Singing in Podfic

[paraka]

Question: If a fic you're reading has a song in it, what's the best way to handle it?

I'm working on this one podfic where the characters are talking about a song, and there are italicized lyrics within the text of the fic. Should I sing them? Should I read them? Should I sing them if it won't be too horrible, but read them if I can't actually sing? Should I track down the song and splice that in?

How do others handle it? And which do listeners prefer?

Comments

[jesse_the_k]

Great response. My only addition is there's a way to read text in a "sing-songy" way, which is different than actual musical notes. More like poetry than prose: my goal would be to let the reader know "insert music here (if you happen to know it)".

But I'm eager to see what luzula has to say, since she's a gifted singer and has also written fan-ballads (really, like filk, but in due South and not Temeraire).

[paraka]

Yeah, I've definitely done the "sing-songy" way too in the past. Like if I didn't know what song the lyrics were from, or if it was from a made up song.