So Long and Thanks

from ENDANGERED! by Intercontinental Music Lab

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Subject: Coelacanth

lyrics

I am the living fossil discovered in a lump of rock the year the bicycle was born.
And I am the Lazarus taxon. You thought that I'd expired 80 million years ago,
but you were wrong.
A hundred years later I was hauled up from my underwater home.

The Paleozoic's been good to me,
and every age from then to now has let me be.
Oh, you don't know what you're missing.
I've got a hinged skull and a hollow spine.
Before you came along I was doing fine.
Well this may be your last chance to see...
So long and thanks for all the fishing.

I am an eco-warrior. Sleeping in the cold caves helps to conserve energy.
And I use my lobed fins to drift the currents when I need to feed.
You could learn a thing or two from me.

Well the Paleozoic was good to me,
and the late Cretaceous failed to put an end to my tree.
Oh, there's been some hard times it's true.
But now the sun is setting on the Chalumnae line.
If you fish us from existence will it weigh on your mind?
These pre-historic creatures are one helluva find.
So long and thank you.

Just think, I was the missing link
between the fishes and the creatures who emerged from the drink,
until a young museum curator discovered me
among the catch of the day of the trawler Nerine.

I'm not pretty to look at, not good to eat.
I can sometimes reach the mighty length of five or six feet.
The fishing boats snag me accidentally.
They used to throw me right back, but that's before they knew me.

You see, every damned collector wants to put me in glass,
tour me round the world - yeah, make some good cash.
The thing that made me such a curiosity
will result in my extinction eventually.
It makes me wonder how many others are just like me -
assumed to be extinct but really just out of reach.
Now this really is your last chance to see.
So long and thanks for all the fishing.

credits

from ENDANGERED!, released September 21, 2011
Lyrics and vocals: Matt Flaherty
Music: Mike Weber

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Intercontinental Music Lab Cambridge, UK

Since 2008, the Intercontinental Music Lab has produced eight albums. They’ve all been made in the same way. We came up with a concept or theme for an album, then asked people to choose subjects around that theme and compose some music. The theme for our first album was science. The theme for our latest album is Spielberg. Enjoy! ... more

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