To my knowledge this is the greatest song ever about the mystical art of computer programming. I must admit that there is little competition for the title, since few song writers have tackled this arcane subject.
Julia Ecklar performs Eternal Flame (God Wrote In Lisp)
Another thing that I've learned over my years of playing and creating music as well indulging in the philosophical appreciation of computer programming is how music and programming are related. I don't know the actually numbers, but it appears to me that an astonishingly large percentage of good programmers are also good musicians -- and vice versa. I assume this has something to do with the way human brains work when doing either, but I'm not aware of any scientific research into the question.
Here are the lyrics to Eternal Flame, written by Bob Kanefsky:
I was taught assembler in my second year of school.
It's kinda like construction work with a toothpick for a tool.
So when I made my senior year, I threw my code away,
And learned the way to program that I still prefer today.
Now, some folks on the Internet put their faith in C++.
They swear that it's so powerful, it's what God used for us.
And maybe it lets mortals dredge their objects from the C.
But I think that explains why only God can make a tree.
For God wrote in Lisp code
When he filled the leaves with green.
The fractal flowers and recursive roots:
The most lovely hack I've seen.
And when I ponder snowflakes, never finding two the same,
I know God likes a language with it's own four-letter name.
Now, I've used a SUN under Unix, so I've seen what C can hold.
I've surfed for Perls, found what Fortran's for,
Got that Java stuff down cold.
Though the chance that I'd write COBOL code
Is a SNOBOL's chance in Hell.
And I basically hate hieroglyphs, so I won't use APL.
Now, God must know all these languages, and a few I haven't named.
But the Lord made sure, when each sparrow falls,
That it's flesh will be reclaimed.
And the Lord could not count grains of sand with a 32-bit word.
Who knows where we would go to if Lisp weren't what he preferred?
And God wrote in Lisp code
Every creature great and small.
Don't search the disk drive for man.c,
When the listing's on the wall.
And when I watch the lightning
Burn unbelievers to a crisp,
I know God had six days to work,
So he wrote it all in Lisp.
Yes, God had a deadline.
So he wrote it all in Lisp.
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