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THE MAN PASSING BY ON HIS WAY TO THE MOON

(In honor of Gene Shoemaker's "Retirement")
October 16, 1993
Words and Music by Bevan M. French

Verse 1:

He was born in a basin that's now called L.A.
He decided quite early that he wouldn't stay.
The Moon shown down on him, there were rocks all around,
And in that combination, his life's work was found.


He'd lie in his cradle and smile at his mother,
With a hammer in one hand and a rock in the other.
And late in the evening you might hear him croon,
"I'm just passing by on my way to the Moon."

Chorus:

He's done coesite and stishovite and asteroids and dinosaurs,
He's discovered the craters with which Earth is strewn.
He's done missions and committees and management and bureaucrats;
All the things that you do on your way to the Moon.

Verse 2:

He started with field work like all Survey hands,
But salt and uranium were not in his plans.
It was Meteor Crater and all of its kin
That changed our whole view of the world that we're in.


Then he hooked up with NASA and worked with Apollo,
'Cause where astronauts went, geologists could follow.
And in conference or meeting he'd sing the same tune,
"I'm just passing by on my way to the Moon."

Chorus:

He's done coesite and stishovite and asteroids and dinosaurs,
He's discovered the craters with which Earth is strewn.
And all these catastrophes are non-Uniformitarian;
That's what you learn on your way to the Moon.

Verse 3:

So to all young geologists who are new on the scene,
If you want to do well, take your lessons from Gene.
Stay close to your field work, but leave your mind free,
And don't sit at home when there are new worlds to see.


For the young are not finished with the worlds that we know.
They've heard all our stories, and they're eager to go.
It won't be next August, or the following June,
But one day they'll pass by on their way to the Moon.

Chorus:

He's done Ranger and Surveyor and Voyager and Clementine.
He's explored and he's taught, and he won't slow down soon.
For in spite of committees and all of those bureaucrats,
There'll be folks passing by on their way to the Moon.

Reprise:

That's not bad for a man on his way to the Moon.

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