Silent Key

On the 28th of January 1986
Christa McAuliffe gazed in horror as the O-rings failed
And she died, and she died, and she died
For the next agonising two minutes and forty-five long seconds
She called out the truth on a broken radio:
«I'm alive, I’m alive, I’m alive»
It came as some surprise to realise that as she lost everything
The world was revealed in a transmission so real that she understood everything:
You’re still alive, you’re still alive
Four thousand nautical miles as the crow flies away
A home-made ham radio in the loft of a Hampshire family home
Came alive, came alive, came alive
And so the four-year-old amateur operator thus became the only person to hear
Christa’s last desperate communiqué
«We're alive, we’re alive, we’re alive»
It came as some surprise to realise, while he didn’t catch everything
The world was revealed in a transmission so real that he understood everything
You’re still alive
And Christa said
«The darkness up above led me on like unrequited love
While all the things I need were down here in the deep blue sea
The darkness up above led me on like unrequited love
While all the things I need were down here in the deep blue sea
The darkness up above led me on like unrequited love
While all the things I need were down here in the deep blue sea»
At four years old, I heard the truth on my radio
So now I keep a moment’s silence for my silent key
My silent key
My silent key
My silent key