METEOR (Blegvad-Partridge) Close Earth Flyby By Asteriod 2005 YU55

This radar image of asteroid 2005 YU55 was obtained on Nov. 7, 2011, at 11:45 a.m. PST (2:45 p.m. EST/1945 UTC), when the space rock was at 3.6 lunar distances, which is about 860,000 miles, or 1.38 million kilometers, from Earth.  Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech



A mass of Minerals and Metals,
Confused into a ball,
Hurtling through a Vacuum
On a Million Mile fall.

A piece of shattered planet,
The last surviving chunk,
Ten times the size of Canada,
A Crumb of Interstellar Junk.

Meteor, Meteor.
Don't you hear that distant roar?
Doom is calling Door-to-Door :
Prepare to meet thy Meteor !

Hurtling through emptiness,
With No One at the Wheel,
Imagine if it landed here,
Imagine how you'd feel --

The oceans would evaporate,
You couldn't see for steam,
And even the most Rational
Would think it was a Dream.

 

Meteor, Meteor.
Don't you hear that distant roar?
Doom is calling Door-to-Door :
Prepare to meet thy Meteor !

And another Planet Shattered,
Pieces scattered to the Stars,
We wouldn't think it mattered
if the planet wasn't Ours.

The Moon begins to wander
Now its anchor's been destroyed,
Drifting without Influence
Out into the void.

The human race wiped out
When we were Just about to switch
from Inhumanity to Sanity,
Now wouldn't that be rich?

As you died your only comfort
Would be that you Knew
All the agents of Corruption
in the world were Dying Too.

Meteor, Meteor.
Don't you hear that distant roar?
Coming through the Kitchen Floor :
Prepare to meet thy Meteor !




NOTE:  I'm sorry not to be able to share a recording of Peter Blegvad (Slapp Happy) and Andy Partridge's (XTC) song with you, but the only version I have heard can't be uploaded, although I imagine it can be found somewhere out there on the Celestial Jukebox.  I wish Blegvad (who included it in live performances, such as the 3-14-92 concert at St. Ann's in Brooklyn) committed it to a fixed "vinyl" (sorry for dating myself) version because, as you can see,  it’s a terrific lyric wedded to a driving, exciting melody and rhythm. Until Asteroid Armageddon, Meteor (like its composers) will remain perennially relevant.  

 P.S.  Asteroid 2005 YU55 is not "Ten times the size of Canada", but only as big as the "supercarrier" USS Nimitz, "one of the largest warships in the world."  DUCK! (and cover).