Sounds of Earth – Jim Moray Well Anne she was so diligent and Anne she was so keen
And she searched among the archives just to find the missing piece
Capo 3 - D
Gary Flandro saw it first in 1964
Hidden on a printout that he hadn't seen before
But the lab at Pasadena they fed the numbers in
Of a hundred possibilities well this could be the one
There was going to be a moment when the planets were aligned
A moment in their orbits when they all came to one side
To travel like a slingshot and use the gravity to steer
Another chance won't come again for full 200 years
Carl he knew exactly how a tale could be told
How a story could be broken, how an idea could be sold
He said "let's send a message to whoever finds it first
To tell them that we come in peace let's send the sounds of earth"
So we made a list of all the sounds to sum up who we are
A mixtape of humanity to travel through the stars
Back at the university he gathered up his team
Linda, Frank and John and Timothy and last of all there's Anne
Stravinsky, Bach and Mozart and 50s rock and roll
The crying of a baby and the calling of a whale
Dogs and rain and laughter and the singing of the birds
Images and diagrams and maps of all the earth
They say there is a kind of spirit music in the world
That plays for all eternity as round the sun it turns
If we could preserve it on a record made of gold
It could last a billion years or more
An out of print recording of an ancient Chinese lute
All their hopes depending upon discovering this tune
One night she called to tell him that she'd found the flowing streams
She called but found he wasn't home so played it into his machine
Says Anne "I've found the missing piece, I think I've found our song"
Says Carl "it's good to hear your voice, I've been waiting for so long"
"I've been waiting for a moment when the planets would align
Waiting for the feeling, waiting for a sign"
They talked for hours until the sun came glistening o'er the sea
And as the dawn was breaking he says "Annie, marry me"
Next morning back in New York they connected the machine
Attached the sensors to her skin to record her EEG
As soon as they had started well she knew what she should do
The sound of someone falling in love, "all the time I thought of you"
When the voyagers were ready to be sent upon their way
With a golden record mounted and a needle to make it play
They launched then in September from Cape Canaveral
The furthest man made objects, they're out there moving still
Beyond our solar system there's a golden calling card
Inscribed "please don't disturb me, let me travel to the stars"
If one day someone finds it they will hear the sounds of love
That could last a billion years or more