![UnReal Estate 04 - The Light Ship [HQ] @SongsfromtheStars](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/1n4Ag0C5Ts8/maxresdefault.jpg)
Uploaded August 2021 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
Sung by Larry Warner. Thanks to rocketman0739 for providing high-quality versions of these songs.
Download the album here: archive.org/details/filk_unreal_estate
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Lyrics:
The full earth stands at our left hands
And the pale moon on the right.
All fire and steel, our Catherine-wheel
Rolls through the endless night.
The sun may burn at full astern
And the power-cells drink deep;
Both day and night stand in our sight
From waking unto sleep.
Chorus:
And we spin long light from the glory of the sun,
Yes, we spin long light from the glory of the sun,
And the light-gems glow on the Earth below
In the bright web spun from the glory of the sun.
The powers run from the brazen sun
Through the web of heaven's height
To the opal world, like a clouded pearl
Strung on a thread of light.
And we pace our turn from bow to stern
Through the elfin-summer field
Where the power cells like flower bells
Drink all the sun can yield.
(Chorus)
The well-paced blips of the factory ships
Slide past our orbit's brink,
Like a swarm of bees in the girder trees
Come to our flowers to drink.
And the Earth is clean as a springtime dream;
No factory-smokes appear—
For they've left the land to the gardener's hand,
And they all are circling here!
(Chorus)
Sung by Larry Warner. Thanks to rocketman0739 for providing high-quality versions of these songs.
Download the album here: archive.org/details/filk_unreal_estate
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Lyrics:
The full earth stands at our left hands
And the pale moon on the right.
All fire and steel, our Catherine-wheel
Rolls through the endless night.
The sun may burn at full astern
And the power-cells drink deep;
Both day and night stand in our sight
From waking unto sleep.
Chorus:
And we spin long light from the glory of the sun,
Yes, we spin long light from the glory of the sun,
And the light-gems glow on the Earth below
In the bright web spun from the glory of the sun.
The powers run from the brazen sun
Through the web of heaven's height
To the opal world, like a clouded pearl
Strung on a thread of light.
And we pace our turn from bow to stern
Through the elfin-summer field
Where the power cells like flower bells
Drink all the sun can yield.
(Chorus)
The well-paced blips of the factory ships
Slide past our orbit's brink,
Like a swarm of bees in the girder trees
Come to our flowers to drink.
And the Earth is clean as a springtime dream;
No factory-smokes appear—
For they've left the land to the gardener's hand,
And they all are circling here!
(Chorus)
![UnReal Estate 04 - The Light Ship [HQ]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/1n4Ag0C5Ts8/mqdefault.jpg "UnReal Estate 04 - The Light Ship [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:
The full earth stands at our left hands
And the pale moon on the right.
All fire and steel, our Catherine-wheel
Rolls through the endless night.
The sun may burn at full astern
And the power-cells drink deep;
Both day and night stand in our sight
From waking unto sleep.
Chorus:
And we spin long light from the glory of the sun,
Yes, we spin long light from the glory of the sun,
And the light-gems glow on the Earth below
In the bright web spun from the glory of the sun.
The powers run from the brazen sun
Through the web of heavens height
To the opal world, like a clouded pearl
Strung on a thread of light.
And we pace our turn from bow to stern
Through the elfin-summer field
Where the power cells like flower bells
Drink all the sun can yield.
(Chorus)
The well-paced blips of the factory ships
Slide past our orbits brink,
Like a swarm of bees in the girder trees
Come to our flowers to drink.
And the Earth is clean as a springtime dream;
No factory-smokes appear—
For theyve left the land to the gardeners hand,
And they all are circling here!
(Chorus)")
![Jordin Kare - Heart of the Appaloosa [HQ]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/26rT8NIS1CA/mqdefault.jpg "Jordin Kare - Heart of the Appaloosa [HQ]
Parody Violation track 10. Thanks to rocketman0739 for providing high-quality versions of these songs.
Download the album here: https://archive.org/details/filk_parody_violation
Lyrics (Fred Small):
From the land of shooting waters to the peaks of the Coeur dAlene
Thimbleberries in the forest, elk grazing on the plain
The people of the coyote made their camp along the streams
Of the green Wallowa Valley, when fences had no name
And they bred a strain of horses, the treasure of the tribe
Who could toe-dance on a ridge or gallop up a mountainside
Who could haul the hunters burden, turn a buffalo stampede
The horse that wore the spotted coat was born with matchless speed
Chorus: Thunder-Rolling-in-the-Mountains,
Lead the people across the Great Divide
Theres blood on the snow in the hills of Idaho
But the heart of the Appaloosa never died
In the winter came the crowned ones, near frozen in the cold
Bringing firearms and spyglasses and a book that saves the soul
The people gave them welcome, nursed them till their strength returned
And studied the talking paper, its mysteries to learn
In the shadow of the mission sprang up farms and squatter towns
Fences lined the prairie, the plow blade split the ground
In the shallows of the Clearwater, gold glittered in the pan
And word would come from Washington: Remove the Indian
(Chorus)
The chief spoke to the people in his anger and his pain
I am no more Chief Joseph, Rolling Thunder is my name
They condemn us to a wasteland of barren soil and stone
We shall fight them if we must, but we will find another home.
They fled into the Bitterroot, an army at their heels
They fought at White Bird Canyon, they fought at Misery Hill
Till the colonel saw his strategy and sent the order down
To kill the Appaloosa wherever it be found
(Chorus)
Twelve hundred miles retreating, three times over the Divide
The horse their only safety, their only ally
Three thousand Appaloosas perished with the tribe
The people and the horses dying side by side
Thunder-Rolling-in-the-Mountains said, My heart is sick and sad
Our children now are freezing, the old chiefs are dead
The hunger takes our spirit, our wounds are deep and sore
From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more.
(Chorus)
They were sent to Oklahoma, malaria ran rife
But more died of broken hearts, far from the land that gave them life
And the man once called Joseph at death was heard to say
We have given up our horses, they have gone away.
But sometimes without warning, from a dull domestic herd
A spotted horse of spirit wondrous will emerge
Strong it is and fearless and nimble on a hill
Listening for thunder, the Appaloosas living still
(Chorus)")
![Bill Sutton - Caretakers [HQ]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/29zXUjH0Sd4/mqdefault.jpg "Bill Sutton - Caretakers [HQ]
Past Due track 04. Thanks to rocketman0739 for providing high-quality versions of these songs.
Download the album here: https://archive.org/details/filk_past_due
Lyrics:
In the time of rising mountains, in the age when life was new
The trees were the rulers of life on earth, and the world as a forest grew
But a new life found the forest, and a new life tore the land
So the dryad came to protect the wood, to stay the human hand,
Singing, “I am the strength of the heart and the root,
I am the soul of the wood.”
In the time of ancient mountains, in an age no longer new
A man walked into the hardwood grove with a chainsaw and its crew
He reached for the crippled oak tree, and he waved his crew to start
When a vision leapt from the broken limb, and pierced him through the heart,
Singing, “I am the strength of the heart and the root,
I am the soul of the wood.”
She was Sun and Moon and Starlight, she was Earth and Sky and Sea
She was everything that hed ever loved, and all that he wished to be
And she sang of the elder forests, and she sang of the rustling wind
And her arms reached out from the jagged bark, reached out to pull him in,
Singing, “I am the strength of the heart and the root,
I am the soul of the wood.”
But the man pulled out an acorn, and he held it to her eyes
Then he sang to her of birth and life—that even an oak must die
Then she knew that her tree had withered, so she turned, no longer strong
And she passed away, and the chainsaw roar drowned out her final song,
Singing, “I am the strength of the heart and the root,
I am the soul of the wood.”
In the night under ancient mountains, in the night under autumn sky
A man looks down at a rotting stump, and he shakes his head and sighs
So he kneels to plant the acorn and he hears a quiet sound
Its the sound of joy and the hope of spring—the new life in the ground!
Singing, “I am the strength of the heart and the root,
I am the soul of the wood.”
Singing, “I am the strength of the heart and the root,
I am the soul of the wood.”")
![Aislinn (Anne Prather) - Phoenix [HQ]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/2lUb3Mm4J3k/mqdefault.jpg "Aislinn (Anne Prather) - Phoenix [HQ]
High Wings track 4. Thanks to rocketman0739 for providing high-quality versions of these songs.
Download the album here: https://archive.org/details/filk_high_wings
Lyrics:
I am the phoenix rising high
To tell the story this time round
Of all whose spirits long to fly
And the freedom of the stars unbound
I am the harper in the night
Whose memory is long
And I chose to share the dream of flight
With others in my song
I am the phoenix riding fire
From deaths dark vision into light
Still filled with my last hearts desire
For the haunting ecstasy of flight
I am the harper in the night
Still searching for the dawn
And the will to give my vision life
Will bring the daylight on
I am the phoenix, see my wings
Of golden mist in music bound
My spirit seeks the stars that sing
And together with their chorus sounds
I am the harper without fear
My last reward will be
To become the dream I hold most dear
Through all eternity")
![Jordin Kare - Take Two, Asprin [HQ]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/3jt4wXHuDQA/mqdefault.jpg "Jordin Kare - Take Two, Asprin [HQ]
Parody Violation track 19. Thanks to rocketman0739 for providing high-quality versions of these songs.
Download the album here: https://archive.org/details/filk_parody_violation
Lyrics (TTTO Paid Soldiers of Dorsai by Robert Asprin, which itself is TTTO Song of the Mens Side, Leslie Fish):
Well you can talk about the Swiss, how their pressmen rose to fame,
And count all the sheets they run
Or the German men, the Heidelbergs by name,
Whose great rollers flashed in the sun
You can sing of all the signatures weve found, stitched and bound,
And you still have to ask us why
In this day of lasers hum, inkjets hiss, still exist
The Page Folders of Dorsai")
![Leslie Fish - The Day it Fell Apart [HQ]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/4aYVbt5ZwTc/mqdefault.jpg "Leslie Fish - The Day it Fell Apart [HQ]
Firestorm track 08. Thanks to rocketman0739 for providing high-quality versions of these songs.
Download the album here: https://archive.org/details/filk_firestorm
Find more of Leslie Fishs music at: https://lesliefish.bandcamp.com/
Lyrics:
Just a little general hospital in a little factory town
The board put me in charge for mainly keeping prices down
I hadnt touched a patient since 1982
But the day of the explosion I remembered what to do
At eleven in the morning, we all heard the factory blow
The blast took out the windows, and the shrapnel fell like snow
We could get no help from out of town for half a day or more
We had near a thousand casualties and beds for ninety-four
Chorus:
And can you keep your head, your backbone, or your heart?
We all found out the answer on the day it fell apart
It was worse than combat medicine; supplies were draining fast
Bandages ran out and antiseptics wouldnt last
I took all the able-bodied I could catch inside the door
And made them help the doctors or go scrounge supplies and more
I invented laws to tell them, saying, In such emergency,
Forget your usual job and boss, your orders come from me.
I sent the cops to commandeer anything in reach:
Food or disinfectant cloth or alcohol or bleach
(Chorus)
The janitor ran cleanup squad, the cook maintained supplies
The garbageman removed the ones who died before our eyes
The clerks burned all our papers to boil water on the fire
For sterilizing instruments, as the body count went higher
A local healthfood herbalist brought everything he had
The painkillers were useful, and the poultices werent bad
A smack and cocaine pusher handed us his whole supply
The quality was lousy, but a few more didnt die
(Chorus)
We did triage in the parking lot, ranked minor, major, grave
A sad-eyed fireman gave the stroke to those we couldnt save
Then sometime in the chaos, a director wandered in
To tell us we were breaking rules, what trouble wed be in—
But if wed swear the factory was not the fires cause
And the harm was accidental, hed forget the broken laws.
The staff sneaked up and grabbed him, and tied him to a door
He gave them blood transfusions till he hadnt any more
(Chorus)
When that day was over and wed saved all that we could,
We saw that law and politics would hang us where we stood
Wed saved eight hundred lives but shattered all authority
I told them, People, save yourselves, put all the blame on me.
I took my books and instruments, and a few supplies beside
Packed my car and ran away to open countryside
So now I live an outlaw, condemned by righteous men
But for all the lives I saved that day, Id do it all again.
(Chorus)
Can you keep your head, your backbone, or your heart?
Youll all find out the answers on the day it falls apart")
![Jordin Kare - The Press [HQ]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/4jx6sfrBlvU/mqdefault.jpg "Jordin Kare - The Press [HQ]
Parody Violation track 18. Thanks to rocketman0739 for providing high-quality versions of these songs.
Download the album here: https://archive.org/details/filk_parody_violation
Lyrics (TTTO The Quest, Leslie Fish):
Now the fans came home from the press, blackened and sore they came,
Inky of hair and dress, deafened, blunt-fingered, and lame
In printing we take no shame, well say it in black and white
But tomorrows the con, my sanitys gone, and the run must be done tonight!
Chorus: So here is my press to mend (kathunka!)
Here is my plate to be shot
The fountains too strong,
The runs too long,
But well print whatever weve got
Well print whatever weve got
Oh, dark and deep was the scum that crept over half of our plate
We still dont know where its from, but we noticed it much too late
For half of the reams been run, of 80-pound Astrobright
Our cover is blown, he said with a grown, and the run must be done tonight!
(Chorus)
Now the feeds making noises strange, and every third sheet gets jammed,
Or wrapped round the rollers, or swallowed quite whole, or folded and monogrammed
The crud sheets are filling the chute, the jogger is losing the fight,
The drive belt just broke, I think I smell smoke, but the run must be done tonight!
(Chorus)
Now our pages you count and know, our volumes so fine and thick,
But you have not seen my foe being serviced by A. B. Dick
Oh, surely well print again, again, but well sell the damn press for junk
Give Kinkos a call, or Xerox it all, and never again kathunk (kathunka! kathunka! kathunka!)
(Chorus)")
![Technical Difficulties - Come You Knights [HQ]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/4xRsvRA-Mew/mqdefault.jpg "Technical Difficulties - Come You Knights [HQ]
Please Stand By track 04. Thanks to rocketman0739 for providing high-quality versions of these songs.
Download the album here: https://archive.org/details/filk_please_stand_by/
Lyrics:
Chorus:
Come ye knights and come ye pilots
With your ships and sabers shining
Come and stop your childrens crying
Come and join the Rebel Queen
Come with might and come with glory
Set your dreams on wings a-soaring
Hear the ancient hidden story.
Come and join the Rebel Queen!
Heard the tales the Empire spread, told you Rebels couldnt win
So you locked your doors before them, made your courage battered tin.
Promised you the traitor’s lands, wealth and power in your hands
You dont even have to fight. All you do is watch them die.
Never ask the dangerous questions such as why youre off to war
Yours is but to follow generals, going where the trumpets blow.
(Chorus)
In the battle for Tiatra, saw a pilot as he died
Looked into his shattered cockpit, heard my soul in torment cry.
For the first time since I started, for the first time in my life
Looked into the enemys eyes, found that they were just like mine.
Lived with evil for so long now, had forgotten truth and right
Knew my time had come and somehow saw my way to join their fight.
(Chorus)
Lying in a blasted turret with a full moon in my eyes
Had no hope that help was coming, when a flash lit up the skies.
Thought it was a battle starship, felt that soon we all would die
Heard the words the Emperor promised, knew them right then for a lie.
Saw the Rebel starships coming, being led by the Chosen Ones
Evil forces lost that morning, and a new day has begun.
(Chorus)")
![Leslie Fish - Teacher, Teacher [HQ]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/59114v_Uxoc/mqdefault.jpg "Leslie Fish - Teacher, Teacher [HQ]
Firestorm track 04. Thanks to rocketman0739 for providing high-quality versions of these songs.
Download the album here: https://archive.org/details/filk_firestorm
Find more of Leslie Fishs music at: https://lesliefish.bandcamp.com/
Lyrics:
Teacher, teacher, do what you can
To teach your children all the knowledge of man
Teach them how to think and how to survive
A world that eats the soul and body alive
Teacher, teacher, you know what they face
A sea of bigotry for age, sex, or race
Or any other cause thats useful this year
Try to warn the children while theyre still safe in here
Teacher, teacher, the foe waits outside
To turn your children into tools for his pride
Hes always scratching for a way to come in
Here comes a pressure group, hes trying again
Teacher, teacher, you know youre alone
Your boss wont save your skin; hes saving his own
Nor will the parents help, but only condemn
They want their children taught to be just like them
Here comes the bureaucrat with fifty more rules
To tie your hands and take more bread from the schools
Here comes the preacher trying hard to get in
He wants all children taught his pet brand of sin
Here comes the government with plenty to say
It wants your children taught to serve and obey
Here comes the school board, and thats worst of all
They want the teachers taught to cave in and fall
Teacher, teacher, you know what youll find
They want their thumbprints stamped on everyones mind
The kids suspect it and resent it like hell
And all too often theyll suspect you as well
Teacher, teacher, tell me how can you teach
When all the grownups only want you to preach?
How can you teach the kids to think for themselves
With all the censors stealing books off our shelves?
Teacher, guarding the dwindling flame,
How many of your kids have beaten the game?
The wind is rising and the nights falling fast
Will you run, save yourself, or fight to the last?")
![Aislinn (Anne Prather) - Space Child Lost [HQ]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/6GinJV6O1xM/mqdefault.jpg "Aislinn (Anne Prather) - Space Child Lost [HQ]
High Wings track 12. Thanks to rocketman0739 for providing high-quality versions of these songs.
Download the album here: https://archive.org/details/filk_high_wings
Lyrics:
Oh, I am a spacechild, I was born for the stars.
On bright silver glitterwings I will journey far.
The ship shes my love, my song and my home.
I was made by the gods, the spaceways to roam.
I am a starpilot, trained and taught
And flight is my life-need, it measures each thought
The space-winds my joy, her course is my pride
Its my pleasure and sorrow the starlanes to ride.
Oh, once I had a lover but now he is gone:
He could not hear the wild call that drove me on;
My heart sang in sorrow, but by then twas too late:
I could never return; he had no cause to wait.
But he waited at dockside in Radiants fair town
For my stardancing spaceship to wing her way down.
He pleaded, saying Love, without you Ill die.
I said not a word, but looked at the sky.
My love turned and walked into the dark heavy night.
His head bent in sorrow, his shoulders hunched in fright.
On the first jump out from Radiant, a wild, haunting cry
Filled the ship with a death-song as we soared through the sky.
Hed hidden in the drive room, where theres no way to escape,
And no way I would find him till it was too late.
For the drive songs pure beauty, and the drive song is death;
My love heard the ships song with the last of his breath.
So my ship took my lover, and now Im alone
As the gods have ordained it, the spaceways to roam:
The space wind and the ships song will bear me company
Its a sad life, but joyous, on the wide, endless sea.")
