Free Fall & Other Delights 02 - Rocket Rider's Prayer [HQ]

Sung by Cecilia Eng. Thanks to rocketman0739 for providing high-quality versions of these songs.
Download the album here: archive.org/de...
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Lyrics:
When the rocket stands before us like a tower of glass and steel
Then no words in any language can express the way we feel
Mingled joy and hope and terror as we're starting on our way
And we suddenly consider that it just might help to pray.
Chorus:
So we pray to great green Mother Earth and the grim old god of space,
And the gods of flame and metal whom we've summoned to this place.
Oh, you gods of flight and physics, now you have us in your care;
We hope that you will listen to a rocket rider's prayer.
So first let's pray to Vulcan, ugly god of forge and flame,
And also wise Minerva, now, we glorify your name,
May you aid our ship's designers now and find it in your hearts
To please help the lowest bidders who've constructed all the parts!
(Chorus)
As we're lifting off, it's Mercury who'll help us in our need
Not only as the patron god of health and flight and speed
We hope that he will guard us as we're starting on our trip
As the god of Thieves and Liars, like the ones who built this ship.
(Chorus)
If we make it into orbit where the sky is starry black
We'll have time to praise old Mother Earth and hope she wants us back
And tell all the other deities who've helped us on our way
That it's nice to visit Heaven, but we didn't want to stay.
(Chorus)
Now we're going down from orbit back to where the air is thick
With no engines and the glide path of a highly polished brick
And with nothing but those tiles between our hides and flaming Hell,
Better pray to Hell's own Pluto that they glued those suckers well.
(Chorus)
So now we're back on Earth again; the sky's a lovely blue.
All you deities we didn't name, you know we love you too.
We hope that you're not angry and you'll keep us in your grace;
We may need your help the next time that we're headed into space.
(Chorus)

[@Ultrawup]

I love this song, both for its surface meaning about astronauts risking their lives to reach for the stars, and for its modern take on like *all of the mythologies*

[@CassandraFortuna]

Gene Roddenberry was of the belief that contact with other life and expanding to the stars would remove the need for religion in civilization. Everything we know about history implies that, by stark contrast to that idea, interstellar colonization would be a perfect garden to tend to long-oppressed systems of belief with ample space from more overbearing and monopolistic usurpers, and a crux within which ever-newer and ever more esoteric religions, philosophies, and spiritualities could and would be forged.

[@Archangelm127]

I see this more as a corollary to the old saw that "there are no atheists in foxholes." ;)

[@benflebbe5642]

This song will age well.

[@theonlyknight3171]

May God(s) will it. Watch the Starship burn!

[@loadeddice4696]

"As the god of thieves of liars like the ones who built this ship"
Well, shit.

[@anarchyandempires5452]

2024 Starship Moon lander crew: I swear to God I seriously hope the quality control on this bucket is better than my cyber truck.....

[@testaccount4191]

@@anarchyandempires5452 but think of the profit !!!!!!

[@anarchyandempires5452]

@@testaccount4191 you know you joke about it..... But helium 3 would actually be a lot of profit.

[@testaccount4191]

@@anarchyandempires5452 yeah, just think of the extra profit you get by using cheap parts and skipping quality control inspections - Boeing board of directors

[@anarchyandempires5452]

@@testaccount4191 astronaut: hey Yona, is the decent lader supposed to have a Home Depot logo on it?

[@hughconnolly-gq5vv]

If you replace "Mother Earth" with "Space Kraken", it's the Kerbal national anthem.

[@williammagoffin9324]

"And with nothing but those tiles between our hides and flaming Hell,
Better pray to Hell's own Pluto that they glued those suckers well."
Well, that line didn't age well.

[@gabrielandradeferraz386]

why do you think so?

[@loadeddice4696]

I think you'll find Pluto - AKA Hades - predated the Dwarf Planet

[@williammagoffin9324]

@@loadeddice4696 Not what I was referring too. I was talking about the heat tiles not staying on the spacecraft; that is what happened to Columbia.

[@Dan_Neely]

@@williammagoffin9324 Columbia's tiles didn't fall off. Insulation from the tank plumbing fell off and smashed a hole through them. The crew were murdered by decades of NASA normalizing the deviance of their defective insulation design.

[@Crazael]

@@Dan_Neely I wouldn't go so far as to call it murder. That requires malicious intent. This was a lack of proper foresight and considerations other than safety taking priority.

[@monostripezebras]

It is important to preserve these songs for the future, when they will be needed!

[@danielmcgillis270]

"And help the lowest bidders who constructed all the parts."
Sounds about right.

[@ShadaOfAllThings]

"The gods of flame and metal who we've summoned to this place, oh you gods of flight and physics, you have us in your care"
I love that they're comparing the ship to a god, and praying to all the gods of manmade craftsmanship and wisdom that its a damn good god. Its such a fucking vibe.

[@bluefire7650]

I spent an hour to try and find this, worth it

[@silverseth7]

Excellent timing my friend! Thanks for the birthday present!

[@dudeno123456789]

Thank you for this!

[@Archangelm127]

*This* should be the anthem of the US Space Force. 🤣

[@artemefimov8215]

Artemis launch anyone?

[@xehaexox]

amazing

[@isaacshultz8128]

Pagan larp