KEY POINTS:
He may be gone but he'll live on in our wallets.
That's the message of a song commemorating the death of Sir Edmund Hillary, recorded by New Zealand artist Trillion.
Trillion recorded the song, called
A video grab of the song on YouTube.
He may be gone but he'll live on in our wallets.
That's the message of a song commemorating the death of Sir Edmund Hillary, recorded by New Zealand artist Trillion.
Trillion recorded the song, called
Humble Mountain Man
, on January 12, 2008, the day after Sir Ed passed away.
The music video for the song - which features dozens of New Zealanders holding the five dollar note that bears Sir Edmund's image - is now sweeping the internet.
It ends with a voiceover calling for people to keep a five dollar note in their pocket in case they meet someone who needs it more than they do and carries a link to Sir Edmund's
.
The full lyrics for the song and video are below.
Humble Mountain Man by Trillion
Chorus: You may be gone but you live on in my wallet
You'll never be forgotten in the bottom of my pocket
You've taught us by example - translated back to our inner fibre
And you leave behind a wealth greater than that within a fiver.
He was our superman with a heart of gold
When he was cast they blew apart the mold
A modest champion - who'd walk the extra mile
And never forget to smile
A practical chap - he was quite unique
In '53 he climbed the world's highest peak
Others who tried came to early fates
So Ed and Tensing, left behind their burly mates
They almost made it to the pearly gates
And told the gate keeper - see you at a further date
He gave half a toss, and knocked the bastard off,
With mask and parka off and a nasty cough
And then he blasted off in the Antarctic frost
In a tractor made tough enough to last across
It's not the mountains that we conquer but ourselves he said,
And now he's dead.
So cheers to Ed, and raise our beers to Ed
And all the summits we'll be climbing in the years ahead
(chorus)
The legend of Sir Edmund Percival Hillary
Is pulsing through our heads circuits of capillaries
He climbed mountain tops just for the hell of it
An ordinary man - with no need for embellishment
With pack on back he inched up a tight crack
A few precise whacks of his ice axe
And he was on top of the world looking down over creation
Even queeny lizard breath rose to the occasion
Why can't we all win - we either tackle or run
We're taught - the battle is won when we're packing a gun
It can never be done through military power
The battle's only won in humility's hour
Challenging ourselves beyond the daily grind
Is the only way the darkness ever stays behind
I won't tire or stop 'til my eyelids drop
Keep on striving 'til I rise to the top
Tomorrow all my plans may crumble
But I'll still show respect and stay humble
We could wipe away the tears and turn away
Or listen to the lesson we can learn today
Our knight baffled belief when he wrestled the beast
Now his vessel has ceased, and we're bereft in the grief
From north to south, west and east
May our humble mountain man Ever-rest in peace
(chorus)
Two police officers were shaken and their patrol car is likely to be written off.