chaoswolf

A Pegasus nomination... I'm not sure "gratitude" is a powerful enough word for how I feel about this. Also a bit of "shock." And oh yes, "imposter syndrome" - not avoidable, that. But mostly, I'm grateful and touched that someone liked my song enough to suggest it, and that some others liked it enough to say "yes" to it being on the ballot. THANK YOU. Love and light and future joys to you!

In "Helium Miner's Song" I try to express how someone who has made the decision to do this lonely and dangerous and beautiful and science-fictional and valuable job might feel if they had an unlucky break one day and were coming to terms with dying out there, far enough on the nearside to see Earth "forever" but never to walk there again. That they *chose* this and that despite how this event went, they would not un-choose it, for they had lived their dream and gone to work in space.

So to commemorate this, I think I'll post it again - this time with the chords I worked out to sing it along with Otto the Harp (yaz, my autoharp), a little more comfortably than in the original key of C (https://catamariner.dreamwidth.org/2417.html). Those of you who favor guitars, or those with higher voices, may still wish to transpose! I also have a version ready-printed in Eb if anyone needs that - just let me know!

Special thanks to Lawrence Dean and Cecilia Eng, who have never stopped believing in *this song*, and whose encouragement and help (and musical collaboration, Cecilia!) have meant worlds to me, coming back into filk.
Love you both, generous glorious musical beings!

Oh, yeah, if you want to vote (at least until October 2025), the ballot is here - each song title links to a page for the song, each name links to stuff about the author, each "Listen" links to a short mp3 clip in a new tab. https://www.ovff.org/pegasus/2025finalballot.html

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Helium Miner’s Song - Words and Music (c)2020 Heather L. Preston

The [F] Earth it orbits ‘round the Sun near [Dm] one degree per day
And [F] as it does, the Moon revolves and [Am] orbits on its way

[F] Fusion gave us energy both [Dm] plentiful and green
But the [F] safest uses* Helium-3, so [Am] rare yet burns so clean *(YOO-zez)
[Bb] We’ve reached for the [Am] moon again, the [Dm] gold rush has be[Bb]gun
[Dm] Processing the [Bb] regolith for [C] treasure from the [F] Sun

There’s [F] mostly automation to ex-[Dm]tract the Helium-3
Still the [F] tech requires maintenance, and [Am] that job falls to me
From the [Bb] farside highland [Am] station to the [Dm] peaks of constant [Bb] light
Where the [Dm] crater walls pro[Bb]-tect the precious [C] ice within their [F] night

Chorus

The [F] dark is two weeks long out here, and [Dm] likewise runs the day
And [F] as for the horizon, well, it’s [Am] never far away
The [Bb] Earth’s a dazzling [Am] sky-jewel in this [Dm] land of black and [Bb] gray
Re[Dm]-minding me of [Bb] what I’ve given [C] up to earn my [F] pay

The [F] Earth’s thin precious atmosphere pro[Dm]tects it just a bit
From [F] cosmic rays and asteroids, at [Am]least the smaller hits
But [Bb] on the moon, no [Am] atmosphere is [Dm] cushioning each [Bb] blow
A [Dm] tiny rock can [Bb] deal a shock that’s [C] death to those be[F]-low

Chorus

It [F] caught me through the backpack as I [Dm] fixed a solar cell
And [F] if that hadn’t slowed it, I’d have [Am] nothing more to tell
But [Bb] lying on my [Am] back now, frozen [Dm] blood has blocked the [Bb] hole
I [Dm] have a few more [Bb] moments yet, to [C] try and calm my [F] soul

And my [F] heart is filled with love although it’s [Dm] failing me at last
For the [F] sky-jewel of my homeworld, now for[Am]-ever in my past
And I [Bb]wouldn’t trade this [Am] beauty for a[Dm]-nother 20 [Bb] years
Hold [Dm] fast to dreams, I’ve [Bb] lived it, choosing [C] dreams above our [F] fears.

Chorus

(Yes, the last two lines of the first verse are the chorus… vary the notes sung in last two lines of each verse but stick with the chord structure and it works :-) Enjoy – HLP)