Click here to play the MP3
Click here to play the video
Bob Kanefsky is one of the best parodists in the
Filk community, but he doesn't play an instrument or even do much singing. His songs
get exposure because other people in the Filk community play them. He has written some
of the most clever and funny parodies I've ever heard.
Bob wrote a parody about an event I experienced at BayCon 2002,
and the song had me in absolute stitches. I had no choice but to add it to my repertoire.
The story goes like this:
Saturday night, there was a fire alarm in middle of the night at the hotel. Those of us
who were filking that night had just managed to get to sleep, when we were awakened by speakers in
our rooms crackling to life for the first time after years of disuse.
Shortly thereafter, we heard a voice come out of the speakers telling us that they were very sorry
but everything was OK and we could go back to sleep. Okay, a false alarm is forgivable. At this point,
everyone is trying to get the adrenaline levels to go back down again and is crawling back into bed.
And it happens again.
Again, there is another apology. By a different person's voice this time.
I am unhappy. As is, I'm sure, every other guest in this huge hotel.
This continues to repeat for far too long: The alarm, followed by the apology, at five-minute intervals;
which is the exact amount of time it takes to calm down and try to go back to bed. Each time, a different
voice. I swear, I am not making this up. It took what seemed like an hour for the repeated alarms and apologies to
finally quit, and of course by then it's impossible for anyone to sleep no matter how tired they are.
The next day, rumors were in no short supply (and neither were grumpy con-goers), but no one seemed to have
a clear line on what had actually happened. I even asked the front desk, as I was simultaneously asking for a
refund of course, and they told me that one of the con-goers had pulled the alarm as a prank. They even seemed
slightly indignant about it, as if all the con-goers were somehow collectively responsible for the fiasco. So
they weren't giving refunds, just a percentage discount. It turns out that the pulled-alarm story was incorrect,
as were the other stories I heard that day, such as candles burning in an elevator and guests messing with the wiring
in their room.
The truth, as it happens, was stranger than the rumors. Seanan, the con chairperson, informs us that it was the
hotel's laundry room, working overtime doing extra loads of sheets and towels, had left the dryers standing open to
cool them down between loads, and that's what had set off the alarm. The repeated alarms and apologies were due
to the night crew being unfamiliar with the equipment and kept resetting it instead of just letting it finish
its alarm cycle. I am not making this up.
Since Bob Kanefsky lives in the Bay area, he doesn't actually stay at the hotel for BayCon. The morning of the
aftermath, Paul Kwinn and I related the events of the prior night to Bob, and the little wheels started to turn
in his head. By the end of the day, he'd completed
this parody lyric.
This parody has all the elements that make a perfect parody, including my favorite one: Leaving lines in from
the original song, but in such a way as to twist their meaning in the new contextual setting. If you're not
sure what I mean, an analysis of the two songs side-by-side will clearly reveal what I'm talking about.
The best part is how he got the details down so accurately in the song, despite having (a) not even been present
for the event, and (b) only hearing the rumors second hand.
The MP3 file is a recording of me performing the song in a filk circle at OryCon 2002.
It's a lower-quality recording than some of the others you'll find at this site because it was recorded with a
portable cassette player. But even so, it clearly captures how well the song goes over in
a group setting, especially when the audience has been pre-briefed about the backstory. Even the opening instrumental chords get
a reaction, because when the listeners realize which song is the one being parodied, they can already anticipate what's coming.
I especially like how everyone in the room catches on to most of the rhymes and sings the punch lines right along with me.
It doesn't get any better than this, this is why I love filking. Moments
like this, and songs like this, are what it's all about.
Thank you, Bob, for writing such great parodies, and for letting me play this one in particular.
|
