Great Big Sea Filk

I don’t pretend to be a professional songwriter or even much of an amateur, but hey–I like to whip out the occasional filk (parody) of songs I love. Here are the ones I’ve done for GBS.

Feed the Cat

I’m proud of this one–there were a good number of cat lovers back in the day on the OKP, and I got a lot of giggles out of them with this, a filk of “Beat the Drum” from Something Beautiful*. What can I say, the beginning of it just popped into my head when I was, well, feeding the cat. ;) I finished it on 3/16/04.

Hey look out here, the morning’s so clear
It’s time to get up, bright and early
My biped’s asleep, onto her bed I creep
It’s good to be small and furry

I know my place, climbing onto her face
To get her into the kitchen
Nothing can beat a morning fish treat
It’s good to be small and furry
It’s good to be small

Feed the cat
Feed the cat
I’m a tabby, pampered and fat
Feed the cat
Feed the cat
I’m a tabby, pampered and fat
Feed the cat

Across the house I make out the sound
Of food op’ning up on the counter
I’m tuna’s best fan
Paradise in a can
It’s good to be small and furry
It’s good to be small

<repeat chorus>

<Insert bridge here, complete with demanding meows>

Hey look out here, the morning’s so clear
It’s time to get up, bright and early
I know my place, climbing onto her face
It’s good to be small and furry
It’s good to be small and furry
It’s good to be small

<repeat chorus 2x and fade>

Seattle to St. John’s

Written 2/1/01, based on “Boston and St. John’s”, this filksong is basically my appeal to Great Big Sea to come back to Seattle and sing some more. A rational woman must call it coincidence that about a day to a day and a half after I originally posted this to the greatbigsea.com chat board, two shows in Seattle were announced — but I am, nevertheless, mightily amused by that. ;)

B’ys, don’t tell us you’re not comin’
Each and every West Coast fan
Wants your fiddlin’ and your drummin’
And the chanteys by McCann
A tin whistle, a bouzouki, and a rumblin’ bodhran

It’s just too many time zones from Seattle to St. John’s
Bob and Darrell, ain’t it time you came our way?
Sean and Alan, won’t you sing for us today?

We’re wearin’ out each cherished copy
Of your ev’ry fine CD
And we’re devourin’ every posting
On the chat board of the OKP
Please come ’cause you can play these tunes with much more skill than we

It’s just too many time zones from Seattle to St. John’s
Bob and Darrell, ain’t it time you came our way?
Sean and Alan, won’t you sing for us today?

We wanna raise our hands and wave ’em in the air
But we’ll look kinda silly if you’re not all performin’ there

So oh, please book the 5th Ave Theat’r
Or the Chateau Ste. Michelle
There’s not a thing that could be neater
Another show, oh yeah, would sure be swell
And if you wanted to play Folklife, we’d all dance and scream and yell

It’s just too many time zones from Seattle to St. John’s
Bob and Darrell, ain’t it time you came our way?
Sean and Alan, won’t you sing for us today?
Won’t you sing for us today?
Sing for us today

Lukey 2001

Based on “Lukey”, about a fisherman and his boat; this version is what happened when I started wondering what said fisherman would do to get himself into the Internet Age.

Lukey’s web page loads up green, ah me boys
Lukey’s web page loads up green
The flashiest site that you’ve ever seen
Ah ha, me boys, a riddle-aye day
Ah ha, me boys, a riddle-aye day

Lukey’s bandwidth’s sweet to tell, ah me boys
Lukey’s bandwidth’s sweet to tell
He just signed up for DSL
Ah ha, me boys, a riddle-aye day (all together!)
Ah ha, me boys, a riddle-aye day

Well I says, Lukey, my lines are down, ah me boys
I says Lukey, my lines are down
Me browser’s dead, and the file’s not found
Ah ha, me boys, a riddle-aye day
Ah ha, me boys, a riddle-aye day

Well I says, Lukey, I don’t know, ah me boys
I says Lukey, I don’t know
I’ll download Netscape six point oh
Ah ha, me boys, a riddle-aye day
Ah ha, me boys, a riddle-aye day

Lukey’s web page loads up green, ah me boys
Lukey’s web page loads up green
The flashiest site that you’ve ever seen
Ah ha, me boys, a riddle-aye day (all together!)
Ah ha, me boys, a riddle-aye day (one more!)
Ah haaaaa, me boys, a riddle-aye daaaaaay!