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Dante II |
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This is a song based on an event which happened in 1994. Dante II was a unique eight-legged robot which performed the first robotic observations inside a live volcano. You may wonder why Dante II; well the first Dante only managed 28 feet into the volcano when they lost communication. Dante II was a re-designed model who did much better and managed to get 660 feet into the crater. Hecompleted its mission but slipped and fell on the way out, 400ft down. Despite their efforts they couldn’t get the robot back and it remained there trapped. So, this song tells the story from the perspective of the robot which against the backdrop of a fiery volcano suggests a biblical setting; hence the link with the story of Isaac |
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When you switched me on I knew you for my father You had programmed me to love you and obey I knew that I would do anything you asked me You just had to show me the way You trained me to walk on my eight legs of alloy Stonger than steel and harder than stone They would walk they would run they would never tire Unlike your legs made of sinew flesh and bone You showed me to your friends and I know that I amazed them They cheered for me when you made me run Even Rachel smiled as she asked you what it feels like To have a metal spider for your first born son You named me Dante II a name I was proud of You painted it in gold letters upon my side But you never told me about my destiny You never told me that I was born to die You carried me up the mountain and I trusted you Through the smoke and the dust and the gathering haze Like Isaac I felt proud to have you for my father But there was no God looking down on me that day You put me on the crater's brim and I walked forward Treading so carefully as the rocks - they fell away I was creeping I was crawling ever deeper Father oh father were you proud of me that day? I couldn't feel the pain as the sharp rocks - they fell on me Or the heat which would have melted your body just like wax I was still sending you digital information When I slipped and fell on the long long journey back You said that I had exceeded my specifications Was that your way of saying how proud you were of me? And I'm lying here alone in an Alaskan volcano Father Oh Father, why have you foresaken me? Father Oh Father, why have you foresaken me? |
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