science fiction

The Boy in the Ice – axonsandsynapses

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axonsandsynapses:

I have long maintained that Paul Simon’s The Boy in the Bubble is a great song for Steve Rogers (MCU version) in the months following waking up in the 21st century. It’s not much of a leap at all to rewrite it to be explicitly about Cap. So, yeah, this adaptation kind of just happened…

The Boy in the Ice
(to be sung to Paul Simon’s “Boy in the Bubble”)

It was a slow day
And the sun was beating
On a city both familiar and new
There was a bright light
A shattering of car windows
The rumble of the spaceships
The screams and shock as shrapnel flew

These are the days of miracle and wonder
The other side of the fall
The way the cameras follow you in slow-mo
The way they look at us all
The way we look to the distant constellations
That’re shining through a hole torn in the sky
These are the days of miracle and wonder
And don’t cry, Soldier, don’t cry
Don’t cry

It was a cold wind
And it swept across the river
As the carriers rose from the earth
And a dead friend
Fallen from a high train
Now a killer not remembering
Who he was and what he’s worth

These are the days of miracle and wonder
The other side of the fall
The way the cameras follow you in slow-mo
The way they look at us all
The way we look to the distant constellations
That’re shining through a hole torn in the sky
These are the days of miracle and wonder
And don’t cry, Hero, don’t cry
Don’t cry

It’s an unexpected gut punch
It’s possibly a new start
It’s every generation that throws their heroes to the sharks
Medicine is magic and magic dang’rous art
Thinking of a mighty metal arm
And the man with a reactor in his heart

And I believe
These are the days of laser-sighted rifles
And sights on the people everywhere
Staccato signals of constant information
A loose affiliation of corporations
And furtive nations, and Soldier-

These are the days of miracle and wonder
The other side of the fall
The way the cameras follow you in slow-mo
The way they look at us all, oh yeah
The way we look to the distant constellations
That’re shining through a hole torn in the sky
These are the days of miracle and wonder
And don’t cry, Captain, don’t cry
Don’t cry, don’t cry

The Seas of Space – Mark Heiman

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Suzette Haden Elgin’s “The Seas of Space,” to the tune of “The Water Is Wide,” a just about perfect example of folk music for the future.

Sung by Mark Heiman; lyrics available here

(The recording is kinda quiet; sorry about that)

Song of Terra – Mark Heiman

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“Sing me a song,” said the child in the garden.
“Grandmother, sing! I’ll sit here by your side.
Sing me a song of the world they call Terra,
The world that you came from when you were a bride.”
“Child I have journeyed all over the starfields
Out to the rim of the worlds that we know–
Child, I can’t sing you a song about Terra!
For Terra was too many planets ago!
“Sing me a song,” said the child in the garden
“Grandmother, sing to me!  Tell me no lies.
Sing me a song of the world they call Terra;
I know you remember, by the tears in your eyes.”
“Child I have journied all over the starfields;
Child, I have left all my memories behind.
Child, I can’t sing you a song about Terra,
For I have put Terra clear out of my mind.”
“Grandmother, sing!” said the child in the garden.
“I have learned all about stubborn from you.
Sing me a song of the world they call Terra,
Where the grasses grow green and the oceans are blue.”
“Child how you weary me, asking of Terra!
You are no babe!  You should understand why…
We who left Terra for ever and ever
Were those who could tell her forever goodbye.”

A haunting space song by Suzette Haden Elgin, who passed away this year.
Sung by Mark Heiman at Carleton College’s (well, Carleton’s nerd club’s) annual Filk Night in 2014.  It’s a hard song to find recordings of, so I’m grateful he’s letting me post this.

Impossible Dream (space version) – Marc Grossman

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A space version of “The Impossible Dream” from The Man of La Mancha at OVFF 30
Thanks to sci-fantasy for identifying the singer (and lyricist) as Marc Grossman (with improvised accordion accompaniment was improvised by Gary Hanak)

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

Message of Yucca Mountain – crystalandrock

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crystalandrock:

Several weeks ago dog-of-ulthar reblogged this post about the warning message of the nuclear waste facilities at Yucca Mountain. He also tagged it with ‘I need this filked STAT’.

…well, it took me a few weeks to get around to it, but today I wrote some filk! The tune is Cold Iron, because it felt right and also because Kipling. The lyrics are written by me and obviously quoting heavily from the warning message itself. It is also sung by me and recorded on my cellphone, so I apologize for the low quality that comes from both of those things.

LYRICS:

Honor is for the hero – tributes for the bold –
But this is not an altar to bear our sacred gold.
This place is a message, hear it if you will:
The danger is below us, and the danger can kill.

We considered ourselves mighty, and we thought ourselves right.
We made what repulsed us, and we hid it out of sight.
This message is a warning about danger that is here:
The danger is below us, and the danger can kill.

The danger has a center we buried deep below,
The danger just increases as towards the core you go.
The danger was in our time and it is present still.
The danger is below us, and the danger can kill.

The form is insubstantial – a release of energy.
The danger is unleashed if you disturb this place physically.
This place is best left shunned, let no one live upon this hill:
The danger is below us, and the danger can kill.
The danger still below us is a danger that can kill.