Minus Ten and Counting 07 - Pioneer's Song [HQ]

Thanks to rocketman0739 for providing high-quality versions of these songs. Download the album here: https://archive.org/details/filk_minu... Find more of Julia Ecklar's excellent music at: https://www.prometheus-music.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lyrics: We sent them out to the planets To worlds beyond our own; Where frail men dared not venture They traveled on alone. Though they be no more than robots, To the stars they steer! And we wish them on their journey All the luck of the Pioneer. They set their course for Jupiter, The ruler of the worlds, To gain their speed from his mighty pull As from a slingshot hurled. They stole for us his image, His secrets guarded dear, But gave in turn a royal gift In the luck of the Pioneer. Then on and out to Saturn, The ringed queen of skies, And through the very rings themselves They carried our distant eyes. We feared then for their safety, But they could know no fear, And they left their name on the gap they found By the luck of the Pioneer. The sun grows dim behind them, A billion miles or more. The stars are e'er before them, A glittering distant shore. An age will pass before the day A strange sun draws them near, And till that day we'll raise a toast To the luck of the Pioneer! But should some other find them As the galaxy they roam, And study these strange craft of ours And seek to learn their home, Why, they carry our maps upon them, In friendship written clear, And we give to the race that reads them All the luck of the Pioneer. And when men someday follow To the places they have been, We'll take the paths they've marked for us And see the sights they've seen. To Jupiter and Saturn, To the stars themselves we'll steer! And we pray that God but grant us then The luck of the Pioneer. Aye, we pray that God but grant us then The luck of the Pioneer!