Dr. H. Paul Shuch - The Entertainer

Copyright: Stuart Kingsley

Besides presenting a paper at SPIE's OSETI II conference, Dr. H. Paul Shuch, Executive Director of The SETI League, entertained attendees as they gathered for the workshop session at the close of the conference.  Here are just some of Paul's extensive repertoire of SETI filk songs.  For more information about The SETI League, visit their web site at: www.setileague.org.

RealAudio files provided by permission of The SETI League, Inc.

Sing a Song of SETI

	Lyrics Copyright © by H. Paul Shuch, Ph.D.	Duration
1.	Karl Jansky	0 m  44 s
2.	NRAO	3 m  12 s
3.	Little Green Man	3 m  19 s
4.	The Ballard of the Wow! Signal	3 m  05 s
5.	The Very Large Array	2 m  27 s
6.	Cosmic Carl (Award Winner at Philcon '97 Songwriting Competition)	3 m  12 s
7.	Project Phoenix	4 m  50 s
8.	Pegasus 51	4 m  19 s
9.	The SETI League Anthem (Award Winner at Philcon '95 Competition)	2 m  23 s

To hear a particular song, click on the number above.  To read the lyrics, click on the song's title.  By first clicking on the number to bring up your RealAudio Player and then on the corresponding title, it is possible to "sing along with Dr. SETI".  Enjoy!

For more lyrics, visit:

The Official Songbook of The SETI League, Inc.

Dr. SETI Entertains on his Web site

What is Filk Music?

by

Dr. H. Paul Shuch

Filk, a perversion of the word folk, is the traditional music of science fiction fandom, sung at SF conventions around this world (and possibly others).  An outgrowth of the American folk music revival of the 'sixties, filks are often written as parodies to existing melodies, and are frequently accompanied by guitar.  The earliest example which I remember (there probably are earlier ones) actually predates the term filk: John Boardman's 1961 "Asteroid Light",   sung to the tune of the popular "Eddystone Light" sea chanty.  Filks generally deal with SF, fantasy, technology, space travel, and related scientific themes.

The songs in Sing a Song of SETI are examples of the sub-species known as science filk, in which the lyrics need to be true to scientific fact, as we  understand it.   Dealing as they do with SETI and radioastronomy, these songs are intended to pay tribute to the giants of SETI: those individuals and facilities which have contributed to today's understanding of the cosmos, and our place within it.

• Paul Shuch in Concert (1999 Hawaiian Bioastronomy Conference)
• OSETI III Entertainment