Two post-apocalyptic songs:
293. Nine Inch Nails, “The Beginning of the End” (2007):
294. Leslie Fish, “Better Than Who?” (1989):
Tag Archives | Can’t Stop the Muzak
SciFi SongFest, Songs 286-292
Seven songs of paranoia and surveillance – some more science-fictional than others, but hey.
286. Louis Armstrong, “’Zat You, Santa Claus?” (1953):
Plus a cover by Buster Poindexter:
287. Alan Parsons Project, “Eye in the Sky” (1982):
288. Judas Priest, “Electric Eye” (1982):
289. Men at Work, “Who Can It Be Now?” (1982):
290. Police, “Every Breath You Take” (1983):
One couple told me ‘Oh we love that song; it was the main song played at our wedding!’ I thought, ‘Well, good luck’. I think the song is very, very sinister and ugly and people have actually misinterpreted it as being a gentle little love song, when it’s quite the opposite. — Sting
291. Rockwell, “Somebody’s Watching Me” (1984):
Note: not Lew Rockwell.
292. Modest Mouse, “3rd Planet” (2000):
SciFi SongFest, Songs 284-285
Two songs about angry cyborgs:
284. Fear Factory, “H-K (Hunter-Killer)” (1995):
285. Symphony X, “Dehumanized” (2011):
SciFi SongFest, Songs 280-283
Four songs about space travel:
280. Sarah Brightman and Hot Gossip, “I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper” (1978):
Yes, that Sarah Brightman. Yes, this exists. In two versions!
This song references Flash Gordon, Darth Vader, droids, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Starfleet, the Federation, and of course Heinlein’s Starship Troopers – plus the opening notes are borrowed from Also Sprach Zarathustra. It’s like hyper-70s disco filk!
A somewhat more elaborate version:
Incidentally, the notes of “One night in Bangkok and the world’s your oyster” (just that line, not the whole song) seem to be borrowed from this:
One night in Bangkok and the world’s your oyster ….
I lost my heart to a star ship trooper ….
281. Harry Nilsson, “Spaceman” (1972):
282. Lorraine Bowen’s “Space” (2001):
283. Kesha, “Spaceship” (2017):
SciFi SongFest, Songs 277-279
Three songs comparing love with space travel:
277. Duke Ellington, “Moon Maiden” (1969):
Written to coincide with the actual moon landing, this song features some clever lyrics with an astronaut’s journey to the moon serving as a metaphor for courtship, and/or vice versa (“I’m just a fly-by-night guy … I made my approach and then revolved”)
You can hear the lyrics more clearly in this version, where he switches from singing them to speaking them:
278. Police, “Walking on the Moon” (1979):
279. Justin Timberlake, “Spaceship Coupe” (2013):
SciFi SongFest, Songs 275-276
Two secret scientific experiments, one governmental and one private. The governmental one is reminiscent of Project X in Atlas Shrugged; the private one, of H. G. Wells’ “The Chronic Argonauts.”
275. Kate Bush, “Experiment IV” (1986):
(So what happened to Experiments I, II, and III? Or is it safest not to ask?)
276. Tom Waits, “What’s He Building In There?” (1999):