Where are all the STEM songs hiding?

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While not a STEM song or about STEM subjects the title does invoke a scientific theme. "The Neutron Dance" by the Pointer Sisters, written by Allee Willis and Danny Sembello. I was supposedly written to be used in the film "Streets of Fire" humored to be about the aftermath of a nuclear holocaust which it turned out not to be. Instead it was featured in the movie "Beverly Hills Cop"

 
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String theory put to the melody of Bohemian Rhapsody:


A cute math love song:


There are plenty of pop songs that don't revolve around STEM topics but still allude. For example, the title of Muse's "Butterflies and Hurricanes" (a great song!) is a reference to the butterfly effect, but the song itself has no technical content.

 
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Elton John Host The i Heart Living Room Concert for America presented by Fox# StayHome # With Me
 
Feynman would have probably written a cool STEM song if he had cared to try.
 
Not really a STEM song, but a science title. And the psychiatrist is played by a real scientist, Magnus Pyke, who was well-known in the UK as the presenter of a science TV show. Despite that, the song failed to chart in the UK, but was a big hit in the US and Canada.

 
The brilliant song "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" by Canadian musician Gordon Lightfoot contains numerous STEM references including the static and loaded weights of the cargo ship, several integral ship time and calendar (seasonal) references, descriptions of wind, waves and weather, and interesting distance vs. time comparisons that might have saved the vessel. Numbers are used throughout the song to connect the listener to the doomed crew and the bereaved survivors ashore.

Lightfoot weaves technical accuracy with ancient lore and modern musical instruments into a beautiful haunting melody that transcends the relatively mundane original subject matter.
 
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I'm surprised that apparently nobody has mentioned Tom Lehrer yet.

[added: ah, now I see Tom has been mentioned. Serves me right for relying on the forum's thread search, which can't peek into videos and extract the text from them. :wink: ]



 
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Metastaseis was inspired by the combination of an Einsteinian view of time and Xenakis' memory of the sounds of warfare, and structured on mathematical ideas by Le Corbusier

 
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Without answering the OP's central question, while reading PF today I listened to "Higgs Boson Blues" by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds on YouTube music. The STEM references seem closer to popular memes than attempts at extrapolating science. Still, an entertaining bluesy song.

Edit: added this Youtube video.
 
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Upon only reading the title of the topic but not even trying to read any of it, that being https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/where-do-the-electrons-go.996390/ in the Astronomy and Astrophysics forum, the title made me think of the rhythm and melody of the line and titled song, "Where have all the flowers gone". See the way they fit:

Code: 
Where do   THE 
Electrons   GO
Code: 
Where have  ALL
The flowers  GONE
 
StatGuy2000 said:
Since we are on the topic of STEM songs, Neil deGrasse Tyson was asked on the popular YouTube show First We Feast by host Sean Evans on rap lyrics with references or comments on science.

(Note: Skip ahead on the video to 11:56.)



Didn't he miss the fact that the lyrics say astrology and not astronomy?
 
While math rock is an entire genre, it's misleading because there is generally no interesting math involved, just "weird" time signatures, which Balkan folk and West African music often blows out of the water either way.

On the other hand, Iannis Xenakis is a well known composer whose music actually involved non-trivial mathematical ideas:



Unfortunately, it's not exactly catchy lol
 
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AndreasC said:
On the other hand, Iannis Xenakis is a well known composer whose music actually involved non-trivial mathematical ideas:



Unfortunately, it's not exactly catchy lol

Not bad. Listening as I try to type. Disorientating. Reminds me of Weber IMS.
 
On the subject of math rock, while not really a genre I enjoy very much, I do have some favorites. Here's some:

G.O.A.T-Polyphia:

Very virtuosic, tons of fun to (try to) play and just very new sounding.

In the Absence of Strong Evidence to the Contrary, One May Step Out of the Way of the Charging Bull - Don Caballero


This is kind of a deep cut by an underappreciated band, it's extremely complex, very unusual and energetic, which is what you expect from a math rock song.

Badger - TTNG


Another underappreciated band. This entire album is very pretty and all the songs are virtually impossible to play.

Frame By Frame - King Crimson


Alright, here's one for the boomers around! King Crimson isn't technically considered math rock usually, but imo they definitely fit the bill sometimes. This song has a very interesting main riff or rather two slightly modified versions of the same riff going in and out of sync, creating a very nice effect.

Drip - Tigran Hamasyan


OK, Tigran Hamasyan isn't usually considered math rock either, but he has a lot of math rock adjacent songs. This one isn't really one of the more mathy ones, but it is my favorite. Here's a nice video on the more rhythmically insane ones:
 
MathematicalPhysicist said:
Well if you already mention polyphia, then there's sithu aye a guitarist who plays the guitar with his instrumentals with physics themes:

Oh yes I forgot about him!

Also Physics House Band, which I'm not really sure what it has to do with physics but physics is in the name, and they're pretty great:
 
Here's one from 1683. I just LOVE harpsichords.
 
A current thread in Astronomy sub-forum reminds me of the STEM inspired "Hearing Solar Winds" by Harmonic Choir. The first time I heard these songs on an experimental 'underground' FM station, David Hykes explained that the inspiration and cadence came from listening to audible signals from the Sun.

The DJ interviewer played selections from the solar survey then Harmonic Choir songs. Beautiful and relaxing.
 
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