The Crew Commander Thinks Aloud

I heard this song about the explosion of the Space Shuttle Columbia for the first time on Song Exploder over the weekend. I highly recommend that you give the podcast a listen (only about 15 minutes of explanation as the last couple of minutes are the song itself.) It doesn’t fit into my usual fixation with structured poems, and I’m surprised at myself for liking a song whose refrain is, “Yay! Yay!” But I have to admit that I loved it; I hope you do too. Here are the lyrics, but you should really just watch the video above.


Boys and girls in cars
Dogs and birds on lawns
From here I can touch the sun
Yay! Yay!

Put your jackets on
I feel we’re being born
The Tropic of Capricorn is below
Yay! Yay!
Yay! Yay!

We stall above the pole
Still your face is young
As we feel our weight return
Yay! Yay!

A trail of shooting stars
The horse is called a storm
Because the air contains the Charge
Yay! Yay!
Yay! Yay!

The radio is on
And Houston knows the score
Can you feel it, we’re almost home
Yay! Yay!
Yay! Yay!

The crew compartment’s breaking up
The crew compartment’s breaking up
The crew compartment’s breaking up
The crew compartment’s breaking up
The crew compartment’s breaking up
(This is all I wanted to bring home)
The crew compartment’s breaking up
(This is all I wanted to bring home)
The crew compartment’s breaking up
(This is all I wanted to bring home)
The crew compartment’s breaking up
(This is all I wanted to bring home to you)