Kantrowitz 1972

Refrain:

The launch cannon thunders. The pilot beam burns

Command says shes tracking. The big mirror turns

The main beam roars out and the plume reaches high

And our lasers are sending out life to the sky

Theres a shell standing ready. We load her up fast

With five tons of ice for the lasers to blast

A clear ton of payload she lifts at ten gees

And in five minutes flat shell be orbiting free

And? Refrain

Now the spacers get the glory. The spacers get the pay

But their steel and their air comes from us everyday

They may look down their noses at us on the ground

But theyre all unemployed if our lasers shut down

And? Refrain

Now the shuttle men boast of the fires they ride

But theyre great clumsy candles with people inside

Let them fly limousines. Weve no time for that here

We lift more in three days than theyll carry all year

And? Refrain

From the beam crews on down to the loaders below

We work like the devil till the launch boss shouts, Go

Then the deep throated roar of a billion watt beam

Shakes deep in our bones and takes root in our dreams

And? Refrain

Then the last shell lifts out and the plume drifts away

We greet the next shift and go home for the day

But the big lasers burning to lift out a man

And well ride our own beams just as soon as we can

And? Refrain

Yes, our lasers are sending out life to the sky