Fighter Jock

So here's another filk to modern music (“Maniac” by Michael Sembello, best known as the music in Flashdance), written shortly after The SCA Bunch, and again inspired by the January 2008 theme of filk. It's only a sample of two songs, but there seems to be a trend here: my filks to modern music seem to be short. This is in part because the source material is short (and only seems long because of guitar solos etc.).

I finished this song right before going to California for Christmas (December 21, 2007), and actually typed the final version on the airplane. As I finished it, I realized one reason to object to filks to modern music that has nothing to do with periodicity: modern music is too diverse for anyone to be familiar with more than a small percentage of it. Indeed, I daresay that if I sang this at an event, the original song would be older than a distressing percentage of the audience. I don't know enough modern music, and even if I did, the songs that are popular now are not likely to be well-known in ten years. If you want the song to be sung, people have to know the tune, which means classics (Elvis and the Beatles, mainly) or older; it's too easy for a popular group to fall into the “Whatever happened to...” category.

If you count syllables, you might note that the lines aren't quite regular. That's in the original lyrics, which made this piece difficult to work with. For example, most people who know the song know the first two lines:

Just a steel town girl on a Saturday night, Looking for the fight of her life In the real-time world no one sees her at all They all say she's crazy

Since most people know the first stanza and nothing else, I've kept closer to the pattern in that (with the exception that the second time through, the last line has one extra syllable: it's a logical bridge to the chorus).

After trying it with The Summer of A.S. IX, I decided embedding a video with the original (and a karaoke version, if I could find one) might be useful.

Just a steel-clad boy on a Saturday night Looking for the fight of his life. In the real time world he's a Kwik-E-Mart clerk They all say he's crazy. Leather cuirass worn to cover his heart Helm and gorget for head and neck. Wearing cuisse and vambraces for legs and arms And a cup he can't forget! It can hit you like a tree When rattan comes swinging around On the line between good and tip and light He's a fighter jock (fighter jock) on the field And he's fighting with his duct-taped sword and shield He's a fighter jock (fighter jock) on the field And he's fighting with his duct-taped sword and shield You can fight for crown with a polearm or axe Or two swords (that's Florentine style). But I fear a spear won't get you too far It's the way it works out. You train all your life for that tournament bout You can win or lose on the list It's a wrap shot world but there's always a chance That the novice takes the knight. When "Lay on" is called you fight Throwing snap shots for the win Never stopping until one of you calls "Good!" He's a fighter jock (fighter jock) on the field And he's fighting with his duct-taped sword and shield He's a fighter jock (fighter jock) on the field And he's fighting with his duct-taped sword and shield