Talk:The Green Hills of Earth

Rhysling in the Apollo 15 mission transcript
123:41:34
 * Irwin: I'd like to see Rhysling on the way in.

167:51:20
 * Allen: As the space poet Rhysling (the blind poet in Robert Heinlein's The Green Hills of Earth) would say, we're ready for you to "come back again to the homes of men on the cool green hills of Earth."

Reference to "The quest For Saint Aquin"
In "The Quest for Saint Aquin" by Anthony Boucher, the song "A spacesuit for two" is mentioned, I think it shold be added in "Other references" —Preceding unsigned comment added by 189.235.144.30 (talk) 23:46, 3 May 2010 (UTC)
 * The theme seems an obvious one. Tony may have meant it as a wink to Rhysling, but that's WP:OR unless you can source it. -- Orange Mike  &#x007C;   Talk  02:06, 4 May 2010 (UTC)

The 1951 Boucher story, published four years after "Green Hills", refers to "listening to a bawdy set of verses for A Space-Suit Built for Two." This is exactly the wording of Heinlein's song title, except for the inclusion of a hyphen, and indicates, as Heinlein did, that the song is "bawdy." William A. P. White, who wrote under the Boucher pseudonym, knew Heinlein well, and frequently came to the Heinlein home around 1940 or 1941 for meetings of the so-called Manana Literary Society, or rather Mañana. He famously fictionalized this circle of science fiction writers in his mystery novel Rocket to the Morgue (including a Heinlein-like character). White was editing a major SF magazine at this time, and would certainly be aware of SF stories published in such a prominent "slick" as the Saturday Evening Post-- especially if they were written by a friend. Is this a solid enough circumstantial case for inclusion in "Other references?" I doubt anyone will find a direct quote from "Boucher" asserting that this line is a reference to the Heinlein story. Beamjockey (talk) 12:29, 4 May 2010 (UTC)
 * You know, and I know, and everybody who read the Boucher story undoubtedly knew, that it's a Rhysling reference; but it's all inference and understanding. I'd not object if you reinserted it, but I'd be hard put to defend it as anything other than original research on our part. -- Orange Mike  &#x007C;   Talk  16:34, 4 May 2010 (UTC)

I agree with OM -- it is not citable at the moemnt. Leave it out. Sir Rhosis (talk) 19:37, 4 May 2010 (UTC)

It seems wise for me defer to the judgment of more experienced Wikipedia editors. The Boucher citation nevertheless seems stronger than the Paul Winter example that remains here. The lyrics bear negligible resemblance to Rhysling's words, and the album's liner notes name Ray Bradbury, not Heinlein, as the inspiration (though this source is probably mistaken). And where is the evidence for the Rusty Schweickart connection? Beamjockey (talk) 00:42, 5 May 2010 (UTC)

I tend to agree with you -- those two examples should be cited as well. I had not noticed that they had been introduced to the article. Ask for a cite, or do you wish me or another editor to do so? Sir Rhosis (talk) 01:34, 5 May 2010 (UTC)

Death Song of a Woods Colt
Didn't this get a mention in Stranger? ISTR Jubal calling one of the girls to take it as dictation, telling her to use a false name and not let him see it again. Philculmer (talk) 08:42, 21 June 2016 (UTC)