(1) (n.) Filk is a form of folk music that grew out of certain segments of the fannish sf community, and frequently addresses the interests of many fans; some even going so far as to say filk is music by fans and filkers, no matter what the subject. A lot of filk these days is more rock-style than folk-style, and indeed the musical form doesn‘t seem to be all that important, ranging from rap to opera and including G&S and musical comedies. Presently the filk community overlaps the fannish community rather than merely being part of it, and there are now many filkers who don't participate in the sf microcosm at all. The term was a 1953 typo by Lee Jacobs for a piece he’d submitted to SAPS entitled "The Influence of Science Fiction on Modern American Filk Music" about supposed sf incidents in folk song, but actually an analysis of a number of thoroughly filthy "dirty songs," taking various metaphors in them as if they were meant literally. Wrai Ballard, the OE of SAPS, decided the piece might run afoul of postal authorities, so it was not run through the mailing, but he noted the typo of “filk” for “folk” and mentioned it to a lot of fans, and not long after that another SAPS member, Karen Anderson, took LeeJ’s typo and defined it as musical parodies written by sf fans. But this origin story may explain why some people believe it to be an abbreviation for "filthy folk singing."
(8/11/2005)
(2) (v.i.) to perform filk music. The definition preferred on rec.music.filk is “the folk music of the science fiction and fantasy fandom community”; while this may be what they prefer, there are elements of the microcosm who feel they neither speak nor sing for them.
(v.t.) to write a filksong parodying a song or using the tune of a song.
Contributors: Dr. Gafia
