Uploaded November 2021 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
Thanks to rocketman0739 for providing high-quality versions of these songs.
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Lyrics:
Well, time, it moves in silence, till it takes on flesh and form
And time, it hurries on until it leaves us old and worn
It's a puzzle on a table put together piece by piece
It's a landlord on the stairwell with his eye upon the lease
Chorus:
We're not always given time, time for yours and time for mine
When we love and when we doubt, time's what makes us work it out
We're not always given time, time for yours and time for mine
And time, it is a candle that is burning in the attic
Time is in the airwaves, sometimes music, sometimes static
It's a sweet young adolescent who believes she'll live forever
It's the heart of every dreamer who refuses to say never
(Chorus)
And time it is insatiable, it just takes, it never begs
Time is a piranha headed for the swimmer's legs
It's a soldier in the trenches who is waiting for the bullet
It's a hangman, it's a trapdoor, it's the crowd that wants to see it
And time, it is a Christian who's still looking out for Jesus
And time, it is what Hell is like when the whole place up and freezes
And me, I want a reprieve, see, I need a change of plans
But no amount of scrubbing can take this time off of my hands
(Chorus)
Thanks to rocketman0739 for providing high-quality versions of these songs.
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Lyrics:
Well, time, it moves in silence, till it takes on flesh and form
And time, it hurries on until it leaves us old and worn
It's a puzzle on a table put together piece by piece
It's a landlord on the stairwell with his eye upon the lease
Chorus:
We're not always given time, time for yours and time for mine
When we love and when we doubt, time's what makes us work it out
We're not always given time, time for yours and time for mine
And time, it is a candle that is burning in the attic
Time is in the airwaves, sometimes music, sometimes static
It's a sweet young adolescent who believes she'll live forever
It's the heart of every dreamer who refuses to say never
(Chorus)
And time it is insatiable, it just takes, it never begs
Time is a piranha headed for the swimmer's legs
It's a soldier in the trenches who is waiting for the bullet
It's a hangman, it's a trapdoor, it's the crowd that wants to see it
And time, it is a Christian who's still looking out for Jesus
And time, it is what Hell is like when the whole place up and freezes
And me, I want a reprieve, see, I need a change of plans
But no amount of scrubbing can take this time off of my hands
(Chorus)
![Jordin Kare - Song of the Bear II [HQ]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/jSBWyW68B8o/mqdefault.jpg "Jordin Kare - Song of the Bear II [HQ]
Fire in the Sky track 13. Thanks to rocketman0739 for providing high-quality versions of these songs.
Download the album here: https://archive.org/details/filk_fire_in_the_sky
Lyrics:
Chorus:
Hark to the sound of metal on metal
Drive in the city now if you dare
But beware of the little white three-wheeled go-cart
Beware of the lady with the soul of the bear
Brave young men who drive your Porsches,
BMWs, and the like
Do you not know that you would be better off
Riding a second-hand, three speed bike?
(Chorus)
Favorite commuter, or permanent resident
Little old lady on a Sunday night
Japanese tourist or United States president
None of your cars will get past her alive
(Chorus)
I just had to go to the store for a minute!
She still ignores both truth and lies
Can you not see neath the white crash helmet
A thing not human behind those eyes?
(Chorus)
Mortal man, your meters expired
Plead on your knees and curse and swear
She writes on her pad and she tears off your ticket
Saying, “Lo, I have summoned you, for I am the bear!”
(Chorus)")
![Frank Hayes - Boomer Johnson [HQ]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/kE7Trej9C_8/mqdefault.jpg "Frank Hayes - Boomer Johnson [HQ]
Dont Ask track 18. Thanks to rocketman0739 for providing high-quality versions of these songs.
Download the album here: https://archive.org/details/filk_dont_ask/
Lyrics:
Mr. Boomer Johnson was a-gettin old in spots,
But you cant expect a badman to go wrastlin pans and pots;
Hed done his share of killin but his draw was gettin slow,
So he quit to punchin cattle and he took to punchin dough.
Our foreman up and hired him, thinkin age had rode him tame,
But a snake dont get no sweeter from the changin of his name.
Boomer knew his business—he could cook to make you smile,
But say, he wrangled fodder in a most peculiar style.
He didnt use no matches—left em layin on the shelf,
Just some kerosene and cussin and the kindlin lit itself.
Pardner, let me tell you, it would give a man a jolt
To see him stir frijoles with the barrel of his Colt.
He built his doughnuts solid, and it sure would curl your hair
To see him plug the holes when he tossed em in the air.
He drilled each hole plumb center every time his pistol spoke,
Till the can was full of doughnuts and the shack was full of smoke.
We was all a-gettin jumpy, but he couldnt understand
Why his shootin made us nervous when his shootin was so grand.
He kept right on performin, and it wasnt no surprise
When he took to markin tombstones on the covers of his pies.
Now they didnt look no better and they didnt taste no worse,
But sittin at the table was like ridin in a hearse;
We didnt do no talkin and we took just what we got,
We et till we was foundered just to keep from gettin shot.
Twas early one fine mornin, I was feelin sorta low,
When Boomer passed the doughnuts, I answered, “Plenty, no.
Coffees all this trip Im takin, for my stomach is a wreck.”
You could see the lust for killin swell the wattles of his neck.
Scorn his grub? He strung some doughnuts on the barrel of his gun,
And he stuck it in my gizzard and he said, “Youre takin some!”
He was set to start a graveyard, but for once he was mistook;
Me not wantin any doughnuts, I assaults the cook.
Did they fire him? Listen, pardner, there was nothin left to fire,
Just a row of smilin faces and another cook to hire.
If he found another outfit and is cookin, what I mean,
Its where they dont use matches nor they dont use kerosene.")
![Frank Hayes - Vegetate [HQ]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/l0EYM5XmoLs/mqdefault.jpg "Frank Hayes - Vegetate [HQ]
Dont Ask track 11. Thanks to rocketman0739 for providing high-quality versions of these songs.
Download the album here: https://archive.org/details/filk_dont_ask/
Lyrics:
I used to be so happy in the summer sun
That Id hurry to the beach to play
But now Im out of work, you know, it aint much fun,
So I sit around the house all day
Chorus:
I sit and vegetate, va-va-va-vegetate,
Va-va-va-vegetate, va-va-va-vegetate, (woo-oo)
Va-va-va-vegetate, va-va-va-vegetate, (woo-oo)
Va-va-va-vegetate, va-va-va-vegetate, (woo-oo)
Sit around the house, doing nothing all summer long!
I used to drive my Chevy to Bikini Beach
See the women in the sun and surf
But now I spend the summer with my old TV
Watching Daffy Duck and Papa Smurf
(Chorus)
Woo-oo
Woo-oo
Woo-oo
I never have to worry that I might be late
No, you never have to hurry when you vegetate!
I sit around-round, sit around, I sit around
Yeah, sit around, sit around, I sit around
I sit around...
(Chorus x2)")
![Frank Hayes - Like a Lamb to the Slaughter [HQ]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/mZwq62u2Ha8/mqdefault.jpg "Frank Hayes - Like a Lamb to the Slaughter [HQ]
Dont Ask track 12. Thanks to rocketman0739 for providing high-quality versions of these songs.
Download the album here: https://archive.org/details/filk_dont_ask/
Lyrics:
“Matty Groves” is a great old traditional song, and lots of people ask for it. The big problem with “Matty Groves” is, its big. About four hundred and seventy verses. Fortunately, with a little creative editing, it can still be chopped down to a reasonable size...say, talking blues?
One high, one holy holiday, on the first day of the year
Little Matty Groves to the church did go, some holy words to hear
When in come old Lord Arnolds wife, and she looked at him and said
“Come here often? Whats your sign?” and off they went to bed.
In the interests of brevity, Ill omit some of the more disposable parts of the song. Like the section where they get undressed...all forty-seven verses of it.
Now old Lord Arnold he had a page, and when he saw what they had done
He said, “Id better tell the boss!” and he began to run
He ran through the briars and he ran through the brambles
And he ran through the bushes where a rabbit couldnt go
Ran so fast that the hounds couldnt catch him
Down the Mississippi to the—you get the idea.
Next morning the happy lovers awoke, took one look at who was standing at the foot of the bed, and said “Ohhhh...shit.”
“Rise up, rise up now, Matty Groves, put your clothes on quick as you can
Never let it be said in all Scotland I slew a naked man!
And ye shall have the better sword, and I shall have the worse
And I shall strike the second blow, for ye shall strike the first!”
Stupid Scottish twit. Again in the interests of brevity, I will omit the section where Matty, for perfectly obvious reasons, takes his own sweet time about getting dressed again...all forty-seven verses of it.
Now the first blow little Matty struck, it hurt Lord Arnold sore;
The second blow Lord Arnold struck, little Matty stood no more.
Lord Arnold felt about himself to see where hed been cut
He looked, and found to his surprise hed lost his...you-know-what.
And he said “Ohhhh...shit!”
Now if he hadnt let Matty Groves strike first, hed never have lost his dong,
And if she hadnt let the pageboy know, youd never have heard this song.
But now they sit at home a lot, becoming nervous wrecks,
Which goes to show discretion is the better part of sex.
Moral of the story? Be good. If you cant be good, be careful. And if you cant be careful, try to keep it down to five or six verses, huh?")
![Kathy Mar - Childhoods End [HQ]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/nGgMBfB_UV4/mqdefault.jpg "Kathy Mar - Childhoods End [HQ]
Thanks to rocketman0739 for providing high-quality versions of these songs.
Download the album here: https://archive.org/details/filk_songbird
Lyrics:
Chorus: Ill look upon the face of God, and through a billion eyes
And take the planet of my birth beyond the endless skies
And sing the universal song above the reach of right and wrong
And find the Devil is my friend, when I have come to childhoods end
They touched our world and changed our bloody history
They gave us peace and always dwelt in mystery
They eased the hunger of the endless realms of men
And taught us how to love each other once again
They promised they would walk among us on the day
When all their ministrations had prepared the way
And when the work was done and fifty years had passed
They left their ships to show themselves to us at last
(Chorus)
The horns and wings and tails no longer brought us fear
Our minds were now unclouded, and our eyes were clear
No longer would we judge things for the way they seem
And on that day, the children would begin to dream
The dreamers were the promise of a new mankind
They soon would touch the universal overmind
And as they pondered what that touch would someday bring
In all our thoughts their hopes would brightly dance and sing
(Chorus)
The devils were the guardians of our infant earth
They supervised the circumstances of our birth
In loneliness they cross the seas of stars alone
And never share the song that calls us all back home
(Chorus)")
![Bill Sutton - The Pilots Eyes [HQ]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/nXSOmEURz-Q/mqdefault.jpg "Bill Sutton - The Pilots Eyes [HQ]
Past Due track 06. Thanks to rocketman0739 for providing high-quality versions of these songs.
Download the album here: https://archive.org/details/filk_past_due
Lyrics:
He couldnt see the moons or suns, he couldnt see the stars
He couldnt see the docking lights, so he hangs around the bars
Though in the life he left behind he lived beyond the sky
Hes grounded, useless, hopeless, for a blind man cannot fly
Now the man who flies a starship drive is a god to other men
No flaws has he that they perceive, no faults that they may ken
But should his body fail him or his senses let him down
They all ignore his time at war; alone he stalks the town
So the blind man sits and dreams of ships in the foam of another beer
A pilot sneers; the blind man hears, and he sheds a ductless tear
For once he was a soldier in the war to save his race
Till laser knives wiped out his eyes and left him half a face
Well, the star fleets free with liberty, except in times of war
So comes the day the blind mans bay rings loud with space no more
The fleet is called, the ships lift out, the battle cry is blown
Left behind to drink his wine, the blind man sits alone
Well, then suddenly close fire breaks free among the spaceport bars
Enemy signs behind the lines, destroying home fleet stars
The blind man leaps to safety as the laser heat burns through
He alone may save his home; he knows what he must do
Through the sounds of war that blast him oer, his memory is true
He finds a ship, a shuttle slip abandoned by its crew
He waits until the scanners sound—the battle is above
And with a prayer to gods of air he gives the jets a shove
They said it was a stroke of luck that shuttles engines blew
They said it was the hand of God that aimed it straight and true
They said it was the fates of war that saved their world that day
That downed the rebel leader and so chased his force away
Well they never found the blind man in the rubble of the bar
They made a cave, an empty grave for a soldier of the stars
They then forgot the blind man, but I wont forget that night
I was a child, alone, who saw my fathers final flight
Well, he couldnt see the moons or suns, he couldnt see the stars
He couldnt see the docking lights, so he hangs around the bars
Though in the life he left behind he lived beyond the sky
Hes grounded, useless, hopeless, for a blind man cannot fly
No, a blind man cannot fly")
![Leslie Fish & the Dehorn Crew - Bella Ciao [HQ]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/nw5dJyVwGJs/mqdefault.jpg "Leslie Fish & the Dehorn Crew - Bella Ciao [HQ]
Its Sister Jennys Turn to Throw the Bomb track 05. 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:
Late this morning I heard the rifles
Bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao
Late this morning I heard the rifles
And it is time for me to go
The fairest flower in all the mountains
Bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao
The fairest flower in all the mountains
Is the black rose that sets us free
We will join her and fight together
Bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao
We will join her and fight together
Or we will surely die alone
The winters coming, the snows are on us
Bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao
The winters coming, the snows are on us
Now we must build fires of our own
The hungry servants have stopped complaining
Bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao
The hungry servants have stopped complaining
And all the masters wonder why
Inside his castle the king is sleeping
Bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao
Inside his castle the king is sleeping
Let us be sure he sleeps too long
A tattered banner as black as midnight
Bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao
A tattered banner as black as midnight
Can tell you where my love has gone
Late this morning I heard the rifles
Bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao
Late this morning I heard the rifles
And it is time for me to go")
![Technical Difficulties - Innocence Lost [HQ]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/oZUA32DV3NQ/mqdefault.jpg "Technical Difficulties - Innocence Lost [HQ]
Please Stand By track 05. Thanks to rocketman0739 for providing high-quality versions of these songs.
Download the album here: https://archive.org/details/filk_please_stand_by/
Lyrics:
Innocence lost, like the first winds of summer.
Manhood outrunning me soon.
Daydreams all dead and night truths to replace them;
I chase them and hear their dark tunes.
Theres nowhere to run and no youth to use running,
Nothing but fear spurs me on.
My past is behind and somehow I cant see it,
Like the words of a forgotten song.
A song, in the midst of the summer
With birds singing love everywhere.
A boy, with his heart overflowing,
In his innocence having no care.
But the music fades fast; faster still when Im trying,
Though memories leave echoes behind.
Like the chords of that song, now lost in confusion,
My innocence lost back in time.
I cant find the peace that should come with the learning,
I cant find the meanings at all.
And the time wont come back, it just taunts from a distance,
I still hear old innocence call.
I hear, but cant answer the call.")
![Jordin Kare - Darkness [HQ]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/oeNepoxUbgs/mqdefault.jpg "Jordin Kare - Darkness [HQ]
Fire in the Sky track 09. Thanks to rocketman0739 for providing high-quality versions of these songs.
Download the album here: https://archive.org/details/filk_fire_in_the_sky
Lyrics:
Theres a darkness out between the stars that any eye can see
Theres a deeper dark within me where no light will ever be
Theres an empty place beside me where my lover ought to stand
Theres a burning sun before me and the throttles in my hand
Two days ago I lost her on a world without a name
As we touched the land to claim it, for the thousandth time the same
Then I left her but a moment and I did not see her fall
I know only that I failed her, never heard her final call
I dug her grave in alien ground in the shade of an alien wood
And I touched her there one final time, and I said what words I could
Let that cold world hold her gently, for she came so far to die
Then I took the ship that was our home and blasted for the sky
But deep space holds no comfort for a broken man alone
And our ship held only memories of the joys that we once had known
And I could not live without her in a life no longer whole
So I chose to die by starlight and let fire cleanse my soul
And now the screens grow blinding bright, the fires burn ahead
The hull around me whispers as it glows an angry red
Theres a high, cold wail behind me, as if starships too could cry
But my hand is cold and steady and the time has come to die
But now my love comes back to me cross gulfs Ill never know
And I hear her voice within me, and I hear her saying no
And I pull the throttle to me, and the forward thrusters burn
And the ship cries out in agony as she fights to make the turn
Then my vision starts to fail me as the forces mount and grow
And I wonder when the ship will fail, and I wonder if Ill know
Then the screens before me darken, and a coolness strikes my face
And theres nothing left before me but the endless depths of space
Theres a darkness out between the stars that any eye can see
But theres light within that darkness touches even a fool like me
For I know my love forgives me and I know she loves me still
Once we roamed the stars together; now I know we always will")
![Bill Sutton - Poet and a Starman [HQ]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/p-EJX1mZz8E/mqdefault.jpg "Bill Sutton - Poet and a Starman [HQ]
Past Due track 11. Thanks to rocketman0739 for providing high-quality versions of these songs.
Download the album here: https://archive.org/details/filk_past_due
Lyrics:
I am a poet and a starman
I drift the boundless void alone
I seek the brilliant clusters
I touch the alien stone
But the songs I sing are the songs of home
My long lost home
I race the universe and travel
Not fast enough to catch its light
I left my life behind me
In time and in my flight
The things I loved in endless night
While I shine bright
Ive seen their wonders and their treasures
Ive read their words and heard their songs
They speak their dreams so proudly
Their voices loud and strong
I sing alone when they have gone
Then I go on
I am a poet and a starman
I sing my way from sun to sun
I ask the brilliant clusters
Where distant planets run
Do I regret the things Ive done?
The songs Ive sung?")
