![Frank Hayes - Starship in High Gear [HQ] @SongsfromtheStars](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/r4S9liFgVf8/maxresdefault.jpg)
Uploaded March 2021 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
Don't Ask track 15. 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:
I am the dance on the edge of what never has been
I am remembered tomorrows that never were seen
I am the future borne up in the sound of the thunder
Loud-rushing leap to the sky as it spins
Silver cigar wearing Cadillac fins
Where the past stops and the future begins to wonder
Starship in high gear
Flashing lights and shrieking skies
Rockets zip and whiz
Ain't no “was” no more
Ain't no “will be,” not just yet,
All there is is “is”...
I am the zero-gee toilet, backed up to the ceiling
I am the face of a zero-gee hungover feeling
I'm short of sleep 'cause my body won't stay in one place
Air vents that clink and computers that rattle
Water and food that smell awfully like cattle
Whatever happened to Klingons and battles in space?
Starship in high gear
Clanking pipes and weary eyes
Is that supposed to fizz?
Ain't no “was” no more
Ain't no “will be,” not just yet,
All there is is “is”...
Don't Ask track 15. 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:
I am the dance on the edge of what never has been
I am remembered tomorrows that never were seen
I am the future borne up in the sound of the thunder
Loud-rushing leap to the sky as it spins
Silver cigar wearing Cadillac fins
Where the past stops and the future begins to wonder
Starship in high gear
Flashing lights and shrieking skies
Rockets zip and whiz
Ain't no “was” no more
Ain't no “will be,” not just yet,
All there is is “is”...
I am the zero-gee toilet, backed up to the ceiling
I am the face of a zero-gee hungover feeling
I'm short of sleep 'cause my body won't stay in one place
Air vents that clink and computers that rattle
Water and food that smell awfully like cattle
Whatever happened to Klingons and battles in space?
Starship in high gear
Clanking pipes and weary eyes
Is that supposed to fizz?
Ain't no “was” no more
Ain't no “will be,” not just yet,
All there is is “is”...
![Frank Hayes - Starship in High Gear [HQ]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/r4S9liFgVf8/mqdefault.jpg "Frank Hayes - Starship in High Gear [HQ]
Dont Ask track 15. Thanks to rocketman0739 for providing high-quality versions of these songs.
Download the album here: https://archive.org/details/filk_dont_ask/
Lyrics:
I am the dance on the edge of what never has been
I am remembered tomorrows that never were seen
I am the future borne up in the sound of the thunder
Loud-rushing leap to the sky as it spins
Silver cigar wearing Cadillac fins
Where the past stops and the future begins to wonder
Starship in high gear
Flashing lights and shrieking skies
Rockets zip and whiz
Aint no “was” no more
Aint no “will be,” not just yet,
All there is is “is”...
I am the zero-gee toilet, backed up to the ceiling
I am the face of a zero-gee hungover feeling
Im short of sleep cause my body wont stay in one place
Air vents that clink and computers that rattle
Water and food that smell awfully like cattle
Whatever happened to Klingons and battles in space?
Starship in high gear
Clanking pipes and weary eyes
Is that supposed to fizz?
Aint no “was” no more
Aint no “will be,” not just yet,
All there is is “is”...")
![Bob Kanefsky/Leslie Fish - Mundanes Waltz [HQ]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/rEZcAdYvmYI/mqdefault.jpg "Bob Kanefsky/Leslie Fish - Mundanes Waltz [HQ]
Tapeworm I track 6. Thanks to rocketman0739 for providing high-quality versions of these songs.
Download the album here: https://archive.org/details/filk_tapeworm_1
Lyrics:
Come along Harry and Mary and Joe,
Check out your suits and get ready to go.
Fill up those trucks with today’s load of sands
To be shipped back to Earth when the space shuttle lands.
Chorus:
Twelve million, half billion, billion, and more,
Watching T.V. on the living room floor.
Barely aware that the day is at hand
When we dig our first mines in the rich lunar sand.
It’s those people we left back on Earth that get me.
While we’re living the dream, they sit watching TV.
Their metal supply now comes mostly from here,
And they put half of that into cans for their beer.
(Chorus)
Television ignores us; it seems there’s no place
For cov’rage of homesteads we’re building in space.
The reason for this lack of interest is clear:
The ones who would watch are all working up here.
(Chorus)
We’re geologists here, astrophysicists too,
And plain old hard workers like those in our crew,
With one thing in common: we yearn for the stars,
And we will not stop building until theyre all ours.
(Chorus)
Someday we’ll be living in pressurized domes
As warm and secure as Earth’s safe little homes.
But Earth folk won’t visit, because of their fear
That the T.V. reception is lousy up here.
(Chorus)
So come, let’s start building our homestead today,
Where a world of foot-draggers can’t stand in our way.
And when no dependence on Earth goods remains,
We can all say goodbye to those Earthbound mundanes.
(Chorus)")
![Julia Ecklar - Golden Eyes [HQ]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/rWybzpLXSms/mqdefault.jpg "Julia Ecklar - Golden Eyes [HQ]
Horse-Tamers Daughter track 12. Thanks to rocketman0739 for providing high-quality versions of these songs.
Download the album here: https://archive.org/details/filk_horse-tamers_daughter
Find more of Julia Ecklars excellent music at: https://www.prometheus-music.com/
Lyrics:
A shadow in the bright bazaar; a glimpse of eyes where none should shine;
A glimpse of eyes translucent gold, and slitted against the sun.
This the clue and this the sign that sets him on his quarrys line,
But she has seen him in a dream, and now shes on the run.
Faster than a thought she flees, and seeks the jungles sheltering trees,
But he is steady on the track, and half a breath behind.
She tastes his scent upon the breeze, and, looking past her shoulder, sees
He treads upon her shadow. She fears the hunters mind.
So now she summons all her wit, and every trick she knows to hide,
To make him lose the twisting track, to throw him off her trail.
In woman form, in leopard hide, fording, leaping side to side,
She doubles back along her track—and sees her efforts fail.
He stands before her, dark and grim. Her terror now she cant suppress.
He blocks the only pathway out, and will not let her by.
Her gold flanks heaving in distress, half woman and half leopardess—
To either side, nowhere to hide; its time to fight or die.
But what is this? To her amaze, the man has thrown his gun away,
And quietly, he draws near her now, a smile upon his face.
Before she thinks to run or stay, his body blurs like softened clay...
Before her eyes, to her surprise—a leopard in his place.
The hunter they have sought in vain, and now the talk of the bazaar
Is of the canny leopard pair, a sight none will forget
Who once has seen them near or far, in sunlight or where shadows are,
As side by side they hunt and hide. No one has caught them yet!")
![Julia Ecklar - Fellowship Going South [HQ]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/rXLULAmjfyY/mqdefault.jpg "Julia Ecklar - Fellowship Going South [HQ]
Horse-Tamers Daughter track 08. Thanks to rocketman0739 for providing high-quality versions of these songs.
Download the album here: https://archive.org/details/filk_horse-tamers_daughter
Find more of Julia Ecklars excellent music at: https://www.prometheus-music.com/
Lyrics:
What is courage now?
Is it just to go until were done?
Men may call us heroes when they can say weve won—
But if we should fail, how then?
What is courage now?
Mountains to our side,
Standing like a wall against the sky,
Show no path to let us through, yet still we search and try.
Silver snow and stone, cold blue,
Mountains to our side.
River from the pines,
We can hear your echo far away.
To your banks our steps must lead. Help us on our way,
We who know you lend your speed,
River from the pines.
Star above the world,
Seeing down the ways that we must go.
Throw down light to guide a friend, or how else can we know
If theres hope where pathways end?
Star above the world.
What is courage now?
In the hope we know that holds us fast.
Bear us to that final door and win us free at last,
Or we touch this world no more.
What is courage now?")
![UnReal Estate 01 - UnReal Estate [HQ]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/s4iC7ZL9XkQ/mqdefault.jpg "UnReal Estate 01 - UnReal Estate [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_unreal_estate
Lyrics:
Well, everyone knows space is where good moneys to be made
The frontier of the future, where all of Earthll trade
But you gotta get your money in to make sure you get paid
So I got me a real good deal on an asteroid
Chorus:
And they said, “Step right up here, dont be shy!
Come get yourself a piece of the pie
Bring your cash and lets make a deal
Well sell you estates that are quite unreal.”
Well it aint got runnin water, in fact the atmosphere is froze
And its kind of off the beaten path where no spaceship ever goes
But the salesman said its real estate like this thats bound to grow
And I got me a real good deal on an asteroid
(Chorus)
They said theyd guarantee Ill have a lot of silicon
And they swear thats the mineral that everyone should own
Just think about the market in computer chips alone!
And they gave me a real good deal on an asteroid
(Chorus)
Well, I had to decide real quick because they couldnt hold the deal
They said, “P. T. Barnum says theres lots of folks to whom this would appeal!”
So if I didnt buy right then, Id miss out on a steal
So I got me a real good deal on an asteroid
(Chorus)")
![Kathy Mar - Joy [HQ]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/sC6PHcKbW3Q/mqdefault.jpg "Kathy Mar - Joy [HQ]
Thanks to rocketman0739 for providing high-quality versions of these songs.
Download the album here: https://archive.org/details/filk_songbird
Lyrics:
Chorus: Joy is in the ears that hear, let its song succeed
Laughter is the bane of fear and all the hope we need
Let all who are most serious and fearful on this day
Take lessons from our Giant friends, or children at their play
For ever in the midst of woe, it helps if we recall
That laughter is a medicine more potent than them all
(Chorus)
When all our banners dragged the dust and all our hands were chained,
In haunted caverns of the earth our laughter yet remained
And ever as we lost our dreams, the joy would bid them nigh
Until at last we left the dark and laughed beneath the sky
(Chorus)
Though ever in this darkling world our enemies grow strong,
It helps us to remember that their reign cannot be long
For though it seems forever as we hold them still at bay,
It helps to know that laughter is forever and a day
(Chorus x2)")
![Bill Sutton - “Star Song” [HQ]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/sW3zlcyOddE/mqdefault.jpg "Bill Sutton - “Star Song” [HQ]
Past Due track 15. Thanks to rocketman0739 for providing high-quality versions of these songs.
Download the album here: https://archive.org/details/filk_past_due
Lyrics:
“The milk run, quick and cheap,” he said, as he shipped from Station 3
“A chance to be alone,” he said, “just my guitar and me.”
So he loaded up the cargo and he drifted from the bay
Navigation entered in, Star Song is on her way
Two days at the halfway point, shes running on her own
Hes sitting in his cabin, writing songs of home
Well, she lurches twice, her jets fire, he crashes to the deck
He wakes to find the navicomp is a twisted, useless wreck
Chorus:
You see, there aint no hand to guide you when the memory banks are blown
There aint no sign to point you to the star you call your own
Oh, no, there aint no bloody road map for the road that leads you home
Theres only God to help you when youre lost in space alone
Well, a dust speck, like a bullet bite, had carved away her brain
Adrift with only life support, she wont find home again
Well, her course has changed, shes drifting wide, he cant tell where hes bound
He stares out at the endless stars, at space, without a sound
Well, he turns on the mayday beam and he picks up his guitar
He sings a song of loneliness, of a man without a star
Well, he sings of how hes feeling when theres no one else around
With little chance of getting home, with power running down
(Chorus)
Well, the liner Carillon is running three days out from Sol
When comm reports a frequency is sounding mayday call
So she turns to track the trouble, finding a mindless ship and song
She grapples with the freighter and she takes the pilot on
Well, its another day and Carillon has made her planetfall
Star Song has had her comp replaced and shes ready for another haul
Well, he shudders once as he climbs in, just he and his guitar
But he just shrugs and enters in a course for another star...
(Chorus)")
![Jordin Kare - Dawsons Christian [HQ]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/sZY_fzXNL_o/mqdefault.jpg "Jordin Kare - Dawsons Christian [HQ]
Parody Violation track 2. Thanks to rocketman0739 for providing high-quality versions of these songs.
Download the album here: https://archive.org/details/filk_parody_violation
Lyrics (originally by Duane Elms, adapted by Jordin Kare):
Jayme Dawson was the captain of the Christian and her crew
When they flew and fought the Christian in the war of 82
And the Christian was the finest ship tween here and Charlemagne
And the crew of Jayme Dawson was the same
On patrol in sector seven, keeping watch on Barbers sun
They were jumped by three light cruisers, though they were no match for one
And as they came to general quarters and they sent out the alarm
Jayme must have known theyd finally bought the farm
Now they say that Jayme Dawson was no man to cut and run
And they say that when he fought he had the fury of a sun
But they say he made his bargain with some power of the night
That he sold his soul to win his final fight
No man living saw that battle, for the fleet was quick to leave
But at the site they found a scene no sane man would believe
Three light cruisers cut to ribbons, wreckage scattered all around
But no trace of Dawsons ship was ever found
There are stories of the Dutchman, the Celeste and Barnhams Pride
There are stories of the Horseman and the Lady at his side
But the tale that makes my blood grow cold, the more because its true
Is the tale of Jayme Dawson and his crew
The tale of Dawsons Christian and her crew
I was first mate on a freighter, Heras Dream of Goldmans line,
Running loads of precious metals to the colony on Nine
I was standing second watch six days into a quiet flight
When the pirate ships appeared out of the night
Well, I thought our fate was settled, for they had us four to one
And you cant fight bloody pirates when your freighter has no guns
So we stood by to be boarded by a party yet unseen
When another ship appeared upon our screens
Well, I thought she was a pirate, but the vector was all wrong
Then I thought the fleet had found us, but the signal wasnt strong
And our hailing brought no answer, and I felt a sudden dread
For the strangers shields were up and glowing red
Now the courage of that single ship is shown by very few
But I thought none but a madman would fly her as she flew
She was outgunned, she was outnumbered, but a cheer came from our lips
When she swung to fire on the pirate ships
And that strangers beams burned brighter than all beams wed seen before
That strangers shields were harder than the heart of any whore
And her jets, they cut the ether, as we watched and shook our heads
Four pirate ships she cut to bloody shreds
Four pirate ships she cut to bloody shreds
Then as swiftly as it started, the battle all was done,
For the pirate ships were dying and the strangers ship had won
She matched vee and lay beside us, and we watched her full of awe
Till she dropped her shields and this is what we saw
There were thirty holes clear through her and a gash along one side
And we knew that when it happened, every soul on board her died
Then she rolled to show her markings, and we read them and we knew
The fate of Jayme Dawson and his crew
She was the Christian, and a grave for all her crew
Then she turned as if to leave us, but instead began to fade
First her hull, then her bulkheads, as we trembled there afraid
But there are twenty men wholl swear with me, the last to slip from view
Were the bones of Jayme Dawson and his crew
Dead white bones of Jayme Dawson and his crew
There are stories of the Dutchman, the Celeste and Barnhams Pride
There are stories of the Horseman and the Lady at his side
But the tale that makes my blood grow cold, the more because its true
Is the tale of Jayme Dawson and his crew
The tale of Dawsons Christian and her crew
Theyre out there, Jayme Dawson and his crew")
![Technical Difficulties - Thinking of You / The Cruel War [HQ]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/saFy7KoF66g/mqdefault.jpg "Technical Difficulties - Thinking of You / The Cruel War [HQ]
Please Stand By track 11. Thanks to rocketman0739 for providing high-quality versions of these songs.
Download the album here: https://archive.org/details/filk_please_stand_by/
Lyrics:
Lonely, I am on my own
Wait for me, lover
The cruel war is raging, Johnny has to fight
I want to be with him from morning till night
I want to be with him, it grieves my heart so
Wont you let me go with you? No, my love, no.
In the lonely night, echoes fill my aching heart
And I dream of you
Wanting you near, to feel my empty arms
Tomorrow is Sunday; Monday is the day
(Wishing for my wife, my home)
Your captain will call you and you must obey
(Live for me, lover)
Your captain will call you, it grieves my heart so
(Thinking of you safe and warm)
Wont you let me go with you? No, my love, no.
(Pray for me, lover)
Needing you to light my day
(In the brightest day, shadows play within my mind)
Shine for me, lover
(And I think of you, needing you near me, safe from wars alarms)
Dreaming you are in my arms
(Duty called you far, stars surround you in my mind)
Be with me, lover
(And I dream of you, thinking of you, my own true love)
Ill tie back my hair; mens clothing Ill put on
(Needing you to light my day)
[In the brightest day, shadows play within my mind]
And Ill pass as your comrade as we march along
(Shine for me, lover)
[And I think of you, needing you near me, safe from wars alarms]
Ill pass as your comrade; no one will ever know
(Dreaming you are in my arms)
[Duty called you far, stars surround you in my mind]
Wont you let me go with you? No, my love, no.
(Be with me, lover)
[And I dream of you, thinking of you, my own true love]
Oh Johnny, oh Johnny, I fear you are unkind
I love you far better than all of mankind
I love you far better than words could eer express
(Life flows along a stream, passing days youll never see)
Wont you let me go with you? Yes, my love, yes.
(But Ill be with you, when other days bring my love home)
Loving in the midst of storms
Think of me, lover
(Yes, my love, yes)
[My love home]")
![UnReal Estate 10 - Compound Interest [HQ]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/t7klYks-BSs/mqdefault.jpg "UnReal Estate 10 - Compound Interest [HQ]
Sung by Larry Warner. Thanks to rocketman0739 for providing high-quality versions of these songs.
Download the album here: https://archive.org/details/filk_unreal_estate
Lyrics:
(Chorus)
Space is dark and space is deep,
But so is the vault in which we keep
One thousand years of hazard pay
Where interest compounds every day,
And accountants there will testify
That theres naught we see that we cant buy.
When we signed up for deep space, we knew wed be gone a while,
So I made some arrangements that should set us up in style:
A tax-free trust receives our pay from our hard-won careers
At interest rates that double our net worth each seven years.
And so we set out on our trip through interstellar space;
Five hundred years we traveled, as our money grew apace.
Theres thirty thousand trillion trillion dollars in the till
When some unknown caretaker breaks a seal to know our will.
(Chorus)
“If hyperdrive exists, then off of Earth diversify.
If not, then to develop it all proceeds please apply.
And if we are successful, then the secret hold quite dear,
And send someone to meet us when our target star we near.”
Ten years from when we set the quest, they found the hyperdrive,
And man spread to a million stars, and we own all but five.
For we control all commerce, any trade must feed our trust,
And every ship that moves must lease the hyperdrive from us.
(Chorus)
As we awoke from frozen sleep, we all knew what to do.
We each phoned up our broker just to ask him what was new.
One thousand years of compound interest leads to lovely thoughts,
Like assets in the range of three followed by fifty naughts.
Now we know everybody cant do everything weve done;
This only works if youre the first to leave your native sun.
But still there is the lesson here that patience can win out:
If this week things dont go your way, then wait the bastards out.
(Chorus)")
![Frank Hayes - Never Set the Cat on Fire [HQ]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/tGmeYqpixu8/mqdefault.jpg "Frank Hayes - Never Set the Cat on Fire [HQ]
Dont Ask track 21. Thanks to rocketman0739 for providing high-quality versions of these songs.
Download the album here: https://archive.org/details/filk_dont_ask/
Lyrics:
Never set the cat on fire; you only will annoy it.
The heat will make the beast perspire; she surely wont enjoy it.
Likewise do not ignite the dog, the snake, the gerbil, or the frog;
No, never set the cat on fire.
(Chorus)
And mind your manners, as circumstances may require,
And never set the cat on fire.
Dont open up the cabin hatch; the air is sure to leave it.
And air is very hard to catch; you never will retrieve it.
And even though your lifes a bore, dont open the reactor door;
Dont open up the cabin hatch.
(Chorus)
Dont change the navigators data; someones sure to see ya.
You know the captains view of that: a very bad idea.
He doesnt want his ship to race forever lost in endless space;
Dont change the navigators data.
(Chorus)
Dont start an interstellar war; it has no helpful uses.
If people ask you “Whats it for?”, youll only make excuses.
If thirty trillion folks get hurt, youll go to bed with no dessert!
Dont start an interstellar war.
(Chorus x2)")
![Bob Kanefsky/Leslie Fish - Song from the Pigs Side [HQ]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/uEvdxLRmLtA/mqdefault.jpg "Bob Kanefsky/Leslie Fish - Song from the Pigs Side [HQ]
Tapeworm I track 2. Thanks to rocketman0739 for providing high-quality versions of these songs.
Download the album here: https://archive.org/details/filk_tapeworm_1
Lyrics:
Once we feared the beast. When he came we ran away,
And we hid in our homes, though we knew
That our fenced-in homes could not keep the beast at bay;
But what could we pen-dwellers do?
The beast made short work of the guards in our yards,
Snuffed out our fires with his paw.
But now we are sheltered, one and all, by a wall,
Secure in our sturdy house of straw.
So shout it to the falcons on the crest: Be impressed!
Neighbors, stand back in awe.
This is the latest beast-proof hut. (Keep it shut!)
This is the house of straw.
Straw’s light weight let us build it in a day,
And it’s real easy stuff to weave.
But the beast came by, and he blew our house away,
And we thought it might be best to leave.
So we made a hasty beeline for the wood, those who could,
And we stopped by a stream for a rest.
And we noticed how the beavers had played tricks with some sticks,
And thought maybe sticks work best.
So shout it to the eagles in the sky: Let him try!
Let the beast show up and take his licks.
This is the latest beast-proof hut. (Keep it shut!)
This is the house of sticks.
Sticks seem strong, and they serve the beavers well,
But they gave us their own short ends.
For we live on the land, and as any fool can tell,
A dry stick will break before it bends.
So the beast came back, and he huffed, and he puffed,
And he let loose a mighty gust of air.
When materials are stressed more than they take, they will break.
All who would build, beware!
But we, the last survivors from the pen, tried again:
Where there is a problem there’s a fix.
This is the latest beast-proof hut. (Keep it shut!)
This is the house of bricks.
The beast came back, and he tried the same attack
That had worked for him in the past.
But the well-built house and attractive chimney stack,
By their strength and their weight, held fast.
The beast, seeing bricks are not like straw, not like sticks,
Slid down the chimney in a dive.
But aha! we were ready with a pot, boiling hot,
And thus was the monster cooked alive.
Our sows and all their little ones will feast on roast beast,
And no more little pigs will be picked off.
And we won’t fear the crunching sound of feet as we eat,
Muzzles buried in the trough.
We can eat with our tails stuck up in the breeze, if we please.
We can sleep after meals in the mud.
For the big bad wolf we once feared is deceased.
Hogkind has spilled his blood.
Hogkind has spilled his blood!")
