So he told them his scheme
for a Saviour Machine
they called it the Prayer
its answer was law ….
They’ve got earthquake machines and UFOs
and black helicopters wherever we go ….
74. David Bowie, “Saviour Machine” (1970):
75. The Vandals, “If the Government Could Read My Mind” (1998):
We scanned the skies with rainbow eyes
and saw machines of every shape and size
we talked with tall Venusians passing through ….
Citizens of the universe, recording angels
we have returned to claim the pyramids
partying on the mothership ….
72. David Bowie, “Memory of a Free Festival” (1970):
73. Parliament, “Mothership Connection” (1975):
Two songs about apocalypse and mass death. Bowie’s was inspired by the Chernobyl incident.
70. David Bowie, “Time Will Crawl” (1987):
Some inventive choreography here:
71. Honeydogs, “10,000 Years” (2004):
Two songs inspired by Ray Bradbury stories:
68. David Bowie, “Karma Man” (1970):
69. Hawkwind, “Fahrenheit 451” (1982):
We broke the ruptured structure built of age
our weapons were the tongues of crying rage ….
Past the shiny mylar towers
past the ravaged tenements
to a place we can’t remember
for a time we won’t forget ….
66. David Bowie, “Cygnet Committee” (1969):
67. Warren Zevon, “Transverse City” (1989):
Keep your electric eye on me, babe ….
You’ve got X-ray eyes ….
64. David Bowie, “Moonage Daydream” (1972):
65. Laurie Anderson, “Gravity’s Angel” (1984):
Anderson explains:
“Thomas Pynchon I admire very much. … Gravity’s Rainbow is just so beautiful because it’s very multidimensional. … I wanted to make an opera of that book, actually, and I wrote to him and asked him if that would be OK (I actually found him; he’s quite reclusive). And he wrote me this funny letter. He said, ‘You can do it, but you can only use banjo.’ And so I thought, ‘Well, thanks. I don’t know if I could do it like that.’”