![Frank Hayes - Dont Ask [HQ] @SongsfromtheStars](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/JMekR1Eq1Ig/maxresdefault.jpg)
Uploaded March 2021 | Updated September 2026, 2 minutes ago
Don't Ask track 01. Thanks to rocketman0739 for providing high-quality versions of these songs.
Download the album here: archive.org/details/filk_dont_ask
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Lyrics:
The orders come down, and they march us away;
There's a battle to fight, and we join in the fray
God, it's hell when you know this could be your last day...
But it's better than working for Xerox!
So march, March, April, May, June, July,
August, September, we'll fight every day!
And it's fare thee well, all vestige of modesty:
All of the Dorsai are singing.
Some go for the glory, some just like to fight
But the truth is we Dorsai are not very bright
We'll steal or we'll screw what we can't shoot on sight—
God, it's hell to encounter a fireplug!
So march, March, April, May, June, July,
August, September, we'll fight every day!
And it's fare thee well, all vestige of harmony:
All of the Dorsai are drinking.
We Dorsai have Honor. We always fight fair—
Except when we're losing, and then we don't care,
For defeat is disgrace that we never could bear...
And we only get paid when we're winning.
So march, March, April, May, June, July,
August, September, we'll fight every day!
And it's fare thee well, all vestige of honesty:
All of the Dorsai are cheating.
When the battle is over and the fighting is done,
If ten of us made it, we figure we've won
'Cause we count the survivors, and count them by one, two, three,
Four, five, six, seven, eight, nine...many...
So march, March, April, May, June, July,
August, September, we'll fight every day!
And it's fare thee well, all vestige of comedy:
All of the Dorsai are counting.
Don't Ask track 01. Thanks to rocketman0739 for providing high-quality versions of these songs.
Download the album here: archive.org/details/filk_dont_ask
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Lyrics:
The orders come down, and they march us away;
There's a battle to fight, and we join in the fray
God, it's hell when you know this could be your last day...
But it's better than working for Xerox!
So march, March, April, May, June, July,
August, September, we'll fight every day!
And it's fare thee well, all vestige of modesty:
All of the Dorsai are singing.
Some go for the glory, some just like to fight
But the truth is we Dorsai are not very bright
We'll steal or we'll screw what we can't shoot on sight—
God, it's hell to encounter a fireplug!
So march, March, April, May, June, July,
August, September, we'll fight every day!
And it's fare thee well, all vestige of harmony:
All of the Dorsai are drinking.
We Dorsai have Honor. We always fight fair—
Except when we're losing, and then we don't care,
For defeat is disgrace that we never could bear...
And we only get paid when we're winning.
So march, March, April, May, June, July,
August, September, we'll fight every day!
And it's fare thee well, all vestige of honesty:
All of the Dorsai are cheating.
When the battle is over and the fighting is done,
If ten of us made it, we figure we've won
'Cause we count the survivors, and count them by one, two, three,
Four, five, six, seven, eight, nine...many...
So march, March, April, May, June, July,
August, September, we'll fight every day!
And it's fare thee well, all vestige of comedy:
All of the Dorsai are counting.
![Frank Hayes - Dont Ask [HQ]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/JMekR1Eq1Ig/mqdefault.jpg "Frank Hayes - Dont Ask [HQ]
Dont Ask track 01. Thanks to rocketman0739 for providing high-quality versions of these songs.
Download the album here: https://archive.org/details/filk_dont_ask
Lyrics:
The orders come down, and they march us away;
Theres a battle to fight, and we join in the fray
God, its hell when you know this could be your last day...
But its better than working for Xerox!
So march, March, April, May, June, July,
August, September, well fight every day!
And its fare thee well, all vestige of modesty:
All of the Dorsai are singing.
Some go for the glory, some just like to fight
But the truth is we Dorsai are not very bright
Well steal or well screw what we cant shoot on sight—
God, its hell to encounter a fireplug!
So march, March, April, May, June, July,
August, September, well fight every day!
And its fare thee well, all vestige of harmony:
All of the Dorsai are drinking.
We Dorsai have Honor. We always fight fair—
Except when were losing, and then we dont care,
For defeat is disgrace that we never could bear...
And we only get paid when were winning.
So march, March, April, May, June, July,
August, September, well fight every day!
And its fare thee well, all vestige of honesty:
All of the Dorsai are cheating.
When the battle is over and the fighting is done,
If ten of us made it, we figure weve won
Cause we count the survivors, and count them by one, two, three,
Four, five, six, seven, eight, nine...many...
So march, March, April, May, June, July,
August, September, well fight every day!
And its fare thee well, all vestige of comedy:
All of the Dorsai are counting.")
![Bill Sutton - Crystal Singer [HQ]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Jthp-dp5Fic/mqdefault.jpg "Bill Sutton - Crystal Singer [HQ]
Past Due track 02. Thanks to rocketman0739 for providing high-quality versions of these songs.
Download the album here: https://archive.org/details/filk_past_due
[book: Crystal Singer series, Anne McCaffrey]
Lyrics:
The whirlwind of the morning air harmoniously sighs
And echoes from the facets of the cliffs into the skies
We singers of the crystal must begin another day
Forgetting all the beauty in our need to make it pay
The sled may lift us far above the walls of crystal stone
And we may not remember all the claims weve called our own—
But now we fly and now we sing and listen for the sound
Of crystal veins that sing reply from cold and barren ground
Though I have flown a thousand miles and still must fly as far
I now recall the place I found my pure black crystal spar!
My comp reminds me as I fly of things that I must do
And warns me of the dangers that may keep me from my due
Suddenly the bells ring out, the whine assails my ears
A sonic storm is moving in—sled, get me out of here!
The skies light up, the blasts of wind are rising to a peak
And every passing moment takes me from the black I seek
Racing the wind, running from the storm,
Escaping from the violence to a shelter safe and warm
The storm moves ever faster, and ever louder calls
The sled gives out an anguished cry as to the storm it falls
I waken to the howl of wind resounding in my ears
The nurse the Guild provides for me stands forth to dry my tears
She cannot understand my weeping or the reason why—
I have forgotten once again where my black crystals lie
We singers of the crystal live for over eightscore years
But you who live a shorter span can never know our fears
Your memories may reach across a gulf ours cannot span—
Remembering makes you the life and me the empty man
The sled may lift us far above the walls of crystal stone
And we may not remember all the things weve called our own—
But now we fly and now we sing and listen for the sound
Of crystal veins that sing reply from cold and barren ground")
![Free Fall & Other Delights 18 - Helvas Song [HQ]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/K5gpBzTsGSY/mqdefault.jpg "Free Fall & Other Delights 18 - Helvas Song [HQ]
Sung by Cecilia Eng. Thanks to rocketman0739 for providing high-quality versions of these songs.
Download the album here: https://archive.org/details/filk_free_fall_and_other_delights
Lyrics:
My sister and my brother ships speak softly by my side
But I only hear the emptiness of space
And a siren song which calls to me from a burning, white-hot star
Promising oblivion and peace
Chorus:
And the stars still dance the spiral dance,
And the planets circle far
But the ship who sang will sing no more
Between the distant stars
Ill sing no more.
For my love lies dead within me, his voice forever still
It seems as though my heart will never mend
The musics died unfinished, his song is at an end
Well never sing again
(Chorus)
Now I could turn and fly away, a rogue without a home
And turn my back on all that we have known
But a hundred years is far too long to live on nothing more
Than memories and heartache, all alone
(Chorus)
So here, upon this lonely field, Ill bid my love goodbye
The honors at his graveside are the best
And somehow I will find my voice and fill the silent plain
Yes, Ill sing him to his rest
And the stars will dance the spiral dance,
And the planets circle far
And the ship who sang will sing once more
Between the distant stars
Ill sing once more.
And the ship who sang will sing once more
Between the distant stars
Ill sing once more.")
![UnReal Estate 08 - Falling Down on New Jersey [HQ]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/KIyVQ0kZTCk/mqdefault.jpg "UnReal Estate 08 - Falling Down on New Jersey [HQ]
Sung by Mitchell Burnside Clapp. Thanks to rocketman0739 for providing high-quality versions of these songs.
Download the album here: https://archive.org/details/filk_unreal_estate
Lyrics:
Its a damn tough life far from home and wife
That we astronauts undergo,
And we dont much care when the missions done
How far the ship did go.
But youll be sad to learn our deorbit burn
Wont be made, for our tanks are empty,
And the fuel lines torn, so youd better warn
All the folks in New Jersey.
Chorus:
Falling down on New Jersey, me boys,
Falling down on New Jersey,
We thought it wise we apologize
To the folks in New Jersey.
Well its widely known that a ship alone
Would be burned up and destroyed,
But the ship and crew, we brought with us too
An eleven-mile asteroid.
So when youve awoken all the folks in Hoboken
And the profs at Princeton too,
Well divulge the fact that the rocks impact
Will be at seven thirty-two.
(Chorus)
Well now, why the shock? Hell, its just a rock.
Are we just alarmist fools?
But it has, you see, potential energy
Of roughly ten to the nineteenth joules.
With the rocks advance, there is Buckleys chance
That the Garden Statell be spared,
And soon well show, if you didnt know,
That e is mc squared.
(Chorus)
We will strike a spark thatll toast Newark
And will flatten Perth Amboy.
Well, it wont be pretty in Atlantic City,
You should shade your eyes in Troy.
Even so—and yet—we have one regret:
That we havent the delta-V
To push it forth just a few miles north
To land smack on NYC.
(Chorus x2)")
![Bill Sutton - Cruiser Dreaming [HQ]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/KKVCDIGTgoM/mqdefault.jpg "Bill Sutton - Cruiser Dreaming [HQ]
Past Due track 13. Thanks to rocketman0739 for providing high-quality versions of these songs.
Download the album here: https://archive.org/details/filk_past_due
[book: Kerrion Empire series, Janet E. Morris]
Lyrics:
She is always on my mind as she lies in space
She is mine in my thoughts embrace
In time I am hers, out of time she waits through me
But how much longer can this be?
Chorus:
Cruiser dreaming
Dancers seemings
Can never be as real as sponge is
To my ship and me
Starlight haunts us
Cruiser consciousness is
Wrapped around the stars
And through eternity
Though she is infinity, she is a point in time
She one with others of her line
She speaks and she hears, she guides and understands
How can she be a work of man?
(Chorus)
In another time and place, she would share my bed
Here and now, we share dreams instead
Her body is anothers, but her soul belongs to me
Someday we two will be set free
(Chorus x2)")
![Leslie Fish & the Dehorn Crew - Dark Rosaleen [HQ]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/KaKSfyOF6bc/mqdefault.jpg "Leslie Fish & the Dehorn Crew - Dark Rosaleen [HQ]
Its Sister Jennys Turn to Throw the Bomb track 04. Thanks to rocketman0739 for providing high-quality versions of these songs.
Download the album here: https://archive.org/details/filk_its_sister_jennys_turn_to_throw_the_bomb
Find more of Leslie Fishs music at: https://lesliefish.bandcamp.com/
Lyrics:
O my dark Rosaleen, do not sigh, do not weep!
The priests are on the ocean green, they march along the deep.
There’s wine from the royal Pope upon the ocean green;
And Spanish ale shall give you hope, my Dark Rosaleen!
O Róisín Dubh!
Shall glad your heart, shall give you hope,
Shall give you health, and help, and hope,
O Róisín Dubh!
Over hills, and thro’ dales, have I roam’d for your sake;
All yesterday I sail’d with sails on river and on lake.
The Erne, at its highest flood, I dash’d across unseen,
For there was lightning in my blood, my Dark Rosaleen!
O Róisín Dubh!
O, there was lightning in my blood,
Red lightning lighten’d thro’ my blood.
O Róisín Dubh!
All day long in unrest, to and fro do I move.
The very soul within my breast is wasted for your love!
This heart in my body faints to think of you, my Queen,
My life of life, my saint of saints, my Dark Rosaleen!
O Róisín Dubh!
To hear your sweet and sad complaints,
My life, my love, my saint of saints,
O Róisín Dubh!
Woe and pain, pain and woe, are my lot, night and noon,
To see your bright face clouded so, like unto the mournful moon.
But yet will I rear your throne again in golden sheen;
‘Tis you shall reign and reign alone, my Dark Rosaleen!
O Róisín Dubh!
‘Tis you shall have the golden throne,
‘Tis you shall reign and reign alone,
O Róisín Dubh!
Over dews, over sands will I fly, for your weal:
Your holy delicate white hands shall circle me with steel.
At home, in your emerald bowers, from morning’s dawn till e’en,
You’ll pray for me, my flower of flowers, my Dark Rosaleen!
O Róisín Dubh!
You’ll think of me through daylight’s hours
My virgin flower, my flower of flowers,
O Róisín Dubh!
I could scale the blue air, I could plough the high hills,
Or I could kneel all night in prayer, to heal your many ills!
And one beaming smile from you would float like light between
My toils and me, my own, my true, my Dark Rosaleen!
O Róisín Dubh!
Would give me life and soul anew,
A second life, a soul anew,
O Róisín Dubh!
O, the Erne shall run red with redundance of blood,
The earth shall rock beneath our tread, and flames wrap hill and wood,
And gun-peal and slogan-cry wake many a glen serene,
Ere you shall fade, ere you shall die, my Dark Rosaleen!
O Róisín Dubh!
The Judgement Hour must first be nigh,
Ere you can fade, ere you can die,
O Róisín Dubh!")
![Technical Difficulties - Break Forth [HQ]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/KoypuevTPpc/mqdefault.jpg "Technical Difficulties - Break Forth [HQ]
Please Stand By track 09. Thanks to rocketman0739 for providing high-quality versions of these songs.
Download the album here: https://archive.org/details/filk_please_stand_by/
Lyrics:
Break forth from gravitys fearsome well
Amid the engines roaring
Each ship in which our spirits dwell
Into the aether soaring
This quest though now in infancy
The future of our world shall be
The power of ignorance breaking
Our newest frontier making")
![Bob Kanefsky/Leslie Fish - Trilogy Readers [HQ]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/LIYr9Rvoj2Y/mqdefault.jpg "Bob Kanefsky/Leslie Fish - Trilogy Readers [HQ]
Tapeworm I track 11. Thanks to rocketman0739 for providing high-quality versions of these songs.
Download the album here: https://archive.org/details/filk_tapeworm_1
Lyrics:
We bought your book, and we drooled in droves
Over endless action from front to back.
We finished the book and found we’d been took,
For an end is an awful thing to lack.
But the author says she’s not done.
We’d have saved our cash if she’d mentioned it then.
And she won’t say why, and she won’t say how.
She says To Be Continued—suckered again!
But they don’t work, so they don’t care.
Each volume costs us an hour’s wage.
For they only see how the money rolls in,
And that publishers pay them by the page.
So the author laughs and rubs her hands,
And the publishers make a tidy sum.
And the bookstores where they spring their trap
Rake our paychecks in as fast as they come.
“The end is near,” the author claims.
You publishers sing the same refrain.
But we won’t stand this kind of deceit,
And knowing we may be waiting in vain.
We demand to read finished work;
This is art, not some layaway plan!
And you greedy hogs better heed our call,
Or you’ll know the wrath of S.F. fans.
For we’ve found a way we can get revenge
On trilogy authors, one and all.
You’ll regret the size of your debt
When you find that your back’s against the wall.
Then youll yield to our demands
When we tell you just what we’ve got in store.
If you want the details of what we’ve planned...
You’ll have to wait: the end’s in Westerfilk Four.")
![Kathy Mar - Lady Ellen [HQ]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/MEunL5lPq7k/mqdefault.jpg "Kathy Mar - Lady Ellen [HQ]
Thanks to rocketman0739 for providing high-quality versions of these songs.
Download the album here: https://archive.org/details/filk_songbird
Lyrics:
Lady Ellen wandered in the quiet wood
Pondering the suitors for her hand
Wishing for a life alone and yet, with love
Bending to her fathers one command
All at once a rustle and a sweet perfume
Filled the little meadow where she stood
All at once a silver, silken unicorn
Took a dainty step out of the wood
Lady Ellen gasped and took a trembling step
Reaching out in timid quaking grace
Quivering, the unicorn stepped forward too
Quiet terror showing on its face
And in one light touch their spirits joined and sang
Sharing their unspoken thoughts and fears
Lady Ellen gazed into the midnight eyes
Losing in that look one thousand years
Lady Ellen wanders in the city streets
Staring at the traffic and the light
Looking for a unicorn that disappeared
And left her in this lonely future night")
![Frank Hayes - Hucksters Song [HQ]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Mi-q5TRRkf0/mqdefault.jpg "Frank Hayes - Hucksters Song [HQ]
Dont Ask track 19. Thanks to rocketman0739 for providing high-quality versions of these songs.
Download the album here: https://archive.org/details/filk_dont_ask/
Lyrics:
They are now to be among you at the jingling of your coin
Rest assured, the hucksters here quite happily will join
In whatever odd transaction they see is going on
For whenever two or more of you are gathered at a con
There is cash
There is cash
Now a man shall leave his labors and a woman leave her job
And they shall travel to the con and join the fannish mob
In the huckster room, their paychecks will dwindle into dust
For a huckster knows what he must do and does the things he must
For their cash
For their cash
So then whats to be the reason to lay out your hard-earned bread?
Is it books, or games, or weapons, or the art show now instead?
Well, an artists just a huckster with some semblance of a heart
Its still the highest bidder, and wherever there is art,
There is cash
There is cash
They are now to be among you at the rustling of your green
Rest assured, theyll do most anything thats not obscene
To separate your silver from your person till its gone
For wherever two or more of you are gathered at a con
There is cash
Or, more precisely, there was cash")
![Technical Difficulties - Elizabeths Song [HQ]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/N42VLWUF9i8/mqdefault.jpg "Technical Difficulties - Elizabeths Song [HQ]
Please Stand By track 03. Thanks to rocketman0739 for providing high-quality versions of these songs.
Download the album here: https://archive.org/details/filk_please_stand_by/
Lyrics:
Please let me see
The world you see
I look to heaven’s height
I only see clouds
You look to heaven’s height
Dragons abound
So please paint for me
The colors you see when you dream
I long to know
The hues and the shades of your soul
It seems to me (Elizabeth)
You see the world quite differently (your world is different)
What magical key (Elizabeth)
Unlocks your reality (or all your fantasies)?
Please paint for me
The colors you see
I hear a song
I hear words and notes
You hear a song
You hear more than both
So please sing to me
The songs that you hear when you dream
I long to know
The echoing chords of your soul
It seems to me (Elizabeth)
You hear the world quite differently (your world is different)
What magical key (Elizabeth)
Unlocks your reality (or all your fantasies)?
Please sing to me
The songs you hear
I’ve known joy, sorrow, and pain
You’ve felt them too,
But is it the same?
So please give to me
The passions you feel when you dream
I long to know
The depth and the touch of your soul
It seems to me (Elizabeth)
You feel the world quite differently (your world is different)
What magical key (Elizabeth)
Unlocks your reality (or all your fantasies)?
Please give to me
The passions you feel
Please give to me
Elizabeth")
![Leslie Fish & the Dehorn Crew - The Preacher and the Slave [HQ]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/NWobqv_3pPA/mqdefault.jpg "Leslie Fish & the Dehorn Crew - The Preacher and the Slave [HQ]
Its Sister Jennys Turn to Throw the Bomb track 07. Thanks to rocketman0739 for providing high-quality versions of these songs.
Download the album here: https://archive.org/details/filk_its_sister_jennys_turn_to_throw_the_bomb
Find more of Leslie Fishs music at: https://lesliefish.bandcamp.com/
Lyrics:
Long-haired preachers come out every night (come to Jesus)
Try to tell you whats wrong and whats right (from the Bible)
But when asked about something to eat (are you saved?)
They will answer in voices so sweet (get a job!)
Chorus:
You will eat, by and by,
In that glorious land above the sky (way up high)
Work and pray, live on hay,
Youll get pie in the sky when you die (thats a lie)
And the Starvation Army they play (Rock of Ages)
And they sing and they clap and they pray (hallelujah)
Till they get all your coin on the drum (give another)
Then theyll tell you when youre on the bum (have a doughnut)
(Chorus)
Holy Rollers and jumpers come out (hear the guru)
And they roll and they jump and they shout (spare change?)
“Give your money, hare krishna,” they say (buy some incense)
“And youll eat on that glorious day.” (brown rice)
(Chorus)
Working folks of all countries, unite
Side by side we for freedom will fight
When this world and its wealth we have gained
To the grafters well sing this refrain:
You will eat, by and by,
When you learn how to cook and to fry
Chop some wood, itll do you good,
And youll eat in the sweet by-and-by (thats no lie)")
