For starters, three songs about … well, people and/or things in space. That’s all I’ve got.
145. Leslie Fish, “Wobblies From Space” (1977):
146. Mel Brooks, “Jews In Space” (1981; from History of the World, Part I):
147. Super Furry Animals, “(Drawing) Rings Around the World” (2001):
And as a bonus:
148. Jeff and Maya Bohnhoff, “Midichlorian Rhapsody” (2010):
I would have included this next one with August 27’s Star Wars songs if I’d known about it. (CHT Paul Rubin.)
Two visions of the future:
143. Black Sabbath, “Supernaut” (1972):
144. Deltron 3030, “3030” (2000):
This song features nods to various cyberpunk and cyberpunk-related works and tropes, including Neuromancer, Ghost in the Shell, Neo-Tokyo, The Matrix, and Metropolis:
140. Vera Lynn, “We’ll Meet Again” (1939), as featured in Dr. Strangelove (1964):
This song was never originally intended to be about surviving in government bunkers during a nuclear war, but thanks to Kubrick’s use of it at the end of his dark Cold War comedy, it’s difficult nowadays to think of it in any other connection:
141. Megadeth, “Hangar 18” (1990):
And this song is about life in one of those bunkers:
142. Leslie Fish, “Digwell Carol” (1989):
And this song – like Fish’s similarly themed “Hello! Remember Us,” featured in an earlier installment of this SciFi SongFest – takes the perspective of those left outside the bunkers. (“Hello! Remember Us” is better, though.)
Two songs about, well, I’ll let you figure out the common theme:
138. Rush, “Countdown” (1982):
139. Europe, “Final Countdown” (1986):
Aliens visit Earth, conclude that everyone here is crazy, and decide not to make contact – or else aliens visit Earth and do make contact, and the contacted person is regarded as crazy. It’s always something.
135. Ella Fitzgerald, “Two Little Men in a Flying Saucer” (1951):
136. Tool, “Rosetta Stoned” (2006):
137. Sneaky Sound System, “UFO” (2007):
The video for this one is filled with visual callbacks to 2001: A Space Odyssey:
Same song, different video:
Two anti-musical dystopias:
133. Simon and Garfunkel, “The Sound of Silence” (1966):
134. Rush, “2112” (1976):
Rush’s adaptation of Ayn Rand’s Anthem, with the protagonist’s rediscovery of the light bulb replaced with a rediscovery of the guitar.
This song has the very un-Randian problem that the bad guys sound cooler than the good guy ….