Cydonia (Mars or Bust!)

[bnewman]

A celebration of the true history of Mars exploration (so far).

lyrics by Benjamin Newman

ttto: "Sedona" by Gary Ehrlich

 

/ D - G D / - - G A / 1st / G A D - /

 

From the red rocks of Cydonia to the Valles Marinaris

From her dry- and water ice caps to her deserts red with rust

From the slopes of Mount Olympus to the Carl Sagan Station

It's the call of exploration -- Mars or bust!

 

/ D - G A / / Bm - G A / Bm - G - / A ... /

 

Perched atop an Atlas rocket, flashing up into the sky

A planet's worth of wonders waits, but this one's only flying by

Six years later, now in orbit, waiting for the dust to clear

And through the eyes of Mariner we gaze upon a new frontier

 

From the red rocks of Cydonia...

 

One landed in Utopia, the other fell in fields of gold

The first to touch a foreign planet, Viking brothers brave and bold

Two sensors rise to test the wind, two cameras take a look around

Two scoops reach down to search for signs of life beneath the dusty ground

 

From the red rocks of Cydonia...

 

Two decades later something falls to bounce to rest on sturdy shocks

A rover sojourns forth to find a path among the ruddy rocks

Meanwhile in the Martian sky, its orbit slowly closing in

Another eager eye surveys this globe where we have never been

 

From the red rocks of Cydonia...

 

Now opportunity comes knocking on a bed of weathered stone

Ripples proving water once flowed in this place now as dry as bone

A kindred spirit meanwhile turns to face the hills so far away

Where still more signs of water can be seen within the crumbling clay

 

From the red rocks of Cydonia...

 

And can you hear, across the void, another planet beckoning?

There's so much left for us to learn, what wonders will the future bring?

Our drive and curiosity reach out to grasp the distant stars

Perhaps our children's children will yet walk upon the face of Mars

 

From the red rocks of Cydonia...