Wild Blue Yonder
Turned on my iPod the day before yesterday and took pot luck. The song that was playing: “Off We Go Into the Wild Blue Yonder,” the Air Force song. I downloaded it for Dad’s funeral and it lives on in my music files.
Hearing it by surprise didn’t make me sad. It made me smile. It was as if Dad had suddenly inserted himself into the day and was walking with me along the West Virginia lane. I set the iPod on repeat and listened to it four or five times. It’s an upbeat song, and it quickened my step.
I’ve been hearing the melody in my head ever since. But the only words I can recall are the first and last lines. Here, in honor of Memorial Day, are the rest:
Off we go into the wild blue yonder,
Climbing high into the sun;
Here they come zooming to meet our thunder,
At ’em boys, Give ‘er the gun! (Give ‘er the gun now!)
Down we dive, spouting our flame from under,
Off with one helluva roar!
We live in fame or go down in flame. Hey!
Nothing’ll stop the U.S. Air Force!
