Wouldn't it be a shame?

The shadows creep faster and further, my son,
When you let this world find you afraid.
And the absence of light plays tricks on your mind
And makes devils from spots in the shade.

But no devils lay waiting, no gods in your sky,
It's just you and the road beneath your heels.
And the pale morning light, it will warm the hillside,
And there's beauty in what is revealed.

And wouldn't it be a shame
If we lived our lives dull and afraid--
We squandered and pissed them away.

Wouldn't it be a shame
If we missed out on what's to be learned,
And we shut off our minds in His name.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiLsoiq4J50

Destroy the dying sun -- Virgil Grissom, Ed White, Roger Chaffee

53 years ago, these people died for the advancement of all of humanity:



A decade-and-a-half(ish) ago, a band wrote a song about them.  The band is Baboon.  The song is '12 seconds'.  It is respectful, and fucking rocks your knickers off

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_chTZ1uRLI

Mission on, the tension it drowns us.
Our breath is short, the capsule surrounds us.
Countdown on, we stretch for the stars
And see the dark, or light, whichever awaits us.

Open up! 0012 Seconds and Counting.
Open up! As the fire surrounds me.
Open up! Well, freedom has found me...
Mission on, the spark and the wire
Sucks the life from the heart of the fire.
No air to breathe, no scene to see,
But there's light, and there's power,
And the power surrounds me...

Open up! 0012 Seconds and Counting.
Open up! As the fire surrounds me.
Open up! Well, freedom has found me...

God! Help! This is White! This is White!
Open 'er up, open 'er up!  Fire! Fire!
God! Help! This is White! Open 'er up, open 'er up,
Fire! Fire! Fi-re!

Destroy the dying sun...

Mission on, and the force of the fire
Grows the light of future desires.
Countdown on, we stretch for the stars
To see the dark, or light,
Whichever awaits us.

Open up! 0012 Seconds and Counting.
Open up! As the fire surrounds me.
Open up! Well, freedom has found me...

God! Help! He-elp!
This is White! This is White!
Open 'er up, open 'er up!
Help! Fire!
This is White! This is White! 
Open 'er up, open 'er up!

Fire! Fire! Fi-iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-re!

De-stroy the dying Sun,
Lay down belo-o-o-ow.
De-stroy the dying Sun,
Lay down belo-o-o-o-o-ow.

Darkness comes,
I'm dying slow.
I only want to ever
come back
to her.

Fan in My Car

Hi,

I'm sort of back from whatever kind of break that was.  Still a mid-level bureaucrat in a dead-end job with middling aspirations to literary expression.  I also love Baboon, no matter what!  These guys will always have a place in my heart.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aO88-44qrqA

Drivin' down the road at a hundred miles an hour
Headin' to the end of my life
Goin' so fast I can't
Hardly see the sunshine
I'm headin' to the end of my life

There's a fan in my car...
There's a fan in my car
There's a fan in my car...
There's a fan in my car

I'm lookin' down the barrel
of this great big whole wide world
Man, sometimes this place is a drag
Do one thing for a second
Move on to another
Before you know it
You're in the past...Yeah!

There's a fan in my car...
There's a fan in my car.
There's a fan in my car...
There's a fan in my car.

I'm lookin' down the barrel
Of this great big whole wide world
Headin' to the end of my life
Do one thing for a second
Move on to another
I'm headin' to the end of my life

There's a fan in my car...
There's a fan in my car
There's a fan in my car...ar
There's a fan in my car

The Best Last Exit, or I Want To Die Like Roy

Euripides, Andromache, 100-2 (tr. James Morewood)

Andromache: No mortal should be called happy
before he has died and you see how he passes
his final day and goes below.

χρὴ δ᾽ οὔποτ᾽ εἰπεῖν οὐδέν᾽ ὄλβιον βροτῶν,
πρὶν ἂν θανόντος τὴν τελευταίαν ἴδῃς
ὅπως περάσας ἡμέραν ἥξει κάτω.

The death of Roy Orbison, as recounted by Wikipedia:*

While Orbison determinedly pursued his second chance at stardom, he reacted to his success in constant surprise, confessing "It's very nice to be wanted again, but I still can't quite believe it."^[86] He lost some weight to fit his new image and the constant demand of touring, as well as the newer demands of making videos. In November 1988 Mystery Girl was completed and Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 was rising up the charts. Orbison went to Europe where he was presented with an award and played a show in Antwerp where footage for the video for "You Got It" was filmed. He gave multiple interviews a day in a hectic schedule. A few days later a manager at a club in Boston was concerned that he looked ill, but Orbison played the show to another standing ovation.^[87] Finally, exhausted, he returned to his home in Hendersonville to rest for a few days before flying again to London to film two more videos for the Traveling Wilburys. On December 6, 1988, he spent the day flying model airplanes with his sons. After having dinner at his mother's home in Tennessee, Orbison died of a heart attack.^[88]

                                    **


^{*If this is incorrect in any way, I blame Wikipedia for being inaccurate.} 
**http://kobason.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/roy-orbison.jpg