Answering the Fermi paradox

by @berni1954

Skirmish: Secret Lives of Other Bei... (@robinleaf)

Liner Notes

The Fermi Paradox states that given that our planet has only been around for about 3.5 billion years, while the universe has been around a lot longer than that, shouldn't that have given time for the first intelligent alien life to have developed to the point where they solved the problems associated with interstellar travel and consequently will have spread out across the galaxy, if not the entire universe. So, if that is the case: "Where are the aliens?"

Of course, there are several proposed answers to that, ranging from "We are the first and only" to "the others died out" or to the version I use in this song.

INSTRUMENT: Baton Rouge 8 String Baritone Ukulele

Lyrics

Intro: (Dm) (G) (Am)

(Am) The Earth is full of remnants
Of civili(Dm)zations now long gone
Lofty (Am) cultures that arose
and fell like (G) great Babylon
From the (F) Incas to the Aztecs
From (Am) Rome to Songhai
(Dm) Empires that collapsed
When (G) History moved (Am) on

Will there (F) ever be a moment
When the (Am) wars will finally stop
When un(F)ited we can spread out to the (C) stars?
Or are we (F) doomed to disappear
Des(Am)troying planet Earth
Till it's as (G) barren as our neighbour (Am) Mars?

(Am) The Galaxy's full of remnants
Of civili(Dm)zations now long dead
(Am) Ruins of alien races who
We (G) now will never meet
(F) Beings that built their worlds
And watched their (Am) last children die
(Dm) Patterns of destruction repli(G)cated on re(Am)peat

Maybe there (F) never comes that moment
All out (Am) conflicts lead to doom
So no (F) evidence of aliens we've (C) found
The (F) seeds of greed and avarice
Bear the (Am) fruits of tragedy
As our (G) folly poisons air and sea and (Am) ground

Comments

[avatar]
@timfatchen Mod
There is no happy ending... or perhaps our attention span isn't yet long enough. One might hope: it's that or slit wrists now (listening to Leonard Cohen for the right wristslit mindset). Effective song, now even I'm depressed.
[avatar]
@elenaduff
I'd never heard of the Fermi paradox - very interesting. I like the sweep of this from earth and the rise and fall of famous civilisations - and a nice-sounding 8-string uke you have there.

Another option as to the paradox, maybe the alien life evolved but into beings like dinosaurs or sludge and just stayed that way happily living out their lives without thinking about building space ships
[avatar]
@hmstreetteam
Nicely polished write taking a fresh angle on a familiar message about the lessons and unknowns of history.
[avatar]
@jtsteam
Heh, I have a little note in my idea file along these lines. But you've done it so well now! (I'll probably do it some day anyway :))
[avatar]
@val
I guess we better get to terraforming Mars so we can go back there after we ruin this planet. I like the story here. Bari uke sounds great too.
[avatar]
@gfandme
What a fantastic theme for a song! And as sbs said: A true Bard!
[avatar]
@headfirstonly Mod
Nicely done! This is pretty bleak, but it seems to match the observational evidence. I was reading an essay on Charles Fort this week which pointed out that he'd asked the "Where is everybody?" question some twenty years before Fermi did. I'm sure Enrico would have been aware of Fort's writing.
[avatar]
@sbs
Lovely vocals/storytelling! A true Bard!
[avatar]
@billwhite51
a truly modern poetic work that addresses this time in history that is causing such anxiety in the human race. The tragedy is that we may be the first in history to have the advantage of a perspective that takes in the whole of history and still does nothing to turn the stop the plunge into darkness.
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