Silent Key - Frank Turner

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