I wrote this for the OVFF songwriting contest this year. I have no idea what the actual results were, save that catsittingstill won. This is one of the hazards of being a filthy huckster -- you miss these announcements. :)

But I had fun with the song in any case. I hope you will too. The topic for this year was "It's Not Rocket Science" and I was amused to see that mrgoodwraith had taken a similar tack to the one that I used, although with a different non-rocket space technology.

Words and Music: Bill Roper
Copyright 2010

Cable Car to the Sky

(Chorus)
I’m gonna ride on a cable car to the sky.
I’m gonna cruise on up to orbit – I’m gonna find a way to fly.
I’m gonna look past the horizon with a newborn spacer’s eyes,
So clang the bell, we’re on our way, ‘cause this car knows how to rise.

It’s just a couple hundred miles from the ground up into space,
But I’m never gonna make that trip at a rocket’s frantic pace.
I want to travel leisurely, I want to take my time.
I want to hop aboard my cable car and watch her start to climb.

Now Jack went up the beanstalk and that’s how I’m gonna go.
But Jack got his the easy way – he just had to watch it grow.
Our beanstalk is a cable reaching up from Earth to space.
The cable cars that climb it are the ones that won the race.

(Bridge)
It’s a long, long way to geosync, but I’ve got the time to spare.
The destination’s just the thing, but the fun’s in getting there.
I’m looking out my window and you’ve gotta love the view
And the thing that makes me happiest is I’m going there with you.

A hundred thousand miles away, we’ll reach our cable’s end
And there we’ll board our ship to Mars with delta-V to spend,
‘Cause you don’t need rocket science to set out on our fling,
But when it comes to slowing down, a rocket’s just the thing.

(Chorus twice)

I’m gonna ride on a cable car to the sky.
To the sky. To the sky.
To the sky. To the sky.