Filk Music - Styles and Subjects

Styles and Subjects

In keeping with the folk-culture roots of filk, the musical styles and topics of filk music are eclectic. While a plurality of filk is rooted firmly in acoustic-instrument folk music, other pieces and artists draw inspiration from rock, a cappella vocal groups, or other styles. The hobbyist and itinerant nature of filk events (especially filk circles) gives some advantages to acoustic-vocal soloists and small groups, who need only carry a lightweight instrument or two and whose rehearsals do not need to balance scheduling logistics against regular work and other obligations. One of the few rock-style groups in filk has been Ookla the Mok, whose studio recordings use techniques common in modern rock. Some styles of filk rely heavily on sampling the original source material and integrating it in to electronica and hip-hop music such as 76's "Objects in Space" which is an homage to the popular TV show Firefly and DJ Qbert's Wave Twisters.

The range of topics in filk songs stems from its cultural roots in fandom. Many songs honor specific works in science fiction, fantasy, or speculative fiction. Other songs are about science, fantasy, computers, technology in general, or values related to technological change. Yet others are about the culture of fandom, including filk itself (both as a phenomenon within fandom, and as a sub-culture). Many filk songs (such as Leslie Fish's "Carmen Miranda's Ghost Is Haunting Space Station 3") are humorous while others treat their subjects seriously (like Steve Macdonald's "Journey's Done").

However, some common themes do not fall neatly into filk's science fiction origins. Such topics include songs about cats, popular culture, and politics. These are perhaps best explained as an outgrowth of filk as a folk culture, open in some respects to expansion by individual artists.

A significant number of filk songs are parodies. Some are parodies of songs from popular culture, others are parodies of existing filk songs. Although parody is not the primary focus of the filk music culture, the number of parody songs found in filk is higher than in other musical cultures. Another subtype of filk songs is the "ose" song, one on themes of death and gloom. The term derives from the word "morose", as in "ose, morose, even-more-ose.". A further variant is "cheeri-ose", ose songs to cheery tunes, or treating the same subject lightheartedly. Cf. Tom Lehrer, "The Irish Ballad".