Anne Harlan Prather - Ballad to a Spaceman lyrics

Born in the belly of a rocket ship, as from Terra it did fly His first cries drowned by the engines' roar, in no cradle did he lie He'd hit Santara by the time he was four, Gal-Haydn when he was nine Born as a spaceman in a spaceman's bed, and as a spaceman he would die He learned every course that a ship could take, found a few more on the side He learned new tricks every stop they'd make; with the engines he did ride A spacer's pride was his swagger-stick, and his pride knew that it could survive He lived as a spaceman from the day he was born, and as a spaceman he would die They headed for Diversa in his trading years, when he'd just turned thirty-four The captain planned on a mighty pay, after running a load of ore The engine room gave him all they had, but the captain ordered more They pumped 'em up to their hottest gain just to hear the rockets roar Five hundred miles above the planet's ground, the engines died away The captain called, "We need power now or we'll all die today!" The spaceman said, "All the boys are dead and I'm not far behind. We've pulled much more than she's meant to take, and the baffles have blown wide." The captain said, "Well, do something man," and the spaceman smiled wide "Except hold the plates down with my bare hands, we can't do nothing but enjoy the ride." But the ground flew up with destructive speed, and the spaceman knew his mind He couldn't sit in the engine room and wait for his friends to die So he turned and he put his hand inside, where the engines used to glow He found the plates and he held them fast, 'cause to quit's no way to go And the rocket shook with a mighty roar, and the engines they did cry, And the spaceman smiled in the engine's glow, for as a spaceman he would die They found the boys in the engine room; by their stations they did lie The spaceman with his hands on a baffle plate was still sitting where he'd died They took them out, gave them to the stars; not a single spaceman cried For spacemen in the stars do live, and in the stars they long to die The spaceman's life for his men did give, and the stars would let him lie He lived as a spaceman from the day he was born, and as a spaceman he did die