Thursday, March 4, 2021 • ThE BuLLETIN
Continued from previous page
debut album, “Q. Are We Not Men? A: We
Are Devo!,” leans on the band’s punk roots
and penchant for dark humor. The song’s
narrator laments that his girlfriend has
been killed by falling space junk, which has
also crashed down in New York, Miami
Beach, Texas, Peru and a host of other places
(NORAD even makes an appearance).
“53 MILES WEST OF VENUS,”
THE B-52S
Wait, not “Planet Claire?” As great as
that song is, “53 Miles West of Venus,”
taken from The B-52s’ 1980 sophomore al-
bum, “Wild Planet” (also keeping with the
theme), is arguably the “spacier” sounding
song. The title is the five-minute song’s only
lyric, so it’s also pretty unambiguous.
“FLYING SAUCER ATTACK,” THE REZILLOS
Scotland’s The Rezillos was one of the ear-
liest punk bands, distinguishing itself with
its more light-hearted approach to the mu-
sic, drawing from sci-fi and B-movies (not
unlike another artist on this list, The B-52s).
“Flying Saucer Attack” kicked off the band’s
1978 debut album, “Can’t Stand the Rezil-
ALL THINGS MUSIC
GO! MAGAZINE • PAGE 5
Pink Floyd has long had (and denied) ties
to space rock, and its 1973 masterpiece
“Dark Side of the Moon” is probably as
“out there” as the band gets. “Eclipse” is
the final song on the record, and has the
honor of being used by NASA to wake up
the Mars probe, Opportunity, in 2004.
los,” in exuberant power-pop fashion. An
alien invasion, with pogoing.
“THE SPACE RACE IS OVER,” BILLY BRAGG
Of course, Billy Bragg gets folks crying
over the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing. In
1996, the British folk-punk poet released
this wistful song, in which he describes his
youthful yearning for adventure during and
after the moon landing — and his heart-
break upon realizing “now that the space
race is over, it’s been and it’s gone and I’ll
never get to the moon.”
“THE MOON SONG,” KAREN O
Taken from the soundtrack to Spike Jonze’s
2013 film, “Her,” “The Moon Song” features a
vulnerable acoustic performance from Yeah
Yeah Yeahs’ lead vocalist Karen O. The song is
performed in the film by lead actors Joaquin
Phoenix and Scarlett Johansson, and relates
the movie’s themes of existential loneliness to
a trip to our nearest celestial neighbor.
“STARS AND PLANETS,” LIZ PHAIR
Another late-career gem, Liz Phair’s “Stars
and Planets” featured on her 2005 album,
“Somebody’s Miracle.” The song retains the
big pop moves of her 2003 self-titled release,
but with perhaps a bit more edge; the lyrics
are an extended metaphor for fleeting fame.
“ECLIPSE,” PINK FLOYD
Pink Floyd has long had (and denied)
ties to space rock, and its 1973 masterpiece
“Dark Side of the Moon” is probably as “out
there” as the band gets. “Eclipse” is the final
song on the record, and has the honor of
being used by NASA to wake up the Mars
probe, Opportunity, in 2004.
“UNDER THE MILKY WAY,” THE CHURCH
Australian new wave/psychedelic group
The Church scored its first U.S. Top 40 hit
with “Under the Milky Way,” from its 1988
album, “Starfish.” The song, which would
later feature on the soundtrack to the 2001
film, “Donnie Darko,” is appropriately ethe-
real in nature, with lead vocalist Steve Kil-
bey lamenting, “Wish I knew what you were
looking for, might have known what you
would find” while gazing up from “under
the Milky Way tonight.”
e e
Reporter: 541-617-7814, bmcelhiney@bendbulletin.com
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St. Paddy’s Day!
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Live from Ireland
A special
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Sat. March 13 2 PM
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