"Came Along Too Late"

"Came Along Too Late" was a song by Squirt Frog and the Evolving Tadpoles. The song was about the life and conquests of Alexander the Great. The title came from the singer waking up at three a.m. in front of his TV to the sounds of hoofbeats. The set was tuned to the History Channel and the singer "came [awake] too late" for the documentary on Alexander.

The song was mostly written by Charlie Storer with some tweaks from Rob Ferguson's brother Marshall who had studied ancient history.

Literary Note
In the "Author's Note" at the end of Eruption, Turtledove mentions he wrote a earlier version of "Came Along Too Late" when his daughter Rebecca asked for songs on historical themes. Given this history, the song is more elaborate than any other in the novel and consists of three verses and the chorus. Turtledove also indicated it can be sung to the tune of "Josephine Baker" on Al Stewart's album Last Days of the Century.