Sam Jones - Finity's End

[@TeasGuideToThePlanes]

I think the most beautiful part of this song is that each time the chorus is sung, it takes on a different meaning.

[@guypierson5754]

Starts kinda as a distance, ends deeper than black holes.

[@Capn_Obed_Marsh]

I’m not crying, my faceplate just gone to mist.

[@RattiDave]

Now I met Sam Jones on a dock-side night in a run down Viking bar, A kid of maybe fifteen years at that purely nowhere star He had no ship, he had no skills, no Name or Family, And he looked at me like a thirsty soul at a boundless salty sea For Space is wide and good friends are too few "Captain take me with you, Captain I'll work for free, I was spacer-born and stranded here, Dock-side's not for me" Now that tale sure is an old one, some stationer unwise, Had slept with some spacer love and got herself this prize For Space is wide and good friends are too few And the kid grows up all restless and dreams of fairing free, The stars and worlds and foreign docks and things he'll never see "A Spacer's more then born" I said, "He's trained from infancy. And you, you've grown up station-side; boy you're no use to me." For Space is wide and good friends are too few Well I saw him take that hope of his and turn his face away, Not give up, no he'd never quit, just try further down the way "Hey kid," I said "you're stubborn; if you work with half that will, Well our engineer could use a hand, we've got a berth to fill" For Space is wide and good friends are too few He stood there with that scowling look, as if he hadn't heard, And then the tears ran down his face but he didn't say a word. Now he never was much for talkin', after we took him on board, "Yes Sir", "Yes Ma'am", "No Sir" were all the words that he'd afford. For Space is wide and good friends are too few Now the engineer Kate Meachum, well her eyes were going bad . She knew I knew, and that kid I sent, drove old Kate raving mad, "Out" she'd yell, and he'd lie low, until old Kate got cool, Then back he'd go and he'd do the scut, while Kate would call him a fool For Space is wide and good friends are too few In time Kate's eyes got much worse, and every crewman knew, But Kate herself, well her heart would stop on the day she left that crew. That close-mouthed would never talk, he just covered Kate's mistakes. "Kate," He'd say "Check the number four" or ,"Kate that's nine-point-eight." For Space is wide and good friends are too few Now we made our rounds on the ports we used from Halleys to AlMar, And one jump all of our luck ran out at a little K-Class star We hit a rock, a vane went down, the ship went kiting through, No way to stop and no damn thing that a rescue ship could do. For Space is wide and good friends are too few "It's the number three bar" Kate Meachum said, "That's broken on that vane" "I'll send a man up," I said then, first hope I'd entertained. "No way," said Kate, "It's outside work, we can't fix that from here, And to pull that thing with a High-V charge is a job for the engineer." For Space is wide and good friends are too few Now we rode in dust at three quarters C with our shields all down and null, "Kate" I said "It's hell out there, dust is chewing up our hull" "It'll chew a hardsuit faster still, Ten minutes is all you'll last," "Die now or later," old Kate said, "I'll just work a little fast." For Space is wide and good friends are too few Well old Kate put that hardsuit on, she went out in the driving hail Of High-V gas that scoured our hull, with a shriek like a banshee wail. Her voice came back, so thin and weak that we could hardly hear, "I'm on it now, I'm at the vane, I've got the cover clear." For Space is wide and good friends are too few And silence then, a long long while all drowned in static hiss, "Damn this thing, my face plate's fogged my sight's gone all to mist" "Kate" I said "Get back inside, someone else will go," But then I heard the aft-lock work two levels down below For Space is wide and good friends are too few "Steady, Kate" said the kid's low voice, then while the minutes ran, "Easy Kate, my suit's brand new, keep low as ever you can. I'll find the pins, you tell me how, and I'll get this bastard free." Kate's voice then, we listened hard, caught about one word in three. For Space is wide and good friends are too few "Ten minutes gone," we heard Kate say, then we heard the kid's hard breath, "I got her, shove the other in, hold on for life and death" Said the kid, "My arm's gone numb. Oh that's it, now there, Kate, she's in. Get inside fast, get outta here -" he went to static then. For Space is wide and good friends are too few "Boy hang on" we heard Kate say, Then we heard Kate Meachum swear. And quiet then, just the static hiss, and a stillness in the air. Ten minutes more, "Power up" I said, For we heard no sound back there, It was my hand shoved the lever home, and the power surged and flared. For space is wide and good friends are too few Our speed ebbed down and ebbed again, as we turned for that K-Class sun But Kate and the kid went on together, on the trip they'd both begun. Old half-blind Kate and young Sam Jones made a hell of an engineer. So turn down a glass for such as they, and thank God we're sitting here. For space is wide and good friends are too few Yes space is wide and good friends are too few

[@georgeshneerson]

David Ratti Thank you for your comment. It is truly very beautiful text.

[@paulgraham2483]

Beautiful transcription job. One small typo, for your own records -- in the sentence "That closed-mouthed kid would never talk," you left out the word "kid".

[@magmasajerk]

A real pair of robust engineers.

[@notablegoat]

I like to imagine a gang of long-haul freight workers, getting together after a long day to sing songs like this and drink

[@aaronsmart9839]

used to be country for the freight haulers in rigs now adays i dunno but in a century or two who knows what we might like

[@VecTron5]

I could totally imagine this being sung around the dining table on the Serenity.

[@reddir]

This seems a better (cleaner) version than the one posted from Carmen Miranda's ghost. I didn't think I could like this song even more, but now I know better. I'm really liking this singer.

[@GuTzBorges]

are you?

[@bobbytonson5890]

I bring another version of the song. It is the one from Carmen Miranda's Ghost but from a better preserved version. Here you go: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iqrbd6GGgq19bNU&ab_channel=SongsfromtheStars

[@FlyingSnake110]

I'm not crying, you are crying!

[@polerin]

Damn straight I am. Holy hell.

[@HiWayLady49]

Like Kate, my vision is going. LOL I've listened to this song for a long time and occasionally looked at the picture. For years I thought I was looking at a Space Angel. I don't know why. Just did. But tonight I took off my glasses and looked at the picture without really looking at it. Then I realized that what I thought were wings was just the curvature of the view port. LOL Maybe its time to get a new pair of glasses? Love the song.

[@faultofdaedalus2666]

you might be remembering the album cover of carmen miranda's ghost, because this song is on that album too.

[@daniiladamov8761]

Wonderful, wonderful song.

[@polerin]

Why why why do i always listen to this song when i can't afford 3 hours of ugly crying

[@CasperTheRamKnight]

relatable

[@mennoltvanalten7260]

Who sings here? I feel like I like all of the songs sang by this lady...

[@needless228]

Leslie Fish. Check out 'Thor', 'Avalon Has Risen', 'Cold Iron', 'The Day It Fell Apart', 'The Arizona Sword', all good songs

[@CorePathway]

Best goddam Space Pirate Shanty I ‘er did heard.

[@shelobslair.]

Fantastic

[@johnharold8682]

So true, good riends are too few.

[@SolEquinox]

This would fit right into the Firefly universe

[@jamesluckhurst8792]

The firefly universe has roots in the books these songs were based on, amongst other places

[@Dayglodaydreams]

This is Leslie Fish isn't it.

[@Siriussky22]

Yes it is her, a true legendary singer

[@RobotsEverywhereVideos]

This needs A Space Engineer Mod

[@cleocatra871]

Is that Leslie Fish?

[@arrbos]

Tis

[@theeddorian]

Kipling would approve.

[@soulwynd]

Alternative recording over here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y56yaKmhmdB9nsk Both versions are awesome.

[@CasperTheRamKnight]

noice

[@sukamysia]

Its exactly the same as the one from the Carmen Miranda's Ghost tape, usually there is some difference between recordings.

[@spacesuitian9745]

sukamysia it's less fuzzy, like the equipment used was better. Other then that it is the exact same.

[@guypierson5754]

@@spacesuitian9745 Dunno, could have been same exact recording: analog copies degrade each time they are wound/unwound, the Carmen Miranda's Ghost sounds like it was in someone's car stereo for a few years as a roadtrip mixtape, poor thing.

[@alexanderamborsky8245]

I think this version has a lot more bass

[@Hypergen-]

It’s actually quite a bit different, it’s just harder to tell with the low quality of the upload.

[@finitymccarthy6628]

too few

[@CatCaywood]

nooooo did kate and sam die?

[@MazianCorvus]

It's implied that they were killed, yes.

[@CatCaywood]

dammit

[@jamesluckhurst8792]

Sam was dragged away by the HV Gas after his arm went numb and he failed to grab the railing and Kate died shortly after from radiation exposure due to being out in the HV Gas for so long with an old hardsuit

[@jowitahorbaczewska6068]

In which C.J. Cherryh book is this taking place?

[@rkt739]

I'm not sure it's in any specific book, just that universe.

[@1994chocolatemilk]

What i can't understand is why they couldn't decelerate, were the engines gone as well or something?

[@rutabagasteu]

The fins are part of their deceleration gear.

[@1994chocolatemilk]

rutabagasteu Hmm, I never realized that, I only ever read Downbelow Station and I don't think that one went into too much detail about the way the ships themselves worked. Speaking of which, which book is this song based from, if you happen to know?

[@rutabagasteu]

The stories about the Chanur mention more on how the star ships in these stories work.

[@1994chocolatemilk]

Ok, I'll have to make a point to check those ones out, thanks

[@Georgehanes-GJH105775]

1994chocolatemilk I was thinking about reading this series, do you know how this compares to Mercedes Lakey's books?

[@RattiDave]

Now I met Sam Jones on a dock-side night in a run down Viking bar, A kid of maybe fifteen years at that purely nowhere star He had no ship, he had no skills, no Name or Family, And he looked at me like a thirsty soul at a boundless salty sea For Space is wide and good friends are too few "Captain take me with you, Captain I'll work for free, I was spacer-born and stranded here, Dock-side's not for me" Now that tale sure is an old one, some stationer unwise, Had slept with some spacer love and got herself this prize For Space is wide and good friends are too few And the kid grows up all restless and dreams of fairing free, The stars and worlds and foreign docks and things he'll never see "A Spacer's more then born" I said, "He's trained from infancy. And you, you've grown up station-side; boy you're no use to me." For Space is wide and good friends are too few Well I saw him take that hope of his and turn his face away, Not give up, no he'd never quit, just try further down the way "Hey kid," I said "you're stubborn; if you work with half that will, Well our engineer could use a hand, we've got a berth to fill" For Space is wide and good friends are too few He stood there with that scowling look, as if he hadn't heard, And then the tears ran down his face but he didn't say a word. Now he never was much for talkin', after we took him on board, "Yes Sir", "Yes Ma'am", "No Sir" were all the words that he'd afford. For Space is wide and good friends are too few Now the engineer Kate Meachum, well her eyes were going bad . She knew I knew, and that kid I sent, drove old Kate raving mad, "Out" she'd yell, and he'd lie low, until old Kate got cool, Then back he'd go and he'd do the scut, while Kate would call him a fool For Space is wide and good friends are too few In time Kate's eyes got much worse, and every crewman knew, But Kate herself, well her heart would stop on the day she left that crew. That close-mouthed kid would never talk, he just covered Kate's mistakes. "Kate," He'd say "Check the number four" or, "Kate that's nine-point-eight." For Space is wide and good friends are too few Now we made our rounds on the ports we used from Halleys to AlMar, And one jump all of our luck ran out at a little K-Class star We hit a rock, a vane went down, the ship went kiting through, No way to stop and no damn thing that a rescue ship could do. For Space is wide and good friends are too few "It's the number three bar" Kate Meachum said, "That's broken on that vane" "I'll send a man up," I said then, first hope I'd entertained. "No way," said Kate, "It's outside work, we can't fix that from here, And to pull that thing with a High-V charge is a job for the engineer." For Space is wide and good friends are too few Now we rode in dust at three quarters C with our shields all down and null, "Kate" I said "It's hell out there, dust is chewing up our hull" "It'll chew a hardsuit faster still, Ten minutes is all you'll last," "Die now or later," old Kate said, "I'll just work a little fast." For Space is wide and good friends are too few Well old Kate put that hardsuit on, she went out in the driving hail Of High-V gas that scoured our hull, with a shriek like a banshee wail. Her voice came back, so thin and weak that we could hardly hear, "I'm on it now, I'm at the vane, I've got the cover clear." For Space is wide and good friends are too few And silence then, a long long while all drowned in static hiss, "Damn this thing, my face plate's fogged my sight's gone all to mist" "Kate" I said "Get back inside, someone else will go," But then I heard the aft-lock work two levels down below For Space is wide and good friends are too few "Steady, Kate" said the kid's low voice, then while the minutes ran, "Easy Kate, my suit's brand new, keep low as ever you can. I'll find the pins, you tell me how, and I'll get this bastard free." Kate's voice then, we listened hard, caught about one word in three. For Space is wide and good friends are too few "Ten minutes gone," we heard Kate say, then we heard the kid's hard breath, "I got her, shove the other in, hold on for life and death" Said the kid, "My arm's gone numb. Oh that's it, now there, Kate, she's in. Get inside fast, get outta here -" he went to static then. For Space is wide and good friends are too few "Boy hang on" we heard Kate say, Then we heard Kate Meachum swear. And quiet then, just the static hiss, and a stillness in the air. Ten minutes more, "Power up" I said, For we heard no sound back there, It was my hand shoved the lever home, and the power surged and flared. For space is wide and good friends are too few Our speed ebbed down and ebbed again, as we turned for that K-Class sun But Kate and the kid went on together, on the trip they'd both begun. Old half-blind Kate and young Sam Jones made a hell of an engineer. So turn down a glass for such as they, and thank God we're sitting here. For space is wide and good friends are too few Yes space is wide and good friends are too few Thanx & a Hat Tip to ​Paul Graham for his correction. Much appreciated.