We Choose the Moon

Listen up, America, the year is '62

At Rice we make a promise, and we came to see it through

A frontier in the heavens, a dream that’s calling near

We choose the path of courage, we choose to face the fear

From Texas heat to starlight, we’re rising with the plan

One small step for the nation, one giant step for man

Why settle for the shoreline when the horizon’s right there?

Why bow to the doubt when we’re built to climb higher?

The future’s in our hands now, the sky is not our end

We speak it into motion and the whole world feels the bend

We choose to go to the moon, we choose to go tonight

Not because it’s easy, but because we seek the fight

We choose to go to the moon, and we won’t back down

Before this decade’s over, we’re putting stars in our crown

We choose to go to the moon, hear the engines roar

America is reaching for a future worth more

Sputnik hit the silence, but we answered with a vow

Every setback fuels the fire, and that fire burns now

We tamed the plains, crossed oceans, built a nation strong

Now we’re mapping constellations, where our dreams belong

From launchpad to the heavens, with grit and steel and grace

We’re racing past the limits, leaving tracks in space

Why settle for the shoreline when the horizon’s right there?

Why bow to the doubt when we’re built to climb higher?

The future’s in our hands now, the sky is not our end

We speak it into motion and the whole world feels the bend

We choose to go to the moon, we choose to go tonight

Not because it’s easy, but because we seek the fight

We choose to go to the moon, and we won’t back down

Before this decade’s over, we’re putting stars in our crown

We choose to go to the moon, hear the engines roar

America is reaching for a future worth more

Why climb the highest mountain? Why fly across the sea?

Because we must, because we can, because we’re born to be free

If the dream is steep and distant, then that dream is ours to prove

With every beat of courage, watch the whole nation move

So raise your eyes to midnight, let the doubt fade out of view

We’re not afraid of hard things, that’s exactly why we do

We choose to go to the moon, we choose to go tonight

Not because it’s easy, but because we seek the fight

We choose to go to the moon, and we won’t back down

Before this decade’s over, we’re putting stars in our crown

We choose to go to the moon, hear the engines roar

America is reaching for a future worth moreWe choose, we choose, we choose to go

To the moon, to the moon, watch history glow