For space is wide and good friends are too few.
Crawl out of the mud, ongoing but slow
For the path that is easy ain’t the one that lets us grow
Climb the ladder rung by rung and never looking back
On this track we walk alone
Composed after Andy Eigel’s “Uplift”, and may be sung against it (as in this recording). Lyrics and chords available here. Words by Ben Newman, to the tune of…you’ll figure it out.
Yesterday I journeyed for half a million miles.
Now I’m stacked up on an aircraft’s back.
This last part takes a while.
“Phoenix,” by Julia Eckar (lyrics), is a heartwrenching song about a futuristic space ship with a soul. “By the Time I Get To…”, by Bob Kanefsky (lyrics), is one of those rare parodies that’s almost as poignant as the original song, this time about very realistic spaceflight, and picking up the pieces after re-entry.
(Series: Filksong Genealogy)
“Legacy of Legends,” by Mark Horning, written in memorial for Gene Cernan who passed away on Monday 16 January, 2017. The last man on the moon is with us no more.
Another year goes by,
Another hero fades away.
Another Living Legend,
From a brighter future day…
–When hope rose up on flaming wing
–And dreams were forged of steel
–And the men who strode the heavens
–Were very, very, real…
The news has been full of reports lately that 80% of North Americans can no longer see the Milky Way due to light pollution. Can. not. even. SEE. the. MILKY. WAY! So, while this is a couple years old, it’s still depressingly on topic:
She grew up in the city. It’s the only life she knows,
Surrounded by glass buildings, and the neon city’s glow.
And the only stars she’s ever seen were on the picture show…
Concert Set from BayCon 2016
Vocals and Guitar: Mark E. Horning.
Videography: Christine Tillman
Soundboard: Kristoph Klover
Roll On Sojoner © Mark Horning
Modern Myths © Mark Horning
Undiscovered Country © Mark Horning
Dreams of Dragons © Mark Horning
Last © Mark Horning
Bound…no More © Mark Horning
It Doesn’t Matter Anymore © Larry Warner
The theme for the 2016 BayCon was “It’s all about Space”
(since I’ll be updating even more sporadically than usual, how about a whole concert?)
“Hope Eyrie,” by Leslie Fish, performed by The Trubadors (Ayelet Dekel, Yannai Gonczarowski, and Roni Goren Ben-Zvi) at Yuri’s Night at Campus Tel-Aviv – a “World Space Party” celebrating human achievements in space.
…and I’m honestly so angry I didn’t know about this event earlier, so extra thanks to @nokama for submitting! It’s held every April 12 (ish) in various locations worldwide. Including Antarctica, apparently.
And who here has never dreamed of dragons?
Who here has never dreamed of stars?
Well we might be dreaming still, but there’s a fire oe’r the hill
And a red Dragon has set her sights on Mars
Something new, inspired by the SpaceX announcement that they were planning to send a Dragon Capsule to Mars, “Dreams of Dragons,” by Mark Horning
I have always thought that it must be a terrible burden to be Eugene Cernan. Who wants to be known as the LAST man on the moon?
Armstrong and Aldrin, heroes of yore,
Doing something never been done before.
But I would honor,
Cernan and Schmitt,
The very last people to journey that trip.
On the scale of the sky even species must die;
Mortality’s all that is sure.
Generations have gazed up the path that he blazed
Where his footprints beyond us endure.
“Neil Armstrong,” by Cat Faber – written they day after she found out Neil Armstrong had died.