Shakaar

Originally Appeared Here

Now it's time to move aside, for a bona fide microphone rocker
Never off-key, tell Tarkovsky, O'Brien's in the zone like Stalker(1)
Throwing darts that hit the mark, my boy has got the golden shoulder
While Kira's in her quarters with a spark meant for a votive in a holder
When my dad gives Nerys the news, that there's a new First Minister
And worse yet it's Winn, you know she's up to something sinister
It's about a bunch of reclamators, Kai says Shakaar has stole 'em
And if Kira doesn't sort it out then she'll send Lenaris Holem
But they talk to the colonel about when their enemies were foreign
Instead of all internal, just Bajoran on Bajoran
So they reach an agreement and return to Winn Adami
Say Shakaar will be in charge and she folds like origami.

1. 1979 film from Andrei Tarkovsky, about a mysterious and dangerous site known as the Zone.

Family Business

Originally Appeared Here

When I come back to the quarters and smell the paprika
I know dad's in a good mood and that's when I say eureka
'Cause I know he's a catch but he hasn't had many dates
So I maybe I can hook him up with Captain Kasidy Yates
While Quark gets hit like a stun from a phaser
When his bar receives a visit from Brunt the appraiser
And says his mom's been dealing beetles like Monopoly properties
But a female making profit goes against their popular hypotheses
She won't back down and she stands in defiance
Says they need a new society in the Ferengi Alliance
She thinks the way they get offended by ladies who speak
Stinks like a second-hand stillsuit from Paul Atreides' Boutique(1)
Rom gets his mom to relent, but after Quark leaves,
She admits she put on a shirt so she could hide some up her sleeves
Meantime I'm making matches like Metrons with the Gorn and Kirk(2)
Call me crazy, but I think it might work
when he and Kasidy catch the ball game over on Cestus III(3)
I gotta say it looks like a success to me.

1. A reference to both Paul Atreides of the Dune series, and the Beastie Boys' 1989 album Paul's Boutique.
2. Aliens who forced Kirk and the Gorn captain together to settle their differences in the episode "Arena"
3. Federation colony where Kasidy's brother plays baseball, attacked by the Gorn in the aforementioned episode "Arena".

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.

Fascination

Originally Appeared Here

I don't want to trouble my dad, he's already got his plate full
But I'm worried that I don't have a lot of reason to be grateful
Mardah's off to study entymology, away on Regulus III
And maybe when she's in college, she won't remember me
Pen my troubles to paper and set them on fire for renewal
Vaporize them like a phaser and maybe just a few will
Reach the prophets and I'll find a new love with a quickness
Cause now the crew's running 'round like horny teens with a polywater sickness(1)
Something's up with Mrs. Troi while we're wishing "Peldor joi"(2)
Makes for a raucous party that impresses Keldar's boy(3)
Dad's cracked the case and pins the blame on the ambassador
Explains to the major that must be why I made a pass at her
What we've experienced was a projection of affection
Intended to be aimed in the constable's direction
A combination of Zanthi fever and the depth of her emotion
Can't have Odo leave her lonesome just like Darmok on the ocean.(4)

1. Sickness from the TOS episode "The Naked Time" which reduced the crew's inhibitions.
2. Traditionally greeting during the Bajoran Gratitude Festival.
3. Refers to Quark, son of Keldar.
4. Tamarian metaphor for isolation and loneliness, describing Darmok before he landed on the island and met his friend Jalad.

Civil Defense

Originally Appeared Here


Converting ore processing to a deuterium refinery
When O'Brien sets it off in the depths of the binary
Subroutines that run things on the station
A security system becomes a sticky situation
Comm comes on, "Bajoran workers, please, your attention 
Lay down your arms and cease all your dissension"
Dad stands up as the real leader of the revolt
The computer doesn't buy it and it's time for us to bolt
When all our efforts escalate the counter-insurgency
A small snafu has turned into an emergency
When a disruptor appears and a crewman is shot
Never thought they'd be happy to see Gul Dukat
He says he'll help if he can place a garrison
A rock and a hard place would be the best comparison
But Gul Dukat gets caught when he tries to leave this place
And he has to stay and contemplate the depths of his disgrace
Dad can't get to Ops, we're all stopped by force fields
But he's still close enough to channel the reaction to the shields.

The Abandoned

Originally Appeared Here

Gambler says to let it ride and then he gives a whirl
Forgot the first rule of Dabo- watch the wheel, not the girl
You know that I'm in love with my Dabo wheel spinner
But I'm still unprepared to bring her home for dinner
You see, I'm worried that my dad just can't be impartial
More of a Cardassian trial(1) than a fair court martial
'Cause it seems like his judgement's been passed in advance
Made up his mind about Mardah before she ever had a chance
But she explains about my skills and my knack for an end rhyme
While the doctor and the chief are hunting for an enzyme
They say this drug dependency is a cold blooded thing to do
Even to an enemy soldier they want to analyze like Hugh(2)
So the Jem'hadar's discharged to the custody of the Constable
As the one the boy will listen to Odo has to be responsible
But there's nothing he can do, it's in his blood to fight
All that's left for Odo is tell the major she was right.

1. As established in "Tribunal", the verdict of all Cardassian trials is decided before they begin, and the verdict is always guilty.
2. Borg youth recovered by the Enterprise-D crew in "I, Borg". Picard debated the ethics of using a sentient being as a weapon, even against their most powerful enemies.

The House of Quark

Originally Appeared Here

Sorry 'bout last week, didn't mean to procrastinate
But y'all understand that sometimes rappin' has to wait
'Cause dad took his officers, and even roped in Odo
Left me behind to run this 'hood like I was Robert DeSoto(1)
Now they come back through the wormhole with news of the Founders
Everyone feels unsafe and the businesses all flounder
Quark's clientele picks up when he tells a tall tale
That's all exaggeration, like Li Nalas and Zarael(2)
He's taken by Grilka and Tumek(3)- I think I met that guy before-
To come with them to Qo'noS and help them beat D'Ghor
Quark uncovers the brother's scheme, it's one without honor
D'Ghor responds with a challenge, and Quark's sure he's a goner.
But when he'd kill an unarmed coward, Gowron is shocked
D'Ghor's cast out of the Council as a dishonorable petaQ(4)
Quark's counting latinum in the bar, back to his old habits
Recounts the story for Rom just like Lenny and the rabbits(5).

1. Captain of the Hood, and former commanding officer of Will Riker
2. Bajoran resistance leader Li Nalas's reputation grew based on the story of him defeating Gul Zarale in hand-to-hand combat. Nalas later confessed he simply shot the unarmed Zarale in his underwear.
3. A reference to Jake's previous rap battle against Tumak.
4. Klingon curse word
5. The character Lennie in Of Mice and Men is sustained by his friend George's stories of a future where  he lives off the fat of the land and tends rabbits.