I feel very sad that I missed the time men first went to the moon, and instead have to do with these songs. Hopefully more accomplishments like it will be made while I live, for my future children and grandchildren to hear songs about.
Lyrics - Hope Eyrie: Worlds grow old and suns grow cold And death we never can doubt. Time's cold wind, wailing down the past, Reminds us that all flesh is grass And history's lamps blow out. But the Eagle has landed; tell your children when. Time won't drive us down to dust again. Cycles turn while the far stars burn, And people and planets age. Life's crown passes to younger lands, Time sweeps dust of hope from his hands And turns another page. But the Eagle has landed; tell your children when. Time won't drive us down to dust again. But we who feel the weight of the wheel When winter falls over our world Can hope for tomorrow and raise our eyes To a silver moon in the open skies and a single flag unfurled. But the Eagle has landed; tell your children when. Time won't drive us down to dust again. We know well what Life can tell: If you would not perish, then grow. And today our fragile flesh and steel Have laid their hands on a vaster wheel With all of the stars to know That the Eagle has landed; tell your children when. Time won't drive us down to dust again. From all who tried out of history's tide, Salute for the team that won. And the old Earth smiles at her children's reach, The wave that carried us up the beach To reach for the shining sun. For the Eagle has landed; tell your children when. Time won't drive us down to dust again. - Transcribed by Mennolt van Alten
This is not my favorite rendition, of course; I prefer Leslie's own, or maybe one by Julia Ecklar. But... it's our anthem, for those of us for whom July 20, 1969 is a holy day.
I've always seen this song as one of desperate hope amid existential terror. In the 60s and 70s it was the cold war and nuclear holocaust. Fifty years later, it is the slower but all the more certain (if nothing is done) doom of climate catastrophe. While this rendition has its own merits, it just doesn't seem to capture that element like Julie Ecklar's (and don't recall being able to track down a copy of Leslie Fish's own the last time I looked)
