_catch the lucky whiff's tribute to _why

american _why

A long, long time ago...
I can still remember
How his blog used to make me smile.
And I knew that if he had his chance
That he could make their code enhance
And, maybe, they’d be happy for a while.

But August made me shiver
With every code line I’d deliver.
Bad news on the doorstep;
I couldn’t take one more step.

I can’t remember if my sister cried
When she read that his github did not reside,
But something touched her deep inside
The day the internet died.

So bye-bye, the lucky stiff _why.
Drove my ruby to the rails,
But the rails were dry.
And them good old boys were drinkin’ potion and rye
Singin’, "this’ll be the day that I die.
"this’ll be the day that I die."

Did you write Ruby's Poignant book of love,
And do you have faith in require"above",
If the RubyKaigi tells you so? 
Do you believe in MouseHole,
Can programming save your mortal soul,
And can you teach me how to parse real slow?

Well, I know that you’re in love with him
`cause I saw you codin’ in the gym.
You both kicked off your Shoes.
Man, I dig those bloopsaphone blues.

I was a lonely teenage broncin’ buck
With laptop, Hpricot, and a pickup truck,
But I knew I was out of luck
The day the internet died.

I started singin’,
"bye-bye, the lucky stiff _why."
Drove my ruby to the rails,
But the rails were dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin’ potion and rye
And singin’, "this’ll be the day that I die.
"this’ll be the day that I die."

Now for two years we’ve been on our own
And moss grows fat on a rollin’ stone,
But that’s not how it used to be.
When the jester sang for the Carnegie scene,
In a coat he borrowed from the dean
And a voice that came from you and me,

Oh, and while the bloggers were looking down,
The jester stole his thorny crown.
The conference was adjourned;
No _why has returned.
And while he read a book of marx,
The sinking symphony practiced in the park,
And we ran scripts in the dark
The day the internet died.

We were singing,
"bye-bye, the lucky stiff _why."
Drove my ruby to the rails,
But the rails were dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin’ potion and rye
And singin’, "this’ll be the day that I die.
"this’ll be the day that I die."

Starry afternoon in a summer swelter.
The polo champ flew off with a fallout shelter,
Nineteenth day and falling fast.
He took a walk out on the grass.
Nokogiri tried for a forward pass,
With the jester on the offline in a cast.

Now the half-time air was sweet perfume
While the super users do a marching tune.
We all got up to dance,
Oh, but we never got the chance!
`cause the hackers tried to take the field;
The server refused to yield.
Do you whose dox were revealed
The day the internet died? 

We started singing,
"bye-bye, the lucky stiff _why."
Drove my ruby to the rails,
But the rails were dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin’ potion and rye
And singin’, "this’ll be the day that I die.
"this’ll be the day that I die."

Oh, and there we were all in one place,
A generation lost in irc space
With no time left to start again.
So come on: jack be nimble, jack be quick!
Jack flash sat on a candlestick
Cause flames are the troll’s only friend.

Oh, and as I watched him on the stage
My hands were clenched in fists of rage.
No unHoly angel born in hell
Could break _why's spell.
And as the flames climbed high into the night
To light the sacrificial rite,
I saw satan laughing with delight
The day the internet died

He was singing,
"bye-bye, the lucky stiff _why."
Drove my ruby to the rails,
But the rails were dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin’ potion and rye
And singin’, "this’ll be the day that I die.
"this’ll be the day that I die."

I met a committer who sang the blues
And asked her for some happy news,
But she just smiled and turned away.
I went down to the sacred store
Where I saw the code years before,
But the man there said the disc wouldn't play.

And in the chats: the children screamed,
The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed.
But not a word was spoken;
The obfuscated code was all broken.
And the three men I admire most:
Matsumoto, DHH, and the _why's ghost,
They caught the last train for the coast
The day the music died.

And they were singing,
"bye-bye, the lucky stiff _why."
Drove my ruby to the rails,
But the rails were dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin’ potion and rye
And singin’, "this’ll be the day that I die.
"this’ll be the day that I die."

They were singing,
"bye-bye, the lucky stiff _why."
Drove my ruby to the rails,
But the rails were dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin’ potion and rye
And singin’, "this’ll be the day that I die.
"this’ll be the day that I die."

_catch the lucky whiff

I want a recording.