a dirge at a rolicking party.   You likely
wouldn't sing a crazily comedic song at a solemn occasion.  Pick your pieces
as suits your audience.  Filk according to your own tastes and persona.
Write to your own tastes and persona. 

 

Most of my own stories come out of Russian Mythology, though many of them
never were told the way I tell them.   We don't have records of every story
any culture told, but the Fox is a common figure in Spanish stories.  Baba
Yaga is a staple of Russian, so is Ivan the Fool, so it is possible to craft
a story that sounds like it MIGHT have been told in Russia of my time
period.  If I then set a tale to a Russian melody that happened to have been
composed in the 1800s but has the feel of what music I could find from my
period? (which is difficult since most of the traditional songs weren't
written down in Russia until after Peter the Great.)  I'm fine with that, it
is still believable.  I, personally, dislike blatantly modern tunes, but as
Saint-Saëns demonstraited in his "Carnival of Animals"  He took two spritely
tunes, transposed them down, slowed them down, and gave them to the double
basoon and called it "The Elephant"  The origional pieces are almost
unrecognizable so even a modern tune suitable re-worked might be made to be
appropriate, so the question is, at this point in time what are you
comfortable with?

 

~Svetlana Andrejevna Volkova

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