The musical tradition of science fiction (SF) and fantasy fans. “Filking” occurs at
science-fiction conventions (“cons”) and creates a specialized social context and
identifying role (the “filker”) for its practitioners. It fuses elements of traditional folk,
folk-revival, and popular music with lyrics oriented toward SF, space, and political
parody. Participants define filk as “music played in a filk room,” and a filk room as “a
place where you play filk music.” This circular definition precisely defines the music and
its social context for participants who share the music and fellowship.
In the 1950s, fans actively interested in folk music, especially folk-revival styles,
began bringing instruments (primarily guitars) to cons to play for their own amusement.
During this period, a typo in a fanzine transformed a “folk sing” into a “filk sing,” and
the unique term was adopted immediately. Early filk gatherings drew fewer than ten
people, who knew few songs, and who performed for each other in hotel rooms, furnace
rooms, stairwells, and service halls. Gradually, filkers began writing original lyrics set to
known tunes and, later, to original tunes as well. An early example is the traditional
“Eddystone Light,” a song about a lighthouse keeper, updated and transformed to
“Asteroid Light.”
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, filkers began demanding time and space at
conventions to play music. Today almost all cons feature filking, and by 1993 seven
annual conventions devoted to filking had emerged in the United States, Canada, and
Great Britain. Filk’s popularity has grown to include several filk fanzines, computer
bulletin boards, and at least seven cottage-industry studios that produce and sell both live
and studio-recorded tapes and CDs. As performers and recordings became more
professional, filk received radio air play nationally and internationally, especially on
novelty music programs like “Dr. Demento.”
Filking normally takes place at cons on Friday and Saturday nights, in a room or
rooms set aside for it, beginning about 10:00 P.M. and often lasting until dawn. Filk
concerts have become common, spodighting a performer or group, and “jamming” is also
becoming popular. The instrumentation has expanded from acoustic guitar and voice to
include almost any instrument, including both ethnic and electric/electronic instruments.
Performing duos, trios, and groups are becoming common. Topics include SF texts (both
literary and mediaderived), current events, the SF community, personal experiences, and
jobs, especially those in high-tech fields. Spaceflight and hope for the future are common
themes. Leslie Fish’s “Hope Eyrie” (a tribute to the first moon landing) has become a
filk-room anthem, sung unanimously in complex harmony: “The Eagle has landed, /Tell
your children when. /Time won’t drive us down to dust again.”
At least three distinctive regional styles of filk performance exist in the United States,
with some overlap. “Singalong” (East Coast) involves participants singing from
songbooks directed by a song leader. “Chaos” (Midwest) is a free-associating flow of
musical styles, moods, and themes, governed primarily by implicit etiquette. “Bardic
circle” (West Coast) follows a formal code of “pick, pass, or play.” Performing ability
ranges from beginner to professional, but imaginative writing (especially lyrics) and good
filk-room manners are valued above sheer technique. In filk the social context is as important as die music; selfexpression, play, and sharing
are paramount. This aesthetic is shown by the absence of a fixed distinction between
performers and audience. Participants may sing along on choruses or during entire tunes,
make jesting comments, and participate in “schtick.” Many fans prefer live filk tapes to
studio tapes because these remind them of the supportive social atmosphere of the filk
room.
Sally C.Childs-Helton
Barry E.Childs-Helton