(to the tune of Paperback Writer, by John Lennon & Paul McCartney)
by Will Douglas
Dear squire or soldier, even belted knight
I've been training hard and I need to fight
I'll do sword and shield, spear or polearm too
Even florentine and I wanna be a
Tournament fighter
Tournament fighter!
I can deal a blow and I can take one too
(Bruises heal up in a week or two)
I can go the distance and with chivalry
But my lady says that I need to be a
Tournament fighter
Tournament fighter!
Tournament fighter (fighter, fighter)
I can man the shieldwall, I can charge the line
I can rally stragglers when they fall behind
I could lead the army on the battlefield
And I need a change so I wanna be a
Tournament fighter
Tournament fighter!
The chirurgeon's waiting and the marshal's here
I don't want to wait another half a year
The list is filling and the time is now
No more sideline watching, now I'm gonna be a
Tournament fighter
Tournament fighter!
(copyright (c) 2002 by Douglas Cox)
Background: This was the first filk, as well as the first song of any sort, I wrote in the SCA. I had been attending fighter practice and had overheard people talking about the War season which had just passed. They commented that one of the reasons we didn't win the Pennsic War was because we had mostly tournament fighters here, as opposed to fighters used to melee and trained to work together. "Tournament Fighter" fit Paperback Writer, and the rest is history.
Debuted at a Nordleigh bardic revel, spring of A. S. XXXVI