For space is wide and good friends are too few.
Prometheus they say brought god’s fire down to man
And we’ve caught it, tamed it, trained it since our history began
Now we’re going back to Heaven just to look Him in the eye
And there’s a thunder ‘cross the land and a fire in the sky.
“Fire in the Sky,” by Jordin Kare, performed by Kristoph Klover – for when you want to be REALLY PUMPED ABOUT SPACE but also kind of sad and afraid.
“30 years after Challenger, perhaps we ought to contemplate on why we seek new heights.”
“The Undiscovered Country,” by Mark Horning
Feels like I’ve held my breath for hours
And I turn on my eyes to find I’m very far away
I take account of all my wheels, my arm, and my tiny drill
After all my training, I will do nothing familiar today
“Impostor,” by The Doubleclicks
I usually put the chorus or something like that in that fancy indented bit, but…that seems spoilery with this.
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)
It’s rare to find a wholly optimistic space song these days, but it seems there’s hope in commercial spaceflight (a filk circle at OVFF last year got derailed for five minutes while a few people excitedly traded the latest developments in the field and nobody complained)
lyrics and chords available in the FilKONtario 24 songbook
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.
As promised (threatened?): my cover of “Benzene” by the Superconducting Supercolliders, from my filk concert at Balticon 2014. Lyrics by cleanwhiteroom, music by allyspock.
(I did mention “cleanwhiteroom.com” in a fuller introduction to the Supercos prior to the song, as per CWR’s request, but the video didn’t cut in until after that.)
“Apollo Lost,” lyrics by Apollo astronaut Alfred Worden, set and performed by Cynthia McQuillen. You might be able to make out the chords if you squint.
“Give My Children Wings,” by Kathy Mar
Lyrics here, chords available if you buy her recordings