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Is there Intelligent Life On Earth? (Gwen Knighton Raftery)

by Memory Page for Zan

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about

This is what co-writer Alan Thiesen says about the song:

"And here's how the song came to be: Decades ago, I heard Carl Sagan give a talk at Stanford University on the topic, "Is There Intelligent Life On Earth?" The talk became a magazine article, and then it became a chapter of Sagan's book "A Pale Blue Dot". For years and years, I wanted to turn Sagan's talk into a song, but inspiration never struck. Finally, Zanda and I decided to collaborate. After reading Sagan's chapter, Zanda wrote the lyrics, and I set them to music."

Alan planned to attend DemiSemiQuaver, the British filk con 2020 . Sadly, due to illness he couldn't, but Gwen rose to the occasion, learned the song on very short notice and performed it at the main concert.

Thank you to everyone involved for giving their permission to put the song here!

lyrics

Is There Intelligent Life on Earth?

A pale blue dot in a starry sea
Come closer, and look down
Beneath the shrouds of water clouds
and see the green and brown.
What else might there be down there
That those fluffy clouds are masking?
Is there intelligent life on Earth?
Who's asking?

A world of suffering, want and war
Of cruelty and greed
Of loneliness and grief and stress
For which there is no need.
What logic can ever justify
The pain this old world bears?
And is there intelligent life on Earth?
Who cares?

And do we even understand
What understanding is?
Or do we simply claim it's an illusion?
Is it the skill to solve a puzzle
Or to ace an online quiz?
And how can we be free of this confusion?

We make machines to do for us
What we find much too hard
As if a mind could be confined
To a disc or an SD card
But is it real or is it fake?
On the answer so much rides.
Is there intelligent life on Earth?
Who decides?

A pale blue dot in a starry sea
With a secret to be found
That can't be traced from out in space
Or down here on the ground.
The more we think about how we think
The more uncertainty grows.
So is there intelligent life on Earth?
Who knows?

credits

released August 26, 2021
Lyrics: Zanda Myrande
Tune: Alan Thiesen

Vocals, harp: Gwen Knighton Raftery

Recorded at the British filk con in Feb 2020

Photo: NASA

Thank you!!

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about

Memory Page for Zan image

Memory Page for Zan England, UK

Zanda Myrande/Zander Nyrond/Jonathan Waite/Andrew Lyng had many names. Zanda was the newest (only found in 2016) and probably the most important one.

Zan was an amazing writer, songwriter, and person, and her brain was basically an ant hill where every ant carried a book around.
She died very suddenly in July 2019, aged 63.

This page tries to collect what friends did and do with her songs. ... more

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