Louise Thaden and Marvel Crossen raced in a rigged 1929 women's air race and chose to keep flying anyway, opening the sky for future aviators. The song connects their choice to Jessica Meir and Christina Koch's all-female spacewalk, tracing a lineage of women fighting for inclusion in high-risk fields.
Chapters
I would love to welcome all of the people for Things Worth Fighting For to the stage, and also Taylor Hatch, our lovely writer of it, who is going to tell us what the heck is going on in this song. Thank you. All right, so Things Worth Fighting For takes place at a point in this show where the pilots have been racing for a while, and they've realized that the race is rigged. They've been set up to fail, and they have to determine whether or not they're going to continue on. So Louise Thaden is a little bit conflicted about this. She is not sure if she wants to put her life on the line. And Marvel Crossen knows that they have to continue on if they're going to prove to the world that women deserve a place in the skies forever. So I'm going to spoil it for you. They do continue on. And because they continue on, they blow open the doors for women in aviation. And because of what they did in 1929, I was able to turn on my TV today and watch astronauts Jessica Meir and Christina Koch perform successfully the very first all-female spacewalk at the International Space Station. So this is things worth fighting for.
They will see who we are. As louder than thunder, hotter than flame, we burn. We admit that we're scared and less than prepared, but it's more than a game as we step up to claim our turn. Though we might lose face, there are dreams worth chasing, goals worth racing toward. Though our wings might break, it's a risk we'll take. There are things worth fighting for. This is a choice we cannot make lightly, although I applaud your ambition. But flying this course at high speeds is dicey. Even the cost of ambition. And judging by things so far, we should all be warned, we could be out there like kites in a storm. We are seizing our chance. We are leading this dance. Though nobody else will offer a helping hand. This is due Or die. We will prove we can fly. We've chosen the place to finally make our stand. Though our hands might shake, there are bonds worth breaking, dreams worth waking for. Though the earth might quake, it's a leap we'll take. There are things worth fighting for. Fighting for. And if we should lose all that we have in the name of our cause, I know there is no shame going down in flames. There's no way I'd rather go. Though we might lose face, there are dreams worth chasing, goals worth racing towards. Though our wings might break, it's a risk we'll take. There are things worth fighting. Though our hands might only get coarse as we break its way. It's way too risky. How can you be fine with so many unknowns? I don't have to do this. You're still not listening. We're moving on, whatever it takes. I hope we're that I'm wrong for all of our sakes, and this isn't one giant mistake. We will stand our ground, we will not back down. There are things worth fighting for.
