Ugh … this one got the best of me. I had a strong idea, but it just got out of control. My first memory, as reliable as memories can be, is of watching the first moon landing on TV with my dad. Now that's fertile ground, right there - a song from the perspective of a father watching his son, watching the first moon landing. But the first kink was Duncan's requirement that the song be from the perspective of a stranger, so I had to create a character and a backstory, and it just proved too unwieldy. And then there was the temptation to include the story of Michael Collins, the pilot of the orbit ship. He was part of the mission, but never did get to set foot on the moon. I'm not the first to try to write about him in song. He still lives on the Outer Banks, apparently. This is one that I hope to revisit at some point and try to wrestle into shape ...
lyrics
when I was still a bachelor
who no-one counted on
it was nearly 1970 and I
couldn't wait for those 60's to be gone
I had taken a job with an upstart shop
selling valves and coupling parts
to the power plants from Cowens Ford
to Rocky Creek, seemed like a real good start
cold calls at them hydro stations
made me feel a cog
I could see right through myself back then
driving through that Wylie fog
and all my schemes and prayers
nothing but a trial balloon
and my dreaming of you seemed as crazy then
as standing in the shine of the moon
and on a Sunday afternoon
the bossman had us round
with a TV in the backyard
all them coolers on the ground
I don't know what he had in mind
some sales-call pep-talk thing
and I wanted to be anywhere but here
I was thinking about wedding rings
and some snot-nosed kid ran round that yard
with the future in his hands
and I want to shake him up and say
there ain't no promised land
but what do I know?
and all my schemes and prayers
nothing but a trial balloon
and my dreaming of you seemed as crazy then
as standing in the shine of the moon
and through the grain and fuzzy lines
there wasn't much to see
and it was one small step, an unreal flag
and that kid was looking right through me
and the TV man was talking about
the man in orbit, waiting
said his name was Michael Collins
up alone, silent, no complaining
that poor man, he got so close
he could almost reach his hand
they sent him to the outer gates
but they wouldn't let him in the promised land
and all my schemes and prayers
nothing but a trial balloon
and my dreaming of you seemed as crazy then
as standing in the shine of the moon
now these years have passed me by
and it don't mean so much no more
I started out a cog
I ain't so different than before
I think about that kid
and wonder what he took to heart
the dream fulfilled, or acknowledged
pain of another's precious part
did he keep an eye on Buzz and Neil
did he ever find his way
did he wait in orbit, patiently
someone else's role to play
and all my schemes and prayers
nothing but a trial balloon
and my dreaming of you seemed as crazy then
as standing in the shine of the moon
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