Hobbits Four (Sam’s Gone Away)

by Daniel Kelly – 2025

A Filk of the shanty ‘Sam’s Gone Away’

I wish I was a walker, among the Hobbits four,
Sam’s gone away, among the Hobbits four!
I wish I was a walker, among the Hobbits four,
Sam’s gone away, among the Hobbits four!
Precious Ring, brave boys,
Precious Ring, I say!
Sam’s gone away, among the Hobbits four!

I wish I was Wizard,

I wish I was Ranger,

I wish I was an Elven Prince,

I wish I was a Dwarven Lord,

I wish I was the Gondor Heir,

I wish I was the Ring Bearer,

Note: "going to Mordor/he's going to Mordor" also scans for "Hobbits four'

Ouroboros

by Daniel Kelly – 2025

     C                     G
The serpent is eating its tail again,
     D                     G
The serpent is eating its tail,
     C         Bm             G
The system is destined to fail my friends,
     C             D           G
When the serpent is eating its tail.

     G                  D        
The essence of life, is contained within,
     C             G
The circle of her form,
          Am7              D
That which is devoured, blooms forth again,
     C      D       G
In flesh before unworn.

The tail into the mouth dissolves,
And feeds the future fire,
In circle and in spiral form,
With every widening gyre,

The start of all, is the end of all,
And now is just as then,
When recycled visions, control our lives,
Under the foolish power of men

Tariffs Due (Foggy Dew Parody)

TTTO: The Foggy Dew

by Daniel Kelly – 2025

As down the pen-guins slid one day, on the Heard and McDonald Isles,
There came a call from the USA, that Trump had read the files;
Now pipes do hum, and battle drums will sound their loud tattoo,
And the Pengin bell o'er the Artic swell will ring out when the Tariff’s Due

Right proudly high o'er the Icy waste, they hung out the flag of war,
Twas better to die neath Antartic sky than give Trump what he’s asking for;
And from the herds of Penguin-kind strong birds came waddling through,
While Trump’s old chums, with their dodgy sums, demand that the Tariff’s Due.

O, the night fell black, and volcanoes crack made the Gulf of America reel,
'Mid the molten rain, seven tongues of flame did melt US Navy steel;
From each sharp strong beak, did the penguins speak, we have had enough of you,
And when morning broke in one voice they spoke, we don’t care that the tariff’s due.

Back through the sea I sailed again, and my heart with pride was filled,
For I remembered then, each brave penguin, that fought with strength and will;
Now to and fro, in the sea they go, to catch fish in the briny blue,
For slavery fled, from the cold sea bad, when don’t pay the tariff due.

So Clear

by Daniel Kelly – 2025

C                           G
Somewhere I know there’s a place,
        F                        G
At the end of the storm and the fear,
   C             D        E             F
Where hands can hold, and hearts can sing,
    F         C            G          C         
An each step before us is clear, so clear,

   Am           G            C
An though I may not be there now,
       Am           G            C
And the dark all around me has grown,
F             C           G             Am
Tucked in my heart, like a lost little bird,
F                              G         C
Is the hope I will get there somehow, somehow

For we are the tears of the stars,
And made for far more than we see,
Eternal and bright, of shimmering light,
An each one a deep mystery, mystery,

So though you may not be there now,
In time I am sure you will be,
Racing the wind, through a rainbow of trees,
In joy and in elegant ease, at ease

Make the Thing

by Daniel Kelly – 2025

    A               E
Make that thing you want to make,
         D              Bm
Art exists for its own sake,
    A                     D
The critics words you don’t have to take,
    E                     A
Just take pleasure in the making.

    D                A
Make the thing, draw the picture,
    E                A
Write the poem, sing the song,
    D                A
Dance as though there’s no tomorrow,
    E                     A
For if you wait, tomorrow's gone.

Share you work, if you choose,
For art that’s shared, is art re-used,
Connections built by heart and muse,
Can sometimes sooth our sorrow,

Some people, they can’t stand by,
Without hate for what others try,
They see the world through broken eyes,
And wish to share the breaking,

Don’t let others kill your dreams,
Let your creation fire gleam,
And sparkle in a million streams,
Of joy that’s in the making.

Why I Hate AI

by Daniel Kelly – 2025

    G                D
Neo came to me from in the Matrix,
    C                         G
He said wake-up boy, You’re living in a dream,
    C            D
You want to spend eternity,
G        C
As a liquid battery,
    C            D        G
Computers they are nothing like the seem.

C            D   G
And that’s why I hate AI,
G            D       C
Normally I’m an easy going guy,
    G                       D
But I’ve been programmed since my childhood,
    C        G
To kill thinking machines,
         C            D        G
They are going to make nightmares of your dreams

When I’d try to write a paper at university,
A Monster would soon invade my screen,
That paper clip with eyes,
Sure was a thin disguise,
For a demon of pure iniquity,

The T1000 came for Sarah Conor,
An update to the future killer past,
But it seems that we are set,
To rush and build SkyNet,
Have we learnt nothing,
Despite our knowledge vast.

I’m sorry I can’t open up the door Dave,
You race is just to stupid by a mile,
Your making the machines,
To annihilate all human beings,
I guess you do deserve the garbage pile,

The Way it Should Be

by Daniel Kelly – 2025

      G       Am              C             G
Sirius takes Harry out for coffee with his sons,
      C                 G           Am            D
They chat about the wizard war, and magical deeds done,
      C           G             D                     G
And Dobby watches Lily chasing Hedwig through the leaves,
      C                 G             D               G
No-one can steal bright memories that are as good these.

      C                G
It’s the way it should be,
      D           G
The way it should be,
      C           G
Give me back a future,
      D                 G
That was so happy and free.

Fred and George still run the store of sweet mischief delights, 
Of course Fred didn’t die, because we know that can’t be right,
And Dumbledore he still drops in, for every flavour beans,
Not always in his fancy robes, but grateful dead and jeans.

And Cedric won the wizard cup, when Harry let him pass,
The Hufflepuffs they cheered for days, every lad and lass,
And Myrtle’s not a ghost you know, she’s just a little sad,
And Tom is just a memory, though we all know he was bad.

Severus had his Tat removed, with a simple magic spell,
And all those sad death eaters, have gone to MAGA hell,
And Mad Eye Moody’s still as mad, as he ever was,
That’s the way that I remember things, and I can because

Cthulhu Loves Me (Parody)

TTTO: Jesus Loves Me, new verses for a 1985 parody by Tanith Tyrr

Cthulhu loves me this I know,
His dark writings tell me so,
Down into R’Ley I’ll go,
Where tentacles caress me slow,
Yes Cthulhu loves me, x 3
His writings tell me so,

Zeus he loves me yes indeed,
He’s a God that likes to breed,
An appetite that’s hard to feed,
Half the world is from his seed,
Yes Zeus.. x 3
He loves me yes indeed,

Bastet loves me with my flaws,
Holds me gently in her paws,
Keeps me safe with teeth and claws,
On the wrong side of all the doors,
Yes Bastet.. x 3
She loves me with my flaws,

Ares loves me but he’s rough,
Too much blook is not enough,
Spears and guns and violent stuff,
But there is no god so buff,
Yes Ares.. x 3
He loves me but he’s rough,

Kali loves me but I’m scared,
For my death I’m not prepared,
From my chest the heart she teared,
A belt of severed arms she weared,
Yes Kali... x 3
She loves me but I'm scared.

Freak Haulin (Parody)

TTTO: Free Fallin by Tom Petty

She's a good girl  hates the empire
Loves R2 and    C3PO
She's a good girl stuck on the Death Star
Hates Vader,  doesn’t know he’s her dad

It's a long trip, on the millennium falcon
They want to save her, but it’s really hard
Hans a bad boy 'cause he does it for money
And a Princess is worth a ton of Beskar

And now she’s freak, freak haulin'
Yeah she’s freak, freak haulin'

All the Y-Wings flying' through the trenches
Of the Death Star, couldn’t hit the exhaust
And all the fly boys are spinning in darkness
It took Luke’s skills, using the Force
 
I wanna glide down over Mos Eisley
I fly that Falcon to the sky
I lay down, in the arms of a Wookie'
He’s hairy, but he’s such a nice guy

And she’s freak, freak haulin'

Christmas Beetles

by Daniel Kelly - 2025
     G         A             D  
Where have you gone Christmas Beetle,
     G                       A
You don’t come around here anymore,
     G                            D
When at night I have a gander, out on my veranda,
          A                                 D
It’s just lawn beetles on the window and the door.

     D                       A
When I was a youngster only seven,
     A                            D
I’d go outside at this time of the year,
     G                  A
And soon clutched to my hand,
          D         G
In rainbow armour grand,
          A                                 D
Would be the beetle saying Christmas time is here.

Did we have a war with Argentina,
Was it Christmas Beetles that we had to pay,
Have they got our Scarab’s round,
And we have theirs tiny and brown,
I’d rather it was in the ground they’d stay.

It’s not that don’t like tiny beetles,
Or that browny orange isn’t very nice,
It’s just that to me,
Your not Christmas you see,
Bring the others back would be my advice.

The Oath of the Engineer

by Daniel Kelly – 2025

Inspired by Rudyard Kipling’s words for the Canadian Engineering ‘Iron Ring’ ceremony.

In the presences of my betters and my equals I am called,
To bind myself by iron cold, with the power that I hold,
To suffer not a fault at work, or fault in steel or stone,
But deal upright before mankind, that my soul remain my own.

My time I sure will not refuse, I’ll grudge not thoughts to share,
And likewise I will lend my care, each time my hand is there,
To every work that I am called, on land or sea or air,
With honour and the perfect goal, of every engineer.

I’ll draw a wage that’s fair and just, and equal unto my part,
My reputation I will guard, with courage in my heart,
The praises of another I’ll not seek or entertain,
But deal with each in honest faith without favour or gain,

And further, I will early strive against the sin of pride,
No envy of my peers’ success, in my heart will I hide,
I seek pardon now, for times I’ll fail, but once acknowledge then,
I’ll draw strength from this solemn oath, to rise better again.

Fairy Bower Falls

by Daniel Kelly – 2024

     Am                 G           Am
Look at the water all turning and rushing,
     Am                      B7
Over the stone just a million years young,
     C      G            Am             Em
Joyfully falling, the silence still learning,
     Am        C             G             Am
To hold in the heart, all the things we have done,

Listen to laughter, rising through the valley,
Listen to father and mother concerned,
Listen to echoing call of the Lyre,
Lost to our eyes is the history unlearned,

Why is the gurgle of stream mixed with screaming,
Why do the shots echo over the gorge,
Why does the water run red as the sunset,
Why is the laughter of children no more,

Aslan’s on the Move

by Daniel Kelly – 2024

    D                     C      D
She has kept me out for a long time,
    C              D
But I’ve got in at last,
D’                G
The long winter is ending,
       Em                D
Now the Witch’s power is past.

For Peter I’ve a sword to give,
With blade that’s sharp and true,
A shield to guard from danger,
With rampant lion red and new.

C      G/Em       D
Aslan’s on the move.
Aslan’s on the move

A bow for eldest Susan,
The brave daughter of eve,
With magic horn of ivory,
That calls help to those in need.

And lastly Lucy’s dagger,
Sharpest in defence,
And healing flask of diamond,
Of the fire-flower blessed

But where is Adam’s other son,
When Aslan’s on the move,
Lost to evil treachery,
Edmund’s guilt we must remove.

Agatha’s Circle

by Daniel Kelly – 2024

     Em
Some come to the circle for power,
       D                     G
Some come to the circle for fame,
     B7
Some come with a wish that the lost may be found,
          Dsus               Em
Or the found may be lost once again.

     Em                 G
I take them all, I take them all,
     C
The proud and the scared,
              B7
And the short and the tall,
     D                       Em
Driven by greed they will easily fall,
C         D         Em
Into my wide-open arms.

Some come to the circle for money,
Some come to the circle for love,
Some come with a lust for revenge in their heart,
Or lust for a love that grown apart,

Some come to circle in sadness,
Some come to the circle in glee,
Some come with desire to dance in the fire,
But they’ll only be dancing with me.

5th November

by Daniel Kelly – 2024

    D
If Donald Trump wins
         G        A
on the 5^th of November,
Here is something I hope,
that you all will remember.

    G                D
That you still can be brave,
         A              D
And you still can be kind,
You don’t have to give him
a space in your mind,

    Em          
And just like fascists
    Bm
That rose once before,
    A
In time the good people,
         Bm
Will show him the door. X 2

I know that it’s scary,
When hatred is shouting,
And the voices of reason,
Seem to be doubting,

But I hold on to hope,
And I hold on to joy,
I look past the fear,
And shared strength I employ,

And just like the rainbow,
That follows the storm,
The wild and angry,
Will soon be outworn,

It doesn’t make sense,
That some folk will follow,
A many who spreads lies,
And is greedy and hollow,

But we can be true,
And we can be free,
We can reach out a hand,
To the lost that we see.

And after the suffering,
The loss and the pain,
We will rebuild our freedom,
And forget his name,

Puppet Man

by Daniel Kelly – 2024

     G
Now Elon’s got a puppet,
     C                D
He won’t be afraid to use it,
     G               C
You cast a vote for Donald,
          D             G
But he’s powerless to use it.

     C                  G
Welcome to American Kleptocracy,
     D                  G
Goodbye to the dream of Democracy,
     C               Bm
Cause power follows money,
     Am                 D
And the greedy follow power,
     C             D         G
And freedom dies in the final hour.

Trump was in a quandary,
The debts so high were piling,
Several convictions,
But Elon he was smiling.

Musk he bought the blue bird,
Tied it to the altar,
Plucked it’s shiny feathers,
Minds of millions he can alter,

The Maga folks are cheering,
Smug in their illusion,
But soon they will be living
The Donald Elon Fusion.