Could you or maybe your lovely followers help with a recommendation?
I’m looking for some filk music that follows the same cadence as “Back home in Derry” but with more of a sci-fi twist. So far I’ve found The Ballad of Apollo XIII but the lyrics are too specific for what I’m working on. Would appreciate the help, thanks!
Hey! I wasn’t familiar with “Back Home in Derry” but youtube proved helpful there, and it seems to be the same tune as “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” (which I should have guessed from your reference to “The Ballad of Apollo XIII”).
I can’t think of any less specific sci-fi-themed songs to that particular tune or meter, so I’m gonna throw this question open to our lovely followers. Sing out if you’ve got any suggestions!
EDIT:
I’ve been informed by one of the fine folks at the filkhaven discord server that one Wolf von Witting has written a song with exactly that theme! Lyrics to “Wish I Was Back Home On Terra” may be found in this collection here along with many others, and have been copied below the cut for those who don’t feel like digging through the rest.
Wish I Was Back Home on Terra
Trad.Music: ”I Wish Was Back Home in Derry.”
Written in Moscow, June 1998. revised 1998-Oct-11
(Wolf von Witting)
Back in 2004
We set out to explore
Our galaxy sector by sector
A freak asteroid bump
After hyperspace jump
Cut short our incoming vector
We crashed on a planet, a darn hostile place
We buried our comrades each morning
Carnivorous plants
Were surrounding our base
And they gobbled us up
Without warning
CHORUS:
Oh, I wish I was back home on Terra
Oh, I wish I was back home on Terra
When we gathered the crew
There was missing a few
And we terraformed our landing area
But the planet fought back
And it went to attack
With bugs and their mere size would scare ya
Mosquitos with wingspan of 4-6 feet
Like fireflies seem to be burnin’
But at least their sting doesn’t itch for a week
I don’t think we will be returning
CHORUS
Next day after lunch
Heard a loud roaring crunch
An active volcano and earthquake
Soon the hot lava stream
Caused us running and scream
Our gear lost or damaged in its wake
The handful survivors
Were scattered and scared
The dead we left decomposing
To bury them now, no one bothered or cared
This world was far too opposing
CHORUS
Now I’m left all alone
And I want to go home
Our mission has been a right failure
If I ever see Earth
I will know what it’s worth
I’ll sign off as Ex-Cosmic Sailor
A rescue is due in about 20 years
But I doubt that I’ll last to December
And no one will know or shed any tears
And no one will even remember
CHORUS