SONG: “Hi There! (We’re Robots From Earth)”

SONG:

ARTIST: grant.

SOURCE: Based on “Mars rover Curiosity zaps ‘Coronation’ rock with rapid-fire laser (+video)”, Christian Science Monitor, 20 August 2012, as used in the post “Our ROBOT is SHOOTING LASERS at MARS.” and @MarsCuriosity, Twitter, 6 Aug 12, as used in the post “Curiosity is on Mars.”

ABSTRACT: This was written in response to a suggestion made on the SongFu2012 forums by Blue from Hello, The Future!:Write a song about Curiosity the Mars Rover. Because SCIENCE. Any style you choose.

Because SCIENCE.

(Of course, my favorite one of these here Guild songs is about another, lonelier robot on Mars. Because, yes, SCIENCE.)

So, you know, here we are. Writing songs about robots landing on Mars. And what are they there for? Ultimately, so we can build gated communities. I couldn’t resist riffing off T. Bone Burnett’s “Humans from Earth” (a chilling lyric), and somehow it came out sounding like Wall of Voodoo. That’s me, mired in the 1980s. And the 2080s, I guess.

Lyrics:

V1:
I thought I was alone here
Where the dust rises into the sky
There are no other clouds here
No other sounds as I ride
Sand runs through my fingers
When something small catches my eye.

CH:
Hi there!
I’m a robot from Earth
Hi there!
With instruments for hands
Hi there!
I’m a robot from Earth
Hi there!
We want to understand.
I only want to understand you.

V2:
It took a long time to get here
But you might just have made it worthwhile
Now we know things can live here
You can burrow, but you know you can’t hide
We’ll start with farms & streets & iron mines
Then suburbs that sprawl on for miles

CH:
Hi there!
We’re robots from Earth
Hi there!
With instruments for hands
Hi there!
We’re robots from Earth
Hi there!
We want to understand.
We only want to understand you.

BR:
July 1976: Viking 1 – the first Martian postcard
July 1997: Sojurner – cheaper, faster, better!
January 2004: Spirit and Opportunity – seven years of rocks and ice
May 2008: Phoenix – digs wells in Green Valley
August 2012: Curiosity – blazes a trail for humanity

2022: Mariner 9, half a century dead, finally falls out of orbit, streaking across the Martian sky.

CH:
Hi there!
We’re robots from Earth
Hi there!
With instruments for hands
Hi there!
We’re robots from Earth
Hi there!
We want to understand.
We only want to understand you.

We need to expand.
We really need to expand here.