This is the 7th song of the G5 cycle, which means (if you have been paying attention) that it is the twin song of "Climbing the Blue Pavilion" - which is a bit obvious, perhaps, if you think about it, since the other one is about HAM and this one is about Laika (ok, it's not so obvious after all, as the lyrics are rather cryptic).
I always found it a bit paradoxical that humans, supposedly such an advanced species, only came in 3rd when it came to space travel. All the more kudos to apes and dogs!
The lyrics are once again picking up on some Egyptian (and Greek ... and Bergensian!) threads that are weaved throughout that first demo, and there are some references to more modern literature as well. And speaking of references (of which there is a ton in ALL of these songs), I did not realize until after the fact that this song, quite fittingly, has a musical quote from "Satelite of Love"! So the subconscious truly works in mysterious ways ...
I think the melody for this one came to me while I was at a former acquaintance's house at Stord. I know that there are at least two instrumental demos that were recorded before the current demo [Recorded at Estenstad, 19-22 of August 2003], and that it was re-recorded in 2009 for the CMI EP that never happened - this latter recording exists in three or four mixes, which have not been released yet, apart from this stellar version by Her Ethic:
prematurerecords.bandcamp.com/track/the-death-of-cleopatra
It has been performed live on several occasions, both solo and with a band (I usually tell the musicians to play as if they were performing at Danskebåten while sipping umbrellaed cocktails), but my favourite live rendition was performed at SKA TV (which year?) together with Terje Nicolaisen (from Dekadanse, Sister Rain, Euro Pals, etc) - I have a recording of that, so perhaps it will surface at some point.
from
Muscae Volitantes,
released August 14, 2013
Terje Øverås: Korg R-55 drum machine, Telecaster, and vocals - everything run through a Boss GT-5 (notice the recurring 5's!).
Fun fact: I did not have access to a bass guitar at the time of this recording, so what you're hearing is actually a Telecaster run through an octaver.