• New song: Felicette

    From Gary McGath@garym@mcgath.com to rec.music.filk on Mon Dec 12 09:17:14 2022
    From Newsgroup: rec.music.filk

    I've recorded a new song, based on the true story of the first cat in
    space, and uploaded it to SoundCloud.

    https://soundcloud.com/garym03062/felicette

    It's the first song I've written, except maybe for high school exercises
    I've forgotten, with a significant amount of French in the lyrics.
    --
    Gary McGath http://www.mcgath.com
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Paul Rubin@no.email@nospam.invalid to rec.music.filk on Wed Dec 14 17:47:38 2022
    From Newsgroup: rec.music.filk

    Gary McGath <garym@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?
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Gary McGath@garym@mcgath.com to rec.music.filk on Thu Dec 15 08:32:40 2022
    From Newsgroup: rec.music.filk

    On 12/14/22 8:47 PM, Paul Rubin wrote:
    Gary McGath <garym@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?

    F|-licette
    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, F|-licette 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, F|-licette.
    Sois sans peur, F|-licette.
    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, F|-licette.
    Sois sans peur, F|-licette.
    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, F|-licette.
    Dors en paix, F|-licette.
    Tu vis toujours dans nos coeurs.

    Coda (slowly, to the tune of "Alouette"):

    F|-licette, gentille F|-licette,
    F|-licette, je t'honorerai.
    --
    Gary McGath http://www.mcgath.com

    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From X-Lydia@xdashlydia@gmail.com to rec.music.filk on Sun Jan 15 19:47:08 2023
    From Newsgroup: rec.music.filk

    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?
    F|-licette
    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, F|-licette 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, F|-licette.
    Sois sans peur, F|-licette.
    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, F|-licette.
    Sois sans peur, F|-licette.
    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, F|-licette.
    Dors en paix, F|-licette.
    Tu vis toujours dans nos coeurs.

    Coda (slowly, to the tune of "Alouette"):

    F|-licette, gentille F|-licette,
    F|-licette, je t'honorerai.
    --
    Gary McGath http://www.mcgath.com
    I am happy that someone has written a better song about F|-licette than I did, but I am sad at how her story ends - who dissects a Hero of France?!
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2