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Lullaby for Philae

from An Album Of Unnecessary Detail by Helen Arney

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about

As heard in the APOUD episode "TRANSMISSION" it's a lullaby for the bravest space traveller that was ever anthropomorphised: Philae.

Listen to the whole episode by searching for "Unnecessary Detail" wherever you get your podcasts, or head to:
festivalofthespokennerd.com/podcast/episode-06-transmission/

Watch the song performed live in our comedy special "Just For Graphs":
youtu.be/UDdN3b7L7q0

lyrics

You left this Earth ten years ago
In search of distant comet
Then last November's headline news
Was that you landed on it

We knew that there was something wrong
When we saw your battery
But, thank Newton,
you weren't running any iTechnology

So now I sing a lullaby
And I dedicate to thee
The bravest little fridge-sized probe
In all the galaxy

Sleep well, little Philae
You've fulfilled your destiny
Four billion miles on the clock
To do a science – on a rock

Your jump down from Rosetta
It was so good you jumped again
And again!
Whee! Low gravity!
But when you came to land
It wasn't quite what ESA planned

So you deployed the best technology
From 2004
But that didn't stop you getting all
The data you went for

The newsrooms of the BBC
Resounded with the echo
Of presenters wrestling with these words
Chim-chim-chimeny Gary-lineker-menko

We watched with rising horror
As your batteries ran cold
Your solar panels, it turns out,
Don't work so well down a hole

Now the only true space cowboys are
Jamiroquai and you
Maybe Bruce Willis, too
Like a miracle, you woke up
When the sun came into view

So you used your last battery
To send a tweet
Which of us wouldn't!

So, sleep well, my little Philae
You've fulfilled your destiny
You rocked that rock
And that's how you roll!
On comet 67P

credits

from An Album Of Unnecessary Detail, released September 1, 2020
Song, vocals, instruments and music production by Helen Arney

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all rights reserved

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about

Helen Arney London, UK

"Geek Songstress" Helen Arney is the UK's finest purveyor of comedy songs with a scientifically verified twist.

"Champion of musical whims" Evening Standard
**** ”Harnesses the spirit of Ben Folds & the Divine Comedy’s Neil Hannon… delightful” (Chortle)

Also one third of Festival of the Spoken Nerd and author of "The Element In The Room"
... more

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