Music of the Cosmos No Space Oddity

 

Collage by Jonathan Sabin

       The death of music superstar David Bowie brings to mind all the beautiful songs written with a spacey theme.

       And when you see the cosmic collection of works, well, you realize that the inspiration of the cosmos is no space oddity.

       The Sun, stars and mostly the Moon are themes of songwriters since, well, probably since the cow jumped over the Moon!

       There are classic monster hits like “Moon River” (Henry Mancini & Johnny Mercer 1962), “Here Comes the Sun” (The Beatles 1970) and “Stardust” (Hoagy Charmichael 1927).

       But there is so much more between heaven and Earth.

       I have a Spotify account, and keep several favorites list.  Song with the title “Moon” in them have 45 entries lasting 3 hours; “Sun” has 30 songs at 2 hours My folder of “Astro” has 83 songs at 6 hours (from heavy metal master Rob Zombie’s “Mars Needs Women” to “Cosmic Rays” by jazzman Charlie Parker). And there are certainly some great songs we all know.

       But David Bowie nailed it.  Sure, “Space Oddity” and its prologue “Ashes to Ashes” are the giant hits.  But there’s so much more…like the beautiful lyrics in “Starman” and “Lady Stardust”, both from the “Ziggy Stardust and Spiders from Mars” album. And then there is the album “Black Star,” the 25^th and final album from this once-in-a-lifetime talent.

       Tributes from David Bowie music lovers show that the man literally “sold the world” on his quirky yet positively received music creations.  And they were just that, keenly crafted musical stories about loving Earth but reaching for the stars. 

       Music is a lot like that.  Dreamy stories about our own nirvanas, some good, some a little nasty.  Music is a lot like that too—taking glimpses at the good and bad sides of life. And astronomy themes have plenty of “Dark Stars” (Grateful Dead) and “Moonage Daydreams” (Bowie) for those songwriters.

The whole spacey music concept of such bands like Yes, Rush and of course Pink Floyd were influenced by the Space Age.  And look at all the album cover art (another “Stargazer” column) with outer space themes, i.e. albums by Boston, Grateful Dead, Asia and Electric Light Orchestra, and many more.

       I looked around and thought about all the songs with themes of the Earth, stars, planets and Moon. There is a whole genre of “space music” of instrumentals, as well as concert pieces like Holst’s “The Planets.” But I found some tunes I’m sure you’ll be tapping your toes to…

       Let’s start with some of the top hits from the Cosmic Billboard Top 100 and the first spacey hit, the 1962 instrumental Telstar by the Tornadoes.  The song is the first #1 hit in the USA by a British band, and came on the heels of John Glenn’s historic three orbits of Earth. 

The 1960s had a little musical story by the Byrds called “Mr. Spaceman,” the 1970s were ruled by Bowie and Pink Floyd; the ‘80s and the disco era had a hit “Lucky Star” by Madonna. The 1990s had REM “Man on the Moon” and into the 21^st Century there’s “Soak Up the Sun” by Cheryl Crow.

There are a hundred songs about the Sun, but you know some of the real smash hits by heart: “Ain’t No Sunshine When She’s Gone,” by Bill Withers; “Let the Sun Shine In (Aquarius),” by Fifth Dimension; and Sunshine (Go Away) by Jonathon Edwards. 

There’s “Keep on the Sunny Side” by the 1928 Carter Family and “You Are My Sunshine” from the 1930s which nearly everybody knows: “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are gray. You’ll never know dear how much I love you, so please don’t take my sunshine away.”  And 20 or so more verses to this happy song, which is the state song of Louisiana.

Some of those songs about the Sun have some awful long titles: “Do You Know You Are My Sunshine” (The Statler Brothers 1978); “Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying” (Gerry & The Pacemakers 1964); and “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” (Elton John 1974).  

Don’t forget, a “Good Day Sunshine” by The Beatles deserves some “Cheap Sunglasses” by ZZ Top. And if your lost, you might be in a “Black Hole Sun” by Soundgarden

My favorite solar karaoke classics would be “House of the Rising Sun” by Eric Burdon; “Paper Sun,” by Traffic; “Sunshine of Your Love,” by Cream; and “Sunshine Superman,” by Donovan.  Yeah, all from the 1960s of my life, so if you don’t know them, go fetch ‘em on your favorite Space Age communication device!

Most of the planets have songs titled after them “Drops of Jupiter” by Train was a big hit in the 2000s, and “Jupiter’s Child” by Steppenwolf was a ‘60s hippie favorite.  Meanwhile, Emily Lou Harris is singing to her lover about “Jupiter Rising.” And Janis Joplin is running from sunlight under a “Half Moon.”

I was excited to see planet “Mercury” on a list, listening to an Alan Jackson cover I realized it a girl was crazy about a car, not a planet!

And I can’t ignore the obvious bad song titles about our much abused planet Uranus: “Anus of Uranus” by Klaatu; “Up Uranus” by KMFDM; and “Out of Uranus,” by Killing Floor. Pew!

There’s a bunch of “stoner” songs that seemed to make their way from vinyl to 8-track to cassette to CD and now internet music.  “Space Truckin’” by Deep Purple was a rocking through the Universe in the 1960s.  And then you have that little Pink Floyd album called “Dark Side of the Moon” packed with stellar classics.  How about Blue Oyster Cult and their spacey songs like “Astronomy.” Another cosmic rocker is “Star Rider” by Foreigner. 

Venus is a hot topic for some Cosmic Top 100 hits. 

A monster hit for the teen idols of the 1950s was about a modern goddess “Venus” by Frankie Avalon.  Then in the 1960s there was a hit “Venus” by the Shocking Blue (“I’m your Venus, I’m your fire, at your desire”).  And that was covered in the 1990s for a mild hit by Bananorama. Meanwhile, somewhere in the music temples, the Chili Peppers took a “Subway to Venus.”

And the Moon.  Yes, it is the most sung about object in the skies.  You’re probably not a songwriter if you’ve never written a tune about our favorite celestial neighbor.   

Some of the logical hits: “Bad Moon Rising,” by Credence Clearwater Revival; “Moondance” by Van Morrison; “Moonshadow” by Cat Stevens; and “Moon River” by Henry Mancini and classically sung by Andy Williams. Are you humming along yet?

One of the earliest “astro songs” songs that became a hit in the 1950s was “How High the Moon” by Les Paul & Mary Ford (It’s 240,000 miles FYI).  Shortly after that, Hank Williams, of course, was “Howlin’ at the Moon!” I’d walk a “Moonlight Mile” with the Rolling Stones if Frank Sinatra would promise to “Fly Me to the Moon,” just another classic that sticks in your head.

And the “do-wop” spin on the Marcels’ 1961 “Blue Moon” is a completely different song than the beautiful 1956 ballad by Elvis Presley, “Blue Moon.”

A nice two-step melody is the 1909 Gus Edwards /Edward Madden classic “By the Light of the Silvery Moon,” made more popular by Doris Day’s 1953 recording.

Hear Ozzy Osbourne “Bark at the Moon” and tell me if that melody is nice…or nasty.  Little Feat will serve you up a drink at the “Spanish Moon,” and you can really trip out on the imagery of the Grateful Dead’s “Picasso Moon.” And the Kink’s let it all hang out on “Full Moon.”  Bring it home is Neil Young with “Harvest Moon.”

I suggest three Moon songs for you to checkout: “Moon at the Widow” by Joni Mitchell; “The Moonbeam Song” by Harry Nilsson; and “Drunk on the Moon” by Tom Waits.  Each melodic, interesting and, well, about my favorite subject, the Moon!

Stevie Wonder has sung about living on “Saturn,” where people live to be 205.  Tori Amos is a “Star Whisperer” and Jethro Tull immortalizes the “Big Dipper.”  Yet it is David Bowie who ponders for us “Is There Life on Mars?”

 I’ve taken many trips around the cosmos listening to John Lennon’s “Across the Universe.” And there’s not a finer bluegrass tune than Bill Monroe’s “Blue Moon of Kentucky.”  Both seemingly come from the opposite sides of the music cosmos, but they don’t. The inspiration is out of this world for both great musicians.

Astronomers believe there is a harmonic rhythm to the motion of the spheres, and mathematicians will show you the laws that govern both an orbiting planet and a vibrating guitar string. The music of the spheres is a beautiful thing.  

The great David Bowie understood the harmony of the Universe and his planet.  And his cosmic playground was music. 

Bowie took that celestial rhythm from his soul and shared it with his fellow earthlings—trying to reach across the Universe.  I think he made it.