Down at the Old Worldcon
On November 19th 1915, Joe Hill was murdered by the State of Utah for the crime of filking.
When I sat down to write something for this year, I knew I wanted to bring something from my experiences of the Dublin Worldcon. Not necessarily the con itself, but to bring in a theme of Swedish filk, where fandom isn't a great and wondrous thing, but where we together work to make it so. I then found Joe Hill's Down in the Old Dark Mills. As is my wont lately, I have borrowed liberally from both the original song-Down by the Old Mill Stream (Youtube)-and Joe Hill's lyrics.
How well I do remember
cons of days gone by
when you and I were neos
with Roscoe in the sky
Remember they Carl Brandon
the ink has faded too:
the Golden Age of Fandom
when I first met you
Down at the old Worldcon
that's where first we met
Oh! that loving thrill
I shall ne'er forget
it was there I saw
that old fandom true
We were fifteen,
we made a scene,
at the old Worldcon
The mimeo is silent
and the handle still
but neos are still writing
and laughing at the thrill
For fandom is forever
just as the days of yore
although it has been changing
eighty years or more.
Down at the old Worldcon…
I guess my new lyrics went a different direction than I first intended, but I still think the theme of the new and the old fandom is something worthwhile.
All my Joe Hill filks.
Crossposted from https://kjn.dreamwidth.org/82798.html. Please comment there.
When I sat down to write something for this year, I knew I wanted to bring something from my experiences of the Dublin Worldcon. Not necessarily the con itself, but to bring in a theme of Swedish filk, where fandom isn't a great and wondrous thing, but where we together work to make it so. I then found Joe Hill's Down in the Old Dark Mills. As is my wont lately, I have borrowed liberally from both the original song-Down by the Old Mill Stream (Youtube)-and Joe Hill's lyrics.
How well I do remember
cons of days gone by
when you and I were neos
with Roscoe in the sky
Remember they Carl Brandon
the ink has faded too:
the Golden Age of Fandom
when I first met you
Down at the old Worldcon
that's where first we met
Oh! that loving thrill
I shall ne'er forget
it was there I saw
that old fandom true
We were fifteen,
we made a scene,
at the old Worldcon
The mimeo is silent
and the handle still
but neos are still writing
and laughing at the thrill
For fandom is forever
just as the days of yore
although it has been changing
eighty years or more.
Down at the old Worldcon…
I guess my new lyrics went a different direction than I first intended, but I still think the theme of the new and the old fandom is something worthwhile.
All my Joe Hill filks.
Crossposted from https://kjn.dreamwidth.org/82798.html. Please comment there.