I Am a Childe of Caine

Parody Lyrics: Erin Ruston
Original Lyrics: Naomi Ward Randal and Darwin Wolford (I Am a Child of G-d)
Original Tune: Mildred Tanner Pettit (I Am a Child of G-d)

I am a Childe of Caine
And he has made me here,
Has given me an eternal quest
With powers strong and queer.
Keep me, drive me, chase behind me,
Teach me all the rites.
Drill me in all I must do
To be as strong some night.

I am a Childe of Caine
And so my Beast is great;
Help me to comprehend this news
Before it grows to late.
Keep me, drive me, chase behind me,
Teach me all the rites.
Drill me in all I must do
To be as strong some night.

I am a Childe of Caine.
Rich vitae is in store;
If I but learn to hunt my prey,
I’ll live for all time more.
Keep me, drive me, chase behind me,
Teach me all the rites.
Drill me in all I must do
To be as strong some night.

I am a Childe of Caine.
I commit for sure;
Eternal glory shall be ours
If my pack can endure.
Keep me, drive me, chase behind me,
Teach me all the rites.
Drill me in all I must do
To be as strong some night

NOTE: This is from the perspective of the Sabbat in Vampire: the Masquerade. It's the first filk I have ever entered into a writing contest and it won the first prize in the parody category. This was at CONduit 21.

Another Scion RPG Filk

Called to Action
Parody Lyrics: Erin Ruston
Original Lyrics: Grace Gordon (Called to Serve)
Original Music: Adam Geibel (Called to Serve)

Called to action, break the bonds of chattle
Chosen e’er to struggle against retreat,
Far and wide we fight the holy battle,
Far and wide our foes defeat.

Forward, pressing forward, as we battle for our homes;
Forward, pressing forward, as we battle for our homes;
Beyond, ever beyond, as clam’ring battle rings
Worship our power; thrust beyond ever,
Called to fight our war.

Called to guide the people of this the world-
Sons and daughters, children of the gods-
Strong of soul, fury and vigor hurled,
Triumph against all the odds.

NOTES: Filk song inspired by the Scion RPG.

Scion RPG Microfilk

I am a Child of Ra
Parody Lyrics: Erin Ruston
Original Lyrics: Naomi Ward Randal and Darwin Wolford (I Am a Child of God)
Original Tune: Mildred Tanner Pettit (I Am a Child of God)

I am a child of Ra,
And he has sent me here,
Has given me this magic gun
With bullets strong with fear.
Lead me, sight me, missile guide me,
Help me find the foe.
Show me who that I must kill
To be with him aglow.

This was inspired by a post game conversation about Scion RPG character concepts. When I expressed interest in playing a scion of Ra who was a Mossad sniper, one of my friends piped up with "I am a Child of Ra." This popped into my head just about whole cloth as I was crawling into bed after.

A Star Wars Filk

I'm still fussing with this one a tad, but here's my first solo full length song.

"Dear Mr. Chancellor"
Parody Lyrics: Erin Ruston
Original Music and Lyrics: Pink, Billy Mann (Dear Mr. President)

Dear Mr. Chancellor,
Come have a chat with me.
Let's assume we're just two beings and
I'm not younger than thee.
I'd like to ask you some questions if we can speak honestly.

What do you feel when you see all the troopers on the march?
Who do you care for that has been killed in this war?
What do you think as you look out the window?
Are you pleased?

Why do you smile when the Jedi all die?
Why do you scheme while worlds are destroyed and war intensifies?
Why do you ignore people's outcry?
How can you look me in the eye
And tell me lies?

Dear Mr. Chancellor,
Were you a needy boy?
Are you a needy boy?
Are you a needy boy?
How can you claim
That you mean well and are kind?
Some suspect where you're aligned.
You make them all disappear
And take control using fear.

What kind of leader marches his own people into hell?
And what kind of leader might crush his own people if they rebel?
If only the Council were able to foretell
And they were not blinded by your clever spell.

Why do you smile when the Jedi all die?
Why do you scheme while worlds are destroyed and war intensifies?
Why do you ignore people's outcry?
How can you look me in the eye?

Please don't tell me 'bout dark side
It's raging anger and it's roiling power
Please don't tell me 'bout dark side
You're pledges and temptations will not make me cower
Please don't tell me 'bout dark side
Killing all the Younglings in the tower
Please don't tell me 'bout dark side
Dark side
Dark side
I don't wanna know 'bout dark side
Dark side
Dark Side
Oh

Why do you smile and lie?
Why do you ignore people's outcry?
Dear Mr. Chancellor,
You just want to kill us all,
Don't you?

Notes: This song is from the perspective of a very insightful Jedi Padawan.

Star Fart Song (I'm a Little Star Fart)

Lyrics: Erin Ruston
Music: Teapot Song (I'm a Little Teapot)

I'm a little star fart,
Long and swell,
Here are my ions (wave one hand behind butt),
Here is my smell (wave the other hand in front of your nose),
When I get all cooped up,
See me fell,
Tips you over and makes you yell! (wave both arms about and make grossed out face)

Story behind the song. At the U.F.O. housefilk on 02/25/2011 we were particularly silly and decided that comets were star farts. Julia West sung the one line, "I'm a Little Star Fart" and it stuck in my head. Here's the result. Enjoy or mock, whichever makes you happier.

Holiday Nerds

I am now indelibly marked as a nerd. My brother gave me a tattoo for the holidays. I, of course, got a nerdy one. My skin proclaims me a member of the Jedi Order. I am nerd, hear me snap hiss.

The holidays have brought me a few more nerdy things as well. I now have a travel table for my laptop and Star Wars bath products. My efforts at being less gamer-sized have been hijacked by all of the goodies. Oh well, it will get back on track after the New Years.

Filkers: The majority of the group is excited about making CDs, singing in performances, and going to filk conventions. A couple of people just want to continue to sing off key in the basement. As a result, project business will be kept to the internetz and house filks will be kept for just singing off key in the basement. Some of us are going to Conflikt in January, which is a filk convention in Seattle.

Friday Group: We've been getting concepts onto paper and will be running actual sit down preludes starting in January. I have the strong feeling that I may spend a large amount of time role-playing on the road trip to Conflikt. The ST and I are both going to the filk con.

Saturday Group: My Star Wars game has been hiccuping of late. With the holidays themselves, people being out of town, other people being sick, etc. gaming has been erratic. When we do game, we get a lot done and have a good time. Currently, we are wandering around Endor with our Ewok.

Sunday Group: Eclipse Phase died. One player is a trucker and can't attend regularly and the other one was stolen by a woman. This left the GM and I. We've decided to watch Firefly on Sunday nights until we get more players who can make it regularly.

Cthulhu Christmas

Cthulhu Christmas Chorale
Words by Terence Chua

(To the tune of "White Christmas," by Irving Berlin)

I'm dreaming of a dead ci-ty
Where Deep Ones swim in depths of night
Where Cthulhu's sleeping
And stars go creeping
Until the time when they are right.
I'm dreaming of a dark fu-ture
Ruled by that Three‑Lobed Burning Eye
When the Old Ones' returning is nigh
And the universe will go bye‑bye.

Christmas Filk for Cannibals

SOYLENT GREEN
Words: David Weingart © 1981
Music: Silent Night (traditional.)

Soylent Green
Tasty Green
Strangest food you've ever seen
Little crackers for you and me
Made from friends and neighbors
Made from neighbors and friends

What is Filk?

Now there is a loaded question. According to the Wikipedia definition "Filk is a musical culture, genre, and community tied to science fiction/fantasy fandom and a type of fan labor." Filk is largely about science, computers, science fiction, fantasy, horror, etc. It can also be about current events, our pets, crazy co-workers, etc. My favorite definition of filk is oft quoted by a musician friend of mine, Kathy Mar. "Filk is anything that happens in a Filk circle."

For me, filk represents music about my life and the things I'm interested in. My preference is for the parodies, political thoughts and funny songs. Unlike popular music, filk is about participation. When you go to most musical events you are there to listen to professionals perform. At filk events, even "pro" concerts, you are expected to sing along.

Which brings me to the filk thing that eats up most of my time. The filk group I am a part of, Utah Filk Organization, has been working on an archive of filk songs and lyrics. It started as an attempt to turn personal filk binders into something more portable and useful at our local convention. It has since become a community thing where we share our resources with other Filkers by projecting lyrcs on the wall at conventions. We also plan on establishing a web portal where folks can get lyrics from us for free. Mind you, we will only distribute materials that we've been given permission to do so. The last thing we want to do is prevent artists from selling their own songbooks. If you are an artist and want to give us permission to give out or link to your lyrics/chords feel free to comment.