What makes a filk song "good?"

[figmo]

Other than the obvious "make sure the scansion and meter fits the original" when writing a parody, what makes a filk song an "award-winner" vs. "forgettable" (or one you'd like to forget)?

I don't know whether my own judgement is "off," but some of the songs that seem to jump out and grab the bulk of the filk community wouldn't even register with me had I not been figuratively clunked over the head with them. I'm wondering what I'm missing and hoping I'll pick up some pointers that might help my own songwriting.

Any and all opinions are welcome.

Comments

[khaosworks.livejournal.com]

Generally, I've found that people, even if they don't grasp how actually "clever" the lyrics are on a conscious level, can somehow register it unconsciously. Language tends to do that. Parodies can work on various levels - as a mockery of the original song, as a surprising twist on the original song - or if not surprising, as a horrible horrible pun ("Wok Like A Man"). Even if one doesn't get the in-jokes, if the song itself describes a funny situation it can be funny on its own ("Banned From Arkham", even if you don't know Lovecraft, is funny because it describes an ever increasing level of chaos).

Humor is hard. As EB White put it, explaining it is like dissecting a frog - it can be done, but the frog usually dies in the process. Puns are always a start, but they're throwaway and forgettable.

"Do You Hear The Pipes, Cthulhu?" works because of a couple of different angles - one, the sweet, catchy tune of a pop song being applied to something horrible and twisted... and the fact that people *think* ABBA is horrible and twisted to begin with, so the idea of mating it with another horrible and twisted thing like Cthulhu seems appropriate. Also, the lyrics manage to cleverly (and with correct scansion) work in phrases evocative of Lovecraft's work - "eldritch vapors", "thousand dooms", "without sanity", "lost souls shrieking", and of course the alliterative tricks used, like the aforementioned "sanity or shame" "resounds with all the sounds" are standard English tricks to make the song more memorable.

As I've remarked in writing workshops, nothing improves writing better than studying and understanding English practical criticism, i.e. the tools that writers use. Know your tools, and you can sculpt anything.