History Main / FilkSong

* RecycledInSpace: Many parody filk songs simply move the original song into the space or other science fiction setting. Examples of songs are ''Rebel Pilot's Lament'', ''Centauri Fair'', and ''The Outer Space Marines''.

A more detailed history and examination of filk can be found in [[http://www.mcgath.com/tst/ Tomorrow's Songs Today]] by Gary [=McGath=]. The[[https://filk.fandom.com/wiki/Filk_Discography_Wiki Filk Discography Wiki]] is also a good resource. Related genres, as far as themes, are HeavyMithril, which almost by nature qualifies at least as "found filk," {{Nerdcore}}, and ''Wizard Rock''. The music of the UsefulNotes/SocietyForCreativeAnachronism has also many connections with filk and filkers.

A more detailed history and examination of filk can be found in [[http://www.mcgath.com/tst/ Tomorrow's Songs Today]] by Gary [=McGath=]. Related genres, as far as themes, are HeavyMithril, which almost by nature qualifies at least as "found filk," {{Nerdcore}}, and ''Wizard Rock''. The music of the UsefulNotes/SocietyForCreativeAnachronism has also many connections with filk and filkers.

* {{Nerd}}s, or more exactly the experience of being a nerd and considered different from one's peers. Some examples are:

!No examples, please. This merely [[Administrivia/DefinitionOnlyPages defines the term]].%%https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1649169244056717700

[[WMG:[[center:[[AC:This trope is [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1649169244056717700 under discussion]] in the Administrivia/TropeRepairShop.]]]]]]

!!Those Who Filk:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Filk and Filk Artists of Note]]
These artists specifically call their music filk and participate in the filk community at conventions and/or online.
* [[http://www.lesliefish.com Leslie Fish]], whose name has been described as "practically synonymous with filk." She has what might be the two most famous filk songs of all time:
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q50UBIWXvfc "Banned From Argo,"]] an original song (and the old TropeNamer for what is now PersonaNonGrata; see the lyrics [[Music/BannedFromArgo here]]) describing what happened when the the crew of the ''U.S.S. [[Franchise/StarTrek Enterprise]]'' went on shore leave on the planet of Argo, and the swath of destruction they left in their wake. [[MemeticMutation The piece became so popular]] that Leslie [[CreatorBacklash eventually became sick of it]], and many other filkers started to follow suit. (It was created as a bit of fluffy filler to pad an album out to length. The fact that what was intended as a throw-away song became as popular as a careful crafted and much cared for piece didn't sit too well.)
*** Worse, to Leslie's loud but (mostly) good-natured complaint, "Banned from Argo" has been refilked so much, about everything from other ''Franchise/StarTrek'' series to other TV shows to SCA storytelling to just [[HurricaneOfPuns random puns]], that there's an entire songbook, "The Bastard Children of Argo."
*** "Banned From Argo" is so insanely popular, it has shown up in fic. As an actual drinking song. The kicker? "Argo" recounts the exploits of the TOS crew, and the song showed up in an ''[[AnachronismStew Enterprise]]'' fic.
*** And as of ''Literature/ASingularDestiny'' it's an official part of the ''Literature/StarTrekNovelverse''!
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cVOOXQo22o Hope Eyrie]], written about the landing of ''Apollo 11'' on the moon (though it took a number of years to finish), is sometimes considered the "anthem of filk."
** In addition to her original work, Leslie frequently sets Creator/RudyardKipling poetry to music; the resulting songs are called "Kipplefish."
* [[http://www.heatherlands.com Heather Alexander]], and her "heir" Music/{{Alexander|JamesAdams}} [[http://www.faerietaleminstrel.com/ James Adams]] (long story). The most famous song is probably the archetypal song of battle, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFi7bWkyRpA March of Cambreadth]].
* Music/BillSutton.
* Julia Ecklar, also a Campbell award-winning science fiction writer, is perhaps best known for her space-exploration themed music, her contributions to ''A Wolfrider's Reflections,'' and her filk song based on the movie Ladyhawke!.
* Duane Elms. Prolific filker, probably best known for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w34fSnJNP-4 "Dawson's Christian"]] -- which has been parodied almost as many times as "Banned from Argo".
* Music/TomSmith, one of the most famous funny filkers. Songs include "307 Ale" and the Music/BarenakedLadies parody about ''Series/BabylonFive'', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHpMAubwfQg "Five Years"]]. Not that Tom is exclusively a comedian; his [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77f8wDf_Sdg "A Boy and His Frog"]] is [[TearJerker all but guaranteed to make you cry]], and along with Rob Balder (of the [=FuMP=], see below), he co-wrote another of the contenders for "filk anthem," [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tJU9w6_YkI "Rich Fantasy Lives"]].
* The late, great [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynthia_McQuillin Cynthia McQuillin]] wrote more than a thousand filks, ranging from romantic ballads ("Singer in the Shadow"), to bawdy humor ("Gilda and the Dragon"), and from dark fantasy ("Slay the Dead") to hard science fiction ("Fuel to Feed the Drive"), with occasional pit stops at the simply indescribable. ("The Worm Turns", a talking blues song about a fisherman who's bitten by a "wereworm".)
* Frank Hayes has been in filk since the 1970s, and has written several classics of filk, including [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvZfGyXa1Ic "Never Set the Cat on Fire"]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1fBd7UbQPA "When I Was a Boy"]] (sung by Joe Bethancourt). But he's probably best known for forgetting his own lyrics, to the point that other filkers will, upon forgetting ''their'' lyrics, call out "Frank Hayes Disease!"
* Creator/SeananMcGuire, writer of the Literature/OctoberDaye and (under the name 'Mira Grant') Literature/{{Newsflesh}} series, was a filker first, with several albums already and more coming. Example song: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DQx7iF-yOc "Wicked Girls Saving Ourselves"]]. (Seanan's the blonde. For the others, see the next two lines.)
** When Seanan [=McGuire=] contacted the CDC for advice about the virus in Literature/{{Newsflesh}}, she discovered that they were already fans of her song about [[http://seananmcguire.com/songbook.php?id=117 why the Black Death wasn't the bubonic plague.]]
* [[http://www.vixyandtony.com Vixy and Tony]], best known for the ''{{Series/Firefly}}'' filk [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1XSnTEeWcM "Mal's Song"]]. (They also work with Seanan a lot -- see "Wicked Girls.")
* [[http://www.skinnywhitechick.com S.J. "Sooj" Tucker, "Skinny White Chick"]]. Example song: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xspvTKR4eCE "I'm So Sorry."]] (Frequently works with Vixy and Tony, and therefore Seanan; she's on the drums on "Wicked Girls.")
* [[http://www.bedlambards.com The Bedlam Bards]], primarily a Renaissance Faire duo until they got into {{Series/Firefly}} fandom pretty heavily.
* [[http://www.songworm.com Bob Kanefsky]], master refilker, specializes in mashing up two of another filker's songs, setting the story of one song to the tune of another. And he does it very, ''very'' well. Frequently, he gets the creator of one of the original songs to sing his version.
** For example, Bob took one of Leslie Fish's Kipling tunes and wrote "They're Singing 'Banned From Argo,'" about how many veteran filkers have come to dislike the song from overexposure. One verse states that Leslie Fish has plugged her ears because ''she just doesn't want to hear it.'' And he got Leslie to perform it.
* Creator/MercedesLackey sings and writes filk (or used to), often working with Leslie Fish and Heather Alexander. Recordings are available at [[http://www.firebirdarts.com/ The Firebird Arts And Music Catalog]].
** Frequently, Fish or Alexander would, with Lackey's explicit encouragement, take the songs that appeared in the novels and set them to music.
** In what can only be described as an auto-ShoutOut, Lackey named one of her minor characters Leslac, after the filkish term for a '''Les'''lie Fish-Mercedes '''Lac'''key collaboration. (Naturally, the character was a bard, albeit one who...didn't always get the story right.)
* Music/EbenBrooks has songs including [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxScTbIUvoA "Hey There, Cthulhu"]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0m4nLc-trRM "It's the End of the 'Verse as We Know It"]].
* [[http://www.khaosworks.org/filk/index.html Terence Chua]] specializes in [[Creator/HPLovecraft Cthulhu]] filk.
* [[http://www.xocolatl.com/kathy/ Kathy Mar]] is a long-time filker, street performer, and song-writer.
* 'Helva' : 'For me and my luggage will never meet again on the bonnie bonnie floors of the Worldcon'.
* Jonathan Waite[=/=][[http://nyrond.altrion.org/ Zander Nyrond]] is a UK filker known for "[[http://nyrond.altrion.org/songs/nyronds/samssong.txt Sam's Song]]" and "[[http://nyrond.altrion.org/filks/filkish/filksngr.txt Filksinger]]" among others.
-->I know the words to every song, the chords to every tune,\\
I sing of girls in cryosleep and miners on the moon,\\
Of pagan midnight rituals and war among the stars,\\
And at sf conventions they use me to clear the bars...
* [[http://www.ooklathemok.com/ Ookla the Mok]]: A filk rock band, mostly about comic books.
* Every episode of the WebVideo show ''Foreververse'' is preceded by a song written and sung by players Amy Vorpahl and Jason Charles Miller, usually based on things that happened in the previous episode.
* The Ken Spivey Band: [[http://kenspivey.com/ "A Celtic Gallifreyan Band."]] The band performs ''Series/DoctorWho'' inspired music, mostly at cons. Spivey also organizes Time Lord Con and is a Creator/JossWhedon fan.
* [[http://davidwumusic.com/fringemunks The Fringemunks]], a parody of Music/AlvinAndTheChipmunks by Seattle-area musician David Wu. They are known for recapping all 100 episodes of sci-fi series ''Series/{{Fringe}}'' with song parodies. Several of these parodies are punny, such as [[http://davidwumusic.com/album-bin/Fringemunks-Season1/106.mp3 Epis. 1.06: The Cure]], which parodies "[[Music/TheCure Friday I'm In Love]]"). He also turned "Karma Chameleon" into "[[Series/{{Lost}} Dharma Inititative.]]" In 2010, the Fringemunks trended on Twitter across the USA when actress Creator/AlyssaMilano [[https://twitter.com/Alyssa_Milano/status/8693123804 tweeted]] about their [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVC5_ubh2SM "iPad Song" music video]], which parodies Michael Jackson's "Bad".
* The Russian duo [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5Juop4mUa8&list=PLVoFPySr_H25Nj7vUxBByAQTt9mBLTxXq Lazy Moonkin]] perform ''VideoGame/HollowKnight'' filk music, including a fleshed-out version of [[TragicMonster Myla the miner]]'s MusicalChores song.
* Music/SJTucker is a filk artist whose first album was released in 2004.
* Music/HeatherDale is a Canadian musician who is well-known in the Canadian [[UsefulNotes/SocietyForCreativeAnachronism Society for Creative Anachronism]] and [[Main/RenaissanceFair Renaissance Fair]] community. She is especially known for her songs based in [[Myth/ArthurianLegend Arthurian legend]], with ''Mordred's Lullaby'' in particular becoming very famous. In 2015 a musical based on these works, Queens of Avalon, was funded and created via Indiegogo.
* [[https://sablearadia.bandcamp.com/ Sable]], a.k.a. Sable Aradia, is a Pagan and filk musician with a small following in Western Canada. She dabbled in Main/HeavyMithril as well with her project band Avalon Burning. She is also a science fantasy writer under her name Diane Morrison, best known for her ''Wyrd West Chronicles'' Main/WeirdWest stories.
* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Longcor Michael Longcor]] is a folk and filk singer whose work has appeared on [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/DrDemento Dr. Demento]], NPR's Folksong Festival, and a BBC documentary. In the [[UsefulNotes/SocietyForCreativeAnachronism Society for Creative Anachronism]] he is known as Moonwulf Starkaaderson. He is probably best known for his [[VillainSong Villain Songs]].
* [[https://echoschildren.bandcamp.com/ Echo's Children]] was a filk band from Portland, Oregon. They were perhaps best known for their [[Literature/HonorHarrington Honor Harrington]] filk songs ''No Quarter'', ''Riding a Tiger'', and ''Fair Was the Blossom'', which were featured on [=CDs=] that accompanied the sale of Honor Harrington hardcover books in the 1990s and 2000s.
* Dire Peril is a Metal filk band who base all their songs on sci-fi movies, such as ''[[Film/TheThing1982 The Thing]]''[[labelnote:*]]Blood in the Ice[[/labelnote]], ''[[Film/TheChroniclesOfRiddick The Chronicles of Riddick]]''[[labelnote:*]] Heart of the Furyan[[/labelnote]], and ''Franchise/{{Predator}}''[[labelnote:*]]Yautja (Hunter Culture)[[/labelnote]]
* [[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgV-hgprraRb071mumQFw2g The Merkins]] does parodies of pop and rap songs based mostly on horror movie villains. (although [[Franchise/TheTexasChainsawMassacre Leatherface]], due to [[DeepSouth his setting]], sings country parodies) [[https://youtu.be/r-Jh3A49AaA "Careless Sister"]] is a ''Franchise/{{Halloween}}''-based parody of [[Music/GeorgeMichael "Careless Whisper"]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKFK7fGy4u0 "Slashing Bodies"]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oliCVn7Ic68 "I'll Kill You That Way"]] are parodies of [[Music/BackstreetBoys "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" and "I Want It That Way"]] about hacking people up, and going beyond horror, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfKyOrTjVz8 "Snap My Fingers"]] is ComicBook/{{Thanos}} rapping about his BadassFingersnap to the tune of [[Music/LilJon "Snap Yo Fingers"]]. For a heroic case, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FddDNR3829M "Green Child O'Mine"]] had Series/TheMandalorian serenading Grogu with some Music/GunsNRoses.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Found Filk]]
These artists don't really consider themselves part of the filk community at all--if they've even heard the word--but the music has been picked up by the filkers.
* As mentioned, pretty much everything by Music/WeirdAlYankovic. Al has stated outright that he doesn't consider himself a filker, but he certainly gets sung enough at filk circles...
** Four of his songs are straight filks, though -- "Ode To a Superhero" (which pretty much outlines the plot of the first ''Film/SpiderMan1'' movie), "The Saga Begins" (which outlines the plot of ''Franchise/StarWars [[Film/ThePhantomMenace Episode I]]''), "Yoda" (which outlines part of the plot of ''[[Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack Star Wars Episode V]]'') and "Film/JurassicPark" (of course).
** "Gump" is borderline, as it doesn't tell Film/ForrestGump's whole plot. Also borderline is "Bedrock Anthem," whose video at least includes a few clips from ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones''.
** "The Brady Bunch" is the lyrics to the theme song of [[Series/TheBradyBunch the show of the same name]] set to the tune of "[[Music/MenWithoutHats The Safety Dance]]". Similar to that is "[[Series/TheBeverlyHillbillies Beverly Hillbillies]]/[[Music/DireStraits Money for Nothing]]".
* Ditto Music/JonathanCoulton, who enjoys that his music gets sung at filk conventions and circles, but doesn't really consider himself part of the community. (Filkers generally knew Coulton long before VideoGame/{{Portal}}.)
* Music/TomLehrer. An old-school piano-bar singer-songwriter of comic and satirical songs, with little respect for the folk music scene or its style of performance, but his music is a regular staple of filksinging circles.
* Ditto Creator/AllanSherman.
* And Music/FlandersAndSwann.
** Donald Swann, solo, published ''The Road Goes Ever On: A Song Cycle'', composing original music for several of the poems in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''.
* Peter Schilling's "Major Tom (Coming Home)" (possibly better known to younger tropers from the cover version by Shiny Toy Guns, used in a late 2009 car commercial) reworks Music/DavidBowie's "Space Oddity".
** Most of Schilling's output qualifies. He may be a one-hit wonder in the United States, but he's got over a dozen albums in his native Germany. Most of his songs cover stuff like space aliens ("Zone 804"), video games ("10,000 Points"), and world-ending disasters ("The Noah Plan," "Lone Survivor"). Plus, there's "Let's Play USA" which is a nasty take on {{Eagleland}} version 2.
** David Bowie himself frequently did songs with science-fiction overtones in his early years. "Space Oddity" itself was inspired by ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey'', as was his own name (from Dave Bowman).
* Since the 1980s, ''Theatre/ForbiddenBroadway'' has been parodying current Broadway musicals by using their tunes against them.
* "The Modern Major-General's Song" from Creator/GilbertAndSullivan's ''Theatre/ThePiratesOfPenzance'' is practically a filk waiting to happen. Everybody from ''{{WesternAnimation/ReBoot}}'' to ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' to Music/TomLehrer has rewritten that one. See MajorGeneralSong for more examples.
** Even actual productions of ''Penzance'' tend to play around with the lyrics; see also "I've Got a Little List" from ''Theatre/TheMikado''.
* Electronic-postpunk-goth band [[http://www.thoushalt.net/ ThouShaltNot]] arguably ventured into filk with their song "If I Only Were A Goth", a minor-key version of "If I Only Had A Brain" from ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'' with new, tongue-in-cheek lyrics.
* Music/{{XTC}} has several songs about Creator/DCComics characters. "You're Really Super, Supergirl", "Braniac's Daughter" and "Sergeant Rock (Is Going to Help Me)" are three.
* As mentioned, HeavyMithril. Some examples:
** The original, Music/LedZeppelin. At least four songs are based off the works of Creator/JRRTolkien, including "Ramble On," "The Battle of Evermore," "Misty Mountain Hop," and parts of "Stairway to Heaven."
** Like Led Zeppelin, Music/{{Rush}} has several songs based on Tolkien (Rivendell, and The Necromancer), as well as two songs based on the works of Creator/AynRand (Anthem and Music/TwentyOneTwelve).
** The album ''Touched By the Crimson King'' by Demons and Wizards.
*** Demons & Wizards' singer's other band, Music/BlindGuardian, has a lot of these. For example, the album ''Nightfall in Middle-Earth'', which retells ''Literature/TheSilmarillion''. Some of their other songs like ''The Bard's Song (The Hobbit)'' are based on sci-fi and fantasy novels. There's a more complete list on their page.
*** Their guitarist's other band, Iced Earth, has ''The Dark Saga'', which tells the story of ComicBook/{{Spawn}}. Iced Earth also has "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgGHaosjtLA V]]" as in ''Film/VForVendetta'' and "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IhtUpsvCdk Dark City]]" which is about the movie ''Film/DarkCity''.
** There are two examples in Music/{{Megadeth}}'s debut album "Killing is My Business... and Business Good." The Title track is influenced by Punisher comics, and "Chosen Ones" is about Tim The Enchanter's warning of The Killer Rabbit from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." And their song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Udfr6qIc3uA "Wanderlust"]] is about [[Franchise/TheDarkTower the Gunslinger]]. The second half of "Holy Wars...The Punishment Due" from Rust in Peace is also about the Punisher.
** Music/{{Nightwish}} references ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}'', ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' and other works of fantasy a few times.
** Music/IronMaiden: Many songs, including "[[Literature/ThePhantomOfTheOpera Phantom of the Opera]]", "[[Film/ChildrenOfTheDamned Children of the Damned]]", "Film/QuestForFire", "Literature/RimeOfTheAncientMariner", "Literature/BraveNewWorld", "The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner", "The Clansman" (about ''Film/{{Braveheart}}''), "When Two Worlds Collide" (''Film/WhenWorldsCollide''), "Man On The Edge" (''Film/FallingDown''), "To Tame a Land" (about ''Franchise/{{Dune}}''), and "Out of the Silent Planet" (about the movie ''Film/ForbiddenPlanet'', borrowing the title from Creator/CSLewis).
** Even Music/{{Metallica}} did "The Call of Ktulu", "The Thing that Should Not Be", "All Nightmare Long" and "Dream No More" about the Literature/CthulhuMythos. "One" is based on the book/film ''Literature/JohnnyGotHisGun'', "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" is inspired by ''Literature/OneFlewOverTheCuckoosNest,'' "For Whom The Bell Tolls" is from the eponymous [[Creator/ErnestHemingway Hemingway]] [[Literature/ForWhomTheBellTolls film/book]], and "Creeping Death" is the [[Literature/TheBible Exodus story]] from the point of view of the Angel of Death.
** Death metal band Music/BoltThrower have a few albums based on ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}.'' Yes, really. Even their name is taken from a weapon in ''Warhammer Fantasy'', and their first album ''Realm of Chaos'' features Space Marines on the cover.
** Burzum, one of the most musically and criminally notorious Norwegian Black Metal bands, features lyrics based largely on ''[=LotR=]'', generally viewing Morgoth in a sympathetic light. Despite being a church-burning Neo-Nazi murderer (for real), it's hard to take Varg Vikernes seriously when he writes a song called "The Crying Orc."
** It's pretty obvious that the inspiration for Music/JudasPriest's "Blood Red Skies" was the ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}'' saga, as it very much fits the "[[RobotWar War Against The Machines]]" theme of the movies.
** Manilla Road's [[Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian "Queen of the Black Coast"]] and ''VideoGame/{{Defender}}'' from their second album.
** No guesses for what Pagan Altar's "[[Series/DoctorWho The Time Lord]]" is about. Another tune by them is "[[Literature/ThePictureOfDorianGray Portrait of Dorian Gray]]".
** David Draiman, lyricist of Music/{{Disturbed}} has confirmed that the ''Asylum'' b-side "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqaOFcnNCT8 Old Friend]]" is about ''Series/{{Dexter}}''.
** Music/BattleBeast has several songs based on ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' -- their first album, "Steel" - "Band of the Hawk", about the eponymous band; "Iron Hand", about Guts; and "Victory", about the heroics of the Hawks. Their self-titled album also has the instrumental "Golden Age" as well as "Kingdom", about Griffith's murderous ambition and [[spoiler:ascension into the ranks of the God Hand]], and "Fight, Kill, Die", also about Guts. %%And don't get us started with ''Unholy Savior''.
** "Bred for War" by Music/{{Dismember}} is about ''TabletopGame/BattleTech''
** Music/WithinTemptation has "Jillian" based on ''Literature/{{Deverry}}'' and "Hand of Sorrow" based on ''Literature/RealmOfTheElderlings''.
** Music/FallOfEfrafa base all of their music on ''Literature/WatershipDown''.
** It's probably easier to find a song involving {{grindcore}} vocalist Jon Chang that ''doesn't'' contain references to some video game, anime, manga, or science-fiction work than to find one that does - and if you think you've found an example of the former, there's a solid chance you're just not familiar with the work that inspired it. A far-from-complete list:
*** Music/DiscordanceAxis: "Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said" is named after a novel by Creator/PhilipKDick. "Ikaruga" is named after ''VideoGame/{{Ikaruga}}''. "Berserk" named after ''Manga/{{Berserk}}''. "Appleseed" is named after ''Manga/{{Appleseed}}''. "My Neighbor Totoro" is named after ''Anime/MyNeighborTotoro''. Several songs on ''The Inalienable Dreamless'' were inspired by ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' ("Angel Present", "Pattern Blue", "The Third Children", etc).
*** Gridlink: "Asuka" is based on the character in ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion''. "Look to Windward" is named after [[Literature/LookToWindward a novel]] in Creator/IainBanks' ''Literature/TheCulture'' series. "The Dodonpachi" is named after the BulletHell game ''VideoGame/DoDonPachi''. "Scopedog" is named for the robots from the ''Anime/ArmoredTrooperVotoms'' franchise. "Pattern Recognition" is most likely named after ''Literature/PatternRecognition'' by Creator/WilliamGibson. "The Jenova" is named after Jenova from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII''. And so on. (The relationships of all of these songs to the works they're named after is sometimes oblique, but Chang likes to keep his lyrics cryptic so that listeners can come up with their own interpretations.)
*** He's still at it with his latest band No One Knows What the Dead Think, which has references to ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'', ''VideoGame/NieR: Replicant'', ''VideoGame/NierAutomata'', ''VideoGame/DarkSouls3'', ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'', and... ''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}''.[[note]][[TheScottishTrope Sorry]].[[/note]] At least.
** Post-hardcore band Fightstar have no less than three albums containing ''Evangelion''-inspired songs, including a complete ConceptAlbum called ''Grand Unification'' and single B-sides titled "NERV[[=/=]]SEELE" and "Shinji Ikari".
** Music/IceNineKills does this with the {{horror}} genre, most notably on the albums ''Every Trick in the Book'' (devoted to horror novels and other books with disturbing themes) and ''The Silver Scream'' (devoted to horror movies). Several songs off the latter even use parts of the theme music from the movies they're about; "The Jig Is Up" is built around "Hello Zepp" from ''Film/{{Saw|I}}'', for instance, while "Rocking the Boat" uses the ''Film/{{Jaws}}'' theme in its bridge. The band's members also dress like horror movie villains.
* Adele [=McAllister=] has a wonderful [[https://soundcloud.com/adelemcallister/sets/songs-from-the-lord-of-the album of Tolkien poems set to music]]. Also this [[https://soundcloud.com/adelemcallister/the-horns-of-ylmir song]].
* Nox Arcana's albums are full of these. One is about the Franchise/CthulhuMythos, one about vampires, one about Creator/EdgarAllanPoe's works and so on.
* Creator/LeonardNimoy's "Ballad of [[Literature/TheHobbit Bilbo Baggins]]" is a SoBadItsGood example of original filk (though it wasn't written by Nimoy himself; he just sang it -- don't ask why).
* Most of the production of the now-defunct band S.P.O.C.K., if not all of it. Songs include ''Never Trust a Klingon'', ''Neutral Zone'', and ''Beam Me Up''. In fact, it seems to have been the main point of the band.
* Many of the songs by the group Music/TheDarkestOfTheHillsideThickets are about H.P. Lovecraft's Franchise/CthulhuMythos stories.
* Music/TheAlanParsonsProject's ''Tales of Mystery and Imagination'' about Creator/EdgarAllanPoe's stories.
* Music/{{Mastodon}}'s most popular and arguably best album is based entirely upon ''Literature/MobyDick''.
* Music/JeffersonAirplane's "White Rabbit" (''Literature/AliceInWonderland'')
** They also recorded a SpiritualSuccessor called "Rejoyce", based on James Joyce's ''Ulysses''.
* There's a whole '''compilation album''' dedicated to Creator/NeilGaiman's stories, called ''[[http://www.last.fm/music/Various+Artists/Neil+Gaiman+-+Where%27s+Neil+When+You+Need+Him%3F Where's Neil When You Need Him?]]''
* Music/{{Queen}}'s "[[Music/ANightAtTheOpera '39]]" is a [[ShownTheirWork highly scientifically accurate]] description of interstellar travel with time-dilation effects. (It helps to have an astrophysicist as your lead guitarist.) "The Prophet's Song" also qualifies.
** Queen has also done other found-filk songs, of which the best-known example is "Flash" (from the 1980 ''Film/{{Flash Gordon|1980}}'' movie, for which they did the soundtrack). Similar to it, the album ''A Kind of Magic'' has songs they recorded for ''Film/{{Highlander}}'' (such as "WhoWantsToLiveForever", "Princes of the Universe" and "A Kind of Magic").
** Queen also got an elaborate reference in ''VideoGame/OgreBattleTheMarchOfTheBlackQueen'', a video game made by a fan. Both the title and the subtitle are songs by Queen, and one of the stages is "The Rhyan Sea", a reference to "Seven Seas of Rhye".
* Music/KateBush is a prolific English performance artist and has drawn inspiration from many aspects of popular culture. Examples include "James and the Cold Gun" (''Film/JamesBond''), "Hammer Horror" (horror movies by ''HammerStudios'', obviously), "The Wedding List" (''The Bride Wore Black''), "The Sensual World" (''Ulysses''), and, perhaps most famously, "Wuthering Heights" (''Literature/WutheringHeights'', duh). Although not a filker specifically, her songs certainly have many elements in common with filk music, even those pieces inspired by historical events ("Night of the Swallow", "Houdini"), social concerns ("The Dreaming",) or the corruptive influence of military development ("Experiment IV"). Oh, and let us not forget her songs with definite science-fiction overtones ("Breathing", "Hello Earth", "Rocket's Tail"), which are very filkish-sounding.
* Music/TheRamones wrote "Pet Sematary" for the [[Film/PetSematary1989 eponymous movie]] (adapted from Creator/StephenKing's [[Literature/PetSematary story]]).
* Music/{{MF DOOM}} likes to compare himself with and rap about [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Doctor Doom]], especially in the album ''Operation Doomsday''.
** His alternate persona of "Viktor Vaughn" is also based on Doctor Doom; he makes many other geek-culture references along the way.
** Rapper Daniel Dumille (i.e., MF DOOM's real name) recorded the album ''Take Me to Your Leader'' under the pseudonym "King Geedorah". It's an album about Godzilla's ArchEnemy.
* Website/JibJab turns famous public-domain songs (and at least one that's still under copyright) into satirical songs about politics and pop culture.
* Australian University Revues, particularly at the University of Sydney. Recent examples include "Livin' la Vida Broker", from the Commerce Revue, and 'Sing Us A Song, We're The Taliban', from the Law Revue.
** A particularly good example is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbe42aHQ_Ro 500 Yards]] from the CSE Revue at the University of New South Wales.
* Similarly, [[http://www.capsteps.com the Capitol Steps]] have lampooned American politics for decades with their song parodies.
* Creator/{{PBS}} regular Mark Russell combines the political focus and [[RippedFromTheHeadlines immediacy]] of the Capitol Steps with the man-and-his-piano smartassery of Tom Lehrer.
* ''Webcomic/ThePerpetualAquarium'' webcomic regularly includes not only filk songs related to various ''Neopets'' or pop culture themes, but whole filk musicals as well.
* ''It's beginning to look a lot like [[VideoGame/TeamFortress2 Dustbowl]]...''
* ''WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries'' has, at this point, well over a dozen of these, all of which has Creator/LittleKuriboh singing in character the entire time. In addition to the songs he's sung for his other series. LK's page has the full list.
* Star One. A [[ProgressiveRock progressive]] metal supergroup, assembled and fronted by [[Music/{{Ayreon}} Arjen Anthony Lucassen]], existing solely as a tribute to filmed science fiction. Each song on their one studio album is about a different SF property, from Film/{{Outland}} to Franchise/StarWars to Series/BlakesSeven, plus a cover of Donovan's highly filk-circle-suitable comedy song "The Intergalactic Laxative."
* Cletus T. Judd, of ''I Love Nascar'' fame, is this.
* James Clerk Maxwell rewrote Robert Burns' "Comin' Through the Rye" with lyrics about physics and called it "Rigid Body Sings". He used to sing it, accompanying himself on the guitar. If it wasn't enough that he discovered that light was electromagnetic radiation entirely through the power of mathematics, it seems that he did this about 100 years before filk was invented.
* The early Cole Porter song "Bring Me Back My Butterfly" liberally borrows melodic elements from Puccini's opera ''Madama Butterfly''.
** Another obscure Cole Porter song, "Make A Date With A Great Psychoanalyst," summarizes the plot of ''Theatre/LadyInTheDark'' in its verse.
* Creator/JohnBarrowman, who's a singer as well as an actor, sometimes closes his concerts with a version of ''Theatre/{{Wicked}}'''s "The Wizard And I": "[[Series/DoctorWho The Doctor]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Jv010KRU4Q And I]]", sung from Captain Jack's POV.
* Music/FrankZappa wrote at least one song ("Cheepnis") about his love of horrible low-budget science fiction movies. The movie he mentions in his pre-song patter on ''Roxy and Elsewhere'' would show up on ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' twenty-five years later.
* A number of Website/YouTube videos, described as "Literal Videos", feature an original song video with the lyrics reworked to describe what is on screen. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj-x9ygQEGA Like this one]].
* It seems that [[http://www.warp11.com Warp 11]] would probably qualify.
* There's a song called ''Aquaman's Lament'' which seems to be by a guy named Mark Aaron James... it's pretty excellent, anyway.
* When Marni Nixon ("the Ghostess with the Mostest," a great singer famous for having dubbed over many great movie musicals -- including ''Film/TheKingAndI'', ''Film/MyFairLady'', and ''Theatre/WestSideStory'' -- and never once getting credit) performed at the Hollywood Bowl in ''Radio/APrairieHomeCompanion'' (which itself frequently features filks), she sang a parody of "[[Film/MyFairLady I Could Have Danced All Night]]", called "I Could Have Dubbed Myself".
* Greg Champion of Australian radio show ''The Coodabeen Champions'' writes song parodies and original songs, mainly about UsefulNotes/AustralianRulesFootball, but also UsefulNotes/{{Cricket}}, other sports, and miscellaneous subjects.
* ''Website/CollegeHumor'' turned Music/JayZ / Music/AliciaKeys "Empire State of Mind" into "[[Franchise/StarWars Galactic Empire]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNyE2xExktA State of Mind]]".
* Like the above, Nerdist turned Music/MeghanTrainor's "All About That Bass" into [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV5WqRnFejI "All About That Base"]], told by the point of view of DarthVader.
* Raccoon Factory's "Kimi ga Kureta Yume", an original song written as a tribute to the Takotsuboya K-ON Trilogy. It covers the first two volumes of the trilogy, with a later released song, "Day alternates with night", covering the last part.
* Archie Fisher's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jg_MtqTESME "Witch of Westmoreland"]]
* Not sure if this counts, but... [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zm63Gmaxlho Crank Dat Druid Boy.]]
* [[http://www.stonefalconproductions.com/noob.htm The Ballad of the Noob]], with acompanying {{Machinima}}, about a Level 1 noob in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' that takes on a Level 60 character.
* [[http://www.oxhorn.com Oxhorn Brand Movies]] is another WOW Machinima maker that does a lot of original music and is soon to release an album of the songs.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWz5h4or-yo Fresh Prince of Gotham]]
* [[http://www.pressplayontape.com/ Press Play On Tape]], a Danish gaming band that released music like [[http://www.pressplayontape.com/default.asp?pid=boyband Comic Bakery]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k41em4dr30g The Man With The Gun]].
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKFW6QeGvns This spicy little number]] featuring [[Series/{{Caprica}} Allesandra Torressani]], [[Series/TheBigBangTheory Kunal Nayyar]] and [[WebVideo/TheGuild Amy Okuda]].
* NoMoreKings have quite a few songs that fit in this territory, ranging from topics like [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=up_TtrHu9jk D&D]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqPwWP1XXDo&feature=related zombies]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tp6o5I99Idw TheKarateKid]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dB50BJHSBEs robots]], and much more.
* "That's What It's Like In Japan" by Logan Whitehurst obviously relates to the question of what kind of a country would give the world ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros''.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrUlVuyKN7I "What a Catch, Donnie"]] by Music/FallOutBoy sounds like it's about ''Film/DonnieDarko''.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEXaNgn_wR4 Watch Out, You're Being Watched]] by Rachel Macwhirter is about Manga/DeathNote.
** As is "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vv73xW9iVpM Shinigami]]" by Music/MachinaeSupremacy, specifically it's about Ryuk and Light.
** And from the not-actually-a-celebrity side of things (and with much more overt spoilers), [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xzt3y1qIb8k The Tower Bells' Toll]] by Oriana Cope and an anonymous writer.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9kpmDexmEc "I Killed A Guy and I Liked It"]] Kate Perry parody.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOpOKe8d9Oc "Filling Out My Death Note"]] parody set to Music/{{Eminem}}'s "Cleaning Out My Closet" Whole series spoilers and amateurishly done but the lyrics are funny as hell.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXt5Q4PCfUo Won't give the title]], but it's a humorous song intended to take the edge off the events of Episode 35/the beginning of Volume 12, to the tune of the [[WebVideo/DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog Bad Horse Chorus.]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2R-rrn1O2hY The Omega Kawaii L Song]], based on [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII The Omega Kawaii Cloud Song]]. Contains spoilers for the whole series.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/user/kpts4tv#p/u/1/6fu2nykadfY This song]] from one of the AbridgedSeries, a parody of Music/{{Kesha}}'s "Tik Tok." Immature, yes, but also quite amusing. ''WebVideo/DeathNoteTheAbridgedSeriesKpts4tv'' also had "It's a Dead World After All," [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wK-k11uhHg "Call Me Mogi"]], and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXsPJz_dYP8&list=PLDEBCC868724EAA19&index=53&feature=plpp_video and this one]] set to [[spoiler: [[Film/WillyWonkaAndTheChocolateFactory "Pure Imagination."]]]]
* "Madame Butterfly" by Malcolm [=MacLaren=] is, needless to say, based on the [[Theatre/MadameButterfly Puccini opera of the same name]].
* Wumpscut's ''Soylent Green''; you can guess [[Film/SoylentGreen what this is based on]]. Uses samples from the film's German dub.
* [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Sea Monster Song]]: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAvE0AYajk4 a song]] by two college students for a school project. It features [[StockNessMonster the Loch Ness Monster]], the Kraken, [[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs dinosaurs that never died out]], MixAndMatchCritters, ''Film/{{Sharktopus}}'', FishPeople, and [[ThreateningShark Shark Week.]]
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vG1oVgKzkc Searching For The Golden Eye]] by Motiv 8 & Kym Mazelle is based on [[Film/GoldenEye a certain Bond film]], and even uses the 007 theme's chord progression during the verse.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-Iwio2YH1I Boardwalk Empire State of Mind]] by Erik Weiner (aka Agent Sebso). Samples from the show's theme song and the chorus takes off Music/JayZ's "Empire State of Mind".
* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bcPb__JA7A Deathstar]]" by Sevendust. [[Franchise/StarWars Darth Vader's new theme song?]]
* Creator/RogerEbert wrote his one-star review of ''Film/WetHotAmericanSummer'' as a parody of "Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah" by Creator/AllanSherman ("I stole from him, and he from Ponchielli").
* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_KT7zoBTAA Home]]" by Breaking Benjamin is about ''Film/TheWizardOfOz''.
* Music/BarenakedLadies' "It's All Been Done" is about time travelers dating throughout history.
* Funker Vogt's "[[Film/TheKillingFields Killing Fields]]". ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin.
* Music/PaulMcCartney's "Magneto & Titanium Man"
* "William's Doll" from the 1972 children's album ''Free to Be, You and Me'' is based on a book of the same name by Charlotte Zolotow. "Helping" from the same album is a Shel Silverstein poem set to music.
* Systems in Blue's "Dr. No" seems to be about the ''Film/JamesBond'' [[Film/DrNo villain]], but the resemblance is just a coincidence [[WordOfGod according to the members]]. Although there is a FanVid that sets the song to clips from the film.
* Music/JoniMitchell's "UsefulNotes/{{Woodstock}}".
* Music/SnoopDogg's "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8tODhvb47s Oh Sookie]]", written for the heroine of ''Series/TrueBlood''.
* ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'' filk "[[http://web.archive.org/web/20050620082223/http://www.digiserve.com/eescape/closet/silly/Heroine-Barbarian.html I am the very model of a heroine barbarian!]]" by Kevin Wald.
* The lyrics of Covenant's "Like Tears in Rain" are a rephrasing of Roy Batty's final soliloquy in ''Film/BladeRunner''. Before that, they had "Replicant" on their first album. Better yet, "The Road" is this trope applied to the Cormac [=McCarthy=] [[Literature/TheRoad post-apocalyptic novel]]. "Nothing left but ashes in the wind... nothing moves but ghosts along the road".
* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sok5vFjSN7c Deranged]]" by Music/CoheedAndCambria is about ComicBook/TheJoker.
* mind.in.a.box's "8 Bits" is a song about Giana of ''VideoGame/TheGreatGianaSisters'', sung with a [[SyntheticVoiceActor computerized voice]], and how she "[[PinocchioSyndrome wants a life beyond emulation]]".
* The Cruxshadows' "Matchstick Girl" is based on Hans Christian Andersen's ''Literature/TheLittleMatchGirl''.
* "Superman (It's Not Easy)" by Five For Fighting.
* At least two Music/{{Nirvana}} songs are based on novels, including "Scentless Apprentice," which is based on ''Literature/{{Perfume}}'', and "Sappy," which is based on ''Literature/TheCollector''.
* The Vision Bleak, a German Metal band which theme of predilection is gothic horror, with several homages to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdTyW87eCA4 classical horror movies]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKqWs76m5-8 literature]]. They also made a full ConceptAlbum named ''Carpathia'', a story of Franchise/CthulhuMythos inspiration in an {{Uberwald}} setting.
* Music/SouljaBoy's "Goku," which is, unsurprisingly, full of ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' references. He also has a few songs with ''Manga/DeathNote'' references.
* Music/{{Ludacris}} has "Number One Spot," which is mostly about the ''Film/AustinPowers'' movies. It even samples the theme song.
* Odyssey's "Metal Man" is based not on the ''VideoGame/MegaMan2'' Robot Master, but on the ''Film/IronMan'' films, which ironically have a [[TheMockbuster knockoff]] also titled ''Metal Man''.
* There are at least two Eurobeat songs dedicated to Franchise/SpiderMan; "Spiderboy" by Joe D. Toaster, and "Spiderman" by Mark Foster.
* [=SlyphStorm=]'s [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzb76EFqZkg "Pegasus Device"]] is one of these for the sequel to [=AuroraDawn=]'s ''FanFic/RainbowFactory'' fanfic, itself based on the Music/WoodenToaster [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGZXpGq8rRk song of the same name]], making it a RecursiveAdaptation of sorts.
** Also by [=SlyphStorm=], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUXhOa2-JhI "Castle of Shadows"]] is a filk of the ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic MLP: FiM]]'' episode ''[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E3CastleManeia Castle Mane-ia]]'' using the tune of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxQGB7a-6xQ "Bloody Tears"]] from ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaIISimonsQuest''.
* [[Music/{{Nightwish}} Tuomas Holopainen]] composed [[http://www.blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=183317 a concept album]] based on ''Comicbook/TheLifeAndTimesOfScroogeMcDuck'' released in April 2014. Creator/DonRosa himself did the album art.
* Donovan's "Atlantis".
* Music/KingCrimson's "Court of the Crimson King"
* Several songs by Adam Ant: "[[{{Pirate}} Jolly Roger]]", "[[TheHighwayman Stand and Deliver]]" and "[[TheWildWest Ranchero]]" amomg others.
* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' has a few filks written about it, such as Hannah M.'s [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soFkWG0J4e4 Human Shield]], written from Heavy's point of view about his affection for Medic, in a way that could be interpreted as either HeterosexualLifePartners, or an outright declaration of love.
* Music/{{Bastille}}'s "Laura Palmer", about the death of the small-town prom queen that kicks off the events of ''Series/TwinPeaks''.
* Country act Music/RascalFlatts does an ode to Series/TheAndyGriffithShow called "Mayberry".
* Music/BodyCount's Gears of War is about the series of games [[VideoGame/GearsOfWar of the same name]].
* The Sword has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjtXEJ64C8I To Take the Black]], referring to the act of joining the Night's Watch in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''.
* Big Zig & The Cats set ''VideoGame/ZeroWing'''s famous "All Your Base are Belong To Us" intro text to the tune of Edward Elgar's "Pomp & Circumstance No. 1".
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1Ov9gMe5XY "Joe Lies"]] by Prom Queen is inspired by the film ''Film/SayAnything'', taking its title lyric from one of Corey Flood's 65 songs about her ex Joe.
* Even Music/NeilDiamond did "Turn on Your Heartlight," a tribute to ''Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial''. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heartlight_(song) And charted with it.]]
* Creator/VicMignogna:
** Vic Mignogna, the English voice of Edward from ''Franchise/FullmetalAlchemist'', is a huge fan of the series. He has sung a song named "Nothing I Won't Give" about the 2003 ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist'' anime that is in Edward's POV.
** "Soldier A" is a song sung by Vic and various other anime voice actors about extras and {{Red Shirt}}s in anime.
* Joe Pleiman's "Legend of Zelda" is a tribute to the first few ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' games (the Master Sword doesn't shoot beams in most post-''Ocarina of Time'' games).
* The Normal's "T.V.O.D.", and its [[MorePopularSpinoff more famous]] BSide, "Warm Leatherette", were both inspired by the Creator/JGBallard novel ''Literature/{{Crash}}''.
* "Space Odyssey" by Music/TheByrds, which takes the plot of Creator/ArthurCClarke's short story "The Sentinel" and sets it to a sea shanty-type tune, with a futuristic Moog synthesizer as the main instrument. (Despite the title, it came out before ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey'').
* Eddie Rath has many ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' raps and songs, such as "Gaara the Sand Assassin", "Tsunade", "Prince of the Crows" (Itachi), and "The King of Sharingan" (Sasuke).
* From the ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' fandom we have [[https://soundcloud.com/the-gypsy-caravan-1/answer-to-me-taiyangs-theme-1 Answer To Me]] by [[https://soundcloud.com/the-gypsy-caravan-1 The Gypsy Caravan]], a song for the resident [[GoodParents good dad]] Taiyang Xiao Long. It's a BadassBoast in hard rock form where he sings about [[PapaWolf how protective of his kids he is and what he'll do to those who harm them.]]
** Although they're only lyrics, [[http://roosterteeth.com/forum/rwby/topic/3231263 Thank You]] is another song made for Taiyang, this time a SugarWiki/SweetDreamsFuel about how much he loves his kids.
** There's also Qrow Branwen's theme, [[http://roosterteeth.com/forum/rwby/topic/3235360 If You Dare]], a combination of BadassBoast and IShallTauntYou.
* ''Series/TheLateLateShow with Creator/JamesCorden'' turned Music/ArianaGrande's "thank u, next" into [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgIZuxavs3o "thank u, jeff"]], an ode to actor Creator/JeffGoldblum that references his work in the genre films ''Film/TheFly1986'', ''Film/JurassicPark'', ''Film/IndependenceDay'', and ''Film/ThorRagnarok''.
* The Film/RockyHorrorPictureShow fandom is its own separate thing, but its opening song, "Science Fiction Double Feature", is an homage to the classic (and [[SoBadItsGood "classic"]]) science fiction and horror films that inspired it.
* [[https://youtu.be/F7Exn-AlgnY "Mrs. Fletcher"]] by Slant Six & The Jumpstarts, featured on the ''Dr. Demento'' show in 1990, is part filk, part StupidStatementDanceMix of Life Call(now Life Alert)'s late '80s "I've fallen and I can't get up!" commercials.
* Filipino band Kiko Machine released a self-titled album where a handful of its songs are homages to several classic shows that aired on Philippine TV in UsefulNotes/TheEighties and UsefulNotes/TheNineties. For instance, "[=McGyver=]" (deliberately misspelled on the CD label) is a tribute to ''Series/MacGyver1985'', while "Takeshi" is a tribute to ''Series/TakeshisCastle''.
* "[[https://klaymore.bandcamp.com/track/sr388 SR388]]" by the American Metal band Klaymore is a tribute to ''VideoGame/MetroidIIReturnOfSamus''.
* In Strict Confidence's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNfRE5wHAXU "Morpheus"]] is based on the poem of the same name by Creator/AlexanderPushkin, and even has [[BilingualBonus Russian lyrics]] for its chorus, despite the band being German.
* Apoptgyma Berzerk have "Soma Coma", based on ''Literature/BraveNewWorld''.
* ''Literature/TheLittleEngineThatCould'' was adapted into a song by Burl Ives. Likewise, his other TrainSong, "Two Little Trains", is based on Margaret Wise Brown's book of the same name.
* Music/PigWithTheFaceOfABoy's [[https://youtu.be/hWTFG3J1CP8 "Complete History of the Soviet Union, Set to the Melody of Tetris]]", based on the ''VideoGame/{{Tetris}}'' BootstrappedTheme "Korobeiniki".
* The Barron Knights' "[[https://youtu.be/iPe-Be4Symg We Know Who Done It (Part 1)]]" narrates the plot of the ''Series/{{Dallas}}'' episode "Who Shot J.R.?" to the tune of Music/GaryNuman's "Cars".
* Music/InformationSociety's "The Mymble's Daughter" is an ode to the character of the same name from the ''[[Literature/TheMoomins Moomin]]'' book series.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Somewhere in Between]]
These artists ''might'' have heard the word filk, but aren't part of the community. (Not yet, anyway; if they want, there's always an open seat in the circle.)
* Music/{{Voltaire}} has his ''Franchise/StarTrek'' songs, including the entire album "Banned on Vulcan," as well as the song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaD2iqGvn1w "Cantina"]] on ''Ookie Spooky.'' (Warning: This is a ''filthy'' song. You'll never see ''Franchise/StarWars'' the same way again.) Voltaire's presence at events such as Dragon* Con put him in this category.
** Since then he's released the album "Bitrektual", collecting new versions of all ''Franchise/StarTrek'' and ''Franchise/StarWars'' songs (and a couple of new songs too, like the one that gives its name to the album).
** There's also "Dead of The Dead: Adventure Quest Worlds Version" which is done by him for the game, and is a parody of his own song.
* Music/BlueOysterCult did "Black Blade" about Elric of Melnibone. Hawkwind did an entire album about him, ''The Chronicle of the Black Sword''. This is a step above your average found filk because writer Creator/MichaelMoorcock was directly involved with both bands, even occasionally performing with Hawkwind.
** And don't forget BOC's ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' from ''Music/{{Spectres}}'', though that was probably more about the guitar solo...
** Plus, Hawkwind also did "Needle Gun," which about Moorcock's other notable character Jerry Cornelius (on "Chronicles FWIW"), as well as several songs based on the works of Creator/RogerZelazny.
* Actor Robert Picardo has written a fair number of songs about ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' -- which makes sense given that he was part of the main cast.
* ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'' had an entire gothic/industrial album, ''Music from the Succubus Club'', with a song for each of the thirteen vampire clans.
* [[http://tfradio.net Radio Free Cybertron]] has aired several of [[http://knoledge.org/mormegil/ Túrin's Transformers Song Parodies]].
* Guyz Nite wrote [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTyw6cq86kY a song]] about ''Film/DieHard'', that was even included in the fourth movie DVD.
* VideoGame/{{Touhou}} fandom has created an extensive catalog of work that, at least, seems to border on filk: take ZUN's original (instrumental) [=BGMs=] and boss themes and add lyrics about the games and the characters. Of course, these songs end up as the [[MemeticMutation breeding ground]] for certain [[{{Fanon}} creative interpretations]] of said characters. One notable example (particularly when it comes to AlternateCharacterInterpretation) is Music/{{IOSYS}}'s interpretations of [[{{tsundere}} Alice Margatroid's]] various [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVhtS5cjAv0 stage]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVwstM4vZC8 boss]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0jbvJjTXPw themes]], which [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-cT2nDslCs explore]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0_-J-pHNsc her]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qS1kqhhebw feelings]] for [[EvenTheGirlsWantHer Marisa Kirisame]].
** Also, Music/{{IOSYS}} has created songs that are a bit closer to parody-style filk. These range from extremely blatant (being nothing more than outright lyric swaps), such as [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LT99cSIgYjI "Kire Kire Mayoi"]] ("Hare Hare Yukai" from ''[[LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya]]''), and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBvHiI2ZFrw "Laser Mari Fantasy"]] ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Px2zX-M2alQ "Pegasus Fantasy"]] from ''Anime/SaintSeiya''), to the less obvious, like [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZQboNNzoPs "Love-Colored Damage Report"]] ("Sketch Switch" from ''Manga/HidamariSketch''), and more recently, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoRdggqTxfE "New Attack Resurrection"]] ("only my railgun" from ''Manga/ACertainScientificRailgun''). See [[Trivia/{{IOSYS}} the IOSYS Trivia page]] for more examples.
** And not only Music/{{IOSYS}}, there were another circles that have done songs that are a bit closer to parody-style filk. For example, Silver Forest has a song called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMK3Yx8xo_A Kaze no Uta]], which is a blatant parody to [[VisualNovel/{{Air}} Tori no Uta]], especially at the beginning and ending of the song, and even includes a part where the original song being parodied is sung. Another examples from other circles are:
*** From Yellow Zebra, we have various examples. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AL6aLEEZOe0 "Shooting Star"]] sounds pretty similar to Forever, from ''Manga/ElementalGelade''. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLi4slcTmIg "Worlds End"]], which sounds pretty much like ETERNAL BLAZE from ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAs'', between others, maybe.
*** Sekken-ya also have their share of examples. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSATa5ZooEQ Tewi!]], which sounds like TOY from The Slut Banks. Also [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6EjxcgOlmw "Marisa"]], which sounds like MARIA, from Kuroyume. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMSMTwCOW5U "True Blossom"]], which sounds like True Blue from Music/LunaSea, between more examples.
* The Creator/HPLovecraftHistoricalSociety have done:
** ''Music/AVeryScarySolstice'' and ''An Even Scarier Solstice'', two albums of reworked Christmas carols. This includes such classics as "It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Fishmen" and "Carol of the Old Ones".
** The [[http://www.cthulhulives.org/Shoggoth/ stage musical]] ''Theatre/AShoggothOnTheRoof'', based on and using the music from ''Theatre/FiddlerOnTheRoof''.
* There's a [=WoW=] Filk Song for pallies going around, sung to the tune of "I'm a little teapot."
--> ''I'm a little pally, short and stout, here is my mallet, here is my mount; when I get scared I scream and shout! I pull out my bubble and hearth right out.''
* There was a filk song written about the Website/GameFAQs message board Life, The Universe and Everything done to the tune of Piano Man by Billy Joel. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mDlFb2xLMM Here is an attempt to sing it.]]
* A whole album of music for the ''TabletopGame/{{Deadlands}}'' roleplaying game exists, produced by the people who published the game. It's not songs, but instrumentals intended to help set the mood for an evening's session.
** Ditto for the TabletopGame/{{Eberron}} setting of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''.
* The British "Time Lord Rock" band [[http://dftba.com/shop/categories/Music/Chameleon-Circuit/ Chameleon Circuit]] focuses on [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGqrrmZXtqg "Doctor Who"-themed music]], but performs gigs outside of the usual filk venues.
* ''WebVideo/TheGuild''s [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urNyg1ftMIU "Do You Wanna Date My Avatar"]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMrN3Rh55uM "Game On"]].
* Spider Robinson, as part of a Creator/RobertAHeinlein tribute essay called "Rah, Rah, R.A.H.", wrote his own filk song, "Ol' Man Heinlein" (to the tune of "Ol' Man River" by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein). It can be found in Robinson's anthology ''Time Travelers Strictly Cash''.
* ''WebVideo/DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog'' is pretty much an entire filk ''musical''. Then there are the auditions for the Evil League of Evil, many of which contain filks made up by the people auditioning.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSS-cJu_h7I "Even Gods Cry"]] by The Turtlenecks, written about the ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'' games from Kratos' point of view. It seems rather out of place on an album mostly populated with grunge-metal tributes, although it's clear from the lyrics that it's at least somewhat parodic.
* Music/AbneyPark
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NA7uAj106Zo&feature=player_embedded#at=193 "What Would Buffy Do?"]]
* Webcomics ''Webcomic/{{Narbonic}}'' and ''Webcomic/SkinHorse'' have attracted the attention of [[Tropers/{{Eddurd}} Ed Gedeon]] (author of ''Webcomic/EverydayHeroes''), who posts almost daily parodies related to that day's strip. Others have started to follow Ed's lead; check the comments sections below the strips.
** Unsurprisingly, then, in ''Webcomic/EverydayHeroes'', Carrie writes [[http://eheroes.thecomicseries.com/comics/27/ her own filk]] to a Janis Joplin tune.
* NerdCore, pretty much as a genre. For example, mc chris, professional nerdcore artist and voice actor best known for his work with Creator/AdultSwim, has ''Fett's Vette'', a hip-hop ballad about everyone's favorite ''Franchise/StarWars'' MemeticBadass.
* Horslips were an Irish band, and generally regarded as the inventors of Celtic Metal. "Dearg Doom" is a part of a concept album based on The Táin, and somehow manages to kick even more ass than the original legend. They're a difficult one to call, though. There were costumes, electric mandolin solos, Heavy Metal renditions of Traditional Irish Folk tunes and their lyrics embraced Celtic Mythology in the same way many Filkers embrace ''[=LotR=]''. But then again, it 'was'' the 1970s.
* Rapper Richie Branson [[http://www.jefusion.com/2012/02/gundam-wing-hip-hop-mix-tape.html will be releasing]] a ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing''-themed mix tape.
* Regular, if sparse, filking somewhat stuck to TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms community, starting with the authors. From what is known... Elaine Cunningham [[http://forum.candlekeep.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1888&whichpage=22#61128 wrote]] a BawdySong or handful for her bard character, [[http://forum.candlekeep.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1888&whichpage=7#36690 realmsified]] random tunes just for fun and made up a few [[http://forum.candlekeep.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=13887&whichpage=14#351427 unrelated ones]]. Steven Schend [[http://forum.candlekeep.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1888&whichpage=7#36566 invented]] apocryphical "I Am the Very Model of a Drow of Menzoberranzan" just to drive Bob Salvatore mad. Fans need little provocatioon to come up with something filky, like [[http://forum.candlekeep.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=15590#355243 the comment]] on that [[http://www.o-love.net/realms/head_sta_tsr.html awful first print cover]] of ''Tangled Webs''.
* Entire genres have come about from fans. Known as 'Wrock' and 'Trock' (short for '[[Franchise/HarryPotter Wizard Rock]]' and '[[Series/DoctorWho Time Lord Rock]]' respectively), fans make songs, bands, even [=CDs=] and music festivals to show their love of the series.
* Several [[MusicalEpisode musical episodes]] fit here, particularly [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer "Once More With Feeling"]] and the first [[Series/XenaWarriorPrincess Xena musical episode]].
* Bonnie, one of the players on ''Series/TheQuest'' wrote two songs during the show, one about the world the were in, the other about their drill instructor Ansgar. WordOfGod is that she did it all on her own.
* For Music/LeonardBernstein's 70th birthday, Music/StephenSondheim wrote "The Saga of Lenny," to the tune of "The Saga of Jenny" from ''Theatre/LadyInTheDark''.
* Music/WoodyGuthrie's "Tom Joad, Part 1 & 2" from ''Music/DustBowlBallads'' basically tell the plot of ''Literature/TheGrapesOfWrath''.
* Music/JohnZorn recorded entire albums and tracks that are homages to certain artists, like his ConceptAlbum ''Music/{{Spillane}}'', built around the novels of Creator/MickeySpillane.
* Comedienne Creator/RachelBloom with songs like [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZG38VcjE770 "Fuck Me Ray Bradbury"]] and the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WfS6Gnkk4 "Historically Accurate Disney Princess Song"]]
* Creator/TomHolt has been known to write filk, for instance "[[http://www.edlin.org/holt/onthenet/numenorian.html Numenorian]]", a ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' PatterSong, or "[[http://www.edlin.org/holt/onthenet/wildcanadianboy.html The Wild Canadian Boy]]" which is a friendly dig at John Clute and ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction''.
* Just about everything under [[http://www.dftba.com DFTBA Records]], a record label basically devoted to this kind of thing, and which also includes the aforementioned Music/ChameleonCircuit. Its founder, Music/HankGreen, has made quite a few Filk songs himself, such as ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2Gt9m64LBg This Isn't Hogwarts]]'' and ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvvFiZyEyTA Accio Deathly Hallows]]'', the latter of which made him (and his brother) famous and was probably responsible for the founding of DFTBA Records.
* Not Literally, a female duo who mainly do [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOxwo8TUQok Harry]] [[https://www.youtube.com.watch?v=HGjVXzI2g4 Potter]] filks but have also been known to do songs dedicated to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMExg1WOBAc ''The Hunger Games'']] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXSSBu9uKrM ''Game of Thrones'']] among others.
* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9994nv8BcU Bane Star]]'': A parody of ''All Star'', about [[Film/TheDarkKnightRises Bane]] and [[EnsembleDarkhorse CIA]].
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eJmYKN_1QE This parody of California Gurlz]] by Team Unicorn.
* Gavin Dunne. His ''Website/TheEscapist'' series called Music/MiracleOfSound consists of video game and movie filk songs (of any genre and any topic).
* 'Xenaclone' : A whole Highlander/Mikado filk cycle, several 'Firefly' filks and counting...
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-oZ4Bug_zA&feature=youtu.be This ode to House Baratheon]]
* Or [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaBNSlUqThk this song]] about Ned Stark and his wacky family.
** Which is the first track of an entire album dedicated to ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''
* Folk singer Music/EricBogle gets sung a lot in circles, and he has a ''Franchise/StarTrek'' song called "[[http://ericbogle.net/lyrics/lyricspdf/beammeupscotty.pdf Beam Me Up, Scotty!]]"
* Atmospheric black metal[=/=]noise act The Real Housewives of Gomorrah bring us "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AULYH831Q14 Gwyn, How Your Sunlight Has Turned to Cinder]]", based on the final boss of ''VideoGame/DarkSouls''.
* Five For Fighting has "Superman", which is obviously about Franchise/{{Superman}}.
* "Monster" by Music/MegAndDia is based on a story they wrote that was heavily inspired by ''Film/EastOfEden''.
* "Clarissa" by Music/MindlessSelfIndulgence is a very NSFW song referencing the show ''Series/ClarissaExplainsItAll''.
* Music/TheGothicArchies have [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1j9tQmBZEPU&list=PLnWPmXHQvT_hsDh5ExE3yFkIvnKzdM4fB&index=2 a whole album]], almost, on the subject of ''Literature/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents''. It helps that Daniel Handler is a friend of Stephin Merritt and sometime member of Music/TheMagneticFields.
* Early works by Music/TheKLF include the novelty song "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoGzuNxOj2Q Doctorin' The TARDIS]]" under the pseudonym The Timelords.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyhujNcUFck "How To Play With Your Willy"]], DoubleEntendre aside, is all about ''VideoGame/JetSetWilly''.
* Music/SiIvaGunner's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgX1oVq31i0 "This Is Halloween"]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXL8Sa6CLak "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch"]] rips are full-fledged song parodies based on channel memes.
[[/folder]]

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!!Tropes They Filk About:

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!!Non-filk Works Of Importance to Filk:

* Literature/{{Discworld}} also includes song fragments and references to songs. Nowadays there exist several versions of ''A Wizard's Staff Has a Knob on the End'' and ''The Hedgehog Can Never Be Buggered At All''.
* ''ComicBook/ElfQuest'' has an entire filk album, ''A Wolfrider's Reflections'', featuring songs by the above-referenced Julia Ecklar, Leslie Fish, Creator/MercedesLackey, and Cynthia [=McQuillin=].
* ''Fallen Angels'' by Creator/LarryNiven, Creator/JerryPournelle, and Creator/MichaelFlynn includes several existing filk songs, and {{tuckerization}}s of several filkers (and other science fiction fans).
* Creator/RobertAHeinlein's story "Literature/TheGreenHillsOfEarth" contains numerous song fragments and references to songs. Many of them have been completed into full songs by filkers.
* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' was the media that inspired many filkers in the mid-60s, and helped rally the first expansion of filk a few years later. ''Franchise/StarTrek'' has continued to be an big inspiration to filk since then.

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* Numerous [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Fandom Fandoms]].

* [[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgV-hgprraRb071mumQFw2g The Merkins]] does parodies of pop and rap songs based mostly on horror movie villains. [[https://youtu.be/r-Jh3A49AaA "Careless Sister"]] is a ''Franchise/{{Halloween}}''-based parody of [[Music/GeorgeMichael "Careless Whisper"]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKFK7fGy4u0 "Slashing Bodies"]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oliCVn7Ic68 "I'll Kill You That Way"]] are parodies of [[Music/BackstreetBoys "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" and "I Want It That Way"]] about hacking people up, and going beyond horror, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfKyOrTjVz8 "Snap My Fingers"]] is ComicBook/{{Thanos}} rapping about his BadassFingersnap to the tune of [[Music/LilJon "Snap Yo Fingers"]].

** Four of his songs are straight filks, though -- "Ode To a Superhero" (which pretty much outlines the plot of the first ''Film/SpiderMan1'' movie), "The Saga Begins" (which outlines the plot of Franchise/StarWars [[Film/ThePhantomMenace Episode I]]), "Yoda" (which outlines part of the plot of [[Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack Star Wars Episode V]]) and "Film/JurassicPark" (of course).

* Mastodon's most popular and arguably best album is based entirely upon ''Literature/MobyDick''.
* Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit" (''Literature/AliceInWonderland'')

* ''Website/CollegeHumor'' turned Music/JayZ / Music/AliciaKeys "Empire State of Mind" into "[[Franchise/StarWars Galactic Empire]] [[http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1931187 State of Mind]]".

[[WMG:[[center:[[AC:This trope is [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1649169244056717700 under discussion]] in the Administrivia/TropeRepairShop.]]]]]]

*** Gridlink: "Asuka" is based on the character in ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion''. "Look to Windward" is named after [[Literature/LookToWindward a novel]] in Creator/IainBanks' ''Literature/TheCulture'' series. "The Dodonpachi" is named after the BulletHell game ''VideoGame/DoDonPachi''. "Scopedog" is named for the robots from the ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' franchise. "Pattern Recognition" is most likely named after ''Literature/PatternRecognition'' by Creator/WilliamGibson. "The Jenova" is named after Jenova from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII''. And so on. (The relationships of all of these songs to the works they're named after is sometimes oblique, but Chang likes to keep his lyrics cryptic so that listeners can come up with their own interpretations.)

*** Gridlink: "Asuka" is based on the character in ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion''. "Look to Windward" is named after a novel in Creator/IainBanks' ''Literature/TheCulture'' series. "The Dodonpachi" is named after the BulletHell game ''VideoGame/DoDonPachi''. "Scopedog" is named for the robots from the ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' franchise. "Pattern Recognition" is most likely named after ''Literature/PatternRecognition'' by Creator/WilliamGibson. "The Jenova" is named after Jenova from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII''. And so on. (The relationships of all of these songs to the works they're named after is sometimes oblique, but Chang likes to keep his lyrics cryptic so that listeners can come up with their own interpretations.)

** Grindcore band Gridlink have a song called "Asuka", based on the character in ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion''. And another called "Look to Windward", after a novel in Creator/IainBanks' ''Literature/TheCulture'' series. And another called "The Dodonpachi", after the BulletHell game ''VideoGame/DoDonPachi''. And another entitled "Scopedog", after the robots from the ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' franchise. Hell, probably half their songs qualify. This is a hallmark of their vocalist Jon Chang, since his previous band Music/DiscordanceAxis had "Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said" named after a novel by Creator/PhilipKDick, "Ikaruga" named after ''VideoGame/{{Ikaruga}}'', "Berserk" named after ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'', "Appleseed" named after ''Manga/{{Appleseed}}'', "My Neighbor Totoro" named after ''Anime/MyNeighborTotoro'', and several more songs on ''The Inalienable Dreamless'' that were also inspired by ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' ("Angel Present", "Pattern Blue", "The Third Children", etc). And he's still at it with his latest band No One Knows What the Dead Think, which has references to ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'', ''VideoGame/NieR: Replicant'', ''VideoGame/NierAutomata'', ''VideoGame/DarkSouls3'', ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'', and... ''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}''.[[note]][[TheScottishTrope Sorry]].[[/note]] At least. It's probably harder to find a song involving Chang that ''doesn't'' contain references to some video game, anime, manga, or science-fiction work than to find one that ''does'' - and if you think you've found an example of the former, there's a solid chance you're just not familiar with the work that inspired it.

* Music/{{Queen}}'s "39" is a description of interstellar travel with time-dilation effects. (It helps to have an astrophysicist as your lead guitarist.) "The Prophet's Song" also qualifies

* Music/MFDoom likes to compare himself with and rap about Doctor Doom, especially in the album ''Operation Doomsday''.
* Rapper Daniel Dumille recorded the album "Take Me To Your Leader" under the pseudonym "King Geedorah". It's an album about Godzilla's ArchEnemy.
** In his alternate persona of "Viktor Vaughn", he bases his "character" on [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Doctor Doom]], and makes many other geek-culture references along the way.

** Grindcore band Gridlink have a song called "Asuka", based on the character in ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion''. And another called "Look to Windward", after a novel in Creator/IainBanks' ''Literature/TheCulture'' series. And another called "The Dodonpachi", after the BulletHell game ''VideoGame/DoDonPachi''. And another entitled "Scopedog", after the robots from the ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' franchise. Hell, probably half their songs qualify. This is a hallmark of their vocalist Jon Chang, since his previous band Music/DiscordanceAxis had "Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said" named after a novel by Creator/PhilipKDick, "Ikaruga" named after ''VideoGame/{{Ikaruga}}'', "Berserk" named after ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'', "Appleseed" named after ''Manga/{{Appleseed}}'', "My Neighbor Totoro" named after ''Anime/MyNeighborTotoro'', and several more songs on ''The Inalienable Dreamless'' that were also inspired by ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' ("Angel Present", "Pattern Blue", "The Third Children", etc). And he's still at it with his latest band No One Knows What the Dead Think, which has references to ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'', ''VideoGame/NieR: Replicant'', ''VideoGame/NierAutomata'', ''VideoGame/DarkSouls3'', ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'', and... ''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}''.[[note]][[TheScottishTrope Sorry]].[[/note]] At least. It's probably harder to find a song involving Chang that ''doesn't'' contain references to some video game, anime, manga, or science-fiction work than to find one that ''does''.

** Grindcore band Gridlink have a song called "Asuka", based on the character in ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion''. And another called "Look to Windward", after a novel in Creator/IainBanks' ''Literature/TheCulture'' series. And another called "The Dodonpachi", after the BulletHell game ''VideoGame/DoDonPachi''. And another entitled "Scopedog", after the robots from the ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' franchise. Hell, probably half their songs qualify. This is a hallmark of their vocalist Jon Chang, since his previous band Music/DiscordanceAxis had "Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said" named after a novel by Creator/PhilipKDick, "Ikaruga" named after ''VideoGame/{{Ikaruga}}'', "Berserk" named after ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'', "Appleseed" named after ''Manga/{{Appleseed}}'', "My Neighbor Totoro" named after ''Anime/MyNeighborTotoro'', and several more songs on ''The Inalienable Dreamless'' that were also inspired by ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' ("Angel Present", "Pattern Blue", "The Third Children", etc). And he's still at it with his latest band No One Knows What the Dead Think, which has references to ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'', ''VideoGame/NieRAutomata'', ''[=NieR=]: Replicant'', ''VideoGame/DarkSouls3'', ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'', and... ''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}''.[[note]][[TheScottishTrope Sorry]].[[/note]] At least. It's probably harder to find a song involving Chang that ''doesn't'' contain references to some video game, anime, manga, or science-fiction work than to find one that ''does''.

** Grindcore band Gridlink have a song called "Asuka", based on the character in ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion''. And another called "Look to Windward", after a novel in Creator/IainBanks' ''Literature/TheCulture'' series. And another called "The Dodonpachi", after the BulletHell game ''VideoGame/DoDonPachi''. And another entitled "Scopedog", after the robots from the ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' franchise. Hell, probably half their songs qualify. This is a hallmark of their vocalist Jon Chang, since his previous band Music/DiscordanceAxis had "Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said" named after a novel by Creator/PhilipKDick, "Ikaruga" named after ''VideoGame/{{Ikaruga}}'', "Berserk" named after ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'', "Appleseed" named after ''Manga/{{Appleseed}}, "My Neighbor Totoro" named after ''Anime/MyNeighborTotoro'', and several more songs on ''The Inalienable Dreamless'' that were also inspired by ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' ("Angel Present", "Pattern Blue", "The Third Children", etc). And he's still at it with his latest band No One Knows What the Dead Think, which has references to ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'', ''VideoGame/NieRAutomata'', ''VideoGame/NieRReplicant'', ''VideoGame/DarkSouls3'', ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'', and... ''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}''.[[note]][[TheScottishTrope Sorry]].[[/note]] At least. It's probably harder to find a song involving Chang that ''doesn't'' contain references to some video game, anime, manga, or science-fiction work than to find one that ''does''.

** Grindcore band Gridlink have a song called "Asuka", based on the character in ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion''.

* Music/TheGothicArchies have [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1j9tQmBZEPU&list=PLnWPmXHQvT_hsDh5ExE3yFkIvnKzdM4fB&index=2 a whole album]], almost, on the subject of ''Literature/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents''.

* When Marni Nixon ("the Ghostess with the Mostest," a great singer famous for having dubbed over many great movie musicals -- including ''Film/TheKingAndI'', ''Film/MyFairLady'', and ''Film/WestSideStory'' -- and never once getting credit) performed at the Hollywood Bowl in ''Radio/APrairieHomeCompanion'' (which itself frequently features filks), she sang a parody of "[[Film/MyFairLady I Could Have Danced All Night]]", called "I Could Have Dubbed Myself".

* [[https://echoschildren.bandcamp.com/ Echo's Children]] was a filk band from Portland, Oregon. They were perhaps best known for their [[Literature/HonorHarrington Honor Harrington]] filk songs ''No Quarter'', ''Riding a Tiger'', and ''Fair Was the Blossom'', which were featured on CDs that accompanied the sale of Honor Harrington hardcover books in the 1990s and 2000s.

Compare SongParody, ToTheTuneOf, and SuspiciouslySimilarSong. SubTrope of FanWork, of course.

* RecycledINSPACE: Many parody filk songs simply move the original song into the space or other science fiction setting. Examples of songs are ''Rebel Pilot's Lament'', ''Centauri Fair'', and ''The Outer Space Marines''.

** "The Brady Bunch" is the lyrics to the theme song of [[Series/TheBradyBunch the show of the same name]] set to the tune of "[[Music/MenWithoutHats The Safety Dance]]". Similar to that is "[[Series/TheBeverlyHilbillies Beverly Hillbillies]]/[[Music/DireStraits Money for Nothing]]".

* [[https://youtu.be/r-Jh3A49AaA "Careless Sister"]] by The Merkins is a ''Franchise/{{Halloween}}''-based parody of [[Music/GeorgeMichael "Careless Whisper".]]

** Unsurprisingly, then, in ''Webcomic/EverydayHeroes'', Carrie writes [[http://eheroes.smackjeeves.com/comics/1891188/carrie-sings-the-blues/ her own filk]] to a Janis Joplin tune.

** Music/IceNineKills does this with the {{horror}} genre, most notably on the albums ''Every Trick in the Book'' (devoted to horror novels and other books with disturbing themes) and ''The Silver Scream'' (devoted to horror movies). Several songs off the latter even use parts of the theme music from the movies they're about; "The Jig Is Up" is built around "Hello Zepp" from ''Film/{{Saw|I}}'', for instance, while "Rocking the Boat" uses the ''Film/{{Jaws}}'' theme in its bridge.