julia ecklar
This song was written in 1984, and awarded "Best Filk Song" 1992 by Pegasus. "Filk"? This is an obscure genre of songs mainly based on acoustic instruments, with lyrics inspired by Sci-Fi and pondering about the universe. I've never had a thing about fiction, space and so on - my feet are planted solid to the ground. Julia Ecklar's feet are not, and she's become a prominent part of this community, writing both novels and songs within this subculture.
It is seemingly normal among "Filks" to paraphrase, and Bob Kanefsky has made it a profession, writing more than 100 parodies. In the case "The Eternal Flame" (don't mix up with the annoying Bangles' hit) he discusses *how* our Lord created the eternity. It has reached cult status among computer people, and made people like me to brood about where 1 and 0 came from. I am 01101011 01101000 01100001 01110111 01100001 01100111 01100001. Some tell me I'm just a 0, and some tells me I'm the one. I don't care. God did not create LISP. Lisp figured out God and printed it out.
I was born in Inverness on the second day of spring
but my soul yearned to sail the stars • my heart did long to sing
so when I made my sixteenth year I signed my life away
and flew out from this world to which with joy I come today
now somewhere in Eighth Sector there's a world called Hellendiv
where long ago the spacefolk did decide the gods did live
and aye : that world is heavenly but Heaven it not be
for my God made my heart and made the land most dear to me
for God lives on Terra
in her lands of evergreen
her silken skies over velvet vales
the most lovely I have seen
and when I watch a sunset
fade from red to royal blue
I know God lives on Terra
she's His own dream come true
I've seen the sun on Rakkis and I've felt her golden sands
on Wrigley's I once won a bet and I've held a queen's fair hand
and I've made love in the summer snows of a Rigel mountain cap
and seen the universe unfold on Pern from dragonback
yes I've seen this whole grand galaxy and I thank the Lord for that
I thank God for the chance to go and the chance to now come back
and I thank the Lord that I was born in the cradle of mankind
I love the God who made this world whose beauty outlives time
for God lives on Terra
in the hearts and souls of man
why search the stars for lost Eden's shores
when He made her right at hand?
the beauties of her blueness
always moves my heart to tears
for God so loved Terra
that He chose to live right here
yes : God lives on Terra
He lives and loves right here
I was taught assembler in my second year of school
it's kinda like construction work with a toothpick for a tool
so when I made my senior year I threw my code away
and learned the way to program that I still prefer today
now some folks on the internet put their faith in C++
they swear that it's so powerful it's what God used for us
and maybe it lets mortals dredge their objects from the C
but I think that explains why only God can make a tree
for God wrote in Lisp code
when he filled the leaves with green
the fractal flowers and recursive roots
the most lovely hack I've seen
and when I ponder snowflakes
never finding two the same
I know God likes a language
with its own four-letter name
now I've used a SUN under UNIX : so I've seen what C can hold
I've surfed for PERLs : found what FORTRAN's for and got that JAVA stuff down cold
though the chance that I'd write COBOL code is a SNOBOL's chance in Hell
and I BASICally hate hieroglyphs so I won't use APL.
now God must know all these languages and a few I haven't named
but the Lord made sure when each sparrow falls that it's flesh will be reclaimed
and the Lord could not count grains of sand with a 32-bit word
who knows where we would go to if Lisp weren't what he preferred?
and God wrote in Lisp code
every creature great and small
don't search the disk drive for man dot c
when the listing's on the wall
and when I watch the lightning burn
unbelievers to a crisp
I know God had six days to work
so he wrote it all in Lisp
yes God had a deadline
so he wrote it all in Lisp
For the following CHORD section, fullscreen/horizontal mobile is recommended.
Chords in brackets may be omitted.
C D G Em I was born in Inverness on the second day of spring C D G but my soul yearned to sail the stars my heart did long to sing C D G G/F# Em so when I made my sixteenth year I signed my life away C Am D G and flew out from this world to which with joy I come today C G for God lives on Terra C D G ...Em in her lands of evergreen C D G her silken skies over velvet vales C Am D the most lovely I have seen C D G and when I watch a sunset C D G ...B7 fade from red to royal blue C Am G ... Em I know ... God lives on Terra Am D G she's His own dream come true
