"Guardians" by Leslie Fish
Many years ago, when I was still in upstate NY and hanging out with blackgryphon and others, one of them gave me a bootleg tape. I eventually discovered that it was a copy of the album Carmen Miranda's Ghost by Leslie Fish, a copy of Vince Emery's The Funniest Computer Songs (both of which are old enough that they were not even released on CD, and are long since out of print with absolutely no chance of being re-released), and a few random songs.
Sadly, when I copied it I only had an N-minute tape, so I had to leave some of the songs off. One of those I kept, however, I called "The Challenger Song" for the longest time. In the early '90s, I believe with mdlbear's help on alt.music.filk, I discovered it was by Leslie Fish. Much, much, later I narrowed it down to Carmen Miranda's Ghost with a strong guess that it might be the song "Guardians". I finally confirmed this in the recent past.
Now, on the 25th anniversary of the Challenger disaster, I find "Guardians" going through my head. Even without the haunting tune it's beautiful enough that I wanted to share the song with folks. The lyrics are largely from memory (I lost the tape years ago), so they may not be exact, and the Russian word is almost certainly not correct, but with those caveats, I present "Guardians" (aka The Challenger Song) by Leslie Fish from her album Carmen Miranda's Ghost.
He wasn't quite sure what went wrong,
Just that the engine blew
And flung him hard against the wall
And him the only crew.
He felt like he'd been broke in half
He passed out twice from pain
And when he heard the voices
He was sure he'd gone insane.
Just two of them at first it was
And then a dozen more.
He blinked to see two women kneel
Beside him on the floor.
He thought they might be angels
But they weren't like angels much;
No wings, no robes, just plain grey spacer
Coveralls and such.
"You're not dead yet, my friend
And it's not quite your time to go,"
The first one said "Now look,
Your rescue beacon's down below
Ed says that there's another ship,
Not far away at all.
You still have two good arms my friend
So grit your teeth and crawl."
They winked out then, the pain clamped down
He thought he'd move no more.
Another one appeared
And sat beside him on the floor.
"Come on, tomarich(1)," this one urged
"You'll make it, I don't doubt.
Show me some of these Yankee guts
I've heard so much about."
It seemed to take eternity
To crawl from here to there
The pain at least a hundred times
Was more than he could bear
But every time he'd start to quit,
Lie down, give up and die
Another would appear beside him
Urging him to try.
He reached the beacon in a daze
Of fever, mist and pain.
He hit the activator
And he saw them once again
"Remember friend," the woman said
"When death is closing fast,
It's then you try your hardest
For the darkness will not last."
He passed out then, the rescue came
They brought him safely home,
And he forgot it all
Until he got to Luna dome.
And passed beneath the hologram
That stands above the door
And recognized those faces there
He'd seen them all before.
Gus and Ed and Roger
Made him hold to hope and try.
The Russians, Ronald, Christa too,
They wouldn't let him die.
He knew whose words had saved him
And he knew that in the end
He'd go to join their company
And greet them as a friend.
(1) I'm guessing on this one. Any translation or suggestion of a similar word is welcome.
Sadly, when I copied it I only had an N-minute tape, so I had to leave some of the songs off. One of those I kept, however, I called "The Challenger Song" for the longest time. In the early '90s, I believe with mdlbear's help on alt.music.filk, I discovered it was by Leslie Fish. Much, much, later I narrowed it down to Carmen Miranda's Ghost with a strong guess that it might be the song "Guardians". I finally confirmed this in the recent past.
Now, on the 25th anniversary of the Challenger disaster, I find "Guardians" going through my head. Even without the haunting tune it's beautiful enough that I wanted to share the song with folks. The lyrics are largely from memory (I lost the tape years ago), so they may not be exact, and the Russian word is almost certainly not correct, but with those caveats, I present "Guardians" (aka The Challenger Song) by Leslie Fish from her album Carmen Miranda's Ghost.
He wasn't quite sure what went wrong,
Just that the engine blew
And flung him hard against the wall
And him the only crew.
He felt like he'd been broke in half
He passed out twice from pain
And when he heard the voices
He was sure he'd gone insane.
Just two of them at first it was
And then a dozen more.
He blinked to see two women kneel
Beside him on the floor.
He thought they might be angels
But they weren't like angels much;
No wings, no robes, just plain grey spacer
Coveralls and such.
"You're not dead yet, my friend
And it's not quite your time to go,"
The first one said "Now look,
Your rescue beacon's down below
Ed says that there's another ship,
Not far away at all.
You still have two good arms my friend
So grit your teeth and crawl."
They winked out then, the pain clamped down
He thought he'd move no more.
Another one appeared
And sat beside him on the floor.
"Come on, tomarich(1)," this one urged
"You'll make it, I don't doubt.
Show me some of these Yankee guts
I've heard so much about."
It seemed to take eternity
To crawl from here to there
The pain at least a hundred times
Was more than he could bear
But every time he'd start to quit,
Lie down, give up and die
Another would appear beside him
Urging him to try.
He reached the beacon in a daze
Of fever, mist and pain.
He hit the activator
And he saw them once again
"Remember friend," the woman said
"When death is closing fast,
It's then you try your hardest
For the darkness will not last."
He passed out then, the rescue came
They brought him safely home,
And he forgot it all
Until he got to Luna dome.
And passed beneath the hologram
That stands above the door
And recognized those faces there
He'd seen them all before.
Gus and Ed and Roger
Made him hold to hope and try.
The Russians, Ronald, Christa too,
They wouldn't let him die.
He knew whose words had saved him
And he knew that in the end
He'd go to join their company
And greet them as a friend.
(1) I'm guessing on this one. Any translation or suggestion of a similar word is welcome.