100 Scifi-Themed Songs, best or not
October 24, 2014 10:55 AM Subscribe
io9 has come up with a surprisingly good list of 100 science-fiction-themed songs. The comments are actually pretty great, with a lot more songs. There's rap, heavy metal, folk, polka, you name it. Still missing: more coverage of songs in languages other than English.
Related previous posts on AskMe (2, 3, 4, 5), Mefi, io9.
Related previous posts on AskMe (2, 3, 4, 5), Mefi, io9.
94. "Transverse City" by Warren Zevon
Should be #1, this list is trash. *loads Thompson Gun*
posted by Potomac Avenue at 11:06 AM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
Should be #1, this list is trash. *loads Thompson Gun*
posted by Potomac Avenue at 11:06 AM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
Destination Venus by the Rezillos is the best SF-themed pop song ever, sorry.
Surely we also count much of OMD's Dazzle Ships and The Golden Hour of the Future.
posted by Frowner at 11:07 AM on October 24, 2014 [5 favorites]
Surely we also count much of OMD's Dazzle Ships and The Golden Hour of the Future.
posted by Frowner at 11:07 AM on October 24, 2014 [5 favorites]
They also chose the wrong Janelle Monae song and neglected Blue Oyster Cult (HOW?!!!) and Hawkwind. And Spacehog. (Though I think most of those have been covered in the comments, which really add to the main article.)
posted by wintersweet at 11:10 AM on October 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by wintersweet at 11:10 AM on October 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
And if only you were wintermute instead of wintersweet, this post would also be eponhysterical.
posted by Frowner at 11:10 AM on October 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by Frowner at 11:10 AM on October 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
No Purple People Eater?
posted by Kabanos at 11:10 AM on October 24, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by Kabanos at 11:10 AM on October 24, 2014 [3 favorites]
What you mean is a surprisingly good list if you ignore the fact that Another Girl, Another Planet is missing, right?
Would've put 53 miles West of Venus by the B-52s in there myself.
posted by N-stoff at 11:11 AM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
Would've put 53 miles West of Venus by the B-52s in there myself.
posted by N-stoff at 11:11 AM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
OK they have Mr. Roboto, but this is the definitive Styx Sci-Fi song.
And then, it's also missing the antithesis of that song, Neil Young's After the Gold Rush.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 11:12 AM on October 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
And then, it's also missing the antithesis of that song, Neil Young's After the Gold Rush.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 11:12 AM on October 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
PS Weezer's Lost Sci-Fi Rock Opera Would Have Been Even Better Than Pinkerton
posted by Potomac Avenue at 11:13 AM on October 24, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by Potomac Avenue at 11:13 AM on October 24, 2014 [3 favorites]
Leaving this one out is incomprehensible.
posted by George_Spiggott at 11:18 AM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by George_Spiggott at 11:18 AM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
The Grifters - Get Outta That Spaceship and Fight Like a Man
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:25 AM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:25 AM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
This is the greatest list of all time in that it'll be picked apart by nerds* like no other list, ever. Genius!
*not meant as an insult. I am a nerd, and a lover of nerds.
posted by bondcliff at 11:25 AM on October 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
*not meant as an insult. I am a nerd, and a lover of nerds.
posted by bondcliff at 11:25 AM on October 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
Sometimes I think Life on Mars was the best song of the 20th century, but then I come to my senses and remember that Oh! You Pretty Things was the best song of the 20th century. I know the list was already pretty Bowie-saturated, but it does seem like a misstep to leave off a song that is both:
- the best song, and also
- an Arthur C. Clarke novel.
Not so much science fiction as science class, but I like the lyrics in Eddie From Ohio's Moons of Jupiter.
posted by bondcliff at 11:30 AM on October 24, 2014
posted by bondcliff at 11:30 AM on October 24, 2014
Missing from this list:
Third Stone From the Sun
1983 A Merman I Should Turn To Be
both by Jimi Hendrix, who was practically science fiction himself.
posted by wabbittwax at 11:32 AM on October 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
Third Stone From the Sun
1983 A Merman I Should Turn To Be
both by Jimi Hendrix, who was practically science fiction himself.
posted by wabbittwax at 11:32 AM on October 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
Devo aren't known for sci-fi songs, but at least some of them mention "young alien types" or "suburban robots," even if they aren't literal aliens and robots. Freedom of Choice ain't got any science fiction in it. At all.
I get the feeling the author of this piece didn't know anything about Devo beyond the imagery, just watched a few videos on YouTube to confirm their assumptions, came away empty handed, but nevertheless said, "Fuck it, this'll do."
posted by Sys Rq at 11:36 AM on October 24, 2014 [3 favorites]
I get the feeling the author of this piece didn't know anything about Devo beyond the imagery, just watched a few videos on YouTube to confirm their assumptions, came away empty handed, but nevertheless said, "Fuck it, this'll do."
posted by Sys Rq at 11:36 AM on October 24, 2014 [3 favorites]
A while back I overheard some people talking about a show they were watching on Netflix, and I was very disappointed once I got back to my computer and figured out they were talking about Knights of Sidonia, not Knights of Cydonia.
posted by ckape at 11:36 AM on October 24, 2014
posted by ckape at 11:36 AM on October 24, 2014
I don't know if Big Eyed Beans from Venus counts, but everyone should listen to it anyway.
posted by sobarel at 11:37 AM on October 24, 2014
posted by sobarel at 11:37 AM on October 24, 2014
Yeah, clearly the author picked Freedom of Choice because it's got the weirdest, ugliest costumes in the video. That said, though, I think more or less any DEVO song counts as science fiction, given that the driving force behind pretty much all of the band's output is the idea that we are all always-already stuck in a bad science fiction story, since we're devolved from a line of evil sex-crazed mutant brain-eating apes.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 11:43 AM on October 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 11:43 AM on October 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
Missing: Earth Girl Helen Brown [NSFW]
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 11:43 AM on October 24, 2014
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 11:43 AM on October 24, 2014
Brian Eno - No One Receiving
T. Rex - Planet Queen
The Majestic Arrows - Going to Make a Time Machine
Thirteen Women / Thirteen Men
Rufus Thomas - Funky Robot
Roky Erickson - Creature with the Atom Brain
The Eternals - Remove Ya
The Cramps - Human Fly
Half Japanese - Trouble in the Water
Jonzun Crew - Space Is The Place
Chrome - Slip it to the Android
Hawkwind - Silver Machine
MC5- Starship
The Magnetic Fields - Josephine
posted by hydrophonic at 11:45 AM on October 24, 2014 [5 favorites]
T. Rex - Planet Queen
The Majestic Arrows - Going to Make a Time Machine
Thirteen Women / Thirteen Men
Rufus Thomas - Funky Robot
Roky Erickson - Creature with the Atom Brain
The Eternals - Remove Ya
The Cramps - Human Fly
Half Japanese - Trouble in the Water
Jonzun Crew - Space Is The Place
Chrome - Slip it to the Android
Hawkwind - Silver Machine
MC5- Starship
The Magnetic Fields - Josephine
posted by hydrophonic at 11:45 AM on October 24, 2014 [5 favorites]
What a crap list.(I really hate IO9.)
Children of the Sun isn't on there, there's nothing off ELO's "Time" album, no mention of the utterly delightful Folk Songs for the 21st Century by the late great Sheldon Allman? (This last album is a delight, and you owe it to yourself to at least hear his take on 1984.)
posted by Catblack at 11:45 AM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
Children of the Sun isn't on there, there's nothing off ELO's "Time" album, no mention of the utterly delightful Folk Songs for the 21st Century by the late great Sheldon Allman? (This last album is a delight, and you owe it to yourself to at least hear his take on 1984.)
posted by Catblack at 11:45 AM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
Space Girl and Starship Trooper, with better videos.
posted by MartinWisse at 11:46 AM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by MartinWisse at 11:46 AM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
Still missing: more coverage of songs in languages other than English.
Gilberto Gil - Cerebro Electronico
posted by hydrophonic at 11:47 AM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
Gilberto Gil - Cerebro Electronico
posted by hydrophonic at 11:47 AM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
I guess the entirety of Jeff Wayne's rock musical version of War of the Worlds probably doesn't count as a song?
posted by rhiannonstone at 11:54 AM on October 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by rhiannonstone at 11:54 AM on October 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
Conspicuously absent:
The entire catalog of Man... or Astro-Man?, a surf-rock band composed of aliens. All their songs are full of sf movie samples and/or spacey lyrics. Examples: 10 Years After World War 4, Junk Satellite, Cyborg Control. (And don't forget their side project Servotron, an assortment of robots from the future here to FIX your pathetic meat bodies. I sing: the body cybernetic, Serve, Obey, Guard Men From Harm.)
Front Line Assembly, an industrial act: Circuitry (a Terminator Scenario), Transparent Species (cryonic suspendees waking up in a post-apocalyptic future), probably a lot more - those are both off of the very sfnal album "Hard Wired".
HAWKWIND!!!!! They wrote a song based on Zelazney's 'Damnation Alley'! They wrote a song about being a cloned space pilot pining for the girlfriend he left behind!
Fucking Robots by Tettix. A song about having sex with robots.
Thought Industry! The Waitress In The Bar Orbiting Io!
Okay maybe neither Tettix nor Thought Industry are exactly conspicuous in their absence.
Was Not Was, Walk The Dinosaur - feelgood eighties dance hit about ancient astronauts.
The Alan Parsons Project did an entire concept album based on Asimov's I, Robot!
Abney Park's Post Apocalypse Punk is all about travelling through time to steal style and fuck up the timeline. Automation is about a robot. (All their albums are basically steampunk concept pieces.)
Oh also yeah okay they got the obvious Devo but how about Some Things Never Change which is so goddamn cyberpubk it was used as the title theme to the Neuromancer video game?
ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA. TIME. A prog rock concept album about a man dragged into the future. He goes to the moon, falls in love with a robot, and pines for the past because he is stupid or something.
posted by egypturnash at 11:57 AM on October 24, 2014 [4 favorites]
The entire catalog of Man... or Astro-Man?, a surf-rock band composed of aliens. All their songs are full of sf movie samples and/or spacey lyrics. Examples: 10 Years After World War 4, Junk Satellite, Cyborg Control. (And don't forget their side project Servotron, an assortment of robots from the future here to FIX your pathetic meat bodies. I sing: the body cybernetic, Serve, Obey, Guard Men From Harm.)
Front Line Assembly, an industrial act: Circuitry (a Terminator Scenario), Transparent Species (cryonic suspendees waking up in a post-apocalyptic future), probably a lot more - those are both off of the very sfnal album "Hard Wired".
HAWKWIND!!!!! They wrote a song based on Zelazney's 'Damnation Alley'! They wrote a song about being a cloned space pilot pining for the girlfriend he left behind!
Fucking Robots by Tettix. A song about having sex with robots.
Thought Industry! The Waitress In The Bar Orbiting Io!
Okay maybe neither Tettix nor Thought Industry are exactly conspicuous in their absence.
Was Not Was, Walk The Dinosaur - feelgood eighties dance hit about ancient astronauts.
The Alan Parsons Project did an entire concept album based on Asimov's I, Robot!
Abney Park's Post Apocalypse Punk is all about travelling through time to steal style and fuck up the timeline. Automation is about a robot. (All their albums are basically steampunk concept pieces.)
Oh also yeah okay they got the obvious Devo but how about Some Things Never Change which is so goddamn cyberpubk it was used as the title theme to the Neuromancer video game?
ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA. TIME. A prog rock concept album about a man dragged into the future. He goes to the moon, falls in love with a robot, and pines for the past because he is stupid or something.
posted by egypturnash at 11:57 AM on October 24, 2014 [4 favorites]
MetaFilter needs a subsite specifically for collecting all the omissions and other mistakes in "Top X" lists all over the web... it'll give us a place to dump less-than-front-page-worthy stuff from those sites (looking at you, BuzzFeed). MetaLister? That said, I actually like io9 more than any of the other Gawker sites and more than most similar sites (this is a weekly ritual for me and the ONLY time I enter Kinja's comment system without a full-body-condom), but one rule of thumb for io9 is: the MORE items in a listicle there, the worse. And "100" is one of their longest lists ever. Then again, Sturgeon's Law ("90% of everything is crap") with my personal addendum ("on the internet, make that 99%") applies, so any site with a 20% non-crap rate is extraordinary.
posted by oneswellfoop at 11:58 AM on October 24, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by oneswellfoop at 11:58 AM on October 24, 2014 [4 favorites]
Leaving this one out is incomprehensible .
My first thought as well. This is also an A+ karaoke jam if you're in a competitive karaoke league and your team name is "Bringing the WTF".
posted by immlass at 12:00 PM on October 24, 2014
My first thought as well. This is also an A+ karaoke jam if you're in a competitive karaoke league and your team name is "Bringing the WTF".
posted by immlass at 12:00 PM on October 24, 2014
Where to begin?
Yes -- Starship Trooper
Neil Young -- After the Gold Rush
Alan Parsons Project -- Well, tons of things, but principally Children of the Moon
Manhattan Transfer -- Coo Coo U
The Firm -- Star Trekkin'
Genesis -- Home by the Sea/Second Home by the Sea (more paranormal than sci-fi, but still ...
posted by DrAstroZoom at 12:00 PM on October 24, 2014
Yes -- Starship Trooper
Neil Young -- After the Gold Rush
Alan Parsons Project -- Well, tons of things, but principally Children of the Moon
Manhattan Transfer -- Coo Coo U
The Firm -- Star Trekkin'
Genesis -- Home by the Sea/Second Home by the Sea (more paranormal than sci-fi, but still ...
posted by DrAstroZoom at 12:00 PM on October 24, 2014
I went in expecting to come back and say WHAT ABOUT ALL OF THE VOIVOD but then they actually had Voivod in there. However, I would have probably chosen Jack Luminous or We're Not Alone from The Outer Limits.
posted by Wolfdog at 12:00 PM on October 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by Wolfdog at 12:00 PM on October 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
Mastermind from Deltron 3030, instead of "3030". "3030" would have been my choice. Here's a live performance of the entire album, though, which is awesome
posted by gryftir at 12:01 PM on October 24, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by gryftir at 12:01 PM on October 24, 2014 [3 favorites]
Oh and hey what about The Protomen. These dudes have done an entire album that is a musical retelling of the plot of Mega Man. Robots fighting robots, ripping each other apart and angsting over the endless battle.
posted by egypturnash at 12:02 PM on October 24, 2014
posted by egypturnash at 12:02 PM on October 24, 2014
Oh derp. Jack Luminous is in there. WELL GOOD. It should be.
posted by Wolfdog at 12:05 PM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Wolfdog at 12:05 PM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
Well said, oneswellfoop.
If you are going to pull a song out of Jeff Wayne's wonderful War Of The Worlds adaptation (previously), it'd either be "Spirit of Man" or "Brave New World", but I prefer them in context of the whole thing. (Also, there's a re-recording and a different recent stage adaptation featuring Liam Neeson standing in (via hologram) for the late Richard Burton as the narrator.)
posted by Catblack at 12:08 PM on October 24, 2014
If you are going to pull a song out of Jeff Wayne's wonderful War Of The Worlds adaptation (previously), it'd either be "Spirit of Man" or "Brave New World", but I prefer them in context of the whole thing. (Also, there's a re-recording and a different recent stage adaptation featuring Liam Neeson standing in (via hologram) for the late Richard Burton as the narrator.)
posted by Catblack at 12:08 PM on October 24, 2014
Sons of Belial. Edgar Cayce based, so there's some good ancient aliens stuff within.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 12:13 PM on October 24, 2014
posted by robocop is bleeding at 12:13 PM on October 24, 2014
Also shockingly absent: Planet P Project's... well, their entire catalog, but Only You and Me is one of my favorites, and very evocative.
posted by rhiannonstone at 12:22 PM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by rhiannonstone at 12:22 PM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
hooverphonic, 2 wicky. "SH 10151, this is the serial number .. of our orbital gun.."
posted by gorestainedrunes at 12:24 PM on October 24, 2014
posted by gorestainedrunes at 12:24 PM on October 24, 2014
Man or Astroman? is on the io9 list!
posted by wintersweet at 12:32 PM on October 24, 2014
posted by wintersweet at 12:32 PM on October 24, 2014
Glad to see Welcome Home by Coheed and Cambria made the list, basically because all of their albums are a continuous space rock opera.
posted by keli at 12:35 PM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by keli at 12:35 PM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
Couldn't stay away, there really are some horrible omissions from that list. How did Thomas Dolby miss out - was Aliens Ate My Buick too obvious as an album title?
Honeymoon Killers - Ariane (Space-Age Love Song)
Butthole Surfers - The Last Astronaut
But the one song no self-respecting SF-themed list should be without:
Julie Brown - Earth Girls are Easy
posted by N-stoff at 12:37 PM on October 24, 2014
Honeymoon Killers - Ariane (Space-Age Love Song)
Butthole Surfers - The Last Astronaut
But the one song no self-respecting SF-themed list should be without:
Julie Brown - Earth Girls are Easy
posted by N-stoff at 12:37 PM on October 24, 2014
Citizens of Tomorrow by Tokyo Police Club. Not a shocking omission, but certainly belongs on the Mefi 10^10 Sci-Fi themed songs list.
posted by gamera at 12:41 PM on October 24, 2014
posted by gamera at 12:41 PM on October 24, 2014
Missing Hawkwind on this list is pretty disappointing, considering that Michael Moorcock often contributed to their lyrics, and that someone even wrote a pulp SF novel about them.
posted by ovvl at 12:43 PM on October 24, 2014
posted by ovvl at 12:43 PM on October 24, 2014
Also missing:
Byrds- Space Odyssey
Byrds- Mr. Spaceman
Strange Advance- Worlds Away
In the Year 252525
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 12:45 PM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
Byrds- Space Odyssey
Byrds- Mr. Spaceman
Strange Advance- Worlds Away
In the Year 252525
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 12:45 PM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
And an especially woeful absence: "Karn Evil 9" by Emerson, Lake and Palmer Thirty epic minutes of SFRock, from the post-apocalyptic sideshow that is its most familiar theme to the human/computer debate at the end, interrupted only by Keith Emerson showing us how to program a computer to play a piano real fast.
posted by oneswellfoop at 12:46 PM on October 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by oneswellfoop at 12:46 PM on October 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
The Lisps' Singularity is basically the best-ever reference material song for a yet-to-be-written sci fi song (and a fine one in its own right).
posted by pokermonk at 12:59 PM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by pokermonk at 12:59 PM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
They also chose the wrong Janelle Monae song and neglected Blue Oyster Cult (HOW?!!!)
I know! I was like, I KNOW BOC is gonna be on this list somewhere, but is it gonna be Godzilla? Take Me Away? Veteran of the Psychic Wars? Astronomy? Nosferatu? Monsters? WHICH?
And I didn't think they'd place very highly, except maybe Godzilla. So after a bit I was all "Oh, it's gonna be in the top half! No, top 20!! NO, TOP TEN!!!!..." and then I was all (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻.
MetaFilter needs a subsite specifically for collecting all the omissions and other mistakes in "Top X" lists all over the web...
someoneiswrongontheinternet.metafilter.com
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 1:02 PM on October 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
I know! I was like, I KNOW BOC is gonna be on this list somewhere, but is it gonna be Godzilla? Take Me Away? Veteran of the Psychic Wars? Astronomy? Nosferatu? Monsters? WHICH?
And I didn't think they'd place very highly, except maybe Godzilla. So after a bit I was all "Oh, it's gonna be in the top half! No, top 20!! NO, TOP TEN!!!!..." and then I was all (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻.
MetaFilter needs a subsite specifically for collecting all the omissions and other mistakes in "Top X" lists all over the web...
someoneiswrongontheinternet.metafilter.com
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 1:02 PM on October 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
Also it was weird and crazy to have Maiden's example be Somewhere in Time and not one of their several musical retellings of various SF movies and books. I mean, who the hell else has a song that uses the words "Kwisatz Haderach"?!
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 1:06 PM on October 24, 2014
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 1:06 PM on October 24, 2014
And just for fun, Leonard Nimoy's Highly Illogical, and probably others.
posted by George_Spiggott at 1:07 PM on October 24, 2014
posted by George_Spiggott at 1:07 PM on October 24, 2014
By which I of course meant Fire in the Sky.
posted by roystgnr at 1:13 PM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by roystgnr at 1:13 PM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
Aw, but they have Coelakanth is Android!
SEE-OH-EEE-EL A-K-A EN-TEE-HAITCH!
But they should have had Just Walking On The Moon, just because that is catchy like some space alien technomeme infecting your brain.
And a world without the 16 minute long Star Wars disco remix by Meco is a world I don't want to live in.
posted by Katemonkey at 1:17 PM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
SEE-OH-EEE-EL A-K-A EN-TEE-HAITCH!
But they should have had Just Walking On The Moon, just because that is catchy like some space alien technomeme infecting your brain.
And a world without the 16 minute long Star Wars disco remix by Meco is a world I don't want to live in.
posted by Katemonkey at 1:17 PM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
Space Truckin' - Deep Purple
Space Station No. 5 - Montrose
Praying to the Aliens - Gary Numan
posted by doctor_negative at 1:48 PM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
Space Station No. 5 - Montrose
Praying to the Aliens - Gary Numan
posted by doctor_negative at 1:48 PM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
Future Shock -- Hello People (the handsome devils)
Into the void, boy, into the void
Flying in time with future shock . . .
posted by Herodios at 1:54 PM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
Into the void, boy, into the void
Flying in time with future shock . . .
posted by Herodios at 1:54 PM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
Aw, but they have Coelakanth is Android !
SEE-OH-EEE-EL A-K-A EN-TEE-HAITCH!
I'm totally on board with Polysics being included here (or on any list of awesome things, really) and I love that song, except for one little thing. Amazingly enough, "Coelakanth Is Android" isn't science fiction -- it's science FACT. Robot coelacanths are totally a thing in Japan.
With that in mind, I hereby nominate another Polysics song, "KI. KA. I. DA!", for both the classic superhero reference and its downright creepifying transhumanist lyrics. It's one of the group's better English-language songs, and sadly it's never even been released here.
posted by Strange Interlude at 1:56 PM on October 24, 2014 [3 favorites]
SEE-OH-EEE-EL A-K-A EN-TEE-HAITCH!
I'm totally on board with Polysics being included here (or on any list of awesome things, really) and I love that song, except for one little thing. Amazingly enough, "Coelakanth Is Android" isn't science fiction -- it's science FACT. Robot coelacanths are totally a thing in Japan.
With that in mind, I hereby nominate another Polysics song, "KI. KA. I. DA!", for both the classic superhero reference and its downright creepifying transhumanist lyrics. It's one of the group's better English-language songs, and sadly it's never even been released here.
posted by Strange Interlude at 1:56 PM on October 24, 2014 [3 favorites]
Folks, quite a few of the "they forgot about [song x]* citations are in fact included on the original list. As Frank Zappa liked to say, "I think you'd better check it again". Speaking of whom, Inca Roads would be a nice addition.
. . . Jimi Hendrix, who was practically science fiction himself.
Yeah, even Man or Astroman's name comes from a Hendrix record. And the title for "Purple Haze" he pulled from a line in the PJ Farmer SF novel, Night of Light.
* Actually Song X should probably be on this list, though Endangered Species is better.
posted by Herodios at 2:07 PM on October 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
Herodios, that's a problem with a lo-o-o-ong non-alphabetical list. I, personally had to search the page for "Emerson", "Lake", "Palmer" AND "Karn" before I was really sure Karn Evil 9 wasn't there...
posted by oneswellfoop at 2:19 PM on October 24, 2014
posted by oneswellfoop at 2:19 PM on October 24, 2014
No Clutch, no Muse, no They Might Be Giants. Kinda fail, as far as I can tell.
posted by snwod at 3:29 PM on October 24, 2014
posted by snwod at 3:29 PM on October 24, 2014
Huh. Hugh Laurie features pretty prominantly in the Kate Bush Experiment IV video. Makes his entrance at 00:45. I'm linking from a mobile, so apologies if that messes anything up.
posted by tllaya at 3:35 PM on October 24, 2014
posted by tllaya at 3:35 PM on October 24, 2014
No "Jam On It"?
Seriously?
I know. When the aliens from that Newcleus came to rock the human race, they evidently missed the editorial staff at io9. Jam on it, jam on it, j-j-j-jam on it...
posted by jonp72 at 3:45 PM on October 24, 2014
Seriously?
I know. When the aliens from that Newcleus came to rock the human race, they evidently missed the editorial staff at io9. Jam on it, jam on it, j-j-j-jam on it...
posted by jonp72 at 3:45 PM on October 24, 2014
And everybody else is wrong... The superior sci-fi song by the Byrds is CTA-102. Besides, the Byrds took the title of Mr. Spaceman from The Holy Modal Rounders.
posted by jonp72 at 3:51 PM on October 24, 2014
posted by jonp72 at 3:51 PM on October 24, 2014
oneswellfoop, yes, when I see a list claiming "The Most Greatestest 1000 X of Y!" I'm usually happy to find anything that is, in fact, an X of Y and anywhere near "good." I don't think I even pay attention to the order of the items most of the time. Anyway, I think the point is to stimulate excellent further discussion--and so far, so good.
Speaking of which: Strange Interlude, so much Polysics love. Also Kikaida love. Though I have to say, their "Domo Arigato" video is just...awesome.
posted by wintersweet at 3:52 PM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
Speaking of which: Strange Interlude, so much Polysics love. Also Kikaida love. Though I have to say, their "Domo Arigato" video is just...awesome.
posted by wintersweet at 3:52 PM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
Also, everyone who says this list is made of lose and fail is wrong: its most GLARING ERROR is no polka, duh. (Wellllll, it does show up in the comments.)
posted by wintersweet at 3:56 PM on October 24, 2014
posted by wintersweet at 3:56 PM on October 24, 2014
On my own list, The Singularity by Miracles of Modern Science (moms previously).
posted by books for weapons at 4:48 PM on October 24, 2014
posted by books for weapons at 4:48 PM on October 24, 2014
Since nobody's mentioned one of my favorite sci-fi influenced bands, Grandaddy, I guess I get to.
Songs about robots, the collapse of technological society, the isolation of space. So much good here.
Broken Household Appliance National Forest
Jed the Humanoid
Miner at the Dial-A-View
Everything Beautiful is Far Away
Fare Thee Not Well Mutineer
posted by borkencode at 4:50 PM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
Songs about robots, the collapse of technological society, the isolation of space. So much good here.
Broken Household Appliance National Forest
Jed the Humanoid
Miner at the Dial-A-View
Everything Beautiful is Far Away
Fare Thee Not Well Mutineer
posted by borkencode at 4:50 PM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
Hello, I am transmitting from planet Shoegaze.
Ladies and Gentlemen we are Floating in Space
Souvlaki Space Station
Song in Space
Another Earth, and pay attention to the lyrics: "She needs some time and space"...LOL!
Aging Astronauts
And by all means, you certainly wouldn't want to include anything like Kelly Watch the Stars off an album called Moon Safari.
posted by LionIndex at 4:51 PM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
Ladies and Gentlemen we are Floating in Space
Souvlaki Space Station
Song in Space
Another Earth, and pay attention to the lyrics: "She needs some time and space"...LOL!
Aging Astronauts
And by all means, you certainly wouldn't want to include anything like Kelly Watch the Stars off an album called Moon Safari.
posted by LionIndex at 4:51 PM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
And one that was actually popular at one point: Stars
posted by LionIndex at 4:56 PM on October 24, 2014
posted by LionIndex at 4:56 PM on October 24, 2014
Agreeing with Joey Michaels on Space Girl.
Bonus fanvid to Space Girl with women in SF throughout the years.
posted by wenat at 5:00 PM on October 24, 2014
Bonus fanvid to Space Girl with women in SF throughout the years.
posted by wenat at 5:00 PM on October 24, 2014
I always want to sing the Flash Gordan theme song as "FLASH! aa-aa-aaaa HE'LL KILL EVERY ONE OF US!"
It's tangential, but you just reminded me of the song Mrs. Example and I used to sing to our late lamented cat Blanche. "BLANCHE! AH-AHHHHH! She'll bite every one of us!"
She didn't appreciate it very much. Usually there was more biting.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 5:02 PM on October 24, 2014 [4 favorites]
It's tangential, but you just reminded me of the song Mrs. Example and I used to sing to our late lamented cat Blanche. "BLANCHE! AH-AHHHHH! She'll bite every one of us!"
She didn't appreciate it very much. Usually there was more biting.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 5:02 PM on October 24, 2014 [4 favorites]
speaking of fanvids: Starships, a multifandom space vid (via hepta).
posted by wintersweet at 5:10 PM on October 24, 2014
posted by wintersweet at 5:10 PM on October 24, 2014
Donald Fagen's Tomorrow's Girls and actually the entire Kamakiriad album.
posted by fuse theorem at 5:12 PM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by fuse theorem at 5:12 PM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
Laibach's cover of In the Year 2525, which is the definitive version for me with the not so subtle overtones of Soviet-style futurism.
posted by honestcoyote at 7:27 PM on October 24, 2014
posted by honestcoyote at 7:27 PM on October 24, 2014
Other languages, you say? Well what about Plastic Bertrand Tout Petit La Planète
posted by seawallrunner at 9:11 PM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by seawallrunner at 9:11 PM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
Also, I see there's no Orbital.
I give you their rendition of the Doctor Who theme and a little sfnally-sampled track called The Gun Is Good. And You Lot, which samples Christopher Eccleston from a pre-Doctor Who Russell T. Davies production called The Second Coming.
posted by immlass at 9:31 PM on October 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
I give you their rendition of the Doctor Who theme and a little sfnally-sampled track called The Gun Is Good. And You Lot, which samples Christopher Eccleston from a pre-Doctor Who Russell T. Davies production called The Second Coming.
posted by immlass at 9:31 PM on October 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
Dr. Octagon. Because space doo doo pistols.
posted by mcmile at 10:02 PM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by mcmile at 10:02 PM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
My definitive version of In The Year 2525 was done by a Tucson band called The Host on their cassette-only release Witness of Stone around 1988, which is an impossible to find on Google these days. (And if you have a copy, pleasepleaseplease mefi mail me! I was able to make a tape rip a decade ago, but due to a HD crash only one song from it survived.)
posted by Catblack at 10:39 PM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Catblack at 10:39 PM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
I knew I was forgetting a non-English song: "Time Machine Onegai" (Time Machine Please!), originally by Sadistic Mika (in all its 1980s-1950s glory), but covered by browny circus on the Kamikaze Girls/Shimotsuma Monogatari soundtrack and others--many of which are on Youtube. (Japanese lyrics here; English lyrics here--while they last.)
posted by wintersweet at 11:17 PM on October 24, 2014
posted by wintersweet at 11:17 PM on October 24, 2014
Other Language? Here you go, in italian
Extraterreste by Eugenio Finardi, the story of a guy tht asks aliens to put him on another planet , but then regrets his decision and wants to go back home.
posted by thegirlwiththehat at 8:33 AM on October 25, 2014 [1 favorite]
Extraterreste by Eugenio Finardi, the story of a guy tht asks aliens to put him on another planet , but then regrets his decision and wants to go back home.
posted by thegirlwiththehat at 8:33 AM on October 25, 2014 [1 favorite]
Also a little surprising they left out the Space Lord Motherfucker song by those people that did that.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 8:51 AM on October 25, 2014
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 8:51 AM on October 25, 2014
I'm not sure if it's explicitly sci-fi but Stars from the album "You'd Prefer an Astronaut" by Hum, although the album they released after this one I think is a little more sci-fi.
posted by gucci mane at 9:59 AM on October 25, 2014
posted by gucci mane at 9:59 AM on October 25, 2014
Well, it's not really a "song", but John Medeski did a jazz soundtrack for Jack Kerouac's fantasy screenplay of Doctor Sax & The Great World Snake.
posted by ovvl at 2:59 PM on October 25, 2014
posted by ovvl at 2:59 PM on October 25, 2014
So many songs! Let's not forget the sf-related albums - such as Mike Oldfield's soundtrack for Arthur C Clarke's The Songs of Distant Earth. (Apologies if someone has already linked to it without describing what they were linking.)
posted by Autumn Leaf at 1:39 AM on October 26, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Autumn Leaf at 1:39 AM on October 26, 2014 [1 favorite]
Am I the only one who still likes Powerman 5000? "Tonight The Stars Revolt" is nearly solid pulp sci-fi.
posted by qbject at 8:28 AM on October 27, 2014
posted by qbject at 8:28 AM on October 27, 2014
Had to dig this up but it's some pretty solid deep-cut Orbital from the Altogether bonus disc: Doctor Look Out, as a Classic-oriented Who fanvid.
posted by immlass at 10:43 AM on October 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by immlass at 10:43 AM on October 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
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