This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. Click here for the mp3 of of the post Columbia Version of Rhysling and Me
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons License.
Click here for the mp3 of of the post Columbia Version of Rhysling and Me
Am D Rhysling and me, we were brothers We sailed the spaceways and we rode the roads Hitchin lifts on those shuttle trips (on daydreams) Unpacked our guitars at L.E.O. C G Am Everytime I needed that ticket out Rhysling would always cage us a ride Am D Rhysling and me, we were lovers loved ever girl in jupiter's rings Playing in dives, from Ceres to L5 C G Am Fallin free and flying High Fallin free Am D Rhysling and me, we watched every launch we talked through the sunsets and slept through the holds Waiting for the flight of a great white bird :launch noises brrrrrrmmmmmmmph: C G Am And then we'd be, falling free Falling free and flying high 'cause we ever needed was that rocket ship (stop) and the stars to steer her by Am D (Jam) Rhysling and me Rhysling and me And all we ever needed was that rocket ship And the stars to steer her by All we ever needed was that rocket ship Falling free and Flying high ( - change of mood, speed up, switch to piano eventually, jam in A and D for a while, with longer periods between) (stay fast) Flew with McNair for the first sax in space and NASA blew the broadcast and then they lost the tapes And somewhere, over the atlantic, there flys a birds horn (silence - sample of "Go for 104 percent" ... "psssbt" distant sax) Falling Free Falling fallin fallin fallin free All we needed was that rocket ship All there ever was that fire in the sky ( - JAM ALL OUT HELL - ) So they formed a commission and they got a fine man in the last months of his life and that commission the truth couldn't see in the ice water and the o rings, it was all right there on TV But Rhysling and me, we were falling free (fallin, fallin) Falling free and flying high All we ever needed was that rocket ship (no vocal, more samples) I slept with siddhartha, he sang the river I served coffee in Callahan's bar Gathering tips, yea, on all those rocket ships but I never looked at the stars But Rhysling and me, we were falling free (fallin, fallin) Falling free and flying high All we ever needed was that rocket ship (no vocal, more samples) ( - JAM ALL OUT HELL - ) (Stop, return to slow) Delos and me, we were father and son He scouted the spaceways and he build the roads Just my mad old man, who sold the moon and when we got there he couldn't go Falling Free, and flying high And Rhysling and me we were falling free Ever since that fire in the sky
For the story about Ronald McNair's sax in space, click here. Most of the other references in this song are to stories and characters created by Robert Heinlein.
"Noisy" Rhysling was an rocket engineer, who after being blinded by a blast of radiation, hopped lifts on various ships around the solar system writing and singing sometimes scatological songs on his squeezebox. He died tragically but heroically, while stopping a reactor from overload, saving the ship. His last words he sung into the ship's tape recorder.
The TV scene at the Challenger commission hearings with Richard Feynman caused me to lose faith in politicians and middle management. I felt betrayed by engineers who didn't have enough backbone to stand up for physical law. Feynman's elegant demonstration is extracted here. I've been looking for a copy of this famous demonstration on videotape for years. Let me know if you have a copy. I also finally posted the Rhysling & Me shooting script I did for the 12 minute video to this song.