05 B: Sci-Fi References in Music List
Description
This article is from the SF references in music List FAQ, by Rich Kulawiec rsk@gsp.org with numerous contributions by others.
05 B: Sci-Fi References in Music List
B-52's:
"Planet Claire", and "53 Miles West of Venus" from "Wild Planet".
The title track from "Cosmic Thing" has aliens shaking their, uh, cosmic thing.
The song "Topaz" is a depiction of a future Utopian earth.
Also see the soundtrack to "Earth Girls Are Easy".
B.A.L.L:
"Little Tex in Trouble" and "Little Tex's Prelude" from "Trouble Doll"
are about a cowboy who sees his cattle being taken by aliens.
The Bags:
"September", from the album "Night of the Corn People", is about
a love affair between astronauts. "L. Frank Baum" is a tribute to the
Wizard of Oz books.
Ball, Edward:
Releases under many names, including Teenage Film Stars, The Times and
The Missing Scientists. Has done several songs with references to "The
Prisoner" including "I Helped Patrick McGoohan Escape".
Banks, Tony:
See "Man of Spells" from "Fugitive".
Barbarella:
Their album "The Art of Dance" consists only of songs about
Barbarella and containing samples from the film Barbarella.
Barenaked Ladies:
Another Canadian Band, with a song called "This is me in Grade 9", with the lines:
"Some of my friends are crazy and the others are depressed,
None of them can help me study for my math test.
I got into the classroom and my knowledge was gone;
I guess I should have studied 'stead of watching Wrath of Khan."
Batt, Mike:
His album "Zero Zero" (released 1982, also a music video) features an
Orwell-like state where a man accidentally falls in love despite the
fact that emotions are wiped out in that society. Some brain surgery
takes care of the problem. The story concludes with a female neuro
surgeon being 'infected' with the emotion of love as well. The album
"The Hunting of the Snark" (1987) features Batt's interpretation of
Lewis Carroll's work.
Bauhaus:
Did a cover of "Ziggy Stardust", and the song "Bela Lugosi's Dead",
which opens the film "The Hunger" (they perform in it, too). Their lyrics
are obscure enough so that most of their songs can be taken for SF - or
anything else, for that matter. They broke up in '83. 3 members became
Love and Rockets, the other, Peter Murphy, got a solo career.
The song "Silent Hedges", which appears on the LP "The Sky's Gone Out"
doesn't seem to make a lot of sense at first -- until you realize that
the lyrics are a pastiche of phrases from Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World",
at which point it becomes much clearer.
Be Bop Deluxe:
Tracks include "Jet Silver And The Dolls Of Venus" (vague reminiscences
about '50s British SF-comics, also thought to be poking a little fun
at Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars) and "Life In The Air Age" (a time
traveller stranded in a Gernsbackian future). Also see
"The Dangerous Stranger from the Highway to the End of Time" on "Modern Music".
Beatles:
The "Yellow Submarine" movie and accompanying soundtrack probably deserve
a mention as an example of an interesting animated fantasy experiment.
It's also been pointed out that there are a few science fiction
allusions in the film: during the "When I'm Sixty-Four" sequence,
they seemed to be getting involved in time-space continuum warps,
and they talk about "holes", especially the one Ringo kept in his pocket.
Bedford, David:
Albums include "Star's End"; could this be a reference to Asimov's
Foundation series ("Star's End", "Tazenda")?
He also wrote a sort of Rock Opera, "Rigel 9", to text by
Ursula le Guin. And "The Dark Nebula" to words by Arthur C Clark.
Another album: "The Odyssey".
The Bee Gees:
"Edge of the Universe" is a space travel/love song
which first appeared as a track on the "Main Course" LP in 1975.
Two years latter was included as part of the "Here at Last .. Live"
album. The live version was released as a single and was the last
Top 40 hit for the Bee Gees before their "Saturday Night Fever"
releases and disco fame.
Beggars Opera:
"Time Machine" (from the album "Waters Of Change", 1971). A song about
escaping from nowadays life in a time machine and finding a better place/time.
Belew, Adrian:
"Phone Call from the Moon", as well as "Looking For a UFO" from "Young
Lions" - a message of hope that aliens will come and save us
from destroying ourselves. The song "The Momur" from "Lone Rhinoceros"
tells the story of a man who's wife turns into a "momur" (a critic);
probably not really science fiction.
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