The ship is untried and you say she won't fly,
The chances are good she will not reach the sky,
But she has to be tested for space is the prize,
If you think none will take her just look in my eyes.
(chorus:)
So show me the gantry, give me the ship,
Give me the fuel and I'll go on that trip.
Now if I return you can say I was bold,
But my place is in space as the heavens unfold.
I know I may die, that I may not return,
But just strap me in and I'm ready to burn,
My life I will pledge if my life be the fare,
For I need the long dark and the stars past the air.
(chorus)
If I live I'll be glad but that's not why I go,
For my heart is afire with the rocket's red glow;
My body knows grief although I have not been
To my home in the sky with the worlds never seen.
(chorus)
And if I should die in a bright burning flare,
Just take what you find and throw it in the air.
Don't grieve for my d**h, don't ask why for ten years,
Just build one more ship and ask for volunteers.
So show us the gantry, give us the ship,
Give us the fuel and we'll go on that trip.
Now if we return you can say we were bold,
But our place is in space as the heavens unfold.