Astronomy music

[Mark Wagner]

Quiet list. Full moon must be near.

Ages ago TAC had a thread about astro related music. Maybe we can revive it. Can you contribute one title (any language) of a published song containing (title or lyrics) an astronomy related word/term?

It will be an almost inexhaustible list; (from AI) in English alone a reasonable estimate is that well over 10,000 published songs contain at least one reference to stars, though no definitive catalog exists.

I heard the Doobie Brothers "Shooting Star" in the car this morning.  Gustav Holst wrote The Planets.

You?  It can be as little as one word.

[Scott Mikusko]

Being an 80s kid, the soundtrack to Carl Sagan's "Cosmos" was a great collection of music with a space/science theme.

Also, being a Rush fan,  the space-shuttle themed tune "Countdown" from the Signals album.  Also their 2 songs "Cygnus X-1":  Book I: The Voyage and Book II: Hemispheres.

Sci-fi prog rock, man! :)

-S

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[Stacy Jo McDermott]

'39 by Queen

Space travel 

https://youtu.be/kE8kGMfXaFU?is=-927NvjPE8Hljot-

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[Mark Wagner]

Nice picks!  I'll add one participating:

2000 Light Years From Home - Rolling Stones

https://youtu.be/RLhFT7YXnoI?is=GS7WlTvA06IhZHnw

[Tim Lorz]

Great question... 

Since somebody already did my go-to (`39, by Queen, about relativistic space travel), how about Major Tom (völlig losgelöst) by Peter Schilling. This one has been a favorite of mine since I first heard it in the mid 1980s.

Video with German and English lyrics:

https://youtu.be/7x6Da5Tn8P8?is=HUH2ik6K9oVPvm6_

[John Pierce]

How about Spaceman, by Harry Nilsson ?

[Mark Wagner]

Tim, I love the technica German version.

[Mark]

John, Nilsson is such a sentimental favorite!  I never knew that done was his 

You're Breaking My Heart!

[Frank Graham]

Science Friday interviewed Brian May, guitarist Queen and astronomer!  Brian mentioned arguing with Freddie Mercury about traveling at the speed of light on Don’t Stop Me Now. Also Brian teamed up with an astrophysicist and illustrator to publish this 3D book:  

Enjoy,

Frank Graham

On Jul 25, 2026, at 18:06, Mark <itsmar...@gmail.com> wrote:

John, Nilsson is such a sentimental favorite!  I never knew that done was his 

You're Breaking My Heart!

On Saturday, July 25, 2026 at 5:27:59 PM UTC-7 jhn.p...@gmail.com wrote:

How about Spaceman, by Harry Nilsson ?

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[Francesco Meschia]

Mike Oldfield’s “Saved by a bell”, from the Discovery album. Opening line: “Won’t you like to look through my telescope?"

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[Richard Navarrete]

‘Well the sun is slowly sinking down, and the moon is slowly rising’

Richard 

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[Jay Freeman]

Here are a handful of my favorites:

"Rocket Man" ("I Think It's Going to Be a Long, Long Time"), Elton John (1972)

The entire Moody Blues album, "To Our Children's Children's Children" (1969). This was a "theme album", based on space flight and the space race. I have often thought that it was inspired by the science fiction novel, "Star Maker", written by Olaf Stapledon in 1937 -- the lyrics to many of its songs are a good fit -- but I can find no hint on line that this is so. The first track, "Higher and Higher", is particularly powerful.

"Well, Did You Evah!", composed by Cole Porter in 1939. It contains the lines "Have you heard / It's in the stars / Next July we collide with Mars." The song is perhaps best known for its use in the 1956 movie, "High Society", for which those lyrics make no sense, but it was first performed in the 1939 musical "Du Barry Was a Lady", and in 1939 there was a quite close Mars opposition in July, so kudos to Cole Porter for getting his astronomy straight.

"Aquarius", from the late-1960s musical, "Hair". The reference is astrological, but correct in that sense: "When the moon is in the Seventh House / And Jupiter aligns with Mars / Then peace will guide the planets / And love will steer the stars / This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius ..."

"Have You Seen The Stars Tonight", Paul Kantner and Jefferson Starship (1970).

The "Tom Corbett Space Cadet Song and March" (1951): "From the rocket fields of the academy / To the far-flung stars of outer space ..."

"The New Frontier", Kingston Trio (1962): "Some to the rivers and some to the sea / Some to the soil that our fathers made free / Then on to the stars in the heavens for to see / This is the new frontier ..."


-- Jay Reynolds Freeman, Deep-Sky Musical Weasel
---------------------
Jay_Reynol...@mac.com
http://JayReynoldsFreeman.com (personal web site)

> On Jul 25, 2026, at 12:32, Mark Wagner <itsmar...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Mark Wagner]

I always liked Good Morning Starshine from Hair.  Still do.

On July 26, 2026 6:02:10 PM PDT, 'Jay Freeman' via The Astronomy Connection <sf-ba...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Here are a handful of my favorites:

"Rocket Man" ("I Think It's Going to Be a Long, Long Time"), Elton John (1972)

The entire Moody Blues album, "To Our Children's Children's Children" (1969). This was a "theme album", based on space flight and the space race. I have often thought that it was inspired by the science fiction novel, "Star Maker", written by Olaf Stapledon in 1937 -- the lyrics to many of its songs are a good fit -- but I can find no hint on line that this is so. The first track, "Higher and Higher", is particularly powerful.

"Well, Did You Evah!", composed by Cole Porter in 1939. It contains the lines "Have you heard / It's in the stars / Next July we collide with Mars." The song is perhaps best known for its use in the 1956 movie, "High Society", for which those lyrics make no sense, but it was first performed in the 1939 musical "Du Barry Was a Lady", and in 1939 there was a quite close Mars opposition in July, so kudos to Cole Porter for getting his astronomy straight.

"Aquarius", from the late-1960s musical, "Hair". The reference is astrological, but correct in that sense: "When the moon is in the Seventh House / And Jupiter aligns with Mars / Then peace will guide the planets / And love will steer the stars / This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius ..."

"Have You Seen The Stars Tonight", Paul Kantner and Jefferson Starship (1970).

The "Tom Corbett Space Cadet Song and March" (1951): "From the rocket fields of the academy / To the far-flung stars of outer space ..."

"The New Frontier", Kingston Trio (1962): "Some to the rivers and some to the sea / Some to the soil that our fathers made free / Then on to the stars in the heavens for to see / This is the new frontier ..."


--  Jay Reynolds Freeman, Deep-Sky Musical Weasel

Jay_Reynol...@mac.com
http://JayReynoldsFreeman.com (personal web site)

[Richard Navarrete]

‘Giddy glub goopy.’ Inspired lyrics. 😆

Sent from the all new AOL app for iOS

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[Mark Wagner]

Are you impugning my taste?!?!? 😆

[Richard Navarrete]

Not at all, I like that song too!

Richard

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[Drew Pletcher]

Sorry if some of these are repetitions.  From my music collection.

Starman Bowie
Space Truckin  Deep Purple
Astronaut  Simple Plan
Satellite of Love Lou Reed
To the moon and back  Savage Garden
Moonage Daydream  Bowie
Sisters of the moon  Fleetwood mac
Cygnus X-1 Rush
Constellations Jack Johnson
Life on mars Bowie
Supermassive black hole Muse
Interstellar Opverdrive Pink Floyd
The man who fell to earth Bowie

Drew

[Mark Wagner]

What was "we all shine on, like the moon and the stars and the sun" from?

[Paul Alsing]

Instant Karma

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From: sf-ba...@googlegroups.com <sf-ba...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Mark Wagner <itsmar...@gmail.com>
Sent: Sunday, July 26, 2026 7:17 PM
To: sf-ba...@googlegroups.com <sf-ba...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [TAC] Astronomy music

 

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[John Pierce]

How about Space Cowboy, by the Steve Miller Band ?  ...

[Mark]

Thanks Paul.  John Lennon's Instant Karma is a terrific piece.  Nothing like same day/immediate delivery of the Cosmic boomerang!

What about another Beatles (Lennon) song?  I know its not exactly Hip Hop, but: Across The Universe?

Oh wait.  There's also a nice little George Harrison piece about the Sun coming.  Or the "controversial" Lucy.

Even The Blue Danube came to accompany a famous "throw me a bone" space scene, something Strauss II could never have envisioned.

[Jamie Dillon, DDK]

2,000 Light Years from Home, Stones. Very spacey.