Sci-fi songs

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

One of Chip Taylor's finest (aside from the classic "my mom was a pisser") was called "Back in 98 - Before the Cloning". It's a heart warming account of "when a man was really a man". How about Bowie's "Diamond Dogs", a whole album about the roguish pranks of "ten million peploids"? Or "Calling Occupants of interplanetary most extraordinary craft"?

What do we think of songs with a sci-fi edge? Are they good....or a bit shit?

― Chris Leonard, Thursday, 18 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

CLouds Across The Moon is the most heartbreaking song ever. When she gets cut off in her call to her space soldier boyfriend and she says "Speak to you again - next YEAR!!!" it gets me in the guts.

― Pete, Thursday, 18 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

science fiction is better than unscience fiction, as proved by...

― mark s, Thursday, 18 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

No no - science fiction is better than science fact (bah no going faster than the speed of light....)

― Pete, Thursday, 18 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Hey Ptee who did that song?? I heard it on the radio a few years back in very bad PMT state and it made me cry. Does War of the Worlds count? Sci Fi songs are obv GRATE, almost as good as trucking songs. Does anyone know of any trucking/sci fi blends?

― Sarah, Thursday, 18 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I really want to get the Leonard Nimoy album...and of course Man or Astro-man?, Servotron and thee Shatners are all the bees knees. Therefore, science-fiction songs are very cool. Though, I'm sorta undecided about the SABALON GLITZ album I have.

My love of Calling Occupants is unfaltering.

― jel --, Thursday, 18 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

My god!! Leonard Nimoys BILBO BAGGINS song!!! That's AMAZING! I always have the urge to sing 'Bilbooo... the fastest milkman in the west'!

― Sarah, Thursday, 18 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Blooming heck!!...and half the songs by the Pixies and Frank Black are totally sci-fi!!

― jel --, Thursday, 18 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

only in the pages of 2000AD, where Ace Garp of Ace Trucking co. knew many rousing space trucking songs.

― misterjones, Thursday, 18 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Its by The Rah Band - circa '85. Great to play at a wedding.

― Pete, Thursday, 18 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Sarah - you mean you have not heard "The Trucker And The UFO"????

― Tom, Thursday, 18 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

a lot of dogy prog was about things like this. The Rush album named after the year 20something. One of my teenage friends was devoted to it. Basically it posited a universe where in a Tanya Headon stylee all music was FORBADE and everyone did other things instead. Tehn a young man finds a gleaming strat behind a waterfall no less and when his fingers brush its centuries old strings he hears...

Utter codswallop.

― misterjones, Thursday, 18 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Wasn't that based on some Ayn R*nd drivel?

― RickyT, Thursday, 18 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Sarah: I guess War of the Worlds must count. It's splendid!! The chances of anything coming from mars, are a million to one he said. My computer plays that when I switch it on. That may be sad. But still they come.

― Chris Leonard, Thursday, 18 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Finding a strat behind a waterfall is a GRATE idea for an album and one that I shall be giving a lot of though to. In this strange music less jungle I hope that they will also find the blessed Theremin tree. WHAT ARE THE CHANCES?!

― Sarah, Thursday, 18 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I guess an example of a "science fact" song would be the periodic table song by dr demento(?) or something. I got it in Chemistry at school. It ends "there might be many others but they haven't been discovered", which still rings true as I'm sure many elements have been discovered since the song was conceived. Which means it's wrong to listen to it now.

Hold on, you're right! Science Fiction is far better than Science Fact.

― Chris Leonard, Thursday, 18 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

But both of those pale when it comes to MATHS as all science is LIES and DELUSION! Then again Maths Fiction only = Fermats Last Thereom and perhaps Cryptonomicon and stuff like that hmph. Then again Maths is a langwidge all of it's own so again beats science HA HA into a cocked hat and x>kfs+==-23457htg{2+4]] NEGATIVE SIX arf arf to you lot.

Then again I can't think of any maths songs apart from... 2 4 6 8 who do we appreciate etc etc or the short jingle of 5...4...3...2...1 (daddadadadadadada) 54321! 54321!

― Sarah, Thursday, 18 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

_2112_ was one of the first music albums I remember loving.

― Dan Perry, Thursday, 18 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Rush R rad => everything they evah did evah is based on Ayn Rand. Alan Greenspan = one of Rand's exes (fact!!) (actually they may not actually have DONE IT but otherwise fact!!)

Hence this ridiculous exchange.

― mark s, Thursday, 18 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

0! 8! 9! 8! double five double five double five!!

― mark s, Thursday, 18 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

oh and Kraftwerk banged on about 'Numbers' quite a bit. I think German is the third best langwidge after a) maths b) uk english because German for five is FUNF! Much better than weedy old CINQ.

― Sarah, Thursday, 18 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

sesame street - onetwothreefourfive, sixseveneightnine...

― misterjones, Thursday, 18 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Top maths action in Vinyl Countdown by the Cuban Boys.

― Graham, Thursday, 18 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

2112 by Rush? It also has a song on it called "The Twilight Zone". Is that sci fi or horror? Sci fi doesn't feature as much in music as I would have thought. Except for Chip - who obviously is working on his concept album.

― Linda, Thursday, 18 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Is 'Einstein a-go-go' by Landscape a mathsfact song?

O-or 'Tuh-tuh-t-t-tesla Gurlz' by OMD?

― The Ghastly Fop, Thursday, 18 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

whole of ELO 'Time' LP
Zager and Evans - In the Year 2525
the periodic table song is by Tom Lehrer (Dr Demento is a deejay)

― michael, Thursday, 18 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Babylon Zoo - Spaceman!!!!!

i think in general they are a bit shit. except for 'Calling Occupants ...'

― michael, Thursday, 18 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

And of course...the Sci-Fi Song by the Philistines Jr!

― jel --, Thursday, 18 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Science Fiction: Sci Fi Party Unser Flug durch die Kosmische Musik - Cosmic Jokers.

Science Fact: Tesla Girls, Electricity, and many, many more - OMD.

It's a draw!

― PM, Thursday, 18 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Anyone mentioned Chrome? Plenty of songs about aliens and robots having deviant sex.

Then there was the Martin Degville solo album of 1991, which I have never heard but which was memorably described by the Stud Brothers as featuring "sexy planets, sex robots and nuclear powered sex machines."

― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 18 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Surely there's loads of Bowie apart from Dianmond Dogs? How many songs with Star.. in the title?
Hmmm, Yes: Astral Traveller (OK so that's druggy, too), Starship Trooper

Roxy Music: In Every Dream Home A Heartache, Ladytron

I like all of these. I think I have now grown out of my Hawkwind phase, though.

― David, Thursday, 18 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

HAWKWIND HAWKWIND HAWKWIND

― , Thursday, 18 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

i don't "grow out of" stuff

― , Thursday, 18 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Black Sabbath's "Iron Man" is of course the classic SF song, along with damn near everything by Blue Oyster Cult.

― Chris Barrus, Friday, 19 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

'The Science Fiction' by Hefner, which is actually not about science fiction at all, but what the hell.

Diamond Dogs = based on 1984, right? that record either sounds utterly ludicrous or the best thing ever. I change my mind every time I listen to it.

The Deltron 3030 record! state of the nation album using the conceit of a rapping superhero in the year 3030. Brilliantbrilliantbrilliant.

And the Pixies.

So in general, good. Whee.

― thom, Friday, 19 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

SF songs = classic. The evidence: Lt. Worf & Chewbacca (Arsonists), In The Twilight Zone (Astors), Death Star (Atari Teenage Riot), Intergalactic (Beastie Boys), Big Eyed Beans From Venus (Captain Beefheart), several on DJ Teebee presents Black Science Labs, The Attack of the Giant Ants (Blondie), A Trip To The Moon (Gary US Bonds), ESP (Buzzcocks), I Married A Monster From Outer Space (John Cooper-Clarke), I Come From Another Planet Baby (Julian Cope), In A Far Future (Current Value), Robot 415 (Miles Davis), Transmitting Live From Mars (De La Soul), One-way Ticket To Pluto (Dead Kennedys), Spacer (Sheila B Devotion), Voyage Through the Multiverse (Dream Warriors), Not Alien (Elementz of Noize), Starbase 23 (Grooverider), Alien Report (A Guy Called Gerald), Space Flight (I-Roy), Mr UFO Man (Kelis), Space: 1999 (Killdozer), Comet Melody 2 (Kraftwerk), Kloakin Device (Krust), Space Shanty (Leftfield), Starship (MC5), Ghosts of American Astronauts (Mekons), Robot Replica (Jeff Mills), Frankenstein (New York Dolls), Dark Star (Nico - D&B), First Contact (Omni Trio), Another Girl Another Planet (Only Ones), Solaris (Photek), Mysterons (Portishead), Brave New World (PIL), Invasion Of The Octopus People (Q-Bert), Flying Saucer Attack and 2000AD and Destination Venus (Rezillos), Here Come the Martian Martians and Mr UFO Man (Jonathan Richman), Flyin' Saucer Rock 'n' Roll (Billy Lee Riley And The Little Green Men), Mothership (Ed Rush & Nico), Death Race 2000 (Sewer Zombies), Where's Captain Kirk (Spizz), Roswell (Tech Itch), Aliens (Total Eclipse), Fifth Dimension Weirdness (DJ T- Rock), Twilight Zone (2 Unlimited), Your Ace From Outer Space (U- Roy), Walking On The Surface Of The Moon (Wreckless Eric), Genetic Engineering (X-Ray Spex), Judge Dread (Prince Buster), Human Fly (Cramps), Superheroes (Daft Punk).

― Martin Skidmore, Saturday, 20 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

They Might Be Giants, "For Science"

― Prude, Saturday, 20 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

BLIMEY have we missed out the top notch SCIENCE FRICTION by XTC?! For shamus.

― Sarah, Monday, 22 April 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.