Explorers

Originally Appeared Here

Dad's coming back from Bajor with a beard and a plan
Take a light ship to Cardassia just to prove that he can
So we set sail for adventure, just father and son
Quarters are cramped  but it don't bother us none
Three nights and days, we sail the space(1)
Without any warp, going at a snail's pace
So I show my dad some stories, he says they have potential
But if I want it to be real, more experience is essential
For now I hit the hammock, 'cause it's time that I was crashin'
Dreaming of some yamok sauce(2) to flavor up these rations
Suddenly we're swept up by a tachyon eddy
Starts tearing our sails while we try to hold steady
Dukat's on the line, says they just found the scene
Of feet in ancient time on Cardassia's mountains green(3).

1. From "Louie, Louie", one of Miles O'Brien's favorite sea shanties.
2. Cardassian condiment first mentioned in "Progress"
3. A reference to the William Blake poem, "And did those feet in ancient time", which became the lyrics to the anthem "Jerusalem" sung by Bashir and O'Brien in the episode.

Destiny

Originally Appeared Here

There's a cleric waiting outside of the ops office, he
Has got an urgent need to tell my pops of a prophecy
About three vipers comin' home to their nest in the sky
But dad thinks his request would best be handled by the Kai
Won't get wrapped up in religion like Picard on Mintaka(1)
Though it's a part he has to play, it's his mask of Masaka(2)
So he works with Cardassia on a joint operation
To set up a relay for cross-quadrant communication
They find when they scanned that sword made of stars
Left a silithium strand to keep the wormhole ajar
Yarka says the prophets had this planned the whole time,
So now the other quadrant can hear me beaming out my rhymes.

1. In TNG's "Who Watches the Watchers?" Captain Picard is mistaken for a deity by the people of Mintaka III.
2. In "Masks", an alien probe forces Data and Picard to act out an ancient mythological story.

Life Support

Originally Appeared Here


Making plans with Leanne, she's my cute little vixen
While Winn's making inroads to Cardassia like China and Nixon(1)
She suspects her ships been sabotaged and calls for a medic
Stimulating his synapses and revivin' the Vedek
There's hope for recovery, though it's too early to tell
Still in no condition to negotiate with Legate Turrel
They're overridden by Winn, his old rival who wants
Bariel to advise her on legalism and nuance
While I'm double-dating with Nog, and my boy's being rude
Last straw's when he asks his girl to cut up his food
Got a disrespect for women that his uncle and Rom taught
I'd have seen better manners if we had stuck with the Dom Jot
And spent the evening with Naussicans who stab through the heart(2)
But you know I couldn't fall in love with an artificial part
Like the Vedek on vasokin, Bashir as his modern Prometheus(3)
Replace him bit by bit like he was the U.S.S. Theseus(4)
Winn doesn't give a damn once she's satisfied her vanity
Let him die with dignity while he's got a shred of humanity

1. Much as Commander Sisko says Winn is the last person he expected to make a peace effort with Cardassia, the ardently anti-communist Richard Nixon surprised many by improving relations with China. It was later quoted as a Vulcan proverb by Spock in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.
2. A reference to events in Picard's youth shown in "Tapestry"
3. "The Modern Prometheus" is the alternate title to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
4. Refers to the paradox of the ship of Theseus, which has over its lifetime, had every single board replaced, yet is still considered the same ship.