United States North Central Louisiana / No Longer A Resident of the Shreveport/Bossier City Area Louisiana
It's Time To Do "The Light Jump" And Trip The Lightspeed Fantastic
"The Light Jump" Tripping the Lightspeed Fantastic a la Star Wars (C) Copyright 1996 by James W. King; All Rights Reserved. From My Ongoing Filksongbook In Progress Entitled "Filksongs of Known Space & Time" (Sung to the tune of the song "The Time Warp" from the soundtrack of 1975 "Rocky Horror Picture Show" movie)
Note: The dance-step verses are bolded for emphasis so that they'll clearly stand apart from the italicized dance-step notes beside them (the latter of which are not sung).
It's stupendous! Space is boundless; Distance takes its toll; Light Jumps defy it oh so tremendously! But so do most Worm Holes.
I remember__ doin' The Light Jump, dreading_ those moments when_ Lightspeed would unhinge me and those passengers calling,
"Let's do The Light Jump again___ ! Let's do The Light Jump again___ !"
Spin five counts to the right windin' yourself up tight__ ; (Stop spin-winding at the word "tight". Attempt to wind up facing the direction you started in.) Swing both arms in circles(in a forward motion as if about to attempt a high jump) gatherin' inertial might__ ; And then a big leap forward(Take a big jump forward on the word "forward") 'cross parsecs of hy-yi-yiperspace.
Let's do The Light Jump again___ ! Let's do The Light Jump again___ !
It's so spacey! Oh, Han Solo, race me! You can't outpace me; No, not at all! In the Fourth Dimension: Temporal circumvention --- I bend the laws; Don't we all?
It's a bit of a light show; You're feelin' a slight glow, and NOTHING can ever quite compare! Trip out on the sensation! Engage astrogation!
Let's do The Light Jump again! Let's do The Light Jump again!
*Well, I was sittin' in my seat just enjoyin' the scene just passin' the time eatin' haute cuisine; When suddenly, quite by surprise, our ship lurched apace, starfields streakin' by! Say what you will 'bout hyperspace, for me it'll NEVER be commonplace!
Let's do The Light Jump again___ ! Let's do The Light Jump again___ !
Spin five counts to the right windin' yourself up tight__ ; (Stop spin-winding at the word "tight". Attempt to wind up facing the direction you started in.) Swing both arms in circles(in a forward motion as if about to attempt a high jump) gatherin' inertial might__ ; And then a big leap forward (Take a big jump forward on the word "forward") 'cross parsecs of hy-yi-yiperspace.
Let's do The Light Jump again___ ! Let's do The Light Jump again___ ! ....
Let's do The Light Jump again___ ! Let's do The Light Jump again___ !
Spin five counts to the right windin' yourself up tight__ ; (Stop spin-winding at the word "tight". Attempt to wind up facing the direction you started in.) Swing both arms in circles(in a forward motion as if about to attempt a high jump) gatherin' inertial might__ ; And then a big leap forward(Take a big jump forward on the word "forward") 'cross parsecs of hy-yi-yiperspace.
Let's do The Light Jump again___ ! Let's do The Light Jump again___ ! . . . .
[At the end of the song, pirouette slowly to floor. Imagine that the sound of the music winding down at the end of "The Time Warp" is the sound effect for the Millenium Falcon's light-jump engines failing.]
__________________________________________
*This verse is sung by a starliner passenger.
Notes
-- Light Jump = An accelative jump to Lightspeed
-- Boundless = Having no limit; vast; measureless; infinite.
-- Worm Hole = Theoretical short-cut pathway "hole" or "tunnel" which folds time and space leading from one point in a galaxy to another more distant point -- only reducing the vast distances between them by far.
-- Spin *Five Counts* to the Right = Spin around for *five music beats* (not five times). Five beats is about the time required to sing the next line, "gatherin' inertial might__" (to the end of the extended note of the word "might").
-- Parsec = A unit of length used in expressing stellar distances, almost exactly 206,265 times the mean distance of the Earth from the Sun.
-- The Fourth Dimension = Time, the fourth dimension of the Space-Time Continuum (three dimensions of Space and one of Time).
-- Temporal Circumvention = Circumventing (getting around) the Laws of Time & Space.
-- I bend the laws = I bend the laws of Time & Space, an explanation that's meant to be evocative of the the boast Han Solo made when he told Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker that his Millenium Falcon could "make the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs." Although most have inferred Obi-Wan's reaction to Solo's boast as skepticism (as if Ben were thinking, "Who do you think you're dealing with here? Some greenhorn spacer???"), some fans and writers have expressed the possibility that Solo might have known some routes around some stars or black holes which could somehow effectively warp or fold space distancewise so as to actually make it a shorter route than even the shortest actual then-knoiwn straight-line distance between two points in space.
-- Engage Astrogation! = Command to co-pilot to key the navicomputer to astrogate (to mathematically calculate and set) a hyperspace route to a certain destination before jumping to lightspeed. (If the ship were already in hyperspace, the command would be for the co-pilot to key the navicomputer to make any mid-course corrections or prepare the ship to come out of lightspeed.) After all, if the pilots just took off in their spaceship at lightspeed without precise calculations and settings for a certain destination, they could (as Han Solo said) end up "flying right through a star or bouncing too close to a supernova," thus ending the trip, the ship, and the passengers' lives for that matter.
-- Haute Cuisine = Very exotic, costly and elaborately-prepared food served aboard a luxury starliner (space counterpart to an Earth ocean liner).
United States North Central Louisiana / No Longer A Resident of the Shreveport/Bossier City Area Louisiana
In Memory of Actress Carrie Fisher (1956-2016)
"Princess Leia" The Rebels' Ballad of Hope for the Fate of the Alderaanian Princess in Imperial Captivity in "Star Wars: A New Hope" (C) Copyright 1996 By James W. King; All Rights Reserved. (Sung to the tune of ABBA's 1979 hit song "Chiquitita")
Princess Leia, try to be strong__ though you're enchained by Vader's Empire___ ; In___ your eyes_ all hope seems about to expire.__
How we hate to see you like this_ ! To Lord Vader you must deny it_ ; We___ all hope_ that you've kept our secret quiet__ .
Princess, please don't tell 'em the truth__ though their tortures will try to break you__ ; We're___ your friends_ ; Don't let Tarkin's death threats shake you__.
You've been always sure of yourself_; Now we fear your resolve is waning__ ; We___ hope_ you'll stand_ firm no matter how draining__ .
Princess Leia, you and I know_____ how the empires come and they go and the scars they're leaving____ ; Soon our Rebel Cause must win__ and Palp's reign__ shall end__ ; You will have no time for grieving__ .
Princess Leia, you and I cry_____, but on the Force you can rely to always be with you___ ! Let's see you rise 'n fight once more__ like you did__ before_ ! Lead our rebellion, Princess Leia__.
Try__ once more__ like you did__ before__; Lead us Re-bels, Princess Leia__ !
So the Death Star's been unbound__ and blown up your home planet_ ; Though__ it's flown_ , we'll find'n destroy'n ban it__ .
Princess Leia, try to be brave__! Though you've been marked for termination__, we___ hope_ you'll keep your determination__ .
Princess Leia, you and I know_____ how the empires come and they go and the scars they're leaving____ ; The Republic shall rise again__ ; The Empire__ shall end__ -- It's a future to believe in___ !
Princess Leia, you and I cry_____ , but on the Force you can rely to always be with you____ ! Let's see you rise 'n fight once more__ like you did__ before__ ; Lead our rebellion, Princess Leia__.
Try__ once more__ like you did__ before__ Lead us Re - bels, Princess Leia__ .
Try___ once more___ like you did___ before___ -- *For Alderaan,* Princess Leia____ .
