When you're building complex systems there are two ways to proceed;
Take the safe and sane and cautious road, or go flat out for speed
If we leave it to the bureaucrats we'll never get to space;
But turn some crazy hackers loose and see who wins the race.
Let the laser launch you skyward with a hypersonic yell
And you're blasting into Heaven on a billion watts of Hell
Let committees squawk of safety, let the politicians lie;
We're bound for Hackers' Heaven in the sky.
Ten-G cargo launchers never were designed to lift a man,
But when you're in a hurry you'll grab any ride you can.
Use a waterbed for padding, throw some algae in for air;
It may not look like a spaceship, but just ask me if I care.
And when we reach high orbit, we'll hack around the clock
With shuttle tanks and baling wire and melted lunar rock.
It would take too long to balance, so to spin it we'll not try:
Besides who wants to walk when we've already dared to fly?
So pack up all your memories, your programs and displays
Leave the losers down on Earth to go their meek and cautious ways
Let their politicians tell them to stay safely in their beds
We'll be hacking out our dreams here in the sky above their heads.
Hacker's Heaven © 1988 Stephen Savitzky
