bn_songbook | The Galaxy Is Silent

The song of the last Usenet poster at the end of A Fire Upon the Deep.

lyrics and music by Benjamin Newman

/ Em CD C D / / / Em CD C Em D /

The galaxy is silent, no answer to my ping.

First cacophony and violence, now I can't hear a thing.

I can't get a connection - I can't get on the Net.

It began with the Infection, and it isn't over yet...

/ Em(a) C(b) EmD C -D / / Em ... /

For the galaxy is silent, as the network dies,

And there is no comment from the Net of many lies.

From the rampant speculation, to the bigotry and hate,

The worst of it was better than to sit in the dark and wait,

And I still have some affection for the voices in the mist

Who just never pay attention to the posts they might have missed...

Now the galaxy is silent, as the network dies,

And there is no comment from the Net of many lies.

This is no computer virus, though there's one of those as well.

Is the silence a solution to Perversion's evil spell?

Is there anybody out there, as the Net begins to Slow?

Soon all will be in silence, and the rest we'll never know...

Why the galaxy is silent, as the network dies,

And there is no comment from the Net of many lies.

Ben's Songs