Julie Goes Down

With astronauts like Christina Koch and Jessica Meir setting new milestones for women and all humanity in spaceflight, I was inspired to write this song. The path to such great achievements is unique for everyone, but always winding and full of challenges to overcome. With spirit and determination, we are all capable of achieving great things on this planet, and beyond!

Julie is the kind of girl who can’t take this place any more
She knows there’s meaning to life but it’s somewhere else 
And she’s looking for her start

Julie’s got two parents who never thought she’d go very far
They never gave her enough attention to see the fire in her heart

And so she sits at the railway station
With a ticket to life planted firm in her hand

Oh, Julie goes down
Down to the train to make her escape
She’s high on thoughts profound
Making her way to a beautiful place
Where ripe ambitions and dreams can come true

Julie learns biology and has a thing for outer space
She learns hard work has rewards, that failures open new doors,
And that the path ain’t always strait.

And her friends all think she’s crazy when she tries to help them see
That finding life on a moon or ’round a distant star, stars with agar and petri

But she sticks with her bright disposition
With a thesis that stirs in her brain and her heart

Oh, Julie goes down
Down to the stage to earn her degree
She’s high on thoughts profound
And well on her way to a beautiful place
Where ripe ambitions and dreams can come true

Julie’s floating freely now with a hundred and eighty days in microgravity
She’s the furthest away she’s ever been from her home and the closest she’ll ever be

Her science soon to answer how tiny microbes grow in space
A pioneer in her field she can’t believe it was real
As a grin forms on her face

And she straps in to leave the space station
With her helmet secure and flight controls in her hands

Oh, Julie goes down
Her capsule shrouded in flames on atmospheric reentry
She’s so close to the speed of sound
And fires the parachute break to let the whole human race know
Wild ambitions and dreams do come true.