What are some popular science songs and albums?

  • Thread starter Loren Booda
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In summary, the songs on this list have a scientific bent. Some of the songs are funny, while others are poignant. Some of the songs are about space, while others are about time. Some of the songs are about the natural world, while others are about the human world.
  • #1
Loren Booda
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One of my favorites is "Astronomy" by Blue Oyster Cult, and one of my all-time albums is "Dark Side of the Moon."
 
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  • #2
... Does dark side of the moon really classify as a science song?


I don't know a lot of science songs, how about the galaxy song from the meaning of life.
 
  • #3
Joan was quizzical, studied pataphysical
Science in the home
Late nights all alone with her a test tube
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Maxwell Edison, majoring in medicine
Calls her on the phone
"Can I take you out to the pictures Jo-o-o-oan?"
But as she's getting ready to go
A knock comes on the door

Bang! Bang! Maxwell's silver hammer
came down upon her head
Clang! Clang! Maxwell's silver hammer
made sure that she was dead


The Beatles of course
 
  • #4
Do the Evolution - Pearl Jam
 
  • #5
http://www.astrocappella.com/doppler.shtml
A song about the Doppler Shift.
A friend of mine found a whole bunch of songs like this one and burned a CD. They're really funny but I'm not sure where he found the list of links.
And there's MC Hawking for those of you that like rap music lol.
 
  • #6
Rap music? Isn't that an oxymoron?
 
  • #7
Loren Booda said:
One of my favorites is "Astronomy" by Blue Oyster Cult, and one of my all-time albums is "Dark Side of the Moon."
Hey, there's more Floyd there. 'A Nice Pair': Saucerful of Secrets; Astronomy Domini; Interstellar Overdrive...
I guess 'Monster Mash' wouldn't count, since Frankenstein was a psuedoscientist...
 
  • #8
Oh crud! How could I have forgotten 'Rocket Man'?
 
  • #9
I wouldn't normally listen to it either but this is hilarious... well to me anyway.
 
  • #10
Would the theme song from 'Greatest American Hero' count?
 
  • #11
I love Blue Oyster Cult. Their lyrics are special to me. Thanks for the reminder Loren.
 
  • #12
Chronos said:
I love Blue Oyster Cult. Their lyrics are special to me. Thanks for the reminder Loren.
Ditto. 'Don't Fear the Reaper' is one of my all-time faves.
 
  • #13
Chronos,

Sometimes when I listen to B.O.C. I flashback to my freshman year at Yale - "Agents of Fortune."

All,

In this thread I am trying to field song/album titles and content that have a scientific bent.
 
  • #14
Loren Booda said:
I am trying to field song/album titles and content that have a scientific bent.
Sorry dude; my train of thought is easily derailed. I was wondering about that Vangelis (sp?) video with the computer graphics of cross-world pollination. Wasn't the title something like 'Starseeds'?
 
  • #15
The Planets, Op 32, Gustav Holst. I've only heard some of these, but they were good.

Also, in another vien, "Blinded Me With Science," Thomas Dolby.
 
  • #16
A band called "Moxy Fruvous" does an excellent song about entropy.

When I was in college, a local band did a song called "Heat death and bell curves." I never heard what happened to them, but the song was good.

And then there's "they Might be Giants." I strongly believe the song Triangle man is a veiled reference to quantum physics: "What is he like? it doesn't matter. Triangle man, triangle man."
 
  • #17
TheStatutoryApe said:
http://www.astrocappella.com/doppler.shtml
A song about the Doppler Shift.
A friend of mine found a whole bunch of songs like this one and burned a CD. They're really funny but I'm not sure where he found the list of links.
And there's MC Hawking for those of you that like rap music lol.
I like the astrocappellas. Did you listen to their song about the Swift Gamma Ray Detector satellite?
 
  • #18
There was a previous thread on science songs with a whole bunch of links to various sound files. Here it is : https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=40568&highlight=hyperbolic+orbit

I liked Hyperbolic Orbits.

Oh, and the guitar intro in the Reaper is really neat ( BOC rocks ! ).

And Vangelis had some very sciency (astroish) song titles too : Pulstar, Alpha, Sword of Orion (was there a Telstar ?) are a few that come to mind.
 
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  • #19
Due to a long story, I collect mp3s of astronomy-related songs. A partial list:
"The Sun Song" by There May Be Giants
"Satellite" by Dave Matthew's Band
"Ordinary Day" by Vanessa Carlton
"Stellar" by Incubus
"Man on the Moon" by REM
"Drops of Jupiter" by Train
The list goes on quite awhile, if people are interested I'll type up the rest of it.
 
  • #20
Andromeda, you might want to have a look at Chicane's discography...
 
  • #21
Chi meson, Particle Man is a clever song!
 
  • #22
John Lennon's 'Mind Games' makes mention of "in space and in time."
 
  • #23
How could no one mention Atomic Dog by P-Funk?
 
  • #24
wasteofo2 said:
How could no one mention Atomic Dog by P-Funk?
Never having heard of it might have been a contributing factor... :biggrin:

How about Bowie's 'Space Oddity'?
 
  • #25
'Iron Man!' How could I have forgotten that one. Sabbath rules! :biggrin:
 
  • #26
Danger said:
Never having heard of it might have been a contributing factor... :biggrin:

How about Bowie's 'Space Oddity'?
Man, you need to download some Parlaiment Funkadelic immediately - you need a funk transfusion STAT.

Another P-Funk song that drops some science is Dr. Funkenstein:

"Microbiologically speaking, when I start churnin', burnin' and turnin', it'll make your atoms move so fast, expanding your molecules, causing a friction fire, burning you on your neutron, causing you to scream 'Hit me in the proton!'"
 
  • #27
wasteofo2 said:
"Microbiologically speaking, when I start churnin', burnin' and turnin', it'll make your atoms move so fast, expanding your molecules, causing a friction fire, burning you on your neutron, causing you to scream 'Hit me in the proton!'"
Actually, I think that I would quite like that, as long as there's a tune to it. So far I've only managed to download one song. As mentioned elsewhere, I'm brand new to the net and don't know what I'm doing yet.
Would this be anything like Rob Zombie? 'Cause I loves 'Dragula'. :biggrin:
 
  • #28
Danger said:
Actually, I think that I would quite like that, as long as there's a tune to it. So far I've only managed to download one song. As mentioned elsewhere, I'm brand new to the net and don't know what I'm doing yet.
There's certainly a tune to it, and more importantly, a groove.

Danger said:
Would this be anything like Rob Zombie? 'Cause I loves 'Dragula'. :biggrin:
I think the visual differences between Rob Zombie and Parlaiment Funkadelic are rather analogous to their musical differences; observe:

Rob:
http://www.zombiejuice.com/zomblike/graphics/z5.jpg

George Clinton (vocals) and Bootsy Colins (bass) of P-Funk:
http://www.smh.com.au/ffxImage/urlpicture_id_1076175088149_2004/02/09/grammygeorgeclinton,0.jpg
 
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  • #29
wasteofo2 said:
George Clinton (vocals) and Bootsy Colins (bass) of P-Funk:
http://www.smh.com.au/ffxImage/urlpicture_id_1076175088149_2004/02/09/grammygeorgeclinton,0.jpg
Gotcha... sort of Dr. John meets Ziggy Marley, both heavily into some acid...? With perhaps Patti LaBelle in the background? :biggrin:
 
  • #30
BobG said:
I like the astrocappellas. Did you listen to their song about the Swift Gamma Ray Detector satellite?
I don't think I have no. I just remembered that one in particular from my friends cd. I'd like to burn my own but currently am not able to.

There is also a great Canadian band that I love called Darkest of the Hillside Thickets. Most of the science songs are more SciFi the science though.
This is The Math Song...
Y
Y equals X over 5
5 to the power of Z (?)
Z (?) is the square root of 3
3 is the number for me
I said

X
X by the tangent of N
N minus pi over 10
That equals negative 9
Negative 9 is so fine

You've got a brain
And nobody really needs another love song
Love song
(x4)

N
N is the product of V
V and the cosine of 3
Cube that and add 44
And not an integer more
Baby

V
V equals 1 through the sum
The sum of 101
And 83 over 5
What is the value of Y?

You've got a brain
And nobody really needs another love song
Love song
(x7)

You've got a brain
Yeah I heard you've got it
They are best known though for their Cthulhu mythos themed songs like Shoggoths Away, Goin Down to Dunwich, Yog-Sothoth, and Innsmouth Look. Fun geeky music.
 
  • #31
Don't Fear the Reaper is a science song? :eek:

Then don't leave out Enter Sandman (Metallica).

Or how about 2000 Light Years From Home (Stones)?
 
  • #32
ooh, ooh...

Bet there aren't many here who remember Sheb Wooley's "Purple People Eater".

It was a one-eyed, one-horned flyin' purple people eater...
 
  • #33

TheStatutoryApe said:
There is also a great Canadian band that I love called Darkest of the Hillside Thickets. Most of the science songs are more SciFi the science though.
This is The Math Song...
They are best known though for their Cthulhu mythos themed songs like Shoggoths Away, Goin Down to Dunwich, Yog-Sothoth, and Innsmouth Look. Fun geeky music.
That's not quite enough to make me renounce my citizenship, but you're gettin' there.
gnome said:
Bet there aren't many here who remember Sheb Wooley's "Purple People Eater".
Absolutely, I do. Right in there with Wooly Bully... (who incidentally was no relation to Sheb Wooley.
 
  • #34
I don't mean to dis Sam the Sham & the Pharoahs, but wasn't this supposed to be "Science Songs", as opposed to "old geezer songs"?
 
  • #35
A few more-
"See the Constellation" by There May Be Giants
"The Astronaut" by Something Corporate
"The Music of the Night" from Phantom of the Opera (some people debate this one... until they hear it played while staring at a star-studded sky...)
"I Wish I was the Moon" by Neko Case
"Way Up There" by LaBelle
"The Galaxy Song" from Monty Python (of course!)
"Far Out" by Blur
The last one is nerdy enough to have its lyrics posted-
I spy in the night sky
Don't I
Phoebe Io Elara
Leda Callisto Sinope
Janus Dione Portia
So many moons
Quiet in the sky at night
Hot in the Milky Way
Outside in
Vega Capella
Hadar Rigel Barnard's Star
Antares Aldebaran Altair
Wolf 359 Betelgeuse
Sun
 

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