Computer songs and poems: A Brighter Grade of SAIL

Original song	A Whiter Shade of Pale
Original artist	Procul Harem
Filk author	MaJoC
Intro	Apologies to Don Knuth, who may never have been involved in the shenanigans portrayed in the first verse; in particular, the equation "CPU instruction bus + D/A + V/F + speaker = tune" may have been specific to Atlas mainframes, which I doubt he had access to. However, the events of the second verse, and of the chorus, are a matter of public record.

A Brighter Grade of SAIL

Das Blinkenlights fandango: Racing disc drives 'cross the floor
Operators kind of seething: But the clowns cried out for more
The cooling fans thrummed harder: Extra heat to blow away
And the siren on the CPU: Piped The Crossing of the Tay
And so it was that later: As we chased the guru's tail
That his source at first assembler: Turned a brighter grade of SAIL.
He said he'd take one season: Eight years later we could see
Still his fists were in the code 'cos: He could not let it be
Once its umpteenth beta version: Had been tested coast-to-coast
We forgave his slight diversion: When development he froze
And so it was that later: As we chased the guru's tail
That his source at first assembler: Turned a brighter grade of SAIL.

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