H. Beam Piper, who did you think that you were,
Money's push had come to shove
Merely mortal, your needs were unaffordable
How could you display your love?

Chorus:

Oh, you beautiful fool,
Swimming upstream, kicking up waves.
Dreams weren't meant to come true,
That's why they call 'em dreams.
Oh, you beautiful fool.

Pappy Jack came into my dreaming one night.
Space Vikings were so distraught.
So many stories came from the 19th Century,
Hist'ry I was never taught.

Chorus

Bridge:

To take so many into space
While they sat, rooted in their place,
How could you call for a replacement?
One bullet, agent of your death,
Took out so many others' breath.
More people could have been amazed by your life.

I heard the news on the radio with
Someone who had not heard of you
I read your books from a reading list and
Found that your life did not leave with you

Chorus

Written 1995 (11/22) by Gerald L. Bliss

This item is protected under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, also known as the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license, except chorus, ©1988 by Don Henry. Click the link for licensing details.

Although the original song was about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., this does not imply that I am equating H. Beam Piper with Dr. King. I just wanted to write a song for Mr. Piper, and this one fit.