Our King’s and Queen’s Bardic Champion Tourney is four weeks out, and I’m deep in preparations. Yesterday, my friend Gwendolyn the Graceful presented the last in a series of articles about the Bardic Arts for The Æthelmearc Gazette, about the hot-button topic of “bardic authenticity”. It’s worth a read. Apparently it set my muse off, and she’s been in a mischievous mood of late. So…got this out of my system. Enjoy. (Or wince. Or both.)
Filk (Is The Word) by Eric Schrager (aka Drake Oranwood)
(To the Tune of “Grease (Is The Word)”)
I found the Bardic Arts and saw the light,
We know we love our craft, and yes we do it right,
There’s all the research, we can’t go too far,
We are believers now – but that’s not all that we are.
Filk is the word…
They think our songs are just a cryin’ shame,
Why don’t they understand? It’s s’posed to be a game.
We hear them sayin’ only Period’s real,
Let’s stop the fight right now, sometimes we feel what we feel.
Filk is the word…
(CHORUS)
(Filk is the word,) it’s the word, it’s absurd
It’s got fun, it’s got feeling
Filk is a crime! It’s bad taste! It’s revulsion!
But filk is the way we are dealing…
Well, we’ve been writin’ under these constraints,
But can’t we take a break, from knights and kings and saints?
We sing in plainchant and in Renaissance mode,
We need a diff’rent groove, before our brains just explode.
Filk is the word… (CH)
(Bridge)
Isn’t the joy of creation, part of this whole
Co-onversation – or what’re we doin’ here?
We feel the pressure, and our Muses stray,
Perio-di-ci-ty can wait another day…
Some gentles tell me that I’ve got it all wrong—
Let’s hashtag “NOTALLBARDS” – remember, it’s just a song.
Filk is the word… (CH x 2)
Drake Oranwood 