On Thursday, December 15, 2022 at 5:32:42 AM UTC-8, Gary McGath wrote:
> On 12/14/22 8:47 PM, Paul Rubin wrote:
> > Gary McGath <ga...@mcgath.com> writes:
> >> I've recorded a new song, based on the true story of the first cat in
> >> space, and uploaded it to SoundCloud.
> >
> > Cool, can you post the lyrics?
> Félicette
> Words and Music: Gary McGath, Copyright 2022
>
> Let me tell you the tale of a space pioneer,
> In whose memory I take off my hat.
> She rode into space and returned without fear,
> Not a woman or man, but a cat.
>
> Of the candidate cats, Félicette was the best,
> She stayed calm even under abuse.
> Held in place in a box, just like all of the rest,
> For an hour or more couldn't run loose.
>
> Bon voyage, Félicette.
> Sois sans peur, Félicette.
> Tu vis toujours dans nos coeurs.
>
> With electrodes implanted to measure her brain,
> In a centrifuge spun to five G,
> There was no way to tell her, no way to explain
> How she served France, her native country.
>
> In nineteen sixty-three she was launched into space,
> Hundred sixty K-M in the sky,
> And a parachute brought her to her landing place,
> Unlike Laika, not sent up to die.
>
> Bon voyage, Félicette.
> Sois sans peur, Félicette.
> Tu vis toujours dans nos coeurs.
>
> But not one gram of gratitude did her quest earn,
> And not very long after her trip,
> They killed and dissected her so they could learn
> The effects of her time in the ship.
>
> A small statue in Strasbourg now honors her worth
> To remember that time long gone by.
> Down at ISU there's a bronze globe of the Earth
> With a cat looking up at the sky.
>
> Ah, adieu, Félicette.
> Dors en paix, Félicette.
> Tu vis toujours dans nos coeurs.
>
> Coda (slowly, to the tune of "Alouette"):
>
> Félicette, gentille Félicette,
> Félicette, je t'honorerai.
> --
> Gary McGath http://www.mcgath.com
I am happy that someone has written a better song about Félicette than I did, but I am sad at how her story ends - who dissects a Hero of France?!