Please choose a song from the list below to be taken to the lyrics
NOSTALGIA HOUR AT THE LUNA LOUNGE ON SPACEPORT 21
A DREAM TO LAST
WHAT IF
SAILSHIP
FIRST MISSION TO MARS
HOME FIRES
LAPIS LAZULI
THE WANDERER
THE UNLUCKY SOLDIER
COME TO THE STARS
THE SPACE-PEON’S PRAYER
THE GONE GREEN HILLS OF EARTH
A DREAM TO LAST Words: Marjorie McKenna
Music: Sjef Frenken
© Canada, 1994
Velvet darkness fills the sight,
The sable hue of endless night,
A curtain drawn against the light,
The emptiness we face.
But see the sparks of living flame,
A million worlds without a name
And know that no two are the same,
The mystery of Space.
I thought that all my dreams were done
But now I find, I still have one.
A dream to last through Time and Space,
A dream for all the human race.
We thought that all our dreams were done
But now we find, we still have one.
A dream to last through Time and Space,
A dream for all the human race.
Worlds and worlds without an end
And can we meet them as a friend.
{Can we} our own divisions mend,
When we meet face to face?
Our battles must be past and gone,
To other worlds we must be one.
For, after all is said and done,
There are no walls in Space.
I thought that all my dreams were done
But now I find, I still have one.
A dream to last through Time and Space,
A dream for all the human race.
We thought that all our dreams were done
But now we find, we still have one.
A dream to last through Time and Space,
A dream for all the human race.
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WHAT IF Words: Marjorie McKenna
Music: Sjef Frenken
© Canada, 2026
What if there had never been
The amazing starship Enterprise?
What if no one had ever dreamed
Of speeding boldly through starry skies?
What if Man had never tried
To elevate himself up high?
What if everybody lived and died
And never wondered why?
Live a dream, live a quest
Live the untried story
Reach for planets, reach for stars,
Reach for lasting glory
Why keep treading the same old paths
Seldom taking a different tack?
And keep shunning the new, the strange
Always insisting on looking back?
What, instead, if we looked ahead
To some adventure, me and you
To search and find and then explore
A future bright and new
Live a dream, live a quest
Live the untried story
Reach for planets, reach for stars,
Reach for lasting glory
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SAILSHIP Words: Marjorie McKenna
Music: Sjef Frenken
© Canada, 1994
Spread the sails to catch the Solar Wind
Planing outward from its fiery birth.
Gone the roar that built the rushing speed,
Driving, lifting her away from Earth.
Now she flies in peace that soothes the weary mind,
Soft winds blowing from the Sun, behind.
Graceful ship that sails the lonely night,
Drifting, floating through the deeps of Space.
Fragile web to hold such mighty force,
Misty, golden tracery of lace.
On she sails, this glimpse of majesty unfurled,
Swanlike child of an ugly-duckling world.
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FIRST MISSION TO MARS Words & Music: Sjef Frenken
© Canada, 2015
When Mars came calling, I answered the call
There were lots of us fellas, some big, some small
They trained us hard, often brought us to tears
Days became weeks, weeks became years.
At last there were six of us, all of us friends,
Made it through hardships, down to the end.
Then came the waiting for the right time to leave
To take flight from Earth, our goal to achieve.
At last it was blast-off and way up we soared
To the module’s rough shake and the rocket’s great roar.
And the sky got more blue, the sun still more bright
And then there was silence, as we slipped into night.
What are we doing, why are we here?
Out in vast space, not with those we hold dear?
Can it be merely, to show all the rest,
That we are the bravest; we are the best?
The six of us waited as we floated through space
For more than three months -- 98 days
Earth and Mars distant, two balls in the sky
One dappled blue, and one red to the eye.
We went into orbit, and circled a while
Prepared for a landing, no time for a trial.
Began to slow down once the module turned round,
And then we landed; we were down on the ground.
What are we doing, why are we here?
Out in vast space, not with those we hold dear?
Is it for money, is it for fame?
Is it for simply for glory that we came?
God knows what awaits us, who knows we’ll survive
Who knows we’ll get back to our loved ones alive.
But Mars is our goal and we’re here to explore
We’re only the first ones; we know there will be more.
We step from the module, to a rust-coloured dune
And leave our odd bootprints, like Neil’s on the moon.
Except for our talking, there isn’t a sound,
No wind and no rain, only desert all round.
Why did we leave our green planet behind?
Is it all worth it, whatever we find?
Is it for money, is it for fame?
Is it for glory of the patriot game?
We’re on the red planet, where Man never trod
We’re putting our lives and our frail trust in God.
But the biggest question for us still remain:
Will we ever see Earth and our loved ones again?
Why did we leave our green planet behind?
Is it all worth it, whatever we find?
Is it for money, is it for fame?
Is it so someone will remember our name?
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HOME FIRES Words: Marjorie McKenna
Music: Sjef Frenken
© Canada, 1994
In my dreams I see the starlight,
I hear it call my name.
But I know I dare not answer,
I hang my head in shame.
For the courage of the wanderer is what it takes to roam.
Though I dream about their journeys, I'll always stay at home.
Though the stars will always draw me,
I know they're not my fate.
I will watch the chosen going
While I must stay and wait.
For the brave must journey outward, must seek and they must find,
And the reasons for their going are those who stay behind.
There's a glory in the starlight
That can set the heart aglow,
And in spite of all the dangers,
There'll be those who long to go.
But the knowledge they go seeking, they will bring back home to Earth.
That's why we must be care takers of the planet of their birth.
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LAPIS LAZULI Words & Music: Sjef Frenken
© Canada, 1981
I used to describe your wondrous eyes
As "bright" and "glowing blue"
But those words were bare and didn't say
How I really felt about you
And then one day after leaving you
I passed a jewelry store
And there, on a tag beside a stone,
Was the name I'd been looking for.
Lapis Lazuli, like the ocean seen from space
Lapis Lazuli, all gone without a trace
Lapis Lazuli, is the colour I recall
Of your lovely eyes when you looked at me
But didn't see me at all
Sometimes on Earth on a winter's day
Just as the first star shines
Or in the heart of springtime
When, bright, the sun hangs high
The blue of the sky presses down on me
And I lose my place and time
And I feel a long gone season
That hasn't yet passed by
Lapis Lazuli, like the ocean seen from space
Lapis Lazuli, all gone without a trace
Lapis Lazuli, is the colour I recall
Of your lovely eyes when you looked at me
But didn't see me at all
I get around - from port to port
They're all alike it seems
Late at night I walk the halls
Where a spaceport lives its dreams
I love the sight of the laser shows
Their colours and their hues
But most of all I love to see
Those bright and glowing blues
Lapis Lazuli, like the ocean seen from space
Lapis Lazuli, all gone without a trace
Lapis Lazuli, is the colour I recall
Of your lovely eyes when you looked at me
But didn't see me at all
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THE WANDERER Words: Marjorie McKenna
Music: Sjef Frenken
© Canada, 1994
The starways I wander with never a home,
My path is out yonder, my fate is to roam.
No planet can hold me, no lover can bind,
No soft arms enfold me, I leave them behind.
The stars have a siren song I feel down deep in my soul.
It haunts all my dreams and fills my heart, I'll never be whole.
The promise that calls to me will call for all of my (life)/(days).
To travel the stars means more to me than (mistress or wife)/ (money or praise).
My way can be lonely, the nights can be cold,
And starlight gives only a story untold.
But still in the far night the promise will bind,
Until in the starlight my future I'll find.
The dream can become your only goal, it sets you apart.
But once in the dream it matters not how lonely the heart.
To follow a dream can take your soul as all dreamers know,
Yet follow I must, towards that goal forever I'll go.
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THE UNLUCKY SOLDIER Words: Marjorie McKenna
Music: Sjef Frenken
© Canada, 2004
Didn't start out a deserter, I was spit'n'polish brass.
But the Major had a daughter I was just too dumb to pass!
Well, we flirted, and we messed around, and we had ourselves some fun,
Till the night she mentioned marriage -- and her Daddy -- and his gun!
Never checked her P.I.D. chip, otherwise I would have known
That she wasn't in the law's eyes yet, but otherwise full-grown.
And there was the minor matter, let me say it very plain,
Since I'd stained his only daughter, Pa was sure to raise some Cain.
Space has lots of room for comets, novas, galaxies and suns
But not all that many planets where a fleeing man can run.
There are starship routes aplenty, take a traveller far and wide,
But there aren't many places where a wanted man can hide.
Jumped a shuttle out of Marsport, heading out to anywhere,
Reached the ast'roids, learned to prospect, felt a man was free out there. Staked a claim and tried to dig me up a fortune, lose my past.
For the Fleet was on the look-out, maybe catching up too fast.
Every ast'roid, big or small one, is an unforgiving place
For a little speck of matter flying at galactic pace
Can blow a hole right through your space suit, and your breath to outer space,
And a loose knot on your tether gets you lost without a trace
Ast'roid mining isn't healthy: suicide, is what they say,
But a man could still get wealthy, if he works hard every day.
Dynalite and pick and shovel, old time tools for credit pay.
That's the life of ast'roid miners: tough at work and hard at play.
Ast'roid miner's always thirsty, so a bar trip was a must.
Robot barkeeps can't abide us, they complain about the dust.
Then some troopers got unfriendly, and the fight got pretty good,
Till their Major came to get them and his eyes demanded blood.
Tried to hide, but it was useless as he hollered out my name,
Glasses shattered, miners scattered, and the troopers did the same.
First he socked me, then he docked me all the money that I'd made.
Now I'm sitting in a jail cell and been stripped another grade!
Working long hours in a space suit is no picnic way out there
But if that's your only option, just be glad that's what you wear.
Yes, this life here in this prison, I would trade it now, I swear,
For the life with pick and shovel on an ast'roid' anywhere.
Yes, this life here in this prison, I would trade it now, I swear,
For the life with pick and shovel on an ast'roid' anywhere.
anywhere....anywhere....anywhere.
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COME TO THE STARS Words: Marjorie McKenna
Music: Sjef Frenken
© Canada, 1994
Come to the Stars, where the spirit of man can fly free.
Come with your hopes and your dreams, it's where you long to be.
Come to a time when War is a thing of the past,
And our dreams of tomorrow, we know, will come true at last.
Come to the Stars, to a time when a silver ship flies,
To worlds full of wonders with strange suns and moons in their skies;
Where people will live with friendship and peace in their mind,
And the anger and fear of the past have been left behind.
Come to the Stars, share the dream of the life we can live
Filled with the promise of hope and the best we can give.
This is our trust, to leave to the children unborn,
A tomorrow, a world, and the chance to see a new dawn.
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THE SPACE-PEON’S PRAYER Words & Music: Sjef Frenken
© Canada, 2015
I’m only a hard-working peon, I ramble from star to star
Wherever it is they send me, whether it’s near or far
I’m equal at home in strange places, be it planet or asteroid
I don’t shake in my boots at blast-off, and I feel quite at home in the void
(So)
Don’t let me die on the crapper;
Don’t let me die in bed
Don’t let it be a slow demise
Let it be quick instead.
Let me have lots of money
I promise I won’t save a cent
I’ll spend it all over the cosmos
And never regret where it went
I’m only a hard-working peon, I ramble from star to star
Wherever it is they send me, whether it’s near or far
I’ve worked in the Pits of Durian, and the Catacombs of Tr’oon
And the devil mines and factories, on the far, dark side of the Moon
(So)
Give me some loyal companions
I can rely on through thick and thin
Who can fight their way out of trouble
And can handle a bottle of gin.
Let me meet good-looking women
Of every race, colour and kind
Better them than be lonely
And ever so slowly go blind.
I’m only a hard-working peon, I ramble from star to star
Wherever it is they send me, whether it’s near or far
I once lost a leg and some good friends in a crash on Hekate
Once froze half to death and got badly burned, on a journey to Kepler C.
(So)
Don’t let me die on the crapper;
Don’t let me die in bed
Don’t let it be a slow demise
Let it be quick instead.
Mix my ash with some rotgut whiskey
Dump it way out in outer space
Drink a jolly toast to my memory
And break open another case.
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THE GONE GREEN HILLS OF EARTH Words & Music: Sjef Frenken
© Canada, 2015
The cool, green hills are gone now,
The aftermath of mankind’s boundless greed
Always wanting more,
Ever more and more;
More than what they really need.
The images still haunt me;
The memory still stirs
Of the dappled leaves of woodlands –
The peaceful grass of meadows
Of the once green hills of Earth.
I’ve set foot on Hera’s Beaches
And Abundantia’s captivating Moon
I’ve seen the Plains of Kree,
The fires on Kepler C,
The splendid Tombs of Kamaroon.
I’ve spent some time on Mithras
In the Woods of Ganymede
Seen Theia’s famed Abyss,
The Arch on Artemis,
And Raktoo’s singing sea.
I’ve visited so many places
With others and alone
But of all the things I’ve seen
The places I have been
One only, felt like home
The turquoise lakes of Thesis;
The Lavender Lagoons of Wendo-Firth
Yet none I miss as much
If I could [only] once more touch
The lovely emerald hills of Earth.
If I could see them one more time --
A lovely daydream’s worth
The dappled leaves of woodlands –
The peaceful grass of meadows
Of the gone green hills of Earth.
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