wow . what a version, Leslie you are a science - fiction monolith . the future generations are bound to eventually learn about your music and hopefully learn from it !!!! so much spirit in you your stuff and storytelling !!!

The Kipling songs are among her best

Why is it that the only peace imaginable is one of endless cruelty? Can humanity not dream and reach for a peace garbed in kindness and equality? The fundamental issue is that the causes and reasonings for wars can shift but the carnage and devastation remains the same. A war started for righteousness can turn to vindictiveness, and while the reverse is also true it doesn't change that half of the conflict was needless. And even righteous wars still kill and displace. There are terrible things that still exist in this world - slavery, oppression, genocide. But even when those things aren't the result of war, no one intervenes with fire and fury to put an end to them, not in this modern world.

Thanks, Leslie Have any of these made into a songbook?

This is awesome!! Fish recently got me into filk and as a guitarist with a few years practice already, so I'm considering trying filking myself. I just wish there were some conventions in my area- a shame!

Absolutely love it❤

Leslie, first found you years ago via Jefferson and Liberty, but just learned of the filk!

*_Neutral Zone: Romulan View_* inspired a train of thought one afternoon.... "Why _did_ they spare us, do you think, Proconsul?" "The only reason I can think of, my Emperor, is that they have some enemy...or know of some enemy they must face one day...against which they will need our help." "Yes, that, at least, would make sense. But for so many years to have passed since then without that enemy appearing...?" "This 'Enemy Alpha' must be terrible indeed." [A century or so later...] "General! We have reports that the Federation is under attack by a new enemy which is attacking in cube-shaped ships...kilometers across!" "So! My grandfather was right after all about Enemy Alpha!"

The is one of my favourite versions

This woman clears my mind like nothing else. Such a lovely voice

YAY LESLIE!!!

Fantastic!!! Thank you so much for bringing this to us!

Extra verses to Banned from Argo, very funny

EYY

Nice to hear some old favorites . . .

Very cool, was at that convention!

Love it! Thank you! Happy holidays and a good weekend to you!

For wealth, or land, or life, or freedom, or some king's lies. 1 and 2 are... understandable. 3 and 4 are praiseworthy. 5 is straight-up evil.

“War was always here. Even before man was, war waited for him. The ultimate trade awaiting its ultimate practitioner"

First time I ever heard of Leslie fish and Filk music was back when I played space station 13.

I've been listening to your music since I was a kid, and am delighted to learn that not only do you have a youtube channel but you still actively upload to it! Thank you for all you do, Miss Fish. I'll be listening to you with my children and grandchildren, for space is wide and good friends are too few.

War is inevitable evil

Ancient Greeks had a stories like this... In Greek myth, a king named Sisyphus had a clever plan to cheat death, by trapping the God of Death known as Thanatos in his own chains... This interestingly resulted in nobody dying, which made war very awkward and the God of War known as Ares among other gods were very pissed off about this because why do wars if no one is dying... So they freed Thanatos but Sisyphus again survived death again by convincing Persephone to let him out of the Underworld due to his wife not giving him a proper funeral... Then the god Hermes dragged him back to the Underworld and by this point the gods were so over Sisyphus' bullshit that they sent him to Tartarus where he is famously punished into pushing a boulder to get it to the top of the hill except every time he gets close the boulder rolls back down to the bottom and he must try again... And that's where the term 'sisyphean' comes from to describe a task that is requiring continuous effort that is overall pointless... Aside from that there's also another person sent to Tartarus I know of where their punishment was basically to be starving/thirsty forever and like, whenever they'd reach for water it'd move away from them, and whenever they'd grab fruit or some other food it's immediately rot and wither away... That was King Tantalus (who, come to think about it, is probably where the word 'tantalizing' comes from which actually makes a lot of sense because if something is tantalizing it looks very nice but is essentially just out of your reach... And that's exactly Tantalus' problem in Tartarus...)

Is leslie a religious person??? Interesting

Is the chorus what brings this song all together

The morale of the balled “There’s no sin in fighting for the right reason”

Leslie, is that Christa Landon singing background vocals here?!?

I am a wise man. I understood the secret truth of Christianity. I understood the secret truth of Buddhism. And it did not bring me joy. Only grandchildren bring joy.

I have not listened to this video. I just wanted to send the message of gratitude and well wishes.

Found your music recently, Avalon Is Risen has become one of my favorite albums ever. Glad to see you still strumming.

Fuck yeah

This is a very good and meaningful song, truth of war is that it is an ugly necessity of our existence but one that shouldn't be done lightly. The song also makes it where any old god fits in it as well, from the faiths that still stay around like the Abraham ones, Hinduism, to even the old ones that fall into history and mythology. It is an ancient truth that rings out. For there to be peace, men prepare for war and fight to defend and preserve freedom and what they hold to be true and just. We may never agree on the reasons, after all, for war there has to be disagreement, but when war is finish, peace is seen. When peace is seen for too long, men make the conditions for strife and suffering, calling for war of some form to set it right once more

Your music brings me great joy thank you

*sighs* While best know for slightly more upbeat songs such as "Banned" or "Engineers Hymn", the raw emotion Leslie puts into the Centurion still evokes strong emotions in me even after all these years. This, I say, is the sign of a true artist, regardless of what the major recording labels want us to listen to.

An increasingly relevant message!

Classic <3

Great variation on the original. Love this!

Love the song. Beautiful artist in so many ways.

That was cool. Shame on yt.

What I find interesting is that I found this song slightly before I really got into the filk genre

This poem and another called The Islanders describe everything wrong with the modern world very succinctly. Would that the world had heeded Kipling's words more closely.

For anyone wondering, international waters is 12 miles out, so you just need to go 12 miles undetected in an unregistered vessel to escape the law book and the lawyer

I love your music and I love your stories! You're an inspiration in so many ways, happy to listen.

So cool