solo live performance in November 2011 of a song written for the Columbia Space Shuttle, February 2003
Story behind the song
Despite the tragic loss of the heroic crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia, the *last thing* they would want is for us to curtail our space program - we NEED a high frontier!
Lyrics
High Frontier
by Lynn Maudlin, copyright 2003 Moonbird Music Co.
Build me a silvery bird
I’ll fly her straight through the blue
Riding a column of fire,
I’ll be the hands and eyes and ears for all of you
Give me a far horizon
I’ll fly the curve of the earth
And I will measure the starfields
and calculate their height and depth and length and girth
(chorus)
I need a high frontier
I need the room to soar
I long to walk in space, in time
Because God built me to explore
Don’t talk to me about danger,
of flaming wreckage from the sky
I have considered the risks, counted the costs,
and I have made peace; I’m not afraid to die
(chorus)
One morning high above Texas,
While moving faster than sound,
Lightning and fire consumed us and,
Burning still, we fell to ground
So this I ask as a tribute:
Let other dreamers fly
Build them better and strong--
Let them know it’s not in vain that we died
We need a high frontier
We need the room to soar
We long to walk in space, in time
Because God built us to explore
- for Columbia – 1 February 2003