STRANGERS
NO MORE, WE SING
In addition to her wildly successful October Daye novels and
last year's acclaimed horror novel Feed -- all of
which contributed to her claiming of the prestigious Joseph
W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer at the 2010 Hugos --
Seanan McGuire is also a beloved and renowned
singer/songwriter, perhaps best known among the specialized
but ardent filking community.
With four albums to her credit, and as a popular and prized performer on the convention circuit, Seanan kindly joins us here with some insight into the filking world...
With four albums to her credit, and as a popular and prized performer on the convention circuit, Seanan kindly joins us here with some insight into the filking world...
 A filking circle, at BayCon 2006 Photo by Tony Fabris |
Thirty people sit in a circle in an out-of-the-way hotel function room. Some of them have guitars, or keyboards, or fiddles. Some have thick binders full of lyric sheets, or tattered songbooks, or sleek, lightweight laptop computers. A few people are knitting, or drawing, or doing other things with their hands while they wait for their turn to come around. Right now, a balding man with a Midwestern accent is singing a song about someday going back to outer space. Next to him, a woman from Toronto is preparing for her turn.
Welcome to the filk circle. It’s a common sight at science fiction conventions the world over and will even feature some of the same faces regardless of what time zone you happen to be in, or what continent you happen to be visiting. Filkers are a gregarious lot, and they like to travel, which makes entering a filk circle anywhere in the world something like coming home. To be a filker is to know that you will always have a place where you belong.
This is usually about when someone asks The Question. “What is filk?” they say. It’s a fair question, and one that needs to be asked. It’s also the one question in filk that is borderline impossible to answer. Ask ten filkers and get ten different answers. Ask twenty, and make sure you have popcorn, because the argument you’ve just started will probably run until morning.
 Mark A. Mandel's comedy filk song honoring Terry Pratchett's Discworld... one of hundreds, if not thousands, on the topic |
So… filk is funny. Except when it’s not. Filk is topical to science fiction and fantasy. Except when it’s not. Filk is parody. Except when it’s not. Filk is a whole lot of things, and none of them are mutually exclusive. Just to make things a little more confusing--because they weren’t confusing enough--some things which sound like they should be filk aren’t. Good luck!
In the end, the definition of filk is a simple tautology: If a filker performs something in a filk-related context, that something is considered filk. If that song would not otherwise be considered a filksong, such as a traditional ballad or something from a science fiction-related musical, it is now viewed as “found filk.” And how does a person become a filker?
By saying “I am a filker,” that’s how.
Simple, huh?
2.
THE LANGUAGE OF FILKIn the 1980s, a television series called The Smurfs premiered in the United States, and promptly drove thousands of parents insane, as their children began to replace random parts of speech with the word “smurf.” You didn’t just have a good day, you had a smurfy day. You didn’t just hurry it up, you smurfed it up. Parents developed nervous tics, and began avoiding the living room on Saturday mornings, if they weren’t doing that already.
Well, entering the world of filk is a little bit like entering Smurf Village, only with more girls, and more guitars. Filkers sing filksongs. They call this filking. Some filkers also refer to the act of writing songs as committing filk. So it is possible for me, a filker, to spend the afternoon composing filk, and then go to the filk circle, where I will filk the night away. You go to the filk, and once you get there, you filk by, yes, performing a filk. One that you may well have composed yourself, either to an original tune, or by filking a work by someone else.
See what I mean about taking that trip to Smurf Village?
Once
you’ve mastered the many uses of the word filk,
you’ll be ready to move on to the more advanced vocabulary.
A filk circle will usually come in one of two basic
varieties: Either chaos, where anyone can
sing, any time, for any reason, or bardic,
where everyone takes a turn to pick, pass, or play, in
linear order. To wit:“I stayed up all night; it was chaos, so I had to stay alert if I wanted a chance to sing.”
“It was a bardic circle, so I knew my turn would be coming if I waited patiently.”
Everyone has their own preferences when it comes to filk circles. Some people like chaos, with its natural flow and ability to follow a topic for a long period of time. Others prefer bardic, where your turn is guaranteed, and there’s no opportunity for someone to turn into a filk hog. (That’s another vocabulary tip: A filk hog is someone who takes more than their fair share of turns. If there are ten people in the room, and one of them is singing every other song, that person is probably being a filk hog.) There are variations on these two basic styles--themed chaos, poker chip bardic, and many more--but the words “bardic” and “chaos” are your starting point.
During a chaos circle, you’ll sometimes hear cries of follower, or filker up. A follower is a song that directly follows on another song, either in theme, mood, or because they’re set to the same tune. “Filker up” means that someone is getting ready to sing, and is having a difficult time breaking through the chatter that often grows up between songs. During a bardic circle, on the other hand, you’ll hear people saying either pick, pass, or play as their turn comes up. “Pick” means “I don’t want to perform, but I’d like to ask someone else if they would perform the song of my choice.” “Pass” means “I don’t want to perform, and I don’t have any preferences about what comes next.” And “play” means…well, I bet you can guess what “play” means.
A few more helpful words and phrases:
 "The
Black Death" is found on this album... |
An ose song is a depressing song. Ose comes in multiple flavors, like cheeri-ose, which is depressing and happy at the same time, or more-ose which is just high-grade depressing. Examples of cheeri-ose include “Little Fuzzy Animals” and “The Black Death”. Examples of more-ose include “Space Is Dark” and “Starlight and Saxophone”.
Don’t worry. There’s no exam at the end of the filk circle, and the vocabulary, while specialized, is easy to pick up. And if you’re confused, you can always ask the filker next to you. They’ll probably be happy to explain.
3. RIDING THE REFERENCE-GO-ROUND
You’re sitting in a filk circle, where three people have just sung three songs in a row. Or maybe it was just one song, with three different singers—it’s hard to tell, since all three of them were singing to the same tune. But one of the songs was about space travel; one was about cats; and one was about shooting cats into space. So what’s going on here?
Parody. That’s what’s going on here.
 |
Sometimes, the chains of parodies, sequels, and related songs can get long enough to take hours to sing. Entire filk circles have been dedicated to the song “Banned From Argo”, which is a pizza song in its own right, and has at least thirty parodies, many of which are of similar length… or, in some cases, even longer.
Even serious songs can acquire tails. In UK filk, a whole cycle of songs grew out of one simple original, resulting in the multi-hour “Before the Dawn” saga. Serious sequels are less common than their comic cousins, but they do exist.
 Seanan sings "The Ghost of Lilly Kane", her tribute to Veronica Mars' murdered bad girl, at GAFilk 2011, where she was Guest of Honor. |
So where do you go to find filk? Well, you can check to see whether there’s a group that meets in your area. House filks are a time-honored tradition, one in which filkers open their homes, hosting all-night filk circles. It’s a great way to meet local filkers, although it doesn’t work for everyone. If you don’t have a local filk group, you can always do what the rest of us do, and head for the nearest science fiction convention.
Filk was born at science fiction conventions, where the first wave of filkers used to gather in private rooms, stairwells, and even hotel lobbies, where they would filk the night away. Over time, as the filk community grew, conventions began offering dedicated filk space (possibly just to get the filkers to leave the lobby). Panels and concerts were organized, and filk became a recognized part of the greater science fiction community.
Of course, as filk continued to grow, it became harder and harder for filkers to satisfy their filking urges with just a few conventions a year. The first dedicated filk conventions were organized in the early 1980s, and dozens more have sprung up since then. Some, like OVFF (the Ohio Valley Filk Festival) or Filk Ontario, draw in people from all over the world. Filkers come together to share songs, share circles, and sing with their friends.
 Weird Al Yankovic's "American Pie"/Star Wars: Episode 1 mash-up, "The Saga Begins", is an example of "found filk"... |
As you make your way into the weird, wonderful, and welcoming world of filk conventions, you may see people in red shirts asking if you’re new to filk. They’re convention ambassadors, and they’re happy to help you get your bearings back. Filk is open to everyone, young or old, performer or listener, human or genetically-modified talking iguana.
Strangers no more, we sing. And we like it that way.
5. A FEW REFERENCES
The Urban Tapestry Filk FAQ
The Ohio Valley Filk Festival (and the Pegasus Awards)
Filk radio
Bob Kanefsky’s parody site
Many
early filk albums are out of print, but more come out all
the time. Everyone has their favorites. I won’t give a list
here--my taste in music may not match yours--but there’s
something for everyone in the world of filk. Take a look,
and take a listen.You may find that you like it.
NB. The title of this article is a reference to Brenda Sutton’s beloved song, “Strangers No More” Songs referenced in the first section include Meg Davis’s “Captain Jack and the Mermaid,” Michelle Dockrey’s “Girl That’s Never Been”, and my own “Sycamore Tree.” Most other song references are explained inside the text. You know. Mostly.
-- Seanan McGuireFurther Reading:
Visit Seanan at her website: www.SeananMcGuire.com
Living the Fairy Tale, an interview with Seanan McGuire, Issue 7, September 2010
Conventional Wisdom, an AussiCon 4 memoir featuring Seanan McGuire, Issue 7, September 2010
A review of An Artificial Night by Seanan McGuire
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